Posts filed under ‘climate change info’
Regenerating Australia at Merlynston: visioning a net zero future
On a Friday afternoon and evening threatening rain 80 people came together at Merlynston Progress Hall in North Coburg to watch the film Regenerating Australia by documentary film maker Damon Gameau (FB).
It was a capacity crowd for this community hall. We advertised to Come early for dinner from 5pm-6pm as Tuka Tuka KothuRoti Man was attending to supply some delicious food. The food met our expectations. Our choir entertainment had to sadly cancel due to isolation requirements.
(more…)Climate Risk mapping for Moreland: climate impacts and insurability
The Climate Council has just put out a new report: Uninsurable Nation: Australia’s most Climate Vulnerable Places. Along with this report they have produced a climate risk map for Australia in which they list the hazards: riverine flooding, bushfire, surface water flooding, coastal inundation, and extreme wind. They also project properties at high and medium risk for 2030, 2050 and 2100.
The Climate Risk map allows you to drill down to the suburb level, or Local Government Area or Federal Electorate. Moreland is not one of the top municipalities for climate risk, but the mapping is surprising for what it reveals.
This report highlights climate impacts are already ocurring and having an economic impact on insurance and insurability. Unless we take action, costs will continue to escalate. Climate Action Moreland has recently held a climate forum with Candidates for Wills, and also compared Party climate policies for Wills and the Victorian Senate for consistency with the Paris Agreement 1.5C target. We urge you to consider voting in the Federal election for candidates with strong climate policies and use your preferences wisely.
(more…)Comparing Party policies on climate against Consistency with Paris Agreement 1.5C Goal in #Willsvotes and Victorian Senate
Climate Action Moreland has done an assessment of the published climate, environment and energy policies of the Political parties and candidates standing in the Wills electorate for 2022 and whether they are consistent with the science of climate change and the speed of transition required, and meeting the targets of the Paris Agreement.
We acknowledge climate policy is only one lens to view these Political Parties, but given it is a climate emergency we think it is a pretty important lens. About three quarters of Wills voters think climate action is a high priority. We also organised with Coburg Uniting Church and Neighbours United for Climate Action a Meet the candidates forum on 26 April, with a live recording. Climate risk is already affecting properties and insurance premiums around Australia, including in Moreland.
Our analysis on ranking the parties has been supported by the assessment of Climate Analytics, a leading international climate science and policy analysis NGO..
General Summary ranking of Party Policies against Paris Agreement 1.5C Goal for Wills
| Consistency with Paris Agreement 1.5C Goal | ……….Party………… |
|---|---|
| Ambitous. Consistent with Paris Agreement 1.5C Goal. Specific range of policies. 75% 2030 target, 100% by 2035. Greens will Phase out thermal coal export by 2030. AJP commit to Global Methane pledge, developed climate, agriculture and animals policy highlighting necessity for methane emissions reduction. | The Greens Animal Justice Party |
| Ambituous. May be consistent with PA goal but policies and targets tend to be general. AJP has a developed climate, agriculture and animals policy highlighting necessity for methane emissions reduction. | Victorian Socialists, Socialist Alliance |
| Some Ambition & some good well developed policies especially on Renewables, rewiring the grid, employment, EV adoption, but insufficient to meet PA goal. 43% 2030 target. Supports Gas expansion. Qualified support for new coal. Supports CCS. No commitment to sign Global methane Pledge. | Australian Labor Party |
| Limited targets and policies, but highly insufficient to meet PA goal. 26-28% 2030 target. Supports gas and coal expansion, CCS. Rejected signing Global Methane Pledge | Liberal Party |
| No Ambition, no action, likely to worsen climate crisis | United Australia Party Australian Federation Party |
| Denies and questions climate science. Step on the pedal for fossil fuels | Pauline Hanson One Nation |
Moderating the urban heat of car parks in Moreland
As a highly built up municipality Moreland tends feel the heat of Summer and extreme heat events exacerbated by the urban heat island effect. The extensive car parks and roads around our municipality contribute to this amplification of high temperature effects.
New research from University of Western Sydney throws new light on the urban heat island effect on microclimates and especially the role of asphalt car parks. Asphalt is particularly bad for building up heat inertia to warm the micro climate during both the day and night. But the researchers also outlined solutions.
How does this apply in Moreland? Well Moreland Council should be implementing heat mitigation solutions for all Council car parks, and also advocating for these solutions when Businesses provide parking, or the State Government expands parking, such as at Merlynston Station. Moreland Council is expanding parking at Hosken Reserve as part of the Hosken Reserve Masterplan, but have paid little attention to limiting urban heat from car parking. When putting in new car parking is the ideal time to implement urban heat solutions.
(more…)Moreland joins Australian Mayors call for more Disaster support to Local Councils by Federal Government
The South East Queensland Floods, northern NSW Floods and flooding in Sydney suburbs have been a wake up call similar to the Black Summer Bushfires in 2019/2020. The Lismore CBD was decimated by the record floods this year. Extensive Flooding in Lismore has ocurred in 3 of the last 5 years. 1 in 100 year floods
Moreland Mayor Mark Riley joined 30 other Mayors and Councillors from around Australia, including the Lord Mayors of Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Hobart, in signing the statement. Citizens can add their support by adding their name: Climate Council: add your name to stand with Local Leaders.
