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1 Safe Climate Newsletter 19: Mailed January 2014 Hello Here’s the December / January safe climate newsletter. Regards Andrew www.feedbackreigns.net 2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Contents Safe Climate Newsletter 19: Mailed January 2014 ................................................ 1 Contents .................................................................................................................. 1 International ............................................................................................................ 2 3.1 US-China agreement on Emissions & Clean Energy ...................................... 2 3.2 Obama's potential successors & climate change ............................................. 3 3.3 Chinese coal demand fell in 2014 while economy grew ................................. 3 3.4 World Bank: Use oil crash to slash subsidies ................................................. 3 3.5 Major UK parties support low carbon economy ............................................. 3 Technical ................................................................................................................ 3 4.1 A saving in switching from gas to electric heating ......................................... 3 4.2 Pumped hydro: the forgotten storage solution ................................................ 4 4.3 Plane fuel from food waste.............................................................................. 4 4.4 Water self-sufficiency for a Sydney house ..................................................... 4 4.5 Europe set records for wind power ................................................................. 5 4.6 World’s largest solar plant: Scale on par with fossil fuel plants ..................... 5 4.7 Urban Farms Foods: Grown in doors .............................................................. 5 4.8 World first: Operational wave energy project ................................................. 5 Heat Records........................................................................................................... 5 5.1 Globally 2014 the hottest year on record by far .............................................. 5 5.2 Spring 2014 Australia’s hottest on record, beating 2013 ................................ 6 5.3 Australia sweats through hot spring ................................................................ 6 5.4 Tropics moving south to Sydney..................................................................... 6 Climate change ....................................................................................................... 6 6.1 A problem with reducing emissions ................................................................ 6 6.2 Oil price crash is good news for climate, and clean energy ............................ 7 6.3 Climate action is insurance against climate damage ....................................... 7 6.4 Lightening ....................................................................................................... 7 6.5 Most of fossil fuel needs to stay in the ground ............................................... 8 Australia.................................................................................................................. 8 7.1 Australia now has a carbon trading scheme? .................................................. 8 7.2 Federal Liberals avoid using term “climate change” ...................................... 8 7.3 Fines for dumping fracking water into Newcastle sewer ................................ 8 7.4 Export Victorian brown coal ........................................................................... 9 7.5 Queensland Subsidy for Adani coal railway ................................................... 9 7.6 Australian funding to UN Environment Program cut 80% ............................. 9 7.7 Mildura Solar Farm Suspended: RET Uncertainty ......................................... 9 7.8 ABC Cuts ...................................................................................................... 10 7.9 Great Barrier Reef at risk .............................................................................. 10 8 Victoria ................................................................................................................. 10 8.1 Sate government subsidising expansion of gas network ............................... 10 8.2 Victorian Government Brought Down by Population Growth ..................... 10 8.3 Victoria possibly a new era for renewable energy ........................................ 10 9 Lima ...................................................................................................................... 11 9.1 Lima Documents: Goal to end fossil fuels by 2050 ...................................... 11 9.2 Outcome of Lima: Phasing out fossil fuels ................................................... 11 9.3 Lima: what on earth is Australia doing here? ............................................... 11 9.4 Why is Bishop calling for legally binding targets ......................................... 12 10 Climate investment ........................................................................................... 12 10.1 NAB climate bond doubles in five hours ...................................................... 12 10.2 Glasgow University Divestment ................................................................... 