Lethal Heating: 09/18/21

18/09/2021

(Bloomberg Green) World Watching Australia’s Climate Response, RBA’s Lowe Says

Bloomberg Green - Michael Heath

Philip Lowe Photographer: James Brickwood/AFR/Bloomberg

Australia’s climate change policies are being watched by global investors and policy makers, its central bank chief said, adding it’s important the nation tell a “positive story” in order to avoid a painful economic fallout.

Investors are increasingly applying a climate filter to decisions, and they’re doing that when looking at “financial assets or real assets in the future” in Australia, Reserve Bank Governor Philip Lowe said in response to a question after a speech Tuesday.

Australia, a major fossil fuel exporter and metals miner, has drawn fire from environmentalists for failing to adopt more climate-friendly policies, including a target for net-zero carbon emissions, amid resistance from resource industries.

“It’s important we have a positive story to sell there because if we don’t, and that filter is applied and people don’t like what they see, the cost of capital for Australia will go up, it will be more difficult for firms to raise funds and when they do, they’ll pay more,” he said.

“Australia has some particular advantages here and we need to be in a position where global investors can see those advantages,” Lowe said.

Mining Leader

Australia dominates in the mining of
battery metals like lithium and nickel

Source: Accenture

The RBA noted three months ago that sustainability classifications are being established to provide firms and investors with a climate framework.

These taxonomies could prove “very influential” in financial markets and also impact the cost and availability of financing for Australia’s transition to a lower-carbon economy, it said at the time.

“I get a lot of questions both from other central banks and by investors about climate change, Australia’s preparedness for climate change, how our capital markets are evolving, how government policy is evolving,” Lowe said Tuesday.

Australia, the world’s driest-inhabited continent, was ravaged by wildfires almost two years ago. The months-long blazes, which scientists said were exacerbated by climate change, burnt an area around the size of the U.K., killed 33 people and caused more than A$10 billion ($7.3 billion) of damage.

“There’s a great deal of interest globally in our approach to climate change,” Lowe said.

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(Reuters) Glasgow Climate Summit At Risk Of Failure, U.N. Chief Warns

Reuters - Mary Milliken | Michelle Nichols

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres gestures during an interview with Reuters at the United Nations Headquarters in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., September 15, 2021. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly

UNITED NATIONS - United Nations chief Antonio Guterres said a critical meeting on climate change later this year in Scotland is at risk of failure due to mistrust between developed and developing countries and a lack of ambitious goals among some emerging economies.

The U.N. COP26 conference in Glasgow aims to wring much more ambitious climate action and the money to go with it from participants around the globe. Scientists said last month that global warming is dangerously close to spiralling out of control.

"I believe that we are at risk of not having a success in COP26," Guterres told Reuters in an interview at U.N. headquarters in New York on Wednesday. "There is still a level of mistrust, between north and south, developed and developing countries, that needs to be overcome."

"We are on the verge of the abyss and when you are on the verge of the abyss, you need to be very careful about what the next step is. And the next step is COP26 in Glasgow," he said.

Guterres and Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson will on Monday host a meeting of world leaders on the sidelines of the annual high-level week of the U.N. General Assembly in a bid to build the chances of success at the climate conference, being held from Oct. 31 to Nov. 12.

"My objective and the reason why we are convening a meeting on Monday is exactly to build trust, to allow for everybody to understand that we all need to do more," Guterres said.

"We need the developed countries to do more, namely in relation to the support to developing countries. And we need some emerging economies to go an extra mile and be more ambitious in the reduction of air emissions," he said.

Monday's meeting, which will be both virtual and in-person, will be closed to allow for "frank and open discussions" on how to deliver success in Glasgow, said a senior U.N. official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

U.S., China Need To 'Do Their Part'

The world remains behind in its battle to cut carbon emissions and the pace of climate change has not been slowed by the global COVID-19 pandemic , the World Meteorological Organization said on Thursday.

Scientists said last month that unless big action is taken to cut emissions, the average global temperature is likely to hit or cross the 1.5-degree Celsius (2.7-degrees Fahrenheit) warming threshold within 20 years.

"Until now, I have not seen enough commitment of developed countries to support developing countries ... and to give a meaningful share of that support to the needs of adaptation," said Guterres.

Developing countries tend to be the most vulnerable to costly climate impacts, and the least resourced to deal with them. For years, they have been struggling to secure the funds to help them prepare for climate disruptions that rich nations pledged in 2009 to ramp up to $100 billion annually.

So far, the money that has arrived has focused on emissions reduction rather than adaptation. Of the $78.9 billion in climate finance transferred by rich countries in 2018, only 21% was spent on adaptation, OECD data shows.

