Category Archives: Climate crisis

NSW protest bill leaves Labor wedged between a roadblock and a hard place

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Sydney media’s reactionary momentum machine can help explain crackdown on climate activists

On Wednesday night, as the New South Wales parliament debated a bill that makes blocking roads in the state a jail-worthy offence, the independent MP for Sydney, Alex Greenwich, asked, rhetorically, what had prompted the government’s urgency to pass the legislation.

The bill had been introduced into the parliament late on Wednesday afternoon, with the Coalition providing a one-page brief and no forewarning to the crossbench.

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Labor helps pass NSW bill targeting road-blocking protesters despite union opposition

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New law, which brings in fines of up to $22,000 and up to two years in jail, passes on extra sitting day of parliament

The New South Wales Labor party has helped pass a bill that could see protesters who block roads, ports or rail in the state spend up to two years in jail, despite outrage from unions and environmental groups.

After being forced to call an extra sitting day, thanks to the Greens mounting a filibuster attempt, the government was able to pass the bill into law with Labor’s backing on Friday, just two days after it first introduced the legislation into parliament.

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Britain hands billions to projects linked to labour abuse and climate damage

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UK Export Finance used £5.24bn of taxpayer money to fund overseas energy and infrastructure ventures – despite its own review raising concerns

The British government has provided more than £5bn in the past three years to overseas energy and infrastructure projects linked to labour abuses and environmental damage, according to documents and interviews with workers.

The funding – a combination of loans and guarantees – comes from the government’s export credit agency, UK Export Finance (UKEF), a government department to help UK companies access business contracts overseas.

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Property developers fight NSW bid to make houses more energy-efficient and climate-resilient

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Environmentalists call changes ‘everything you could ever dream about’ but industry says they ‘undermine the economics of delivering housing’

Property developers in New South Wales are fighting against the introduction of a wide-ranging planning policy aimed at ensuring houses are more energy-efficient and climate-resilient, which one environment group described as “everything you could ever dream about”.

Public comment closed last month on the draft Design and Place state environmental planning policy, hailed late last year by the then planning minister Rob Stokes as “NSW’s first comprehensive design policy”. It would offer “an important opportunity to reshape the look and feel of the places we live in”.

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Great Barrier Reef authority confirms unprecedented sixth mass coral bleaching event

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Aerial surveys show almost no reefs across a 1,200km stretch escaping the heat, prompting scientists to call for urgent action on climate crisis

The Great Barrier Reef has been hit with a sixth mass coral bleaching event, the marine park’s authority has confirmed, with aerial surveys showing almost no reefs across a 1,200km stretch escaping the heat.

The Guardian understands a United Nations mission currently under way to check the health and management of the reef will be briefed on the initial findings of the surveys as early as Friday in Townsville.

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‘Climate smart’ policies could increase southern Africa’s crops by up to 500%

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Researchers outline urgent steps to improve food security in the face of increasing natural disasters caused by the climate crisis

The climate crisis is threatening food stocks in sub-Saharan Africa, but a comprehensive approach to food, farming and resources could increase crop production by more than 500% in some countries in the region, according to new research by more than 200 experts.

There is no single technological fix to the threat posed by the barrage of natural disasters striking the region, they said, but significant improvements could be achieved with new approaches, based on modelling done by the network of researchers in Malawi, Tanzania, South Africa and Zambia.

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UN mission must see coral bleaching to get ‘whole picture’ of Great Barrier Reef, experts say

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Government’s reef envoy says visiting scientists ‘have to see the good and the bad’ as widespread bleaching confirmed

A UN mission under way in Queensland to see if the Great Barrier Reef should be put on an “in danger” list will not get “the whole picture” unless it visits reefs currently experiencing coral bleaching, conservationists and the government’s own reef envoy have said.

Details of the 10-day mission, which began on Monday in Brisbane, are being kept confidential and the locations to be visited have not been formally disclosed.

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Australia news live update: NSW government seeks to suspend MP facing charges; nation records 26 Covid deaths

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NSW government seeks to suspend Gareth Ward; Craig Foster lashes treatment of asylum seekers in National Press Club address; new research suggests long-lasting Covid immune response from vaccine-induced T-cells; at least 26 Covid deaths recorded; Atagi expected to green light fourth booster shots for some Australians. Follow all the day’s news live

David Koch:

Have you spoken to the “mean girls” – Kristina Keneally, Penny Wong – in the last week or so since Kimberly Kitching’s death about the allegations of bullying?

