Hosting the conference would help us overcome our colonial mentality and the fossil fuel lobby, both of which have held us back from tackling climate change
As the world grapples with the climate crisis, Australia stands at a crossroads. Our bid to co-host the UN’s climate conference, Cop31, with Pacific nations is not just a diplomatic event; it is a pivotal opportunity to redefine our nation’s role in the global fight against climate change. This could mark a shift, propelling Australia from climate laggard to leader on the world stage. With the Cop presidency, we would be at the centre of international climate negotiations, shouldering the responsibility to provide the infrastructure and visionary leadership needed to drive meaningful progress. The stakes are high, but so too are the potential rewards for our nation and the planet.
For years, Australia has been held back from meaningful climate action by the powerful influence of the fossil fuel lobby. This industry has shaped policies and public opinion, prioritising short-term profits over long-term sustainability. Their grip on our political landscape has delayed the transition to cleaner energy and put us on a dangerous path that threatens the security of our communities, our environment and our economy. Now, as the cost of living skyrockets and climate impacts escalate, we’re facing the consequences of that inaction.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
09/18/2024 - 10:00
09/18/2024 - 10:00
Exclusive: Meteorologists say climate change and the amount of heat being added to the oceans make predictions based on the past less reliable
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The Bureau of Meteorology is shifting the way it communicates about climate phenomena like El Niño and La Niña, because global heating is making predictions based on the past less reliable.
This week the bureau kept the country on a “La Niña watch” and said if the climate system in the Pacific does develop, it’s likely to be short-lived and weak.
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09/18/2024 - 09:59
Cinnamon, a one-year-old female, escaped on Friday and has eluded inventive efforts to recapture her
To catch a rat, many call pest control. But how does one go about catching the world’s largest rodent, the capybara?
Zookeepers in Shropshire are wrestling with that very problem after Cinnamon, one of the furry breed native to South America, escaped.
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09/18/2024 - 08:59
Minister approved Thames Water project at location prioritised by Sadiq Khan for wild swimming
Labour appeared to be in disarray on Wednesday over ambitions to clean up the River Thames for swimming.
The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, announced plans to prioritise an area of the river in Teddington, south-west London, to make it safe and clean for swimming as part of a new 10-year strategy to reduce pollution in the river and encourage people to spend time in and around it.
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09/18/2024 - 02:40
Asset Energy has 30 days to respond to industry minister Ed Husic’s request for further information about the proposed gas project off Sydney’s coast
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The industry minister, Ed Husic, has issued a preliminary refusal of the contentious Pep11 offshore gas project proposed for the New South Wales coast, a month before the federal government was due to file its court defence in a legal action designed to force it to make a decision.
Husic issued a short statement on Wednesday, saying he had “carefully considered” all material that proponents Asset Energy Pty Ltd had provided and “formed a preliminary view that the applications should be refused”.
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09/18/2024 - 00:38
In today’s newsletter: The party talked up its plans for the climate during this summer’s election – and now seems to be backing that up with real action
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Good morning.
During their election campaign, Labour made it clear that the climate crisis would be a key focus should they make it into government. It looks as if they are making good on that promise. A number of senior cabinet ministers have come out this week, banging the drum for the government’s climate policies and reminding the public and the media that the climate crisis and its effects are at the top of their agenda.
Labour | Keir Starmer has declared more free tickets and gifts than other major party leaders in recent times, with his total now topping £100,000 after recent support for his lifestyle from Labour donor Waheed Alli.
Middle East | Hezbollah has vowed to retaliate against Israel after pagers used by its members exploded across Lebanon simultaneously, killing at least nine people and wounding almost 3,000. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military. The apparent sabotage attack followed months of targeted assassinations by Israel against senior Hezbollah leaders.
Music | Sean “Diddy” Combs has been charged with sex trafficking and racketeering, according to a federal indictment unsealed Tuesday. Combs had been arrested late Monday in Manhattan, roughly six months after federal authorities conducting a sex trafficking investigation raided his luxurious homes in Los Angeles and Miami.
NHS | A fifth of GPs are using artificial intelligence (AI) tools such as ChatGPT to help with tasks such as writing letters for their patients after appointments, according to a survey.
Aid | UK aid spending will fall to its lowest level since 2007 unless the government takes urgent remedial action in the autumn budget, a group of more than 100 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in the aid and humanitarian sector jointly warned on Wednesday.
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09/18/2024 - 00:00
Oxfam says ‘commonsense solution’ would reduce emissions and raise urgently needed climate finance
Fair taxes on superyachts and private jets in the UK could have brought in £2bn last year to provide vital funds for communities suffering the worst effects of climate breakdown, campaigners say.
Private jet use in the UK is soaring. It was home to the second highest number of private flights in Europe last year, behind only France, according to figures from the European Business Aviation Association.
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09/18/2024 - 00:00
Conservation group calls on government to ban insect-killing neonicotinoid pesticides outright
A national “butterfly emergency” has been declared by Butterfly Conservation after the lowest Big Butterfly Count since records began.
An average of just seven butterflies per 15-minute count were recorded by participants in this summer’s butterfly count, the lowest in the survey’s 14-year history.
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09/18/2024 - 00:00
A network of public bodies are supposed to safeguard us from flooding. But, like old boys’ clubs, they are bastions of self-interest
Labour’s first stage of government resembles a vast forensic excavation. As it works through the Conservatives’ midden of horrors, it discovers an ever greater legacy of underinvestment, neglect and corruption. However disappointing the new government’s compromises might be, we shouldn’t forget how overwhelming this task must feel.
So I’m sorry to expose yet another toxic stratum. It contains a series of stupendous failures in the governance of rural bodies, which, in the case I want to discuss, put human lives at risk.
George Monbiot is a Guardian columnist
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09/17/2024 - 18:01
Exclusive: analysis finds $800bn increase in direct support for activities including deforestation and fossil fuel use
The world is spending at least $2.6tn (£2tn) a year on subsidies that drive global heating and destroy nature, according to new analysis.
Governments continue to provide billions of dollars in tax breaks, subsidies and other spending that directly work against the goals of the 2015 Paris climate agreement and the 2022 Kunming-Montreal agreement to halt biodiversity loss, the research from the organisation Earth Track found, with countries providing direct support for deforestation, water pollution and fossil fuel consumption.
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