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Invasive pest ants cause billions of dollars worth of damage to crops, and threaten some of Australia's World Heritage rainforests. The federal budget has pledged nearly $30m on wiping them out – but how? Lori Lach, Associate Professor, James Cook University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

For centuries, our lunar neighbour has been a source of fascination and inspiration for poets and artists.

Readers and heads of environmental organisations respond to a call to rewild on a massive scale

George Monbiot (The natural world can help save us from climate chaos, 3 April), Greta Thunberg and other signatories (Letters, 3 April) are right. Nature can provide effective options to help tackle climate change. Often there is no need for complicated, expensive and unproven technology. As we know from our work in such countries as Bhutan and Costa Rica, some governments are embracing nature-based solutions where natural forests are managed for their key role in storing carbon and regulating water for clean, green hydropower. Policies and investment need to work with local people and focus on linking nature to infrastructure to help avoid catastrophic climate change, protect biodiversity and cut emissions. The real challenge is to align the politics of change to the actions that are needed. While some countries are doing the right thing, in other places (such as Brazil) the politics is going backwards in deeply troubling ways.

The international community needs to act to support local livelihoods and enable communities to be good stewards of the natural world. Our lives depend on it.
Andrew Norton
Director, International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED)

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Virginia GOP lawmakers are using the budget process to prevent the state from joining the northeast US RGGI market in 2020, after Governor Ralph Northam (D) vetoed bills this year attempting to block that linkage.

The MCPP invites photographers to tell a story of how they experience living in Australia. This year, themes of drought, immigration and identity feature heavily in the entries. The winner of the $50,000 prize will be announced on 7 May

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When we think of the effects of climate change it’s easy to focus on rising sea levels – but what about the changes happening much higher up? At Mount Hotham in Victoria a unique creature spends months under the snow: Australia’s only hibernating marsupial, the mountain pygmy possum. This tiny animal was once thought extinct. Now, zoos and ski-resorts are doing everything they can to keep it alive, but it faces a changing climate, which may create insurmountable challenges

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"Sir David" was found swimming with a plastic flying ring stuck around its neck.

EU carbon prices have surged by around 15% so far this week on the back of bullish buying stoked by Brexit optimism and supported by a rising energy complex, but some have questioned whether the sharp gains are warranted or sustainable, especially in light of worsening fundamentals.

The Japanese Hayabusa-2 spacecraft is about to detonate an explosive charge on the asteroid it is exploring.

Switzerland’s carbon credit procurement agency has opened its first call for proposals for GHG-cutting activities, with the aim of tying up its first emission trade agreements under the Paris Agreement.

Panel was disbanded after a Trump official voiced concerns that it did not have enough members ‘from industry’

A US government climate change advisory group scrapped by Donald Trump has reassembled independently to call for better adaptation to the floods, wildfires and other threats that increasingly loom over American communities.

The Trump administration disbanded the 15-person Advisory Committee for the Sustained National Climate Assessment in August 2017. The group, formed under Barack Obama’s presidency, provided guidance to the government based on the National Climate Assessment, a major compendium of climate science released every four years.

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More than 40% of electricity sold by China’s grid companies this year is likely to go through its recently-established power markets, according to the China Electricity Council (CEC), marking further progress in the ongoing power market reform seen as crucial for the success of the national carbon market.

A chorus of critics say the laws are badly written and will have unintended consequences.

A delegation of Queensland MPs are concerned the Environment Minister has not yet signed off on the Adani coal mine.

Australia's vast reef is struggling to re-grow corals after unprecedented bleaching, scientists say.

The purple shrub thrives in dereliction and decay. How much better things would be if it had nowhere to grow

A couple of years ago, I was with a TV director, standing on Soho Road in Handsworth, Birmingham. There was a break in filming while someone faffed around with something. This gave the two of us chance to pause and admire a derelict pub called the Red Lion. It was built at the start of the last century and remains, for all its dilapidation, a magnificent sight.

My colleague pointed at a bush, thriving improbably out of a crack high up in the terracotta facade. “That,” he said, “is a buddleia. It’s incredibly hardy, it can take root anywhere.”

