Saturday, April 16, 2022
Carbon Credits & Offsets | Honest Government Ad
Tuesday, April 12, 2022
Climate consideration case not to be appealed to High Court, but Students vow to keep pushing for climate action
Young people shouldn't have needed to take a case to the Federal court in the first place for consideration of their future in approval of new fossil fuel projects. Our Liberal National Party Government are climate criminals by approving such projects without regard to present and future generations.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, April 7, 2022
UN Secretary General calls out Australia: "the truly dangerous radicals increasing the production of fossil fuels" in launching IPCC WGIII report on climate solutions
Saturday, April 2, 2022
Labor Climate Policy for 2022 Federal Election, and science based climate targets
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The Australian Labor Party announced on 3 December 2021 they would be taking to the next election (sometime in the next 6 months) an interim emissions target of 43 percent reduction by 2030 on 2005 levels. This is 2% lower than the target they had for the previous election in 2019.
The Coalition Government are taking their current interim emissions target of 26-28 percent reduction in emissions reduction by 2030 on 2005 levels to the next election. This target was set in 2015 before COP21. They have now committed to Net zero by 2050. But Resources policy shows the Coalition Government expanding coal and gas production. See the deconstruction of Prime Minister Scott Morrison's statement to COP26.
Here is the Labor primary climate policy, Powering Australia. It is a pragmatic policy document trying to incorporate enough ambition while being a small target and avoid some of the expected attacks from the Coalition. It includes an economic costing of the policy. The Labor Interim emissions target for 2030 is 43%, which is below the 45% the ALP took to the election in 2019.
Wednesday, March 23, 2022
Call to Australian politicians to make climate highest priority, decarbonisation by 2030 | Australian Security Leaders Climate Group
When even retired members of our military establishment are calling for a decarbonisation target of 2030, you have to wonder at the games being played by the Liberal, National and Labor Parties on highly insufficient 2030 climate targets, and the lack of preparation in safeguarding Australians from climate change impacts.
The Australian Security Leaders Climate Group issued a call to all political parties in an open letter, signed by 17 senior former defence and intelligence officials, asking them to make climate their highest priority and to aim for decarbonisation by 2030. The statement appeared as a full page in The Australian newspaper.
The open letter follows the Missing in Action report from September 2021. This report proposed that "Focus should be on the root causes of climate warming, principally eliminating emissions much faster than proposed, rather than just the responding to the symptoms." The report recommended "to the government a set of initial actions in a climate and security plan to Protect, Prevent and Prepare, starting with a realistic assessment of the risks.
- An urgent Climate and Security Risk Assessment
- Establish a dedicated Office of Climate Threat Intelligence
- Triennial National Climate Risk Assessments
- Build an Australian National Prevention & Resilience Framework
A Climate for Leadership: how Australia should respond to increasing disasters with retired Admiral Chris Barrie | Webinar
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Australia Institute webinar with Richie Merzian and Chris Barrie |
UN Secretary General specifically calls out Australia on climate targets and coal "1.5-degree goal is on life support" | Full Speech
On Monday 21 March the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres made remarks to the Economist Sustainability Summit in a speech labelled Keeping 1.5 Alive – Delivering on the Fate of our Planet. In the speech he specifically called out Australia for failure to take climate action in increasing 2030 climate targets and phasing out coal and gas.
"The developed and emerging economies of the G20 account for 80 per cent of all global emissions. A growing number of G20 developed economies have announced meaningful emissions reductions by 2030 – with a handful of holdouts, such as Australia." said Guterres.
He didn't mince his words on the global catstrophe we are facing, either.
"According to present national commitments, global emissions are set to increase by almost 14 per cent in the 2020s. Last year alone, global energy-related CO2 emissions grew by 6 per cent to their highest levels in history. Coal emissions have surged to record highs. We are sleepwalking to climate catastrophe."
On a global level he articulated what we need to aim for to avoid catastrophe: "Keeping 1.5 alive requires a 45 per cent reduction in global emissions by 2030 and carbon neutrality by mid-century. That problem was not solved in Glasgow. "
He argues for progressively dismantling coal infrastructure, with full phase-out by 2030 for OECD countries (like Australia), and 2040 for all others. For financing adaptation and mitigation to be pursued with equal force and urgency.
He ends his speech on how do we keep 1.5 alive by calling for positive action and solutions:
- By accelerating the phase-out of coal and all fossil fuels and implementing a rapid, just and sustainable energy transition -- the only true pathway to energy security.
- By honouring the Glasgow pledge to strengthen national climate plans every year until they are aligned with 1.5 degrees.
- By delivering concrete outcomes this year on climate coalitions to help emerging economies urgently phase out coal.
- By driving a swift and transformative increase in climate finance with multilateral development banks leading on unlocking the trillions that we know are needed.
- By speeding up the decarbonization of major sectors such as shipping, aviation, steel and cement.
- And by protecting the most vulnerable and ensuring an equal focus on adaptation.
"That’s how we will move the 1.5 degree goal from life support to the recovery room. "
And Australia is presently not doing our fair share in ambituous 2030 climate targets, in planning for phase out of coal mining in a just transition engaging l;ocal communities in solutions.
Friday, March 18, 2022
The Floods 🌊 | Pre-election Australian Honest Government Ad for #Ausvotes
So much is packed in this Juice Media Honest Government Ad about the Flood Crisis in South East Queensland and North Coast of New South Wales, and the ineffective Federal Government political response.
Of Course it is part of a long history of first denying climate change, then delaying any response to acting on climate change. And doing minimal work in emergency response and recovery, and in developing a national climate risk assessment and developing a national climate adaptation plan.
Rather Australia keeps on approving new coal mines and new gas projects like the Narrabri gas field by Santos in NSW, Beetaloo Basin Gas in the Northern Territory by Origin Energy (70%, operator) and Falcon Oil and Gas (30%) , and the Scarborough Gas project by Woodside Petroleum off the Western Australian Coast.
Thursday, March 17, 2022
Aviation exhaust pollution, air quality, and impacts on Human Health - Melbourne Airport 3rd runway expansion
- Too much noise
- Contribution to global warming
- Loss of Woodland (a threatened ecosystem)
- Dodgy Economics
- Lack of Transparency
Friday, March 11, 2022
Victorian Government sets offshore wind targets to kickstart offshore wind industry to meet climate targets
On March 4, 2022 the Victorian Government set new offshore wind farm targets. Currently there are no offshore wind farms operating in the state.
The new offshore wind targets:
- 2032 - target of 2 GW
- 2035 - target of 4 GW
- 2040 - target of 9 GW
- 2050 - potential capacity of 13 GW
Federal Minister for Emissions Reduction Angus Taylor has been sitting on Federal legislation that has been needed to allow wind farm planning and construction to go ahead. This legislation was finally passed by the Federal Parliament in 2021.