Composting’s role in the fight against climate change will be in focus during International Compost Awareness Week (ICAW), to be held from May 5-11 in Australia.

Amid the increasing frequency of extreme weather events such as flooding, droughts or bushfires, composting offers a practical, hands-on response to climate change mitigation where every household can join the global effort.

“As a community we can all contribute to a healthy planet by keeping food scraps away from landfill and one of the ways is through composting,” says Chris Rochfort, CEO of the Centre for Organic Research & Education (CORE).

“Composting can help reduce landfill methane emissions and restoring soil health, which will help build resilience to climate change, reduce reliance on synthetic fertilisers, and sequester carbon by removing it from the atmosphere.”

Composting can benefit the climate in many ways:

• Reduces the amount of organic waste that goes to landfill, which when disposed to landfill breaks down anaerobically and releases methane. Methane is a greenhouse gas with a global warming potential around 28 times that of carbon dioxide over a 100-year period.
• Improves drainage and aeration in the soil.
• Produces a nutrient-rich soil amendment.
• Retains soil moisture and reduces plant diseases/pests.
• Reduces heat island effect in urban areas.
• Increase resilience to the effects of climate change such as drought and extreme weather.

“By returning nutrients back to the soil through composting it improves plant health and promotes biodiversity. If we reduce and recycle waste, we can reduce greenhouse gas emissions at landfills, promote uptake of carbon dioxide by vegetation, and make our environment more resilient to the effects of a changing climate,” Mr Rochfort said.

He added: “Compost is one of nature’s essential building blocks that can solve so many of humanity’s current challenges from climate change, such as soil moisture loss and contaminated run-off and sediments entering our waterways.

“This is on top of compost being a fantastic amendment to add to soils to assist plant growth, nutrient retention and storing carbon. There’s no other product that can fulfill as many functions as compost can.

“Urban communities in particular generate massive amounts of food organics and garden organics (FOGO). As a community we need to participate in FOGO recovery systems where these wastes are processed into compost that adds valuable nutrients to the soil. This is good news for healthy food, future water supplies, environmental wellbeing, and human resilience.”

ICAW is a week during which Australians are encouraged to promote the importance and benefits of composting in their local communities. CORE, a public charity, has been championing this international awareness campaign exclusively in Australia for the past 19 years. ICAW has contributed to reducing organic waste going to landfill and at the same time improving biodiversity in soils and building up resilience to extreme weather events.

ICAW thanks sponsors of this year’s event, with Platinum sponsors comprising the Queensland Department of Environment, Science and Innovation, Penrith City Council and Northern Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils; Gold sponsor is the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA); and Bronze sponsor is Ku-ring-gai Council in northern Sydney.

Highlights
• International Compost Awareness Week (ICAW) to be held from May 5-11, 2024
• Spotlight on composting’s role in household fight against climate change
• Nationwide event promotes benefits of composting in local communities

The Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ATSE) has today urged a suite of actions and investments to protect the future of the Murray-Darling Basin in the face of climate change, which is threatening the river’s health and sustainability.

In a new essay series A thriving Murray-Darling Basin in 50 years: Actions in the face of climate change, ATSE urges more investment in technologies to monitor the river for climate impacts and in sustained governance with regional and rural communities at the centre, coupled with evolving our agriculture industry in the face of decreased water availability and accepted water sharing policies.

The essay series highlights the vibrant, thriving potential of the Basin if sustainably managed for the benefit of communities and the environment. To achieve this, it recommends the reinstatement of a body to provide independent objective policy advice on national water management, including for the Murray-Darling Basin, to help guide consistent national data-driven decision-making.

ATSE President Katherine Woodthorpe AO FTSE said the future of the Murray-Darling Basin is recognised to be at severe risk and that comprehensive action across Federal, State and Territory Governments will be decisive to safeguard its biodiversity, social and economic importance to Australia.

“The Murray-Darling Basin covers one-seventh of Australia’s landscape and is responsible for delivering a significant share of Australia’s Gross Domestic Product. But more importantly, to safeguard and protect this resource for the future, Australia must take urgent action in the face of increasing climate change.

“To inform evidence-based decision making, we need a central data custodian for all water quantity and water quality monitoring data, which is transparently shared with all stakeholders.

“Managing the Basin effectively will also require a review of institutional arrangements that govern property rights at a Territory, State and Commonwealth level for consistency as well as climate-proofing.

“At the heart of this plan, we need to ensure institutional governance benefits rural and regional communities including addressing the cultural water rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.

“It is time for a long-term approach to managing our most important water resource,” said Dr Woodthorpe.