When asked whether companies that develop carbon capture technology should have to issue patent waivers so those advances can be shared, Guterres said: "Any development in that area should be a global public good and should be made available to all countries in the world."

But he noted: "We have not yet seen results that confirm those technologies will be a key element to solve the problem."

Guterres played down the impact that the increasingly rancorous relationship between China and the United States - the world's two biggest emitters of greenhouse gases - will have on their cooperation on climate change.

"They are a multilateral issue," said Guterres. "So my appeal to both the United States and China is for each of them to do their part."

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(AU ABC) Environment Minister Approves Vickery Coal Mine Extension After Teenagers' Climate Change Legal Challenge

ABC News - Michael Slezak | Patrick Bell

Avav Princi, Izzy Raj-Seppings, Veronica Hester, Laura Kirwan and Ambrose Hayes were all part of the action. (ABC News: Brendan Esposito)

Key Points

The federal government said the mine extension approval followed a rigorous assessment process
Teenagers involved in the climate change legal battle said the minister should be "ashamed"
Earlier this year a Federal Court justice said approving the mine would cause a "small but foreseeable" impact on climate change

Federal Environment Minister Sussan Ley has approved the extension of a north-west NSW coal mine, after it was the subject of a legal challenge by a group of teenagers.

The approval of Whitehaven Coal's Vickery Extension Project came after the Federal Court ruled the minister had a duty to consider the potential harms for young people from climate change when considering fossil fuel projects.

Ms Ley is appealing the decision, which is set to be heard in the Federal Court in October. But in the meantime, the legal duty of care remains in place.

The Vickery project was approved by NSW planning authorities in August 2020.

The decision has been met with frustration from the teenagers who launched court action to try and stop the mine.

"The emissions from Whitehaven’s expanded Vickery coal mine will only make the climate crisis worse and puts our safe future in doubt," 15-year-old Bella Burgemeister said.

"The minister should be ashamed of her decision."

Ava Princi, 18, from Sydney, said the minister had "turned her back" on the Federal Court, the international scientific consensus on climate change and the young people of Australia.

Australian teenagers explain why they are seeking an injunction to stop a major coal mine extension. (ABC News: Brendan Esposito (photo) Billy Cooper (video))

Equity Generation Lawyers principal lawyer David Barnden ran the case and said the teenagers and their litigation guardian were weighing up possible further legal action in response.

It is not clear yet whether that action would centre on a challenge the approval itself or a push to declare that the approval breaches the established duty of care.

“The approval is a surprise in light of the Federal Court’s careful reasoning establishing the Minister’s duty of care not to harm children,” Mr Barnden said.

“The Morrison government’s decision signals to the world that Australia does not appear prepared to act responsibly to protect children from climate harms,” he said.

David Barnden from Equity Generation Lawyers said the decision was surprising. (ABC News: Brendan Esposito)

A spokesperson for Ms Ley said in approving the project, she had taken all relevant considerations into account. "The approval follows a rigorous assessment process and includes strict environmental protection measures," she said.

"A formal statement of reasons detailing considerations in relation to recent court decisions, environmental safeguards and strict conditions to protect water system resources will be published."

Whitehaven Coal released a statement welcoming the approval, saying it “represents the culmination of an exhaustive process of technical evaluation and stakeholder consultation at both the State and Federal levels spanning five years.”

It said the coal produced from the mine would help lower global greenhouse gas emissions.

The extension of the Vickery mine would allow for an extra 25 per cent of coal to be extracted. (Supplied: Whitehaven Coal)

If it proceeds, additional coal from the mine extension will create roughly 100 million tonnes of CO2-equivalent greenhouse gasses, according to the NSW Independent Planning Commission — or about as much as is created each year in Australia by all forms of domestic transport combined.

In the original judgement, Justice Bromberg said approving the mine would cause a small but foreseeable impact on climate change, and that would increase the risk of "catastrophic" harm experienced by young people in the future.

He said it was "startling" that more than 1 million of today's children would require acute care from heat stress at some point in their lives because of global warming.

Farmers 'forced off land'

Boggabri farmer Sally Hunter has long campaigned against the expansion of the coal industry in north-west NSW.

Sally Hunter (ABC News)

She said she and others in the area were gutted to hear the mine was approve.

"The court's laid out in black and white that this new coal mine will have an impact on climate, and it will have an impact on future generations," she said.

"She has ignored that and completely flouted those statements from the court."

The public hearings into the project last year heard concerns about the impact of the mine on water resources for farmers in the Namoi Valley.

"[The mine] is perilously close to the Namoi River... and it will also force more farming families off their farms in this district," Ms Hunter said.

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