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Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s new 10-point plan for greening the UK is welcomed, but while some call it “game changing”, many argue that the £4 billion (AU$7.26 billion) attached is not nearly enough to meet the needs of the moment.
Infrastructure emerged as a winner in the federal government’s big-spending 2020-21 budget and now the hard part: making sure these “nation-building” projects are sustainable. Money is flowing into the built environment, with the government’s “JobMaker Plan” including an increase to the government’s infrastructure investment pipeline by $10 billion to $110 billion over 10 years. The […]
Almost all councils in the Hunter region – one of NSW’s largest coal-producing areas – have now made the commitment to move away from coal and gas and towards a cleaner future powered by renewables. Lake Macquarie City, Port Stephens and Cessnock City have today become the latest members of the Cities Power Partnership (CPP), […]
The City of Melbourne declared a climate and biodiversity emergency and now it wants to put its money where its mouth is, mandating minimum sustainability standards.
A shocking number of Australians experience energy poverty and its only expected to get worse post-Covid as people spend more time at home.
OPINION: For near on 30 years we have cruised down the road of economic growth feasting on the fruits of the “lucky country”. Sure, there were a few speed bumps along the way, a few wrong turns, and more than a few prime ministers, but it was mostly smooth sailing. Hit in the face by […]
Predicting the Jobs of the future is not as straightforward as the government’s uni fees meddling would suggest.
The New Zealand government is making a bold climate commitment with a plan to transform the building sector, which includes aggressive new efficiency standards for energy and water use and mandatory reporting requirements on construction materials and waste. On Friday, the New Zealand government announced its Building for Climate Change Programme, setting out plans to […]
At a time when there’s mounting evidence that Australia’s environmental planning laws are “fundamentally broken”, this very same legislation is under threat from a federal government intent on fast-tracking projects as part of its pandemic recovery plan. “Green tape” has been in the firing line of the Covid recovery agenda at least since earlier this […]
The Australian government has thrown the door open to suppliers with a huge range of skills and services to future-proof Australia’s energy markets.
This week, two business groups made the case for a democratially-elected Lord Mayor of Parramatta – an equivalent to City of Sydney’s popular Clover Moore – to lead the critical region through a period of rapid growth and transformation.
Every nation would do well to emulate Europe’s Green Deal approach. Here’s how it works.
The Yarra City Council is officially endorsing its first emergency climate plan outlining its four year strategy to create a climate adapted city. Since late 2019, the council has been working alongside the community to draft an action plan, setting up ten targets and 20 actions to cut carbon emissions and build up climate resilience […]
ANALYSIS: On Thursday, the Morrison government introduced its HomeBuilder (insert trademark) scheme with the intention of supporting residential home builders that were starting to see work dry up.
The pitch to replace stamp duty with a broad-based land tax is seeing a new surge of advocacy. Just in the past few days the Reserve Bank Governor together with state Treasurers in both NSW and Victoria have all weighed into this debate once again, arguing that such a transition is now an urgent priority.
As we emerge from this global crisis we have an unprecedented opportunity to create a better world, a healthier world, a happier and fairer world, and a low carbon world. It turns out this also represents better value for money than not doing so.
In the midst of the coronavirus outbreak, last week Britain’s chancellor issued a new budget that promised much infrastructure and, of course, to tackle the pandemic.
With the introduction of government bills to force change, now is the time for quality market participants to back an overhaul of the state’s construction industry and rebuild customer confidence, argues the NSW Building Commissioner.
News from the front desk on Friday (part II) – Richard Di Natale was right for the times; Adam Bandt is right for now. Newscorp calls Bandt the Greens “attack dog”.
SAVING WATER, summer series:Decisions to push ahead with coal and coal seam gas (CSG) projects in NSW and Queensland are entirely at odds with ensuring good management of water supplies and reducing carbon emissions.
Land planning, energy, water, housing affordability and jobs of the future are among the key priorities identified by the NSW Productivity Commission in a discussion paper released ahead of a wide-ranging inquiry.
It seems building energy efficiency is even palatable enough for federal energy and emissions reduction minister Angus Taylor as an emissions abatement opportunity.
Firming technologies were big on the Clean Energy Finance Corporation’s agenda in 2018-19.
News from the front desk 455: There have long been voices suggesting that three levels of government in Australia is simply impractical. But while state governments are often targeted for not doing enough, it’s the federal government that’s falling short on many key agenda items.
The NSW government’s building and construction reforms have kicked up a gear with draft regulation to clean up the certification system released on Monday.
Here’s what life will look like in 2030 if Australian governments adopt best practice energy standards that are currently on the table for our homes and appliances..
PM Scott Morrison has announced he will tackle plastic recycling. Good. It’s ugly. It’s also politically safe topic thanks to the rapid escalation of concern that a single program, The War on Waste managed to churn up among the mums and dads of everywhere.
The federal government keeps pushing back on taking responsibility for major national infrastructure centred on cities. But there are five good reasons it needs to reassess and take a leadership position.
Environmental upgrade agreements are on the cards as part of the North Sydney Council’s program for reducing greenhouse gas pollution and the cost of living in apartments.
The rejection of the mining company Gloucester Resources Limited’s appeal to develop the Rocky Hill Coal mine represents a landmark legal decision for Aboriginal communities when it comes to protecting sacred lands from mining interests.