12 10.3 Rockefellers to switch investments to clean energy...................................... 12 10.4 The strengthening economic case for fossil fuel divestment ........................ 13 10.5 World bank to focus future investment on clean energy ............................... 13 11 About this newsletter ........................................................................................ 13 11.1 How to get this monthly newsletter............................................................... 13 11.2 Unsubscribe from this newsletter .................................................................. 13 11.3 Privacy and Security...................................................................................... 13 11.4 Origin of the Newsletter ................................................................................ 13 11.5 Some of these newsletter are on the web ...................................................... 14 11.6 Compiler of the newsletter ............................................................................ 14 3 3.1 International US-China agreement on Emissions & Clean Energy In the emissions agreement between the US and China: The US agreed to cut greenhouse gas emissions to26 – 28% below 2005 levels by 2025, a doubling of its previous commitment. China agreed to cap its emissions by 2030 or earlier. China has never capped its emissions before. China agreed to increase its renewable energy to 20% of the total. This will require China to add 800-1,000 gigawatts of nuclear, wind, solar and other zero-emission generation capacity by 2030. This is more than all the coalfired power plants that exist in China today. It is close to total current electricity generation capacity in the United States. This enormous investment in renewable capacity will drive further cost reductions in renewable energy. The agreement could lead to A$ 4.5 trillion loss in revenue for oil and gas over the next 15 years. For Australia to match the US goals, Australia would have to set a 30% emissions reduction by 2025 compared to the current 5% of 2000 levels as by 2020. http://www.climatecouncil.org.au/uploads/71f3f7b275c20f57fa2b193ec25c3242.pdf http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/nov/12/china-and-us-make-carbonpledge http://www.theguardian.com/environment/planet-oz/2014/nov/18/turbulent-week-forglobal-climate-policy-leaves-many-questions 3.2 Obama's potential successors & climate change The potential 2016 presidential candidates fall along a spectrum on the issue, from flat denialism to a sense of urgency that rivals the current president’s. Here’s a roundup of where they stand http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/nov/12/where-obamas-potentialsuccessors-stand-on-climate-change 3.3 Chinese coal demand fell in 2014 while economy grew Coal demand in China dropped by around 2.3% in the first eleven months of 2014 compared to the same period in 2013, government figures show. ... China’s economy and production of electricity continued to grow. http://www.rtcc.org/2015/01/07/chinese-coal-demand-fell-in-2014/ 3.4 World Bank: Use oil crash to slash subsidies http://www.rtcc.org/2015/01/07/world-bank-urges-leaders-to-use-oil-crash-to-slashsubsidies/ 3.5 Major UK parties support low carbon economy The British government is making big progress in the battle against global warming and it argues that it's an issue that naturally belongs to the Right. The United Kingdom led the world in 2008 by legislating for long-term, ambitious emissions reductions of 80 per cent by 2050 – and has already achieved a 25 per cent drop on 1990 levels. In June, David Cameron opened the world's largest offshore wind farm with 175 turbines in the Thames Estuary. Almost 20 per cent of Britain's electricity is now produced by renewables, with eight per cent powered by wind – equivalent to about 6.5 million homes. The UK's energy market reforms and the drive to transform the economy to a low carbon model are supported by all the major political parties. http://www.theage.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/why-britains-tories-areearths-best-friends-20141120-11qe3e.html UK Tories slam Abbott on climate http://www.theage.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/uk-tories-slam-tony-abbotton-climate-policy-20141120-11qos6.html 4 4.1 Technical A saving in switching from gas to electric heating “I’ve been assisting friends and family to disconnect the gas supply for several years now ... but even I was surprised by what I discovered in helping my parents replace their gas central heater with the most energy efficient reverse-cycle air conditioner on the Australian market: Daikin’s Ururu Sarara. The sad news for the energy utilities is that my parents will not only [eliminate] their gas bill ... but, in addition, their [electricity] bill will probably go down. It was quite astounding and reflects the fact that split-system reverse-cycle air conditioner energy efficiency has improved considerably over the last few years ...while gas central heating is incredibly inefficient.” (Matthew Wright, 16 Dec 2104)) http://www.businessspectator.com.au/article/2014/12/16/smart-energy/gas-deathspiral-will-not-help-power-utilities 4.2 Pumped hydro: the forgotten storage solution The capital cost of storing energy by “pumped hydro” is as low as $100 to $200 capital per kWh of useable energy stored. Chemical battery makers are aiming for costs in the range of $200 to $500 