On Friday last Week, Curtin University in WA became the first and only 5 Green star University in Australia. Continue reading Curtin University becomes Australia’s first 5 Green Star University
Tag Archives: sustainability
What our top CEO’s think about sustainability, energy and women in the workplace.
As a way of kickstarting the year, Tony Boyd and Michael Smith of the Australian Financial Review decided to survey some of Australia’s top CEO’s from banking, resources, media, property, insurance, infrastructure and retail to find out their predictions for 2015. The questions asked are Continue reading What our top CEO’s think about sustainability, energy and women in the workplace.
Newmont’s Indonesian gold mine to become a botanical garden
Mining companies are the scapegoats of many eco-warriors and sustainability supporters, but Newmont Mining is one example of a resources giant that is making a difference environmentally, and in our Asia Pacific region. From 1996, the US company operated a gold asset under the local entity PT Newmont Minahasa Raya (PTNMT) on the Minahassa Peninsula on the northern Sulawesi island of Indonesia. The mineable gold deposit depleted and the asset subsequently closed in 2010, with the remediated land handed over to the Indonesian Government in January 2011. Continue reading Newmont’s Indonesian gold mine to become a botanical garden
What you need to know about Australia’s clean energy
Earlier this week we talked about Australia’s energy mix in the context of the global renewables market, but it’s important in this conversation to understand our own energy market. Currently our renewable electricity generation stands at 14.76% of total output, and the breakdown of that mix is below:
Australia’s total electricity consumption stands at 213,500 Gigawatt hours (GWh). Renewable energy accounts for 34,750 GWh of this, producing enough power for 4.9 million households for a year (2013 figures). Hydro, wind and solar PV will be the focus of our discussion as they make up 93% of our current renewable output. Continue reading What you need to know about Australia’s clean energy
Global Renewable Energy: How does Australia stack up?
The beginning of a new year is as good a time as any to take stock of where we are as a nation and see how our fledgeling renewable energy industry stacks up against other countries’ markets. This is a difficult comparison to make, given the vast differences in geography, population, development and technological capability that we find across our globe. To paint a more rounded picture, we will look at the general state of renewable energy amongst the top 20 nations, ranked by Nominal GDP
(for this discussion we are using nominal GDP as it doesn’t take into account inflation – something that would have a volatile effect if we were reviewing GDP over a period of time rather than at just its current value).
In this ranking from the World Bank, Australia’s GDP is ranked 12th, making us relatively on par with Canada and Spain, who are, as it turns out, model bedfellows. Renewables (particularly hydro power) contribute 16.9% of Canada’s total energy supply, whilst accounting for a whopping 59% of its electricity generation. Spain paints a similar picture, with around 50% of its electricity coming from renewables, predominantly hydro and wind power (2013 figures).
So how does Australia sit comparative to its global neighbours? Continue reading Global Renewable Energy: How does Australia stack up?
New report shows ASX Top 50 are alarmingly ignorant of sustainability risks
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
Julie Bishop has quietly restarted the nuclear power debate
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
Why your dream job doesn’t need to happen right now
When we are young, or just asserting our independence as young adults, most of us envision that dream job, but it is far away, sitting on a pedestal out of reach. So we train, take on further study, and leap headlong into new experiences, hoping to quickly push through the barriers so we can live that dream.
For those of you looking to move into a career in CSR and/or sustainability in Australia, that dream can seem further out of reach; Australia’s sustainability and humanitarian sector is a good decade behind much of the developed world so the early opportunities afforded those in the US and across Europe aren’t as readily available down under.
So you start to lose hope. You take the only job that comes along, and suddenly that dream job seems further away. Where to now?
Well the old adage “every cloud has a silver lining” come to mind. Not getting that dream job early in your career, can actually be good for your career, and here’s why. Continue reading Why your dream job doesn’t need to happen right now
10 Important Things that Happened at the G20 Summit 2014
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
Harrison Ford is The Ocean
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
SustainingPeople 