'Insufficient': Queensland government savages reef deal

The Queensland government has lashed an “unprecedented” decision by the Commonwealth to award $444 million in Great Barrier Reef funding to a private organisation, saying it was blindsided by the announcement and the money will not save the reef unless climate change is also curbed.

Fish swim among bleached coral in the Great Barrier Reef.

Fairfax Media has also confirmed the Great Barrier Reef Foundation will pocket a slice of the record funding, triggering claims the Turnbull government is wasting money that should be spent saving the ailing natural wonder.

But the foundation says its share of the millions will be capped to maximise the amount spent on the reef.

Read the story by Nicole Hasham from The Age -  “'Insufficient': Queensland government savages reef deal.”

Smartphones are killing the planet faster than anyone expected

Before you upgrade your next iPhone, you may want to consider a $29 battery instead. Not only will the choice save you money, it could help save the planet.

Think twice, and then think again before replacing
your smartphone as they are energy-rich and are
 chewing up the Earth/s resources at an alarming rate.

A new study from researchers at McMaster University published in the Journal of Cleaner Production analyzed the carbon impact of the whole Information and Communication Industry (ICT) from around 2010-2020, including PCs, laptops, monitors, smartphones, and servers. They found remarkably bad news. Even as the world shifts away from giant tower PCs toward tiny, energy-sipping phones, the overall environmental impact of technology is only getting worse. Whereas ICT represented 1% of the carbon footprint in 2007, it’s already about tripled, and is on its way to exceed 14% by 2040. That’s half as large as the carbon impact of the entire transportation industry.

Smartphones are particularly insidious for a few reasons. With a two-year average life cycle, they’re more or less disposable. The problem is that building a new smartphone–and specifically, mining the rare materials inside them–represents 85% to 95% of the device’s total CO2 emissions for two years. That means buying one new phone takes as much energy as recharging and operating a smartphone for an entire decade.

Read the story by Mark Wilson from Co.design  - “Smartphones are killing the planet faster than anyone expected.”

Dear Mr Adani 'invest in solar not coal'

Read this letter to "Mr Adani" - 

We are leaders from many faith traditions and communities across Australia. We are writing to you to ask you to abandon your proposed mine and instead use the same money to invest in solar energy in North Queensland.

Adidas has sold one million shoes made from recycled ocean plastic

It was a casual remark during a television interview with US broadcaster CNBC.

Adidas is now making shoes from recycled ocean plastic.

Adidas’ Chief Executive, Kasper Rorsted, was discussing where the global sportswear company decides to invest its money when he mentioned that “we last year sold one million shoes made out of ocean plastic”.

The astonishing figure was achieved through its partnership with Parley, a US organisation which works to protect ocean wildlife and stop plastic waste.

Read the ClimateAction story - “Adidas has sold one million shoes made from recycled ocean plastic.”

Divided by drought

What do you do when your city is running out of water? The answer, at least in one of the world’s most unequal countries, depends on how much money you have.

Within the next few months, Cape Town’s taps could run dry, the result of a protracted drought and a government failure to provide an alternative water source to this city of 4 million. Now, residents are scrambling to find their own private solutions.

For the wealthy, that means hiring companies to dig boreholes and wells. It means buying truckloads of bottled water, even at inflated prices. It means ordering desalination machines to make groundwater drinkable — or safe enough to fill a swimming pool.

For the poor, it means waiting to see what the government comes up with, and contemplating whether you can afford to cut back on food to be able to buy water.

Read The Washington Post story by Kevin Sieff - “Divided by drought.

Emissions standard on cars will save Australians billions of dollars, and help meet our climate targets

The cheapest way for Australia to cut greenhouse gas emissions is to put a cap on car emissions. It would be so cheap, in fact, that it will save drivers money.

Putting a cap on car emissions
will save everyone money.

According to analysis from ClimateWorks, the toughest proposed standard would help Australia achieve about 6% of its 2030 emission reduction target, and save drivers up to A$500 each year on fuel.

The federal government is looking at policy options to meet Australia’s 2030 emissions target of 26-28% below 2005 levels. Last year it established a ministerial forum to look at vehicle emissions and released a draft Regulation Impact Statement for light vehicles (cars, SUVs, vans and utilities) in December.

There is no reason for the government to delay putting the most stringent emissions standard on cars.

Read the piece on The Conversation by the Head of Implementation at ClimateWorks Australia from Monash University, Scott Ferraro, and the Project Manager from the same organisation, Claire Painter  - “Emissions standard on cars will save Australians billions of dollars, and help meet our climate targets.”

Taking the carbon challenge

T

his is where we'll show you how! Our Carbon Challenge has more than 50 activities to cut pollution. They cover Energy, Food, Travel, Shopping, Money and Sharing.

We ask you to make a personal goal: to cut a minimum of 1 tonne of CO2 pollution from your daily life within a year.

Read the 1 Million Women story - “Do you want to live a pollution-free and low-carbon lifestyle? Then take our carbon challenge”.

Young activists, climate change and carbon bombs

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iuhtezcatl Roske-Martinez was six when he gave his first speech about climate change.

“I wanted to go to all the factories with my brother and shut them down. And when I turned six, I found out that it was us that were supporting the factories. We’re the ones fuelling the destruction of our environment with our money.”

Now he is 14, Roske-Martinez, indigenous environmental eco hip-hop artist and activist running the environmental organisation Earth Guardians. He raps, he lectures and when he has the time, he speaks at the UN.

Read the full Guardian story - “Pope's encyclical, young activists of climate campaign and carbonbombs”.

Walking is an underrated solution to climate change.

Walking is an underrated solution to climate change.

The movement of people by machines, machines powered by fossil-fuels is one of the root causes of climate change, and so the switch simple human-powered movement would help ease the dilemma.

Walking, as opposed to using machines, is not only good for helping maintain the human-habitable state of the world, it is wonderful for an individual’s health and is helps save our communities money.

The benefit of ditching our cars and walking is explained today in the Melbourne Age in a story by Louise Almeida headed: “Health study: Melbourne walking commute could save lives and $30m”.

Should we walk more our health will improve, society will save money and the world’s environment will benefit.