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It almost seems impossible for Australia to reduce its emissions by 30% over the next seven years. It is so dependent on fossil fuels and has an abundance of coal. I can't imagine all of Australia adapting to the new ways energy can be created, but I hope they do. This was reported by Sonali Paul who is an energy reporter based in Melbourne.

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MELBOURNE, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Australia's Labor government proposed on Tuesday to make the country's biggest polluters slash emissions by 30% over the next seven years, with some leeway for trade-exposed industries, such as aluminium and liquefied natural gas (LNG).

The government also announced it would release A$600 million ($414 million) to trade-exposed facilities to help them cut emissions.

The "safeguard mechanism" reform plan, which the government plans to finalise in April to take effect on July 1, is key to achieving its target to cut carbon emissions by 43% from 2005 levels by 2030 and achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

"Reforms to the Safeguard will help create an effective, equitable and efficient trajectory to net zero," Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen said in a statement.

The safeguard mechanism, in place since 2016, seeks to limit emissions from Australia's biggest polluters - 215 oil, gas, mining and manufacturing facilities that annually emit more than 100,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide-equivalent (CO2-e).

Together they account for 28% of Australia's carbon emissions. They are forecast to emit 143 million tonnes of CO2-e in the year to June 2023, and the government wants them to cut that to no more than 100 million tonnes of CO2-e by 2030.

That ensures they will deliver their proportional share of emissions cuts across the economy.

Based on six months of consultation, the government proposed to stick with the principle of setting baselines for each of the covered facilities based on emissions intensity, rather than absolute emissions. That means the allowed baseline for a plant's emissions would rise or fall in line with increases or declines in a facility's production.

Baselines will be site-specific initially then move towards industry average benchmarks by 2030, in line with calls from LNG exporters who said ways to help them slash emissions, such as using carbon capture and storage, will only be available later this decade.

In response to industry requests, the government said it would consider a carbon border tariff to support companies that compete against products from countries that have weaker pollution curbs.

($1 = 1.4495 Australian dollars)

Reporting by Sonali Paul; Editing by Lincoln Feast and Michael Perry

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Australia lays out plan to make biggest polluters slash emissions

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MELBOURNE, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Australia's Labor government proposed on Tuesday to make the country's biggest polluters slash emissions by 30% over the next seven years, with some leeway for trade-exposed industries, such as aluminium and liquefied natural gas (LNG). The government also announced it would release A$600 million ($414 million) to trade-exposed facilities to help them cut emissions.

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Australia has promised a "net zero" carbon emission by 2050, but there are a lot of things that have to be considered for this to actually happen. The country has suffered from scorching temperatures, bushfires, droughts, and floods. The Great Barrier Reef has had 6 bleaching events. If they continue to stay on the track they are on, emissions will lessen at a terribly slow rate and not much good will come out of it. Bill Hare, a physicist, climate scientist, and chief executive of Climate Analytics.

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t has been a tumultuous year for the climate in Australia: from record-breaking weather events to a climate surprise in the election, a new target and a global energy crisis, this year has seen its fair share of change.

In February, the east-coast town of Lismore and the northern rivers region in New South Wales were hit by the worst flooding in Australia's modern history - the first of what would be a year of terrible floods, against the backdrop of a record third La Niña. Australia's climate impacts are worsening, according to the latest report from the Bureau of Meteorology and CSIRO. Many of those being hit by floods now were three years ago battling raging bushfires and drought.

The Morrison government's response was weak, with its March budget delivering little in terms of action.

The beginning of the year also saw the Great Barrier Reef suffer its sixth major bleaching event, and our coral reef scientists have recently flagged the prospects of a seventh.

Australians are feeling the heat of climate change, and in May they voted accordingly, delivering a win to Anthony Albanese's Labor party, which saw voters switching away from the Coalition, but to the independents and the Greens, rather than Labor. The ABC's Vote Compass showed the biggest issue for voters, more than the economy or the pandemic, was climate change, surprising many. This has since been confirmed by other research.

