Report maps out ways to reach climate targets and regenerate economy

Australia still has a chance to use existing technologies to tackle climate change and maintain living standards while creating new jobs, an exhaustive new study has found, but only if individuals, businesses and government act quickly to reduce emissions from every sector of the economy.

Australia can meet its international climate change commitments and create
jobs during the recovery phase from the coronavirus recessions, according
to a new report from ClimateWorks.

The report by ClimateWorks, called Decarbonising Futures, maps out in detail how Australia could go about achieving emissions reductions required across industry sectors to limit global warming to below 2 degrees, or to the more ambitious 1.5 degree target under the Paris climate agreement.

"If we get this right, we can meet Australia's international climate change commitments, create jobs in sustainable industries, and set ourselves up for a smoother and speedier shift to a zero-emissions economy," said Anna Skarbek, the chief executive of ClimateWorks, a policy advisory body housed in Monash University.

She said the coronavirus pandemic has made the need for immediate "all-in" action even more urgent as governments spend the coming weeks and months planning how they will stimulate their economies as the crisis passes.

Read the story from The Age by Nike O’Malley and Mike Foley - “Report maps out ways to reach climate targets and regenerate economy.”

From Europe, a carbon game-changer?

Survey after survey reports that most Australians want our governments to tackle climate change. But when push comes to shove, as we know from experience, many of us are susceptible to scary stories about the household costs of such action.

Levelling the playing field: European Commission
 president Ursula von der Leyen in London last month. 

The Liberal and National parties also have a big problem with climate science, as we’ve been reminded this week. A small but noisy section of their membership demands that no quarter be given in what they see as an ideological battle. In the latest instalment of the saga, an eruption among a minority of National MPs, themselves a small minority of government MPs, has propelled the government even further from reality. It would take a prime minister with a very large dollop of internal authority to drag his or her party towards a rational long-term approach — but Scott Morrison, in 2020, is not one of those.

And if Labor wins the next election, it will again be reliant on the Greens to pass legislation in the Senate (or, if it’s unlucky, the Greens plus others, as the Rudd government faced), and the minor party, especially under fire-breathing leader Adam Bandt, will drive a hard bargain. Labor, in any event, has gone cold on climate action since the sad events of last May.

Read the story from Inside Story by Peter Brent - “From Europe, a carbon game-changer?”

Agriculture ministers clinch climate deal

Australia's agriculture ministers have agreed to a national approach to tackle climate change which is predicted to lead to more frequent and extreme droughts.

Agriculture Minister, Bridget McKenzie and Dought Minister David
Littleproud are meeting with agriculture Ministers from around the country. 

Federal Agriculture Minister Bridget McKenzie and Drought Minister David Littleproud are meeting with counterparts from all states and territories.

A new climate change group will oversee the delivery of the program, regularly reporting to ministers on its progress.

The program focuses on delivering information and improving farming decisions, including risk management.

Read the story from The Canberra Times by Matt Coughlan - “Agriculture ministers clinch climate deal.”

Climate change tackled

Goulburn Valley Water plans to install solar systems on its land and infrastructure in Shepparton to tackle climate change.

An example of what is planned by GV Water to help Victoria
reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

GV Water will be rolling out solar systems across sites in 10 towns, including Kilmore, Cobram and Mansfield to help the Victorian Government reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

The organisation’s managing director Peter Quinn said it had committed to investing $5.39 million to the initiative.

This story from The Shepparton News - “Climate change tackled”.

(Pick up your copy of The News or access it via subscription to read the whole story)

Democratic 2020 hopefuls split over tackling climate crisis

Democrats vying for president revealed a fundamental split over how aggressively the US should tackle climate change in a seven-hour town hall meeting on Wednesday.

Elizabeth Warren told Democratic candidates’ town hall that industry
 not individuals must bear responsibility for changing energy consumption.

Bernie Sanders painted an apocalyptic future wreaked by the climate crisis and pledged to wage war on the fossil fuel industry. A high-energy Elizabeth Warren urged optimism for building a better America and the former vice-president Joe Biden, who has a pitched a more moderate proposal, said he would push other nations to recommit to stronger action.

Sanders said without radical change the world will be uninhabitable. “The damage to the world will be irreparable,” the Vermont senator said, adding that he is proposing “the largest, most comprehensive climate plan presented by any presidential candidate in the history of the United States”.

Read the story from The Guardian by Emily Holden and Oliver Milman in New York - “Democratic 2020 hopefuls split over tackling climate crisis.”

SA councils split on "climate emergency" vote

Marion and Adelaide City councils have knocked back calls to declare a “climate emergency” in their local government areas, after some councillors argued ratepayers should not be slogged more to tackle climate change.

Students protest at state parliament as part of
a global school strike for climate change action.

Adelaide Hills and Light Regional councils, however, were successful at passing “climate emergency” motions last night – joining 12 councils across Australia, including Gawler Town Council, which previously passed such a motion, to sign up to a global movement calling for local government action on climate change.

At last night’s city council meeting, area councillor Robert Simms was unsuccessful at passing his full raft of climate proposals.

Read the story from Adelaide’s InDaily by Stephanie Richards - “SA councils split on "climate emergency" vote."

Top oil firms spending millions lobbying to block climate change policies, says report

The largest five stock market listed oil and gas companies spend nearly $200m (£153m) a year lobbying to delay, control or block policies to tackle climate change, according to a new report.

ExxonMobil leads the oil firms in spending on branding
campaigns suggesting they support action against climate change.

Chevron, BP and ExxonMobil were the main companies leading the field in direct lobbying to push against a climate policy to tackle global warming, the report said.