The Academy looks forward to advising the Federal, State and Territory Governments on shaping a comprehensive plan for the Basin that is resilient to our changing climate and charts a course for a thriving river system over the next 50 years.

Climate Media Centre

Advocacy groups have welcomed the release of the Federal Government’s announcement of a heat mapping tool to assist affected communities deal with the worst of extreme heat, but have called on government to do more to address the root cause, climate change caused by the continued use of fossil fuels.

Emma Bacon, Executive Director of Sweltering Cities:

“Heatwaves are Australia’s deadliest environmental disaster, so we welcome the Government’s acknowledgement of the severe impacts being felt by communities across the country. Clearly, some of the communities most impacted in areas like Western Sydney are facing climate, health, housing and cost of living crises all at once. We welcome this significant new piece of work in clearly illustrating who is most at risk of heat health impacts.

“In my experience, the people living in hot homes and hot suburbs across the country know that heatwaves are dangerous and that members of their community are at risk. People aren’t underprepared for extreme heat through lack of knowledge, they’re being prevented from following health advice because they’re anxious about electricity bills so don’t turn on air con, or they’re renters and can’t make simple upgrades to their homes to be more energy efficient.

“The map demonstrates that some of the most dangerous areas are home to millions of people. We need to stop burning fossil fuels that contribute to rising temperatures and will make this crisis unmanageable for the public and the government. We cannot properly adapt to run-away global warming.

“This map should be a wake up call to everybody in this Government that they can’t sit on their hands when it comes to helping vulnerable communities to be safe in dangerous rising temperatures. We’ll be eagerly awaiting the announcement of how this Government and all state and territory governments plan to respond to this new map with programs and funding to help our communities be safe.”

Dr Kate Wylie, GP and Doctors for the Environment Australia executive director:

“As medical doctors, DEA welcomes the heat-health risk index as a forward thinking action by our government.

“Clinically we are seeing the health impacts of heat and heat waves, we are seeing heart attacks and kidney disease, mental health exacerbations as well as heat-related illnesses, so this is a timely intervention.

“I’d strongly encourage people to check out their own suburb and then maybe have a chat with their doctor about their individual risks so they can protect themselves. People can also look up DEA’s Heat and Health Fact Sheet for straightforward information on how to stay safe in the heat.

“Of course, this type of adaptation is only one side of the story and to truly protect our health we need to cut climate pollution. That means phasing out coal, oil and gas as we know they are the primary driver of global heating and the increase we are seeing in heat related illness.”

Climate Council Media Release

THE CLIMATE COUNCIL celebrates today’s announcement that the Future Made In Australia Act is soon to roll off the Federal Government’s policy production line.

Climate Council CEO Amanda McKenzie said: “This is exactly the sort of leadership Australia needs to tackle climate pollution, generate clean jobs, and ensure a brighter future for our kids. In the US we’ve seen similar policies dramatically ramp up investment and create tens of thousands of new jobs. As one of the sunniest and windiest countries in the world, this is a huge opportunity for Australia.

“The Act could be a game-changer that facilitates immediate investment to match the global clean energy shift, supercharge new industries, and cement Australia’s advantage in clean energy.

“Diversifying into sectors like clean manufacturing and critical minerals is essential. Developing these sectors will not only boost our economy but also help us slash climate pollution.”

Climate Council senior researcher Dr Wesley Morgan said: “The world is changing fast with a big shift to clean energy industries, and Australia needs to act quickly to seize our advantage. Change is coming no matter what, so holding onto coal and gas exports is like clutching our Kodak cameras as the rest of the world goes digital.

“Globally, the US’ stimulus for clean energy industries is pulling in enormous investment and reshaping energy supply chains. Making smart investments of our own can attract capital and more bright ideas to Australia as well, putting us at the heart of these new global energy and industry partnerships.

“With the right policy settings, the Future Made In Australia Act can unlock huge economic benefits – in new industries, more jobs and a safer climate future for every community. The Federal Government is making a smart choice by prioritising clean manufacturing.”

The curved course of the ubiquitous banana has often been the peel of empire, its sweetness masking a sharp, bitter legacy. Arab conquerors introduced it to the African continent as they cultivated a slave market. European imperialism did the same to the Americas via the Canary Islands, insinuating the luscious fruit into markets of solid exploitation and guaranteed returns. In time, demand for bananas grew. Cheap capital cushioned it.

Corporation power and secondary colonisation, exercised through such ruthless entities as the United Fruit Company (now the jauntily labelled Chiquita), continued the legacy, collaborating with corrupt elites while exerting control over large swathes of the local economy. The Banana Republic was axiomatic to the exertion of US power in the agriculture of the South. Names like Lorenzo D. Baker, who first imported bananas to the US in 1870, preceding Philadelphia’s World Fair promotion in 1876, and Minor C. Keith and Andrew W. Preston, should be marked in bold in such efforts. It is they who led the way to the creation of the United Fruit Company.

