Date: 2 November 2021 at 8:57:08 am AEDT
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Subject: Daily Links Nov 2
Post of the Day
Factbox: COP26: What would success look like at the climate summit?
Making a final assessment of the progress achieved over the two weeks of the COP26 talks in Glasgow will be complex. Unlike past climate summits, the event won’t deliver a new treaty or one big “win”.
On This Day
All Souls’ Day – Western Christianity
Erdogan skips Glasgow climate summit in security dispute
President Tayyip Erdogan cancelled plans to attend the global climate conference in Glasgow on Monday because Britain failed to meet Turkey’s demands on security arrangements, Turkish media quoted him as saying.
Big business ‘sniffs’ the green dollar at COP26
Climate change is now just as much an economic challenge as it is a scientific one..
Stop, drop and COP: What you need to know about the big climate summit
Canary Media’s cheat sheet for the pivotal climate talks underway now in Glasgow, Scotland.
Rising sea levels force villagers to leave coastal areas in Bangladesh
Year after year of devastating floods has washed away homes and crops in villages in northern Bangladesh, disrupting food supply and forcing thousands to resettle into the cities.
‘We are digging our own graves’: world leaders’ powerful words at Cop26
The sense of urgency was palpable on the opening day of the Glasgow climate summit
Narendra Modi pledges India will reach net zero emissions by 2070
Prime minister also makes major commitment to generating 500GW of non-fossil fuel energy by 2030
Xi Jinping makes no major climate pledges in written Cop26 address
President of China, world’s worst emissions source, calls for more support for developing countries
Biden urges action on climate change and vows US will ‘lead by example’
‘Right now, we are falling short,’ US president says, urging other world leaders to embark upon a shift to clean energy
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
How much are countries pledging to reduce emissions?
The newest plans by countries to fight climate change still fall short of what scientists say is necessary. Here’s what the 10 biggest emitters have promised.
Don’t be fooled by Bolsonaro’s pledges
Brazil’s climate commitments and policies fall far short of what is needed to address the environmental and human rights crisis in the Amazon rainforest.
COP26 was inaccessible for Israeli minister in wheelchair
Israel’s energy minister was unable to participate in the United Nation’s COP26 summit in Glasgow on Monday because the transportation offered to her was not accessible by wheelchair, she said in a TV interview.
Fight over climate cash boils over at Glasgow summit [$]
A row over money between the rich West and the developing world has overshadowed the opening of the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, as leaders of poor countries excoriated their wealthy peers for failing to open their wallets.
Too many tagalongs, too high a carbon footprint at COP26
Many COP26 attendees are bag carriers, professional lobbyists and other inessential extras. Better for them to attend digitally.
The Queen says the world has the chance to join together to create a safer and more stable future, and must do this for “our children’s children and those who will follow in their footsteps”.
Joe Manchin may not have destroyed the world after all
But now a lot will need to go exactly according to plan, an influential climate model suggests.
Factbox: COP26: What would success look like at the climate summit?
Making a final assessment of the progress achieved over the two weeks of the COP26 talks in Glasgow will be complex. Unlike past climate summits, the event won’t deliver a new treaty or one big “win”.
Is it worth trying to sway the most staunch climate deniers?
A researcher surveyed 645 Americans about their beliefs on climate change — whether or not those beliefs are informed by fact or fiction — to assess their communication behaviors about climate change.
A new study from WCS and multiple partners that modeled changes in the world’s 45 different “life zones” from climate change revealed that climate impacts may soon triple over these areas if the earth continues “business-as-usual” emissions.
How to limit global warming to 1.5C
Scientists have defined the remaining global carbon budget for the 12 main industry and service sectors to limit global warming to 1.5C by 2050 and implement the Paris Climate Agreement. The new research provides energy-related carbon budgets, including tiers of responsibility for greenhouse gas emissions, for the aluminium, chemical, cement, steel and textile and leather industries, power and gas utilities, agriculture, forestry, the aviation and shipping industry, road transport and the real estate and building industry.
Michael Slezak
The crucial COP26 climate conference in Glasgow has been declared to be dead by some before it even starts after the G20 nations failed to deliver any strong commitments at their Rome meeting. But such pronouncements may be premature
Caitlin Byrne and Susan Harris Rimmer
The G20 summit in Rome concluded over the weekend with a disappointing outcome for Earth’s climate.
