To make a meaningful difference to climate change, businesses will have to break out of a cycle of exploiting the earth’s resources in ever-more creative ways.
US Studies Centre research associate Tom Switzer said on Q&A that US carbon emissions had levelled off because of coal seam gas, but activist Naomi Klein said it was due to the economic downturn. What does the research say?
Falling renewable costs could make action on climate change cheaper.
Simon Yeo/Flickr
Australia’s new emissions target is not “squarely in the middle of comparable economies”. Towards the bottom of the pack of comparable countries, on key indicators. But Australia is coming to the party, and that counts for a lot.
Environment Minister Greg Hunt, Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop at the announcement of Australia’s 2030 climate target.
AAP Image/Mick Tsikas
Given existing technologies, expanding access to electricity almost always increases CO2 emissions. There are real trade-offs between addressing poverty and climate change.
What lessons are there in the beer industry?
Rhett Brymer
The beer industry is a fascinating microcosm of the larger landscape of today’s business environment. Students can examine a range of questions facing businesses, through the beer industry.
Raise the (Thames) Barriers!
diamond geezer/Flickr
In June this year, forecasts revealed residential and business demand has risen for the first time in five years. The trend could be here to stay, according to a report released today from the Australia Institute.
To get to zero emissions, we’ll have to reform our energy sector away from fossil fuels.
ccdoh1/Flickr
To avoid dangerous climate change there is a finite amount of greenhouse gas emissions, in particular CO2, that we can add to the atmosphere - our global carbon budget. If we use our budget wisely, we have until about 2050 to transition to zero net emissions. But how do we get there?
Switching to solar power can deliver over 100 million tonnes of emissions reductions by 2030.*
David Goehring/Flickr
Unlike many countries, Australia does not have mandatory greenhouse emissions standards for cars - meaning that manufacturers are free to sell their least efficient, most polluting vehicles here.
The US proposes to meet its climate targets through regulation, including reducing carbon emissions from coal power plants by a third below 2005 levels.
Cathy/Flickr
The United States’ post-2020 climate target raises many questions for this year’s global climate talks, and puts pressure on Australia to raise the stakes.