Monthly Archives: April 2015

PLEA Network

20 April 2015, RTCC, Australia’s climate plans probed by UN partners World’s biggest emitters call out inadequate pollution-cutting targets in questions submitted through the UN: Australia has come under scrutiny for unambitious plans to slash greenhouse gas emissions. China, the US, Brazil and the EU have probed the country’s resolve to cut CO2 by 5% from 2000 levels by 2020 through its UN forum. That is just half the pace of US proposals, as almost 200 nations prepare to roll out pledges in the coming months towards a new global climate deal. And Climate Action Tracker estimates the country is on track for a rise of 12-18%, not even meeting its goal. Since prime minister Tony Abbott scrapped its main environment policy, a carbon tax, analysts say Australia will struggle to curb emissions. Read More here

 

 

PLEA Network

April 2015   A Climate Institute Briefing Note: Updates global climate action where the US lays its cards on the table but what of Australia? The Climate Institute states “Countries that formalised their initial post-2020 emission reduction offers over the last month included the United States, the world’s biggest economy. Others ramped up their domestic climate action, with China’s clamp down on coal use among the key headlines…..”  Read More: CI Research Briefing Note

PLEA Network

JUST RELEASED 13 April 2015: To order Worldwatch Institute: State of the World 2015: About confronting Hidden Threats to sustainability. “We think we understand environmental damage: pollution, water scarcity, a warming world. But these problems are just the tip of the iceberg. Deeper issues include food insecurity, financial assets drained of value by environmental damage, and a rapid rise in diseases of animal origin. These and other problems are among the under reported consequences of an unsustainable global system.

 In State of the World 2015, the flagship publication of the Worldwatch Institute, experts explore hidden threats to sustainability and how to address them. Eight key issues are addressed in depth, along with the central question of how we can develop resilience to these and other shocks. With the latest edition of State of the World, the authorities at Worldwatch bring to light challenges we can no longer afford to ignore….” Read More here

PLEA Network

16 April 2015 The New York Times: Judges Hear Challenge to Proposed E.P.A. Rule to Curb Climate Change by Coral Davenport (They just won’t give up will they?!) “WASHINGTON — A panel of federal judges on Thursday appeared inclined to dismiss the first legal challenge to President Obama’s most far-reaching regulation to slow climate change. But in arguments before the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, lawyers for the nation’s two largest coal companies, several states and the Environmental Protection Agency offered a preview of what is expected to be a protracted battle over what Mr. Obama hopes to leave as his signature environmental achievement….” Read More here