16/05/2021

(AU SMH) Blowing In The Wind: Have We Missed Our Chance To Become A Renewables Superpower?

Sydney Morning Herald - Nicky Ison

Author
Nicky Ison is the energy transition manager at WWF-Australia.
As the world acts on climate change and transitions to renewable energy, Australia has a once-in-a-century opportunity.

Rich in renewable resources, we are in pole position to become a renewable energy superpower.

But based on Tuesday’s federal budget, when compared to the investment other countries are making, we risk being left behind.

Photovoltaic modules at a solar farm on the outskirts of Gunnedah. Credit: Bloomberg
The federal government has long pledged that technology, not taxes, will put Australia on the path to net zero emissions.

The good news is we have the technology we need to decarbonise, from solar panels (which Aussies helped to invent) and wind turbines to batteries and electric vehicles, which require critical minerals that Australia has in abundance.

What is needed is government support to accelerate the deployment of these technologies. Yet, such support was notably absent from the 2021 budget.

If the 2020 budget could be characterised as having pro-renewables investments exceeding $1 billion announced under the guise of pro-gas rhetoric, Tuesday’s budget doubled down on gas not just in rhetoric but in over half-a-billion dollars in funding commitments.

Given we have more leeway in this year’s budget to invest in the country’s future as we seek to rebuild post-pandemic, it is a missed opportunity to put Australia on the path to become a renewable superpower.

President Joe Biden signs an executive order on climate change earlier this year. Credit: AP
It is also somewhat baffling given the events of the past 12 months; increasing severity of extreme weather events and our 2019-20 bushfire season signalling what we face if climate change goes unchecked, COVID-19 creating an urgent need to shore up jobs, and the election of Joe Biden presaging the most ambitious pro-climate commitments of any developed country.

The new Biden administration has tabled its American Jobs Plan (also known as the Infrastructure Plan), which sets a new bar. It represents an investment of around 5.65 per cent of America’s GDP in clean recovery stimulus measures.

Other leading countries are committing between 1-2 per cent of GDP over the next decade. Meanwhile, Australia’s current pledges equate to a mere 0.14 per cent of GDP.

There are some positive steps. Investments in hydrogen generation – provided it is powered by renewables – and green steel are much needed to decarbonise our energy-intensive heavy industries. And funding to support Australian businesses with the uptake of more energy efficient industrial equipment and business practices is welcome.

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But the comparative lack of investment will not serve Australia well in the long-term. Indeed, the consequences of inaction may be felt sooner than we think.

Not only will we miss out on new jobs and economic windfalls, we also risk exposing Australian exports to corrective measures by more climate-minded trading partners as they seek to level the playing field.

The European Parliament voted in favour of such a levy earlier this year, with its Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism.

This would see tariffs imposed on the emissions involved in the production and shipping of goods being traded. The US, Japan and Korea are considering similar measures.

There are signs, however, that the tide is turning in Australia. WWF-Australia recently released its Renewable Superpower Scorecard, which presents a snapshot of how states, territories and the federal government are performing in the race to become a renewable superpower.

ACT and Victoria are pledging investments more akin to leading countries, as a proportion of their GDP. South Australia and Tasmania are thinking beyond “100 per cent” renewables, recognising the opportunity to export.

And projects like Sonnen’s battery assembly plant in South Australia and the Kidston solar and pumped hydro project in Queensland show what is possible when political foresight and investment align.

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But the states should not have to do the heavy lifting on renewables without adequate federal investment and leadership, for it slows our nation’s stride.

Just imagine how fast we could move, and what we could achieve as a nation if our federal government stepped up and led from the front on this critical agenda.

As global action on climate change gathers pace, the UN Climate Change Conference in November is a notable milestone. It is a point at which Australia will be judged by our international allies and trading partners.

We have a five-month window to act and secure our place at the leaders’ table. The alternative is we squander the economic opportunity of a century.

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(UK BBC) COP26: Alok Sharma Urges Nations To Banish Coal

BBC - Roger Harrabin

Former UK Business Secretary Alok Sharma was made full-time president of COP26 in January. PA Media
The head of a vital UN climate summit due to be held in Glasgow in November says his personal priority is to banish coal.

Speaking ahead of the COP26 conference, Alok Sharma will urge nations to abandon coal power generation, with rich countries leading the way.

He will add that wealthy nations must help poorer ones make the same change.

And he will tell banks and institutions to stop lending money to countries to build coal power stations.

