Big Ag Is Sabotaging Progress on Climate Change

Climate experts have sounded yet another dire alarm, this time aimed straight at our stomachs. The United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s latest report, on “Climate Change and Land,” warns that meeting the challenges of our climate crisis requires urgent changes in our food systems. Days after, as if to illustrate the point, news broke that cattle ranchers and soybean farmers in Brazil were torching the Amazon rainforest, the “lungs of the world,” to clear land for more industrial-scale fields. Grim as it is, the report may be overly optimistic because it doesn’t sufficiently address the power of agribusinesses.

Agrochemical giant Monsanto, which already sells half
of Malawi’s commercial corn seeds, is trying to prevent f
armers from saving seeds from their last harvests.

The IPCC identifies a range of impacts on land, water, and other natural resources, and offers a set of welcome if unsurprising recommendations to both reduce the contributions of our food systems to climate change and adapt to feed a global population expected to grow to nearly 10 billion by 2050. They include: Stop draining wetlands to grow biofuels; reduce demand for beef and strengthen regulations to prevent deforestation in critical areas like the Amazon; cut food waste, which now squanders one-third of consumable food; reduce excessive fertilizer use; and improve cropping systems to turn croplands from heavy greenhouse-gas emitters to carbon sinks.

Read the story from Wired by Timothy A Wise - “Big Ag Is Sabotaging Progress on Climate Change.”

UK needs strategy to deal with industrial change – TUC report

The government must come up with a blueprint for dealing with the challenges that automation and the move to a low-carbon economy pose for UK industry, says a report by the TUC.

Jaguar Land Rover recently announced it will build
electric cars in the UK, despite Brexit uncertainty.

The UK has an “appalling” track record on managing industrial change that benefits workers, customers, businesses and communities. But the sweeping changes that are likely over the next few decades must be treated as an opportunity to improve lives and “deliver better jobs”, according to the authors.

Union leaders at the TUC said without strong guidelines and action at a local level, communities in industrial cities and towns could suffer.

The report, based on research conducted by the New Economics Foundation thinktank, said the UK may be able to learn lessons from three places that had transformed themselves after going through difficult times: Bilbao in northern Spain, Eindhoven in Holland, and Iceland.

Read the story from The Guardian by Rupert Jones - “UK needs strategy to deal with industrial change – TUC report.”

Seeds, kale and red meat once a month – how to eat the diet that will save the world

The world faces many challenges over the coming decades, but one of the most significant will be how to feed its expanding global population. By 2050, there will be about 10 billion of us, and how to feed us all, healthily and from sustainable food sources, is something that is already being looked at. The Norway-based thinktank Eat and the British journal the Lancet have teamed up to commission an in-depth, worldwide study, which launches at 35 different locations around the world today, into what it would take to solve this problem – and the ambition is huge.

 Composite: Getty/Alamy/Guardian Design Team

The commissioners lay out important caveats. Their solution is contingent on global efforts to stabilise population growth, the achievement of the goals laid out in the Paris Agreement on climate change and stemming worldwide changes in land use, among other things. But they are clear that it depends on far more than just these basic requirements. The initial report presents a flexible daily diet for all food groups based on the best health science, which also limits the impact of food production on the planet.

Read the story from The Guardian by Dale Berning Sawa - “Seeds, kale and red meat once a month – how to eat the diet that will save the world.”

Climate Case Gets Green Light from European Union Court

A lawsuit dubbed the People’s Climate Case, which challenges the European Union’s 2030 emissions reduction target and other climate policies, was given the green light by a court on Monday and is moving forward.

One of the plaintiffs in a climate case against the European
Union was a victim of the wildfires that ravaged Portugal in 2017.

The European General Court accepted the case brought by 10 families from Portugal, Germany, France, Italy, Romania, Kenya and Fiji and a youth association in Sweden. The case was first filed in May, but the court’s acceptance means that the defendants, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union, have two months to file their response.

