Post of the Day
I hate to say it, but Barnaby has a point on climate
Andrew Charlton
Imagine if a comprehensive climate support package for the regions had been offered in 2007 to then deputy Nationals leader Joyce rather than extracted by five-minutes-to-midnight brinkmanship by the now Deputy Prime Minister Joyce.
On This Day
Ecological Observance
Who’s who in Glasgow: Your quick guide to the COP26 climate talks
Who’s going? What will they talk about? RenewEconomy’s guide to COP26 in Glasgow.
The global climate crisis has intensified a devastating drought in southern Madagascar, where catastrophic hunger has brought 1 million people to the brink of famine, Amnesty International said in a new report today.
Xi Jinping is bingeing coal and avoiding a climate summit. Is he giving up on the green China dream?
China’s president Xi Jinping must somehow fuel the nation’s economic growth, keep the lights on, and break its addiction to coal before it’s too late.
Former finance minister in the federal government Mathias Cormann is urging G20 leaders to better align their efforts to reach net zero by 2050.
India rejects setting net zero emissions target, saying the pathway is more important
India, the world’s third-biggest emitter of greenhouse gases after China and the US, has come under pressure to announce a net zero target.
A new report released today by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) ahead of the upcoming COP26 climate negotiations reveals that while 93% of Least developed countries (LDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS) had submitted enhanced national climate pledges, or plan to do so, the G20 has been dragging its feet on adhering to the core principles of the Paris Agreement to “ratchet up” their climate ambition.
EU carbon border levy could sabotage climate goals, says thinktank
Requiring carbon certificates could lead African producers to sell in markets with lower standards
Lego issues Cop26 handbook by children on how to tackle climate crisis
Toymaker’s instructions for a better world target policy chiefs ahead of global climate summit
Greta Thunberg is panicking. But she is also hopeful
“All political and economic systems have failed, but humanity has not yet failed.”
Oil executives face ‘turning point’ US congressional hearing on climate crisis
The heads of top US oil companies will answer accusations that their firms have spent years lying about the climate crisis
The mess we’ve made of things: how climate change affects culture
Sydney writer Delia Falconer is someone for whom an authentic documentation of the cultural effects of climate change renders the smartphone an indispensable tool.
The charts you need to understand the climate emergency
Climate change didn’t occur overnight. Here are 10 graphs that show the state of emergency.
But climate experts question the numbers and the science Russia may pitch at the U.N. climate conference.
President Joe Biden will “make or break” the UN climate conference
He has the power to sidestep Congress, a policy expert explains. But will he?
‘We sold you cheap’: Midnight Oil drop climate action anthem [$]
As world leaders prepare to meet for COP26 in Glasgow, Australia’s protest rock heroes Midnight Oil provide the song for the occasion.
Explainer: Glasgow COP26: Why it’s the ‘best last chance’ to solve the climate crisis
It’s been described as the world’s “best last chance” to solve the climate crisis but there’s many other reasons billions of people eagerly await the outcome of the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference in Scotland.
Teenage activist says youth will save climate – video
Srijani Datta has been an advocate of fighting against climate change since her school days, and is now ready to join serious discussions on climate policy and implementation at the 26th Conference of Parties, or COP26, in Glasgow.
If governments fail to act, can the courts save our planet?
George Newhouse
The climate crisis threatens all life on our planet. Even the people who a few years ago were shouting from the rooftops that it was all a hoax have suddenly acknowledged the need for urgent action.
Yes it’s expensive, but failing to meet climate challenge will cost a lot more
Larry Elliott
Cop26 breakthrough will require rich nations to finally make good on promise to help poorer ones
China’s eco warrior Xi Jinping is addicted to coal
Ambrose Evans-Pritchard
Xi Jinping is the closest you get to an environmental crusader in the top echelons of China’s political system. But he risks blighting China’s future as he invests more in coal.
Steve Turton
Despite the overwhelming evidence, it’s still common to see politicians, media commentators or social media users cast doubt on the role of humans in driving climate change.
National
Fiji welcomes Australia’s net zero by 2050 target, but other Pacific countries are sceptical
Fiji’s Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama says he does not want any more excuses on climate action from big emitters, including Australia, when they gather for talks at COP26.
Climate change won’t destroy the wine industry, but it will change what you drink
While your favourite wine label will probably remain on the shelf, what is inside the bottle is changing. Australians will soon be drinking Grüner veltliner, blaufränkisch, gamay and gewürztraminer as the wine industry adapts to a warming climate.
Morrison government hasn’t finished writing net zero modelling, department says
Government officials tell senate estimates hearing the Morrison government can’t publish its net zero modelling because it hasn’t finished writing it.
