Lethal Heating: 09/13/18

13/09/2018

Transport Emissions Continue To Rise As Australia Lags Behind Other Nations

The Guardian - Luke Henriques-Gomes

Exclusive: inaction on pollution standards leads to 63% rise in transport-related carbon emissions since 1990, report finds

Rush hour traffic in Melbourne. Australia ranks behind Russia and Mexico in green transport efficiency due to policy inaction, a new report has found. Photograph: Scott Barbour/Getty Images

Australia is lagging behind other developed nations in the race to curb greenhouse gas emissions from transport, according to a new report.
The report from the Climate Council, due to be released on Thursday, finds that Australia’s transport-related emissions have continued to rise because of policy inaction.
The nation’s move to electric vehicles has been hampered by a lack of incentives and a lack of mandatory pollution standards for vehicles, which have been implemented in almost all other OECD countries.
“We’ve been having a big national debate about electricity sector emissions,” said senior climate and energy solutions analyst Petra Stock, “but [we] really wanted to draw attention to the growing problem of greenhouse gas pollution from the transport sector.”
Calling for the government to implement a climate and transport policy plan, the report said Australia ranked behind Russia, Mexico and Indonesia on transport efficiency due to high polluting cars, high car use, a low share of trips taken by public transport, and low capital spending on public transport compared to roads.
Transport is the nation’s second largest source of greenhouse gas pollution after electricity, the report says. Transport-related greenhouse gas pollution levels increased by 3.4% in the 12 months to December 2017. Since 1990, they have increased by 62.9%, a higher rate than any other sector.
“Australia’s transport emissions or transport greenhouse gas pollution levels have been steadily rising and are projected to continue going up,” the report said.
“Factors such as population growth have led to a higher number of cars on the road, while increased demand for freight is also driving up truck emissions.”
Other findings included that:

Nearly 87% of Australian commuters travel to work by car
Transport makes up 18% of all greenhouse gas pollution in Australia (electricity is the largest source at 33%)
Road-based transport pollution contributes to a greater proportion of emissions in Australian than the global average
Domestic air travel alone makes up 9% of Australian transport emissions

Energy policy paralysis continues in Canberra, exacerbated by the Morrison government’s decision to ditch the national energy guarantee.
Since 2015, the government has been consulting on mandatory fuel emissions standards, which have been in place for at least a decade in the US, Japan and China.
The report said if strict standards were introduced, Australia could prevent up to the equivalent of 65m tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions by 2030.
“This is equivalent to the annual emissions from seven Liddell power stations. Urgency is key. Mandatory emissions standards have wider benefits, reducing fuel bills for car owners, saving an estimated $8,500 over a vehicle’s lifetime.”
The report said Australian cars pollute more per kilometre than other comparable countries. The lack of mandatory emissions standards was a factor, but so was vehicle size and the purchasing decisions made by individuals, business and government fleet buyers.
Stock said the government had already done the work required to “put these greenhouse gas emissions standards in place for vehicles and bring Australia in line with 80% of the global car market”.
“But we need to do it as soon as possible because these standards work as people replace their cars over time,” she said.
“It takes time for these standards to drive down emissions in the transport sector. So the sooner they are in place, the greater effect they will have on transport pollution.”
The report said the adoption of electric vehicles in Australia had been held back by “the lack of policy support or incentives, higher upfront cost, limited choice of available electric vehicles for sale in Australia, and the availability of public vehicle charging infrastructure”.
In New Zealand, which has a target of 64,000 electric vehicles on the road by 2021, there were 3,659 new electric cars sold in 2017, compared with only 2,284 in Australia, the report said.
It also calls on the government to focus on improving public transport, cycling and walking infrastructure, praising initiatives such as Melbourne’s move to a solar power tram network.

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Climate Change Driving Up Malnutrition Rates In Pacific, UN Warns

The Guardian - Ben Doherty

Climate-sensitive region the only in the world where rate of undernourishment has risen over the past 12 years

Vanuatu’s capital Port Villa after Cyclone Pam in 2015. Pacific islands’ food production is heavily susceptible to climate extremes. Photograph: Tom Perry/AFP/Getty Images

Climate change is making people hungry – with nearly 100 million people across the world needing humanitarian food aid because of climate shocks last year – and a growing number of people are malnourished across the Pacific, a new United Nations report says.
Last week, the Pacific Islands Forum stated formally that climate change represented the “single greatest threat to the livelihoods, security and wellbeing of the peoples of the Pacific” – a declaration Australia ultimately signed but had spent much of the forum attempting to undermine.
Worldwide, the number of undernourished people has been rising since 2014, reaching 821 million last year – or one in nine people across the globe – the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation’s State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report found.
The number of hungry people globally has returned to levels of nearly a decade ago, and nearly one in four (22.2%) children aged under five are stunted through malnutrition.
Low- and middle-income countries were especially acutely affected by more frequent climate extremes and natural disasters. Africa remains the region where malnourishment is most common at 20.4% of the population. But “Oceania” – broadly synonymous with the Pacific region but excluding Australia and New Zealand – is the only region in the world where the rate of undernourishment has increased over the past 12 years, to 7%.

