Post of the Day
After a decade in the wilderness, Labor still lost on the environment
Mike Foley
The Albanese government has emerged from a near decade in opposition without a plan to tackle the slow train wreck that is Australia’s extinction crisis.
On This Day
Ecological Observance
National Tree Planting Day – Central African Republic
Climate Change
The world is experiencing extreme weather events like never before. What can be done?
Severe weather events seem to be unfolding more frequently and with greater intensity than ever before. What’s the cause and what can be done to limit their impact?
Global calls to focus on addressing climate change as EU swelters amid severe heat
A two-day climate gathering in Berlin is being seen as an opportunity to rebuild trust between rich and poor nations ahead of November’s United Nations climate summit in Egypt.
Green Climate Fund approves new projects in Benin and Gambia
The Board of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) have approved $60 million in funding to support climate-resilient projects in Benin and the Gambia promoting sustainable practices in vulnerable rural communities of these countries.
Carbon captured and stored since 1996 is significant but overestimated by up to 30 per cent
This is according to a new report from Imperial College London published today in Environmental Science & Technology Letters. The researchers compared estimations of stored carbon with official reports, and found that the reports lead to overestimates of actual carbon stored by 19-30 per cent.
Research reveals environmental injustice is key to decoding climate change debate
A new study from researchers at the University of Miami (UM) Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science found that Miami’s history of environmental injustice was the key to understanding why different groups were often talking at cross-purposes, leading to misunderstandings and disagreements about climate change and what they believe should be done about it.
Climate change is pushing hospitals to tipping point
The scramble to save lives is a challenging reality that many hospitals and medical workers are facing again this year as severe weather-related health emergencies escalate because of extreme climate events.
Biden could declare climate emergency as soon as this week, sources say
White House officials are scrambling to advance the president’s environmental agenda after talks with Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) stalled.
António Guterres warns that humanity faces ‘collective suicide’ over climate crisis
Secretary General António Guterres’ comments came as swaths of Europe faced dangerously high temperatures on Monday.
Climate politics are worse than you think
Paul Krugman
If only it were just about money.
National
Tanya Plibersek says the government will protect 30 per cent of land by 2030 — as it happened
Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek has addressed National Press Club following a five-yearly report into Australia’s climate, which she has described as “shocking” — as it happened.
Minister says meeting a key Murray-Darling Basin Plan milestone on time will be ‘next to impossible’
Australia’s Water Minister says it will be “next to impossible” to deliver a key component of the $13 billion Murray-Darling Basin Plan that would see more water left in the rivers to improve the environment.
Australia’s Energy Commodity Resources 2022 released
Australia’s status as a global energy powerhouse has been confirmed through the 2022 Australian Energy Commodity Resource (AECR) assessment.
Australia is facing an ‘environmental crisis’ so how is the government acting in response
After a new report painted a damning picture of environmental decline across Australia, Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek said stronger protection measures are needed, but has maintained more consultation is required before the new government takes action.
Farmers part of solution to reverse biodiversity decline
The National Farmers’ Federation (NFF) is calling for investment and collaboration to reverse declining biodiversity following the State of the Environment Report released today showing Australian biodiversity is suffering significant decline and remains under threat.
Sustainable forestry is part of solution to Australia’s environmental crisis
The State of the Environment report released today paints a sobering picture of the challenges facing the Australian landscape, and highlights the need for our sustainable forest industries to play a greater role in the solution, Australian Forest Products Association (AFPA) Chief Executive Officer Ross Hampton said.
Climate ‘trigger’ a must after shocking report: Pocock [$]
A “climate trigger” must be included in a shake-up of environmental protection laws, ACT independent senator David Pocock has said, after a damning report exposed the toll of global warming on Australia’s wildlife and natural surrounds.
Farmers warn against land grab [$]
Farmers have cautioned the government against ‘locking up land’ after Tanya Plibersek declared Labor would protect almost a third of Australia’s land and oceans by expanding national parks.
Greens will ruin climate consensus if they sink Labor’s 43% target, activist warns
‘We were in this place in 2007 and we watched it all go wrong,’ Labor and former Wilderness Society campaigner Felicity Wade says
‘Getting away with too much’: Market operator intervenes in gas market to stave off energy crisis
The Australian Energy Market Operator has triggered the gas supply guarantee, allowing it to order Queensland suppliers to send more gas to NSW to free up gas for Victorian power generation.
Tesla says world desperately needs more batteries – and not “hedged bet” on coal
Tesla chair says Australia should focus more on global need to scale battery storage “at sprinting pace,” and less on propping up ageing coal plants.
