The Canopy is a weekday morning email newsletter provided by the team at Greenpeace Australia Pacific.

Coal stations too expensive in the long run

Closure of Origin Energy’s Eraring coal power station by 2025 will save Australians up to $3000 in energy costs over the next 10 years. Energy policy expert and founder of Nexa Advisory, Stephanie Bashir, has released a report which recommends six policy initiatives to help the government transition to renewable energy quicker, in order to fill the void of Eraring station which provides about 20 percent of NSW’s energy needs.

Australia's major supermarkets have started sending samples of soft plastics overseas to explore new recycling options, as they deal with the legacy of thousands of tonnes of stockpiled plastics from the collapsed REDcycle scheme. In the meantime, most Australians have been left without a way to recycle the 70 billion pieces of soft plastics consumed every year.

The battle to contain wildfires across Greece continued for a seventh straight day as firefighters struggled to extinguish flames while facilitating the nation’s biggest ever evacuation of tourists on the inferno-stricken island of Rhodes. Greece experienced the hottest temperatures in 50 years over the weekend, and the hot, dry, windy conditions have been likened to “super food” for fires.

Top stories:

Eraring power station must close by 2025 to prevent further cost of living strife
Closure of Origin Energy’s Eraring coal power station, the largest of its kind in Australia, by 2025 will save consumers up to $3000 in energy costs over the next 10 years. Energy policy expert and founder of Nexa Advisory, Stephanie Bashir, has released a report which recommends six policy initiatives for the government to transition to renewable energy quicker to fill the space of Eraring station which provides about 20 percent of NSW’s energy needs.

Supermarkets attempt to recover from the failure of REDcycle
Australia's major supermarkets have started sending samples of soft plastics overseas to explore new recycling options, including chemical recycling. Most Australians have been left without a way to recycle the 70 billion pieces of soft plastics consumed every year, as the supermarkets work out a way to deal with the stockpiles, and start a new soft plastics collection scheme. Coles and Woolworths took responsibility for the stockpiles of plastics in February, after REDcycle went into liquidation.

Greece ‘at war with fire’ amid chaotic evacuation of tourists from Rhodes
The battle to contain wildfires across Greece continued for a seventh straight day as firefighters struggled to extinguish flames amid scenes of pandemonium prompted by the nation’s biggest ever evacuation of tourists on inferno-stricken island of Rhodes. Greece experienced the hottest temperatures in 50 years over the weekend, with the mercury reaching 45C in the central region of Thessaly. The hot, dry, windy conditions have been likened to “super food” for fires.

A new world-wide-web, or ‘Web 3’, could revolutionise climate financing
Elizabeth Tan is the founder of Intent Capital Group, a financial services firm focused on impact investing, development financing and green funds, and she explains why a decentralised internet system could help more grassroots climate start-ups secure funding. While at the same time allowing citizen activists to wrest control of climate finance away from governments and institutions. 

Climate experts share their views as climate records creep up
Guardian Australia asked seven leading climate scientists to describe how they felt as much of the northern hemisphere is engulfed by blistering heat waves, and a number of global land and ocean climate records are broken.

Call to help fossil fuel workers transition to renewable jobs
A leading think tank is calling for support for each obsolete worker as a shock absorber for the energy change that is sweeping through communities. Economic modelling by the Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA) suggests the transition from fossil fuels to clean energy will change a wide range of jobs, and new employment opportunities must be created.

Keen to get off gas in your home, but struggling to make the switch? Research shows you’re not alone
More than five million households in Australia are connected to the gas network. Tackling climate change requires homes and businesses to move away from gas, and instead embrace electric appliances as the power grid shifts to renewable energy.

K'gari has suffered a spike in dingo attacks — what is behind it and what can humans do to avoid them?
Nearly half a million tourists visit the World Heritage-listed K'gari Island every year hoping to see a dingo lazing on the beach — but a recent spate of dingo attacks has sharpened debate about the risks when humanity and nature collide.

Rishi Sunak signals UK could abandon green policies that cost consumers
UK prime minister Rishi Sunak has signalled the government could delay or even abandon green policies that impose a direct cost on consumers, as he comes under pressure from the Conservative right to create a dividing line with Labour at the next election.

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