Date: 17 November 2023 at 9:05:12 am AEDT
To: Undisclosed recipients:;
Subject: Daily Links Nov 17
5 things we need to see in Australia’s new nature laws
Euan Ritchie et al
Australia’s abysmal rates of extinctions and land clearing since European colonisation are infamous globally. Our national environmental legislation has largely failed to protect biodiversity, including many threatened plants, animals and ecological communities. But change is afoot.
On This Day
Climate Change
Jury clears climate protesters of causing damage to HSBC London HQ
Nine women used hammers and chisels to shatter building’s windows in April 2021 as part of Extinction Rebellion protest
Rich countries hit $100bn climate finance goal two years late, data shows
Annual funding promise made in 2009 to help poor countries deal with climate crisis had original 2020 target
Beyond climate: Oil, gas and coal are destabilizing all 9 planetary boundaries
Fossil fuels have done great good for humanity, but they are now not only threatening our planet’s climate, but also taking a terrible toll on the global environment, putting at risk Earth systems vital to life as we know it. Part 1 of a three-part miniseries.
Private eye behind #ExxonKnew hacking scheme faces jail time
Climate activists say sentencing of Aviram Azari is an “empty win” because they still don’t know who ordered him to infiltrate their email accounts.
Climate change report highlights impacts to Alaska infrastructure, security, health, livelihoods
Alaska is warming at two or three times the U.S. rate, with impacts ranging from individuals’ health and safety to the military security of the nation, according to a new federal report.
John Clauser won a Nobel Prize. Then he started denying climate change
John Clauser shared the Nobel in physics last year. Now he’s a self-described ‘denier’ of the overwhelming scientific consensus on a warming planet.
National
Kmart Group urged to join industry textile recycling scheme or face regulation, government says
Group which owns Kmart and Target has not signed up to initiative that would impose 4 cent levy on garments to fund research
Australia has everything battery storage needs, except the ability to make them at scale
Australia could support up to five giga-factories, just for domestic energy storage and commercial electric vehicles.
Jeremy Phu Howard
I used to believe I had no real say in what our government did. But eventually I realised that that simply wasn’t true
Eve Mayes and Ruchira Talukdar
On Friday, students will once again down textbooks and laptops and go on strike for climate action. Many will give their schools a Climate Doctor’s Certificate signed by three leading climate academics.
Jago Dodson
The review found the cost of the A$120 billion, ten-year program had blown out by $32.8 billion, half of which was in projects not yet under construction.
Daryl Guppy
Australia’s offer to Tuvalu, allowing residents facing displacement from climate change to resettle in Australia, was clearly a good deed. It was an act of humane generosity. But the good deed was besmirched by the conditions attached to it. In return for this good humanitarian deed, Australia will have effective veto power over Tuvalu’s security
Decarbonising transport for our health
Mark Stevenson et al
Transforming Australia’s carbon-intensive road transport system can also solve one of our most significant public health challenges
Renewables and farmers: Is this golden opportunity about to slip through our fingers?
Karin Stark
As the nation charts its course towards a cleaner energy future, it is critical that farmers receive not only due acknowledgment of their contributions but also targeted support.
If Australia is serious about climate, it must get serious about coal mine emissions
Annika Reynolds
Fugitive emissions that leak from the ground during the extraction of coal and gas represent 11% of Australia’s reported greenhouse gas emissions. So why are they being ignored?
Victoria
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan says the delivery date for Melbourne’s Airport Rail Link will need to be “reset”, after the federal government reaffirmed its commitment to the project
Contractor hit with $79k fine for destroying Victorian koala habitat
A magistrate says the pain and suffering caused to koalas by a contractor most likely wasn’t deliberate or sadistic, but still warrants a hefty punishment.
Funding feud looms for Victoria’s two biggest rail projects
The cash-strapped Allan government faces ongoing funding battles over Airport Rail and the Suburban Rail Loop after a federal review of the nation’s infrastructure pipeline.
Company slapped with $79,000 fine after koala deaths [$]
A southwest Victorian earthmoving company has been fined and convicted of animal cruelty after causing koala deaths at a Cape Bridgewater property.
Minister accused over gas job claim [$]
Representatives of Australia’s largest gas appliance manufacturers have accused Lily D’Ambrosio of ‘lying’, after the Victorian Energy Minister claimed they had not produced any ‘evidence’ that hundreds of jobs will be lost.
New South Wales
Ferrero Group to rip out Australian hazelnut trees due to unsuitable climate
The Italian company behind Ferrero Rocher and Nutella is giving up on its farm in southern NSW saying the long-term climate is not conducive to hazelnut farming.
Albanese axes Sydney’s newest spaghetti junction roadway
The NSW government has been caught off guard by the axing of funding for the link connecting the M7 and M12.
NSW is in danger of stuffing up the transition from coal to renewables
It’s not often you get a Nationals MP berating Labor for going too slow on the green energy transition. But with two government departments at war in NSW, the renewables industry agrees.
ACT
Rabbit purge planned for City Hill
The ACT government is set to tackle the plague of rabbits on City Hill.
Queensland
Residents call for moratorium on residential developments to protect water supply
Many in this community booming with treechangers are demanding a moratorium on residential development, fearing new arrivals will put further pressure on their dwindling creek water supply.