Nobel Prize winner’s pitch deals with power companies profiting as prices soar
As it warns of more cost-of-living rises, the government has been lobbied by a Nobel Prize-winning economist calling for a tax on power companies.
Labor’s cheaper power costs vow ‘arithmetically wrong’ [$]
Experts and economists say prices will only go higher as Labor pushes to drive more renewables into the grid.
Growing need for farm sustainability [$]
Australia’s agriculture sector is under pressure to embrace new technologies and environmentally sustainable farming techniques or be locked out of global markets.
Scientists worst fears reflected in report – video
Australian scientists say the State of the Environment report confirms many of their worst fears about the country’s degraded ecology. But many hope it will serve as the wake-up call needed to preserve and protect Australia’s unique flora and fauna.
Why a capacity mechanism will require revived Renewable Energy Target
Michael Mazengarb
Could a revival of the federal Renewable Energy Target be the ideal complement to a capacity mechanism to accelerate the transition to clean energy?
Dire environmental scorecard reflects climate impacts experienced by farmers on land
Farmers for Climate Action
The 2021 State of the Environment report released this week paints a dire picture of environmental harm that comes as no surprise to Australian farmers, who see first-hand the damage done by climate change.
3 lessons from Australia’s ‘climate wars’ and how we can finally achieve better climate policy
Rebecca Pearse
Last week, two influential environmental groups warned the Greens not to stymie progress on Australia’s climate policy. In an unusual intervention, Greenpeace and the Australian Conservation Foundation urged the Greens to “play a constructive role” with Labor or risk being blamed for holding climate policy back.
Laura Schuijers and Thomas Newsome
Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek acknowledges “it’s time to change” after the State of the Environment report revealed a bleak picture of Australia’s natural places.
Coalition cowardice over environment report
Mark Sawyer
It may not be provable that the Morrison government was the worst in Australian history. But it may have been the most stupid. Its suppression of the fourth State of the Environment report demonstrates this.
Australia’s path to fix the future is baked into its past: findings from new climate report [$]
Julia Bergin
Empowering First Nations peoples and their environmental practices are key to battling the climate crisis facing Australia.
Rachel Withers
Nothing, it seems, will sway Labor from its “promise” to not do enough to combat global warming
The dire state of the environment report is a major challenge for Labor – and an opportunity
Adam Morton
A true picture of how bad things have become emerges from the report, but with 2,000 pages of convincing evidence, change is possible
After a decade in the wilderness, Labor still lost on the environment
Mike Foley
The Albanese government has emerged from a near decade in opposition without a plan to tackle the slow train wreck that is Australia’s extinction crisis.
Cold comfort in Labor’s energy policy within a global jigsaw puzzle [$]
Jennifer Hewett
The International Energy Agency wants European nations to burn more coal and oil for power now to save gas before winter hits amid a mooted Russian shutdown.
Action on the environment is essential [$]
Canberra Times editorial
The bleak picture painted by the 2021 State of the Environment report is no surprise to anybody who has just lived through five years of parching drought, devastating bushfires and record breaking floods.
Environmental destruction is a threat to Australia’s imagination
SMH editorial
A depressing five-year report card shows the urgency of rewriting the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.
Morrison has been rightfully condemned on climate. Let’s hope Labor can do better
Age editorial
A 278-page overview of the five-year environment report released on Monday by the federal government made for depressing reading.
Key is getting the balance right on nature protection [$]
Australian editorial
Environment report must rise above the ‘death cult’ narrative.
Labor must stay on target and stare down Greens [$]
AFR editorial
The Greens have made perfection the enemy of the good once too often. Are they really willing to line up and block a third carbon policy?
Victoria
Energy market operator intervenes to prevent gas shortage as Victoria’s reserves fall
The Australian Energy Market Operator has triggered the gas supply guarantee to stave off a potential gas shortage in Victoria, the state’s energy minister has said.
Andrews Government’s level crossings removal ahead of schedule
A problem unique to Melbourne is disappearing and will be “gone for good” thanks to a government project that is ahead of schedule.
Smith ‘disgusted’ by Libs’ surprise climate pledge [$]
Outgoing Liberal MP Tim Smith has branded his party’s unexpected pledge to legislate a 50 per cent emissions reduction by 2030 as “reckless and desperate”.
ACT
Electric vehicles will pay less after ACT registration overhaul
The ACT will overhaul its vehicle registration scheme so it charges motorists based on the emissions they produce, rather than the weight of their vehicle, in an effort to make electric cars more attractive.
