We must resist the temptation to go for a weak 2035 target and use the public consultation process to think creatively about how the net-zero transition can be both transformational and fair for all.
Workers hats on fence outside Victoria’s closed Hazelwood power station, March 2017.
Mal Fairclough/AAP
The 142 fossil fuel producers collectively exceeded the limits on coal, gas and oil production required to achieve the Paris Agreement goals by between 63% and 70%.
Ontario fire rangers carry sandbags to fortify a wall holding back floodwaters in Pembroke, Ont., in May 2019.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
Reducing greenhouse gases is expensive, but it’s a great investment compared to the damage we can expect to the Canadian economy if the climate warms 5 C by 2100.
Canada is the fourth-largest oil producer in the world, with almost all of its crude oil headed for the United States.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson
The recently released Emissions Reductions Plan aims to put Canada on track to reduce emissions by up to 45 per cent from 2005 and reach net-zero emissions by 2050. It will do neither.
Paul Burke, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University; Emma Aisbett, Australian National University et Ken Baldwin, Australian National University
Australia could use about 7,000 terawatt-hours of solar and wind generation per annum to make a sizeable contribution to cutting global emissions – about 27 times its current electricity output.
An office building made with cross-laminated timber in Tokyo, Japan.
(Shutterstock)
As more companies feature wood and other bio-based products in their offices, what are opportunities and limitations of making corporate net-zero carbon pledges about building materials?
Peter Martin, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University
Greg Hunt is best known as Australia’s health minister. But before that he spent years thinking about mechanisms to get emissions down – and if elected, Labor plans to road test the one he introduced.
The Nationals have tried to link the UK energy crisis to its net-zero climate target. But as an expert advisor to the International Energy Agency tells us, the two are unrelated.
A growing number of countries and companies have pledged to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 or earlier. But there’s a catch – they still plan to keep emitting greenhouse gases.
Rather than considering the job done, Tasmania should seize opportunities including renewable energy, net-zero industrial exports and forest preservation.
Humanity can still limit global warming to 1.5°C this century. But political action will determine whether it actually does. Conflating the two questions amounts to dangerous, misplaced punditry.
Canada’s latest federal budget did little to tackle climate action or income inequality, two problems with strong ties. Alberta’s Bow Lake is seen in this photo.
Josh Woroniecki/Unsplash
Professor of Public Policy, Psychology and Behavioral Science, USC Sol Price School of Public Policy, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences