Date: 22 October 2021 at 9:04:07 am AEDT
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Subject: Daily Links Oct 22
Post of the Day
Climate pollution from plastics to outpace coal emissions in US by 2030, report finds
With dozens of new plastics manufacturing and recycling facilities in the works, the U.S. plastics industry will release more greenhouse gas emissions than coal-fired power plants by 2030, say the authors of a new report.
On This Day
Ecological Observance
Climate Change
Nigerian climate activist hopes for funding to make COP26 dream a reality
Nigerian climate activist Goodness Dickson thought being invited to participate in the UN climate summit in Scotland meant he’d have no trouble attending.
Oil and coal-rich countries lobbying to weaken UN climate report, leak shows
States with large meat and dairy industries also attempted to amend IPCC’s report, documents say
Language used to describe the climate becoming more urgent, study finds
Oxford English Dictionary found between 2018 and 2020 use of ‘climate crisis’ increased nearly 20-fold
No formal Cop26 role for big oil amid doubts over firms’ net zero plans
Officials from fossil fuel firms may attend fringe events but campaigners hail lack of official role
Greta Thunberg accuses world leaders of being in denial over climate crisis
Activist says countries such as UK, US and China use ‘creative carbon accounting’ to augment green credentials
Climate health experts declare code red for the world, while Australia is stuck on a limb
Two important annual reports on the climate crisis and health were released today: the 2021 report of The Lancet Countdown on health and climate change is titled ‘code red for a healthy future’, and the 2021 report of the MJA–Lancet Countdown is called ‘Australia increasingly out on a limb’.
COP26 Glasgow climate conference: Delegates face being stranded by train driver strike
COP26 preparations have been thrown into chaos with unions calling a train strike across Scotland, effectively sidelining thousands of delegates.
How shrinking carbon capture could help it scale up
Startups are vying to miniaturize this potentially climate-saving technology.
Since 1980, the frequency and intensity of the events have been steadily increasing.
Winning political messages with David Roberts – Political Climate podcast
How media and outrage-driven social feeds have shaped electoral politics.
If key climate policy is jettisoned, can the US still meet its climate targets?
David Roberts
The Clean Electricity Performance Program is likely a goner. We parse the data to gauge where the country stands without it.
Resistance is futile as path is lit for a net zero world
Ambrose Evans-Pritchard
The shibboleths of the old energy order fall away. The International Energy Agency has systematically struck down every economic and social objection to net zero. “The message is clear: a new global energy economy is coming, which is cheaper, cleaner, safer, more resilient, and much fairer across countries,” said Fatih Birol, the director of the agency (IEA).
Coalition puts net-zero division up in lights
David Crowe
The wrangling between the Liberals and the Nats over climate has only served to compound the impression of a party without a direction and a government without a plan.
Blatherskites and blarney signifying very little … [$]
Greg Sheridan
Could it be that almost no one of consequence is going to be at the Glasgow COP26 summit anyway?
COP26 – more myth than Enlightenment [$]
Henry Ergas
There will, no doubt, be more than a touch of theatre to COP26. It is true that with Xi Jinping and possibly Narendra Modi too busy rearranging their stamp collections to attend, the organisers might as well stage Waiting for Godot.
Glasgow showdown: Pacific Islands demand global leaders bring action, not excuses, to UN summit
Wesley Morgan
The Pacific Islands are at the frontline of climate change. But as rising seas threaten their very existence, these tiny nation states will not be submerged without a fight.
Has China brought the silence of Pacific leaders on climate change?
Jeffrey Wall
What is significant about the statements by Pacific leaders, is that China has not been criticised despite incontrovertible evidence China is easily the greatest contributor to rising emission levels.
National
Climate 200 founder and Cleantech investor Simon Holmes à Court says the upcoming COP26 Climate Change Conference in Glasgow is actually about reducing emissions by 2030 in line with the Paris Climate Agreement and that all the talk of net zero is simply a “distraction” by the government.
Nationals’ demands for supporting net zero finalised, but will remain confidential
Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce will meet privately to work out an agreement within the Coalition over what will be required for the Nationals to back a net zero climate change policy.
Top diplomat says US ‘looking for increased ambition’ from Australia on emissions targets
US charge d’affaires Mike Goldman tells a climate conference the Morrison government’s commitments to cut emissions “will be noticed” by the US, Europe and China.
Australia’s third-richest person to invest $1.5b in fight against climate change
Atlassian co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes says he’s putting up the huge sum in a bid to help dramatically reduce carbon emissions by 2030.
Government refuses to release net-zero modelling in ‘new low’ for accountability
Matt Canavan’s attempt to force the government to release the modelling on its net-zero plan was a transparent attempt to further scorn the emissions cuts he abhors.
Dan Tehan says he has spoken with government MPs about the risks to key industries from ‘protectionist forces’ in some countries
Quokkas to koalas: Australia’s new 100 priority species
There are more than 1800 threatened species in Australia, but the government is prioritising 100 for its conservation efforts. See the full list.
Australia lobbied the UN to go easy on coal fired power
Thousands of leaked documents reportedly show Australia lobbying hard for concessions in a huge UN report.
