Australia Joins Climate Club Alliance

Australia signs up to climate alliance with US, UK, France, Italy, Canda
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced that Australia has signed up to the Climate Club, an alliance of nations that aims to decarbonise industry and pursue net zero emissions by 2050. The Climate Club was formed last year and is an initiative of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. "No challenge is more pressing than that posed by climate change," Mr Albanese said.

‘Relentless‘ advertising is reportedly behind Australia's gas guzzling
Automotive advertising in Australia is skewed to bigger motor vehicles, encouraging high fuel consumption, according to analysis by climate advocacy group Comms Declare. Advertising of SUVs and light commercial vehicles has risen 200% in the last decade, coinciding with an 80% increase in sales. Over the same period, passenger car advertising halved, and sales dropped by 63%.

ACT teases a new conservation plan for koalas
The ACT's Environment Minister has called on the federal government to halt projects that would destroy koala habitats and better coordinate conservation efforts. A new conservation plan for koalas in the ACT will be released for public comment by the government on Tuesday. The Greens' Rebecca Vassarotti said a new conservation plan would be a good first step but the Commonwealth also needed to act.

Does the bill to amend the Sea Dumping Act strike the right balance?
The Australian Labor government has introduced a bill to regulate “marine geoengineering” – methods to combat climate change by intervening in the ocean environment. The bill makes it an offence to place matter into the ocean for marine geoengineering without a permit, which may only be granted for scientific research. If the bill is passed as it currently stands, commercial deployment of marine geoengineering cannot be conducted either in Australian waters or from Australian vessels.

Indigenous rangers eye carbon market to tackle problem of feral buffalo in Arnhem Land
More than 200,000 feral buffalo roam the Northern Territory, according to estimates from Territory Natural Resource Management. The hoofed animals particularly impact fragile wetlands and floodplains by wallowing, causing water quality to decline and vegetation to retreat. Indigenous rangers could soon earn blue carbon credits for rejuvenating degraded wetlands by removing buffalo and other feral animals from the environment.

SARDI researchers take ocean ride with endangered seals through 'sea lion cam’
Australian sea lions are taking scientists underwater for the first time thanks to cameras attached to their backs, leaving researchers stunned by the "absolutely astounding" footage.

New research on pygmy right whales
The pygmy right whale is the smallest of the living baleen whales and restricted to the Southern Hemisphere. Its tank-like skeleton is unique among whales, and its ecology and behaviour remain virtually unknown. Because this whale is so unusual, its evolutionary relationships have long been a bone of contention. But a new study published in the Marine Mammal Science journal attempts to solve this enduring mystery.

Next-Gen Flow Battery Design Sets Records
A common food and medicine additive has shown it can boost the capacity and longevity of a next-generation flow battery design in a record-setting experiment. Flow batteries are one of the key pillars of a decarbonisation strategy to store energy from renewable energy resources.