Marcelo Bucheli offers an adequate description about United Fruit as a broad based alliance that led to the creation of an “impressive production and distribution network” made up of “plantations, hospitals, roads, railways, telegraph lines, housing facilities, and ports in the producing companies, a steamship fleet (the Great White Fleet, which eventually became the largest privately owned fleet in the world), and a distribution network in the United States.” Some fruit; some capital.

The company’s indelible staining of Latin America’s politics was ingloriously affirmed with its role in overthrowing the democratically elected Guatemalan leader Jacobo Árbenz, whose expropriating measures to award property to landless citizens proved too much. The resulting Washington-backed coup, encouraged by such figures as United Fruit’s main shareholder Samuel Zemurray, resulted in a military dictatorship leading to 200,000 deaths.

In 1954, with the coup in full swing, Árbenz could only observe with tragic sadness that “the pretext of anti-communism” had been cited to overthrow his government. “The truth is very different. The truth is to be found in the financial interests of the fruit company and other US monopolies which have invested great amounts of money in Latin America and fear that the example of Guatemala would be followed by other Latin American countries.”

There is good reason then to take a rather withering view of the banana trade. It has become the feature fruit of monstrous monopolies, a brutal currency of exchange, the means by which exploitation has been cultivated for huge corporate gain. In some cases, its pricing has been kept low as the costs in production, be they in terms of land and people. They are the unwanted ghosts in the unaccounted equation.

Following the fruit to lands of its cultivation is to take a journey to inequality. The island of Mindanao in the Philippines produces 84% of the country’s bananas and hosts 25% of the country’s population. On that same island live over 35% of the country’s poorest residents. Historically, it was only the advent of the cooperative FARMCOOP and the passing of the Land Reform Law that enabled landless, indigent farmers to claim some degree of autonomy from the crushing conditions of the international banana market.

After the viciousness of imperialism, exploitation and profit, the banana now faces something of a different challenge. Climate, it has become trite to say, is playing up. The banana moguls, sellers and cultivators are getting anxious. Supply lines and prices are being affected. “Producers like Guatemala, El Salvador, and Costa Rica, will see a negative impact of rising temperatures over the next few decades,” predicts a confident Dan Bebber, a student of crop pathogens and sustainable agriculture.

Climate disruptions have also been something of an encouragement to threatening diseases to the crop, notably the TR4 fungus. The World Banana Forum, which benignly sounds like the Sorghum Appreciation Society with polite tea breaks and conference papers, offered a stolid seriousness. The BBC was there to gather some material, coming with such prosaic spurts as those of Pascal Lu, a senior economist at the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO): the impact of climate change was such as to pose an “enormous threat” to banana production.

CBS News was also at hand to be told by Sabine Altendorf, yet another economist at the UNFAO with an interest in supply chains of agricultural products, that any such infection would essentially doom the crop. “Once a plantation has been infected, it cannot be eradicated. There is no pesticide or fungicide that is effective.”

Lu offers a diplomatic splash on the whole matter. He speaks of certification, keeping the bananas “greener” (no irony intended) and extols the value of such regulations as “they help producers seize the opportunity of making their production systems more sustainable.” Inevitably, he offers the following: “But of course, they also come with costs for producers because they require more control and monitoring systems on the part of the producers and the traders. And these costs have to trickle down to the final consumers.”

Ultimately, such certification remains overwhelmingly voluntary, by which the producers pay a fee for the process, thereby receiving price premiums and market access for upholding certain market standards.

The environmental ledger for humanity, and much of the globe, engenders worry. Climate change is dooming us in various ways. States and communities will be submerged. Droughts will empty tracts of land of agrarian occupation. Agricultural patterns will alter. It is making the cultivation of crops in certain areas of the world unfeasible and untenable. And this potassium rich source, so revered for shape, size and flavour, its brutal legacy often ignored at the shopping counter, may have met its match.

The Australia Institute Media Release

Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek’s Department has approved a major part of Santos’ controversial Barossa gas export project, the Darwin Pipeline Duplication Project.

The approval was made on 15 March, but only published on the DCCEEW website at 5:15 pm on 27 March, at the end of the parliamentary week and shortly before the Easter holidays.

“The Santos Barossa Project is the dirtiest gas project in Australia and should not proceed on climate grounds alone,” said Rod Campbell, Research Director at The Australia Institute.

“But Barossa is even worse than other gas projects, not just due to its CO2 content, but because of the staunch opposition of Tiwi Island Traditional Owners.

