Last month was the hottest May in terms of global surface temperature in a historical record that extends back 130 years, according to NASA, and with an El Niño forecast for the end of the year, we could…
Global action to reduce emissions could threaten Australia’s coal exports.
Lock the Gate Alliance/Flickr
Australia’s economy faces grave threats from climate change, but the greatest threat is if we do not make a serious effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It’s not just the physical impacts of climate…
It’s all one atmosphere: tackling climate change will need action on a global scale.
blueforce4116/Flickr
Over the weekend the latest round of international climate negotiations concluded in Bonn, Germany. Offering some encouragement, the talks are inching towards a new global agreement in Paris 2015 for global…
Tony Abbott and Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper are waving the flag of climate sabotage.
AAP Image/Australian Government
On tour in North America, Prime Minister Tony Abbott has forged an alliance with the Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper on climate change. Both champion climate policies that don’t put a price on carbon…
Whatever you call it - climate change, global warming, or the greenhouse effect - it’s increasing the frequency and severity of heatwaves.
AAP Image/Dean Lewins
How we talk about climate change has a lot to do with how we feel about it, and what we’re willing to do to act on it. Recent research from the US found that the terms “global warming” and “climate change…
Universities have led the charge on fossil fuel divestment - but is divestment the best way to manage climate risks?
Light Brigading/Flickr
Divestment from fossil fuels, advocated by climate action campaigners such as Bill McKibben, is a blunt instrument for reducing carbon emissions, according to climate risk analyst Robert Litterman in an…
Treasurer Joe Hockey and finance minister Mathias Cormann face a difficult sell for the Abbott government’s tough first budget.
AAP/Alan Porritt
The Abbott government is hoping an A$11.6 billion infrastructure spending package, combined with a $20 billion medical research fund, will help soften the blow of widespread tightening of health and welfare…
Changing how we consume energy is the best way to mitigate climate change.
Adam Bowie/Flickr
While the latest IPCC report on mitigation doesn’t recommend any particular strategy for reducing carbon emissions, it suggests changing energy consumption is a key mitigation strategy. According to the…
The Senate is becoming a battleground over the Abbott government’s carbon policy.
JJ Harrison/Wikimedia Commons
A Labor-dominated Senate committee has set the stage for the post-July tussle over carbon policy, recommending that Australia commit to much deeper emissions cuts than the current 5% target, and advising…
Facts not enough: the climate message is still not getting through.
Shutterstock
A colleague of mine recently received an invitation to a Climate Council event. The invitation featured this Tim Flannery quote: “An opinion is useless, what we need are more facts.” My first thought was…
Australia’s new climate policy fails on three fronts: global action, crediting, and land.
Flickr/mrhong42
The Emissions Reduction Fund (ERF), the central pillar of Australia’s Direct Action climate policy, continues to attract a fair bit of derision with its credibility said to be “hanging by a thread”. Is…