Queensland
Griffith not leaving koalas’ futures to chance
A collaborative Griffith University project that successfully helped reduce the number of koala deaths in South East Queensland (SEQ) has moved into its next phase.
Gold Coast Traditional Owners push to stop commercial development
The first claim for Native Title was lodged in 1996 with many following. Now, Gold Coast Traditional Owners are opposing a $3 million commercial development on a sacred gathering place, known as ‘The Spit’.
Nutting it out: why Queenslanders aren’t letting native macadamias go without a fight
An ‘insurance population’ grown from wild cuttings may hold the key to the long-term survival of this threatened species
South Australia
‘Next to impossible’: Labor at odds over SA river rip-off [$]
Tanya Plibersek’s grim prediction on SA’s Murray water deal ignores the most effective ways to stop eastern state waste, her SA counterpart says.
Conservationists, farmers resist future fracking [$]
Farmers and conservationists have joined forces to prevent future fracking and other ‘unconventional’ gas extraction from the headwaters of pristine Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre Basin.
Tasmania
Call for release of Long Bay water report by EPA
Media release – Tasmanian Alliance for Marine Protection
A crucial scientific investigation into the waters and marine life in Long Bay, next to World Heritage site Port Arthur is being withheld from residents amidst reports that it’s damning of the salmon industry’s impact.
Western Australia
Kimberley fracking proposal in doubt as environmental check scrapped
An environmental assessment of a fracking project in the Kimberley has been terminated by its backers amid a lack of government guidance on how the wells should operate.
Environment minister urged to block work on $4.5b Pilbara urea plant
A group of Traditional Owners for the World Heritage-nominated Burrup Peninsula want recently approved site preparations for the Pilbara project blocked.
Sustainability
IAEA conducts first Integrated Research Reactor Utilization Review
An international team of experts completed the first IAEA Integrated Research Reactor Utilization Review (IRRUR) mission this month, carried out on the 5MW pool-type RECH-1 research reactor at the La Reina Nuclear Centre in Santiago, Chile. The IRRUR is a new IAEA review service, developed to assist countries in enhancing the utilization and sustainability of nuclear research reactor facilities.
Philanthropic donation will help achieve sustainable future for mining
Anglo American, one of the world’s leading mining companies, has made a transformational donation to support sustainable mining research at the Camborne School of Mines, University of Exeter.
Commencing social implementation of hydrogen for development of future cities in Fukushima
Fukushima Prefecture and Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota) are focusing on hydrogen as a new source of energy.
Germany leaves door open for extending nuclear power use amid energy crisis
Nuclear power plants are supposed to be phased out by year’s end, but Russia’s war in Ukraine and the gas crisis might force Berlin to rethink its plans.
Vatican issues new investment policy to ensure they are ethical, green, low-risk
The Vatican is imposing a financial policy that prohibits investments in such things as pornography and weapons, and prioritises industries that “contribute to a more just and sustainable world”.
Nature Conservation
Once threatened Mountain Gorillas bring health and wealth to village communities
Tourists are making long treks through deep forests in South West Uganda to spend time viewing mountain gorillas that were once almost extinct.
Report on forest governance sets out China pathway to better tackle global deforestation
World Economic Forum launches report on China’s role in promoting global forest governance and combating deforestation
Bold sustained action gives hope for wild Pacific Salmon conservation
Nineteen major populations of wild Pacific salmon in the Fraser River are projected to decline over the next 25 years-but it’s not too late to boost their chances of recovery. These findings by researchers at the University of British Columbia are published in the British Ecological Societies Journal of Applied Ecology.
One size doesn’t fit all for successful Marine Protected Areas
A Griffith-led study has developed a model to predict the success of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) based on historical fishing pressure and environmental conditions like wave exposure and distance to coastal habitats.
Ocean warming threatens richest marine biodiversity
An international team of scientists led by researchers from the University of Adelaide has revealed that rates of future warming threaten marine life in more than 70 per cent of the most biodiverse-rich areas of Earth’s oceans.
African wildlife adds US$100B via tourist mental health
A new Griffith University study has shown that wildlife safaris in Africa contributed US$100 billion per year to the economies of Europe and North America via this mental health benefits.
Why penguins are so well adapted to the cold — and vulnerable to climate change
A study identifies key genes that enable penguins to survive extreme environments — but also shows they evolve slower as it gets warmer.
New database to support conservation
Scientists have created a new tool to fill the large gaps in our understanding of where and how human activities threaten wild species around the world.
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