Wyangala dam, New South Wales, in November. Australia's climate impacts are worsening, according to the latest report from the Bureau of Meteorology and CSIRO. Photograph: Laine Nathan/ABACA/Rex/Shutterstock

Before the election, the Coalition government had refused to increase its 2030 target, and had promised a "net zero" target by 2050, but our analysis showed it didn't have a plan to get us there. It was also backing a raft of new fossil fuel projects, many of them gas. The veracity of our offsets system was being called out by the person who helped designed the system, labelling some elements a "fraud".

So how much has changed since May?

In June the new government submitted a more ambitious 43% reduction by 2030 climate target to the UN, but it's still not 1.5C compatible. While the new target is a significant improvement, it's still more consistent with at least 2C of warming. Yet the environment minister, Chris Bowen, made a plea at COP27: "If we're not trying to keep to 1.5C then what are we here for? " A great question, and one the government must ponder deeply. Because he can't very well argue for others to commit to 1.5C if we're not doing it ourselves.

Australia needs to be ready to step up at the UN secretary general's climate ambition summit next September, with a 1.5C-aligned 2030 target, which should be well north of a 60% reduction below 2005 levels.

The net zero promise remains, but there are still few new plans to get there.

For the fossil fuel industry, it's still business as usual under the new government, which in August opened up 46,000 sq km to new oil and gas exploration. Approval after approval is going through for a maze of new gas projects, from the Scarborough and Browse projects off Western Australia to proposals to subsidise the Beetaloo basin in the Northern Territory.

In 2022 the world experienced a global energy crisis caused by Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine, and the gas industry has seen this as a massive opportunity for expansion. Governments scrambling to replace Russian gas have overreached.

Within Australia, the gas industry has run rampant with excessive windfall profits while calling for massive expansion development and increased LNG exports. The government has tried to contain the damage being caused by increased eastern Australian electricity costs linked to insufficient availability of gas, leaving the domestic gas market exposed to the highly elevated prices of the international market.

The latter half of this year has seen states starting to get out of coal power, setting phase-out goals around 2035-2037. While this is an advance, it's still relatively far from the power sector coal exit needed by 2030 across the OECD to be aligned with the Paris Agreement's 1.5C limit. The IEA's net zero coal report carried a similar and more stark message.

There have been some other glimmers of hope in terms of stopping coal mining, with the recent court win against Clive Palmer's Waratah coalmine, part of the Galilee basin. The court found that the 1.58 gigatonnes of carbon emissions that will come from its development globally pose unacceptable risks.

Gas exploration well in the Beetaloo Basin, Northern Territory. 'We have gas coming out of our ears.' Photograph: Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources

The federal government is starting to move on reforming the primary tool it wants to use to curb industry emissions (including oil, coal and gas), the so-called safeguard mechanism, but it seems poised to continue allowing companies to offset their emissions at scale.

If this happens, there's a serious risk the whole scheme will be viewed simply as a licensing system for increased fossil fuel production rather than one that actually results in real emission reductions. Some have labelled this as " state-sanctioned greenwashing."

Australia has a terrible, 30-year history of claiming to meet its targets through dodgy accounting and, more recently, through offsets, but this cannot continue. The risk now is that if the government sticks to its apparent commitment to continue to use offsets, the country will find itself at the next federal election with industry sector emissions barely reduced at all, or worse, facing increased emissions from new fossil fuel projects.

In late November Unesco's world heritage committee published the results of its mission to the Great Barrier Reef, recommending, yet again, that the reef be listed as endangered due to climate change. It received a surprisingly defensive reaction from the Albanese government, arguing against such a listing, rather than using this warning to double down on the need to actually reduce emissions fast enough to get on to a 1.5C pathway.

Perhaps the last big climate moment this year was the government's first annual climate statement, but as many pointed out, fossil fuels didn't rate a single mention.

The government also released its greenhouse gas projections, showing most of the effort will come from the rollout of renewables in the power sector and very little else, and it signed an agreement with states on fast-tracking storage for renewables. This is a positive development and absolutely critical to decarbonising Australia and is backed by serious resources. However it is not enough.

