Category: Climate chaos

Aus claim not pursued: All territorial claims in the far south were frozen under the terms of the 1959 Antarctic Treaty. Despite strong indications of offshore oil and gas reserves, a ban on minerals exploration could not be revisited there until 2048. But the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf opened the way for claimant countries to extend their possessions anyway. The Federal Government spent $40 million to survey a claim to about 1.8 million square kilometres of extended continental shelf off the Australian Antarctic Territory, which it lodged with the UN, drawing objections from six countries. In a compromise that avoided more open conflict, Australia lodged the claim with the UN commission, then asked that it be shelved.

Likely to be shelved, too: "It’s likely not to go far because it is contested sovereignty," said Dr Hemmings, a senior fellow at the University of Canterbury’s Gateway Antarctica. "The UK proposal would be sure to attract a raft of protests too." Hemmings said countries that made claims did so because under the terms of the Commission of the limits on the Continental Shelf they had a "use it or lose it" deadline of 2009.

The Age, 18/10/2007, p. 5

Doubts were raised about how a state scheme would merge with any national emissions trading scheme when the Prime Minister, John Howard, released his emissions trading report in May, according to The Sydney Morning Herald (11/9/2007, p.2).

Energy-saving devices no longer economical: The New South Wales carbon price, already languishing around $11 a tonne, had fallen further in July, when Howard appeared to exclude demand management and energy efficiency abatement from the scheme. At $6, it was no longer econ­omical for companies such as Easy Being Green, Neco and Fieldforce to install light bulbs, low-flow showerheads and other energy-saving devices into homes free or at heavily discounted prices. Paul Gilding, CEO of Easy Being Green, said the scheme’s most cost-effective and efficient way of cutting greenhouse gas pollution would disappear. "That will be a tragedy," he said. "This is the scheme that is cutting greenhouse gas pollution at the mass consumer level."

Certificates too easy to obtain: The NSW Government had been accused by some market partici­pants and green groups of con­tributing to the collapse by making it too easy to generate cer­tificates that did not represent genuine greenhouse gas cuts. The NSW Minister for Climate Change, Environment and Water, Phil Koperberg, had declined a request for an interview. A spokesperson for him blamed the Federal Government for the market crash. The State Government had formed a taskforce to investigate the price collapse.

Energy efficiency companies struggling: The head of the NSW advisory panel on climate change, Martijn Wilder, from the law firm Baker & McKenzie, had said he believed a number of energy efficiency companies in the market were "on the edge". He said there were two simple factors: the oversup­ply of certificates and the uncer­tainty in the market since the Federal Government announced its carbon trading scheme. Fieldforce’s managing direc­tor, Craig Bathie, said if the price of carbon remained at $6, more than half of NSW householders would miss out on free or dis­counted energy installations, and his company might have to lay off a couple of hundred em­ployees in rural areas. Neco’s carbon services direc­tor, Ben O’Callaghan, had said his company might have to close its regional Carbon Services Div­ision, and 60 jobs in 10 regional locations would be lost.

The Sydney Morning Herald, 11/9/2007, p. 2

To eliminate the fear of first-mover disadvantage, SP’s range of global
measures is to be implemented simultaneously, only when all or sufficient
governments have signed up. By posing no-risk to any nation’s international
competitiveness, simultaneous action removes excuses for inaction and delay
and opens the way to far more robust policies being adopted than relatively
weak agreements such as the Kyoto Protocol. Contraction & Convergence, a
powerful international framework designed to combat global warming, is one
measure that has been put forward for potential inclusion in SP’s package of
global problem-solving measures.

To secure sufficient international political will for the implementation of
SP, citizens around the world who support it, known as Adopters, tell
politicians that they will be voting in all future national elections for
any candidate, within reason, who has signed the pledge to implement SP
alongside other governments, or they encourage their preferred party to
support SP. In this way, competition between candidates is intensified to a
point where politicians who fail to support SP risk losing their seats to
those who do. With more parliamentary seats and even entire national
elections being won or lost on fine margins, only a relatively small number
of Adopters may be needed to make it in the vital interests of the main
politicians and parties to support SP.

Celia Barlow’s pledge to implement SP follows vigorous local campaigning by
Brighton and Hove’s SP Adopters Group, chaired by Barnaby Flynn. Local
Adopter groups meet regularly around the UK and recruit new Adopters, so
building the pressure on politicians to sign the SP Pledge. Caroline Lucas,
the Green Party MEP who will stand at the next election in the neighbouring
Brighton Pavilion constituency, has already signed the SP Pledge and
competing candidates from other parties are expected to follow.

Adopting SP is free. Please go to
http://www.simpol.org/en/main/Concept.htm#Adopt  For further information
visit www.simpol.org or contact Diana Trimble. For Barnaby Flynn, contact
07799 603042.

The evening will focus on strategies for achieving change at a community level, overcoming regulatory obstacles and the challenges we face as we make the transition to a sustainable lifestyle. As Tim Winton put it recently on The Generator, “We have had the technology to reduce our footprint for some time. Most of the challenges are human.”

The evening will include musical interludes, snippets of new and well respected films as well as presentations from the main speakers. The evening will finish with questions from the audience and a call for community action from the audience.

Introduced by Byron Shire Mayor Jan Barham, the speakers are well known in their fields and popular speakers.

Tim Winton has built The Permaforest Trust as a not-for-profit education centre and demonstration farm in Barkers Vale in the Tweed Valley. He is well known as a speaker on Permaculture, Peak Oil and transitional lifestyles.

Dr Sally MacKinnon is a director of the Ethos Foundation, founder of the Gondwana Centre and deeply involved in the Australian water, energy and sustainable development industries.

Giovanni Ebono is founder and producer of the popular radio show, The Generator, author of Sydney’s Guide to Saving the Planet and editor of Sustainable Living for Dummies.

Public Notice: The Senate Standing Committee on Economics – Energy efficiency trading scheme, NAT: The Senate Standing Committee on Economics is inquiring into the National Marker Driven Energy Efficiency Target Bill 2007. This is a private Senator’s bill that proposes to amend the Renewable Energy (Electricity) Act 2000 to introduce an energy efficiency trading scheme. The committee is to report on 22 October. The closing date for submission is 21 September and they can be emailed to economics.sen@aph.gov.au For further information visit: http://www.aph.gov.au/Senatr/committee/economics-ctte/inquiries.htm or phone 02 6277 3540

The event is to be a media conference with a group of Greens members
dressed to resemble lifesavers as a colourful backdrop. The media will
be addressed by Senator Kerry Nettle who will be calling on APEC leaders
to be “climate-savers” by taking urgent action to address climate
change, which threatens the future of millions of people throughout the
Asia-Pacific region.

“Like any citizen I find it disturbing to have formal written threats
made against me by the NSW Police to the effect that they intend to
commence immediate, and potentially costly, proceedings against me in
the Supreme Court,” Ms Hale said.

“The issue that we are addressing in the media conference, the urgent
need to take serious action about climate change, is a matter of great
concern to many Australians.”

“I confirmed with Police that Martin Place is to remain open to the
public before I submitted my notice of intention. If it is open to the
public it should be open for a media conference and some street
theatre.”

“I believe that the Police were trying to act beyond the powers they
were given by the parliament in trying to ban political activity in
Martin Place. It is important to maintain the right to express a
political opinion in a public place,” said Ms Hale.

To quote Commissioner Scipione from yesterday “this is a victory
for common sense.””