The families contend that the EU’s current target to reduce emissions—40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030—is insufficient and fails to protect their fundamental rights. They also demand that three regulatory acts designed to implement that target be nullified as a more stringent target is set.

Read the Climate Liability News story by Dana Drugmand - “Climate Case Gets Green Light from European Union Court.”

Fancy seeing you: energy foes Abbott, Frydenberg and Credlin to face off in US

The energy minister, Josh Frydenberg, has no shortage of challenges right at the moment – including trying to land a complicated electricity policy that can placate both his coal-obsessed colleagues and also state governments concerned about a lack of ambition on emissions reduction.

Electricity in the air: Tony Abbott, Peta Credlin and Josh
 Frydenberg have been on opposing sides of the energy debate.
Composite: Penny Bradfield, Mick Tsikas/AAP

But his diplomatic skills will be put further to the test this week when he attends the annual Australian-American leadership dialogue in Washington.

“The dialogue” is a high-powered gathering of movers and shakers – politicians, diplomats, business and media doyens – who mingle in closed sessions to mull the state of the bilateral relationship in the age of Trump.

Read the story by Katharine Murphy from The Guardian - “Fancy seeing you: energy foes Abbott, Frydenberg and Credlin to face off in US.”

Tatura brings sustainability to the forefront

They say many hands make light work, a saying I believe rings truest in small towns and communities.

Some of the solar panels on top of Tatura Children’s Centre.

As I made the trip back to The News office from Tatura a few weeks ago, I started a mental checklist of the stories ready to be written for an upcoming issue of the Tatura Guardian.

One of the things I love about Tatura is the sense of community and pride of place.

Most conversations end with locals singing the praises of their lovely town and more often than not, these exchanges leave you with a warm, fuzzy feeling in the pit of your stomach.

On this particular drive, I realised there was a certain theme surrounding my stories — sustainability and the environment.

I’m not sure if it may have Right: The first kit to begin Boomerang Bags in Tatura. been a coincidence or potentially a biased interest in this topic, but I decided it was important for me to celebrate and acknowledge the efforts of this wonderful community.

For example, did you know Tatura is the home of the first cafe in the Goulburn Valley to give up selling plastic water bottles and giving out straws and plastic lids on milkshake containers?

Coffee+ owner Michelle Keen simply made the decision one day after watching an ABC documentary and hasn’t looked back.

If anything, she’s pushing forward, initiating more changes to ensure her cafe is making the smallest impact possible.

The town is also home to Transition Tatura, a group hosting roadside clean-ups, a film festival and seminars, all with the intention of educating the community about the challenges and dangers of climate change.

This group is also another first for the Goulburn Valley.

It’s also incredible to learn that the introduction of Boomerang Bags or ‘Totes for Tat’ was established due to the efforts of four individuals taking the initiative to create handmade, reusable bags for the town.

Not only did the parties not know the others had also inquired, they have decided on an incredibly ambitious target to create more than 1000 bags for their town.

You’ll also find a food share program and the local nursing home predominately using produce from their vegie patches scattered around the facility.

Last but not the least, I was delighted to hear one of the local kindergartens had made the switch to solar with the intent of educating their students on sustainable practices.

I tend to get a little overexcited about these things and I’m sure I’ve lost a few people spreading my ‘greeny’ propaganda at this point, but I think it’s wonderful to see so many initiatives cropping up.

It’s time to further highlight these acts as the norm, with the hope of inspiring those with the ability to get on board.We have no other planet to live on, it’s best we take care of this one. 

● Story by Ashlea Witoslawski, a cadet journalist at The Shepparton News.

Friday essay: recovering a narrative of place - stories in the time of climate change

Five years ago, I was invited to participate in a global project on climate change. The aim was to engage 15-year-old students with the challenges posed by climate change and the increase of extreme weather events. The students would be asked to respond to the challenge through creativity, initially through an introduction to the science underpinning climate change. In the following 18 months, I visited schools in Ireland, England, Germany and Poland, and also worked with a group of students at Footscray City College in Melbourne. The project would culminate in an environmental youth summit at the International Literature Festival Berlin.

