Blog
Can we rely on land-based solutions to offset burning fossil fuels?
Image source and acknowledgement: The Land Gap report The pressure on land in carbon dioxide removal In response to climate change, governments are increasingly relying on land for carbon dioxide removal. This is particularly true in Australia, notorious for its use...
Safeguard our climate – heavy emitters must pull their weight
The upcoming Safeguard Mechanism could drive real emissions reduction, but as it stands it risks letting Australia's biggest polluters off the hook through purchasing unlimited dodgy offsets. Image: Open cut coal mine - Hunter. Photo by Jeremy Buckingham/Flickr...
Report on the Hawthorn and Kew State Candidate Forums
Democracy in action The two recent candidate forums organised by Lighter Footprints in the Victorian electorates of Hawthorn and Kew were fine demonstrations of democracy in action. Voter appreciation was evident in the near-capacity attendance. Candidates had their...
Lily D’Ambrosio, Energy Minister (Vic) – massive commitment to climate and renewables if re-elected
Photo credit: Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change, Lily D’Ambrosio speaks to media during an announcement at PowerPlus Energy, in Melbourne, Friday, October 21, 2022. (AAP Image/Diego Fedele) NO ARCHIVING Summary The Climate and Energy Minister,...
Saving forests, Ditching gas
Two major environmental concerns leading up to the November state election for friends and members of Lighter Footprints are stopping logging in Victoria's forests and getting off gas. On Wednesday 28 September, Lighter Footprints welcomed Chris Schuringa, the...
Urban Trees and Climate
Canopy tree and climate change in Boroondara. Why should we be concerned? Benefits of Canopy Trees Whether in public spaces or on private land, trees enhance our sense of well-being, help reduce the urban heat island effect and support biodiversity. Canopy trees cool...
Federal Climate Policy, reactions, some questions and responses
Overview Labor's climate bill passes the lower house Amended by Greens and independents to make 43% by 2030 a floor, not a ceiling, Labor's climate bill passes the lower house, and heads to a Senate inquiry which is due to report by the end of August. The Liberals...
CARBON CREDITS: Dodgy offsets or the real deal?
Photo credit: Jaccob McKay/Unsplash The following is a summary of the Lighter Footprints event "CARBON CREDITS: Dodgy offsets or the real deal?" held on Wednesday 27 July 2022. The recording is available here. Moderator Tim Baxter, Senior Researcher for Climate...
An unfolding situation with carbon markets
The situation with carbon markets is becoming more fluid by the day! Welcome to this diary style blog, with updates and links to useful papers, public discussion and media responses to issues recently raised about the integrity of our carbon markets. Lighter Footpints...
Responses to the Victorian Gas Substitution Roadmap
Summary Although the Victorian Gas Substitution Roadmap (VGSR) creates an expectation that Victoria will move away from fossil gas, the limited measures proposed fall short of what is needed to move Victoria, the heaviest gas-using state, away from gas at a speed that...
Star of the South – Offshore Wind in Victoria
Lighter Footprints: June 29th on Offshore Wind We were fortunate to have Naomi Campbell, the Development Director of Star of the South and Pat Simons, Yes2Renewables Coordinator speaking at our June 29th event on offshore wind. You can listen to our speakers again on...
Offshore Wind
Offshore Wind in Australia Australian Potential The potential for offshore wind is huge. University of Technology, Sydney experts writing in the Conversation state that “Offshore wind projects can provide a win-win-win for Australia: creating jobs for displaced fossil...
Protecting our beautiful, carbon dense Victorian forests
The Bill has passed the Upper House. It was proposed by Mary-Anne Thomas, Minister for Health, (03) 8392 2261 on reception.thomas@minstaff.vic.gov.au or mary-anne.thomas@parliament.vic.gov.au, Electorate Office (03) 5428 2138. With proposed legislation that includes...
Carbon credits and carbon markets
As countries move to decarbonise their economies, companies are trying to offset their emissions by buying carbon credits. You can think of carbon credits as a “permission slip” to emit up to a certain set amount of CO2e that year. Most of today’s interim solutions to...
Congratulations! Campaign highlights for Kooyong, Chisholm and Higgins
Finally a climate election! No-one will forget watching the results on Saturday 21st, glued to the screen, excitement mounting as results trickled, then flooded across the country. As Vote Compass reminds us, the top voting issue in all of our electorate is climate,...
The 2022 Kooyong Candidates Forum
On Wednesday 27 April, a packed hall of around 500 people (plus 200 more on Facebook Live) heard from candidates Dr Peter Lynch (Labor), Mr Piers Mitchem (Greens) and Dr Monique Ryan (Independent) how they would represent the voters of Kooyong with a particular focus...
OUR TAXES AT WORK – Incentivising Fossil Fuels
Expanding gas production in Australia mostly now means unconventional gas, from fracking or horizontal drilling. This photo shows coal seam gas wells in Queensland, where producers talk about eventually drilling 40,000 such wells, with detrimental effects on water and...
The Big Switch- Australia’s electric future
Introduction In his book, "The Big Switch- Australia’s electric future", Saul Griffith tells us that he wrote this book because the world has a climate emergency and he, as an innovative engineer, wants passionately to help solve it. Benefits here would include lower...
Climate Change and Action: An Overview
I hope that this op-ed will help readers understand the basics of climate change on planet Earth; the solutions for mitigating it; and inspire their passion for doing so. Background- our wonderful luck and responsibility in being part of Earth’s evolution of life Our...
The health impacts of climate change
Source: Lens, Monash University, "Bushfire smoke, air quality and the risk to your health" Health impacts of climate change are happening everywhere. It is happening now and is getting worse. The World Health Organisation has declared climate change to be one of the...
Climate Change and National Security
While national security may not be the first concern that comes to mind in terms of climate risk, the Australian Security Leaders Climate Group (ASLCG) has significant concerns about the security implications of climate change in Australia and the Asia-Pacific region. Successive Australian governments have underestimated climate risk.
Floods and climate change
The PM, Scott Morrison, declared the recent catastrophic floods a national emergency and called it an unprecedented “1-in-500 year event” that “no-one was predicting.” But was it? Was the government warned? What is the science behind this extreme recent flooding event? What are the chances of it happening again? And how should Australia respond now?
Climate change and food security
The impact of climate change on the food supply is being felt in Australia and around the world. For adaptation and mitigation to be effective throughout the food system, enabling conditions need to be created through policies, markets, institutions and governance. Adaptation is not sustainable without deep cuts to emissions and government leadership.
Superpower 2022 with Simon Holmes à Court
Australia is so well positioned to transition rapidly to clean energy, with vast potential to rapidly clean up our manufacturing and value add clean energy in decarbonised exports. Our energy system is becoming more resilient and distributed, and households are likely...
Touring Tassie in a Tesla
Touring Tassie in ‘Tezzie’ the Tesla As Australia’s EV uptake begins to gather speed, my family feel privileged to be among thousands who purchased a Tesla Model 3 last year. It was the first brand new car we have ever owned. The lure of going electric and optimising...