Nutrition in Pacific countries is very sensitive to climate extremes.
Worldwide, five of the 15 countries considered the most vulnerable to natural hazards are Pacific small island developing states. Vanuatu is ranked as the world’s most vulnerable.
Recurring climate shocks such as drought, delayed monsoons, tropical cyclones and floods – and with insufficient recovery time between disasters – have undermined food security across the Pacific, increased dependence on food aid, and weakened the nutrition of those who live there.
“In some Pacific small island developing states (Sids), the recurrence of climate shocks that impact on national/local food production, coupled with insufficient recovery time, undermines food security and nutrition in the longer term,” the FAO report said.
“This is seen in reduced agricultural and fisheries productivity, increased reliance on short-term humanitarian food assistance, gradual erosion of traditional food systems and intensified permanent shifts away from diversified, healthy traditional diets to greater exposure to imported processed foods often high in salt, sugar and fat.”

Fighting the causes of climate change are crucial in the global effort to reduce hunger
Oxfam's Simon Bradshaw

In 2015 Vanuatu was devastated by the category 5 Cyclone Pam, which destroyed reefs, fishing boats and food crops. This was followed by a severe El-Niño-induced drought that further exacerbated food insecurity and led to widespread water scarcity.
A teacher on Emae Island, in Vanuatu’s Shepherd Islands, said the cyclone harmed food availability, water security and education for months afterwards.
“After Cyclone Pam, the water that belongs to you and me was not very good,” the teacher said. “I had to stop class sometimes – half days – and then we’d eat all together. Sometimes we tell the children not to come to school tomorrow because we don’t have enough food.”
In Timor-Leste households affected by drought limit the amount of food they eat, by limiting their portions, reducing the number of meals they eat each day, or selling household assets for food.
And in Papua New Guinea, 45% of children are stunted by malnutrition, and more than 15% are wasted, one of the highest rates in the world.
Oxfam Australia’s food, climate and humanitarian spokesman, Dr Simon Bradshaw, said the UN report found climate extremes “left 94.9 million people having to rely on humanitarian aid to feed themselves”.
“A hot world is a hungry world,” he said. “The cost of failing to act on climate change is being measured in devastating food crises, and more and more people going undernourished.”
Bradshaw said Australia’s failure to curb its climate pollution was contributing to increasing global hunger “and inflicting pain and hardship on the world’s most vulnerable communities”.
“Resolving conflict and war, tackling the drivers of inequality and poverty, and fighting the causes of climate change are crucial in the global effort to reduce hunger – and Australia has a role to play in each of these areas.”

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Climate Change Is Everyone's Problem. Women Are Ready To Solve It

Fortune magazine - Anne Finucane | Anne Hidalgo

A protester marching against climate change in Paris. NurPhoto via Getty Images

Imagine a world with affordable, clean energy, sustainable cities and communities, and decent work and economic growth for all. That is the world the United Nations imagined when it defined the 17 Global Goals for Sustainable Development with “the desire to create a future where there is no poverty, the planet is protected, and all the people enjoy peace and prosperity.”But the reality is, that world can’t exist without the equal participation, and leadership, of women—as business and political leaders, investors, and contributors to the global economy.
Just look at recent events. Women leaders offer some of our greatest hope for meaningful change across many sectors of society. Yet we are still deeply underrepresented at the highest levels of business and government. Without women at the table we are hampering our ability to create sustainable cities that drive positive global change.
Women are more inclined to take a broader, more long-term view and are more willing to engage with difficult issues that have an everyday impact not only on a company’s bottom line but across our society as a whole. Companies with women on their boards are more likely to invest in renewable power generation, low-carbon products, and energy efficiency, while women in the U.S. House of Representatives have consistently outvoted their male colleagues in favor of environmental protections every single year for a decade.
Individual investors are also playing a growing role in these efforts—with women leading the charge. Women, who control $11.2 trillion of today’s investable assets, are having a profound impact on how businesses view their role in the world, encouraging them not just to grow, but to do so responsibly. In a recent survey, 65% of women versus 42% of men say that companies’ treatment of the environment, their employees and their communities are important factors in making investment decisions.

