VEN – Good News on Climate Action – Blog
How can we finance a fair energy transition in Africa?
by Michael Dioha, Ph.D. in Project Drawdown JUNE 5, 2025 Africa is home to nearly one-fifth of the world’s population, but accounts for less than 4% of global greenhouse gas emissions. It is a continent of paradoxes: rich in renewable energy resources but plagued by energy poverty; endowed with critical minerals but facing capital flight; courted as a…
Read MoreHousing crisis fix should involve wood – the ‘ultimate renewable’
Two key issues seem to be dominating the headlines; not only is Australia in the midst of a severe housing shortfall, but the crisis is also taking place against a backdrop of climate-change catastrophe. Sponsored by Forest and Wood Products Australia By Joanne Brookfield in The Age June 5, 2025 — 10.35am So, when we’re building these…
Read MoreIn the middle of a trade war, this is one tariff the world really needs, and Australia should take the lead
Tim Buckley, Annemarie Jonson & Matt Pollard Jun 5, 2025 In Renew Economy In a significant development this week, newly re-elected Federal Energy Minister Chris Bowen flagged that Australia is considering imposing a carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) – a carbon tariff. He suggested that they could be introduced this term on imports such as cement, lime…
Read MoreEnergy Transition accelerating around the world
JUNE 02, 2025 Greece is turning its back on coal and replacing it with solar and wind Hannah RitchiePablo Rosado in Our World in Data To tackle climate change, the world must transition away from fossil fuels and towards low-carbon power sources. Greece is almost there when it comes to coal. Coal became the dominant…
Read MoreAustralia would have UNESCO world heritage listing for ancient WA rock site if emissions of nitrous oxide and sulfur oxide from local industry – including from Woodside’s gas processing facility – were “fully addressed”.
Australia to lobby Unesco over barring of ancient rock site from world heritage list due to Woodside emissions Site is home to more than a million petroglyphs, some almost 50,000 years old, but reports say it has been damaged by the Karratha gas plant Graham Readfearn Tue 3 Jun 2025 in The Guardian The Albanese government…
Read MoreGreat Barrier reef has survived major sea level rise before.
Original title: Will surging sea levels kill the Great Barrier Reef? Ancient coral fossils may hold the answer Published: June 2, 2025 In The Conversation Authors Disclosure statement Jody Webster receives funding from the Australian Research Council and ANZIC IODP. Juan Carlos Braga receives funding from the Australian Research Council and Spanish Government. Marc Humblet receives…
Read MoreAlbanese to tackle Gas Cartel, could it finally be true?
or, too good to be true… by Michael West | Jun 2, 2025 | What’s the scam? 2 MINUTE AUDIO FILE ON MICHAEL WEST MEDIA After 15 years of being lied to and cheated on the government is moving to tackle the Gas Cartel and is toying with the idea of a domestic gas reservation policy. What’s the scam? Don’t…
Read MoreWithout public trust, effective climate policy is impossible
Case study: Societal reasons why CCS (carbon storage and capture) is failing as a carbon management strategy. Date: May 27, 2025 Source: Radboud University Nijmegen Summary: When formulating climate policy, too little attention is paid to social factors and too much to technological breakthroughs and economic reasons. Because citizens are hardly heard in this process,…
Read MoreInvestment in big batteries booms as Australia’s energy transition gathers pace
‘The target is ambitious, but it’s achievable,’ expert says of Labor’s 2030 renewables goal Petra Stock Thu 29 May 2025 in the Guardian Investment in big batteries hit $2.4bn in the first three months of 2025, making it the second strongest quarter for energy storage on record in Australia. The latest data from the Clean Energy Council…
Read MoreNational Climate Disaster Fund: a solution not just for the uninsurable
Betting the house: Australia’s uninsured and underinsured households and the climate crisis 27 MAY 2025 Jack Thrower The Australia Institute Home insurance Climate change Extreme weather events Climate risk Households Australia RESOURCES Betting the house: Australia’s uninsured and underinsured households and the climate crisis 493.12 KB DESCRIPTION This paper analyses rates of underinsurance and uninsurance in Australia at a time…
Read MoreNorges, world’s largest sovereign wealth fund, de-risks by pivoting investments from fossil fuels to renewables.