capital per kwh ... Australia already has three largescale pumped hydro facilities ... Pumped hydro differs from conventional hydroelectricity in that it doesn’t need to store a lot of water. ... Useful pumped hydro reservoirs might be only 50 hectares, or even as small as five. ... With pumped hydro, water is recycled over and over again from the upper to the lower reservoir and back again. ... Nearly the entire world’s pumped hydro facilities use freshwater, but if you prefer to use saline or seawater, the coastal cliff-top seawater pumped hydro facility on Okinawa has been helping to keep that Japanese island powered since 1999. In the case of Okinawa, the lower reservoir is quite large, because it is the Pacific Ocean. ... for low-cost large-scale pumped hydro you need two ponds separated by an elevation of at least 100 meters in a near-the-grid location where the two ponds are not more than three kilometres apart. ... there are thousands of such sites in Australia. ... it could play a role in balancing electricity supply/demand and in moderating wholesale prices, for example, during summer heat waves when electricity prices spike to over $10,000 / MWh. http://reneweconomy.com.au/2014/pumped-hydro-the-forgotten-storage-solution47248 4.3 Plane fuel from food waste Boeing’s historic green diesel flight in its ecoDemonstrator 787 this week used a fuel that could have been refined completely from waste animal fats. As well as vegetable oils and waste cooking oils. But what Boeing has done is make a valuable contribution to the pursuit of a new green fuel economic cycle in which aircraft, and presumably sea and land transport, could ultimately be fully fuelled on recycled but potentially energy rich wastes that fast food outlets, various manufacturing processes, and even abattoirs pay to dump. http://blogs.crikey.com.au/planetalking/2014/12/05/boeings-green-diesel-dreamlinercould-even-burn-road-kill/ 4.4 Water self-sufficiency for a Sydney house The brief asked for an existing house to be redesigned and made more appropriate for their life. It needed to be cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter, with the clients seeking to include as many environmental initiatives as possible within their budget. http://www.architectureanddesign.com.au/news/water-self-sufficiency-for-an-urbanhome-gladesvil 4.5 Europe set records for wind power Denmark ... has set a new world record for wind production by getting 39.1 percent of its overall electricity from wind in 2014. This puts the Northern European nation well on track to meet its 2020 goal of getting 50 percent of its power from renewables. The news of Denmark’s feat adds to the national records the U.K. and Germany set for 2014 and further establishes Europe as a leader in the wind power industry. http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/01/07/3608898/denmark-sets-world-record-forwind-power/ 4.6 World’s largest solar plant: Scale on par with fossil fuel plants The world's largest solar power plant has opened in California. The Topaz solar farm can produce enough energy to take the place of almost 400,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions or the equivalent of taking 73,000 cars off the road. From a scale and power perspective, it's on par with a major fossil fuel generator like a coal or a gas plant While Australia is squabbling about whether we might get more than 20 per cent of our electricity from renewables in 2020, California is powering ahead with their goal of getting 30 per cent by 2020, http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-12-03/australian-solar-industry-frustrated-ascalifornia-powers-ahead/5938552 4.7 Urban Farms Foods: Grown in doors What they claim: Fresh food grown year round indoors, efficient water usage, no insects no insecticides, no genetic mods. Small transportation costs. Local foods. Food grown in doors offered http://www.urbanbarns.com/ http://www.urbanbarns.com/what-is-cubic-farming 4.8 World first: Operational wave energy project Carnegie Wave Energy has successfully installed its electricity-generating underwater buoy technology off the coast of Perth, creating the first operational wave energy project in the world. The so-called CETO technology - that converts ocean swell into renewable power and freshwater - has been operating successfully for the past week, according to the company. http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/hello-buoys-wave-power-weeks-away-fromperth-grid-20141125-11tczi.html#ixzz3K2pawREo 5 5.1 Heat Records Globally 2014 the hottest year on record by far The Japan Meteorological Agency has announced that 2014 was the hottest year in more than 120 years of record-keeping by far ... there has been no “pause” in warming. In fact, there has not even been a slowdown. ... Yes, 1998 is the second hottest years ... but 1998 was boosted above the trend-line by an unusual super-El Niño. .... What makes setting the record for hottest year in 2014 doubly [concerning] is that it occurred without an El Nino. We are still waiting for the start of El Niño. http://www.climatecodered.org/2015/01/2014-was-hottest-year-on-record.html 5.2 Spring 2014 Australia’s hottest on record, beating 2013 Spring 2013 was the hottest on record, but now 2014 has gone higher again. http://theconversation.com/sound-familiar-spring-2014-was-australias-hottest-onrecord-again-34973 5.3 Australia sweats through hot spring Australia's incredible run of heat