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Dingoes help conservation efforts by controlling the population of feral cats. Mike Letnic, Professor, Centre for Ecosystem Science, UNSW Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Single-Column Responsive Email Template Melbourne Event / Webinar - 11 April 2019 Climate and Carbon Challenges This event will be live webcast for members in other capitals and regional areas. Webinar option available when registering. Level 31, 600 Bourke Street Melbourne 5.30 pm for 6.00 pm Thursday 11th April REGISTER FOR THIS EVENT This event will examine the opportunities and challenges for Australia and especially, the engineering profession, to reshape its industries and society to meet the global challenge of emissions reductions required to meet the safe climate goals set at the 2015 Paris climate conference and reviewed at COP24 2018 in Poland. The topic will be addressed from perspectives of (a) latest scientific assessments on climate and emissions trends; and (b) challenges for the engineering profession in responding to industry transformations necessitated by a carbon constrained future. The science basis for determining policy and engineering responses Policy actions by government and contributions from the engineering profession need to be based on an understanding of the latest scientific assessments by the international climate science community. This presentation will address important aspects including: the global carbon budget and Australia’s fair share in contributing to the global abatement effort latest thinking on climate risk e.g as analyses by the IPCC 1.5 degree Warming Assessment greater emission reduction ambition in light of COP 24 and recent scientific reviews such as the UNEP Emissions gap Report A/Prof Malte Meinshausen is Co-Director of the Energy Transition Hub (www.energy-transition-hub.org) and was founding Director of the Climate & Energy College (climatecollege.unimelb.edu.au) at The University of Melbourne. Before coming to Melbourne in 2011, he did research at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Germany. He holds a PhD in "Climate Science & Policy", a Diploma in "Environmental Sciences" from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, and an MSc in "Environmental Change and Management" from the University of Oxford, UK. His research focuses on emission scenarios, carbon budgets, reduced complexity climate modelling (www.magicc.org) and the Paris Agreement negotiations. He was the scientific adviser to the German Government from 2005 to 2016 in the UNFCCC negotiations. How should society generally and the engineering profession in particular, respond? Policy responses by government has been a fraught issue over the last decade. The engineering profession has a key role in developing technical solutions to support both international obligations and to enable the transformations demanded by a carbon constrained future. This presentation will look at: What policy tools and regulations are required to support an orderly, cost efficient transition to net zero carbon emissions across all sectors Australia by 2050. How adequate are our current collective government sectoral settings towards achieving a net zero 2050 CO2e target? What typical specific strategies and adjustments will be required across different key CO2e emissions sectors within Australia, particularly in Engineering related sectors. (transport, built infrastructure, industrial processes, mining, energy). Tom Yankos plays a central role in providing research and analysis for a range of ClimateWorks’ projects. Since joining ClimateWorks Australia in late 2014, Tom has undertaken analysis for a range of projects, including the quantitation of the potential emissions reduction contribution from Sustainability Victoria’s TAKE2 pledge program, state-based economy-wide emissions projections and potential impacts of switching from gas to electric appliances on the electricity grid (in collaboration with CSIRO). He also completed analysis for the ‘Energy Productivity Index for Companies’ project and contributed to the development of ClimateWorks’ ‘2050 Pathways Calculator’, an online tool which allows users to explore scenarios leading to deep decarbonisation by mid-century. During a secondment to CSIRO, Tom helped prepare the 'Low Emissions Technology Roadmap' report which highlights areas of potential growth in Australia's clean technology sector, contributing ClimateWorks' perspective and expertise. Prior to joining ClimateWorks, Tom provided data analysis and modelling activities for energy efficiency and cost reduction for the Toyota Motor Corporation Australia. He also has experience in advanced simulation and computational methods. Tom holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Aerospace Engineering (First Class Honours) and a Bachelor of Business (Distinction) from RMIT University. If you can't view this email click here to view online Click here to unsubscribe from this newsletter S

AEMC gets headlines about renewables it was looking for in its latest reliability review, but it barely covers up its own failings in the shift to clean energy.

The post The shocking regulatory and cultural fail in Australia’s energy transition appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Labor's 50% renewables target is an excellent electricity transformation policy, but it's only a one-third reduction in carbon output from today’s level.

The post Labor’s emissions reduction policy: Does it really add up? appeared first on RenewEconomy.