A new petition is urging state and federal governments to rein in Australia’s rampant land clearing, which worsens the risk of bushfires and threatens to undo the work of the Emissions Reduction Fund.
The solar boom continues, but not necessarily because of government policy settings.
AAP Image/UNSW
Australia’s government insists it is on track to surpass its emissions reduction commitments under the Paris Agreement. But while that may be true, it will only happen with some clever accounting.
Across our growing cities more and more buildings are going up, as are their emissions.
Andy Brownbill/AAP
Australia’s commitments to cut emissions are on a collision course with urban growth. We need a much more comprehensive strategy to make the transition to a sustainable built environment.
Bill Shorten will hope his new energy policy package is a crowd-pleaser.
AAP Image/Ben Rushton
Frank Jotzo, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University
The Labor Party’s newly announced energy policy could finally set Australia’s electricity sector on the path to a renewables-driven future. But policies are still needed to cut emissions elsewhere.
There could be much clearer skies ahead for energy policy if states take the reins.
AAP Image/Lukas Coch
The federal government is primarily to blame for the mess that is Australia’s energy policy. It’s time for the states to step up, to reduce both prices and emissions.
Hydrogen fuel is just one opportunity for Australia in a clean-energy future.
Sebastian Kahnert/AAP
The latest UN climate report makes it clear that the task of limiting climate change is urgent and huge. We must start to transform our economy today, but it will bring rewards as well as challenges.
Australia has just two decades to put itself on the path to zero greenhouse emissions.
AAP Image/Dave Hunt
The world needs to be carbon-neutral by mid-century to give ourselves a chance of holding global warming to 1.5C. With around 1% of the global carbon budget, Australia needs to rapidly do its share.
Sens. Joseph Lieberman, left, and John McCain, right, at a legislators’ forum on climate change in Washington in 2007.
REUTERS/Jason Reed
The late Sen. John McCain was an early – and lonely – Republican supporter of action to fight climate change. His challenge was to regulate sources of energy that underlie much of our economy.
What’s that on the horizon? Ah yes, renewable energy.
AAP Image/Mick Tsikas
Renewable energy investment is gathering steam throughout the world. Australia’s National Energy Guarantee policy should be made agile enough to jump on board, because this runaway train won’t stop.
Josh Frydenberg and Malcolm Turnbull both know that the history books make for uncomfortable reading when it comes to emissions policy.
AAP Image/Lukas Coch
The National Energy Guarantee faces a crunch test this week. And if the climate wars of the past few decades are any guide, Australian policies more often sink than swim when the waters get choppy.
Richer countries import products but not the emissions used to make them.
The IPCC’s first cities conference revealed the challenges in bridging the gaps between scientific knowledge and policy practice, and between cities in developed and developing nations.
Cities IPCC/Twitter
The first IPCC conference on cities has highlighted the challenges of reconciling science, urban practices and politics. But it was an important recognition of cities’ leading role in climate action.
The Emissions Reduction Fund is not capturing enough emissions from the most polluting industries.
AAP Image/Dave Hunt
Australia’s flagship climate policy, has spent more than $2 billion on emissions reductions, yet big businesses could wipe all this out. Time to resurrect the idea of a simple carbon tax.
The new climate policy review proposes loosening the rules on Australia’s biggest-emitting companies, such as power generators.
Marcella Cheng/The Conversation
The federal government’s keenly awaited review of Australia’s climate policies continues a longstanding bipartisan traditional of weak policy development in this area.
The window for staving off the worst of climate change is wider than we thought, but still pretty narrow.
Tatiana Grozetskaya/Shutterstock.com
It’s still possible to hit the more ambitious of the two Paris global warming goals, according to a new estimate of the global carbon budget. But it sure won’t be easy, and we need to start now.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull still can’t seem to distance himself from coal.
AAP Image/Lukas Coch
The Turnbull government is still tying itself in knots over the future of coal, as literally decades of policy turmoil on climate and energy continue to roll on.
City mayors have taken on a prominent role in committing to action on climate change through forums such as the C40.
Henry Romero/Reuters
It’s a good thing that cities aspire to lead the way in acting on climate change in the absence of stronger national action. But a closer look reveals the limitations of current city-based efforts.
Australia will need more sources of zero-emissions energy if it is to stay on track for carbon-neutrality by 2050.
AAP Image/Lukas Coch
A new analysis by ClimateWorks Australia says that the electricity sector needs to do far more to cut its carbon emissions than will be delivered by current policies.
Heavy industry still seems reluctant to engage with the Emissions Reduction Fund.
AAP Image/Dan Peled
A survey of executives in high-emitting industries such as mining and electricity generation suggests they are not engaging with the government’s flagship policy to cut greenhouse emissions.