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Date: 16 December 2022 at 9:03:13 am AEDT
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Subject: Daily Links Dec 16
Post of the Day
The top 12 climate developments of 2022
The past year saw amazing developments in climate, energy, and more that will make a difference for years to come.
On This Day
Climate Change
Forest equity: What indigenous people want from carbon credits
To Indigenous leader Levi Sucre Romero, carbon credit markets have failed to respect Indigenous people and their key role in protecting their lands. In an e360 interview, he talks about how carbon brokers have taken advantage of local communities and why that must change.
Australian coal exporters reap tens of billions of dollars in super profits from Russia’s war
New report reveals Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has delivered Australia’s coal exporters windfall profits of up to $45 billion, with gas exporters reaping almost as much.
$230 energy windfall for Aussies confirmed
Power bills are expected to be reduced by about $230, and gas companies will be forced to abide by a code of conduct after a controversial package was passed in parliament.
‘They want to be careful’: PM defies gas industry fury as price cap bill passes
Treasurer Jim Chalmers will immediately issue an emergency order to impose a 12-month price cap of $12 a gigajoule on uncontracted gas on the east coast
Feral deer will become Australia’s ‘next rabbit plague’ without a containment zone, experts say
Populations have increased tenfold in the past two decades, leading to a new national strategy to halt the rapid spread
Electricity generated by burning native Australian timber no longer classified as renewable energy
Labor revokes Abbott government move which allowed energy from burning wood waste to be counted with solar and wind
Big stick: Threat of govt action has already driven down power prices
The threat of big stick intervention in the energy market has been enough to drive down power prices by as much as 50 per cent, even before the government’s price caps come into force.
Explainer: The energy intervention is underway. Here’s what it means
The federal government’s emergency energy market intervention is in train after legislation to cap gas prices and deliver relief for households and businesses was rushed through the Federal Parliament. So, why is the government doing this? What does it mean for power bills?
What the government’s energy price relief plan will mean for you
There’s plenty of detail still to be worked out, so here’s what we know so far about what the federal plan means for your power bill.
PM’s ‘Soviet’ plan: higher bills, more blackouts [$]
Anthony Albanese’s energy market intervention could increase gas bills by $175 per year and push-up businesses’ energy costs by 40 per cent, according to independent modelling.
‘Let me be clear’: ANZ defends climate strategy in face of activist pressure
ANZ’s chief executive has agreed to meet young climate activists after several teenagers showed up at the bank’s annual general meeting to question its policies around lending to businesses that are expanding fossil fuel projects.
‘We can’t win’: Westpac chairman defends climate stance, flags exit
Westpac chairman John McFarlane will retire next year, saying the banking giant is making headway in its long recovery from a period of major change and poor performance, as he also defended its fossil fuel lending policies.
Climate front and centre for Palau [$]
Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham says Australia must ‘act in concert’ with the Pacific on climate change.
The road to 100 per cent renewables – Energy Insiders Podcast
AEMO’s head of system design, Merryn York, on the engineering roadmap to 100 per cent renewables. Plus: The gas price cap debate.
Coalition sidelined, fossil outrage as Labor strikes deal on Energy Relief bill with Greens
Daniel Bleakley
The government’s Energy Price Relief Plan bill has passed in a tumultuous final day of parliament for 2022 after the Greens secured funding to help people on low incomes transition away from gas appliances and electrify their homes. But the question of the cartel behaviour by gas companies remains
Rachel Withers
It has never been more apparent that the Coalition works directly for the gas companies
Dutton goes hard against the PM, but it’s a gamble
David Crowe
By opposing the government’s energy package, the opposition leader is ultimately opposing measures that will help households.
Yes, the government’s price cap is overly generous to gas producers. But it was necessary
Samantha Hepburn
To tackle the energy crisis about to send our bills skywards, the Albanese government last week capped gas prices temporarily in the east coast market, proposing a figure of A$12 per gigajoule. A gigajoule of gas has the same energy as about 26 litres of petrol.
Reckless reforms will boost gas prices but not supply [$]
Samantha McCullouch
This far-reaching and unprecedented market intervention takes a sledgehammer to Australia’s gas industry and will have the opposite effect to that intended.