Commentary and Report ESG Is Dead. The $1.6 Trillion Fund Just Proved It. What Norges Bank’s Latest Report Really Reveals, and Why It Changes Everything “They aren’t debating the science. They’re selecting the survivors.” MATT ROSS on LinkedIn and Substack JUN 01, 2025 Why I’m Writing This I’ve spent years in the shadows of finance…
Read MoreClearly cool: A transparent paper-based material could replace single-use plastics
The millimeter-thick paperboard behaves just like plastic; it’s strong, transparent, shapeable—and can hold boiling water. But it degrades within a year on the ocean floor. By Anthropocene Team April 16, 2025 Close to 2 million metric tons of plastic enters the oceans every year from beaches and waterways, according to The Ocean Cleanup Project. Much of that plastic is single-use beverage…
Read MoreAustralia could replace carbon-intensive coal and gas exports with green iron and quadruple earnings, a report says, but only if it makes changes.
Australia urged to spend big while green iron is hot Jennifer Dudley-Nicholson AAP in InDailySA May 26, 2025 Hydrogen and Green Steel production : produced using renewable energy resources rather than coal or gas. https://e9a474fd0dc6ff902be0d6938e923219.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-45/html/container.html Australia has a unique opportunity to trade its dirty coal and gas industry for cleaner green iron market and make four…
Read MoreLiberals conscious of importance of climate action to electorate
Original title: A senior Liberal says net zero should be reconsidered following the election wipe-out Senior Liberal frontbenchers are blaming a number of reasons for Anthony Albanese and his Labor government smashing them at the May 3 election. Hannah Wilcox in abc news May 26, 2025 A senior Liberal is calling for the party to…
Read More1 tonne food waste recycled = 1 tonne carbon emission reduction
What if we turned the food waste problem on its head—and made it a climate solution? A new study finds that each tonne of food waste recycled, with existing technologies, would reduce carbon emissions by roughly a corresponding tonne. By Emma Bryce in Anthropocene April 11, 2025 One-third of all food produced for humans annually is…
Read MoreThe unusual inspiration for this energy-free cooling system is elephant skin
Mimicking the heat-regulating ability of an elephant’s skin, the bumpy fungus-based tiles improved cooling rates by as much as 70% compared to flat tiles. By Anthropocene Team April 10, 2025 Wrinkles on elephants make the gentle beasts look wise. But they also serve an important purpose: the crevices and the porous skin hold water and help…
Read MoreMajor reforms ease grid access for big wind, solar and batteries, and lay down rules for big data centres
Grid connections for major renewable and storage projects are about to get cheaper and easier, after the biggest overhaul of how energy projects hook into the National Energy Market (NEM) since 2018. Rachel Williamson May 22, 2025 POLICY & PLANNING in Renew Economy Connection rules are the highly technical standards that stipulate who can connect,…
Read MoreA more equitable ‘Rego Fee’ is the tool to share costs to society
Original title: Drivers of SUVs and pick-ups should pay more to be on our roads. Here’s how to make the system fairer Published: May 22, 2025 in The Conversation Author Disclosure statement Milad Haghani does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and…
Read MoreA message from the president of Palau: how Australia can help it’s Pacific neigbours
We bear the brunt of the climate crisis. A Pacific COP could help shape the global response Surangel Whipps Jr Australia should also make moves to address the climate impact of its fossil fuel production and exports Thu 22 May 2025 in the Guardian Watching from the western Pacific, we saw many describe Australia’s recent…
Read MoreMarket Forces educates shareholders to hold Macquarie Group to account on net zero
Shareholders drag Macquarie over coals on net zero
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