Before the outsiders arrived in Wurundjeri country this billabong
 enjoyed a vital ecological connection with other waterways.

I consider myself an innovative and engaging teacher, and looked forward to the project. It took me only the one class to realise the challenge would be a difficult one. What I discovered in speaking to students was that while they were in no way “anti-science”, headline-grabbing climate change scepticism had impacted on their faith in their own ability to understand science, highlighting what I’ve always believed to be the motivation of sceptics: the undermining of our own confidence to think and grasp ideas.

Read the piece from The Conversation by a Lecturer in Creative Writing from Victoria University, Tony Birch - “Friday essay: recovering a narrative of place - stories in the time of climate change.”

Integrating E-mobility into the electrical grid

E-Mobility is more than established as a crucial solution to cope with the mobility sector challenges arising from climate change, global warming and the need for decarbonisation. There is a considerable increase of electric and hybrid cars in the portfolio of automotive producers; regulators demand and support the expansion of E-Mobility through regulatory frameworks and incentive schemes.

The worldwide increasing share of electric and hybrid cars raises the question of how can these vehicles be best integrated in our electrical grids. While necessary grid expansions could be a challenge, opportunities are much more significant; Especially the storage function of battery electric vehicles can flexibly contribute to network stability and storage – a crucial challenge regarding the increasing share of renewable energy in our energy systems. 

Thus, E-Mobility offers a more than substantial contribution to decarbonisation. The buzz words ‘Vehicle-to-grid’ and ‘grid-to-vehicle’ indicate that new business models are emerging and E-Mobility might become a crucial part of a more flexible integrated energy system in the future. Moreover, the transformation of the energy and the mobility sector – Energiewende and Verkehrswende – evolve into a joint project and sector-coupling becomes more than a catchword.

This webinar illustrates this new role of E-Mobility from the different viewpoints of the automotive industry, energy providers and key stakeholders in the energy policy debate. 

Watch the recording of the webinar - “Integrating E-mobility into the electrical grid.”

Irish failing ‘spectacularly’ in response to climate change

Ireland has “failed spectacularly” in its response to the challenges posed by climate change over the last 15 years, the Citizens’ Assembly has been told.

The Citizens’ Assembly is considering how the State can
become a leader in tackling climate change over the weekend.

The assembly, which is considering how the State can become a leader in tackling climate change, heard that failing to adequately respond to global warming could soon end up costing Ireland millions, and potentially billions, in fines.

“Ireland has failed spectacularly on climate change over the past 15 years,” said researcher Joseph Curtin of UCC and the Institute of International and European Affairs. “It has not stepped up to the plate. Let’s be realistic; start by doing our fair share, then we can aspire to leadership.”

Mr Curtin said Ireland was not on target to meet any of its targets “under EU and UN processes” but that most countries were doing their bit when it came to reducing carbon emissions and adopting renewable energy sources.

Read Kevin O’Sullivan’s story in The Irish Times - “Irish failing ‘spectacularly’ in response to climate change.”

Three key challenges for the world in 2017

Looking toward 2017.

At the start of 2017, it feels that many of the world’s greatest challenges are being left unsolved and unaddressed by leaders in government and business.

In the last year especially, we have been confronted with an array of grim numbers and escalating events: millions of refugees with nowhere to go; unexpected decisions on Brexit and in the US elections; melting ice caps; growing income and wealth inequality; terrorist atrocities; and the fake news phenomenon implicated in the rejection of globalization and the rise of nationalist and populist politics.

Read Uschi Schreiber’s EY story - “Three key challenges for the world in 2017.”

Climate Change Film Tells Us 'How to Let Go of the World'

China’s smog-ridden skies have driven some people to rebel in the streets—even if their communist government punishes them severely for doing so. This is a country, after all, where Facebook is blocked and Google is censored.

Director Josh Fox discovered this first-hand when he headed to Beijing for his latest film, How to Let Go of the World and Love All the Things Climate Can’t Change.