Households willing to switch off appliances during heatwaves, survey finds
New data finds 74% Australian households willing to reduce energy use “as much as possible” to relieve stress on the grid – and most would do it for no reward.
Coalition electorates are becoming a climate battleground before the next election
Key Coalition-held seats will be targeted by a wave of independent campaigns at the next federal election, with the aim of achieving stronger action on climate change.
Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce claims he negotiated a fund for the regions and no methane reduction target in return for signing on to the net zero by 2050 deal, but the Prime Minister says that was always the plan.
Using microbes to accelerate carbon removal – Loam Bio raises AUD $40m Series A
The CEFC congratulates Loam Bio (formerly Soil Carbon Company on its successful Series A round to expand its innovative microbial technology.
Electricity is doing its part – rest of economy needs plan to cut emissions
To get to net zero by 2050 and significantly reduce emissions by 2030 other sectors will have to lift their game rather than let the energy industry do all the heavy lifting, according to the Australian Energy Council.
Angus Taylor to promote fossil fuels at Glasgow Cop26 climate summit
Australia’s emissions reduction minister’s stance at odds with comparable developed nations
Scott Morrison and his deputy prime minister disagree over key methane emissions target ahead of Cop26
RBA, APRA warn of rising costs to insurance from climate change
Australia’s central bank and the prudential regulator have flagged climate change will bring added costs, particularly in the price of insurance premiums.
Power grid operators warn of ‘missing links’ on road to net zero
Power grid operators in three states say upgrades to the east coast’s electricity network are urgently needed to support the rollout of more clean energy.
How Coles plans to be Australia’s most sustainable supermarket [$]
Coles recently ranked number two out of 62 food retailers globally for sustainability and now the supermarket giant wants to go further.
First Nations youth condemn Indigenous exclusion from net zero ‘plan’
Kulkalaig woman Tishiko King is heading to the COP26 UN Climate Change Summit to make sure the concerns of Indigenous people are heard.
Liberal MPs fear emissions land grab for carbon sinks [$]
Rural Liberal MPs have told Scott Morrison to ban companies from buying agricultural land purely for turning it into a carbon sink, warning that farmers risked being outbid by fossil fuel giants seeking to offset their emissions.
$300 million ‘free’ water windfall for Murray-Darling irrigators
The water has been saved from irrigation system upgrades dating back to 2007 and is being gifted to irrigators to keep and use or sell on the open market.
Australia is fighting fire with fire, but running out of time
Hazard reduction burns are aimed at reducing the chance of a wildfire, or at least slowing one. But in this chess game with Mother Nature, humans have put themselves at a disadvantage.
Australia v the climate part 5: a plan for net zero? – Full Story podcast
In this final episode of the series, editor Lenore Taylor, political editor Katharine Murphy, climate and environment editor Adam Morton and reporter Graham Readfearn discuss the implications of ‘the Australian way’ plan and what it means for Cop26 in Glasgow
Prosperity doctrine: Australia rejects global push to cut potent methane emissions
Giles Parkinson
The so-called “prosperity doctrine” of Scott Morrison’s Pentecostal church now seems to be part of Australia’s climate policy.
The lies and manipulations used for Australia’s new 2030 emissions projection
Ketan Joshi
The Australian government has been enormously deceptive with the upgraded emissions forecasts it will take to Glasgow. Here’s why.
The weather gets choppy with Joyce and Morrison’s climate contradictions
Michelle Grattan
In the press gallery at Parliament House, there’s a bell that years ago was rung regularly to alert journalists to press conferences and statements. Email has made it an anachronism.
Fewer than half of Australia’s 150 biggest companies have committed to zero emissions by 2050
Renzo Mori Junior
Corporate Australia has of late become a strong voice for more action on climate change. Earlier this month the Business Council of Australia, which represents the nation’s 100 biggest companies, declared its support for the federal government committing to halving its greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, and net zero emissions by 2050.
Morrison’s do-nothing climate plan is a fraud. It must be called out for the lie it is [$]
Richard Holden
The Coalition has cooked up a magic pudding of a scheme to defraud the public, its ingredients old, stale and almost certainly noxious.
The future of our cities is indigenous
Maddi Miller
Australia’s unceded cities are still part of Country, and if we care for them they will care for us as we face the climate challenge
Morrison’s ‘net zero’ is that trust and integrity thing again
Michael Pascoe
You can only trust the whole of a building, institution or government by the integrity of its parts. Thus the whole weeks-long circus of Australia, Glasgow and “net zero” collapses.
