Date: 7 November 2022 at 8:40:03 am AEDT
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Subject: Daily Links Nov 7
Post of the Day
Christopher Wright et al
As world leaders assemble for the United Nations climate change conference (COP27) in Egypt, it’s hard to be optimistic the talks will generate any radical departure from the inexorable rise in global carbon emissions over the past two centuries.
On This Day
Ecological Observance
Climate Change
Climate crisis: past eight years were the eight hottest ever, says UN
Report at Cop27 shows the world is now deep into the climate emergency, with the 1.5C heating limit ‘barely within reach’
How Putin and friends stalled climate progress
A handful of powerful world leaders rallied around Russia and undercut global cooperation on climate change.
Climate Questions: What’s going on with climate change?
How the planet got here, the current and future effects of climate change, and what to do next, are all questions that experts have been researching for decades.
Environmentalists slam corporate influence at U.N. climate talks
Egyptian organizers have hired Hill+Knowlton Strategies, a public relations firm that has represented oil giants including ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell and Saudi Aramco, to manage communications for the COP27 negotiations, according to emails and other materials reviewed by The Climate 202.
30 companies emit nearly half energy sector’s climate warming methane emissions
Oil and gas-related emissions of planet-warming methane could be halved at no cost, according to Global Energy Monitor.
Climate change deadlier than cancer in parts of the world, UN warns
The impacts of the climate crisis will start to be deadlier than some widespread diseases like cancer as the planet continues to heat up, warns a new report from the United Nations Development Programme.
Extreme weather events are the ‘new normal’ as leaders gather for climate summit – video
Prime minister Anthony Albanese will not be attending the COP27 summit in Egypt, but has pledged a 43% reduction in emissions by 2030. Climate scientists say Australia is capable of far more.
I am going to Cop27 in Egypt – but can the UN climate conference deliver?
Adam Morton
Greta Thunberg thinks the summit is about ‘greenwashing, lying and cheating’, however it could force the Albanese government to back rhetoric with new pledges
Britain arrives at Cop27 in disarray over the climate – and the world’s leaders know it
Lucy Sherriff
After Johnson’s weak energy plan and Truss’s scepticism, we have Rishi Sunak, who didn’t even want to attend
Cop conferences are a big game of let’s pretend and 27 won’t be any different
The Secret Negotiator
The climate summits do serve a purpose even while avoiding facing up to some awkward realities
How Mandela’s moral courage can guide climate battle (by his granddaughter)
Ndileka Mandela
The first granddaughter of Nelson Mandela says the world’s religious leaders can help fill a global moral vacuum when it comes to reducing global emissions.
Expect COP27 to be about implementing climate targets [$]
Adrian King and Barry Sterland
The three key areas for focus at the UN climate change conference will be about moving countries from “pledges to promises”, physical resilience and money.
Climate 101: NCQG, the most important climate goal you’ve never heard of
Denali Hussin, Cindy Nguyen
A recently revised global climate finance target — the New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Finance, or NCQG — may be one of our best ways to address climate change.
COP27 has begun, and after last year’s high-profile meeting, it’ll be a grind
Michael Slezak
Last year, powerful leaders gathered in Glasgow for a UN climate conference that was billed as the “last best chance” to keep global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius. At this year’s event, things will be more subdued.
National
As Europe’s energy crisis intensifies amid Putin’s war, what does it mean for Australia?
European countries are going to have to ration energy for the next few years as they try to wean themselves off Russian energy. But this shift is bringing Russia even closer to China … so what does this mean for Australia’s energy exporters?
Australia is one of the world’s largest LNG exporters, and those companies selling gas to the world are in a prime position to capitalise. So how much are Australian taxpayers making from the sale of Australian gas?
Australia’s plan to co-host the 2026 UN climate conference met with criticism
Minister for International Development and the Pacific, Pat Conroy, says co-hosting a climate conference with Pacific nations would allow Australia to send a powerful message after years as “a laggard on climate change”.
Claim by academics, including former integrity chair of Australia’s carbon credit scheme, raises further doubts about system
Jacarandas confused by rain, cloud into blooming later than usual
Because the shock of purple flowers makes jacarandas easy to see, they are being studied to track the impact of climate change on plants.
Albo’s power plan under fire for ‘jobs black hole’ [$]
Labor’s promise to create hundreds of thousands of new jobs through its climate and energy policy is at risk in what’s been described as a “cruel hoax”.
How we can keep burning (clean) coal for 100 years [$]
The American engineer helping Australian coal miners prepare for a low carbon future has good news for his donors Down Under.
Plight of the platypus: biodiversity under threat from climate change
The elusive platypus is rapidly becoming the face of Australia’s biodiversity and species decline as land clearing, urban sprawl, rising temperatures and extreme weather events affect their habitat.
Solar boom set to accelerate as electricity and gas prices soar and payback times shorten
Australians households and businesses are expected to speed up the transition to renewables as energy prices soar and payback periods for solar and batteries shorten.
Politicians’ thinking on gas just doesn’t add up [$]
Andrew Bolt
You would think we’d have learnt that cutting gas supplies causes high prices but the politicians set to worsen our energy crisis don’t have a business brain.
Simon Kilbane
The global 30×30 target aims to protect 30% of the planet by 2030 to secure its biodiversity. This involves legal protection for land and sea areas designated as national parks and nature reserves. Australia has joined more than 100 countries in this bold initiative.
