Development bank opts for climate-change investment over 'white elephants’

The Asian Development Bank has signalled it will inject more cash into high-quality projects aimed at dealing with climate change and tourism and less on infrastructure "white elephants" as it battles pressure to counter the growing influence of China across the Pacific.

Asian Development Bank president Takehiko Nakao says not investing
 in white elephants is important for future infrastructure development.

Bank president Takehiko Nakao, on his first visit to Australia in three years, told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age that it wants to ensure "high-quality" infrastructure is put in place that does not leave recipient nations facing long-term and growing debts.

Read the story from The Age by Shane Wright - “Development bank opts for climate-change investment over 'white elephants’.”

The carbon footprint of tourism revealed (it’s bigger than we thought)

The carbon footprint of tourism is about four times larger than previously thought, according to a world-first study published today in Nature Climate Change. 

There's a huge carbon cost with flying.

Researchers from the University of Sydney, University of Queensland and National Cheng Kung University – including ourselves – worked together to assess the entire supply chain of tourism. This includes transportation, accommodation, food and beverages, souvenirs, clothing, cosmetics and other goods.

Put together, global tourism produces about 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions, much more than previous estimates. 

Read the story from The Conversation - “The carbon footprint of tourism revealed (it’s bigger than we thought).”

(Climate Conversations considers the environmental cost of flying, including tourism)

Tourism to be tested by climate change

Tourism will be another of those things not to escape the rigours of climate change.

The National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility (NCCARF) today (March 5) organised a webinar looking at the challenges facing the tourism industry.

The hour-long webinar prompted many questions, among them one that wondered whether or not “virtual” tourism might be the answer, or at least part fit.

Watch the NCCARF webinar.

Up to five weeks wait for emergency cap for controversial Great Australian Bight oil well plan

(This conversation is about something that we ought not even be considered for scientific consensus is that if the world is to have any chance of slowing, stalling, or stopping climate change, then the only place for fossil fuels is on the ground, where they rest safely already – Robert McLean)

Fire boat response crews battle the blazing
remnants of the offshore oil rig
Deepwater Horizon, off Louisiana, in 2010.

A 35-day delay to ship capping technology to Australia in the event of a major oil spill has prompted warnings the Great Australian Bight could suffer an environmental disaster to rival the 2010 Deepwater Horizon catastrophe.

Tourism, fisheries and environmental groups have pledged to continue to fight plans by oil giant BP to dig two new wells of up to two kilometres deep in waters off the South Australian coastline, saying the project risks pristine oceans and vulnerable marine life.

Read Tom McIlroy’s story in today’s Melbourne Age - “Up to five weeks wait for emergency cap for controversial Great Australian Bight oil well plan.”

Looming Bali water crisis

Thousands of people in Bali have joined a movement
to reject land reclamation in Benoa Bay.

"For thrill seekers and chill seekers” – that’s the phrase the Today Tonight television program used to show areas in Bali as a freshly rebranded holiday destination, in its recent Brand New Bali series.

But beneath the glamorous surface of cocktails, swimming pools and beach holidays lies an environmental threat that may cause the island to face a water crisis in less than four years.

One segment of Brand New Bali focused on the area of Canggu, hailed as the new “place to be”, after Kuta, Legian and Seminyak.

Showcasing one newly opened Australian-owned beach club at Berawa beach, the segment shows Australian visitors, the Australian beach club manager and a local businessman named Ketut talk about the splendours of Canggu and its rise from a small fishing village to a trendy international surf destination.

Read by the piece on The Conversation by a PhD Candidate in Anthropology at The University of Queensland, Thomas Wright - “Beneath the surface of tourism in Bali.”

CSIRO takes genetic approach to disarming mossies

Summer is the time of year when we head out for trips to the beach or picnics in the park. But we need to keep in mind that this is also when mosquito season reaches its peak.

The swarms of mosquitoes flooding our summer fun inevitably bring increased outbreaks of mosquito-borne diseases, such as Ross River fever, in some areas, dengue fever.

Australian travellers through Southeast Asia are also exposed to a variety of dangerous mosquito-borne viruses such as chikungunya virus and even Japanese encephalitis. Both of these are a significant risk to Australia, should they successfully establish here and join the suite of existing mosquito-borne viruses which represent major public health concerns that impact our economy, tourism and way of life.

Read the story on the CSIRO blog - “A genetic approach to mosquitoes can stop them spreading infections.”