For humanity to survive, we must make Australia’s politicians feel our fear and rage
Peter Garrett and Paul Gilding
Australia needs a mass citizens’ movement, bringing together friend and foe, farmer and city dweller, across generations
Australia’s zany prospectus for net zero can’t hide its carbon addiction
Eleanor Salter
If we are to reverse the destruction of our planet, it will take more than ‘heroic’ words from ministers in Canberra
Enemy within: Why this man scares Scott Morrison more than anyone else in politics
Madonna King
He’s been touted as a future Queensland Premier but Senator Matt Canavan is more intent on stirring things up in Canberra – with his Coalition partners first in his sights.
What’s in, what’s not: how does Australia’s emissions plan stack up?
Miki Perkins
Four questions raised by climate scientists about Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s guide towards Australia’s low-carbon future.
Voters would ‘come back at us with baseball bats’: How 18 Libs pushed Morrison to net zero
David Crowe
Now the inside story can be told of a critical Zoom meeting between the Prime Minister and 18 Liberal MPs worried about a voter backlash on climate change.
I hate to say it, but Barnaby has a point on climate
Andrew Charlton
Imagine if a comprehensive climate support package for the regions had been offered in 2007 to then deputy Nationals leader Joyce rather than extracted by five-minutes-to-midnight brinkmanship by the now Deputy Prime Minister Joyce.
Want to understand how the Coalition works? Take a look at climate policy
Mark Kenny
This week’s excruciating case of a prime minister being beholden to a rogue section of his own Cabinet over climate policy has again drawn attention to the arcane nature of Coalition arrangements.
Labor doesn’t have a 2030 target yet either – what do we know of the ALP’s climate policy so far?
Rebecca Pearse
Will it be environmentally effective and fair?
Sequestration is a win for farmers [$]
Gary Nairn
The government’s decision to include soil carbon sequestration as a key element in its net zero 2050 plan is a very positive move.
Glasgow wants to hear Morrison talk about 2030 [$]
Kevin Rudd
There is no point in the Prime Minister talking about 2050 when emissions must be halved over the next critical decade to halt catastrophic warming.
Net-zero pledge hides lack of co-operation in Glasgow [$]
Australian editorial
Scott Morrison has left Australia to attend the Glasgow climate summit with praise for adopting a net-zero target for 2050 but effectively pledging not to go along with any of the conference’s major objectives.
Let’s get real: net zero is all about the declaration [$]
Greg Sheridan
Scott Morrison has done as well as anyone could reasonably expect with his strategy for reaching net-zero emissions by 2050.
Victoria
Court rejects councils’ battle with minister over toxic soil
The Supreme Court has dismissed proceedings brought by two Victorian councils against the state planning minister over proposals to dump toxic soil in their regions.
Frog deaths at Melbourne Zoo due to COVID
Nine frogs died at Melbourne Zoo because keepers were off work awaiting the results of COVID-19 tests.
Deep Creek Reserve selected as finalist in Premier’s Sustainability Awards
Together with the CEC : Cardinia Environment Coalition and Deep Creek Golf Club, Cardinia Shire Council converted 48 hectares of former farmland into a community park, transforming the space into a regional environmental precinct.
No light at end of North East Link tunnel on road costs [$]
Victorians will not know the full cost of the North East Link road project when they go to the polls in just over a year, but it is certain to exceed the $15.8bn cited by the Labor government ahead of the 2018 election.
Significant land purchase to protect Country and culture
The land is connected to an important Dja Dja Wurrung creation story as the home of Mindi, a great serpent and enforcer of cultural law.
New South Wales
Dam site better: farmers hail increase to harvestable water limit
Coastal farmers in NSW will soon be able to capture 30 per cent of the rain that falls on their properties, in what the state government is calling a “historic step”.
Engie weighs changes to NSW wind farm after deluge of public submissions
The 400MW wind farm that inspired its very own anti-wind acronym attracts deluge of submissions, prompting Engie to modify its plans.
Meeting calls for councils to maintain authority over parklands, Callan Park
A well-attended zoom meeting organised by the Inner West Council discussed the NSW government’s bill which removed council as the consent authority covering Sydney’s parklands.
Protest targets Whitehaven Coal and Deutsche Bank
Climate activists have called on the Deutsche Bank not to loan Whitehaven Coal billions of dollars to expand its operations in northern New South Wales.
Dam site better: farmers hail increase to harvestable water limit
Coastal farmers in NSW will soon be able to capture 30 per cent of the rain that falls on their properties, in what the state government is calling a “historic step”.
Melinda Pavey delivers more water to agriculture while ramping up campaign to change Murray-Darling Basin plan
This is what locals in a coal community think about the government’s net zero plan
Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the government’s 2050 net zero commitment on Tuesday. This is what locals in the industrial Illawarra region think of the plan.
ACT
Extinction Rebellion protesters block Commonwealth Avenue bridge at peak hour
An 80-year-old who superglued herself on Commonwealth Avenue bridge to protest Scott Morrison’s climate change policies has been escorted away by police.