Climate change hits women hardest
As women leaders—one in government and one in business—we have witnessed and appreciate what women leaders globally have been willing to take on.
Women leaders should be at the table not only because of their effectiveness at addressing entrenched problems like climate change and sustainable urban infrastructure, but because these issues disproportionately affect them. This is why C40 Cities, the network of the 96 world’s greatest cities of the world committed to taking bold climate action, decided to launch the Women4Climate initiative, which aims to empower 500 young women by the end of 2020—as we are convinced that the 21st century is the century of women leadership.
The Women4Climate initiative is a critical project because women, particularly in less developed countries, are more vulnerable to climate change disasters. For example, 90% of the people killed in the 1991 Bangladesh cyclone were women; 65% of those who died during the 2003 heat waves in France were women; and in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, women were significantly less likely than men to maintain their pre-hurricane employment.
It’s time to reinvent our cities and achieve our sustainability goals holistically. Governments and policymakers are crucial to urban development initiatives, including improving public transportation systems and building more sustainable infrastructure. But through the work done by the Financing Sustainable Cities Initiative—a joint project of C40 Cities and the WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities—we also understand that transforming our cities will require substantial investment across a number of funding sources.
That’s one reason why Bank of America is committed to deploying $125 billion in capital toward low carbon and sustainable business by 2025. As part of these efforts, we pioneered the green bond market, helping, among others, cities around the world strengthen their infrastructure by unlocking private capital to support energy efficiency and other green projects. We are also working with other financial partners as part of our Catalytic Finance Initiative—to help decrease investment risk and deliver $10 billion in capital to high-impact clean energy projects.
Strengthening our cities will require collaboration across all sectors to implement forward-thinking solutions and connect capital to innovative solutions that provide both a social and business return. Women must be an integral part of this work to create a more resilient, sustainable future for cities of all shapes and sizes.

TIME's Juxstin Worland sits down with Scott Pruitt.

*Anne Hidalgo is the mayor of Paris and the chair of C40 Cities, an alliance of cities devoted to addressing climate change.
*Anne Finucane is the vice chairman of Bank of America.

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Google Searches Reveal Where People Are Most Concerned About Climate Change

The Conversation - Carla Archibald | Nathalie Butt

A handy source of information about questions big and small. TheDigitalWay/pixabay, CC BY

What do you do if you have a question? You probably Google it.
According to Google Trends, in 2017 Australians were keen to know about tennis, Sophie Monk, fidget spinners and Bitcoin. But besides these arguably trivial queries, our Google searches also revealed our concerns about extreme weather events such as Cyclone Debbie, Hurricane Irma, and the Bali volcano.
Our research, published in the journal Climatic Change, suggests that Google search histories can be used as a “barometer of social awareness” to measure communities’ awareness of climate change, and their ability to adapt to it.
We found that Fiji, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu share the highest levels of climate change awareness, according to their Google searches – as might be expected of island nations where climate change is a pressing reality. Australia is close behind, with a high level of public knowledge about climate change, despite the current lack of political action.
Google searches are like a window into the questions and concerns that are playing on society’s collective mind. Search histories have been used to alert epidemiologists to ‘flu outbreaks (albeit with varying success) and to gauge how communities may respond to extreme weather events like hurricanes.

Googling for the climate. search-engine-land/flickr

LARGE IMAGE

Talk of climate change action like “adaptation” often centres on well-known and at-risk places such as the Pacific Islands. As sea level rises, communities are forced to adapt by building sea walls or, in extreme cases, relocate.
Understanding how conscious communities are of the impacts of climate change is crucial to determining how willing they may be to adapt. So finding a way to rapidly gauge public awareness of climate change could help deliver funding and resources to areas that not only need it the most, but are also willing to take the action required.
In our research, we used Google search histories to measure the climate change awareness in different communities, and to show how awareness maps (like the one below) can help better target funding and resources.

OK Google, do I need to worry about the climate?
Google is asked more than 3.6 billion questions every day, some of which are about climate change. We looked at how many climate-related Google searches were made in 150 different countries, and ranked these countries from most to least aware of climate change.
Countries such as Fiji and Canada, which reported high rates of climate change Googling, were considered as having a high awareness of climate change.

World map of climate change awareness based on the relative volume of climate change related searches, and climate change vulnerability. Colours show the relationship between awareness and vulnerability: yellow.