over the past two years continued through spring with unseasonably warm weather right across the country from the eastern seaboard through the interior to the west coast. Sydney and Melbourne both recorded their second warmest spring on record, a significant achievement considering the cities have now notched up over 150 years of data. Hobart went one better recording its warmest spring on record while Adelaide sweated through its warmest spring maximums in 100 years. http://www.skynews.com.au/news/national/2014/12/01/australia-sweats-through-hotspring.html 5.4 Tropics moving south to Sydney Like many southerners, I've entertained thoughts of moving north to sultry Queensland but now realise I don't have to bother since the tropics have relocated to Sydney. Hot days with humidity approaching 60 per cent, sprawling low pressure systems generating roiling cloud cover, violent afternoon electrical storms and torrential downpours? No it's not Ho Chi Minh City, Singapore, Darwin or Weipa, it's our very own Emerald City. We've been breaking all sorts of climate records, both in this country and globally, but those of you who've wondered if the run of tropicalesque storms we've been experiencing was also something out of the ordinary were not mistaken. Monday was the first time in (recorded) history that Sydney Airport had experienced seven consecutive days of storms, beating the record of five consecutive days set in 2007, 1992 and 1955. ... While it's "too early to say" if this sort of weather pattern was caused by global warming, it was "consistent with what the science is telling us" about man-made climate change. http://www.smh.com.au/comment/welcome-to-queensland-sydney-2014120912385d.html 6 6.1 Climate change A problem with reducing emissions New climate policy is no longer about carbon dioxide emissions reductions alone; it is about negative emissions, [the drawdown of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere] and about emission reduction timing as ... global cooling pollutants from burning coal are responsible for holding down the current warming by up to 57 percent. If we stop burning coal, up to half of the warming, that should have occurred to date, would occur because of the reduction in global cooling sulphate pollutants which stay in the atmosphere for only a short time ... We have no choice. We must begin to remove some of the vast long-lived load of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere that we have already emitted. http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/28212-climate-change-2014-what-do-we-do-now 6.2 Oil price crash is good news for climate, and clean energy The collapse in global oil prices to 5 year lows is causing a lot of speculation about what this means for climate change, and clean energy. To some extent, high fuel costs encourage the use of alternative fuels while low fuel costs encourage more consumption of conventional fuels. True, but only up to a point. The price of the fuel will also influence how much money is invested in oil projects ... oil extraction is getting more expensive and the oil majors have struggled to find new oil reserves that make economic sense. The fall in the oil price makes that even more difficult. So, from the point of view of the climate, that is a good thing, because that capital will likely flow to alternatives such as solar and wind. http://reneweconomy.com.au/2014/why-oil-price-crash-is-good-news-for-climateand-clean-energy-46863 6.3 Climate action is insurance against climate damage Look at a world population distribution map, there is a very strong correlation between rainfall and where people live [and where they grow food] ... if the temperature changes, the location and degree of rainfall will change ... We live in a hungry world already. If yields drop too far, literally billions of people will face chronic food shortages. ... So, who cares if the globe warms up? Well, all those hungry people will. Drought, storms and changing rainfall patterns will combine to drastically reduce crop yields. Massive storms will destroy homes and infrastructure. What will hundreds of millions of hungry, homeless people do? What would you do, if your home was repeatedly blown away, and you couldn’t feed your family? You’d find somewhere else to go, as will they. ... it probably won’t happen. But the cost of mitigating against it is far lower than the cost of having to deal with it. Battling global warming is exactly the same as taking out insurance on your car – it shouldn’t be controversial. https://www.businessspectator.com.au/article/2014/12/5/science-environment/whocares-if-earth-warms 6.4 Lightening Scientists have looked at the impacts of climate change in the years ahead, and one of the more threatening aspects is lightning. By 2100, researchers believe the rate of lightning will be up 50%. … Why would lightning be more prevalent with the rise of global warming? Water vapor. Warmer climates produce more water vapor, which is the source of lightning. David Romps, one of the scientists at UC Berkeley, compares water vapor to the explosive fuel. “If you have more fuel lying around, when you get ignition, it can go big time,” said Romps. The big concern associated with lightning is forest fires. Lightning is responsible for 50% of wildfires. Moreover, fires caused by lightning are generally harder to extinguish. With more lightning crashing, expect to see more wild habitats destroyed with