“The Federal Government has already bent over backwards for this project, rushing its ‘favour for Santos’ Bill through the parliament late last year with the support of the Liberal-National Coalition.

“Now we see a rapid project approval, published quietly just before the Easter holidays. This is a classic case of the government taking out the trash.

“Australia’s climate-wrecking fossil fuel export industry is being quietly assisted by the Federal Government at every opportunity, while ministers make as much noise as they can about new car regulations.

“Any government that was serious about climate, Traditional Owner consultation, relations with the Pacific and basic integrity would not have approved this project.

“Barossa is just one of the 100 new fossil fuel projects under development in Australia. Australia is still transitioning to more fossil fuels, not away from them.

Friends of the Earth Media Release

Threat from mercury, lead & radioactive waste pollution

A multinational fossil fuel company has applied to the federal government to dump the majority of eight offshore oil platforms into Bass Strait close to the Gippsland coast in Victoria.

Esso, which is owned by Woodside and ExxonMobil, wants to remove the topsides of the platforms before cutting the massive pylons, or jackets, and dumping them into the ocean.

The eight facilities are among 13 that need to be decommissioned in coming years.

They have been found to contain high levels of asbestos, mercury, lead and other heavy metals, as well as thousands of tonnes of hazardous radioactive waste, technically enhanced and worsened in the extraction process*.

Esso says that they will be creating so-called artificial reefs, but the level of toxins and radioactivity in the resulting sea life is likely to be high, given recent studies.

Friends of the Earth (FoE) is calling on the government to immediately reject the application, and to force the company to safely and responsibly remove all of the steel and other recyclable materials from the facilities.

Friends of the Earth Offshore Fossil Gas campaigner Jeff Waters says Esso is being deceptive, because it’s “rigs to reef” scheme is nothing but an attempt to save money.

“Esso has to rent a European decommissioning ship, so they are rushing to complete the Bass Strait decommissioning in one season,” Jeff Waters said.

“If they were to be forced to recycle the hundreds of thousands of tonnes of perfectly good steel, they’d need to hire such a ship over several years.”

“Esso’s toxic fish factory has to be stopped.”

“They’re using scientific studies that they paid for to justify turning the ocean off Gippsland into a toxic dump,” Waters said.

”Those retired oil platforms contain huge amounts of mercury and hazardous radioactive waste, which will poison the areas around them and render the sea life too dangerous to consume.”

“It’s also a waste of perfectly good steel that could be recycled and turned into much-needed wind turbine towers and bases.”

Friends of the Earth is also calling on the Victorian government to intervene.

“The state government needs steel to build wind turbine towers and bases,” Jeff Waters said.

“The state government should be picking up the phone to their federal colleagues today and demanding that this steel be recycled.

Friends of the Earth is calling on the government to extend the existing temporary decommissioning levy to force the oil and methane industry to pay for world-standard onshore breaking and recycling facilities.

FoE has also launched a new website and petition that can be signed at RecycleTheRigs.org

Change can be gradual, or it can be sudden.

Either way, we humans are usually prepared for it. We’ve seen it coming. We’ve been warned.

Our technology and mass forms of communication keep us in touch with the progress of a changing planet.

We know when a pandemic is on our doorstep. We know when the weather is changing. We know if an asteroid is hurtling towards us. We know the likelihood of conflict in faraway places. We know when new laws are being introduced and how they will affect us (good or bad).

No matter what it is, someone is always on hand to tell us.

But who tells the animals we share the planet with? My guess, nobody. They work it out themselves.

And then they tell us. But who listens?

What of their world?

Let’s take a look at one part of their world, to them, their only world: my backyard.

This world is a green one: filled with trees, shrubs, bushes, flowers, birds, bees, bugs, lizards, frogs, butterflies, spiders and heaps of creepy-crawlies. It’s a nice world. They’re happy.

Though hot summers can be a frenzy of flying creatures: flies, beetles (including Christmas beetles), moths, mosquitos and other little creatures that sting or bite.

The Christmas beetles were the first to disappear. We haven’t seen them for about three years.

Then the flying bugs – whatever they were.

Two years ago, with the disappearance of those flying beasties, the spiders took action. Food become scarcer, so they built larger webs in order to catch whatever was flying about.

As the food grew scarcer, the webs grew bigger.

No two trees weren’t connected by a web. They stretched also across our paths – from gutter to tree. It was impossible to walk around the house and garden without walking into a web (followed by wild karate chops and strange dances from moi as I tried to shake off unseen spider).

But there was a message. The spiders were telling me they were hungry. They were also telling me that food was scarce.