I think that term is really unfortunate.

She used it, it is not just us.

There is a lot of people speaking on other people’s behalf at the moment. I think that in politics, there are a range of people who are involved in party politics who play it pretty hard. One of those was Kimberly Kitching. She was somebody who engaged in politics and was passionate about her belief and from time to time that could produce some conflict. But it needs to be done in a way that is respectful, in a way that is understanding, and attempts to reach consensus.

It is rather bizarre ... I am always available and indeed I lobby regularly to be on the Sunrise program. I am always happy to discuss things with the media, but I won’t be taking lectures from a prime minister who visited Lismore and had strict streets shut off so victims of floods could not get near him.

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SA hospitals under ‘extraordinary strain’; Perrottet asks MP to resign after charges – as it happened

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NSW MP Gareth Ward denies historic sexual abuse allegations; South Australian hospital system ‘under extraordinary strain’ new premier says, as at least 23 Covid deaths recorded nationally; Anthony Albanese proposes award in late Victorian senator Kimberley Kitching’s honour. This blog is now closed

Peter Malinauskas has promised to keep his shirt on from now on, after a photo of his muscled torso made quite a stir in the world of Australian politics.

ABC radio host Patricia Karvelas:

During the campaign, you were photographed shirtless in swimming shorts, and it caused a bit of a stir. I have to ask you ... the Australian’s Greg Sheridan said jokingly on [ABC] Insiders that you’re “far too good looking”. Which I thought was quite a statement. What have you made of the reaction to that picture?

Do you have any idea how much grief I’ve copped around the place as a result of that?

Have they told you just to buff to be premier?

They’ve piled it on, let me tell you. I haven’t stopped copping it, and I deserve every bit of it.

We were announcing a big investment at our major aquatics centre here in South Australia and a whole bunch of us jumped in for a swim in our boardies with our kids there. And, yeah, it got a bit more attention than I anticipated, fair to say.

So you’re going to keep your shirt on from now on?

Damn straight!

I think we’re about to see a federal election where a cost of living is a front and centre issue. And I think Australians get the price of petrol, but they can’t control the price of groceries.

The way we address cost of living as a nation is to start having an incomes policy focus on how we improve working in small businesses to improve the productivity of their labour, so they can earn a higher income. And that’s why education, training and skills is so important.

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US watchdog plans to make companies reveal greenhouse-gas emissions

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Climate action rules announced by SEC chair Gary Gensler expected to face opposition from Republicans and industry groups

The US’s top financial watchdog proposed on Monday that publicly traded companies report information on their greenhouse-gas emissions and even those of their suppliers and consumers in one of the Biden administration’s most sweeping environmental actions to date.

The new Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rules faces staunch opposition from some politicians and members of the business community and will be open to public comment for at least two months before final rules are released.

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Plum job: UK public asked to track fruit trees for climate study

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People asked to record flowering cherry and plum trees near them to see whether patterns are changing

The British public have been asked to track flowering fruit trees to help determine whether climate change is changing blooming patterns, in one of the largest studies of its kind.

The University of Reading and Oracle for Research have developed a fruit recording website where citizen scientists can easily post their findings. People will initially be asked to record the flowering cherry and plum trees near them, with apple trees soon to follow.

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Defence personnel not allowed to speak about climate ‘unless they go through Peter Dutton’s office’

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Former defence force chief Chris Barrie says it’s a disgrace that we’ve made a left-right issue out of global heating and its impacts

The former chief of the defence force Chris Barrie says defence personnel are not allowed to speak out on the national strategic threats posed by climate change without prior approval from Peter Dutton’s office.

The suggestion was immediately rejected by the defence minister’s office. Asked for comment, the minister’s spokesperson said: “That is not correct.”

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Manchin ‘very reluctant’ on electric cars in ominous sign for Biden’s climate fight

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Centrist Democrat, who holds key swing vote in US Senate, has poured scorn on the idea of phasing out gasoline and diesel cars

Faced with rising gasoline prices, many Americans are now looking to switch to an electric car. But the shift away from fossil fuel vehicles has been criticized by Senator Joe Manchin, who has said he is “very reluctant” to see the proliferation of battery-powered cars.

