Many countries have decided a Green New Deal is exactly the right stimulus response to the COVID crisis. Australia’s steadfast investment in fossil fuels will only hold us back.
Universities are vital hubs of research and teaching on climate change and, as big organisations, produce significant emissions themselves. They should therefore lead action to limit climate change.
Recycling and turning off the lights are good steps towards a more sustainable society, but they are not nearly as important for the climate as reducing meat consumption, air travel and driving.
This idea environmental regulation hurts the economy is deeply entrenched in pro-business discourse. Our analysis of 22 nations suggest, in the long term, the opposite is true.
Australia abandoned its moral obligations under Kyoto. By carrying our mistakes into the Paris deal, we risk firming our status as a global climate pariah.
It is easy for people in the industrialised world to blame population growth elsewhere for environmental damage. But increased consumption is just as important – if more confronting.
Carbon accounting isn’t always simple, so it’s important to make it easier to measure and reduce emissions at the local level. And that’s ultimately the starting point for global climate action.
Recent extreme events in Australia, with torrential rain and floods following devastating bushfires, have focused the World Urban Forum’s attention on the urgency of climate action.
Lecturer and Research Fellow, School of Geography, Planning, and Spatial Sciences. Coordinator, Education for Sustainability Tasmania, University of Tasmania