What climate change activists can learn from First Nations campaigns against the fossil fuel industry
Jacqui Katona and Lily O’Neill
As the Glasgow climate conference begins, and the time we have to avert a climate crisis narrows, it is time to revisit successful First Nations campaigns against the fossil fuel industry.
New Zealand’s new climate pledge is a step up, but not a ‘fair share’
Robert McLachlan
As the Glasgow climate summits gets underway, New Zealand’s government has announced a revised pledge, with a headline figure of a 50% reduction on gross 2005 emissions by the end of this decade.
Glasgow talkfest has net-zero credibility [$]
Adam Creighton
The 25,000 attendees descending on Glasgow’s climate conference can rest easy that the carbon dioxide emissions generated by their business-class flights won’t be counted towards their governments’ national emissions totals.
Global unity crucial to establishing fair carbon price system [$]
Mathias Cormann
We need a transition to net-zero emissions by 2050 that is effective and fair.
Prince Charles tells G20 leaders: Our responsibility now to guarantee future of planet [$]
Prince of Wales
There is no issue more pressing than the future health of our planet and the people who inhabit it.
Why the price of carbon credits is ‘going to the moon’
Jacob Greber
This week’s UN climate summit in Glasgow is helping put a rocket under the global market for carbon credits, which have surged to record levels. Last Friday alone, as world leaders began making their way to Scotland, prices for carbon credits leapt 10 per cent.
National
The enterprise making carbon neutrality possible for charities
“We’d like to see all NFPs carbon neutral by 2030”
Australia now has nearly 1kW of solar per capita after smashing year of rooftop installs
Australia now has nearly 1kW of solar installed for every person in the country, thanks to a record year of rooftop installations.
Pacific Islanders call on Australian Government for stronger climate action
Australia must make a strong and serious case at Glasgow to cut carbon emissions to give its Pacific neighbours hope of avoiding a catastrophic temperature increase above 1.5°C degrees, according to the Pacific Islands Association of Non-Government Organisations (PIANGO).
Design principles to guide Indo-Pacific Carbon Offsets Scheme
The Indo-Pacific Carbon Offsets Scheme has reached a new milestone by developing 4 draft design principles.
Trade and investment critical in decarbonising world
With trade and investment now significant for driving global climate action, the Climate Change Authority today releases an overview of key trends and what they mean for Australia.
After the worst bushfires in history tore through the Southeast QLD and Northeast NSW two years ago, natural resource managers across Southeast Queensland and the Northern Rivers have secured over $160,000 of Landcare funding to coordinate a massive strike on destructive cane toad populations.
Australian farmers to benefit from new climate tool
Australian farmers are set to benefit from a new climate outlook tool released today by the Bureau of Meteorology.
Carbon farming potential overhyped in government’s net zero plan: experts
The government’s long-term emissions reduction plan says up to 100 million tonnes of carbon could be offset by farmers. But experts say this is assumption is “grossly exaggerated”.
‘Marginalised’: Australia’s frosty reception on global warming at COP26
With the G20 talks failing to add momentum to COP26 climate talks as expected, nervous observers hope the urgency of the climate crisis pushes world leaders.
Morrison outlines $2 billion funding pledge to UN climate summit
Setting out a “cause for optimism” to the COP26 summit in Glasgow, the Prime Minister said Australia had pledged $2 billion to do its part to help limit the rise in global temperatures.
Pacific nations need carbon cuts from Australia, not just cash: Fiji president
Fijian Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama has told Scott Morrison that coal has no place in this century’s economy during a meeting at climate talks in Glasgow, and that Pacific island nations expect more from the Australian government on climate.
PM’s plan for net zero emissions fails to convince AFR readers
A survey of readers of The Australian Financial Review has found most believe the Morrison government’s plan for net zero by 2050 is not up to scratch.
What is Australia bringing to COP26?
The Australia Institute
While COP26 this November is focused on ratcheting up short-term ambition it must also finalise the ‘Paris Agreement rulebook’ including on carbon markets, climate finance and adaptation.
Morrison Government humiliates Australia at G20
Alan Austin
As Prime Minister Scott Morrison met world leaders in Rome on Saturday, he represented a country a shadow of its former self.
Never mind climate plan nonsense — feel the politics. (And the press gallery falls for it)
Christopher Warren
The media seem to have decided the climate policy is second in importance to whether Scott Morrison can pull off another election win.
