Great Barrier Reef should be placed on world heritage ‘in danger’ list

A United Nations-backed delegation has recommended the Great Barrier Reef be placed on a list of world heritage sites "in danger", citing serious risks from climate change and water quality. The long-awaited report on the 10-day mission that took place in March said climate change was presenting a “serious challenge” to the values that saw the reef inscribed as a global wonder in 1981. Progress to cut pollution running into the reef’s waters from farming and grazing was too slow and more investment was needed to meet water quality targets, the report from the mission said.

A gas leak has stopped production from a platform off the West Australian coast. A spokesman for offshore regulator NOPSEMA said Santos on Sunday reported gas bubbles were seen on the ocean surface 20 metres from the platform. He said Santos evacuated the platform, which lies in Commonwealth waters, as a precaution and depressurised and shut in the 50 kilometre-long gas pipeline to Varanus Island. The NOPSEMA spokesman said Santos told it there was a low likelihood the environment would be affected. The regulator has commenced an investigation.

Australians are overwhelmingly changing their attitudes towards climate change but are reluctant to change their diets to help the environment, a Monash University study reveals. More than double the number of Australians have become alarmed about climate change in the past decade, with women more likely to adopt a more climate-friendly diet than men, according to the Climate Change: Concern, Behaviour and The Six Australias report.

Great Barrier Reef should be placed on world heritage ‘in danger’ list, UN-backed report says
Experts from Unesco and IUCN find climate change threatens reef’s values and work to improve water quality is too slow.

Safety fears shut down Santos platform, curtailing WA’s gas supply
A gas leak has stopped production from a platform off the West Australian coast. A spokesman for offshore regulator NOPSEMA said Santos on Sunday reported gas bubbles were seen on the ocean surface 20 metres from the platform. He said Santos evacuated the platform, which lies in Commonwealth waters, as a precaution and depressurised and shut in the 50 kilometre-long gas pipeline to Varanus Island. The NOPSEMA spokesman said Santos told it there was a low likelihood the environment would be affected. The regulator has commenced an investigation.

Australians are increasingly concerned about climate change, but resist diet change to help the planet
Australians are overwhelmingly changing their attitudes towards climate change but are reluctant to change their diets to help the environment, a Monash University study reveals. More than double the number of Australians have become alarmed about climate change in the past decade, with women more likely to adopt a more climate-friendly diet than men, according to the Climate Change: Concern, Behaviour and The Six Australias report.

Marine parks not whale safe havens
"It's like waking up one day and having a highway next to your house." This is how Dr Vincent Raoult describes what is happening to sea life as the intrusion of commercial shipping increasingly worsens already stressful marine conditions. The University of Newcastle professor and colleagues from other research centres have conducted an investigation into the impact of shipping on whales in marine parks.

Queensland will continue coal exports ‘as long as the market dictates’ despite emissions targets
Queensland carbon emissions targets will dramatically change in coming years, but coal exports will continue for “as long as the market dictates”, Annastacia Palaszczuk says. The premier has promised to slash her state’s emissions 30% below 2005 levels by 2030, and achieve net zero by 2050. The plan is almost entirely focused on energy supply, which mostly comes from publicly owned coal power plants. The state has the motivation to decarbonise rapidly, with climate disasters having cost it about $30bn between 1979 and 2019, according to a Climate Council report released Monday.

Labor’s EV strategy won’t immediately fix Australia’s supply problems, experts say
Demand for electric cars will continue to outstrip supply despite the Albanese government’s push to make the vehicles more accessible, because the Australian market is not a priority for manufacturers, industry experts say. “I think we’re going to get a whole lot of vehicles and they’re going to launch soon,” said Matthew Hobbs, director of policy at the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries.

A sense of urgency: capping coal prices to reduce power bills would need state support, cabinet told
The Albanese government could struggle to provide comprehensive energy price relief, unless the governments of New South Wales and Queensland cooperate with a plan to temporarily cap the wholesale price of coal. On Monday, the energy minister, Chris Bowen, updated the cabinet on the components of Labor’s long-telegraphed regulatory intervention in the energy sector. It is expected Labor will adopt a suite of reforms to address an anticipated 56% increase in electricity prices.

Queensland windfarm to provide enough power for 1.4m homes with new $2bn investment
One of Australia’s biggest windfarms will double its capacity to 2,000 megawatts, providing enough power for 1.4m homes and accelerating Queensland’s exit from fossil fuel-sourced electricity. Spain-based Acciona Energia announced on Monday it would extend a windfarm already being built within the MacIntyre Precinct, a region about 200km south-west of Brisbane.

New analysis reveals that the pandemic did not slow deforestation
Despite the massive upheavals in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, deforestation globally proceeded more or less as expected from the trends established over the last 15 years, according to a recent study from researchers at the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT.