Post of the Day
Heads of State, senior government officials and other stakeholders from 62 countries will convene from 23 to 27 May at the 78th session of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) to shape the future of regional cooperation to advance the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and deliver on the promise of leaving no one behind.
On This Day
Saint Andrew the First-Called Day – Georgia
Ecological Observation
Environmental Education Day – Russia
International Day of Plant Health
Climate Change
IBA report recommends new policies to mitigate climate change
Research published by the International Bar Association (IBA) has set out the critical legal aspects of climate change adaptation and how, specifically, policy can play a crucial role in strengthening resilience and shaping the effectiveness of reducing people’s vulnerability to the harmful effects of climate change.
Do not use Ukraine war to defer climate goals, warns Mark Carney
UN climate envoy says world cannot afford to derail progress because of energy crisis linked to invasion
National
FACTS report highlights emissions ‘failure’ without transport plan
Switching to electric cars, vans and buses is the easiest route to cleaner transport but Australia needs to get in the fast lane with a national plan, a report warns.
Barnaby Joyce denies coal stance hurting Coalition
Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce has denied the Nationals’ stance on climate change and coal exports is damaging the Coalition vote in inner-city seats needed to form government.
Greens’ bold environmental policy is what our oceans need
The Greens’ ambitious plan to halt the tide of extinctions by 2030 in Australia is a bold and welcome policy that will supercharge essential environmental protections this decade, the Australian Marine Conservation Society (AMCS) says.
Top Australian writers call for climate action to be at the centre of election
Kate Grenville, Helen Garner and Tony Birch join more than 60 authors in new Writers for Climate Action group
AEMO identifies new system strength shortfalls with early coal exit
AEMO declares new system strength shortfalls in NSW and Victoria, and will turn to advanced inverters and syncons to solve them.
Plans by the federal government to develop a “clean” hydrogen industry in Australia have been branded greenwashing by critics who say taxpayer money is being used to subsidise fossil fuel activities.
Australia has some of the largest critical mineral reserves in the world, but it’s missing out on potentially huge profits. That’s where a domestic electric vehicle industry could come in.
Bruce Mountain
Electricity prices in the short-term (“spot”) wholesale markets in Australia are surging again
‘Net zero is dead’ — so is the Coalition we used to know
Joel Jenkins
This Government seems to have broken a fundamental continuity that has defined the Coalition since Robert Menzies.
What Ministers in a new Government should do – climate change, China-US relations and our region
Geoff Miller
Three priority areas for the new Australian Government to be elected on May 21 are climate change; a strategy for the Asia-Pacific, including relations between China, the US and ourselves; and greater attention to the region around us, including in particular South East Asia and the South Pacific, where we should work closely with New Zealand.
Disconnect: Climate change and the Australian election
David Karoly
Climate change is one of the top issues for the majority of Australian voters, so why are the major parties ignoring it ahead of the election?
Greens voter exhausted from constantly being right – satire
The Shovel
A Greens voter from Newtown says being right about absolutely everything takes its toll, but he doesn’t see a break coming any time soon.
So many unreleased ‘secret’ government reports! How much worse could everything be? – cartoon
First Dog on the Moon
Do we need ANY MORE PROOF this government is a custard filled vat of incompetent angry sharks? WE DO NOT!
Victoria
Victoria tops list for land clearing
Victoria has the most native vegetation cleared proportional to land mass of any Australian state and it is failing to offset the damage caused, the state’s auditor-general says.
Coalition’s ‘fake’ $1.6b Victorian project pledge panned by Labor
Labor infrastructure spokeswoman Catherine King says the Morrison government doesn’t care about building infrastructure, they just want to pick fights.
Activists halt timber salvaging [$]
Protesters are stopping contractors trying to salvage some of the 500,000 tonnes of fallen timber in the Wombat Forest.
New South Wales
Old coal mine reopens in NSW to ‘keep bread on the table’
There is hope the reopening of a coal mine could revitalise a “deserted little town” on the outskirts of Lithgow despite plans to transition away from the fossil fuel.
Young waterbirds take flight over New South Wales
The courtship is over, the chick rearing is almost done and a new generation of waterbirds is taking to the skies over inland New South Wales.