This year the flying creatures are scarcer. Even the annoying flies are no longer annoying us.

But also this year the spider webs too disappeared.

What are the spiders telling us?

Their world – their environment – is changing. For the worse. So then, is ours.

Oxfam warns that over six million people from farming families in Zambia are facing acute food shortages and malnutrition until next growing season, which is twelve months away, due to a severe drought, exacerbated by climate change and El Nino, which has caused massive crop failures for half of the nation’s “planted area.”

The drought has forced the Zambian government to declare a national disaster and emergency. President Hakainde Hichilema said last week Thursday that the country had gone without rain for five weeks at a time when farmers needed it the most. The drought had hit 84 of the country’s 116 districts, affecting more than a million farming households.

Ezra Banda, Director at Keepers Zambia Foundation, a partner organisation that works with Oxfam, says this crisis is coming at the time when the country is still recovering from the worst cholera outbreak that has claimed more than 700 lives, on top of another dry spell and last year’s flooding.

“Urgent support in form of food and clean water is what people need the most now,” said Banda. “Many have no food left because they did not harvest enough last year, and this El Nino-induced weather phenomenon has killed the slightest hope they had to feed themselves”.

He added that water shortages that are likely to ensue because of low rainfall this year could spark yet another cholera outbreak.

Mainza Muchindu, a smallholder farmer from Lusaka, Zambia, told Oxfam: “I have a family of ten people and I depend on farming to support them. I support my children’s education through agriculture and my little children need food the most, for their nutrition. With this crop failure, I am really in trouble.”

Standing by his drying maize crop, he said: “I don’t know what else to do because I invested all my money into this two-hectare maize crop and as you can see there is nothing that will come from here. I don’t know where else I will get food from. I can only hope that there will be food relief from the government, otherwise we are facing a big problem.”

Oxfam in Southern Africa Programme Director, Machinda Marongwe, says it is times like when climate financing is most needed, to build up practical and accessible solutions for vulnerable smallholder farmers like Mainza. However, commitment by rich countries remains an unfulfilled one.

“As long as rich countries don’t lower their carbon emissions, we know that climate shocks will be frequent and more severe. Smallholder farmers need to be insulated from this and must be adequately supported to transform their agriculture so that they can still grow food for their families amidst this climate change reality.

“Sadly, they are not getting support to solve problems they didn’t cause, none is coming their way because rich nations are offering nothing but lip service. Countries like Zambia and many others in Southern Africa need this climate financing to help them build up the resilience of their smallholder farmers, because that is wearing out.”

Yvonne Chibiya, Oxfam in Zambia Country Representative, says Oxfam and partners are doing further assessments in the targeted districts to inform the humanitarian response. Oxfam urgently needs 6 million Euros to provide 600,000 people with cash transfers and clean water, help with winter cropping, and improving local sanitation and hygiene services to prevent a resurgence of cholera outbreak.

Climate Council Media Release

THE CLIMATE COUNCIL is sounding the alarm on a severe bleaching event unfolding across the Great Barrier Reef, with new vision showing the damage that stretches more than 1100 kilometres from Lizard Island to the Keppel Islands.

Marine heatwaves are bleaching swathes of the Southern Great Barrier reef white, which have brought direct observers to tears. With an ominous marine forecast for the coming weeks, authorities could declare another mass bleaching event.

The Reef, a cherished global icon and home to diverse marine life and a cornerstone of Australian natural heritage, faces repeated and escalating threats from climate pollution, caused by the burning of coal, oil, and gas, including more frequent and severe marine heatwaves.

Climate Council CEO Amanda McKenzie said: “Relentless pollution from coal, oil and gas is Australia’s number one environmental problem and it’s literally cooking the Reef. Our environmental protection laws are outdated and in desperate need of an overhaul to prevent new reef-destroying gas and coal projects.

“At least five coal and gas projects have been waved through under our outdated law by the Federal Government since it was elected, and more than 20 other highly polluting proposals are sitting on the Environment Minister’s desk right now. These projects will keep being waved through without stronger laws, endangering our Reef, all marine life and the livelihoods of Queenslanders who depend on a healthy, vibrant reef.

“Australians expect our national environment law will protect the precious natural environments like the Great Barrier Reef, and the numerous communities that depend upon it – not destroy them. Unless this law is fixed to make climate pollution a core consideration, the Great Barrier Reef will continue to deteriorate before our children’s eyes.”

Climate Councillor Professor Lesley Hughes said: “As ocean temperatures continue to increase, our precious Great Barrier Reef is in grave danger. The composition and diversity of our once mighty Reef has already been changed after repeated marine heatwaves and mass bleaching events driven by the relentless burning of coal, oil and gas. Our focus must be on limiting further harm as much as possible.