Albanese won the day but the war is far from over [$]
Simon Benson
Anthony Albanese has taken full ownership of the energy problem. There will be no one else to blame if it fails.
Energy bill to increase cost, regulation but not supply [$]
Australian editorial
This is no solution in one of the world’s most resource-rich nations.
Free market or not, they’re all interventionists now [$]
Phillip Coorey
The Coalition has taken a risk by defending free-market principles, even if it has a long history of energy market intervention.
Who stands for the free market? [$]
John Roskam
When business stops advocating for the benefits of competition and the danger of government regulation, Albanese’s energy price relief plan is the result.
Business People of the Year are Australia’s energy transition leaders [$]
AFR editorial
Our political system should be providing the policy and regulatory certainty to support the business leadership that is helping get Australia to the other side of the energy transition.
Deaths from heat waves can be prevented by community shelters
David Shearman
Australia has no national policy to prevent the rising death toll in heatwaves. The provision of insulated and air conditioned housing in many remote communities will take years. In the meantime heat shelters must be urgently provided.
William Clarke
Only 24% of local councils in Australia separately collect household food organics and garden organics (FOGO) waste. Another 16% provide garden waste collection only. This limited progress has prompted the federal government to push back the target date, from 2023 to 2030, for all councils to collect food and garden waste separately from landfill waste.
Victoria
Flooding crisis returns to Victoria
Flooding is taking place in the Victorian town of Mildura this morning – the worst it has seen in almost 70 years.
New South Wales
Wenzel Auch used a rope suspension from a rail bridge to block trains on a critical Sydney freight route, with a magistrate today calling his actions “irresponsible” and “unlawful”.
Decades-long fight results in massacre site added to heritage register
The site where at least 14 Aboriginal people were murdered by British soldiers is added to the State Heritage Register, protecting it from plans for a major housing
New population figures revealed by Australian Bureau of Statistics
Australia’s population grew by 1.1 per cent during the year ending June 30, but people are fleeing NSW in droves, according to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
When being a ‘land custodian’ pays: Putting a price on conservation
Farmers like Rob Miller could soon be financially rewarded for protecting their land under a new proposal from the NSW government.
The red-hot battle between a blue-blooded golf club and its green-hued neighbours
Phones on silent. No untucked shirts or striped socks. Check the length of those skirts … Royal Sydney Golf Club puttered along for decades as an enclave from modern life. Then redevelopment plans, including the felling of hundreds of trees, split the club – and teed off many locals.
Aboriginal people have spent centuries building in the Darling River. Now there are plans to demolish these important structures
Michael Westaway et al
Apart from managing the land, Indigenous people have also managed waterways, including the Murray River and the Darling/Baaka River, for thousands of years.
Queensland
Palmwoods residents have reacted with shock and anger over the clearing of a large parcel of land close to the town’s centre, on a site they say has flooded three times this year.
‘Queenslanders won’t cop it’: Fresh fight to keep Reef off endangered list [$]
Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek is headed for a showdown with the World Heritage Committee over the status of the Great Barrier Reef.
This island was declared pest-free just months ago but a new threat has arrived
Rangers spent two years eradicating mice from this Great Barrier Reef island, but different predator is now stalking the coral cay’s nesting turtles and seabird
Melanie Shannon and Melinee Leather say they now feel empowered to “survive these traumatic times”.
Edward Narayan
Koalas have adapted to Australia’s rugged terrains. But bushfires, land clearing and other extreme threats can mean they suffer prolonged stress – and this has a significant effect on their wellbeing.
South Australia
Rex Minerals pushes ahead with Yorke Peninsula mine plans
The mining giant announces it will seek financing of $850 million dollars to begin construction of a copper and gold operation near Pine Point.
As the River Murray floods, nature flourishes — and the region is springing into life
Australia is a country of droughts and flooding rains — and that contrast is nowhere more starkly illustrated at the moment than SA’s Riverland, where water is seeping into desiccated landscapes for the first time in decades.
What’s a few extra billion dollars for SA’s record-biggest project? [$]
Paul Starick
There’s a pretty simple explanation why Premier Peter Malinauskas is content to spend a few billions dollars more on the North-South Corridor.