‘We will believe it when we see it’: the unanswered questions surrounding the Dungowan Dam
Funding for the project has blown out to $1.275bn, but Tamworth locals are still in the dark about where the water will come from and who will control it
Australia’s first battery giga-factory nearly complete, signs up local suppliers
Australia’s first giga-scale battery manufacturing facility is nearing completion and has signed up three new Australian suppliers to ensure near 100% locally made components.
Stephen Healy and Abby Mellick Lopes
Cost of living is a major focus in this election campaign, and yet political leaders have been unacceptably silent on the disproportionate impact of climate change on Australians with low incomes. This is particularly true for Western Sydney, home to around 2.5 million people.
ACT
Federal Labor walks back its light rail pledge for Woden link [$]
Federal Labor has abandoned a promise to pump in $200 million to extend light rail to Woden
SEE-Change share in $155,000 of Community Zero Emissions Grants
Until recently, the Super Shed at Canberra City Farm was just a regular shed: cold, old and good for gathering cobwebs.
Queensland
The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority annual snapshot details how the 2021-22 summer led to a mass bleaching event of coral.
Dire coral bleaching figures show how Morrison Government has failed Great Barrier Reef
Damage to more than 90 percent of the Great Barrier Reef during the most recent mass bleaching event is another damning indictment of the Morrison Government, which has failed to protect the Reef and exacerbated the problem through its support of fossil fuels, says Greenpeace Australia Pacific.
Devastating reef snapshot shows increased climate ambition must be top priority for next government
The Australian Marine Conservation Society (AMCS) is calling for both major parties to drastically increase their 2030 emissions reductions targets in response to this latest mass bleaching event, the fourth since 2016 and the first in a La Nina year, which is usually characterised by cooler, cloudier conditions.
Sacred sites being put at risk due to native title law, Queensland review told
Push to stop native title claimants being automatically treated as authorities on cultural heritage
Open the gates: Dam releases begin as north Queensland deluge claims its first life
A woman has died after the car she was in became submerged in floodwaters triggered by days of torrential rain in north Queensland.
New threat to Queensland coal as Nippon Steel shifts to hydrogen
Japan’s biggest steel maker and a major buyer of Queensland’s coal, Nippon Steel, has announced it would supply carbon neutral steel by 2024.
More rain coming after Queensland weather event turns deadly
Queensland is set to endure more rain and flooding after a woman was killed in floodwaters yesterday.
Queensland inks deal to supply green hydrogen to major European port
Queensland secures key co-operation agreement with a major European port, with ambitions of kick-starting green hydrogen exports.
SA renewables surge bringing down energy prices, but consumers miss out
Wind and solar have delivered “substantially lower” wholesale electricity prices in South Australia, but it has yet to flow through to consumers.
Tasmania
Legal organisations condemn Tasmanian anti-protest bill
Following the proposal of a new anti-protest law in Tasmania, a number of legal groups have voiced concerns – calling the bill “unnecessary and undemocratic”.
‘No complaints’: Parks defend flights on iconic Tassie lake [$]
“Keep choppers and greed out of our public places”: Tasmania’s Parks has defended the operation of seaplanes at a world-famous lake as conservationists hit back.
Tasmanians to be slugged with 3.5pc increase to water bills
In another hit to cost of living pressures, Tasmanians’ water bills will increase by 3.5 per cent from July this year, and each year for the next four years.
Western Australia
Livelihoods cut short as logging ban forces mill to shut earlier than expected
Heartache follows the closure of a WA sawmill after 70 years of operation, as workers are told to down tools and go home days ahead of expected shutdown.
‘Our ancestors are in the rocks’: Australian gas project threatens ancient carvings – and emissions blowout
Custodians of petroglyphs in remote north-west say Woodside’s $12bn ‘carbon bomb’ spells disaster for culture and climate
Nighttime BAN considered for e-scooters over safety fears
Perth’s biggest council could soon impose an overnight curfew on e-scooter riders.
Cockburn set to slap contentious ban on mountain bike track
Despite having once entertained the idea of setting up designated mountain bike tracks at Manning Park, the City of Cockburn is now likely to ban them all together
Sustainability
Heads of State, senior government officials and other stakeholders from 62 countries will convene from 23 to 27 May at the 78th session of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) to shape the future of regional cooperation to advance the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and deliver on the promise of leaving no one behind.
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