Category Archives: Climate crisis

Trent Zimmerman says moderate MPs ‘prevailed’ over Barnaby Joyce on net zero emissions

Posted on by

Liberal MP tells North Sydney candidates debate that moderates won commitment despite opposition from Nationals

Liberal party MP Trent Zimmerman says he and fellow moderate MPs “prevailed” over the deputy prime minister, Barnaby Joyce, in securing a net zero climate target, saying the Nationals leader was opposed to the policy.

Zimmerman, a key Liberal party moderate facing a serious challenge to hang on to the North Sydney electorate from the independent Kylea Tink, told a Sky News debate on Thursday that he would push for “stronger” emissions targets if the Coalition was re-elected.

Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning

Continue reading...

Coalition climate policy forced big polluters to pay $15m for carbon credits in past year

Posted on by

Scott Morrison says Labor wants to use government safeguard mechanism as a ‘sneaky carbon tax’ but it is already making big business pay for offsets

The Coalition last year required polluting businesses to buy 419,000 carbon credits at an estimated cost of $15m using a policy that Scott Morrison now falsely describes as “Labor’s sneaky carbon tax”.

Government data released last month shows that, under the Coalition’s so-called safeguard mechanism, major polluting companies had to buy 70% more carbon credits last financial year than in 2019-20.

Continue reading...

Greens unveil climate policy including coal export levy, renewable energy and net zero by 2035

Posted on by

Adam Bandt to unveil minor party’s climate policy including making Australia a ‘renewable energy superpower’ and net zero by 2035

The Greens will push for a new levy on coal exports to fund climate disaster recovery and clean export industries if they hold the balance of power after the election.

In a climate policy to be launched in Sydney on Thursday, the Greens leader, Adam Bandt, will announce measures that the party says will improve the budget bottom line by $51.9bn over a decade and create 805,000 new jobs.

Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning

Continue reading...

New Zealand unveils plan to tackle climate crisis by adapting cities to survive rising seas

Posted on by

Proposals to prepare the country for more floods, massive storms and wildfires include building away from high-risk areas and protecting cultural sites

The New Zealand government has released new plans to try to prepare the country for the catastrophic effects of the climate crisis: sea level rise, floods, massive storms and wildfires.

The proposals, released for consultation on Wednesday, outline sweeping reforms to institutions, councils and laws to try to stop people building in hazardous areas, preserve cultural treasures, improve disaster responses, protect the financial system from the shocks of future disasters, and reform key industries including tourism, fisheries and farming.

Continue reading...

Parched southern California takes unprecedented step of restricting outdoor watering

Posted on by

The resolution will limit watering to just one day a week, affecting millions in Los Angeles, Ventura and San Bernardino counties

Southern California officials declared a water shortage emergency Tuesday, and adopted new unprecedented restrictions on outdoor watering that will impact millions of people living in Los Angeles, Ventura and San Bernardino counties.

Metropolitan water district of southern California’s resolution will limit outdoor watering to just one day per week for district residents supplied by a stressed system of canals, pipelines, reservoirs and hydroelectric power plants called the State Water Project, which supplies water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to 27 million Californians and 750,000 acres of farmland.

Continue reading...

Janjaweed militia blamed for attacks that left at least 200 dead in Darfur

Posted on by

Death toll likely to rise, say witnesses to indiscriminate attacks on Kreinik and El Geneina by Sudan’s notorious Rapid Support Forces

At least 200 people are now known to have died in West Darfur in the latest attack on civilians and local forces blamed on Janjaweed militia.

Darfur, the semi-arid western region of Sudan where a vicious civil war erupted in 2003, has seen a new outbreak of fighting over the past few months as rival groups clash over water and grazing land, shortages of which are being exacerbated by the climate crisis.

Continue reading...

Matt Canavan declares net zero by 2050 is ‘all over bar the shouting’ after PM tries to quell divisions

Posted on by

Labor earlier jumped on climate crisis split between Liberals and Nationals after Colin Boyce said emissions target had ‘wiggle room’

Queensland Nationals senator Matt Canavan has declared net zero by 2050 “all over bar the shouting” only hours after Scott Morrison attempted to hose down internal divisions – insisting the mid-century target was “absolutely” Coalition policy.