Norway oil giant backs gigawatt-scale offshore wind farm and green hydrogen in Tasmania
Equinor to collaborate on the offshore wind plans of Australian renewables company Nexsphere to build a 1GW project 30km off the coast of north-east Tasmania.
Federal energy relief a conundrum for Tassie companies [$]
A federal government energy bill aimed at giving relief to consumers hit by steep electricity price hikes has instead boosted uncertainty among Tasmanian electricity customers that need to sign a new contract by the end of the month, an energy expert has said.
‘$17k more a year’: Pubs facing energy crisis [$]
Small Tassie businesses are facing astronomical energy cost increases, with some talking about ‘scaling back’ and a plea for the government to step in
Northern Territory
Santos accused of misleading investors over $4.7bn offshore gas project [$]
A formal complaint has been sent to the corporate watchdogs after Santos claimed a delay to a major NT gas project would not hit their bottom line.
North Australia’s lucrative cotton industry is about to double in size
Farmers prepare massive swathes of land across the Top End for one of the world’s most profitable crops. But some sections of the community are concerned about the impacts.
Western Australia
WA cabinet reshuffle a “lost opportunity” for youth justice reform, advocates say
The Indigenous leaders of a major justice reform group have called the Western Australian government’s cabinet reshuffle a “lost opportunity” to address the state’s youth justice crisis.
Gas supply fears at heart of fresh warning for WA’s increasingly fragile electricity system
There are concerns about a “sizeable” shortfall in WA’s future gas stocks, as a report from the Australian Energy Market Operator warns demand could outstrip supply for much of the coming decade.
Fireys battle Armadale blaze threatening homes
Residents in the City of Armadale have been told to evacuate ‘immediately’ after an out-of-control bushfire broke out close to homes on Thursday night.
Fireys gain control of Jurien Bay bushfire
Cervantes and Jurien Bay residents are urged to stay vigilant as the bushfire threatening lives for two days was downgraded and firefighters gained control.
Sustainability
‘No time to waste’ as Tokyo rules all new homes after 2025 must have solar panels
Only 4 per cent of buildings in Japan’s capital city that could have solar panels do now, says the city’s governor.
A look back at coal transition finance this year.
Bio-based plastics aim to capture carbon. But at what cost?
Growing crops to make plastic could theoretically reduce reliance on fossil fuels and even pull carbon out of the atmosphere, but at an enormous environmental cost.
Top seven building decarbonization wins you may have missed in 2022
This past year was another defining year for building decarbonization action across every real estate sector, from weatherizing rural single-family homes to electrifying city skyscrapers to retrofitting affordable multifamily housing.
Solar farms run into problems with water pollution
The construction of four US solar farms violated the Clean Water Act, showcasing the challenges of building a clean power grid.
Nature Conservation
Cop15: Lula calls on rich nations to give more to protect Earth’s ecosystems
Brazil’s incoming president adds voice to demand as Montreal talks restart after series of walkouts
Plastic ‘nurdles’ stop sea urchins developing properly, study finds
Chemicals that leach out of plastic shown to cause fatal abnormalities, including gut developing outside body
Landscape restoration projects across Europe boosted by $26m awards
The efforts, including restoring grassland in the Georgian steppe, will work in cooperation with local communities to repair biodiversity hotspots
Flying insect numbers plunge 64% since 2004, UK survey finds
Scientists behind car number plate study say ‘potentially catastrophic’ decline must be reversed
China’s return to wildlife farming ‘a risk to global health and biodiversity’
Post-pandemic relaxation of restrictions could weaken animal protection and pose a hazard to public health, say experts
Climate change: Whales could be an important carbon sink, say scientists
A study by scientists at the University of Alaska Southeast suggest protecting whales is not only is a win for biodiversity loss but could also help sequester more carbon.
The promise and the politics of rewilding India
Ecologists are trying to undo environmental damage in rain forests, deserts, and cities. Can their efforts succeed even as Narendra Modi pushes for rapid development?
Silence on biodiversity is deadly
Gillian Tett
When Egypt hosted the COP27 climate change talks last month, political heat was triggered — as well as noise. But when the so-called COP15 biodiversity talks started last week in freezing Montreal, there was near silence on the global stage.
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