22 May FastFT: Axa to ditch coal investments by the end of 2015. Axa, one of the world’s largest insurers, has become the first global financial institution to shun investments in coal companies. The French group, which has more than $1trn in assets under management, will sell EUR500m of coal assets between now and the end of the year, its chief executive, Henri de Castries, said at a business and climate change conference in Paris on Friday, reports Pilita Clark, environment correspondent. It will also invest EUR3bn in renewable energy between now and 2020. The move makes the French group by far the biggest recruit to an international fossil fuel divestment campaign that aims to stigmatise the use of coal, oil and gas because of their impact on the climate. Read More here
Category Archives: The Mitigation Battle
Here’s how the states can dodge Canberra’s renewable roadblock. Labor and the Coalition government have now agreed to cut the federal renewable energy target (RET) from 41,000 gigawatt hours in 2020, to 33,000 GWh – a reduction of almost 20%. This agreement has been hailed as restoring stability to the industry, after a year plagued with uncertainty and featuring two reviews. However, this is still a significant cut, particularly as the target is a significant part of Australia’s policy response to climate change. Meanwhile, Victoria has committed to restoring its own renewable energy target, the VRET, following other states in developing renewable energy policy. However a clause the federal legislation prevents schemes similar to the federal RET. How can the states get around this and support their industries? Read More here
Why is oil and gas activity causing earthquakes? And can we reduce the risk? If you’ve been following the news lately, chances are you’ve heard about – or even felt – earthquakes in the central United States. During the past five years, there has been an unprecedented increase in earthquakes in the North American mid-continent, a region previously considered one of the most stable on Earth. According to a recent report by the Oklahoma Geological Survey, Oklahoma alone has seen seismicity rates increase 600 times compared to historic levels. The state has gone from experiencing fewer than two magnitude-three earthquakes per year to greater than two per day, the report found. Similarly, my home state of Texas has experienced a near 10-fold increase in magnitude-three earthquakes or greater in the past five years. Read More here
5 May 2015, ACF Report: Subsidising Big Coal: Handouts to Australia’s biggest coal mining companies through the Fuel Tax Credits Scheme. The Government hands out around $6 billion dollars in fuel tax subsidies every year to a wide range of industries through the Fuel Tax Credits Scheme. Despite only making 1 per cent of claims, the mining industry received 40 per cent of the total amount of fuel tax credits claimed in 2012-13. The biggest average claims in the mining industry are made by the coal miners. This report makes a preliminary estimate of the amount of fuel tax credits claimed by the biggest coal mining companies in Australia. Read More here