flames. Currently, lightning injures hundreds of people annually, killing about 50. Inevitably, the increase in lightning bolts will result in more human fatalities. Maybe hearing that lightning will be striking at a much greater rate will be the kind of news that convinces people to take climate change more seriously. http://www.care2.com/causes/why-youll-be-seeing-a-lot-more-lightningsoon.html#ixzz3JerfYwFa 6.5 Most of fossil fuel needs to stay in the ground Most of the world's fossil fuel reserves will need to stay in the ground if dangerous global warming is to be avoided ... Over 80% of coal, 50% of gas and 30% of oil reserves are "unburnable" under the goal to limit global warming to no more than 2C, say scientists. ... Policy makers must realise that their instincts to completely use the fossil fuels within their countries are wholly incompatible with their commitments to the 2C goal. http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-30709211 7 7.1 Australia Australia now has a carbon trading scheme? Senator Nick Xenophon has brought back a carbon trading scheme to Australia and nobody seems to have noticed. ... a ‘Safeguard Mechanism’ in the Direct Action legislation. The mechanism creates the framework for a baseline and credit system which is similar to a cap-and-trade system in that both are market based methods to arrive at a price for carbon. While the specific details of the Safeguard Mechanism have yet to be determined, conceptually any company who currently emits more than 100,000 tonnes of CO2 annually will be required from 1 July 2016 to keep their emissions below a predetermined baseline level or face penalties. http://reneweconomy.com.au/2014/anyone-notice-australia-now-carbon-tradingscheme-87832 7.2 Federal Liberals avoid using term “climate change” Minister Barnaby Joyce in October outlined his department's paper on competitiveness in the agriculture without a single reference to climate change in its 111-page report. "Australian farmers, even more so than their global competitors, must adapt to climate variability," was about the closest it got. http://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/heat-is-on-abbott-governmentover-climate-change-as-world-turns-20150102-12ghrj.html 7.3 Fines for dumping fracking water into Newcastle sewer There are renewed concerns over a coal seam gas fracking operation in the Hunter Valley, after a contractor was fined for dumping wastewater into Newcastle's sewer system. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-12-19/company-fined-for-dumping-csg-frackingwater-from-agl-site-in-n/5978776 7.4 Export Victorian brown coal In May and June, three companies were given $20-30 million each in taxpayer’s money for proposed new coal projects in the Latrobe Valley. One of these companies has just announced they intend to export their processed coal from Corner Inlet, a precious wetland right next to Wilson’s Promontory. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-12-12/work-expected-to-start-on-new-yallourncoal/5962454 7.5 Queensland Subsidy for Adani coal railway The Queensland Government announced it is prepared to invest taxpayer money to help India-based coal miner Adani build a 190-kilometre railway line to move about 60 million tonnes of coal a year to the coast for export. ... the dollar amounts will be in the “hundreds of millions. ... [In Nov 2014 Queensland] signed the first of these agreements with Adani. http://www.theguardian.com/environment/planet-oz/2014/nov/18/turbulent-week-forglobal-climate-policy-leaves-many-questions 7.6 Australian funding to UN Environment Program cut 80% The ABC reports Australian funding has been cut by over 80 per cent to the UN Environment Program, which provides advice on environmental policies and climate change negotiations. It says Australia was due to contribute around $1.2 million this year, but has only offered $200,000. http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2014/12/03/reports-government-cut-funding-unenvironment-agency 7.7 Mildura Solar Farm Suspended: RET Uncertainty The company planning to build one of the country’s largest solar farms has walked away from the project amid uncertainty over federal government support for a longterm renewable energy target. Silex Systems announced on Monday that it would suspend its proposed 2000-dish solar farm near Mildura, which had been billed as being capable of producing enough electricity to run 30,000 homes. Chief executive Michael Goldsworthy said the combination of uncertainty about the target, which requires 41,000 gigawatt hours of electricity from renewable sources by 2020, and low wholesale power prices, meant the $420 million project would not go ahead. ... ''There’s not as much pressure on the market to have renewable energy in their portfolio now simply because the [target] is at least going to be wound back and possibly abolished,'' he told the ABC. In a statement to the stock exchange on Monday, the company said it would consider a smaller project at the Mildura site. Stage one of the solar farm was completed in July 2013, when 40 dishes on a Carwarp sheep farm 30 minutes outside Mildura began feeding 1.5 megawatts of electricity into the grid - enough power for 500 homes. (Sydney Morning Herald, 18 Aug 2014) http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/solar-farm-abandoned-amiduncertainty-over-renewable-energy-target-20140818-105en6.html 7.8 ABC Cuts This Abbott Government's axe has fallen