LARGE IMAGE

We then divided countries into categories based on their climate awareness, their wealth, and their risk of climate change impacts (based on factors such as temperature, rainfall, and population density). All of these variables can influence communities’ ability to adapt to climate change.
This is a quick way to gauge how ready communities are to adapt to climate change, especially at a large global scale. For example, two countries in the “high awareness, high risk” category are Australia and the Solomon Islands, yet these two nations differ greatly in their financial resources. Australia has a large economy and should therefore be financing its own climate adaptation, whereas the Solomon Islands would be a candidate for international climate aid funding.

Destruction of Townsville, Australia after Tropical Cyclone Yasi. Rob and Stephanie Levy/flickr

By looking at countries’ specific situations – not only in terms of their relative wealth but also their degree of public engagement with climate issues – we can not only improve the strategic delivery of climate change adaptation funding, but can also help to determine what type of approach may be best.

Challenges and opportunities
Of course, there are plenty of other ways to assess climate preparedness besides Google searches. What’s more, internet access is limited in many countries, which means Google search histories may be skewed towards the concerns of that country’s more affluent or urbanised citizens.
Climate change awareness has previously been measured using surveys and interviews. This approach provides plenty of detail, but is also painstaking and resource-intensive. Our big-data method may therefore be more helpful in making rapid, large-scale decisions about where and when to deliver climate adaptation funding.
Google search histories also don’t tell us about governments’ policy positions on climate issues. This is a notable concern in Australia, which has a high degree of public climate awareness, at least judging by Google searches, but also a history of political decisions that fail to deliver climate action.
Amid the political impasse in much of the world, big data can help reveal how society feels about environmental issues at a grassroots level. This approach also provides an opportunity to link with other big data projects, such as Google’s new Environmental Insights Explorer and Data Set Search.
The untapped potential of big data to help shape policy in the future could provide hope for communities that are threatened by climate change.

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Adani Groundwater Bores Investigated Amid Claims They Were Sunk Without Approval

ABC News - Mark Willacy

Adani says it is abiding by the Carmichael project's conditions, as an investigation is launched by a state department. (ABC News)

Key points

Adani told the ABC it was abiding by the conditions of the Carmichael project's approvals
Conservationists have repeatedly warned that the company's dewatering plans would see groundwater levels plummet
The Queensland Environmental Department said the bores were not in place in time for a recent site inspection

The Queensland environment department has launched an investigation into a series of groundwater bores drilled by Indian miner Adani, which conservationists say were sunk without approval.
The environmental group Coast and Country has obtained high resolution satellite and drone imagery which it says shows the "illegal" works at the site of Adani's controversial Carmichael coal mine project in north Queensland.
"Adani have sunk six dewatering bores," said the group's Derec Davies.

"They've needed approval, a groundwater approval, for these bores. They don't have that.

"They've drilled into Great Artesian Basin aquifers, they've put at risk our groundwater particularly at a time when half the country's in drought."
Dewatering bores are used in mining operations to depressurise the coal seam and to lower groundwater levels for open cut and underground operations.
The company has told the ABC that it is abiding by the conditions of the Carmichael project's approvals.

Planning Australia's biggest mine

Step through the key events in the planning of Australia's biggest mining project, the Carmichael coal mine in remote central Queensland.

"Drilling has been undertaken at the Carmichael mine site to take geological samples and monitor underground water levels," said an Adani spokeswoman.
"This is project stage one activity as permitted under Environmental Authority for the mine, which was issued in April 2016."
An Adani spokeswoman also said the company had "not been notified of an investigation."
"Like all resources companies, we have ongoing dialogue with regulators about our operations and regularly submit information to them as required under our various approvals."
Asked a series of detailed questions about the bores, the environment department said the "bores were recently drilled and were not in place at the time of a recent inspection of the site" by departmental staff.
"The department is now investigating the location and purpose of these bores," a spokesman for the department said.
Conservationists have repeatedly warned that Adani's dewatering plans will see groundwater levels plummet, threatening the nearby Doongmabulla Springs, which are recognised as a nationally important wetland.

Conservationists fear unapproved mining activity may affect the Doongmabulla Springs. (Lock the Gate: Tom Jefferson)

"It's very concerning that Adani has apparently started work without confirming through the Groundwater Dependent Ecosystem Management Plan that the aquifer feeding these springs is not going to be disturbed by the mining," said Jo Bragg from Queensland's Environmental Defenders Office, which is acting for Coast and Country.
In a statement to the ABC, the environment department said that "the EA for Carmichael Coal Mine states that Project Stage 2 activities cannot commence until [the department] approves the Black-Throated Finch Management Plan (BTFMP) and the Groundwater Dependent Ecosystem Management Plan (GDEMP)."

