Post of the Day
Women leading the fight against climate change
Women and girls are disproportionately impacted by climate change. But they are also at the forefront of global efforts fighting for change
Women leading the fight against climate change
Women and girls are disproportionately impacted by climate change. But they are also at the forefront of global efforts fighting for change
6 African women shaping climate conversation
Women in the Global South are disproportionately impacted by the current climate crisis – yet, women are traditionally excluded from decision-making in many cultural contexts across the African continent.
Six key lifestyle changes can help avert the climate crisis, study finds
Research shows that governments and individuals making small changes can have a huge impact in reducing emissions
Do carbon capture and utilization cut emissions?
Just one form of carbon capture and utilization makes the cut when looking at necessary emission cuts for the world’s 2050 climate goals.
Climate mitigation measures could impact food security, study finds
Many countries have set carbon neutrality as a policy goal, but according to a new study, there are various risks associated with the reduction of greenhouse gases, especially in the agriculture, forestry, and land use sectors, that need to be considered when formulating mitigation strategies.
Higher risk of temperature-related death if global warming exceeds 2°C
The death rate linked to extreme temperatures will increase significantly under global warming of 2°C, finds a new report.
Our climate solutions are failing – and Big Oil’s fingerprints are all over them
Amy Westervelt
For the first time, a IPCC report has acknowledged the role of misinformation. But it still doesn’t name the culprits
Australian carbon market routed after Taylor’s shock intervention
Australian carbon credit units lose a quarter of their value in a single day, after the Morrison government announced a surprise intervention.
Experts warn ‘horse has bolted’ with floodplain developments, leaving communities at risk
Experts say devastating flooding on Australia’s east coast highlights the need for better urban planning, with more intense and frequent weather events expected.
Australia’s forest industries have again stressed the urgent need for more timber and wood fibre to be grown locally as the world’s largest international forestry certifier, Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) announces restrictions on all timber from Russia and Belarus.
AGL Energy chief executive uncertain if takeover bid is really over
Mike Cannon-Brookes tweeted on Sunday that Grok Ventures and Brookfield were ‘putting our pens down’
‘Open the books’: AGL urged to re-engage bidders amid demerger doubts
Power giant AGL is facing significant investor doubts about its proposed demerger and is being urged to re-engage with tech billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes and Canada’s Brookfield over their takeover offer.
The 42-year-old Atlassian co-founder has been making headlines trying to execute what he called the biggest decarbonisation project in the world.
The east coast rain seems endless. Where on Earth is all the water coming from?
Chiara Holgate et al
At any one time, Earth’s atmosphere holds only about a week’s worth of rain. But rainfall and floods have devastated Australia’s eastern regions for weeks and more heavy rain is forecast. So where’s all this water coming from?
Rachel Withers
The PM pledges to keep Australians safe, but he can’t seem to protect them from (or prepare for) major disasters
We’ve known of the need for climate adaptation for a decade, but done nothing [$]
Bernard Keane
Australia’s disaster management funding and climate adaptation policies are abysmal. And we’ve know that for years, and done nothing.
AGL blinded by the short term, but Cannon-Brookes bid has changed future of energy
Giles Parkinson
Cannon-Brookes’ and Brookfield may have downed pens for now. But it won’t be for long because analysts are already turning against AGL’s plans
There’s no sense in rebuilding homes on flood plains [$]
Crispin Hull
The “Gladstone line” is likely to move further south after the catastrophic floods.
Saving the planet doesn’t come cheap: Cannon-Brookes’ tilt for AGL hits price wall
Elizabeth Knight
For the AGL board it was a decision based on shareholder value and history will judge whether the company played it well.
Our politicians have lost their moral compass on climate [$]
Adrian Blundell-Wignall
Australia’s carbon policy is little more than selling coal until somebody makes us stop. Only a carbon tax will curb our worst instincts.
Living in the eye of a climate storm
Peter Boyer
A couple of years ago, newspaper cartoonist Matt Golding depicted PM Scott Morrison in front of a smoke-obscured parliament house asking a handful of people, “Why should we take the lead in acting on climate change?” Their response: “Because we’re hosting it.”
The problem on the floodplain where we should not be building.
Chas Keys
After Lismore’s horrific flood, we simply must reconsider our approach to development on floodplains.
Mind the gap as both parties shape up on climate [$]
Judith Sloan
Some say policies are converging but in reality there is a chasm between the ALP and the Coalition on climate.
Power play fails on lack of detail [$]
Australian editorial
Government has a vital role to protect taxpayers and energy users.
First Dog on the Moon
The floods are not unlike the incredible and unprecedented fires three years ago
Victoria
Trial begins for VicForests accused of unlawful logging activity threatening wildlife
A wildlife group claims VicForests has acted unlawfully by undertaking lumbering in Victoria, accusing the state-owned business of causing further damage to wildlife habitat after bushfires in 2019 and 2020.
Greens introduce bill to ban offshore drilling in Victoria
The Victorian Greens will today introduce a Bill that would ban offshore drilling for fossil fuels like oil and gas in Victoria.
U-turn as state Libs adopt net zero target
Victoria’s Liberal opposition has shifted its stance on climate change, saying it now supports a net zero emissions target by 2050 and will take up the fight to the Andrews government on its environmental credentials.
East West Link road still on federal books, Frydenberg keeps billions aside
Billions of dollars to build the East West Link will be included in the federal budget later this month, more than seven years and two elections after Labor torpedoed plans for the controversial road.
