Category: Stewardship of our planet

Wake up, Mr Morrison: Australia’s slack climate effort leaves our children 10 times more work to do than we have.

Lesley Hughes Macquarie UniversityJohn Hewson Crawford School of Public Policy Australian National UniversityMalte Meinshausen The University of MelbourneWill Steffen Australian National University 30 March 2021 There is much at stake at the highly anticipated United Nations climate summit in Glasgow this November. There, almost 200 nations signed up to the Paris Agreement will make emissions […]

Go hard, go early, go renewables.

Tim Colebatch. 30 March 2021. Ever the optimist, Ross Garnaut has a plan for Australia’s economic future Change the prime minister, and you change the country. Paul Keating’s words resonate when you look at how Australia has changed in the past twenty-five years. In 1996, we threw out his government, and, in doing so, largely […]

The powerful national upside of net-zero emissions.

Nicholas Rowley and James Rydge. 30 March 2021 Major countries and the private sector are embracing net-zero as the growth opportunity of the future. With Australia increasingly isolated diplomatically and economically, Morrison is feeling the pressure. Scott Morrison’s recently stated goal “to reach net zero emissions as soon as possible, and preferably by 2050” comes at the […]

We are the 1%: the wealth of many Australians puts them in an elite club wrecking the planet.

Alex Baumann Western Sydney University. Samuel Alexander University of Melbourne. Among the many hard truths exposed by COVID-19 is the huge disparity between the world’s rich and poor. As economies went into freefall, the world’s billionaires increased their already huge fortunes by 27.5%. And as many ordinary people lost their jobs and fell into poverty, […]

Editorial Peter Whiting. Some signs of hope.

8 February 202 It has become a cliché : “She/he is a glass-half-full sort of person”, playing out as we enter 2021 after the Covid-19 disruptions of 2020. Some are optimistic about this new year; some are lamenting social and economic disruptions carrying forward, focusing on the scale of the problems facing us. At Social […]

Coalition’s political games don’t mix well with existential threat.

Ian Chubb. 8 February 2021 We could secure a spectacular future for ourselves and help the planet. Instead the federal government dodges the hard decisions; it passes the buck. Fortunately, state and territory governments are stepping up to the plate. New analysis shows that Australia needs to cut emissions by at least 50% by 2030 […]

Richard Holden. Vital signs: a global carbon price could soon be a reality. Australia should prepare.

Richard Holden UNSW 1 December 2020. As well as restoring dignity to the Oval Office, another thing which will definitely change under a Biden presidency is US policy on the environment. Biden’s plan for “a clean energy revolution and environmental justice” includes rejoining the Paris Agreement on climate change, investing US$1.7 trillion over the next […]

Giles Parkinson. Super power: here’s how to achieve 100% wind, solar, & storage by 2030.

1 December 2020 A team led by renowned Stanford University futurist Tony Seba says most of the world can transition to 100 percent wind, solar, and storage electricity grids within the coming decade, in what it describes as the fastest, deepest, and most profound disruptions ever seen in the energy industry. The RethinkX team led […]

Peter Sainsbury. Does anyone really believe we’re going to avert a climate catastrophe?

1 December 2020. An energy transition is under way, but it is too slow to avert a climate catastrophe, and it ignores many other environmental and social challenges which need tackling now. Capitalism has put us in this mess, but doesn’t have the tools to take us out of it. Perhaps ecosocialism and Extinction Rebellion […]

Frank Jotzo. ‘A dose of reality’: Morrison government’s new $1.9b techno-fix for climate change is a small step.

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. Australia’s farmers want climate action. And they’re starting in their own (huge) backyards.

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 […]

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Social Policy Connections is an independent, ecumenical organisation, motivated and informed by Christian social thinking. Our purpose is to expand awareness of social justice issues in Australia and overseas, and to influence public policy for the benefit of all people, especially the most disadvantaged. SPC is not aligned with any political party.

To help bring the social involvements of the churches into contemporary policy debates and shape a more just society, Social Policy Connections is committed to inform, advocate and engage.

Inform

Provide new platforms for informed debate and conversation through the web, conferences, public events and publications
Convene open forums for fresh voices, especially those with singular expertise or experience.

Advocate

Build relationships with politicians and opinion makers, the media, and like-minded organisations.
Publish research papers, opinion pieces and social comment.
Utilise the print media, along with radio and electronic media, including the internet.

Engage

Establish networks and alliances with concerned people, social agencies and organisations, churches and church agencies.
Develop our communication links with SPC members.