Climate Change Authority says goal could be achievable if more action is taken by governments, business, investors and households
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Australia could meet an “ambitious” target to cut national greenhouse gases by at least 65% and up to 75% by 2035, according to an initial assessment by the Albanese government’s climate advisory body.
The Climate Change Authority has been commissioned to advise the government on a 2035 target and plans to cut emissions from electricity and energy, transport, industry and waste, agriculture and land, resources and buildings.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
04/11/2024 - 10:00
04/11/2024 - 10:00
Exclusive: Australian Energy Markets Commission set interim value for cutting emissions that should reach $420/t CO-e by 2050
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New energy market laws should set a carbon price starting at $70 a tonne, rising steadily to six times that by mid-century, according to the agency that sets the nation’s electricity and gas market rules.
In a report released without fanfare at the end of March, the Australian Energy Markets Commission (AEMC) announced an interim value of cutting emissions, starting at $70 per tonne of carbon dioxide-equivalent in 2024. That price should increase steadily to reach $420/t CO-e by 2050, when Australia aims to reach net zero carbon emissions.
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04/11/2024 - 09:01
New organisation behind protest outside Keir Starmer’s home has big plans for future political change
A new organisation calling itself Youth Demand has hit the headlines in recent weeks after spray painting the Labour party headquarters and the Ministry of Defence, as well as staging a protest outside Keir Starmer’s home.
Rows of children’s shoes were laid at the Labour leader’s front door in Kentish Town, north London, at the beginning of the week. A banner surrounded by red handprints was hung outside the house he shares with his wife and children, with the words: “Starmer stop the killing.”
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04/11/2024 - 08:11
Employees at SBTi have called for their CEO to resign over controversial plans which they fear will enable greenwashing
Staff at one of the world’s leading climate-certification organisations have called for the CEO and board members to resign after they announced plans to allow companies to meet their climate targets with carbon offsets.
They fear that companies will use the offsets for greenwashing, while avoiding making the necessary cuts in greenhouse gas emissions – without which the world faces climate catastrophe.
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04/11/2024 - 08:00
Country had previously turned the tide on deforestation but armed rebels have revoked ban
Deforestation in the Colombian Amazon is surging and could be at a historic peak as armed groups use the rainforest as a bargaining chip in peace negotiations with the government.
Preliminary data shows that deforestation in the region was 40% higher in the first three months of this year than in 2023 as armed groups tightened their control over the rainforest, said Susana Muhamad, the country’s environment minister.
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04/11/2024 - 07:39
Government recovery fund stipulates affected areas must be less than 150 metres from a ‘main’ river
Farmers who have their entire cropping land submerged underwater have found they are ineligible for a government flooding hardship fund – because their farms are too far from a major river.
According to the Met Office, 1,695.9mm of rain fell from October 2022 to March 2024, the highest amount for any 18-month period in England since the organisation started collecting comparable data in 1836. Scientists have said climate breakdown is likely to cause more intense periods of rain in the UK.
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04/11/2024 - 05:00
Rules celebrated for reducing exposures, but experts say it’s not enough and will lead to ‘an endless game of Whac-A-Mole’
Strong new limits for some PFAS compounds in drinking water set by the US Environmental Protection Agency this week are being celebrated for how far they go in reducing exposures to the dangerous chemicals.
But public health advocates say the rules merely represent a first step that is limited in its impact on the broader PFAS crisis because they do not directly prevent more pollution or force the chemical industry to pay for cleanup.
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04/11/2024 - 05:00
Leaders have failed to tackle invasion of sargassum, which may have a bumper year in 2024
Schools evacuated due to toxic gas. Smelly tap water at home. Tourist operators and fishers struggling to stay in business. Job losses. Power outages affecting tens of thousands of people at a time. Dangerous health problems. Even lives lost.
Such crises were some of the consequences of sargassum seaweed in the islands of the Caribbean in 2023, which have become common in the region since 2011, when massive blooms began inundating the shorelines in the spring and summer months.
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04/11/2024 - 05:00
Biden administration hopes funding will spur enduring cuts to planet-heating emissions no matter who is in White House
Amid rising global temperatures and a looming election against an opponent who has indicated he will gut his climate policies, Joe Biden’s administration is shoveling billions of dollars into efforts it hopes will spur enduring cuts to planet-heating emissions, no matter the occupant of the White House.
In recent weeks, large tracts of funding has been announced by the administration to help overcome some of the thorniest and esoteric challenges the world faces in driving down carbon pollution, seeding the promise of everything from the advent of zero-emissions concrete to low-pollution food production, including mac and cheese and ice-cream, to driving the uptake of solar panels and electric stoves in low-income households.
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04/10/2024 - 23:00
Increase of 2% last year driven by plant expansion in China and slowdown in US and Europe closures
The world’s coal power capacity grew for the first time since 2019 last year, despite warnings that coal plants need to close at a rate of at least 6% each year to avoid a climate emergency.
A report by Global Energy Monitor found that coal power capacity grew by 2% last year, driven by an increase in new coal plants across China and a slowdown of plant closures in Europe and the US.
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