“Australians understand the Reef is irreplaceable. Many Queensland workers and communities rely directly on it for their livelihoods, and every one of us depends on a healthy ocean. Scientists and tour operators are being brought to tears by what they’re observing.

“The Reef can be restored, but it needs at least a decade to recover from a severe bleaching event, and the only way to ensure that can happen is to rapidly reduce climate pollution from coal, oil and gas. The only way to safeguard the Great Barrier Reef as well as everyone and everything that depends on it is to cut climate pollution at the source.”

Dr Dean Miller, Climate Council Fellow and reef expert said: “We’re seeing the most vulnerable corals to heat stress start bleaching along the length of the Great Barrier Reef, which is alarming.

“It’s not just about how many corals are bleaching, but that the ones most at risk are suffering. This stress is affecting corals of all sizes, from the largest ones that have survived past bleaching events to the smallest, youngest corals.

“If the heat stress continues, we’ll see more widespread bleaching affecting a higher diversity of coral species, which is a major concern for the reef’s health and ultimately its resilience.”

For a closer look at the impacts of climate change on the Great Barrier Reef, explore our collection of recently recorded footage.

LINKS TO CURRENT BLEACHING VISION:

Southern GBR

Hervey Bay: Must credit Hervey Bay Coral Watch (Feb 2024)

Heron Island: Must credit Divers for Climate (Feb 2024)

Northern GBR:

Port Douglas/Cairns: BEFORE VISION (October in 2023) & AFTER VISION (Feb 2024)

Oxfam Australia Media Release

As the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) -Australia Special Summit commences this week in Melbourne, Oxfam is calling for the Australian government and other world leaders attending to ramp up ambition to tackle the climate crisis in the region, beginning with an urgent phase out of Australia’s massive coal and gas exports, and an increase in climate finance flows to support the energy transition in the region.

Southeast Asia’s energy demand has increased by an average of 3% a year over the past two decades, and is projected to double by 2050. Australia is a substantial supplier of the region’s resource needs – almost $31 billion in exports, excluding crude petroleum in 2022 – and is expected to remain a long-term energy security partner for Southeast Asia.

Countries in the region have long been calling for countries like Australia to support ASEAN countries to respond to climate impacts and transition their economies away from fossil fuels. ASEAN member countries are some of the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, with floods, droughts and storms wreaking havoc across the region and leaving women, Indigenous communities and vulnerable groups displaced and devastated. However, Australia continues to export coal and gas to the region and deliver climate finance well below its fair share.

As the world’s third largest exporter of coal and gas, Australia bears high responsibility for accelerating the climate crisis. Australia and its fossil fuel exports are amplifying carbon emissions, and keeping ASEAN countries locked into dangerous, fossil fuel-dependent futures, instead of leading Just Energy Transition efforts both here and in the region.

Oxfam Australia Chief Executive Lyn Morgain said nations such as Australia needed to step up and play their part to respond to the climate crisis.

“Those who have contributed least to the crisis are the most at threat – women, youth, Indigenous peoples, our neighbours in the region. This is not fair. It’s time to change this by putting fairness at the centre of our climate change response.

“The path ahead will be challenging, but it is an imperative choice. The negative impacts of staying invested in coal and gas exports will be much higher. It is time for Australia to redirect its trajectory, become a renewable energy leader and a long-term Just Energy Transition partner for ASEAN, rather than a peddler of outdated and dangerous energy sources,” she said.

Oxfam is calling for Australia to stop all new fossil fuel projects immediately. They are also asking the Australian government to:

• Commit to an urgent phase out of Australia’s massive coal and gas exports to ASEAN and transition to become a leader in sustainable renewable energy.
• Stop subsidising fossil fuels and redirect these resources for climate action including adaptation and support for a Just Energy Transition in Australia and ASEAN.
• Provide new and additional climate finance to support climate-vulnerable ASEAN countries respond to the impacts of climate change and accelerate the energy transition process.
• Increase transparency on climate risk assessment of all engagements and projects with ASEAN.
• Promote the inclusion of civil society organisations that represent the rights, interests and voices of women, youth, Indigenous and vulnerable communities in the collaboration with ASEAN.

Climate Council Media Release

AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL CITIES are set to swelter through twice as many days above 35°C by the end of the century, a detailed analysis from the Climate Council has found.

But there’s hope: reducing climate pollution globally now could slash the number of scorching days by an average of 20 percent across Australian communities.

Thousands of data points from CSIRO and the Bureau of Meteorology’s Climate Change in Australia project were analysed by the geospatial team Spatial Vision, who worked alongside the Climate Council to develop a new interactive heat map tool.