State could be forced to drop key south-east rail plan before election
Queensland’s premier may have to make an election-year call to dump or delay a key multibillion-dollar passenger rail project after a federal spending overhaul.
Shut down: The industry facing extinction within weeks [$]
One industry in Queensland will be effectively shut down in a matter of weeks in a bid to protect the environment.
South Australia
New park lands hospital gets federal environment tick
Premier Peter Malinauskas says his government’s plan to build the new $3.2 billion Women’s and Children’s Hospital on heritage-listed park lands has won a tick of approval from the Commonwealth environment department.
Dumping the Mt Barker upgrade is stupid and dangerous
Lynton Grace
When eventually a big bushfire threatens Mount Barker, people will get trapped on that bridge.
Northern Territory
NT government trying to secure exemption for federal road deal that would see 50/50 funding split
The NT government is in talks with the Commonwealth in a bid to shield its roads from a national funding shake-up that would see it need to pay millions of dollars more per year for road projects.
NT chief minister divests her Woodside shares to avoid ‘a distraction’
Natasha Fyles says she has not done anything wrong, as her ownership of 169 shares in gas company Woodside attracted scrutiny from a federal senator earlier this week.
Court suspends construction of large section of Santos gas pipeline [$]
A Federal Court judge has halted Santos’ work on the southern part of its Barossa gas pipeline that runs within 7km of the Tiwi Islands until potentially mid-January, when a ruling is made on an application by some residents over a new environmental plan for the project, while the peak petroleum body says the decision has damaged the economic and energy security of Australia and its international partners.
Western Australia
BBF: Venture Minerals is a ‘sinking ship’
Wannabe takayna / Tarkine miner Venture Minerals’ AGM in Perth this morning was again the subject of protest outside and a terse exchange inside between shareholder activist and Bob Brown Foundation campaigner Scott Jordan and the Chairman of the Venture Minerals board Mr Mel Ashton, as the director took issue with questions put from the floor.
Western Australia slashes “green tape” and bypassing EPA for renewable projects
W.A. paves the way to fast track the approval of renewable energy projects as it races to provide enough capacity for electrocution and green industry.
Could a moth save our oceans? Perth university students tackling some crazy questions
Student’s across WA’s five universities are working on changing the world through their research, from plastic eating moths to interplanetary travel.
Five WA road projects face funding shortfall after Commonwealth pulls pin
The West Australian government will be forced to find $316.9 million in funding for five transport projects targeted in Infrastructure Minister Catherine King’s shake-up of Commonwealth spending.
Green tape debacle hurting WA business and net zero dream [$]
Nearly half of Australia’s business leaders say long environmental approvals are a big risk to the country’s ambitions to cut emissions, adding to growing alarm about green tape tying up projects.
More citizen scientists needed to help track ‘cleaners of the ecosystem’ under threat in WA
In a busy, urban environment, south-western snake-necked turtles are increasingly at risk, but researchers say the community has the power to help.
Sustainability
Scientists advocate for strong conflict of interest rules in chemical and pollution policy
To ensure the success of the UN’s intergovernmental science-policy panel on chemicals, waste and pollution prevention (SPP), a new article in Environmental Science & Technology underlines the need for rules that defend against conflicts of interest.
Remediation overdue: South American countries fail to enforce oil cleanup laws
Existing legislation in Peru, Colombia, Ecuador and Bolivia provides for the remediation of environmental damage, though experts point to a “lack of political will” to enforce the laws.
Recycling dos and don’ts from people who do the actual work
There’s no better way to grasp the dos and don’ts of curbside recycling than seeing the sorting in action.
Waste pickers are fighting for recognition in the global plastics treaty
“Private companies are not capable of extracting anywhere near the amount of recyclables that reclaimers are.”
3 takeaways from Biden’s big transmission plan
Thousands of miles of new power lines are needed to send clean electricity across the U.S. to meet ambitious climate goals. The looming question for the Biden administration is how to get them built.
Shifting political winds threaten progress on Europe’s green goals
Shaken by global instability and a populist backlash, European nations are retreating from plans to reduce greenhouse gases, promote sustainable farming practices, and boost biodiversity. Green advocates fear the EU will fail to meet its commitments under the Paris Agreement.
Nature Conservation
More than half of UK and Ireland seabirds in decline, census finds
Species populations falling, with some decreasing due to loss of habitat and less food availability
Mekong: The last chance to save a mighty river
It is feared one of the world’s richest ecosystems, home to millions of people, is facing irreversible change.
Plastic has changed sea turtles forever
Even if plastic pollution stopped tomorrow, turtles would be dealing with the repercussions for centuries—at least.
Maelor Himbury | Library Volunteer
Australian Conservation Foundation | www.acf.org.au
p | 1800 223 669 t | @AusConservation
This email and any files transmitted with it may be confidential and legally privileged. If you are not the intended recipient of this email, you must not disclose or use the information contained in it.
If you have received this email in error, please notify us by return email and permanently delete the document.
We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of this country and their continuing connection to land, waters and community.
We pay respect to their elders past and present and to the pivotal role that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people continue to play in caring for country across Australia.