Date: 31 October 2021 at 8:33:33 am AEDT
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Subject: Daily Links Oct 31
Post of the Day
Our climate demands we change the world right now. The good news? We can
Rebecca Solnit
Glasgow has to be a turning point. There is no other option
On This Day
Samhain – Celticism
Ecological Observance
Climate Change
UN chief warns climate talks could fail without renewed trust among world leaders
“There is a serious risk that Glasgow will not deliver,” UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said, on the eve of a weekend meeting of G20 heads of state in Rome.
‘It’s the protests which are giving me hope’: activists descend on Glasgow
Campaigners from around the world are uniting to disrupt the Cop26 conference and put pressure on political leaders
50 years, 25 Cops: the slow-motion movement to save the planet
How Guardian journalists reported on the long, twisting road to global action on the climate crisis
Don’t put climate activists on trial, CPS urged
Questions raised over purpose of prosecuting peaceful protesters after activists are found guilty of calling climate-change sceptics ‘liars’
Cop26 failure could mean mass migration and food shortages, says Boris Johnson
Ahead of G20 meeting, PM warns of ‘difficult geopolitical events’ echoing those that ended Roman empire
Cop26 will be whitest and most privileged ever, warn campaigners
Thousands from frontline communities in global south have been excluded, activists claim
Climate experts warn world leaders 1.5C is ‘real science’, not just talking point
Scientists say keeping temperature rises to 1.5C is vital physical threshold for planet that cannot be negotiated
Youth climate movement wants to kick polluters out of COP26
Activist Ayisha Siddiqa talks about the campaign to sideline fossil fuel companies, the lack of inclusion at COP26, and the power of young people.
Heatwaves like ‘the Blob’ could decrease role of ocean as carbon sink
Researchers have found the two-year heatwave known as ‘the Blob’ may have temporarily dampened the Pacific’s ‘biological pump,’ which shuttles carbon from the surface ocean to the deep sea where it can be stored for millennia.
Our climate demands we change the world right now. The good news? We can
Rebecca Solnit
Glasgow has to be a turning point. There is no other option
Cop26: the time for prevarication is over
Katharine Viner
Glasgow 2021 must be the moment when the promise of Paris 2015 becomes real – history will not forgive us otherwise
G20 must say goodbye to fossil fuel and recommit to Paris 1.5C goal
The Secret Negotiator
G20 countries are way off track on delivering on 1.5C. Acknowledging this would be a good start ahead of Cop26
Our best chance to stop global warming is approaching. Here’s what it means if it fails
Michael Slezak
On our current trajectory, we will heat the world by 1.5C in less than a decade, the United Nation’s climate change panel has found. And if we don’t act now, cooling the world will be increasingly hard.
National
‘Illusion’ of climate action by big emitters clouds outlook for COP26 talks
The COP26 conference in Glasgow has been billed as the last major chance to galvanise the collective effort needed to limit global warming to 1.5C, with scientists calling for emissions to be cut by nearly half by 2030 to achieve that.
Scott Morrison says Australia won’t be pressured on coal deadline ahead of COP26
As representatives from almost 200 countries gather in Scotland from Sunday to confront the threat posed by climate change, Australia’s position on its future use of coal remains unclear.
UK says Australia must do more to tackle climate change as G20 leaders gather
Britain wants Australia to commit more on tackling climate change, a spokesman for UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson says, stepping up the pressure before the United Nations COP26 climate summit next week.
UK’s top climate adviser launches scathing attack on Australia on eve of Cop26
Lord Deben says there is ‘no indication’ Scott Morrison has a plan to deliver the net zero commitment ‘we’ve squeezed out of him’
Scott Morrison a canary in a coalmine as awkward encounters with French president loom at G20
The Australian prime minister had zero interest in heeding Emmanuel Macron’s call to phase out coal
Australia ‘placed a spotlight on itself’ for backing coal on eve of COP26
Fears grow that Glasgow talks may not succeed in driving sweeping action on “coal, cars, cash and trees”.
High cost of electric vehicles make Australians hesitant to buy
The high cost of an electric vehicle is the reason half of Australians remain hesitant in making the switch away from petrol or diesel cars, new polling reveals, with more than a third of drivers saying they’re not considering one as their next purchase.
Liberal senator tells CSIRO boss that net zero target will “destroy our plant life”
Queensland Liberal senator suggests to CSIRO boss that zero net targets could spell the end to all plant life on Earth. (Don’t worry, they probably won’t).
Affirming Australia’s net zero emissions by 2050 target
The Australian Government has communicated an updated and enhanced Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) secretariat.
Australia-Indonesia statement on Cooperation on Green Economy and Energy Transition
Indonesia and Australia acknowledge that reducing greenhouse gas emissions is a global challenge.
Mike Cannon-Brookes on the green energy future – Energy Insiders podcast
Mike Cannon-Brookes discusses government policy failure, Sun Cable, the cost of capital, and whether the 1.5°C target can be met.