The map projects the average number of hot and very hot days, as well as very hot nights, for each Australian suburb by 2050 and 2090 under three scenarios:

1. No action, where global emissions rise throughout the 21st century
2. Existing action, what we’d see if all countries meet their current commitments for emission reductions
3. Necessary action, a much stronger pathway that requires almost all countries, including Australia, to substantially strengthen their existing climate commitments and actions.

Any Australian can input their suburb or postcode to the heat map, to see how stronger action on climate pollution can affect the heat in their area.

Amanda McKenzie, Climate Council CEO said: “Climate pollution is rapidly turning up the heat in Australia. Whether we live in cities or regional towns, all Australians are sweltering through even hotter days and killer heatwaves.

“Australia must keep building out renewable energy to completely phase out pollution from coal, oil and gas and protect our families from unlivable temperatures. If we don’t take further steps now, some neighbourhoods and communities will become so hot people will struggle to live there. It’s not something that’s far off, it’s here now and it will define the coming decades.

“This map makes it clear that Australia’s pathway to cut climate pollution this decade will play a critical role in determining the future health and prosperity of entire communities across our country.”

Head of Research at the Climate Council Dr Simon Bradshaw said: “This tool empowers Australians to see the real impacts of climate pollution in their own neighbourhoods.

“Choices being made this decade will dramatically affect the kind of community our children and grandchildren inherit. Cutting climate pollution further will limit the number of extremely hot days and the number of very warm nights we’re forced to endure, and ensure a better future for all Australians.”

Doctors for the Environment Australia executive director Dr Kate Wylie said: “Extreme heat is lethal. Dangerously hot temperatures put our health and wellbeing at serious risk, and threaten our families, community and animals.

“As well as the risks of heat exhaustion and heat stroke in extreme conditions, we know that heat exposure increases the risks of many serious illnesses, such as heart and respiratory diseases, mental health presentations and premature births.

“Older adults, infants and young children, pregnant women, people with underlying health conditions and those living in vulnerable communities have a heightened risk of illness during heatwaves. But by embracing renewable energy and cutting climate pollution, we can shield our communities from the worst consequences of extreme heat and safeguard our future health.”

Key findings and local impact

Western Sydney / New South Wales

• Based on existing action to reduce climate pollution, Western Sydney will swelter through twice as many days above 35°C by 2050 and three weeks above 35°C every summer.
• The urban heat island effect notably worsens living temperatures in Western Sydney, with materials like asphalt and concrete amplifying heat. This can elevate temperatures by as much as 10 degrees during extreme heat, exacerbating climate change and urban development challenges.

Darwin / Northern Territory

• Based on existing action to reduce climate pollution, Darwin could experience four times as many days over 35°C each year by mid-century, with residents facing almost three months of extra days above 35°C by 2050.
• If no action was taken to reduce climate pollution, by 2090, Darwin could experience a whopping 283 days over 35°C each year – an increase of 243 days – and a similar number of nights above 25°C. In other words, by the time a child born today is entering retirement, the city could be facing temperatures over 35°C for more than nine months of the year.
• Housing in remote communities in the Northern Territory is often old and badly constructed, with little insulation. Climate change is turning these houses into ‘dangerous hot boxes’ that threaten the health of residents, especially older people and those with existing health conditions.

Perth / Western Australia

• Based on existing action to reduce climate pollution, Perth could swelter through twice as many days above 35°C by 2050.
• This summer, people in Perth have had a taste of the hotter future to come, with unprecedented late-summer heatwaves. In February, Perth set a new record for the number of days over 40°C in a single month, with 7 consecutive days of sweltering heat.

Melbourne / Victoria

• Based on existing action to reduce climate pollution, Melbourne residents face double the number of days above 35°C by 2050.
• Extreme heat poses a growing threat to sporting competitions such as the Australian Open, challenging player safety. Losing tournaments like the Australian Open will negatively impact Victoria’s economy and Australia’s international reputation as a major event destination.

Canberra / ACT

• Based on existing action to reduce climate pollution, Canberra residents face twice as many days above 35°C by 2050.

Brisbane / Queensland

• Based on existing action to reduce climate pollution, Brisbane faces three times as many days above 35°C by 2050 and four times as many by 2090.
• Extreme heat is critically endangering flying fox populations, causing mass fatalities and pushing the species towards extinction.

Adelaide / South Australia

• Based on existing action to reduce climate pollution, Adelaide faces an extra week of days above 35°C by mid-century.
• South Australia’s wine regions, including the Barossa Valley, face threats from climate change with rising temperatures hastening grape ripening, impacting quality. Adapting through new grape varieties or relocating vineyards remains costly and complex.