Labor criticised the “spectacular” split between inner-city Liberals and rural Nationals on the policy, criticising the Coalition for running a “fear campaign” on the opposition’s policy around coal jobs.

Continue reading...

Tories could lose 1.3m voters if net zero target ditched, says poll

Posted on by

Report finds strong support for climate policies among Tory voters despite some MPs’ negative stance

The Conservative party could lose more than 1.3 million voters if the government scraps its net zero target, research suggests.

A report by the centre-right thinktank Onward, which counts the levelling up secretary, Michael Gove, among its supporters, has found there is strong support for tackling the climate crisis among Tory voters despite attempts by some on the right of the party to campaign against the measures.

Continue reading...

After the relentless rain, South Africa sounds the alarm on the climate crisis

Posted on by

Many are still missing after this month’s floods. Extreme weather is becoming more frequent, and it can be devastating

Survivors of South Africa’s devastating floods have described “sheet upon sheet of relentless rain” that washed away entire houses, bridges and roads, killing about 450 people and making thousands homeless.

The storm, which delivered close to an entire year’s usual rainfall in 48 hours, took meteorologists by surprise and has been blamed by experts on climate change. The new disaster comes after three tropical cyclones and two tropical storms hit south-east Africa in just six weeks in the first months of this year.

Continue reading...

Thousands forced to flee as wildfires sweep through New Mexico

Posted on by

Five counties under state of emergency as high winds fan ferocious flames across US south-west

Wind-driven wildfires destroyed hundreds of structures in northern New Mexico and forced thousands to flee mountain villages as blazes burned unusually early in the year in the parched US south-west.

Two wildfires merged north-west of Las Vegas, New Mexico, and raced through 15 miles (24km) of forest driven by winds over 75mph (121km/h), destroying more than 200 buildings, state authorities said.

Continue reading...

Barnaby Joyce refuses to use term energy ‘transition’ because it ‘equals unemployment’

Posted on by

Deputy prime minister made comments in coal community of Gladstone in Queensland as Scott Morrison makes $300m NT energy and jobs announcement

Deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce believes a “transition” from coal to cleaner energy “equals unemployment” in the regions, declaring the Coalition would not use the term during the election.

The Nationals leader has also backed the government’s clean energy fund to support coal, and for other government infrastructure funds to finance the construction of coal-fired power stations, but not for the building of cleaner hydrogen plants.

Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning

Continue reading...

Twitter uses Earth Day to announce ban on climate denialism ads

Posted on by

The platform has been a source of a growing wave of climate misinformation and said denialism ‘shouldn’t be monetized’

Twitter chose Earth Day to announce it will ban advertisements that deny the scientific consensus on climate crisis.

“We believe that climate denialism shouldn’t be monetized on Twitter, and that misrepresentative ads shouldn’t detract from important conversations about the climate crisis,” the company declared on Friday.

Continue reading...

Australia politics live news: Albanese says he’s ‘had better days’ in first TV interview since Covid diagnosis; PM says Pacific leaders under ‘enormous pressure’

Posted on by

China doesn’t ‘play by same rules’, PM warns of China’s influence in Pacific region; Labor’s frontbench to replace Albanese in physical campaign; WA premier Mark McGowan tests positive for Covid; Morrison attacks NSW independent commission against corruption for ‘sickening’ treatment of Gladys Berejiklian; at least 46 Covid deaths recorded— live updates

Speaking to ABC Brisbane this morning, (he truly has been everywhere this morning) Scott Morrison was asked his thoughts on the ABC:

We continue to fund the ABC, we continue to keep up the pace on ensuring that it is a competent and professional broadcaster and particularly to support the work that the ABC does in regional areas.

I think the recent floods once again highlighted, I think the ABC at its best, and that’s when it’s providing important information in the middle of natural disasters and things of that nature.

At the start of this week [December 2021], the prime minister told reporters: “Gladys was put in a position of actually having to stand down and there was no findings of anything.”

Fact: Berejiklan resigned as premier in September, voluntarily.

Continue reading...

