Latest news with #ClimateCouncil
The Guardian
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Labor's new environment laws won't be ‘credible' unless new projects consider climate change, advocates warn
The latest attempt to rewrite federal environmental protection laws won't be 'credible' unless it forces decision-makers to consider climate change when assessing projects, advocates have warned, as consultation on the changes begins. Select environment groups, miners, business and farming chiefs joined the new environment minister, Murray Watt, for a roundtable in Canberra on Thursday. The Climate Council chief executive, Amanda McKenzie, said the laws would remain 'broken' without some mechanism to account for climate impacts, which she described as the 'biggest concern for Australia's environment'. Sign up to get climate and environment editor Adam Morton's Clear Air column as a free newsletter 'It is not good enough for the Australian government to push climate change out of the frame,' McKenzie said. 'This is the biggest impact on the Australian environment, and the law simply won't be credible if it does not consider the biggest impact on the Australian environment.' While not ruling it out, Watt again played down the idea, as he insisted emissions from heavy polluting projects were already managed in other ways. 'My argument is that there are a range of mechanisms already in place, both domestically and internationally, to manage the climate impacts of developments,' he said. 'I recognise there are groups who still want us to go further, there are groups who don't want us to go further, and we'll be listening to that feedback on the way through.' The issue of inserting climate into federal nature laws shapes as a major challenge for Watt as attempts to win broad support for a long-awaited overhaul of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act. Five years after Graeme Samuel's review of the EPBC Act, stakeholders from across the board are generally optimistic that changes to the John Howard-era laws can finally be enacted. Labor's proposal to create a federal environment protection agency collapsed in the final months of the last parliament after Anthony Albanese pushed it off the agenda amid concerns about a pre-election backlash in Western Australia. Speaking after Thursday's roundtable meeting, Watt said Labor's thumping federal election win created a 'very clear mandate' to establish the EPA 2.0 and fix the nature laws. The new minister wants to push changes through federal parliament within 18 months, likely as one package of laws rather than in multiple stages as his predecessor Tanya Plibersek attempted to do. Watt said there was support among the invited stakeholders on five broad principles: national environmental standards, streamlined approvals, regional planning, a more 'robust' offsets regime and better data on environmental impacts. However, Watt acknowledged disagreements between industry and environmentalist in other areas, including the powers of the EPA and the issue of adding climate to nature laws. The Greens and climate activists have long advocated for a 'climate trigger' – a mechanism to account for a project's pollution in environmental assessments – as a vehicle to stop new fossil fuel projects. In 2005, Albanese himself – then a shadow minister fighting the Howard government – said 'the glaring gap in matters of national environmental significance is climate change'. Sign up to Clear Air Australia Adam Morton brings you incisive analysis about the politics and impact of the climate crisis after newsletter promotion The now prime minister has long since changed his tune, firmly rejecting the idea after the Greens pushed it during negotiations with Plibersek in the previous term. The provisional approval of a 40-year extension to Woodside's North West Shelf gas plant has ignited fresh calls for 'climate considerations' to be added to the laws, including from the Labor MP, Jerome Laxale. Watt didn't shut the door on the idea after Wednesday's meeting, saying it was 'too early to be committing to particular things in the legislation'. However, he reiterated the government's view that emissions from major projects were already regulated under the safeguard mechanism. Watt also argued that an export project's scope three emissions – pollution from Australian fossil fuels after they are sold overseas – was managed through other countries' commitments under the Paris climate agreement. Speaking after the roundtable, McKenzie and the Australian Conservation Foundation chief executive, Kelly O'Shannessy, stressed they were not wedded to a specific 'climate trigger' model – just the firm view that climate impact must be considered in the environmental assessment process. The Greens environment spokesperson, Sarah Hanson-Young, called for a moratorium on the clearing of critical habitat and approval of fossil fuel projects until the new nature laws were in place. Miners staunchly oppose the introduction of a 'climate trigger', fearing such a provision could torpedo the approval of projects. Peak mining groups the Minerals Council of Australia (MCA), Chamber of Minerals and Energy WA (CME) and Association of Mining and Exploration Companies (AMEC) were among the invitees to Wednesday's roundtable in Canberra. The chief executive of AMEC, Warren Pearce, said a 'pretty frank' Watt was clearly intent on legislating changes in the first half of the new parliamentary term. 'There are still differing views, but there is a clear desire to get this done from all stakeholders,' he said. 'AMEC will continue to advocate for greater efficiency, a removal of duplication between State and Federal processes, and a workable process that can be implemented to provide improved environmental protections.'
