Date: 10 November 2022 at 8:51:40 am AEDT
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Subject: Daily Links Nov 10
Post of the Day
Our buildings are driving us closer to ‘climate hell’ – how do we get back on course to net zero?
Anna Hurlimann et al
More and more of the world’s people are feeling the impacts of climate change. As United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said when COP27 opened this week: “We are on a highway to climate hell with our foot on the accelerator.”
On This Day
Ecological Observance
World Science Day for Peace and Development
UN lists climate projects for developing world
Finance has taken centre stage at the COP27 climate talks, with UN experts publishing a list of projects worth $US120 billion ($185 billion) that investors can back to help poorer countries cut emissions and adapt to global warming.
What happened on the third day of Cop27 in Egypt?
Negotiations move behind closed doors and China confirms ‘informal’ talks with US
US introduces new carbon trading scheme to boost investment in developing countries
Critics question plan’s value in dealing with climate crisis and its potential to ‘harm communities and undermine human rights’
Caribbean islands’ leader pleads for fossil fuel giants to pay compensation
Demands for rich nations to pay the developing world compensation for climate loss and damage are snowballing, and now the fossil fuel industry is being targeted too.
How Egypt doubled down on fossil fuels by stifling dissent
The host of the climate conference is an authoritarian state that depends on dirty energy and forcibly silences its domestic environmentalist movement.
US, EU plan new pledge targeting oil and gas methane emissions – document
The United States and European Union plan to unveil a joint agreement at the U.N. climate summit this week to step up efforts to reduce emissions of the potent greenhouse gas methane from the fossil fuel sector, and are hoping other nations will sign up.
African insurers take up climate change fight with $14 billion pledge
A group of over 85 insurers in Africa has pledged to create a financing facility to provide $14 billion of cover to help the continent’s most vulnerable communities deal with climate disaster risks such as floods and droughts.
At COP27, protesters within U.N. venue demand climate finance
Civil society groups and youth activists at the U.N. COP27 summit held small pop-up rallies Wednesday at designated areas in this Red Sea resort town.
At COP27, nuclear power industry vies for bigger role in decarbonizing planet
Nuclear energy supporters including politicians and activists sought to polish the industry’s spotty image on Wednesday, using the COP27 climate summit in Egypt to argue that atomic power offers a safe and cost-efficient way to decarbonize the world.
China will support climate damage mechanism but not with cash
China would be willing to support a mechanism for compensating poorer countries for losses and damage caused by climate change, its climate envoy Xie Zhenhua said Wednesday at the COP27 climate summit in Egypt, but China later said that would not involve contributing cash.
‘It’s humiliating’: activist says Indigenous voices are being ignored on climate crisis – video
A Kulkalgal activist from the Torres Strait Islands attending the Cop27 conference has said the way the world often treats Indigenous people is an insult
Will world climate talks translate into action? – podcast
As this year’s COP-27 United Nations climate summit in Egypt continues, questions are also being raised about whether any meaningful change will happen. Loss and damage, human rights issues, green washing and the effects of the war in Ukraine are all issues on the table for heads of state.
There’s one big subject our leaders at Cop27 won’t touch: livestock farming
George Monbiot
It’s on course to guzzle half the world’s carbon budget, so why are governments so afraid to discuss it?
Tensions and war undermine climate cooperation – but there’s a silver lining
Hao Tan et al
In retrospect, last year’s climate talks in Glasgow look like a dream. International cooperation on methane emissions and deforestation. Acknowledgement of the urgency of the task. The world beginning to rise to the challenge, as it did to the pandemic.
COP lays ground for new era of complex green tape [$]
Australian editorial
Backing loss and damage will have long-term costs for everyone.
WMO climate report shows 8 hottest years on record with global targets nearly ‘Out of Reach’
Jon Queally
New WMO report released on first day of UN climate summit that the last eight years are the eight hottest on record.
Authoritarian environmentalism
Yaqiu Wang
To tackle the climate crisis, it is necessary for China, the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases, to take decisive actions to cut emissions. Almost paradoxically, China at the same time dominates the supply chains of technologies that are needed for the world to transition to renewable energy.
How not to talk with Africa about climate change
Muhammadu Buhari
Africa didn’t cause the mess, yet it pays the price.
National
What the collapse of one recycling firm tells us about the state of Australia’s waste problem
Australians overwhelmingly want to recycle their waste, but a fragile recycling system means it’s almost impossible to process the vast amounts of rubbish we generate.
The company collecting used soft plastics at Coles and Woolworths says its recycling partners can no longer take the material and it has been forced to put it into storage.