Victoria’s offshore wind plan is biggest thing since Loy Yang. Shame the media missed it
Bruce Mountain
We are living through a revolution in energy policy in Australia. I cannot recall when last I sat down to write a column with as much relish as this one.
New South Wales
Council goes green in 100% renewable energy deal
Port Stephens Council will be powered by the sun under a landmark agreement that will see 100% solar energy supplied to more than 1940 streetlights, libraries, sports fields and other sites across the region.
Second major fish kill uncovered in Parramatta River [$]
A second major fish kill in Parramatta River in as many months has left locals confused and angered that more dead river life has washed ashore.
Red tape stalls Warragamba Dam wall plan [$]
As homes in Western Sydney fill with water the plans to raise the wall of Warragamba Dam remain mired in objections and red tape that have stopped work for almost three decades.
A difficult berth: Port Kembla will resist the arrival of nuclear subs
Glenn Mitchell
The proposal to use Port Kembla as a potential site for a nuclear subs base will reignite local concerns about militarisation and environmental destruction.
Nuclear subs base will put Port Kembla on the map … a big, fat targeting map
John Hanscombe
Just in from the Ministry of Announcements: a $10 billion nuclear submarine base coming to either Brisbane, Newcastle or Port Kembla. Oh, goody.
A subs base in Newcastle or Port Kembla would play to NSW’s strengths
SMH editorial
The construction and operation of a submarine base in Newcastle or Port Kembla would transform either city. It would also deliver long-term benefits to the NSW economy.
ACT
ACT sporting fixtures at Manuka Oval, Canberra Stadium to shed single-use plastics as ban expands
Single-use plastics will be banned at sporting fixtures at Manuka Oval and Canberra Stadium, with the ACT government moving to expand its efforts to outlaw the harmful environmental pollutants.
Queensland
By the numbers: The scale of Queensland’s flood recovery
An array of flood recovery packages were unveiled at the weekend, with more than 26,600 disaster support claims already made.
The “mammoth task” of kerbside collection and emptying large temporary waste sites is underway across Brisbane, its Lord Mayor says, and it will continue until the flood-damaged debris is all gone
Schwarto is wrong. The Greens don’t hate miners [$]
Penny Allman-Payne
Robert Schwarten made a lot of wild claims in his column last week – most of them wrong.
South Australia
Politicians vow to fight for Frome Road trees
Independent, Greens and Labor politicians this morning pledged to save a pair of century-old London Plane trees located near Lot Fourteen on one of the CBD’s leafiest streets.
Tasmania
Aquaculture industry a garbage generator
Tasmanian salmon farms reported a whopping ninety cubic tonnes of plastic marine debris from their industrial salmon cages in 2021 alone. The industry plans to install hectares of additional plastic netting downstream of each farm.
Pedder Unplugged – ‘In the spirit of Olegas’
Pedder Unplugged is a new podcast series all about Tasmania’s Lake Pedder, told by the legendary Pedder people themselves.
Pitt uses Russian invasion to justify another handout for gas drilling in Beetaloo Basin
Keith Pitt provides another $7.5 million handout to the gas industry to drill for gas in the Beetaloo Basin, using Europe energy crisis as justification.
Government funds Northern Land Council to deliver in Beetaloo
The Australian Government will provide the Northern Land Council (NLC) with $2.1 million to conduct on-country engagement with Traditional Owners and Native Title holders in the Northern Territory’s Beetaloo Sub-Basin.
Sustainability
UNECE and Geneva Cities Hub strengthen their cooperation for sustainable urban development
From the climate crisis to inequalities, urban areas play an increasingly central role in tackling key sustainable development challenges.
Gas stoves emit pollution even when not in use
It is widely known that gas production and transportation both result in methane leakage, but a new study found that appliances, such as stoves, leak dangerous methane – even when they are not being used.
China vows new incentives to cut pollution, CO2, but says ‘stability’ paramount
China will introduce new incentives to cut pollution and carbon emissions this year, but flexibility and stability remain the country’s top priorities as economic pressures mount.
Safer, more powerful batteries for electric cars, power grid
Solid-state batteries with little liquid electrolyte are safer than lithium-ion batteries
Pollution and our mental health
An under-researched field exploring the intersection of pollution and mental health is gaining momentum as evidence mounts that environmental pollutants damage every organ in our bodies—including our brains.
Looking at new North Sea gas supplies may not be palatable but is pragmatic
Nils Pratley
If the UK is going to need gas well into the 2030s, it would surely be better to get it close to home
Climate crisis: Amazon rainforest tipping point is looming, data shows
Analysis of satellite observations show forest is losing stability with ‘profound’ global implications
The squit and the whale: Can artificial faeces revive the ocean ecosystem?
In a few weeks an international group of scientists will launch an unusual marine research project. They will dust the surface of the Indian Ocean with artificial whale faeces.
Some corals can be conditioned to tolerate heat, study finds
Corals subjected to a stressful regime of exceptionally warm water in the laboratory came to be more tolerant of high temperatures, according to new research that offers another possible tool for preserving ailing coral reefs.
Wealthy Venezuelans are building mansions in a national park
President Nicolas Maduro is proposing taking over protected land and turning small towns into the nation’s first “communal city.”
Bill to protect Okefenokee Swamp from mining dead in Georgia General Assembly
Bipartisan legislation to ban mining near the Okefenokee Swamp has fallen by the wayside, despite the backing of some of the most powerful members of the Georgia House of Representatives.
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