(Un)common sense in the National Electricity Market grid design
Gary Moorhead and Phil Kreveld
In a recent (21 October) edition of Pearls and Irritations, Roger Beale suggested (amongst other things) that the Commonwealth should “seize sole control of the national electricity market” (the NEM) to bring stability to the energy transition and stop the states going their own way.
Young farmers have a front-row seat to the climate crisis, and are taking action
Anika Molesworth
The seeds of my recognition in the past week as Australian Geographic’s Young Conservationist of the Year were sown at the turn of this millennium.
How do we sleep at night? Moral conundrums for public servants [$]
Annica Schoo
As a former public servant one of the most striking aspects of the 2022 federal election was not the outcome, but the text message that voters received on election day announcing an “illegal boat interception” by Border Force with the advice “Keep our borders secure by voting Liberal today.”
Albanese fails own leadership test on climate change [$]
Dave Sharma
The PM claimed a more ambitious emissions target would guarantee ‘a seat at the table’, but by skipping COP27 it seems he is refusing to sit down at it.
Price cap hype casts cloud over gas [$]
Samantha McCulloch
We need new investment in new supply, not intervention, if we are to get the best energy outcome for Australia.
Beware of bottomless funding pit [$]
Australian editorial
Australians can decide for themselves whether the Albanese government should bid to host the 2026 UN Climate Change conference. But one heavy impost the government should definitely resist is the UN-backed Green Climate Fund.
New South Wales
The new parkland that will ‘heal a scar’ in Sydney’s spine
Final designs released by the government show people playing cricket or watching an outdoor movie next to the giant exhaust stacks at Rozelle.
Queensland
Conservationists say environment report on Gold Coast motorway the ‘final cut’ for koalas
There are calls for greater detail about suitable habitat and long-term survival of critical koala populations to be displaced by Coomera Connector road construction.
‘Making it easier for the mines’: Is Qld bending to big coal?
A Queensland government review of laws allowing people to contest new resource developments has sent a chill through the anti-coal movement.
‘Chilling effect’ of gas price cap puts $1.2b at risk [$]
A gas price cap or reservation would have a “chilling effect” on the Queensland economy, the industry has warned amid speculation the Albanese Government will soon take action.
Premier’s new laws a ‘threat’ to Electoral Commission [$]
The Electoral Commission of Queensland has warned its independence could be threatened from new laws introduced by the Premier.
Queensland-developed battery technology a potential game changer for energy industry
A Brisbane company could change the face of Australia’s energy landscape forever with an eco-friendly, carbon neutral cell that charges 70 times faster than a lithium ion battery and can be reused thousands of times
Tasmania
Do tourists want to know about Indigenous culture? Tour guide Nunami says she can’t keep up with demand
Nunami Sculthorpe-Green’s tourism venture in Tasmania is going so well she “cannot keep up with the demand” and while there are other Aboriginal tourism offerings on the island, gaps in the market are there — waiting to be filled.
Clean-up begins as northern rivers peak
Thousands gathered to the see the wild water roaring through Launceston as Tasmania’s significant flooding event continues.
Western Australia
Insulation, glazing, smart floor plans: Rebuilding Perth from the inside out
Vicki Lummer and Adrian Fini
There are new seven-star national environmental standards for suburban homes – but planning and development leaders say WA is dragging its feet on enforcement.
Sustainability
Why pouches are greener than glass, plastic or aluminium [$]
You’ve probably tried wine in a pouch – so why not other products, such as olive oil, mouthwash or paint?
Global Energy Transformation Guide: Electricity
Electricity is the cornerstone of economic development and human prosperity. Reliable access to affordable and clean electricity unlocks the potential to meet foundational socioeconomic needs, including goals for industrialization, education, and public health.
Poland energy crisis stirs pollution concerns
High up-front costs of installing a self-sufficient energy system are preventing many households from taking the ecological way out of the current energy crisis in Poland.
As climate change worsens, Egypt is begging families to have fewer kids
The Egyptian government sees large families as an existential threat to the country at a time of dwindling natural resources.
Massive land use needed for global green alternative [$]
Geoff Chambers
About 25 per cent of Australia’s land mass would need to be blanketed in solar panels and wind turbines to deliver global demand for green hydrogen by 2050.
Why EVs alone won’t stop contaminants from washing into waterways
Monique Keiran
With every rainfall, fish and other critters living downstream of storm drains are exposed to hundreds of pollutants in runoff, including materials and chemicals used in vehicle fluids, tires and paints.
Puerto Rico: A massive energy transformation is within reach
Ruth Santiago
On her second visit to Puerto Rico, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm is visiting homes and fire stations equipped with rooftop solar and storage and making positive statements about the need for widespread adoption of distributed renewable energy to provide life-saving resiliency to Puerto Rico residents.
Nature Conservation
Last year’s deforestation pledge is off to a slow start
One year after more than 140 countries pledged to halt all deforestation by 2030, little has been done to finance protections or pass new conservation laws, experts say.
Analysis: Bolsonaro election loss could cut Brazilian Amazon deforestation by 89%
A loss for Jair Bolsonaro in the upcoming Brazilian presidential election could lead to Amazon deforestation in Brazil falling by 89% over the next decade.
The fight to stop Republicans from killing wolves and grizzlies
The most iconic predators in the American West are under attack, and top government officials and agencies are failing to uphold the law to protect them. Those are the allegations in a pair of lawsuits filed in federal and state court recently.
—
return email, delete it from your system and destroy any copies.