Tanya Plibersek says Coles and Woolworths must ‘step up’ to fix plastic recycling crisis
REDcycle collections stopping from Wednesday with factory fire and ‘downturns in market demand’ blamed
What a major automaker’s bid to go fully electric in Australia says about hybrids
Volvo has stolen a march on other old world automakers by vowing to go fully electric in Australia in four years. So what does the plan say about the future of hybrids?
Nearly 90% of Australians want government to step in on energy costs, poll finds
Survey shows strong support for lowering prices by limiting exports and imposing windfall profits tax on gas companies
Santos blames government, activists and regulators for gas woes
The LNG giant’s boss Kevin Gallagher has said a decade of climate wars and energy policy failure have left Australia without affordable and reliable energy.
Call for urgent intervention in energy market [$]
Mining giant Newcrest says failed government energy policies have created the need for market intervention.
Greens leader urges PM to cap rising energy bills [$]
The Prime Minister is being urged to consider freezing energy bills to levels seen prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in an effort to lower the brunt against households staring down skyrocketing costs.
Coalition accuses ALP of climate deflection [$]
The Coalition has escalated its campaign against the government’s stance on global climate finance at the UN climate summit in Egypt.
Huge surge in illegal foreign fishing boats [$]
Border Force patrols have reported a massive increase in the number of illegal foreign fishing vessels intercepted in Australian waters in the past three years.
‘Coal is not the problem’: Coal miners blame gas for soaring power prices
Australia’s largest fossil fuel industries have clashed over who is to blame for soaring east coast electricity bills as the federal government considers imposing unprecedented price caps on domestic coal and gas sales.
Australia needs a windfall profits tax – but our government seems to fear the gas lobby
Richard Denniss
The gas industry would have us believe we owe it a debt of gratitude for paying us a pittance while they rake in record profits
Power price hikes’ short-term pain for long-term gain
Susan Stone
As much as soaring energy cost will hit households, it makes economic sense for the Albanese Government not to fuel inflation with cost-of-living subsidies, argues Dr Susan Stone – while delaying the transition to renewable power will prove more costly in the long run.
Market kickstart needed to keep faith with public on recycling
Age editorial
Yet again the recycling loop has hit a stumbling block with no buyers for recycled product. It’s time for governments to turn their attention to encouraging solutions.
Ross Garnaut thinks Australia can become a low-carbon superpower; Clive Hamilton is not convinced
Clive Hamilton
Ross Garnaut is a big beast in the Australian climate policy world, and a Labor favourite since his days as economic adviser to Bob Hawke.
Federal Labor must back resources sector, not punish it [$]
Cameron Milner
Capping gas and coal prices, restricting exports or imposing a windfall tax are the last actions we should consider for the powerhouse energy sector.
Australia falling behind Singapore in green finance stakes [$]
Glenda Korporaal
Contributing only 0.1 per cent of global emissions due to its small land mass, the city has seized the opportunities of financing the growing capital needs for the decarbonisation.
Gas solution is literally beneath our feet [$]
AFR editorial
Price caps and windfall “super profits” tax would likely both decrease supply and increase demand for gas. It’s an unsustainable policy fix.
Wesley Morgan
As the COP27 climate talks got underway in Egypt this week, climate and energy minister Chris Bowen announced Australia would bid to co-host the annual United Nations climate summit with Pacific island nations in 2026.
Rachel Withers
Labor is not winning any climate awards for being “better than the Coalition”
Dung beetles bury the problem as part of the climate solution [$]
Julia Bergin
Better soil, more carbon retention, less toxic run-off and it’s goodbye to the bushfly. All thanks to a tough little Aussie worker.
Victoria
Calls for funding to flood-proof farms ahead of another wet summer
The president of the Victorian Farmers Federation says producers are facing further flooding as they as they brace for a third consecutive La Niña.
The fire that sparked the end of the plastic bag recycling program
The collapse of Woolies’ and Coles’ plastic bag recycling program was set in train almost five months ago when a suburban factory caught fire.
Escalating bill to fix Victoria’s flood-ravaged roads [$]
Taxpayers face a bill of up to $1 billion to fix Victoria’s flood-ravaged roads and railways.
Green aspirant’s acts of rebellion [$]
A Greens candidate who could force Daniel Andrews into minority government says he stands by his role in Extinction Rebellion protests that disrupted Melbourne for days.
Residents demand Viva Gas terminal project is rejected
Residents rallied at the local waterfront to protest the Viva Energy gas import terminal, proposed for Corio Bay.
New South Wales
Evacuation order issued amid warning sewage will flow through flooded NSW town
Some residents are choosing to stay in the mostly Aboriginal community of Namoi Village as the state’s flood crisis continues.