Climate and heritage experts call on British Museum to end BP sponsorship

Posted on by

Culture Unstained put together submission stating oil company ‘falls short’ in response to climate crisis

A group of climate scientists, archaeologists and those familiar with the museum industry have written to the British Museum’s board of trustees to urge them to sever a sponsorship deal with BP, arguing that it goes against the museum’s own policies and that a renewal would damage its reputation.

The submission, put together by the group Culture Unstained, is part of an escalating campaign against the oil firm’s sponsorship of the museum, which is expected to make a decision about renewing the deal imminently.

Continue reading...

Wildfire smoke in Pacific north-west erasing reductions in emissions – study

Posted on by

Billowing black smoke during wildfire disasters has caused atmospheric carbon monoxide levels to increase, scientists find

The billowing black smoke that has cloaked the US Pacific north-west during wildfire disasters in past years has caused atmospheric carbon monoxide levels to spike, with the contaminants offsetting recent reductions in emissions, scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research have found.

As the American west faces increasing threats from big blazes that are fueled by a climate that’s growing warmer and drier, researchers have documented the impact of smoke on public health. But scientists are increasingly finding that the fires may be part of a feedback loop that could accelerate the change in conditions and that health impacts officials have long warned would worsen with climate crisis, may in fact already be here.

Continue reading...

Waterless skincare: the beauty firms tapping into ethical cleansing

Posted on by

Anhydrous products are good for the planet and consumers – but will mainstream brands buy into the concept?

The climate crisis is driving a new trend that will change the look of your bathroom cabinet for ever: waterless skincare.

While wrapping-free, vegan toiletries have long had a place on British high streets, thanks to independent brands such as Lush, the new wave of waterless – or anhydrous – beauty products is driven by a combination of ethical concerns, innovations taken from Korean skincare and new developments in packaging.

Continue reading...

Labour split by leadership call for action against climate crisis blockades

Posted on by

Plea by shadow justice secretary Steve Reed for nationwide bans on activists’ tactics angers many on left of party

Labour faces an escalating internal row over the treatment of climate crisis protesters after a shadow cabinet minister backed calls for nationwide injunctions to stop them blocking critical roads and fuel supplies.

Steve Reed, the shadow justice secretary, called for immediate and wide-ranging bans on protesters’ tactics to be put in place last week. Reed said ministers should “get on with their jobs” and block further action from the Just Stop Oil group after about 40 arrests were made at Inter Terminals in Grays, Essex, last Monday. Others were arrested at Kingsbury oil terminal in Warwickshire.

Continue reading...

Iraq’s ancient buildings are being destroyed by climate change

Posted on by

Water shortages leading to rising salt concentrations and sandstorms are eroding world’s ancient sites

Some of the world’s most ancient buildings are being destroyed by climate change, as rising concentrations of salt in Iraq eat away at mud brick and more frequent sandstorms erode ancient wonders.

Iraq is known as the cradle of civilisation. It was here that agriculture was born, some of the world’s oldest cities were built, such as the Sumerian capital Ur, and one of the first writing systems was developed – cuneiform. The country has “tens of thousands of sites from the Palaeolithic through Islamic eras”, explained Augusta McMahon, professor of Mesopotamian archaeology at the University of Cambridge.

Continue reading...

Gina McCarthy, White House climate adviser, reportedly to step down

Posted on by

Two sources reported that she was planning to leave her job in the coming months, being ‘frustrated by the slow pace of climate progress’

White House climate adviser Gina McCarthy is planning to step down, according to two sources familiar with the deliberations, likely ending a tenure marked by ambitious emissions targets but failure in securing major US carbon-cutting legislation.

McCarthy, 67, had initially planned to remain in the White House for about a year, hoping to help federal agencies implement President Joe Biden’s ambitious climate legislation, but those efforts stalled amid intraparty opposition from key Democratic senators, including Joe Manchin.

Continue reading...

South African police disperse crowd calling for aid after flooding

Posted on by

‘Climate change is here,’ says President Ramaphosa after 300 died in eastern city of Durban

Police in South Africa have used stun grenades to disperse a crowd calling for more and better official aid for victims of the lethal floods earlier this week.

The demonstration on Thursday briefly blocked a major highway in the eastern city of Durban, where more than 300 people have died in flooding in recent days.

Continue reading...