Premier Andrew’s energy announcement is a nod to the failures of privatisating the energy sector and the growing pressure to speed up the transition, argues Sarah Hathway.
Paris agreement
The “decade of inaction” that Labor accuses the Greens of instigating is a product of the former’s refusal to take climate action seriously, argues Alex Bainbridge.
Expectations are high that climate action will be on the agenda, now the climate-denialist Coalition has been booted out. But, as Alex Bainbridge argues, Labor's support for big fossil fuel projects must be challenged by building powerful grassroots action.
Queensland Nationals Senator Matt Canavan's “net zero is dead” campaign should hardly come as a surprise, argues Binoy Kampmark.
The climate-denying federal government is putting Australia on track to reach net zero emissions in 300 years, writes Sarah Hathway.
The major parties are doubling down on supporting their fossil fuel mates. Alex Bainbridge argues there needs to be united effort to force them to agree to 2030 emission targets.
While the world literally burns from climate and political turmoil, Nnimmo Bassey argues the impacts of the climate crisis in Africa and other vulnerable regions is often overlooked.
UN Secretary General António Guterres wants only those countries that can show “concrete, realistic plans” for reducing their carbon emissions to come the the UN climate summit in September. But you can be sure the recalcitrants, such as Australia, will be there.
Whichever major party claims government on May 18, neither can legitimately claim to have a mandate for its dangerously inadequate carbon emission reduction policies, writes Pip Hinman.
The federal Coalition government has dropped further in the polls following the knifing of former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull. Nevertheless, both new Prime Minister Scott Morrison and the hard right Peter Dutton/Tony Abbott faction in the Liberal Party seem determined to take politics even more to the right.
The news that a trillion ton piece of ice just broke off from the Larsen-C ice shelf on the Antarctic Peninsula is a reminder that global warming is real and dangerous.
While climate scientists say this had been expected, they also say it is connected to global warming. As ice shelves help keep land ice in place, when one breaks it allows land ice to slip into the ocean and drastically contribute to sea level rise.
For years climate scientists have been warning that time is fast running out to stop the worst effects of global warming.
Withdrawing from the United Nations Paris Climate Accord is one of more than 100 electoral campaign promises that Donald Trump made. By delivering on that promise, the US joined Nicaragua and Syria, the only countries that did not sign the agreement.
Nicaragua’s decision to not sign was not due to any indifference or denialism of climate change. Rather, the Central American nation’s reason was the contrary. It was based on its view that the agreement was not enough to address the climate crisis. Syria is in the middle of civil war and under US and European sanctions.
With the passage of the Climate Change Act (CCA) that mandates a target of zero net emissions by 2050, Victoria is formally in the leadership among state and federal governments.
