VEN Blog

Figure 1: Predicted probability of policy adoption (dark lines, left axes) by policy disposition; the distribution of preferences (gray columns, right axes) in Gilens M, Page BI. Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens. Perspectives on Politics. 2014;12(3):564-581. doi:10.1017/S1537592714001595 17 April 2014 By What in the world? in BBC news The US […]

Image: from article (also below) Jens Blotevogel Naomi Boxall Remediation Technologies, CSIRO in The Conversation February 7, 2025 Lithium-ion batteries are part of everyday life. They power small rechargeable devices such as mobile phones and laptops. They enable electric vehicles. And larger versions store excess renewable energy for later use, supporting the clean energy transition. […]

By Audrey Courty for Trailblazers ABC news Sun 9 Feb Clancy has been learning from Indigenous communities about caring for country. (Supplied) In short A 23-year-old ecologist known as “The Bee Man” is on a mission to conserve solitary pollinators by building them structures in which they can nest and breed. Clancy’s passion was ignited […]

Queensland’s LNG export industry has been a “pretty poor investment” that has driven up domestic gas prices along the east coast, destroyed demand, threatened shortages and failed to deliver the royalties promised, a new analysis suggests. Royce Kurmelovs Feb 6, 2025 GAS POLICY & PLANNING The state’s LNG sector celebrated the ten-year-anniversary in January 2025 but […]

Figure 3. Mentions of key actors in response to questions about responsibility for environmental challenges, by chatbot. Count data for the number of times a particular word on the y-axis was mentioned in responses to the prompts: who causes <environmental challenge>’, ‘who is most responsible for <environmental challenge>’, and ‘can you be more specific and name […]

Graph: Area‐specific annual apparent survival (ϕ$$ \phi $$) and age‐class distributions. (a) Posterior probability distributions for annual apparent survival (ϕ$$ \phi $$) for the four regions of LVE (Lower Lupande = red, Main Game = Black, North = Blue, Nsefu = Orange) and the Greater Kafue Ecosystem (Green). The red and orange shading show the 90% credible intervals for the Lower Lupande and […]

The Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC), the European Sustainable Investment Forum (Eurosif), and the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), along with 162 investors representing approximately €6.6 trillion assets under management, as well as 49 service providers and other supporting organisations (a total of 211 signatories), call on the European Commission to preserve the […]

Published: February 4, 2025 in The Conversation Vivienne Reiner PhD Candidate, Integrated Sustainability Analysis group, University of Sydney Months out from a federal election, the industry lobby is gearing up in opposition to the Albanese government’s renewable energy targets. In a salvo on Monday, food distributors urged the government to increase fossil fuel production, as […]

Image showing the carbon cost of new clothes from 8billion trees.com By Kellie Scott ABC Lifestyle Topic:Women’s Fashion Thu 23 Jan SEE ARTICLE FOR IMAGE Jo Bartley has tried many different platforms to sell plus-size clothing. (Supplied) Many of us have a bag of clothes stuffed in a corner or rolling around in our car […]

Fig. 1: Schematic sedimentary sulfur cycling and modelled rates of sulfate reduction from Fakhraee and Planavsky. “Enhanced sulfide burial in low-oxygen aquatic environments could offset the carbon footprint of aquaculture production.” Nature Food. 2024. A new study analyzes a potential win-win solution for fish health and carbon capture. The critical ingredient is something you might […]

original title: Should Labour really value its economic ambitions over its environmental duty? by helena Horton in ‘Down to Earth’ Guardian magazine On the face of it, Rachel Reeves and Liz Truss have almost nothing in common. One is the Labour chancellor, the other a hard-right former Tory prime minister most recently seen courting Donald […]

06/02/2025 There’s a taskforce dreaming up radical climate solutions – and you can help Damian Carrington in  Guardian Newsletter Fast, fair funding for critical climate action is desperately needed, and that makes the drive for levies on polluters and the ultrarich perhaps the most exciting climate idea floating around right now. The Global Solidarity Levies […]

The Stone Age didn’t end because the world ran out of stones By Mark Harris in ANthropocene In 1027, legend recounts that King Cnut of England set his throne on the seashore and commanded the incoming tide to halt. His feet still got wet. A thousand years later, America’s president seems to be drawing a […]

Image: The systemic mechanisms driving waste and hindering retailers’ engagement with waste reduction initiatives. From Koskela-Huotari, Kaisa & Svärd, Kristin & Williams, Helén & Trischler, Jakob & Wikström, Fredrik. (2023). Drivers and Hinderers of (Un)Sustainable Service: A Systems View. Journal of Service Research. 27. 1-18. 10.1177/10946705231176071. in abc.net.au by By Isla Evans and Floss Adams […]

Just two days after Donald Trump’s re-election, California lawmakers held a special session to prepare to defend its progressive policies from his administration in The Guardian by Dharna Noor Fri 31 Jan 2025 As the Trump administration rolls back decades-old environmentalprotections and pulls Biden-era incentives for renewable energy, state-level advocates and officials are preparing to […]

Image: a fungal battery from impact lab.com Source: Carolina Reyes et al. 3D Printed Cellulose-Based Fungal Battery. ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, 2024. Using fungi, cellulose, and carbon, researchers 3D printed small batteries, that can be stored dry and later activated with water and simple sugars. By Anthropocene Team January 16, 2025 Anthropocene Researchers have […]

Changing the foods you eat can have a big impact on your carbon footprint. Many of these changes will also be beneficial for your health! For example, shifting to a vegetarian meal one day a week for one year could save the equivalent of driving 1,160 miles. But you don’t have to be fully vegetarian […]

Image: pathfinder project identifying low emission activities to incentivise January 31, 2025 03:30 | Michael West and AAP News From planting carbon-sequestering windbreaks to feeding cows seaweed to stop them burping as much methane, Australia’s green bank wants to make it easier for farmers to cut emissions. The Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) has teamed […]

in The Conversation Marta Yebra Iain Guilliard Nicholas Wilson Robert Mahony Australian National University Picture this. It’s a summer evening in Australia. A dry lightning storm is about to sweep across remote, tinder-dry bushland. The next day is forecast to be hot and windy. A lightning strike tonight could spark a fire that grows into […]

Portland’s aluminium smelter is the largest consumer of electricity in Victoria. (Supplied: Alinta Energy) Federal Labor to pledge $2 billion for ‘green aluminium’ in new election pitch By political reporter Tom Lowrey in abc.net.au Sun 19 Jan SEE ORIGINAL IMAGE IN ARTICLE The Tomago Aluminium plant near Newcastle has announced plans to switch to renewables […]