Frank Jotzo. The Morrison government on 17 September announced A$1.9 billion over ten years to develop clean technology in industry, agriculture and transport. In some ways it’s a step in the right direction, but a far cry from what’s needed to drive Australia’s shift to a low emissions economy. The big change involves what the […]
Richard Eckard, University of Melbourne The National Farmer’s Federation says Australia needs a tougher policy on climate than exists today, calling on the Morrison government to commit to an economy-wide target of net-zero greenhouse gas emission by 2050. It’s quite reasonable for the farming sector to call for stronger action on climate change. Agriculture is […]
Coronavirus will have a temporary effect on much of humanity, but global warming will have a permanent impact on the whole of humanity. Our current federal government relies heavily on science to deal with the former, but largely rejects it for the latter. It could be said that we have had longer than 40 years […]
Recently we learned that woody vegetation in New South Wales is being cleared at more than double the rate of the previous decade – and agriculture was responsible for more than half the destruction. Farming now covers 58% of Australia, or 385 million hectares, and accounts for 59% of water extracted. It’s painfully clear nature […]
In the Sydney Morning Herald of 4 July, Jessica Irvine quizzed Ken Henry on his preferences for tax reform. He emphasised the critical importance of clear settled allocation of roles between the Commonwealth and the States. The big one, the really tough one, is environment. There, I can see the sense in leaving it to […]
Beyond Zero Emissions has launched a new vision for an Australian economy embracing investments in zero emissions technologies which could create more than one million new jobs in Australia over the next five years. The plan, which proposes up to 90 gigawatts of new wind and solar projects be constructed, along with investments in improving […]
Bill Hare Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. Ursula Fuentes Murdoch University. Photo Mick Tsikas/AAP. Every few years, the idea that gas will help Australia transition to a zero-emissions economy seems to re-emerge, as if no one had thought of it before. Federal energy minister Angus Taylor is the latest politician to jump on the […]
4 July 2020 Photo No new coal. John Enghart 2018. flickr cc. It’s not difficult knowing what to do to prevent an environmental and human catastrophe. What’s difficult is making it happen and starting it now, especially in Australia. These articles highlight some recommendations for governments. It’s difficult to turn (or click on) a page […]
Photo Thomas La Mela/Shutterstock. 4 June 2020. Glenn Banks Massey University. Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff, and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nz. “Almost every threat to modern humanity […]
Photo Mick Tsikas/AAP. 4 June 2020. Frank Jotzo, Australian National University. The intricacies of climate change policy have not been front of mind for the Australian government this last half year, but the issue is now back on the agenda. Yesterday a review chaired by energy industry executive Grant King into new low-cost sources of […]
Photo Hornsdale (South Australia) windfarm in construction 2016. David Clark. flickr cc. 4 June 2020 The history of war tells us that such events are usually launched on doubtful and fabricated pretexts: The US war in Iraq, the German invasion in Europe at the start of WWII, all the way back to Julius Caesar’s invasion […]
