David Littleproud says he informed the Liberal leader days ago of the policy position his party was considering
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The National party has unanimously decided to scrap its net zero commitments after a party room meeting on Sunday, piling pressure on Sussan Ley and the Liberals as they continue to debate their own energy platform.
The party leader, David Littleproud, said the Nationals would focus on “aspirations” rather than targets and align Australia’s emissions reduction to other OECD countries. Littleproud said he was “proud” of the decision.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
11/01/2025 - 18:05
11/01/2025 - 16:39
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Nationals ‘proud’ to formally scrap net zero target after party room meeting
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Watt says Labor doesn’t have a policy to end native forest logging
Asked if he wanted native forest logging to continue (it’s not banned in the legislation, despite the significant negative environmental impact that it has), Watt dodges the question by saying the party doesn’t have a specific policy of ending native forest logging.
What we have said, though, is that we will follow the recommendation from Graeme Samuel to apply national environmental standards to the regional forestry agreements that are used for native forestry, so what that means in practice is that native forestry would need to meet higher environmental standards than are currently required under the legislation. That’s a big step forward in terms of the environmental management of native forestry. But it doesn’t go as far as what the Greens party is seeking in being an all-out ban.
Not in its own right. We haven’t taken the approach of saying that particular projects are altogether banned. Every project will be assessed on its merits whether it be a coal and gas project, whether it be a housing and renewable project, they have all got to demonstrate they’re not having a significant impact on one of the nine matters of national environmental significance under the act.
If a coal or gas development was seeking approval, then it would need to meet the national environmental standards. It would need to avoid and minimise its environmental impacts and offset them to achieve a net gain. So they would be improvements compared to the criteria that apply to a project at the moment. If it was considered to have an unacceptable impact on the environment then it would get knocked back as would a housing development or a renewable project.
We’re not trying to sort of put in particular criteria for particular sectors. What we’re trying to do is put in a balanced package for all sorts of projects, for all industries, that deliver environmental and business gains.
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11/01/2025 - 14:00
There’s no such thing as a perfect legislative solution. It’s about finding one that’s workable – for the community, for the economy and for nature
Victoria’s Healesville Sanctuary is helping to protect and restore the critically endangered orange-bellied parrot which is predicted to be extinct within five years.
With only 50 known to be left in the wild, a major breeding program aims to release up to 20 pairs of the migratory birds annually.
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11/01/2025 - 03:00
Many waterways vulnerable to breaches and closures and face mounting maintenance costs, charity says
Britain’s network of canals and rivers is under strain from funding shortfalls and growing climate pressures, campaigners warn.
Three-quarters of the country’s waterways face financial peril, according to the Inland Waterways Association (IWA), an independent charity advocating for Britain’s canals and rivers, as the country braces for heavier winter rainfall and intensifying summer droughts.
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11/01/2025 - 02:00
Others languishing near bottom of 61-country study include Canada, Germany, Israel, Japan and Spain
Britain is one of the least “nature connected” nations in the world, according to the first ever global study of how people relate to the natural world.
Britain ranks 55th out of 61 countries in the study of 57,000 people, which looks at how attitudes towards nature are shaped by social, economic, geographical and cultural factors.
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11/01/2025 - 02:00
Huge increase in tree-killing disease is result of climate crisis, experts say
A golden mushroom that grows in clusters and can attack and kill trees has increased by 200% in the UK in a year because of the hot summer and damp autumn.
Recorded sightings of honey fungus are up by almost 200% compared with the same period last year, according to iNaturalist.
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10/31/2025 - 23:00
npj Ocean Sustainability, Published online: 01 November 2025; doi:10.1038/s44183-025-00160-3
Human activities in coastal and marine regions increasingly generate inter-sectoral conflicts, emphasizing the need of effective spatial planning. India’s marine ecosystems, which sustain millions of livelihoods, are under mounting pressure from overexploitation, climate change and competing human uses. To address these challenges, developing a robust marine spatial planning framework is essential for both conservation and sustainable ocean use. Puducherry, with high recreational potential, serves as a pilot site for such an initiative, aiming to balancing stakeholder interests and needs, strengthening coastal resilience, and promoting a sustainable blue economy.
10/30/2025 - 23:00
npj Ocean Sustainability, Published online: 31 October 2025; doi:10.1038/s44183-025-00153-2
Distant-water fleets, local consequences: lessons from a case study in Liberia
World Ocean Explorer Wins Gold Medal Serious Simulation Award from Serious Play Annual International Competition
10/26/2023 - 14:35
For Immediate Release October 19, 2023
Sedgwick, Maine USA World Ocean Explorer, a 3D virtual aquarium and educational simulation, was recently cited for excellence, winning a Gold Medal Award in the 2023 International Serious Play Awards Program.
World Ocean Explorer is an innovative 3D virtual aquarium designed for educational exploration of the world’s oceans. With interactive exhibits and a lobby space, visitors can immerse themselves in realistic marine environments, including a DEEP SEA exhibit funded by Schmidt Ocean Institute, showcasing unprecedented deep-sea discoveries off Australia. Targeted at 3rd graders and beyond, this immersive experience offers a range of perspectives on the ocean environment and can be explored through guided tours or user-controlled interfaces. Visit DEEP SEA at worldoceanexplorer.org/deep-sea-aquarium.html.
Serious Play Conference brings together professionals who are exploring the use of game-based learning, sharing their experience, and working together to shape the future of training and education. For more information on Serious Play Award Program visit seriousplayconf.com/international-serious-play-award-programs.
World Ocean Explorer is a transformative virtual aquarium designed to deepen understanding of the world ocean and amplify connection for young people worldwide. Organized around the principles of Ocean Literacy and the Next Gen Science Standards, World Ocean Explorer brings the wonder and knowledge of ocean species and systems to students in formal and informal classrooms, absolutely free to anyone with a good Internet connection. As an advocate for the ocean through communications, World Ocean Observatory believes there is no better investment in the future of the sustainable ocean than through a new approach to educational engagement that excites, informs, and motivates students to explore the wonders of our marine world and to understand the pervasive connection and implication for our future, inherent in the protection and conservation of all aspects of our ocean world.
World Ocean Explorer presents an astonishing 3-dimensional simulated aquarium visit, organized to reveal the wonders of undersea life, with layers of detailed data and information to augment the emotional connection made to the astonishing beauty and complexity of the dynamic ocean. Within each of the virtual exhibits, students visit exemplary theme-based sites with myriad opportunities to understand the larger perspectives of scientific knowledge as organized and visualized to dramatize the impact and change on ocean life as a result of natural and human-generated events. Through immersion among displays, mixed media and 3D models, the experience of an aquarium visit will be brought into classrooms or home school environments as a free, accessible, always available opportunity for teaching and learning. All of this will be available to a world audience without physical limitation or cost. World Ocean Explorer, a project of the World Ocean Observatory, receives support from the Seth Sprague Educational and Charitable Foundation, Visual Solutions Lab, the Climate Change Institute, the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation, and The Fram Museum Oslo. To learn more about the current and future exhibits of World Ocean Explorer, visit worldoceanexplorer.org.
media contact
Trisha Badger, Managing Director, World Ocean Observatory | [email protected] +12077011069
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