Right in the last week before the Australian silly season fully kicked off the Albanese government took legislative action to curtail the power of the gas and coal industry putting in place price caps and a reasonable price test, which led to outcries of "Armageddon" and Soviet-style command and control from the gas industry, and declarations of the "end of gas" from the Greens in the federal parliament. The outcry from the gas industry and its analysts and regular press stenographic services was hyperbolic in the extreme - and seen as such by most. As for the end of gas, there is some way to go but several things done by the government support this. The move not to allow gas into the capacity market system and instead focus on batteries and other storage, the announcement of massive battery plans, and the Greens' mediated deal to support households to get out of gas all support a faster exit from the power sector and domestic use.

Looking ahead to 2023, if Australia is going to be successful in getting its economy established on a 1.5C aligned pathway, it will need to focus on policy that ensures real emission reduction.

And that means really taking its foot off the gas. Reductions in the industry, mining and mineral process are urgently needed, together with a national plan to replace fossil gas in these sectors with electrification, efficiency and green hydrogen.

And we will also need to reduce emissions from the LNG industry and coal which are set to grow significantly by 2030, and if not curtailed could swamp gains made elsewhere.

Bill Hare, a physicist and climate scientist, is the chief executive of Climate Analytics

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Australians are feeling the heat of climate change. For the fossil fuel industry it's still business as usual | Bill Hare

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t has been a tumultuous year for the climate in Australia: from record-breaking weather events to a climate surprise in the election, a new target and a global energy crisis, this year has seen its fair share of change.

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Coming from an Australian government agency, this is very credible and it states very similar facts as the previous source. It uses charts and graphs to help signify the importance of climate change. Temperature projections for Australia only show big rises and no one is going to be able to slow that down unless changes are made. The only thing I can say to this is more renewable energy needs to be inputted into Australia. It's not like people are sitting at home everyday and doing nothing. People are working hard to make changes to how energy is made. Maybe people are blowing the whole climate change problem out of proportion, but facts are facts.

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[Music plays and image shows a computerised image of a spinning globe. Text appears: Global Climate Models]

Narrator: Global climate models, which are based on the laws of physics, enable scientists to answer a range of questions about our climate.

[Image changes to show a graph]

Like, what happens as atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations rise?

[Text appears on screen: Climate Change. Greenhouse Gas Emissions]

Emissions of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, are a major driver of climate change.

[Image changes to show a graph and text appears: Global Warming (°C)]

This graph shows global warming observed over the 20 th Century.

[Text appears on graph: Observations; Only natural changes]

If only naturally occurring factors, such as variations in the earth's orbit, solar fluctuations and volcanic eruptions are included, climate model simulations of global temperature cannot match the observations. Add the effect of increases in greenhouse gases to natural factors and the simulated warming agrees with observations.

[Text appears on graph: Observations; Natural Factors + Greenhouse Gases]

[Image changes to show an animation]

The extent to which we can restrict future emissions of greenhouse gases is unclear, so scientists explore possible future scenarios by running the models with different levels of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. The output from each simulation provides projected changes for many aspects of climate, such as temperature, rainfall, and sea level]

[Text appears on animation: Temperature; Rainfall; Sea Level]

[Image changes to show a graph and text appears: 2090 Projections - Intermediate Emissions - Temperature Rise]

Australia is likely to warm in future. Higher emissions cause greater warming.

[Image changes to show a graph and text appears: 2090 Projections - Intermediate Emissions - Winter Rainfall Change]

Winter rainfall in southern Australia is likely to decline. Most of the country is likely to experience more extreme daily rainfall.

[Image changes to show a graph and text appears: Sea Level]

Sea levels are projected to increase at a faster rate than during the last century.

[Image changes to show various icons and text appears: Government; Insurance; Infrastructure; Shopping; Agriculture]

Climate projections are being incorporated into the planning processes of governments and business.

Climate projections are helping us prepare for a climate that will be different from what we have experienced in the past.

