1 December 2015, Renew Economy, Paris, COP21: Turnbull ducks and weaves as world leaders lead. PARIS: As 150 country leaders spoke in Paris on Monday, mostly reinforcing their commitment to a global agreement that aims to limit global warming to a maximum 2°C, Australia prime minister Malcolm Turnbull was forced to duck and weave his way through the first day of talks. The country leaders were invited to Paris to try to remove roadblocks and inspire others to act. Most – including the leaders of the US, China, Mexico, host France and other EU countries, developing nations, and even Russia – did exactly that. But the day started badly for Australia with the revelation that it had snubbed – apparently, at the last minute and under pressure from the conservative rump of the Coalition government – an invitation to join a 40-country campaign to remove fossil fuel subsidies. Australia was also conspicuously absent when many of the world’s major economies held a special event to underline their support for a carbon price. Australia, of course, was the first country in the world to remove a carbon price when Tony Abbott was in power. Australia announced it was adding $1 billion into climate financing fund over five years, but again appeared to be pulling much of this money from the foreign aid budget. It also pledged an extra $100 million for clean technology research, at the same time as refusing to remove legislation that would dismantle the $10 billion Clean Energy Finance Corp and the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, from which it has stripped twice as much research funding. Read More here
Yearly Archives: 2015
30 November 2015, New Matilda, 10,000 Empty Shoes And A Mist Of Pepper Spray Open Paris Climate Talks. Australia’s Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull was supposed to visit a memorial for those killed in the Paris terror attacks, but was diverted after climate protestors clashed with police. New Matilda’s environmental reporter Thom Mitchell was on the scene. Around 10,000 empty pairs of shoes rested solemnly in La Place de la Republique, in the heart of Paris on Sunday, the day before make-or-break-climate change negotiations get underway in the French capital. They were placed there to stand in stead of the hundreds of thousands expected to have marched if not for a ‘State of Emergency’ ban on political gatherings in public spaces, itself defied by more than 5,000 people who swarmed into the historic political space later that afternoon. Read More here
30 November 2015 The Conversation, We can achieve sustainability – but not without limiting growth. Can Australians be sustainable and enjoy endless economic growth? It’s not likely. In a recent article on The Conversation, Steve Hatfield-Dodds argued that sustainability was possible in Australia without sacrificing economic growth. He also argued the necessary policy changes would not require fundamental changes to Australians’ values. This research was based on a detailed paper in Nature and modelling undertaken for CSIRO’s recent National Outlook Report. Contrary to this pro-growth outlook, I will argue that sustainability would be almost impossible to achieve in practice without ending growth in population and consumption per person. I’ll also argue that the claim that we don’t need to change our values cannot be proven (or disproven) by the method used by Hatfield-Dodds and colleagues. Recent experience suggests we may need to change our values. This debate is important, because the argument that sustainability is compatible with growth is likely to be misused by those who have vested interests in endless economic growth. Growth and sustainability are rarely compatible. Read More here
29 November 2015, Aljazeera, Inside the bubble with Obama in Paris. As US president heads to French capital for UN climate summit, his 2008 promise to heal the planet is sure to be broken. As I write this, US President Barack Obama has just taken off for Paris and the UN Climate summit. I beat him here – after all he doesn’t have to go through customs or anything so he travels faster than I do. This is a very big deal to Obama. Getting an overarching worldwide agreement on climate change has been a central theme of his administration since he took office. Remember the talk of calming seas when he became the Democratic nominee? Small problem – he’s not going to keep that promise. A recent study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found that if all of the countries live up to their pledges to reduce greenhouse gases, the Earth will still warm 3.5 degrees Celsius by 2100. Without any action, the planet is expected to warm by 4.5C. These scientists say the combined actions will in essence reduce the temperature by 1C. That will not stave off the worst consequences of climate change. It’s also an open question as to whether the countries will live up to their commitments. Hurdles ahead. The Obama administration has been working hard to avoid this agreement being called a treaty. If it is a treaty, he would have to get two-thirds of the US Senate to agree to the terms. He wouldn’t be able to make that happen. Read More here