ACT government moves ahead to introduce tree canopy requirements for residential
Builders and developers would be forced to construct smaller houses in Canberra to make way for larger backyards, under proposed planning changes.
Here’s how each Canberra suburb compares when it comes to tree coverage
The ACT’s urban tree canopy will need a significant boost to meet a 2045 coverage target, with a new survey finding the overall canopy cover is a little under a quarter of the urban land area.
Queensland
Drought affected QLD council says Inland Rail project could threaten water security
A proposed tunnel through the Toowoomba Range may drain 1,700 megalitres of water from an aquifer used for the drought-affected town’s potable water supply. Toowoomba’s council says it will not stand for any loss of community water.
Biggest solar farm in Queensland connected to the grid
Massive 400MW solar component of the Western Downs green energy hub has been connected to the grid in south east Queensland.
Epuron’s Boulder Creek wind farm wins state government approval
Queensland gives green light for development of one of the Sunshine State’s biggest wind farms yet, the 372MW Boulder Creek project.
New owners could bring copper mine back to life, at a time when demand for the metal is on the rise
Operations at Mount Lyell could restart within a couple of years, but what does it mean for the local environment?
Now is time to get wise with our water consumption
As the weather heats up, Rockhampton Regional Council is calling on the community to be conscious of their water consumption.
South Australia
Electric car taxes ‘inevitable’ in Australia as SA joins the charge
Buyers of electric cars in South Australia will soon be charged for every kilometre they drive, after an electric vehicle tax was passed.
Santos boss calls for Australia to become ‘carbon storage superpower’
The CEO of South Australia’s largest company has used a speech ahead of the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow to lobby for the opening up of international carbon markets, while defending the place of natural gas in the world’s future energy mix.
Why is Labor siding with the anti-progress brigade to ‘protect’ this dump? [$]
Paul Starick
It’s hardly the jewel of our parklands – the Riverbank Arena site is decrepit, unused and unsafe after dark. So why have upper house MPs joined the anti-development NIMBYs?
Tasmania
Sustainable Timber Tasmania misses sawlog quota again, revenue from product sales plummets
Tasmania’s public forestry enterprise recorded its lowest product sales in seven years and has again fallen short of its legislated sawlog quota, but both major parties remain committed to keeping the quota in place.
Police have arrived at a protest as Tasmanian Forest Defenders halt logging in a Styx Valley ancient Regnans forest as part of a National Forest Week of Action calling for an end to native forest logging.
Forestry Tasmania releases Annual Report 2020-21
Media release – Sustainable Timber Tasmania
Sustainable Timber Tasmania’s Annual Report for 2020/2021 was presented to Tasmania’s Parliament today.
Western Australia
Drying land and heating seas: why nature in Australia’s southwest is on the climate frontline
Jatin Kala et al
In a few days world leaders will descend on Glasgow for the United Nations climate change talks. Much depends on it. We know climate change is already happening, and nowhere is the damage more stark than in Australia’s southwest.
Forrest’s Fortescue rejects national laws to protect Indigenous heritage
Fortescue, which has rejected federal laws to protect Indigenous sacred sites, is yet to receive a compensation claim from the Yindjibarndi people it lost a historic court case to.
Sustainability
Battery swapping: The killer app for electrifying India’s millions of tuk-tuks?
Startup Power Global says modular batteries and swapping stations can cut the cost of transitioning to EVs in developing markets. It has a lot of competition.
Why progressive gestures from big business aren’t just useless – they’re dangerous
The long read: From climate crisis to anti-racism, more and more corporations are taking a stand. But if it’s only done because it’s good for business, the fires will keep on burning
Nuclear power: Are energy price hikes prompting a German rethink?
Energy prices are soaring globally, and Germany’s neighbors are building new nuclear reactors. Some want to revisit the commitment to go nuclear-free.
Investors seek greener buildings
New technology and stricter standards allow them to better track a development’s carbon footprint.
Have we got ‘sustainable eating’ all wrong? – video
Are we thinking too simply about sustainable eating? There are multiple ways we can reduce our food footprint and approach eating for a healthy and sustainable future.
Degrowth: why some economists think abandoning growth is the only way to save the planet – podcast
Gemma Ware and Daniel Merino
Some economists have long argued that to really save the planet – and ourselves – from the climate crisis, we need a fundamental overhaul of the way our economies work.
Wildfires, logging turn forests into carbon emitters: report – video
Some of the world’s most protected forests are emitting more carbon than they absorb, a new report says, with researchers alarmed that protected areas are contributing to climate change.
Study chronicles dying of a lake with advent of oil & gas activities
A new study finds warning signs of ecosystem collapse at Lake Kutubu in Papua New Guinea, a wetland of international significance.
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