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News from the Front Desk, Issue 497: The release of Australia’s “gas-fired recovery” plans this week – topped off with new rules to allow government clean energy finance to flow towards carbon capture and storage –should hardly come as a surprise.
Have you ever wondered what the world would be like if electricity was free? Tesla is the well-known trademark of entrepreneur extraordinaire Elon Musk and his electric cars, but what about Tesla, the man? More than 100 years ago, Nikola Tesla (1856-1943) invented alternating current (AC), the polyphase alternating current system, which laid the foundation […]
As we suspended business as usual during the pandemic what’s impossible to ignore is that “responsible investment strategies, that is, those that more actively factor in social and environmental risks in their decisions, outperformed the broader market during this downturn, and not for the first time. “ Initial Reaction: For investment teams responsible for the […]
GREEN GIGS: Australia’s heating climate is providing opportunities for suppliers who can think outside the traditional building box.
Australia is not headed in the right direction to curb its greenhouse gas emissions. Is there anything companies can do themselves to turn this juggernaut around?
Green Cross Australia is using hypothetical scenarios to explore the problems homeowners and stakeholders face when affected by changes to sea-level rise and flooding caused by climate change.
The Labor Party has committed to spending $1.1 billion on developing hydrogen fuel networks and an export hub in Gladstone in Queensland if elected. What would this mean for the hydrogen economy?
A round up of the things that caught our eye in the media this week…or might do soon
Ten years ago, on February 7, 2009, I sat down in my apartment in central Melbourne to write a job application. All of the blinds were down, and the windows tightly closed. Outside it was 47?. We had no air conditioning. The heat seeped through the walls.
If there is one thing you need to read as COP 24 daily calls out the fierce urgency for climate action, it’s this manifesto for the planet.
In the same week we’ve seen the Global Emissions Gap report ring alarm bells about the hastening of climate change impacts, we’ve also seen Sydney hit by another extreme storm event while to the north fire conditions the like of which have not been seen in Queensland are sending hundreds of people fleeing communities in Capricornia.
Climate and a fast growing population are putting pressure on water supplies but authorities and new technology are planning for the challenges.
We heard Kelly O’Shanassy would be a force to be reckoned with when she was appointed chief executive officer of the Australian Conservation Foundation in 2015. On Tuesday she showed her mettle at a powerful speech at the Canberra Press Club. In a presentation that drew strength from the recent Wentworth by-election that delivered a […]
Your weekly round up of sustainability news and what it means.
Climate policy cannot be reduced to a carbon policy. Its strength is in complexity, from local food production to communal transport, renewables and Indigenous rights to say no to coal. We need to forget bi-partisan support and find our democratic strength.
The PM has changed again. Again it’s over climate policy. What comes next?
Shadow climate change minister Mark Butler has given a speech to the Sydney Institute arguing that the development of the Adani coal mine is not in the national interest.
As the clock ticks forward and the climate keeps warming, more people are turning their minds to desperate measures.
Ninety per cent of Australians expect their super to be invested ethically, and 80 per cent would consider switching funds to more aligned providers, according to new research from the Responsible Investment Association Australasia.
This week, world leaders are meeting in Bonn, Germany for the 2017 round of United Nations climate talks, despite the uncertainty from the decision to abandon the agreement.
The World Architecture Festival has announced the winners of the WAFX prize, which recognises future projects that identify challenges architects will face over the next 10 years – with sustainability of course a running theme.
The Climate and Health Alliance last week released its Draft Framework for the National Strategy on Climate, Health and Well-being. The strategy has been developed to support Australia in meeting its obligations under the Paris Agreement (global climate agreement) in relation to ensuring its citizens’ ‘right to health’ in the context of national climate policy, a statement from […]
Premier Gladys Berejiklian’s appointment of former Reserve Bank of Australia governor Glenn Stevens to advise on housing affordability, revealed on Wednesday, has some people scratching their heads. This is a man who headed a body that in 2015 said there was a case for reviewing negative gearing in order to help potential owner-occupiers. Rumours are […]
With 2016 achieving the unenviable title of “world’s hottest year on record” and 2017 already seeing a onslaught of heatwaves in Australia, what are some of the sustainable design features developers might consider to make their buildings more comfortable in this increasingly extreme environment? Ever-increasing property prices have led to developers seeking to build as […]
Energy reduction through better building design in sub-tropical climates is a key focus of a new, independent research-based consultancy launched in Brisbane. Dr Rosemary Kennedy has developed Subtropical Cities Architecture and Design to utilise her large body of work on planning, design and architecture for high-density tropical and sub-tropical cities. She has left her role […]
Naomi Klein controversially called Tony Abbott a “climate villain” before arriving in Australia to promote her latest book, This Changes Everything.