The government’s emission reduction plan doesn’t contain any new actions, or dollars
Michael Slezak
How could Australians move from being some of the most polluting global citizens, to effectively emitting nothing, in just 30 years? The federal government says it has a plan — but will it work?
From coal hero to net zero: How does a leader do it?
Annabel Crabb
Scott Morrison’s climate ‘plan’ reveals a spectacular new model of political leadership in Australia — and our next election is going to look very different from the last
Australia has trashed the Paris agreement and exposed itself as the worst kind of climate hypocrite
Thom Woodroofe
The Morrison government has shown that it quite simply does not do what it says on the world stage
COP that! We’ll pay for PM to woo global investors to our green future
Parnell Palme McGuinness
Scott Morrison will be brandishing a tempting prospectus at the Glasgow climate summit. It will boast of taxpayer-supported projects to reduce carbon emissions, and that should be a lure for international investors.
Net zero will make us weak and poor [$]
Peta Credlin
The government’s position is Australia can achieve net zero with no new taxes, no new spending, and no new mandates. So, where does the money come from?
Too expensive, too slow: Even the baseload argument doesn’t work for nuclear
Mark Diesendorf
The campaign for nuclear power stations in Australia could slow the transition to renewable energy – yet nuclear is a technology whose time has passed.
Dave Milner
Just a fortnight ago, Scott Morrison and Rupert Murdoch’s Australian tabloids, in uncanny synchronicity – like, literally on the same Monday morning – discovered the climate crisis. They discovered its realness and they discovered the will to pretend to care about it together. For Australia, depressingly, this counts as an improvement.
Honest Government Ad | COP26 Climate Summit
The Australien Government has made an ad for the COP26 UN Climate Summit, and it’s surprisingly honest and informative.
Government shows commitment to reducing waste by developing environmental policy on back of envelope – satire
Saying it didn’t want to use any more resources than strictly necessary, the Coalition has revealed its net zero environmental plan was developed using just the back of an old envelope and a half-used children’s crayon.
COP26 cop out – cartoon
Peter Broelman
Victoria
Indigenous farmers ‘doing the hard work’
A group of Indigenous farmers are using their traditional knowledge of fire and land management to improve farming techniques.
Tens of thousands of Victorians without power as wind damage clean-up continues
About 85,000 Victorians are still without power and could be waiting days for reconnection, as authorities warn wild weather could hit again next weekend.
New South Wales
Turf wars erupt over the use of synthetic surfaces in parks
Residents across Sydney are fighting local councils over the use of fake grass in public spaces, as Planning Minister Rob Stokes launches an inquiry into the use of synthetic surfaces.
‘Woollahra is full’: The battle to stop more homes in one of Sydney’s wealthiest areas
“Sewage and stormwater systems are literally imploding,” said councillor Luise Elsing, warning housing would be an election issue.
South Australia
Dolphin detectives and the controversial case on Port River [$]
A fourth – and highly contentious – dolphin sanctuary death was far from an ordinary event for the people tasked with protecting the creatures. Now their search for answers continues.
‘Did my duty’: Mayor won’t sell out parks for Marshall’s arena [$]
A war of words has erupted after the real estate lobby slammed Adelaide’s Lord Mayor for her pivotal role in rejecting the Premier’s flagship election pledge.
Leading the charge: Flinders to invest in batteries, electric cars [$]
Flinders is working to take its massive use of energy off grid, with plans to invest in batteries and electric cars. Meanwhile Sanjeev Gupta’s solar plans are back on track.
Tasmania
Underwater world a delight for divers [$]
Past fishing practices had left this marine environment nearly devoid of life. But now, 30 years after it was protected, “a whole new world” has emerged under the waves.
Northern Territory
‘Delightful’ find of tiny marsupial that sucks out prey’s brains, but is itself threatened
A group of rangers, researchers and schoolkids were thrilled to discover a threatened brush-tailed mulgara during a fauna survey at Uluru Kata-Tjuta National Park in the heart of Australia.
NT resources to play key role in transition to greener technology [$]
THE Northern Territory’s resource industry can play a key role in the transition to greener technologies, according to the head of the NT Geological Survey.
Sustainability
Warming climate will increase number of harmful algae blooms
A new study shows how changes in light conditions have a significant influence on the growth and impact of harmful algae blooms.
Crimes Against Nature: $2m whales, wartime Britain and the economics of saving the planet
Jeff Sparrow
We can respond to environmental crisis with good planning, Jeff Sparrow writes in an extract from his book
Hertz’s supercharged Tesla deal could haul us into the electric vehicle age
John Naughton
The firm’s agreement to buy 100,000 cars from Elon Musk’s company could change people’s minds about EVs for good
Climate change has blinded our focus to Earth’s ‘chemical tsunami’
Bob Douglas
Our current preoccupation with climate change and the COVID pandemic leaves our human world largely disengaged from a group of other threats to our future that have been the subject of a series of important books by Canberra science writer, Julian Cribb.
Meanders in river beds help the climate
River beds that can shift naturally are more efficient carbon sinks than straightened rivers
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