The Advertiser
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Advertiser
Second wind for long-promised nature law reforms
Long-delayed reforms to nature protections could be knocked over within 18 months under a timeline mapped out by the federal environment minister. Murray Watt flagged broad support for new national environmental standards, a key ask of the now five-year-old Samuel review, which declared the legislation ineffective and outdated. Environmentalists, industry, Indigenous groups and other stakeholders gathered in Canberra to restart discussions after the Labor government failed to pass reforms in its first term. The previous minister, Tanya Plibersek, came close to a deal with the cross bench in late 2024 for a federal environmental protection agency but pressure from West Australian mining interests was thought to have influenced Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's intervention to scuttle it. Federal nature protections are designed to kick in when renewable energy, mines and development threaten vulnerable species and other "matters of national environmental significance". Senator Watt said everyone agreed the current laws were broken. "They're not adequately protecting the environment," he told reporters after the meeting. "They're not delivering for business in terms of certainty and timeliness of approval." He did not expressly rule out a climate trigger in the reworked rules, but pointed to the safeguard mechanism and other existing legislation driving down domestic industry emissions. "The other point is that the scope three emissions - so emissions that are generated when fossil fuels developed in Australia are burned and used overseas - are managed under the Paris Agreement that almost every country has signed up to," he said. Climate Council chief executive officer Amanda McKenzie, who attended the roundtable, welcomed the "renewed energy" behind the reforms and reiterated her call for climate to be included. "In terms of the approvals of large fossil fuel projects, climate should be included in the act so those projects can be prevented," she told AAP. Ms McKenzie said the minister appeared to have grasped the importance of a more efficient, streamlined environmental approval system for the clean energy transition. In May, conservation groups and the clean energy industry joined forces to urge the government to hurry the reforms, with "faster yeses and faster nos" a key ask for renewables developers. Senator Watt expressed his desire to deliver new environmental protections in the first half of the parliamentary term and his willingness to work with either the Greens or the opposition to pass them. The plan is to develop a full package of reforms in one go, rather than break it into pieces as happened in 2024 when time ran short before the election. Long-delayed reforms to nature protections could be knocked over within 18 months under a timeline mapped out by the federal environment minister. Murray Watt flagged broad support for new national environmental standards, a key ask of the now five-year-old Samuel review, which declared the legislation ineffective and outdated. Environmentalists, industry, Indigenous groups and other stakeholders gathered in Canberra to restart discussions after the Labor government failed to pass reforms in its first term. The previous minister, Tanya Plibersek, came close to a deal with the cross bench in late 2024 for a federal environmental protection agency but pressure from West Australian mining interests was thought to have influenced Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's intervention to scuttle it. Federal nature protections are designed to kick in when renewable energy, mines and development threaten vulnerable species and other "matters of national environmental significance". Senator Watt said everyone agreed the current laws were broken. "They're not adequately protecting the environment," he told reporters after the meeting. "They're not delivering for business in terms of certainty and timeliness of approval." He did not expressly rule out a climate trigger in the reworked rules, but pointed to the safeguard mechanism and other existing legislation driving down domestic industry emissions. "The other point is that the scope three emissions - so emissions that are generated when fossil fuels developed in Australia are burned and used overseas - are managed under the Paris Agreement that almost every country has signed up to," he said. Climate Council chief executive officer Amanda McKenzie, who attended the roundtable, welcomed the "renewed energy" behind the reforms and reiterated her call for climate to be included. "In terms of the approvals of large fossil fuel projects, climate should be included in the act so those projects can be prevented," she told AAP. Ms McKenzie said the minister appeared to have grasped the importance of a more efficient, streamlined environmental approval system for the clean energy transition. In May, conservation groups and the clean energy industry joined forces to urge the government to hurry the reforms, with "faster yeses and faster nos" a key ask for renewables developers. Senator Watt expressed his desire to deliver new environmental protections in the first half of the parliamentary term and his willingness to work with either the Greens or the opposition to pass them. The plan is to develop a full package of reforms in one go, rather than break it into pieces as happened in 2024 when time ran short before the election. Long-delayed reforms to nature protections could be knocked over within 18 months under a timeline mapped out by the federal environment minister. Murray Watt flagged broad support for new national environmental standards, a key ask of the now five-year-old Samuel review, which declared the legislation ineffective and outdated. Environmentalists, industry, Indigenous groups and other stakeholders gathered in Canberra to restart discussions