upon the ABC and SBS - and the impact upon programming is just being realised. The ABC has been forced to close five regional radio outposts, cancel the state-based editions of TV's 7.30 program and end Radio National's Bush Telegraph. Lateline and Australian Story will be gutted, and five Radio National shows will go - as well as 100 jobs from the ABC News division. https://www.getup.org.au/campaigns/media/abbotts-broken-promises/abc-cuts-makeabbott-pay-the-price-for-his-broken-promise?t=X5obgsqVz 7.9 Great Barrier Reef at risk World-leading scientists say the Great Barrier Reef will be "slaughtered" this century as seas warm and become more acidic, dismissing comments by Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop that Australia's natural icon was not at risk. http://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/great-barrier-reef-will-beslaughtered-scientists-dismiss-julie-bishops-claim-reef-not-at-risk-2014112111r4a6.html 8 8.1 Victoria Sate government subsidising expansion of gas network The new Victorian Labor government should be urged to reverse state government subsidies to fossil fuel. Many Australians have used cheap gas for a long time, and have come to the conclusion that gas is cheap and good. Individuals are still buying gas heaters. And governments are still expanding gas infrastructure and so subsidising the use of gas. For example, the Coalition Victorian Government “Energy for the Regions Program” planned to spend $100 million to supply reticulated natural gas to communities over regional and rural Victoria” http://www.rdv.vic.gov.au/infrastructure-programs/energy-for-the-regions http://www.bendigoadvertiser.com.au/story/714881/bendigo-regions-gas-pipe-closer/ 8.2 Victorian Government Brought Down by Population Growth Rapid population growth is political poison, and has brought down a second Victorian Government in four years. In the past decade Australia's migration rate more than doubled. The greatest consequences of this dramatic increase have been in Melbourne, which started growing by more than 200 people a day, 1500 each week, 75,000 each year. http://kelvinthomson.blogspot.com.au/2014/12/second-victorian-governmentbrought.html 8.3 Victoria possibly a new era for renewable energy The sun was setting on Victoria's renewable energy sector under the Coalition. With the election of the Daniel Andrews Labor government, and possibly Ellen Sandell of the Greens in Melbourne, Victoria can enter a new era for renewable energy. Three years ago, then Victorian Premier Ted Baillieu introduced the world's toughest restrictions on wind farms. The restrictions included blanket bans on wind farms in the windiest parts of the state, and a right of veto allowing householders living 2km from proposed turbines to block projects. The Coalition's laws established an indefensible double standard on energy sources. Wind energy was more regulated than brown coal and unconventional gas http://www.businessspectator.com.au/article/2014/12/2/policy-politics/how-cleanenergy-played-out-victorian-election 9 9.1 Lima Lima Documents: Goal to end fossil fuels by 2050 Campaigners in Lima are eyeing an ‘inevitable’ end to the fossil fuel industry by midcentury. It’s a rare thing when you can point to paragraphs in a United Nations climate negotiating text and feel they more or less match what most of the science says should become a reality. Yet in Lima on Monday, it happened. ... “Consistent with carbon neutrality / net zero emissions by 2050, or full decarbonization by 2050 and/or negative emissions by 2100” ... Either the goal survives or the world moves to a riskier and more dangerous future. http://www.theguardian.com/environment/planet-oz/2014/dec/08/goal-to-end-fossilfuels-by-2050-surfaces-in-lima-un-climate-documents 9.2 Outcome of Lima: Phasing out fossil fuels The Australian government and big oil companies like ExxonMobil found they had a lot in common this past week. Both went to the Lima climate talks convinced that the demand for their fossil fuels will never waiver. Both will leave with their confidence challenged. ... Phasing out fossil fuels will be the global conversation in 2015 whether Tony Abbott and Julie Bishop like it or not. ... Less than 2 degrees’ is not one of Prime Minister Abbott’s slogans. Nor is a commitment to a long term goal of decarbonising the planet by 2050. But that is what the world will be negotiating in 2015. ... Julie Bishop let the cat out of the bag when she said, “How could one possibly commit to having fossil fuel free world by 2050?” Australia needs to phase out fossil fuels and move to 100% renewable energy for the climate and for our economy. The writing is on the wall for big coal, for the Galilee and Bowen basins and coal ports and railways. They will be stranded assets. The difference now is that this cannot be readily dismissed as a left-wing, enviro-fantasy. It is now part of not just mainstream political thinking (beyond the shores of Australia), but also mainstream financial analysis. And that’s what will count in the end. http://reneweconomy.com.au/2014/lima-leaves-australia-big-oil-with-giant-fossilfuel-headache-59828 9.3 Lima: what on earth is Australia doing here? Even as the World Bank called for a phase-out of fossil fuel subsidies, the Abbott Government introduced a new tax break for resource exploration last week. The rationale? Investment in minerals exploration is in decline, plunging to its lowest level in a