“Even the nicest hotel room can turn into a prison,” he said in the film as a guard stood outside his hotel room at 4:30 a.m. Even on the streets in broad daylight, he and his crew were tailed by secret police who drove behind them in a white car. The film’s producer was detained, and the team nearly lost its footage. A trip that had set out to cover the polluting effects of coal quickly evolved into a segment on political repression and human rights.

“Human rights is the air that we breathe,” Fox says.

Three years after his Gasland series showed viewers the detrimental effects of fracking, Fox explores the hard truths of climate change and, recognizing the immensity of the struggle we confront, challenges us to let go of what can’t be helped.

Read the Yes! magazine story - “Climate Change Film Tells Us “How to Let Go of the World”.”

Developing a Climate Change Framework for action

The Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning is building a framework for climate change action in Victoria that will be released in 2016.

We want to hear from you about the challenges and opportunities for climate change action, your vision for a thriving and resilient future for Victoria, and how government can work with you to get us there.

Read more here - “Developing a Climate Change Framework for action.”

The greatest challenge is not the brain, rather climate change

Understanding the human brain is one of the greatest challenges facing 21st century science, second only it seems, to understanding and dealing with climate change.

The Human Brain Project began in 2012 and has grown to a multi-nation project that won a Euro competition ensuring funding and its immediate future.

A representative of the project spoke on Radio National today about success in the Euro competition and acknowledged that the only thing more important than grasping the complexity of the human brain was, understanding and resolving climate change.

However, maybe in understanding the human brain, the project will be able to unlock insights into why many humans appear unable to recognize, acknowledge and accept the clear evidence from the world’s climatologists that climate change is the result of human activities.

'Slap Tomorrow' for Shepparton

“Slap Tomorrow” is the name chosen for a public speaking event in Shepparton being organized by a small group drawn from among Beneath the Wisteria supporters. 

The group, involving Chris Halpin, Terry Court, John Pettigrew, Bill Winters, Ian Coldwell, Geoff Lodge and Robert McLean, has met twice and now will be meeting each fortnight.

A brief statement about what is proposed has been put together to enhance proposals when the group is talking with potential partners or sponsors.

The group decided at its most recent meeting that it was important to have name for the event that was both catchy and provoked thinking – the group settled on “Slap Tomorrow”.

Here is what the one-page statement says:

“Slap Tomorrow” wants Goulburn Valley residents to be vigorous participants in creating curious and resilient communities.
To create the excitement and interest in working toward such an outcome, ST is eager to bring a small group of qualified and nationally recognized speakers to Shepparton who can help us understand the current realities, the challenges we face collectively and what opportunities are within and surround those challenges.
The speakers will be presented on one evening in the City of Greater Shepparton’s Eastbank auditorium, with free admission to the community.
Our speakers will tell us about such matters as our changing climate, food security, exponential population growth and the depletion of the world’s finite resources.
Also, and importantly, the speakers will talk about the opportunities arising from each of these changes and articulate how those ideas can be employed within our communities to improve their resilience and so make them broadly better places to live, more content and harmonious with the environment.
Our aim is to have the difficulties facing the world, and by implication Goulburn Valley communities, explained in a clear and understandable manner to help people determine how they should react, both as a Community and on a personal level and so enable them understand how they should respond to changing environmental challenges and so build resilient and content communities.
The Shepparton/Tatura based group, “Slap Tomorrow”, wishes to equip people from the Goulburn Valley with the knowledge, and ideas, brought to the district by these speakers, ensuring they will be better prepared to address the unfolding challenges, and to do that, “Slap Tomorrow” needs the support of your organization.
Knowledge is power and to address the world’s emerging challenges our district will benefit from the input of the speakers we envisage.

A range of names have been put forward as potential speakers, ranging from Tim Flannery to Anna Rose, and Victoria’s Sustainability Commissioner, Prof Kate Auty, who has already indicated her willingness to be a part of the event.

John Doyle is being considered as the master of ceremonies.

Those with any comment about the project are urged to contact any of the group mentioned above.