In his speech, the former business Secretary will say: "The days of coal providing the cheapest form of power are in the past. And in the past they must remain.

“The coal business is, as the UN secretary general [António Guterres] has said, going up in smoke. It’s old technology.

“So let’s make COP26 the moment we leave it in the past where it belongs, while supporting workers and communities to make the transition and creating good 'green' jobs to fill the gap.”

His apparent passion explains why he was reportedly "apoplectic" when Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick allowed plans for a new coal mine in Cumbria – a decision that’s now gone to a planning review.

Mr Sharma is set to re-iterate the UK’s main themes for the summit, which will bring together climate negotiators from 196 countries, the EU, as well as businesses, organisations, experts and world leaders.

They are: limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees; helping people and nature adapt to climate warming that will inevitably happen; and drumming up finance for poorer nations to get clean technology.

He will be supported by government ministers who will be taking part in climate-related visits throughout Friday to show how the UK is attempting to "green" all parts of society - from hospitals and prisons, to jobs and transport.

'Pick the planet'

Mr Sharma will say: "I have faith that world leaders will rise to the occasion and not be found wanting in their tryst with destiny."

And he will invoke a message from his children: "In preparing for this speech, I asked my daughters what message I should give to world leaders about their priorities. Their response was simple: 'Please, tell them to pick the planet.'"

He and the summit face enormous challenges.

More and more nations are signing up for ambitious climate targets but many of them - including the UK - are falling behind on existing targets.

The UK is criticised by environmentalists for failing to curb emissions from its housing stock, and for planning a £27bn road programme that will increase emissions.

Last week came a slightly hopeful analysis from the think tank Climate Action Tracker following US President Joe Biden’s virtual climate summit.

It estimated that newly agreed targets have reduced projected warming by the end of century by 0.2C.

The forecast increase now stands at 2.4C - a small improvement, but still higher than the 1.5C threshold nations are aiming for under the 2015 Paris climate agreement.

And that’s assuming that nations actually keep their promises - and that Covid doesn't wreck the summit.

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(The Guardian) Third Of Global Food Production At Risk From Climate Crisis

The Guardian - 

Food-growing areas will see drastic changes to rainfall and temperatures if global heating continues at current rate

A farmer attempts to cultivate maize in a drought-stricken field in northern Ghana, West Africa. Photograph: Alamy

A third of global food production will be at risk by the end of the century if greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise at their current rate, new research suggests.

Many of the world’s most important food-growing areas will see temperatures increase and rainfall patterns alter drastically if temperatures rise by about 3.7C, the forecast increase if emissions stay high.

Researchers at Aalto University in Finland have calculated that about 95% of current crop production takes place in areas they define as “safe climatic space”, or conditions where temperature, rainfall and aridity fall within certain bounds.

If temperatures were to rise by 3.7C or thereabouts by the century’s end, that safe area would shrink drastically, mostly affecting south and south-eastern Asia and Africa’s Sudano-Sahelian zone, according to a paper published in the journal One Earth on Friday.

However, if greenhouse gases are reduced and the world meets the goals of the Paris agreement, in limiting temperature rises to 1.5C or 2C above pre-industrial levels, then only about 5%–8% of global food production would be at risk.

Matti Kummu, an associate professor of global food and water at Aalto University and lead author of the paper, said: “A third of global food production will be at risk. We should be worried, as the climate safe space is quite narrow.

"But there are measures we can take in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. And we should empower people and societies in the danger zones, to reduce the impact and increase their resilience and adaptive capacity.”
Although rising temperatures could increase food production in some areas that are currently less productive, such as the Nordic regions, that would not be anywhere near enough to offset the loss of important food producing regions in the south, said Kummu.

“There will be winners as well as losers, but the wins will be outweighed by the losses, and there is just not enough space for food production to move – we are already at the limits,” he said.

Livestock farming would be affected, as well as the risks to crop production, he said, and many areas were likely to suffer large increases in water scarcity. The researchers examined the impacts of climatic changes on 27 of the most important food crops and seven types of livestock.

By the end of this century, in a high-emissions scenario, there could be as much as 1.5m sq miles (4m sq km) of new desert around the world, the research found.

Under 1.5C to 2C of warming, the boreal forests of northern America, Russia and Europe would shrink from their current 7m sq miles to about 6m sq miles by 2100. In a high emissions scenario, only 3m sq miles would remain, the researchers forecast.

The paper adds to previous research that has found that global heating is already having an impact on agricultural productivity.

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