Climate Change Update 11th May 2024

An exclusive Guardian survey has revealed Greenpeace reported that hundreds of the world’s leading climate scientists expect global temperatures to rise to at least 2.5C above pre-industrial levels this century, blasting past internationally agreed targets and causing catastrophic consequences for humanity and the planet. It has prompted the UN to warn the world is on the verge of a ‘climate abyss’.

The Independent reports that hundreds of millions of people across South and Southeast Asia have been facing scorching high temperatures over the past few weeks with many countries recording their hottest April ever.  Temperature records have been broken in dozens of countries, millions of children are at home as schools have been forced to close and heatwaves have been blamed for nearly three dozen deaths across the vast region at the start of this month. 

And this is a shocker: At a private meeting, Donald Trump told oil executives and lobbyists to donate $1 billion to his campaign because, if elected, he would roll back environmental rules.

Here’s the weekly wrap from Climate Media Centre, by Jemimah Taylor:

The nightmare before Christmas ????

Twas the week before budget, and the Federal Government eased us in with stocking fillers across active transport and drought resilience. But trouble struck when Resource Minister Madeline King announced the ‘Future Gas Strategy’ now set to underpin our ‘clean’ energy plans for a Future Made in Australia. Today’s wrap gives you a brief summary of the good, the bad and the ugly. 

The good. A welcomed pre-budget announcement, the Albanese Government this week announced a commitment of $100 million on a new national ‘Active Transport Fund’, in the biggest active transport boost in more than a decade. With safer footpaths and cycle lanes on the horizon, it’ll help Aussies ditch their gas guzzlers and say hello to cleaner air. 

Farmers will get more support to help them prepare for drought in the second phase of the Future Drought Fund, with the Government promising $519.1 million over the next eight years. Labor has restructured the fund’s objectives to recognise the role of climate change in fuelling drought. 

Farmers for Climate Action CEO Natalie Collard responded by saying: “It is a big step forward for the future drought fund to acknowledge the reality that climate change is driving more frequent and severe droughts in Australia.”

SBS has this handy wrap of other budget announcements so far. 

I hate to end on a stinker, but the Albanese Government really dropped one on us on Thursday. This one’s taking the crown for ‘the bad’ and ‘the ugly’. Resource Minister Madeleine King announced the ‘Future Gas Strategy’ via none other than the AFR and The Australian along with an opinion piece in the AFR that’s reminiscent of a gas lobby pamphlet. 

The future gas strategy claims the fossil fuel will play an integral role in the move to net zero and announced it will remain a central part of Australia’s energy and export sectors to 2050 and beyond.

Unsurprisingly, the plans have been met with heavy criticism from climate and conservation groups, and caused internal revolt from Labor’s backbench. Particularly those in inner city seats who feel “blindsided” by the decision.  

Meanwhile, Samuel Sandy, chair of Nurrdalinji Aboriginal Corporation, says the treatment of its submission to the strategy consultation was ‘wrong and upsetting’. Quotes from the submission were cherry-picked in the final report to make them look supportive when their full submission called for solar not gas.

The $566 million investment in Geoscience Australia may also be a cause for concern, this Crikey op-ed pointed out that when this announcement was made yesterday, Madeleine King and the prime minister said it would be used “to find new deposits of minerals and sources of energy to help build a Future Made in Australia”, calling into question whether taxpayers will now be funding the mapping of gas reserves.  

This is feeling a little more like a nightmare before Christmas than a Christmas miracle. But fear not, where there’s a will there’s a way and the movement is already rising up and hosting snap rallies against the gas plans across parts of Australia today. All eyes on Treasurer Jim Chalmers to deliver some better news on budget night that supports genuine action on climate change, rather than putting our future into something that could go up in flames.  

Climate Change Update 4th May 2024

This week the Australian Security Leaders Climate Group (ASLCG) issued an important report Too Hot to Handle – The scorching reality of Australia’s climate–security failure. It was highly critical of the federal government for failing to come to grips with climate change as a security issue. We issued a media release in support (attached). 

The weekly wrap from the Climate Media Centre failed to reach me this week but there is plenty of news from elsewhere.

Last Sunday, the Grattan Institute issued a report that says Australia must urgently plan a new energy system for the imminent post-coal era. Keeping the lights on: How Australia should navigate the era of coal closures and prepare for what comes next finds that coal will cease to be a material contributor to the National Electricity Market (the NEM) by about 2032.

On Monday, the Superpower Institute released their Premiere report, using first of a kind expert modelling combined with high resolution satellite observations to show that Australia’s coal mine methane emissions are likely more than DOUBLE what is officially reported. You can read the report here. Read an article about it here.

Also on Monday, Professor Andrew Blakers (top authority on renewable energy) wrote an article in the Conversation to counter the argument of the Nationals that renewables will take up too much pace. The title is self-explanatory: No threat to farm land: just 1,200 square kilometres can fulfil Australia’s solar and wind energy needs. And today there was an article from him in ReNew Economy that solar is now being installed faster than any technology in history. Read it here.

For those of you worried about the mental health impacts of climate activism, there was a recent webinar. You can access the video recording of the event here, and the slideshow presentation here. You can also find a short summary of the research findings here. 

On Tuesday, there was good news from the Independent from the  G7 talks in Italy. The group, which represents the world’s largest economies, has agreed to phase-out coal fired power plants by 2035. The “historic” decision is a move that could pave the way for other economies to follow suit. 

Just in case you are not aware of how dire the bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef is, and how scientists are calling it the “year from hell”, read this article from The Guardian.

Here are some webinars you may be interested in: 

Finally, a request from the Climate Council to email your MP to support the new laws relating to the New Vehicle Efficiency Standards. ‘For months, dinosaurs in the car industry have used an array of dirty tactics to try to undermine support for this law so they can keep profiting from selling the same old dirty cars. We can’t let that happen. Email your MP today to tell them that you, and the majority of Australians, support these standards and want them to say ‘yes’ in the upcoming vote.’ All the best, Jenny Jenny Goldieon behalf of Climate Action Monaro