(more…)“Heavy rain, flooding, strong winds and storm surges are damaging communities, endangering residents, and costing millions of dollars in clean-up costs. In some regions schools and businesses have been forced to close, the lights have gone out, roads cut off, access to fresh water and food limited and thousands of homes destroyed. Many can no longer afford insurance and will be left with little.”
Statement of Mayors. Full statement and all the Mayor and Councilor signatories (PDF)
Call to end toxic mercury containing fluorescent lighting, also saving greenhouse gas emissions
Climate Action Moreland has joined more than 200 organisations globally in signing a letter to remove 3.5 Gigatons of CO2 emissions between 2025 and 2050 by ending toxic lighting. The letter is targeted at Heads of Delegations to COP4.2 of the Minamata Convention on Mercury. It would also avoid 232 metric tons of mercury pollution from leaking into the environment between 2025-2050, both from the lamps themselves and from avoided burning of coal in power plants.
The open letter asks that the fourth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Minamata Convention on Mercury (COP-4) – Second segment – must deliver on its mission to Make Mercury History and phase-out toxic mercury-containing fluorescent lighting. The meeting is on March 21, 2022.
Australia signed the Minnamata Convention on 10 October 2013, and ratified the convention on 7 December 2021. Read more at the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment on Australia and the Minamata Convention on Mercury.
(more…)March 13, 2022 at 3:16 pm morelandclimategroup Leave a comment
Inaugural Moreland Climate CUP highlights Race to Zero Emissions – Melbourne joins Global Day of action #COP26
A few months ago the idea was floated in the Moreland Climate Coalition to hold an event around Melbourne Cup day, which also coincided with the UN Climate Change conference, COP26, meeting in Glasgow.
But at that early stage all of Melbourne was in lockdown due to the pandemic with limits on public gatherings, with the vaccination program delayed due to Federal Government vaccine ordering incompetence, and was still ramping up.
When we started organising we didn’t know how many people could meet for a protest under the public health regulations. But as vaccination rate grew rapidly 30 people became the number of fully vaccinated people to meet publicly. Three covidsafe events were held in Moreland, with other climate protests in the city and at St Kilda as part of the Global day of action called by the COP26 Coalition in Glasgow.
(more…)Peter Khalil asks about tech fairy dust in Net Zero Plan
Peter Khalil, MP for Wills, was part of the Labor questioning of the Prime Minister in Question time in the House of Representatives today. It follows Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s launch of a Net zero by 2050 Plan, that was widely criticised (including by Climate Action Moreland many climate advocacy organisations) (See Blog: Morrison Net Zero 2050 Plan a fraud, with plans to double coal exports, new gas expansion)
It is clear the Government’s plan relies on substantial fairy dust to get to Net Zero by 2050. It is also highly reliant on the problematic Technology Investment Roadmap which places much emphasis and hope on developing at commercial scale a substantial Carbon Capture and Storage industry to process Blue Hydrogen (to market as clean hydrogen) from fossil gas and coal. Carbon Capture and storage is expensive’ and energy intensive without guaranteeing 100 per cent sequestration. There is only one operating commercial plant using CCS technology globally. Australia has already poured over $4 billion into Carbon Capture and Storage with little technology to show for it.
(more…)Australia needs to double climate finance for COP26, rejoin Green Climate Fund
In 2009 wealthy countries committed to raising $100 billion per year of climate finance from 2020. This climate finance commitment was a lynch pin of getting many developing countries on board for the Paris Agreement in 2015. A recent review and report conducted by the OECD found that only $79.6 billion per year has been raised. See John Englart’s September 2021 Blog Post: Australian climate finance falling far short of our fair share, getting worse.
A new Australian report asseses Australia’s responsibility in climate finance and advocates that Australia, at the very least, double its current commitment to $3 billion of climate finance for the current 5 year period of 2020-2025, and rejoin the Green Climate Fund.
Climate Action Moreland Convenor John Englart said, “For doing our fair share on climate finance and solidarity with developing countries, Scott Morrison should announce at the UN Climate talks in Glasgow an initial doubling of Australia’s climate finance commitment to at least $3 billion for 2020 to 2025.
“It is Important that Australia also rejoins the Green Climate Fund to enhance multi-lateral financing of projects for both emissions reduction and climate adaptation and resilience building.”
Scott Morrison withdrew Australia from the Green Climate Fund in a radio interview in October 2018.
(more…)Open letter to Australian Government on Asian Development Bank funding new fossil fuel projects
Climate Action Moreland joined 34 other civil society organisations, including Neighbours United for Climate Action (NUCA), to sign an open letter addressed to Federal Ministers and Labor Party Shadow Ministers urging the Australian government to stop pushing support of coal and gas related projects in the negotiation of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) new energy policy.
Both the International Energy Agency Roadmap to 2050 released in May 2021 and the IPCC 6th climate change assessment report released in August 2021 makes clear we cannot afford ANY new fossil fuel projects to be funded consistent with the Paris Agreement agreed targets.
Neighbours United for Climate Action also signed the open letter.
“Since the Paris Agreement, the ADB has financed at least $4.9 billion in fossil fuels, almost all of which (96%) has gone to gas. The ADB cannot be a climate leader without a clear end to gas finance.” says an analysis of the Draft Energy policy done by Fossil Free ADB.
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Climate Action Moreland: people in Brunswick, Coburg, Fawkner and Glenroy wanting action on climate change 