Two members of the Climate Change Authority offer an alternative view on its latest report, arguing that the recommendations are not in line with Australia’s international climate obligations.
The suggested new scheme aims to cut emissions from the electricity sector while sidestepping the political poison of increased power prices.
AAP Image/Julian Smith
A new “toolkit” of suggested climate policies looks politically feasible, but it’s too complicated and not ambitious enough to drive a real move to a low-carbon economy.
Past deals on emissions trading increased compensation to the electricity sector.
Daniel L Smith / Shutterstock.com
Australia needs to “reset” discussions related to climate policy, according to the government’s advisory body on climate policy.
Bernie Fraser, Greg Hunt and Clive Palmer announce the Climate Change Authority’s emissions trading review last year, after Palmer prevented the authority being abolished.
AAP/Alan Porritt
The Climate Change Authority, rocked by this week’s resignation of its chairman Bernie Fraser but saved last year by the Senate, will continue reviewing climate policy - even if its advice is ignored.
Bernie Fraser has resigned as chair of the Climate Change Authority.
Lukas Coch/AAP
The chairman of the Climate Change Authority, Bernie Fraser, has quit – apparently after a long period of bad relations with Environment Minister Greg Hunt.
Scaling back coalmining is one way Australia could make big progress towards its emissions targets.
CSIRO/Wikimedia Commons
The Climate Change Authority has recommended Australia cut greenhouse gas emissions 30% below 2000 levels by 2025. While sensible, the government is unlikely to accept, and the target misses bigger opportunities to cut emissions.
The Climate Change Authority has recommended giving Australia more time to hit its renewable energy target.
AAP Image/Angela Harper
The Climate Change Authority has recommended that the government move back the deadline for the large-scale Renewable Energy Target by three years, from 2020 to 2023, rather than risk jeopardising investment…
Greg Hunt is trying to downplay the scope of the climate authority’s inquiry.
AAP/Lukas Coch
Environment Minister Greg Hunt has played down the inquiry the government has accepted into emissions trading, but examination of the detail in its terms of reference suggests it shouldn’t be underestimated…
Bernie Fraser of the Climate Change Authority, environment minister Greg Hunt, and Clive Palmer announce a deal on a plan to cut Australia’s emissions this decade. What happens after that isn’t so clear.
AAPImage/Alan Porritt
With the passage of the Emissions Reduction Fund through the Senate last night, the federal government has taken a step towards achieving Australia’s minimum target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to…
Renewable energy is an excellent way to hedge against the impacts of climate policies.
Indigo Skies Photography/Flickr
The Australian government has just received a vitally important report to guide their decisions on the future of Australia’s Renewable Energy Target (RET). But it’s not the RET review report of the Coalition-appointed…
The Renewable Energy Target represents another shift towards fossil fuel power.
Brian Yap (葉)/Flickr
The release of the Renewable Energy Target review last week is yet another indication of the disproportionate influence of the fossil fuel industry and climate sceptics on governments in Australia. Many…
A tourist train from Sheringham to Holt steams past an offshore wind farm, one of many that have sprung up along the UK coast.
Gerry Balding/Flickr
Australia’s carbon price has gone – but a UK review released this week shows that to lay the foundations for a low-carbon economy, pricing carbon is far from the whole story. Over recent months, as Australia’s…
Ross Garnaut says Australia is becoming a drag on the international climate effort.
Joe Castro/AAPIMAGE
Ross Garnaut was the architect of the Labor government’s carbon pricing scheme, which looks likely to be scrapped this week despite last week’s brinkmanship in the Senate. The Conversation asked Professor…
The presence of Al Gore with Clive Palmer raised eyebrows, but demonstrated Palmer’s political acumen.
Clive Palmer has been an easy target for some to lampoon, but this week he has proved himself to be a shrewd political operator. Who would have guessed that Palmer would forge a partnership with a former…
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon – shown at UN headquarters with Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop last year – is urging governments and businesses to bring “bold pledges” to a UN summit later this year.
EPA/Jason Szenes
After a week of mostly bad news on climate change, new figures reveal that Australia easily beat its first internationally-agreed climate target, with nearly 131 million tonnes of emissions to spare. That’s…
Facts not enough: the climate message is still not getting through.
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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…
One in five Queensland homes have gone solar, like this house in Brisbane’s Alexandra Hills.
Melanie Cook/Flickr
You have to feel sorry for people working in renewable energy. Their industry has been reviewed to within an inch of its short life, and the goalposts have been shifted so many times that they don’t know…