Read the story from The Guardian by Sandra Laville - “Top oil firms spending millions lobbying to block climate change policies, says report.”

David Attenborough tells Davos: ‘The Garden of Eden is no more’

Sir David Attenborough has warned that “the Garden of Eden is no more”, as he urged political and business leaders from around the world to make a renewed push to tackle climate change before the damage is irreparable.

'The Garden of Eden is no more', David Attenborough warns Davos summit.

Speaking at the start of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, the 92-year-old naturalist and broadcaster warned that human activity has taken the world into a new era, threatening to undermine civilisation.

“I am quite literally from another age,” Attenborough told an audience of business leaders, politicians and other delegates. “I was born during the Holocene – the 12,000 [year] period of climatic stability that allowed humans to settle, farm, and create civilisations.” That led to trade in ideas and goods, and made us the “globally connected species we are today”.

Read the story from The Guardian by Graeme Wearden - “David Attenborough tells Davos: ‘The Garden of Eden is no more’.”

The good, the bad and the ugly: limiting temperature rise to 1.5°C

THE INTERNATIONAL effort to tackle climate change must be accelerated in order to limit global temperature rises, a new report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has found.

The IPCC report, released today in South Korea, is an urgent reminder that global warming poses a grave risk to humanity.

To put into context what this means for Australia, the Climate Council has prepared its own report: “The good, the bad and the ugly: Limiting temperature rise to 1.5°C”.

Read the Climate Council story - “The good, the bad and the ugly: limiting temperature rise to 1.5°C.”

Europe needs a fresh approach to climate strategy

In Europe the debate about a new strategy to tackle climate change is beginning. The current EU climate strategy – the 2050 Low-Carbon Roadmap of 2011 – needs to be replaced. Its level of ambition (-80% by 2050) is not any more in in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement, which calls for net-zero emissions by the middle of the century.

‘Investors might adopt a wait-and-see approach, instead of massively investing into new low-carbon alternatives, as they know that individual policies can be quickly reversed’

What is more, the economic, political and technological environments have changed markedly since 2011. Emission levels today are lower than expected in 2011. The failure of centralised energy and climate policy-making from Brussels has led to the emergence of a new governance framework – the Energy Union – that acknowledges the key role of member states. And while some low-carbon technologies such as batteries and solar panels have massively exceeded expectations of seven years ago, the contribution of other technologies such as carbon capture and storage (CCS) currently appear to be insufficient to the long-term goal of decarbonisation.

Read the story by Andrei Marcu and Georg Zachmann from energypost - “Europe needs a fresh approach to climate strategy.”

We need to reimagine banking”, says BBVA on climate change

One of Spain’s largest banks has called on financial institutions to do more to tackle climate change.

BBVA’s Executive Chairman, Francisco González, says we
 need to reimagine banking to tackle climate change.

“Banks need to help customers drive sustainable development and transition towards a low-carbon economy”, said Francisco González, BBVA’s Executive Chairman.

“The burden of responsibility that rests on humanity’s shoulders is unprecedented.”

He was speaking at the opening of a forum on sustainable finance, hosted by the bank in Madrid, which was also attended by Spain’s Deputy Prime Minister.

Read the ClimateAction story - “We need to reimagine banking”, says BBVA on climate change.”

Ministerial council announces national climate adaptation strategy

A meeting of state and federal agriculture ministers has resolved to develop a national strategy to tackle climate change.

Agriculture Minister David Littleproud.

Some will wonder why it took so long to get to this point, but the announcement from today’s Ministerial Council has already been welcomed by many in the farm sector.

Victoria’s Labor-lead cross-border Agriculture Departments in development of a on initial paper on adaptation policies.

Read Mike Foley’s story from FarmOnline National - “Ministerial council announces national climate adaptation strategy.”

Climate change challenge accepted by group of local councils

A group of local government councils are joining forces in an ambitious effort to tackle climate change.

Many local residents have already installed solar panels.

They have been inspired by a new report from the Climate Council showing cities, urban centres and rural townships have the potential to slash energy emissions by a staggering 70 per cent.

At least 35 councils, representing around 3 million Australians, have already committed to the Cities Power Partnership, a Climate Council initiative to slash emissions at a local level.

Read the ABC News story by David Taylor - “Climate change challenge accepted by group of local councils.”

Washington can't stop Americans': Michael Bloomberg pledges to pay US share of Paris climate funding

US billionaire Michael Bloomberg has offered $15 million to UN efforts to tackle climate change after President Donald Trump announced he is pulling the United States out of the Paris Climate Accord.

Michael Bloomberg.

The money would support the operations of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Executive Secretariat, "including its work to help countries implement their commitments under the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change," Bloomberg Philanthropies said in a statement late Thursday.

"Americans are not walking away from the Paris Climate Agreement," Michael Bloomberg said. "Just the opposite - we are forging ahead."

Bloomberg Philanthropies, in partnership with others, "will make up the approximately $15 million in funding that the UN's Climate Secretariat stands to lose from Washington.

Read The Telegraph story - “‘Washington can't stop Americans': Michael Bloomberg pledges to pay US share of Paris climate funding.”

Tom Arup wonders, can a wounded Paris deliver on the climate?

A

s the gunsmoke clears from the streets of Paris, in its place a sense of resolve has set in. In a week, the wounded city will host 45,000 people for the long-awaited climate summit.

The French government is insisting that the terror will not stop it going ahead, albeit with heightened security and public marches cancelled.

Among those attending, there is a belief that the violence must not hamper the summit's goal – to deliver a long-awaited new global agreement to tackle climate change.

Read Tom Arup’s story in today’s Melbourne Age - “Climate change: Can a wounded Paris deliver for the planet?”