Opportunities for traditional owners in the carbon economy
Loulou Gebbie et al
Empowering Indigenous land management through emissions reductions and the carbon economy will have the best outcomes for people and the environment
Morrison fumbles in Rome, but his main game is to block progress at Glasgow
Michael Mazengarb
Morrison’s mishandling of major international relationships has come back to bite the PM, as Australia isolated on the eve of COP26.
The Morrison government’s emissions projections are a farce based on technological pipe dreams
Greg Jericho
If you examine the figures rather than the media release, it’s clear the Coalition has given up on the Paris agreement
Michael Mann and Christopher Wright
Given the Coalition’s history of defending fossil fuels, what are we to make of their belated climate commitment? Overall, it appears the song remains the same
When it comes to existential threats, it pays to remember we’ve all been here before
Robert MacDonald
Decarbonsation is just the latest existential threat to the Australian economy. From the UK’s joining the European Common Market to the end of high tariffs and the floating of the dollar we’ve survived them all thanks to detailed strategies, not just pork barrelling and talk of a rosy future.
COP26: Australia’s lack of plan for net zero will be revealed
Freya Cole
Like cramming the night before a big exam, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has rushed out a last-minute net zero plan five days before this critical climate conference.
Unlike the COVID crisis, Australia is failing to lead on climate
Hugh Evans
A net zero emissions plan that embodies the Australian Way would respond to the climate crisis with the urgency it demands.
How Australia’s coal country past is scuppering its renewable energy future
Lee White
The crucial climate change summit in Glasgow has just begun, and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison is bringing his widely criticised plan for net-zero emissions by 2050 to the negotiating table.
Ignore green propaganda, Australia leads the way on climate action [$]
Christopher Pyne
Too many countries are all talk, no action when it comes to climate change targets. Australia is the opposite.
At least here we won’t be ordered to eat less meat [$]
Judith Sloan
Last week’s decision by the federal government to adopt a net-zero emissions by 2050 target led to a mixed reaction, ranging from antipathy to support. Much of the discussion revolved around the approach of technology, not taxes, and the failure to release any formal modelling.
The road to net zero passes through nuclear power [$]
Nyunggai Warren Mundine
Opposition to nuclear power is on par with unscientific anti-vax conspiracy theories, and just encourages reliance on coal.
How Morrison stifles carbon market forces [$]
Craig Emerson
If the federal government can’t do anything constructive on climate change, it should at least get out of the way of those who can.
Blaming leaders lets our materialism off the hook
Letters
Age readers discuss the Glasgow climate summit and Australia’s climate action plan.
Out-liar – cartoon
Cathy Wilcox
Victoria
In search of a stable life: Plan to rehome hundreds of brumbies from Victorian Alps
Parks Victoria will remove all the Bogong High Plains brumbies, and increase the removal rate of feral horses from the eastern Alps, under a plan to protect vulnerable species.
Brumbies to be shot in Victoria’s Alps [$]
Rural communities are up in arms over plans to shoot Victoria’s iconic Alpine brumbies, just days after the Melbourne Cup.
New South Wales
Illawarra Microfactorie to turn waste glass and old mattresses into kitchen counters
Federal Minister for the Environment Sussan Ley and Senator for New South Wales Jim Molan today visited the West Nowra Waste and Recycling Depot and met with staff from the Shoalhaven City Council to discuss the progress of its $1 million Microfactorie, supported through the national Recycling Modernisation Fund.
Drone trial to control destructive weed
The Illawarra District Weeds Authority’s Bitou Bush management operations this week will use a more innovative and targeted approach using drones to target the invasive weed.
Council supports ecotourism industry with fee waiver
Blue Mountains Council is continuing to lend its support to the ecotourism industry to ease the financial burden following COVID-19 restrictions.
ACT
Elizabeth Lee will attend COP26 Glasgow climate conference, hoping to learn from world experts
ACT Opposition Leader Elizabeth Lee will attend the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, saying she hopes to learn from world-leading experts what could be implemented in Canberra to further cut the capital’s emissions.
First stage of Mt Isa solar farm gets green light after supply deal with zinc miner
First big solar farm to be built in Mt Isa grid after APA lands a 15-year supply contract with a local zinc miner.
Queensland already counting the cost of climate change
Queensland communities were already being forced to not only accept climate change but adapt to it and deal with issues like running out of water or if it was already too hot to stay, according to research by Griffith University.
Extinction Rebellion protesters arrested after CBD bridge stunt [$]
Police have removed and arrested four Extinction Rebellion protesters who shut down William Jolly Bridge in the Brisbane CBD this morning.