Philanthropists acquire nearly 4,000 hectares of NSW koala habitat for conservation
Australian Wildlife Conservancy to manage the site allowing ecologists to restore crucial habitat for multiple species
Risky electric vehicle charging tactics revealed [$]
Electric vehicle owners in one Sydney area have copped a warning from the council for the methods being used to recharge their cars, running extension cords onto streets and even into trees.
Blame game over Narrabri as gas prices surge [$]
As power bill surges continue to hit our hip pockets, mining giant Santos and the NSW Government are at loggerheads over the delays in the long awaited $3.5 billion Narrabri gas project.
NSW police ‘Strike Force Guard III’ formed to silence threats to fossil fuel driven political order
Mark Conroy
In NSW a special task force, Strike Force Guard III, has been established to target environmental groups in a concerted state attempt to silence anyone they view as a threat to the prevailing fossil-fuel driven political order. Conditions imposed on activists are now more severe than those meted out to some perpetrators of domestic violence or members of bikie gangs.
ACT
Protesters vandalise Andy Warhol’s Campbell’s Soup Cans at National Gallery of Australia
Climate change protesters glue themselves to Andy Warhol’s Campbell’s Soup Cans and vandalise the artwork, which is on display in Canberra.
New energy efficiency standard for Canberra rentals [$]
The Aspden family has spent winter in a rental unit in Bruce while undergoing major renovations at their home in Kaleen.
ANU wants key role in nuclear ambitions
The boss of the Australian National University has put his institution forward as the obvious solution to the workforce crisis set to stymie the nation’s nuclear-powered national security ambitions.
As a vandalised artist, I don’t support the Warhol activists but I get why they did it
Luke Cornish
If only the outrage machine kicked into overdrive so readily about the destruction of the environment as it does about a bunch of screenprints.
Queensland
The city has the largest number of existing buildings of any floodplain in Australia, yet Brisbane City Council maintains it does enough as it approves the latest mega-development close to the river.
As coal-fired power stations age, could Queensland see blackouts this summer?
The Callide Power Station was out of operation for part of a day last week. There’s some concern if that were to happen during a heatwave, a blackout could occur.
Genex flood causes blowout in pumped hydro costs
Genex’s Kidston pumped hydro in north Queensland has had its cost blow out by up to $15 million above its budget after flooding forced it to realign one of its main tunnels.
More than 100 companies answer call to build Qld’s renewable energy future
The government urged companies to sign up to build infrastructure last month after the release of its $62 billion plan to shift from coal to renewables by 2035. More than 100 responded.
South Australia
First Nations Voice to SA parliament unveiled — so how will it work?
The proposed bill to enshrine South Australia’s new First Nations Voice to parliament into law reveals how the body would be elected, what powers it would have and how it would operate.
Highest power bills in nation — and green surge can’t catch up [$]
SA’s world-beating green energy supply is not enough to drive down spiralling bills, according to a new report that says we have the priciest power in the land.
Tasmania
Greens bill prohibiting Mt Wellington developments fails [$]
Tasmanian Greens leader Cassy O’Connor on Wednesday sought to kill off any future developments on Mount Wellington with a bill seeking to repeal a facilitation law, but the government voted down the motion.
Labor calls for energy rebate [$]
Opposition Energy spokesman, Dean Winter, will today call on the State Government to introduce an energy rebate scheme for large, contracted customers.
Northern Territory
NT Police were forced to warn the public to avoid the Alice Springs CBD on Tuesday night as youths tried to ram police cars in stolen vehicles during an out-of-control crime rampage that has the community calling for the government to immediately regain control of the streets by any means necessary.
Western Australia
WA power players predict coal generator issues to last all summer
The forecast implies that AEMO expects planned coal imports will not fully recoup lost production from Collie’s two coal miners Premier and Griffin.
Sustainability
Good eggs: Eggs can be used to filter microplastics and salt out of water, research finds
Microplastics pollute drinking water around the globe. Researchers at Princeton University have come up with a novel new solution.
Mexico’s ‘out of control’ illegal trafficking threatens wildlife, report says
A U.S. environmental group said on Wednesday it had filed a complaint to Mexican state prosecutors, arguing that toothless regulation was allowing illegal wildlife trafficking to threaten species in one of the world’s most biodiverse countries.
K2, the world’s second-highest mountain peak, is covered in garbage
Much of the waste on K2 is not biodegradable, so it pollutes the glaciers, which contaminates the rivers. This threatens the flora and fauna, as the park is home to many endangered species.
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