SO MUCH HAS HAPPENED THIS WEEK. So lets start at the very beginning – a very good place to start. Earlier this week, the Federal Government’s energy policy took another hit, this time from Nobel Laureate and former US Energy Secretary to Obama, Dr Steven Chu, who was in town to accept an honourary Doctorate from ANU is an advocate of urgent transition from fossil fuels to nuclear and renewable energy to combat climate change. Continue reading The hills are alive, with the sound of backflips
A new TED Talk just released discusses the upending of the global labour market in the ten years between 2020 and 2030. Continue reading Can we stop the 2030 Labour Crisis?
Inclusion of economic, social and governance (ESG) risk in corporate governance planning isn’t just about helping to keep a company in the black, or about reducing it’s carbon or social footprint. It’s also about accounting for risks that result from operating in a global business context – and it’s surprising to find that almost half of Australia’s top ASX50 aren’t actively focusing on preparing their businesses for this. Continue reading New report shows ASX Top 50 are alarmingly ignorant of sustainability risks
Perhaps it is the state of the Australian energy industry, or pressure from other international actors, but something has made Foreign Affairs Minister Bishop dust off the old “nuclear Australia” debate and thrust it back into play. Continue reading Julie Bishop has quietly restarted the nuclear power debate
Perth isn’t known for its inner-city living – much the opposite in fact. Perth is home to one of the world’s largest urban sprawls, stretching from Mandurah in the south, up to Yanchep in the north; the entire western corridor of the Perth metropolitan area has been developed so that every man woman and child (and their dog’s cousin) can have a full plot of land with a house, a garage, and room for the kids to run around. It’s the Australian dream, and certainly the one that us West Australians have grown up with as our inheritance.
There is just one problem: It’s not sustainable. Continue reading Is Perth’s urban sprawl holding WA back?
If you haven’t been following the G20 Summit in Brisbane, here are ten things that happened over the weekend that help to form an important way forward for our international community.
Continue reading 10 Important Things that Happened at the G20 Summit 2014
The news on everybody’s lips at the moment is, of course, the landmark decisions revealed yesterday by the US and China. For those who missed it, US President Obama announced that the USA would cut its carbon emissions by 26%-28% (from 2005 levels) by 2025, and Chinese President Xi Jinping announced that China would peak emissions by 2030, and aim to get 20% of its energy from clean/zero-carbon emission sources by the same date. Continue reading US/China deal throws Abbott off balance
Last week we talked about Leonardo DiCaprio’s short environmental films, and now it seems Harrison Ford is joining the voice-over gang. Whilst no one will ever be able to measure up to David Attenborough, and then Morgan Freeman as reigning monarchs of the soundbyte, Mr Ford does a pretty darn good job of it.
I Am The Ocean, produced by Conservation International for the Nature is Speaking campaign is a short film where Harrison Ford narrates – no – IS the ocean. The dark and somewhat threatening quality of his gravelly chocolate voice suits the tone of this film which speaks of the all consuming power of the oceans and how life on earth depends on it’s very depths to sustain it. A strong environmental message that speaks of preserving our world before we have nothing left to pass on to the next generation.
The Ocean – sorry, I mean Mr Ford – leaves us with “nature doesn’t need people, people need nature”. Thought provoking stuff. With this, the second film from Nature is Speaking, Ford joins a host of other celebrity narrators speaking for our planet: Continue reading Harrison Ford is The Ocean
If you haven’t already seen it, here’s a series of new films narrated by Leonardo Di Caprio. We all saw him speak at the UN Climate Summit in September this year, as a UN Messenger of Peace, however Leo has been busy doing much more to change the hearts and minds of people everywhere. His own not-for-profit, the Leonardo Di Caprio Foundation has been protecting Earth’s last wild places and implementing solutions that create a harmonious relationship between humanity and the natural world” since 1998. Continue reading Leonardo DiCaprio’s new movies stir up a storm
In the last week, Australian Ethical Investment (AEI) announced they have taken a 9% stake in the Atlantis Resources new tidal stream energy project, based out of Scotland. This is a world first ocean power project that will see the construction of our planet’s first multi-megawatt tidal stream project to create a clean energy source for domestic use in Scotland. The MeyGen project aims to supply power to 86,000 homes (once at full capacity), with the second phase potentially powering 16% (398,000 homes) of Scottish domestic demand by 2023. Continue reading Australian Ethical Investment buys stake in world first tidal stream energy project.
SustainingPeople 