$60b bonanza: Coal a dirty word but still earning big for Qld [$]
About $60 billion in mining projects are driving the state’s economic engine room right now, the vast bulk related to coal.
A reef in two gears: New patterns of coral recovery discovered
Combining an innovative approach developed for medical sciences mathematicians and marine ecologists have identified new coral recovery patterns in the Great Barrier Reef, providing critical information for the management of the reef.
South Australia
Santos approves $220m Moomba carbon storage after federal approval of ‘handout’
Gas producer Santos has given the go-ahead to a $220 million project to store carbon dioxide in South Australia after the Federal Government allowed it to receive carbon credits that have been criticised as a fossil fuel handout.
Tasmania
Tasmania’s public forestry enterprise clearfelled more old growth forest in the last financial year compared with the year before, but the amount of old growth that was partially logged slightly decreased
IO Performance stages Kill Climate Deniers
Just as a classic rock band takes the stage in Parliament House, 96 armed eco-terrorists storm the building and take the government hostage. They threaten to execute everyone unless Australia ends global warming. That is the plot for Kill Climate Deniers, a script that IO Performance will stage from November 2-6 and again from November 10-13.
Curious Climate Schools Project
Today, to mark the start of COP26 UN climate summit in Glasgow, University of Tasmania climate researchers are launching an unprecedented online resource on climate change for young people in Tasmania.
Western Australia
Snowy Hydro 2.0 — but ‘much, much’ smaller
An energy storage project dubbed the world’s smallest version of the Snowy Mountains hydroelectric power plant is taking shape in Western Australia.
Andrew Forrest’s Fortescue faces investor clash on Aboriginal heritage
Billionaire Andrew Forrest’s Fortescue Metals Group is coming under mounting pressure from large investors to campaign for serious Aboriginal heritage reforms.
Blue sky spin and bias hides toxic legacy
Wayne Bergmann and Clinton Wolf
Imagine if someone rented your house, threw multiple parties, pulled paint from the walls, ruined the carpets and destroyed the house entirely. Then when their tenancy was up, they handed the keys back with no compensation, no repairs or replacements, and no accountability? You’d want, at the very least, to use the bond to repair it to a liveable condition.
Solar and wind keep getting cheaper, and crush coal, gas and nuclear on costs: Lazard
Latest LCOE report from Lazard confirms that wind and solar by far the cheapest of all energy sources, and cost of storage is falling too.
South Africa has one of the most coal-intensive economies in the world. Can it change?
South Africa, which has one of the world’s most coal-intensive economies, wants to move to renewables. But South Africa’s debt-laden, state-owned utility can’t get rid of coal plants without international help from governments and investors.
How to reduce microplastic shedding from laundry
You can make your clothes last longer and keep microplastics out of the environment. Follow these tips to keep these tiny plastic fibers where they belong.
Is bacteria the future of oil spill and radioactive waste cleanup? – video
The Deepwater Horizon spill in 2010 released millions of tons of oil into the ocean. As governments and the oil industry were trying to clean up the disaster, bacteria were already hard at work. In this episode of Reactions, our host, Sam, creates an oil spill at home and puts bacteria to the test
Five priorities for managing nitrogen pollution
Xia (Emma) Liang et al
Nitrogen is essential for life on Earth, but excess can damage the environment. Researchers recommend five areas of focus for management: Production, People, Planet, Policy and Partnerships
Sophie Arnold
The incredible global impact of the coronavirus pandemic has made everyone aware of the urgent need for action to ensure people’s basic needs are met; that the planet is made secure from the effects of climate change and that our future world is healthier, safer, fairer and more prosperous.
The impacts of greater ESG performance
Dr Kaushik Sridhar
Environmental, social and governance (ESG) analysis can be complex.
A month-by-month cavalcade of eco-bloopers
Peter Dykstra
Think a river running with whiskey sounds fun? Would you like to get up close and personal with the Dave Matthews Band? This roundup may make you think again.
How ocean ecosystems help fight climate change
Understanding how key players such as whales, plankton, seagrasses and other forms of sea life interact sheds light on Earth’s carbon cycle.
Study shows how 1.5°C temperature rise can cause significant changes in coastal species
As COP26 leaders gather in the UK, new research shows a temperature increase of around 1.5°C — just under the maximum target agreed at the COP23 Paris meeting in 2017 — can have a marked impact on algae and animal species living on our coastlines.
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