At the National Press Club of Australia Iron Ore magnate  Dr Andrew Forrest AO proposed three simple policies for Australia to become become a green energy superpower:Implement a Climate Trigger for new projects; a “Best for Australia” test which explicitly considers climate impacts when approving new major projects.Replacing fossil fuel subsidies with an equally powerful green energy ..read more

The 60th Session of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) met in Istanbul, Turkiye from 16–19 January 2024  (IPCC-60). This session started the planning for the seventh assessment cycle which will run over the next 5-6 years. More than 300 delegates from 120 governments met to determine the work cycle of what reports to produce.  Outcomes include reports from the three ..read more

Looking at 2023 renewables achieved a 38.4 percent average share of the electricity grid in Australia. This puts Australia just about on track to meet the 82 per cent renewables by 2030 target. Keep in mind Utility scale solar is still ramping up. New onshore wind farms are in the development pipeline. Offshore wind will only start coming into the system around 2030 but will rapidly ramp up ..read more

Last year, 2023, at 1.48C anomaly averaged over the whole year, came within a whisker of being 1.5C above pre-industrial temperatures. The Eurpean Copernicus Climate Change Service has released its latest analysis for the year past. Have no doubt we have a climate emergency. This year, 2024, is likely to build upon the land and ocean warming, particularly with an El Nino in play, to produce an ..read more

Premier Jacinta Allan has acknowledged that climate change is a factor in extreme rain and flood events, and that more needs to be done in planning to mitigate extreme weather and flood events as part of climate adaptation, along with reducing greenhouse gas emissions.Interviewed by Richard Willingham on ABC Melbourne, Premier Jacinta Allan said; "There is clearly a change in our climate ..read more

Shipping emissions is one of those niche areas, part of Transport emissions, that needs to be tackled. There is both a huge freight and logistics component, a smaller passenger component and the tourism component of cruise ships.Most of the interview is focussed on the Fright component. About 3 percent of global emissions are due to shipping. This is about equivalent to the emissions of ..read more

New research has investigated abrupt swings in extreme weather in the Northern Hemisphere. This is being driven by Arctic amplified warming and slowing of the Northern Hemisphere Jetsream.Changes to the Jet Stream is one of the areas that Dr Jennifer Francis has been focussed on. Francis is Senior Climate Scientist with the Woods Hole Institute in the US. Her recent research has been in weather ..read more

Australia is expanding oil, gas, coal, despite the 'transition away from Fossil Fuels' decision at the UN Climate Conference COP28.  In a Climate Crisis the first best action is to stop digging. A new report released by the Federal Government on 18 December - Resources and Energy Major projects 2023 - outlines some 117 new coal and gas projects across the continent. Some of these may ..read more

The new Premier of Queensland Steven Miles has announced for Queensland  a new emissions reduction target of 75% below 2005 levels by 2035. This will be a legislated target.Queensland already has a commitment to deliver 50% renewable energy by 2030, 70% by 2032, and 80% by 2035.  The Premier Steven Miles said, “By legislating this target, we will create certainty for ..read more

Two years in succession Australia has improved its total ranking in the Climate Change Performance index. In 2022 it jumped 4 places and in 2023 jumped another 5 places. This still places Australia at 50th ranking of 67 countries assessed, in the Low overall rating..In 2023 CCPI report Australia still ranked very low, but was starting to improve in some categories.For the 2022 CCPI report ..read more