decade. Yet, Australia ploughs on. The Queensland state government, according to The Australia Institute, has spent $8 billion subsidizing coal exploration over the last six years. And if coal mining goes ahead in the Galilee Basin it will become the single largest source of thermal coal anywhere on the planet. As the Guardian ... revealed earlier in the year, emissions from this complex of mines would dwarf Australia’s national emissions. Galilee coal represents 7 per cent of the global carbon budget and, were it to be released into the atmosphere, would negate much of what is trying be achieved here in Lima and in the lead-up to Paris next year. http://reneweconomy.com.au/2014/lima-what-on-earth-is-australia-doing-here-33589 9.4 Why is Bishop calling for legally binding targets The Greens are accusing the Federal Government of trying to ensure there is not an outcome at next year's climate change talks in Paris. The Foreign Minister, Julie Bishop, has reportedly said carbon emission targets beyond 2020 should be legally enforceable otherwise they would be merely aspirational. ... Greens leader Christine Milne, who is also in Peru, said the Republican-dominated US Congress would not pass legally binding carbon targets and this would ensure the US government would not be able to agree to the targets when the climate conference convened in Paris in a year. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-12-09/greens-question-bishops-call-for-legallybinding-carbon-targets/5955194 10 Climate investment 10.1 NAB climate bond doubles in five hours NAB’s first climate bond issued in Australian dollars for the Australian market last week closed oversubscribed and at $300 million, double the size initially flagged. According to a delighted Sean Kidney in his Climate Bond Initiative blog, it took just five hours to reach this amount. http://www.thefifthestate.com.au/business/investment-deals/nab-climate-bonddoubles-in-five-hours/70428 10.2 Glasgow University Divestment Glasgow University has become the first in the UK to announce that it will sell off the shares it holds in companies that produce fossil fuels. ... Glasgow joins 13 American universities and many other institutions who together have pledged to withdraw more than $50bn in assets from the fossil fuel industry. Just before the recent New York climate summit, the heirs to the Rockefeller fortune announced they planned to pull their funds from fossil fuels. Campaigners say that, so far, 181 institutions and 656 individuals have agreed to withdraw their money from fossil fuels. http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-29547137 10.3 Rockefellers to switch investments to clean energy http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-29310475 10.4 The strengthening economic case for fossil fuel divestment Extracting and burning the currently known reserves of coal, oil and gas using current technologies would result in catastrophic climate change, probably in excess of 4C of warming. This change would see massive species extinction and the destruction or radical transformation of all natural ecosystems and many vulnerable societies. Coral reefs, island and coastal communities, and localised ways of life would all disappear. Yet investors might still be willing to bet on such an outcome in the hope either that it would be delayed beyond their lifetime. ... Leaving aside the ethics of divestment and pursuing a purely rational economic analysis, the cold hard numbers of putting money into fossil fuels don’t look good. Unless universities are willing to bet on the destruction of the planet they have committed themselves to understanding and preserving, divestment from fossil fuels is the only choice they can make. Forwardthinking investors of all kinds would be wise to follow suit. https://theconversation.com/the-strengthening-economic-case-for-fossil-fueldivestment-34806 10.5 World bank to focus future investment on clean energy The World Bank will invest heavily in clean energy and only fund coal projects in “circumstances of extreme need” because climate change will undermine efforts to eliminate extreme poverty http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/nov/23/world-bank-to-focus-futureinvestment-on-clean-energy 11 About this newsletter 11.1 How to get this monthly newsletter To have this newsletter emailed to you monthly, send me an email like: “Subscribe: Please send me your safe climate newsletter” 11.2 Unsubscribe from this newsletter To stop getting this newsletter, send me an email like: “Unsubscribe: Please stop sending me your safe climate newsletter” 11.3 Privacy and Security I am set up to keep your personal information secure. For example: I do not share your details with others, I pay for effective anti-virus software, and I store the newsletter distribution list apart from my email If you have questions about this, do contact me. 11.4 Origin of the Newsletter This newsletter was produced by Peter Gardner until he began campaigning, during the 2013 Federal election, as a “Climate Emergency Independent” for the seat of Gippsland in Victoria. He has just stood in the 2014 Victorian Elections for the seat of East Gippsland. www.petergardner.info 11.5 Some of these newsletter are on the web Some of these newsletters are on the web as doc files: www.feedbackreigns.net About Section > Newsletter 11.6 Compiler of the newsletter Andrew Gunner compiled this newsletter Contact via: www.feedbackreigns.net