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Governments should be investing in home energy upgrades, now. Improving home energy efficiency is a good investment at the best of times: it cuts power bills, makes homes healthier, and reduces emissions. But the Coronavirus pandemic and the job losses it has caused mean that now is a particularly important moment for governments to back […]
The Fifth Estate asked architect Shaun Carter and Australian Institute of Architects chief executive Julia Cambage what 2021 is likely to bring.
The new president of the Australian Local Government Association (ALGA), City of Sydney Councillor Linda Scott, has plenty of experience going out to bat for local government as president of the NSW branch of the organisation.
Last week San Francisco became the latest city to ban natural gas in new buildings. The legislation will see all new construction, other than restaurants, use electric power only from June 2021, to cut greenhouse gas emissions
This high end communications and media business is known for its television production ads, graphic design and events, and it hires a raft of illustrators, filmmakers and audio engineers. Today it’s branched into the ballooning procurement advisory business, especially in construction and infrastructure. Damian Amamoo and his wife Elsie are the owners of Inception Strategies […]
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 […]
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 […]
Environmental organisations are ramping up their activities in the wake of the recent fires, The Wilderness Society among them. TWS is planning to tap consumer sentiment to choose the right products such as recycled fibre, and it wants to grow its network, that currently has a branch in nearly every major city. “We’re looking to […]
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.
The Australian government has been accused of – literally – fiddling while the country burns but there has been a sea change in attitude among business leaders and investors, who are fast coming to grips with climate change.
Federal energy minister Angus Taylor has finally called the Council of Australian Governments Energy Council meeting this weekend. Let’s hope the meeting is not in vain.
The big glittery All Energy event in Melbourne this week was all abuzz with how irrelevant the federal government really is.
City of Sydney has made good on its commitment to go 100 per cent renewable, today unveiling a $60 million deal with Flow Power to purchase only wind and solar to meet its energy needs.
There’s a battle brewing in the bush not only around water – or lack thereof – but around solar, and whether it has any business taking over farmland.
The Daily Tele was shocked at how David Chandler’s articles in The Fifth Estate have been so critical of the government but he still gets the gig as building commissioner.
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.
Across the nation, land-clearing has wiped out a billion dollars worth of taxpayer funded emission gains, releasing more than 160m tonnes of carbon dioxide since 2015
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.
This is a tale of two cities. They’re both imaginary – or are they?
The nature of Sydney’s built environment and its brand has been under siege from a range of critics in recent years. Now renowned architect and City of Sydney councillor Philip Thalis has waded into the fray with a searing look at what will happen to public Sydney under the current regime of how it treats its built environment.
NABERS has a new vision for the future, with its new five-year strategy going live last week. A few experts offered their thoughts on the journey of the national rating tool so far and what they hope to see going forward.
Ryan Falconer is not convinced that enough urban tech is sufficiently citizen-driven. He’s got three key concerns that government needs to address.
According to Corrs Chambers Westgarth partner Christine Covington it’s probably time for federal environmental protection agency. And one of its first jobs could be to implement the recommendations of the federal Inquiry into the PFAS chemical contamination that comes from fire retardant chemicals used by defence and fire fighting agencies Covington is not alone. In […]
There have been more brickbats than accolades in response to the band aid solutions and ministerial tag team that has followed last week’s Opal Tower press conference.
There seems to be no nationally consistent policies to protect assets and the investment they represent from the impacts of rising sea levels, more frequent storm surges and increased erosion in the coastal zone.
It’s just a sneaking suspicion but The Fifth Estate thinks there’s been an uptick in the number of sustainability-related positions being advertised by local councils.
New leaders are emerging to meet the climate challenge. Cities and towns in Australia and across the world are taking charge of their future and moving swiftly to reduce their climate impact and secure a clean energy future for their residents.
New national waste targets, including the phasing out of “problematic and unnecessary” single-use plastic packaging sound right on cue with the current mood among voters and consumer. But key industry players and some state government leaders wondering who will foot the bill?
State and territory governments are leading the charge on the renewables transition while the Commonwealth is falling short. Latest news in the sector is the Queensland government’s launch of the state’s new publicly owned renewable energy generator last week.
A movement is underway in the UK to encourage the construction industry to do more to improve civil society cohesion and ethics. This is steering the direction of Government legislation.