[CSIRO logo appears with text: Projecting Climate Change]

[Australian Government logo appears with text: An Australian Government Initiative | Inspiring Australia]

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Music plays and image shows a computerised image of a spinning globe. Text appears: Global Climate Models] Narrator: Global climate models, which are based on the laws of physics, enable scientists to answer a range of questions about our climate. [Image changes to show a graph] Like, what happens as atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations rise?

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This was a good read to see this was a .gov website and several facts were provided about the ongoing problem in Australia. There are several problems like increased droughts, sea level rise, ocean acidification, and extreme rain fall events becoming more intense. My take on this is when people are able to see the effects of climate change, they become more inclined to use their voice. For example, wildlife suffering from wildfires, or the bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef. It gives people a sense of unease knowing things like this are happening in the world. You can see this in the twitter page on my social media post.

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Australian climate change observations | AdaptNSW

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Australia’s average land and sea temperatures have increased and continue to rise. Our rainfall patterns are changing and fire weather is increasing.

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Recent fires have destroyed more than 14 million acres. Air force pilots cannot carry out missions because the red haze is so thick. The impacts on wildlife have been treacherous as an estimated 500 million animals have died from these fires. Maggie Rulli reported while in Australia and serves as ABC News Multi-Platform Reporter.

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Video No end in sight to unprecedented wildfires in Australia

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The fires have scorched more than 14 million acres and the impact on wildlife - from kangaroos to koalas -- has been devastating.

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This was so cool to see as I find it rather difficult to find this topic on social media. To see that people are standing up for what they believe in is cool to see. This group organizes strikes in Australia to demand change for how the government plans to cut emission rates. The government continues to propose plans, but its hard for people to see actual change. Australia is so rich in sun and wind yet it covers only 30% of energy. If these are plentiful sources, why not strive to use them more? Because of groups like this, maybe this can constitute change.

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Tweets by StrikeClimate

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CBS News interviews Australia's CEO of the Climate Council, Amanda McKenzie. According to the climate council, she is one of the best-known public commentators on the climate crisis in Australia. She says Australia has been working hard to slow down climate change through renewable energy and even electric cars. Australia is one of the most vulnerable countries in the world. She says there is not enough happening at the federal level. The oceans surrounding the borders suffer from heat waves which result in bleaching events. If these continue, the marine ecosystem will not be able to sustain itself which can create disaster for the atmosphere as the ocean plays a huge role in absorbing CO2. The koala species is deeply affected by wildfires because of their homes being in trees and they don't have the ability to escape. It is really saddening to see things like this as the interview provided graphic images of the wildlife. This reminds me of commercials such as ASPCA or Shriner's Hospital where they ask for donations. My thought is if more people see the wildlife suffering, they will be inclined to help. The animals do not deserve any of this.

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The growing impacts of climate change on Australia

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Australia has seen a massive increase in fires, droughts, floods and heat waves over the past two decades. The rise in these extreme weather events has dangerous implications for humans and wildlife in the country. Amanda McKenzie, CEO and co-founder of the Climate Council, joined CBS News' Lana Zak to discuss.

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My local newspaper does not report on international news, but I remember watching my parents read the paper every morning and I'd give it a peek every now and then. Local news may be important to "global challenges" because although a local scale may be small, it still contributes to issues on a global scale. If you think about any popular issue right now like Russia and Ukraine, there are local news sources in Ukraine that are reporting that the whole world may see. So even if you think something is small locally, it may have a bigger impact then you think.

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Clayton News-Star News | Raleigh News & Observer

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Raleigh News & Observer in Raleigh offers local news coverage online.

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This article talks about how the United Nations is trying its best to come up with an agreement that will help protect the high seas. For a long time, society has not thought that humans had a large impact on the ocean further outside national borders. The big problem is how does the UN create protected areas and prevent people from crossing boundaries and not following rules. This was written by Christina Larson, who is an award-winning foreign correspondent and reports on global environmental issues. I'm concerned that the UN will not be able to save biodiversity because everyone has different opinions and how are they going to ensure that the rules are followed.