Hobart / Tasmania

• Based upon existing action to reduce climate pollution, by mid-century the extreme temperatures Hobart experienced over the 2019-20 summer could become the norm.
• Rising sea surface temperatures off Tasmania’s coast, which are rising nearly four times faster than the global average, is endangering Tasmania’s marine life and fisheries. The longest marine heatwave in 2016 devastated commercial species.

SEE THE CLIMATE COUNCIL’S CLIMATE HEAT MAP HERE

With Australians enduring intense climate-related disasters during the past five years, analysts and lawyers are warning that prospective homeowners and investors could be buying into a perfect storm.

Making buyers aware of the potential bushfire, flooding and coast erosion threats to property could be a compliance issue for governments, property lawyers, and the insurance industry.

A 30-year climate outlook exclusively commissioned by The Australian Conveyancer magazine exposes threats to thousands of properties in NSW and suggests owners will be impacted by land valuation, zoning restrictions and insurance premiums.

The Australian Conveyancer Magazine’s February edition unpacks the implications for owners, investors and the property industry in a 20-page spotlight report.

The digital magazine can be viewed here.

Scientific modelling from Groundsure’s ClimateIndex details the regions more affected by lightning strikes and bushfires in the next three decades; shows how some current flood zones will worsen; and why more beach-side properties will suffer severe erosion.

It says, the impact on safety, development planning, land values and compliance is real:

• It claims that 40 per cent of all properties in NSW are now at moderate to high risk of flooding.
• The risk of catastrophic loss, both financially and physically, will drive up insurance premiums.

The report also draws attention to the state’s experience of catastrophic events during the past five years:

• NSW’s so-called Black Summer bushfires of 2029-20 cost $4.9 billion.
• Insurers have paid our $13 billion in climate-related claims in NSW.
• The combined value of coastal properties exposed to coastal erosion damage is $25 billion.

Detailed mapping shows the extent of the risk but also provides relief to some property owners and investors.

• Some suburbs and land lots will see reductions in risk from the elements due to favourable weather forecasts.
• Some regions will see no change at all. But for many, the situation will worsen during the next 30 years.

The digital magazine can be viewed here:

Key facts:

• 40 per cent of all properties in NSW are now at moderate to high risk of flooding.
• The risk of catastrophic loss, both financially and physically, will drive up insurance premiums.
• NSW’s so-called Black Summer bushfires of 2029-20 cost $4.9 billion.
• Insurers have paid our $13 billion in climate-related claims in NSW.
• The combined value of coastal properties exposed to coastal erosion damage is $25 billion.
• Some suburbs and land lots will see reductions in risk from the elements due to favourable weather forecasts.
• Some regions will see no change at all. But for many, the situation will worsen during the next 30 years.

CSIRO News Release

A new study led by Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO, shows that marine heatwaves (MHWs) are altering the microorganism communities that form the base of the marine food chain, disrupting coastal ecosystems.

Australia has recently experienced a number of marine heatwaves off the East Coast and Tasmania.

They are prolonged oceanic warm water events that can have significant impacts on marine life, including fish, coral reefs and kelp forests.

MHWs can be caused by a range of factors, and large climate drivers such as El Niño are known to impact their frequency, intensity and duration.

Lead author Dr Mark Brown said the researchers analysed a MHW off Tasmania in 2015/16, an extreme warming event, finding it had significant impacts on microorganisms.

“The marine heatwave transformed the microbial community in the water column to resemble those found more than 1000 km north, and supported the presence of many organisms that are uncommon at this latitude,” Dr Brown said.

“This reshaping leads to the occurrence of unusual species, the development of unique combinations of organisms, and can cause cascading effects throughout the ecosystem, including changes in the fate of carbon sequestered from the atmosphere.

“For instance, we observed a shift away from the normal phytoplankton species at this site towards smaller cells that are not easily consumed by larger animals, potentially leading to profound changes all the way up the food chain.”

The study is the result of a long-term effort to observe marine microbiota for over 12 years.

CSIRO principal research scientist Dr Lev Bodrossy said researchers used a new approach to simplify the way they observed tens of thousands of marine microbes.

“This will enable us to evaluate the health of the marine ecosystem and predict how it will change with predicted global warming,” Dr Bodrossy said.

“We’ll be able to better predict the future of fish stocks and marine carbon sequestration in different regions of the global ocean.

“Observations like these, especially those done in the open ocean, are difficult to sustain but are crucial for understanding and forecasting the future status of the marine ecosystem,” he said.

The article ‘A marine heatwave drives significant shifts in pelagic microbiology’ was published in Nature’s Communications Biology