There has been a surge in interest in buying electric vehicles (EVs) in the wake of the war in Ukraine, analysts say, with drivers in the US unnerved by gasoline prices that have surpassed $4.30 a gallon as a result of the conflict and the supply chain issues from the pandemic.

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Yorkshire’s lost ‘Atlantis’ nearly found, says Hull professor

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Is it hoped discovery of medieval trading town Ravenser Odd can teach people about perils of climate crisis

Hopes are high that a fabled medieval town known as “Yorkshire’s Atlantis” is about to be located and will begin giving up secrets held for more than 650 years.

Ravenser Odd was a prosperous port town built on sandbanks at the mouth of the Humber estuary before it was abandoned and later destroyed and submerged by a calamitous storm in 1362.

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Roads ripped apart by NSW and Queensland floods must be rebuilt stronger, councils say

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Repairs could top $1bn and mayors say roads and bridges shouldn’t just be rebuilt but ‘rebuilt to withstand future disasters’

Commuters across New South Wales and Queensland are dodging gaping potholes and avoiding cracked roads after flooding damaged the states’ road networks, with mayors arguing they will need to be repaired stronger to withstand future disasters.

Many NSW and Queensland councils are scrambling to find funding that could top $1bn in total to repair roads ripped apart by the devastating flood waters.

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Is super-polluting Pentagon’s climate plan just ‘military-grade greenwash’?

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US military aims for net zero by 2050 but with a carbon footprint greater than some 140 countries critics say it needs radical change

The US military, an institution whose carbon footprint exceeds that of nearly 140 countries, says it wants to go green.

On 8 February, the US army released its climate strategy.

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Unesco to visit Great Barrier Reef as coral bleaching risk rises

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Environment groups say visiting scientists must be given true picture of the reef, ahead of world heritage committee meeting in June

A United Nations monitoring trip to the Great Barrier Reef will land in Queensland later this month just as forecasts suggest the risk of widespread coral bleaching will be at its highest.

Unesco has confirmed two scientists will carry out the mission, requested by the Morrison government, lasting for 10 days from 21 March.

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Stranding of three whales in Corfu raises alarm over seismic testing for fossil fuels

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While cause remains unconfirmed, green groups fear the three whales could be the ‘tip of iceberg’ with many more animals hurt

Environmental groups have linked the beaching of three whales in Corfu to seismic testing for oil and gas in the waters off the Greek island.

Two Cuvier’s beaked whales were found stranded at Arillas and Agios Gordios beaches on the west of the island on 20 February. A third beaked whale ran ashore on Agios Gordios beach the day after.

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Is a Madagascan mine the first to offset its destruction of rainforest?

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Researchers say the island’s biggest mine is on track to achieve no net loss of forest but that ‘there remain important caveats’

Ambatovy mine on the east coast of Madagascar is an environmental conundrum fit for the 21st century. Beginning operations in 2012, the multibillion-dollar open-pit nickel and cobalt mine is the largest investment in the history of the country, one of the poorest on Earth. About 9,000 Malagasies are employed by the project, owned by the Japanese company Sumitomo Corporation and Korean firm Komir, which mines minerals destined for the world’s electric car batteries. To construct the mine and the 140-mile (220km) slurry pipeline to port on the Indian ocean, 2,000 hectares (5,000 acres) of pristine rainforest was cleared, destroying vital habitat of the endangered indri, the largest living lemur, and thousands of other species.

Alongside the land clearing in a country that has lost nearly a quarter of its tree cover since 2000, the mine has been blamed for air and water pollution, as well as health problems in the local population. The smell of ammonia in residential areas and the pollution of drinking water were revealed in a 2017 investigation.

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Climate crisis: Amazon rainforest tipping point is looming, data shows

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Analysis of satellite observations show forest is losing stability with ‘profound’ global implications

The Amazon is approaching a tipping point, data shows, after which the rainforest would be lost with “profound” implications for the global climate and biodiversity.

Computer models have previously indicated a mass dieback of the Amazon is possible but the new analysis is based on real-world satellite observations over the past three decades.

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