The safety of the black-throated finch population is also a concern for conservationists. (Supplied: Eric Vanderduys)

"Adani Mining Pty Ltd is required to identify the source of the Doongmabulla Springs complex prior to the approval of the GDEMP."
Adani has lodged a draft GDEMP but it is yet to be accepted by the Queensland Government.
The drilling of dewatering bores is classified as a "Stage 2" activity under Adani's Environmental Authority (EA).
Mr Davies claims drone footage showed that Adani had performed other "Stage 2" work in contravention of its EA, such as building access roads and clearing trees and other vegetation for the construction of the six bores.

"Through aerial imagery, we can see that Adani have cleared vegetation, put in roads, put in permanent infrastructure to impact our groundwater at a time of great drought and climate change. Adani have put at risk the sensitive, one-million-year-old springs by doing this illegal activity."

Ms Bragg alleges the bores were drilled before Adani lodged its first Annual Return in March this year to Queensland's department of environment and science.

"The annual return lodged by Adani does in fact say that they've done zero works relating to the site. The persuasive evidence unearthed by our clients is that that this is not true, that in fact project Stage 2 works have commenced including dewatering, including site clearance, including roadworks."

Last week the Queensland Government announced it would prosecute Abbot Point Bulkcoal, owned by Adani, over the alleged release of coal-laden water near the Great Barrier Reef last year.

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Climate Poll Shows Morrison Politically Vulnerable As More Voters Back Action

The Guardian - Katharine Murphy

Number of Australians concerned about impact of climate change and wanting coal phased out rises

More than half of a survey of 1,756 voters believes Scott Morrison’s government needs to stay in the Paris agreement. Photograph: Dave Hunt/AAP

A growing number of Australians are concerned about the impact of climate change, and more than half of a survey of 1,756 voters believe the Morrison government needs to stay in the Paris agreement, despite Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw the US.
A study tracking voter sentiment for more than a decade, funded first by the Climate Institute and now by the Australia Institute, finds 73% (up from 66% in 2017) of respondents concerned about climate change, and a clear majority, 68%, believes the government should set domestic targets to comply with our Paris commitments.
An increased 67% want coal-fired power to be phased out within 20 years, up from 61% in 2017.
The findings suggest the Morrison government is politically vulnerable on climate change at the next federal election. The prime minister has declared Australia will not pull out of Paris but also abandoned the national energy guarantee that imposed an emissions reduction target on the electricity sector.
The former prime minister Tony Abbott on Tuesday reignited his push to scrap subsidies for renewable energy, taking on the new energy minister, Angus Taylor, at his first meeting of the government’s backbench energy and environment committee.

Another outspoken conservative, Craig Kelly, also asked how he was meant to respond to questions about the government’s commitment to staying in the Paris climate agreement when it was completely unclear how the Paris commitments would be met.
With a drought crippling swathes of regional Australia, a majority of voters (67%) in the bush believe the government is not doing enough to prepare for or adapt to the impacts of global warming. This compares to 56% of capital city residents.
There has also been a shift in the attitudes of people voting for the National party and for One Nation. While those voters are still more likely than others to think the impact of climate change is being exaggerated, the number of people agreeing with that statement has dropped to 20%, down from 32% in 2017, for Nationals voters, and to 22%, down from 28%, for One Nation voters.
With the Bureau of Meteorology predicting that southern and south-eastern parts of the country could face an early summer heatwave after experiencing the 12th driest winter on record, public concern is escalating about heatwaves and water shortages.
When asked about the specific impacts of climate change, the top three issues Australians expressed concern about were droughts (78%, up four points in a year), the destruction of the Great Barrier Reef (77%, up four points) and bushfires (76%, up five points).
More than half the sample, 53%, think governments are not doing enough to deal with climate change threats – a perception reinforced by a decade of partisan warfare on the issue.
On energy, 55% of the sample blame power companies for high electricity prices, with 52% pointing the finger at privatisation, 41% identifying poor policy making and 29% renewable energy sources.
More than half the sample feels the government should invest in renewable energy generation and storage, with only 7% favouring government investment in coal, oil and gas.
The sample is divided over who should pay the costs of climate action, with 38% saying big polluters, 21% saying taxpayers and 10% saying the people facing climate change impacts.
Ben Oquist, the executive director of the Australia Institute, said: “The public want lower power prices and action on climate change.
“The good news is the economics of renewables means they can have both. The results of the research make clear any party that fails to address both price and emissions will be punished at the ballot box.”
The former Liberal party leader and Australian National University professor John Hewson said the research indicated Australians were prepared to support “far more ambitious climate and energy policies than governments of either persuasion have delivered”.

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