Record coal prices and global energy shortage before Glasgow climate conference
Almost 30 years ago a busload of Hunter coal miners descended on Parliament House, Canberra, for a protest campaign called Survival ’92.
Clean power supply hits record high in Australia’s coal-dominated grid
Australia’s clean-energy revolution is continuing to accelerate, with new data revealing renewable power supplied more than 60 per cent of the nation’s main grid for the first time during a half-hour period in September.
Barnaby Joyce says demands were not a captain’s call but most MPs were not given a copy of documents
Barnaby Joyce’s push for rail extension to Gladstone would set off ‘carbon bomb’, activists claim
Lock the Gate alliance says the ‘disgraceful’ Queensland project is a ‘Trojan horse’ for new coalmines
Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce says that coal and fossil fuels are Australia’s largest export. Is that correct?
How the environmental offsets scheme is failing the Australian wildlife it is meant to protect
A parliamentary inquiry is set to begin, triggered by a Guardian Australia investigation that exposed multiple, serious flaws
Green buildings worth more to investors [$]
New research shows a clear correlation between higher sale prices and higher green ratings in the office markets of Sydney and Melbourne.
Australia’s carbon credits leap above $33 a tonne in new surge
Buying from investors, intermediaries and corporates have caused the price of carbon credits in Australia to double in the past 12 months.
In the Sharma case, Australia’s federal court must not avert its eyes from the climate crisis
Kieran Pender
If the environment minister allows 100m tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere, she will be inflicting future harm. It’s as simple as that
Climate-contrary Nationals, strawman arguments and rewriting Australia’s Kyoto history
Graham Readfearn
The claim landholders have done the ‘heavy lifting’ relies on the protocol being signed seven years before it actually was
Arguments over Murray-Darling Basin must hold water
Lin Crase
Myths and self-interest have plagued Australia’s water policies for decades. It’s time for sensible debate about a long-term approach.
On net zero, the Nats can’t go quietly
Waleed Aly
It’s not just that the Nationals find committing to a net-zero emissions target difficult. It’s that they must be seen to find it difficult.
Replacing coal and gas with renewables will create jobs [$]
Adam Bandt
People are being lied to by politicians who say we can take climate action while extracting, burning and shipping off coal and gas for decades to come. We can’t.
Three ways Australia can lift annual targets to meet net zero [$]
Ton Wood
Australian governments should take practical actions now to create momentum towards the net zero goal. They need to do three things.
Woke net zero targets will weaken us
Matt Canavan
China now has space nukes but they can’t match us on plans to reach net zero.
Fiji’s PM: Go to Glasgow with commitments [$]
Frank Bainimarama
Australia and Fiji share all the dangers of climate change in the Pacific. Canberra now needs to follow the Fijian path of firm commitments in law.
Boris Johnson is more honest on climate than Scott Morrison [$]
John Roskam
The British PM’s boosterism is well known. But unlike his Australian counterpart, he has not hidden the cost of net zero emissions from the public.
Scott Morrison wants to manage climate change off the table [$]
Phillip Coorey
Just as with gay marriage, the conservatives are getting their say – and then bowing to the inevitable.
Can Barnaby Joyce sell his supporters the net zero he’s previously trashed?
Michelle Grattan
Barnaby Joyce will probably never again have so much power as he does at this moment, in his trading with Scott Morrison over support for the net zero by 2050 target.
Universities, governments and companies can help avert climate catastrophe
David Ritter
Universities and other large institutions have a responsibility to drive Australia towards a carbon-free future.
Undeterred by pariah status, PM to wave ‘green and gold’ at Glasgow
Joel Jenkins
While the East Indian Dipole has temporarily soothed our epigenetic despair two years since the bushfires began, it’s worth remembering how the Murdoch press chose to present the findings at the time.
Don’t underestimate rabbits: these powerful pests threaten more native wildlife than cats or foxes
Pat Taggart and Brian Cooke
Rabbits destroy huge numbers of critical regenerating seedlings over more than half the continent. This has devastating flow-on effects for the rest of the ecosystem. So how do we control them?
Victoria
Whopping cost of delayed West Gate Tunnel [$]
Costly delays on the West Gate Tunnel project are adding up, with Transurban flagging a huge hit to its tolling revenue.
1c shock: Solar surge drives prices to record low [$]
Surging solar supplies cut Victoria’s daytime electricity spot prices to 1c per megawatt hour in August and September, underscoring the growing influence of renewables in Australia’s power grid.
New South Wales
‘Serious injustice’: Indigenous fishers call for moratorium on prosecutions for cultural catch
Aboriginal people account for a disproportionate number of jail terms for fisheries offences on the NSW South Coast.
‘False comfort’: Buy-backs call sparks government spat with insurers over Warragamba
The head of Australia’s peak body of insurers has said the public money spent raising the Warragamba Dam wall would be better spent buying back land in western Sydney that never should’ve been developed in the first place.
‘The train is leaving’: Sharma’s climate call to fellow MPs
MP Dave Sharma has told of the climate discussions in Canberra this week and urged his colleagues to lock in the 2050 target ahead of the Glasgow summit.
