BP questioned on Pay, #climatechange and Bight project at BP AGM

BP board had a torrid time at their AGM with 59 per cent of shareholders rejecting the executive remuneration package and questions on climate change, and the new project in the Great Australian Bight that has been described as a carbon bomb.

Inside the AGM, BP were grilled by shareholders, including big institutional investors, about their reckless plans to drill in the Bight. Wilderness Society national campaign director Lyndon Schneiders and Catherine Howarth from partner organisation ShareAction were in the meeting and asked pointed questions about the Bight.

It was reported that members of the board appeared to distance themselves from the Bight proposal, pointing the finger at the Australian government for enticing oil companies to drill in the region. The CEO also remarked, quite rightly: "Gosh this investment in Australia is not very popular today."

Oil spill at BP Melbourne a #FightfortheBight

Original story at storify, then posted at nofibs.com.au

Activists from the Wilderness Society, Sea Shepherd, Friends of the Earth and others came together this morning outside BP Australia's headquarters on Bourke Street Melbourne to stage a mock oil spill. They are highlighting the massive risks from BP oil exploration in the Great Australian Bight.

These risks are considerable and multiple including the climate risk of exceeding the 2C temperature limit agreed to at the Paris UN climate talks, and the risk of an oil spill damaging the pristine marine and coastal environment from Western Australia to Victoria and Tasmania.

The mock oil spill provided effective street theatre on Bourke Street outside BP's Melbourne offices. Some people dressed in decontamination suits with 44 gallon drums as props containing the BP insignia. Protestors chanted "BP has no right, no right to risk the bight".

Climate activists stage protest outside #LNG18 in Perth

The Gas Industry and all the big fossil fuel companies have come to Perth to talk exploitation of fossil fuels regardless of the climate imperative agreed to in Paris in December 2015. They were greeted on the opening night by climate activists.

The 18th International Conference and Exhibition on Liquefied Natural Gas has brought together the fossil fuel industry to discuss production efficiencies with the current low prices in LNG, and work out how they can continue to maximise drilling and exploitation into the future. There was a Welcome to Country and headline speeches by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Western Australian Premier Colin Barnett.

Major companies at the conference include Chevron, Shell, Inpex, ConocoPhillips, Total and Woodside Petroleum.

Attenborough on the Great Barrier Reef, sea level rise and climate change

Did you watch the first part of David Attenborough's documentary on the Great Barrier Reef?

This is a remarkable documentary with filming ending just as the reef was undergoing massive coral bleaching due to exceptionally warm waters caused by climate change. This is the third global coral reef bleaching event on record.

Attenborough first visited and documented the reef 60 years ago. Part one of the three part series contains an allegorical story from the Cairns area about sea level rise from the aboriginal dreamtime.

The Great Barrier Reef, geologically speaking, is a relatively recent phenomena. Sea levels were 70 to 90 metres lower during the Ice Age period with a narrow and steep shoreline where the east coast of Australia fell sharply to deeper waters. Sea levels started to rise at the end of the last ice age about 14,000 years ago.

Guest Post: CSIRO must ensure climate science is maintained says Sea level Rise expert John Church

This is a guest post from the Conversation by John Church, CSIRO on the savage cuts to climate science and public good research by the management team at Australia's premier research institution: the Commonwealth Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO). See my previous article from February: Climate science CSIRO job cuts labelled as science vandalism.

Parts of CSIRO’s climate science capability axed from the organisation could be absorbed by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, according to media reports this week.

Under cuts announced in early February by chief executive Larry Marshall and Oceans and Atmosphere Director Ken Lee, CSIRO could lose 100 staff from the Oceans and Atmosphere business unit, mostly in the climate area, as part of a total of 350 job losses across the organisation. The cuts represent a reduction in CSIRO’s role in doing science for the public good. Marshall stated that the research focus would shift towards mitigating and adapting to climate change.

French bank Societe Generale funding new #coal in Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic National Committee to Combat Climate Change (CNLCC) has written to French Bank Societe Generale, among others, over their funding of the new Punta Catalina coal plant. A contract was signed by the bank on 23 December 2015, just 11 days after the Paris Agreement on climate change was concluded at COP21. The coal project is mired from corruption allegations in Brazil affecting the firm contracted to build the plant, plus transparency allegations in the Dominican Republic, and against the wishes and needs of the local population in Peravia Province (south).

Pau France: Climate resistance to #StopMCEDD deepwater oil conference

Original article published at San Fransisco Bay Area Indymedia for Day 1. This article now contains updates from Day 2 and Day 3.

Over a 1000 people participated in events over the three days in opposing the conference. This included a protest camp - Camp Sirene, civil disobedience in blocking the entrances to Palais Beaumont, symbolic protest actions at hotels delegates were staying at, a human chain around Palais Beaumont, a mass die-in, and a free concert. The MCED summit was severely disrupted.

Latest: French Environment Minister announces moratorium on offshore Mediterranean oil and gas exploration.
500 climate activists disrupt conference on first day
Photo and Video compilations

Doctors prescribe LaTrobe Valley #coal closure for our health and a safe #climate

Original article published at nofibs.com.au

Over 300 health professionals have signed an open letter calling on the Victorian Premier to urgently nominate a time frame for closing down the harmful coal-fired power plants in the Latrobe Valley, and developing a transition plan for the local community.

The letter was delivered to Parliament on Tuesday 5th April 2016. The Parliamentary Secretary for Health Mary-Anne Thomas accepted the letter on the Premier’s behalf.

Labor Premier Palaszczuk approves Adani #coal mine leases furthering reef and #climate destruction

Original article published at nofibs.com.au

This morning (Sunday 3 April) the Queensland Mines Minister Anthony Lynham and Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk issued a joint statement for approval of mine leases for the Carmichael coal mine and rail project in Queensland's Galilee Basin. Their statement was widely condemned by environment and climate organisations.

The mine lease approval comes on the tail of the worst coral bleaching event on record for the Great Barrier Reef. Researchers found that 95 per cent of the northern 1000 km of the reef system up to Torres Strait was badly bleached. We know this is a direct consequence of climate change. There is no record of extreme coral bleaching events before 1998. See the ABC 7.30 Report on the extreme bleaching event caused by climate change, or read Graham Readfearn writing in the Guardian newspaper on the Link between fossil fuels and Great Barrier Reef bleaching clear and incontrovertible.

AYCC #CoralnotCoal protest during Indian Finance Minister visit

The Indian Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley, was in Australia for 4 days trying to wrangle investment money for infrastructure projects India, but also potentially including the the giant Adani Carmichael coal mine in the Galilee Basin of Queensland. Read the original article at nofibs.com.au

It was reported in Indian media (1, 2) before Jaitley left India that he was meeting with Australian Finance Minister Matthias Cormann and the $120 billion sovereign wealth Future Fund Chairman Peter Costello, in regard to sourcing investment funding in Indian projects, possibly including Adani's Carmichael mine.

When asked in Sydney if he would discuss the issue of Adani's Carmichael coal mine project in Queensland with Australian leaders and investors he replied with "not really", then elaborated slightly, "This is a subject which is internal to Australia and this is not the purpose of my visit," he said, reported The Press Trust of India.

So Adani was not the purpose of the Minister's visit, but it wasn't a full rejection that the subjection may be discussed either.