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United Nations members gather Monday in New York to resume efforts to forge a long-awaited and elusive treaty to safeguard the world's marine biodiversity.

Nearly two-thirds of the ocean lies outside national boundaries on the high seas where fragmented and unevenly enforced rules seek to minimize human impacts.

The goal of the U.N. meetings, running through March 3, is to produce a unified agreement for the conservation and sustainable use of those vast marine ecosystems. The talks, formally called the Intergovernmental Conference on Marine Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction, resume negotiations suspended last fall without agreement on a final treaty.

"The ocean is the life support system of our planet," said Boris Worm, a marine biologist at Canada's Dalhousie University. "For the longest time, we did not feel we had a large impact on the high seas. But that notion has changed with expansion of deep sea fishing, mining, plastic pollution, climate change," and other human disturbances, he said.

The U.N. talks will focus on key questions, including: How should the boundaries of marine protected areas be drawn, and by whom? How should institutions assess the environmental impacts of commercial activities, such as shipping and mining? And who has the power to enforce rules?

"This is our largest global commons," said Nichola Clark, an oceans expert who follows the negotiations for the nonpartisan Pew Research Center in Washington, D.C. "We are optimistic that this upcoming round of negotiations will be the one to get a treaty over the finish line."

The aim of the talks is not to actually designate marine protected areas, but to establish a mechanism for doing so. "The goal is to set up a new body that would accept submissions for specific marine protected areas," Clark said.

Marine biologist Simon Ingram at the University of Plymouth in England says there's an urgent need for an accord. "It's a really pressing time for this - especially when you have things like deep-sea mining that could be a real threat to biodiversity before we've even been able to survey and understand what lives on the ocean floor," Ingram said.

Experts say that a global oceans treaty is needed to actually enforce the U.N. Biodiversity Conference's recent pledge to protect 30% of the planet's oceans, as well as its land, for conservation.

"We need a legally binding framework that can enable countries to work together to actually achieve these goals they've agreed to," said Jessica Battle, an expert on oceans governance at World Wide Fund for Nature

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs Monica Medina said the treaty was a priority for the country. "This agreement seeks to create, for the first time, a coordinated approach to establishing marine protected areas on the high seas," she said. "It's time to finish the job."

Officials, environmentalists and representatives of global industries that depend on the sea are also watching negotiations closely.

Gemma Nelson, a lawyer from Samoa who is currently an Ocean Voices fellow at the University of Edinburgh, said that small Pacific and Caribbean island countries were "especially vulnerable to global ocean issues," such as pollution and climate change, which generally they did not cause nor have the resources to easily address.

"Getting the traditional knowledge of local people and communities recognized as valid" is also essential to protect both ecosystems and the ways of life of Indigenous groups, she said.

With nearly half the planet's surface covered by high seas, the talks are of great importance, said Gladys Martínez de Lemos, executive director of the nonprofit Interamerican Association for Environmental Defense focusing on environmental issues across Latin America.

"The treaty should be strong and ambitious, having the authority to establish high and fully protected areas in the high seas," she said. "Half of the world is at stake these weeks at the United Nations."

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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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UN ocean treaty talks resume with goal to save biodiversity

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United Nations members gather Monday in New York to resume efforts to forge a long-awaited and elusive treaty to safeguard the world's marine biodiversity. Nearly two-thirds of the ocean lies outside national boundaries on the high seas where fragmented and unevenly enforced rules seek to minimize human impacts.

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I enjoyed looking at this account as it makes several posts with attached links to help support its argument. The main topic of these posts is carbon offsetting and pushing parliament to do something about pollution and the solution to that through renewable energy. One retweet stuck out to me saying how a woman's 7 year old son knew two main things about climate change. Those being the burning of fossil fuels and the damaging of habitats. People notice change and that can even be kids that want a healthier and safer life. Twitter has proven to be an effective tool for people's voices to be heard.

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Tweets by TheAusInstitute