Aboriginal people let down by NSW Government’s response to deaths in custody inquiry
Nadine Miles
Last week, the New South Wales Government issued its response to a parliamentary inquiry looking into why Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are over-represented in prisons and dying in custody.
ACT
New floating wetland set for Yerrabi Pond in fight against blue-green algae
A floating wetland will be added to Yerrabi Pond in Gungahlin in a fresh bid to prevent blue-green algae blooms in the body of water.
South Australia
‘Burial grounds everywhere’: Elders dig in over Riverbank builds [$]
A Kaurna elder has confronted the state’s planning boss over fears the Marshall Government’s City Arena and rezoning schemes will put a series of sacred sites in peril.
Gupta’s Greensteel plant at Whyalla could be Morrison’s COP26 get out of jail card
Peter Roberts
Gupta plans to launch massive Greensteel investment in Whyalla, with possible involvement of Fortescue, as Morrison prepares to head to Glasgow.
A message needs to be sent that this form of protest goes beyond anything that is reasonable [$]
Caleb Bond
Extinction Rebellion types have probably done more to needlessly increase emissions than most mining companies.
Northern Territory
NT government deparment approved mine changes while in election caretaker mode
Documents reveal the NT’s mining department let the McArthur River Mine expand its tailings storage facility while the government was in caretaker mode, after an “incredibly time sensitive” push for a larger expansion was delayed.
Western Australia
‘Apathy’ blamed for department’s long delay after ancient trees bulldozed
Two years after widespread “illegal” land clearing on Yakka Munga Station in the Kimberley, traditional owners are still waiting to learn if the pastoral company will be held to account.
‘Death by 1,000 cuts’: Calls for clean up of 190,000 abandoned mines
WA community leaders say cleaning up abandoned mines should be the state’s priority with $12.1 billion collected in royalties last year and only $683,000 spent on rehabilitation.
Fight for the Martuwarra continues
More than 43,000 people have urged the State Government to listen to Traditional Owners and protect the Martuwarra Fitzroy River in a petition in response to the Government’s discussion paper on water extraction from the river.
Juukan Gorge advice will help protect First Nations
Jamie Lowe
Commonwealth must rise to the challenge set by Juukan Gorge recommendations and co-design heritage protection laws with our First Peoples.
Fixing Australia’s shocking record of Indigenous heritage destruction: Juukan inquiry offers a way forward
Deanna Kemp et al
On May 24 last year, mining giant Rio Tinto legally destroyed ancient and sacred Aboriginal rock shelters at Juukan Gorge in Western Australia to expand an iron ore mine.
Social licence a watchdog for heritage
NIT Editorial
It has evolved from the idea of businesses or businesspeople “doing the right thing” by the community in which they operate and instead, has been referred to in today’s business world as a triple bottom line which creates the business’ corporate social licence to operate.
Sustainability
If you build it, cars will come
Over the past few decades, taxpayers have funded billions of dollars in highway expansions intended to alleviate road congestion, but it usually doesn’t take long for the traffic to return. This endless loop, known as “induced demand,” leads to more cars on the road and more pollution. A new online calculator from RMI, NRDC, and Transportation for America provides visibility into the traffic and emissions impacts of proposed highway expansions.
Amazon, Ikea, others commit to zero-carbon shipping by 2040
Nine major companies, including Amazon.com and Ikea, today committed to using exclusively zero-emissions ships to transport their cargo by 2040.
Climate pollution from plastics to outpace coal emissions in US by 2030, report finds
With dozens of new plastics manufacturing and recycling facilities in the works, the U.S. plastics industry will release more greenhouse gas emissions than coal-fired power plants by 2030, say the authors of a new report.
Elephants are ditching their tusks to dodge poachers — but there’s a downside
Ivory hunting has pressured a population of African elephants to lose their tusks, researchers say, providing striking evidence of rapid evolution driven by humans.
Indigenous Peruvians demand land protection
More than 50 Indigenous tribal leaders from the Peruvian Amazon protested in Lima to demand the government help protect their lands.
Natural habitats of 30 cities around the world at risk due to ‘coastal hardening’, study suggests
Researchers estimate 1m sq km of seascape globally has been modified by coastal structures which bring in invasive species and damage habitat
Fifth of Indonesia’s palm oil sites lie in protected forests, says Greenpeace
Report says enforcement failures have led to Unesco sites and land mapped as orangutan habitat being turned into plantations
How to turn a desert into a forest
A group of “holistic engineers” wants to turn the arid Sinai peninsula back into the lush, green landscape it once was.
Rivers dump mercury into coastal fisheries
Rivers may carry as much as 1,000 tons of mercury to the world’s coastlines every year, researchers report. This would make rivers the main way this potent neurotoxin reaches coastal oceans, where it most threatens public health.
Could property law help achieve ‘rights of nature’ for wild animals?
A new legal theory proposes granting property rights to wildlife to protect them from habitat destruction.
To learn bees’ secrets, count them one by one
The decline of bee populations is a looming crisis, but there is a dearth of scientific data. Hyperlocal researchers, with nets and notebooks, could be key.
GDP, roads, agricultural land, and human population density are the strongest factors predicting abundance
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