after the Labor government failed to pass reforms in its first term. The previous minister, Tanya Plibersek, came close to a deal with the cross bench in late 2024 for a federal environmental protection agency but pressure from West Australian mining interests was thought to have influenced Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's intervention to scuttle it. Federal nature protections are designed to kick in when renewable energy, mines and development threaten vulnerable species and other "matters of national environmental significance". Senator Watt said everyone agreed the current laws were broken. "They're not adequately protecting the environment," he told reporters after the meeting. "They're not delivering for business in terms of certainty and timeliness of approval." He did not expressly rule out a climate trigger in the reworked rules, but pointed to the safeguard mechanism and other existing legislation driving down domestic industry emissions. "The other point is that the scope three emissions - so emissions that are generated when fossil fuels developed in Australia are burned and used overseas - are managed under the Paris Agreement that almost every country has signed up to," he said. Climate Council chief executive officer Amanda McKenzie, who attended the roundtable, welcomed the "renewed energy" behind the reforms and reiterated her call for climate to be included. "In terms of the approvals of large fossil fuel projects, climate should be included in the act so those projects can be prevented," she told AAP. Ms McKenzie said the minister appeared to have grasped the importance of a more efficient, streamlined environmental approval system for the clean energy transition. In May, conservation groups and the clean energy industry joined forces to urge the government to hurry the reforms, with "faster yeses and faster nos" a key ask for renewables developers. Senator Watt expressed his desire to deliver new environmental protections in the first half of the parliamentary term and his willingness to work with either the Greens or the opposition to pass them. The plan is to develop a full package of reforms in one go, rather than break it into pieces as happened in 2024 when time ran short before the election. Long-delayed reforms to nature protections could be knocked over within 18 months under a timeline mapped out by the federal environment minister. Murray Watt flagged broad support for new national environmental standards, a key ask of the now five-year-old Samuel review, which declared the legislation ineffective and outdated. Environmentalists, industry, Indigenous groups and other stakeholders gathered in Canberra to restart discussions after the Labor government failed to pass reforms in its first term. The previous minister, Tanya Plibersek, came close to a deal with the cross bench in late 2024 for a federal environmental protection agency but pressure from West Australian mining interests was thought to have influenced Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's intervention to scuttle it. Federal nature protections are designed to kick in when renewable energy, mines and development threaten vulnerable species and other "matters of national environmental significance". Senator Watt said everyone agreed the current laws were broken. "They're not adequately protecting the environment," he told reporters after the meeting. "They're not delivering for business in terms of certainty and timeliness of approval." He did not expressly rule out a climate trigger in the reworked rules, but pointed to the safeguard mechanism and other existing legislation driving down domestic industry emissions. "The other point is that the scope three emissions - so emissions that are generated when fossil fuels developed in Australia are burned and used overseas - are managed under the Paris Agreement that almost every country has signed up to," he said. Climate Council chief executive officer Amanda McKenzie, who attended the roundtable, welcomed the "renewed energy" behind the reforms and reiterated her call for climate to be included. "In terms of the approvals of large fossil fuel projects, climate should be included in the act so those projects can be prevented," she told AAP. Ms McKenzie said the minister appeared to have grasped the importance of a more efficient, streamlined environmental approval system for the clean energy transition. In May, conservation groups and the clean energy industry joined forces to urge the government to hurry the reforms, with "faster yeses and faster nos" a key ask for renewables developers. Senator Watt expressed his desire to deliver new environmental protections in the first half of the parliamentary term and his willingness to work with either the Greens or the opposition to pass them. The plan is to develop a full package of reforms in one go, rather than break it into pieces as happened in 2024 when time ran short before the election.
Perth Now
2 days ago
- Politics
- Perth Now
Second wind for long-promised nature law reforms
Long-delayed reforms to nature protections could be knocked over within 18 months under a timeline mapped out by the federal environment minister. Murray Watt flagged broad support for new national environmental standards, a key ask of the now five-year-old Samuel review, which declared the legislation ineffective and outdated. Environmentalists, industry, Indigenous groups and other stakeholders gathered in Canberra to restart discussions after the Labor government failed to pass reforms in its first term. The previous minister, Tanya Plibersek, came close to a deal with the cross bench in late 2024 for a federal environmental protection agency but pressure from West Australian mining interests was thought to have influenced Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's intervention to scuttle it. Federal nature protections are designed to kick in when renewable energy, mines and development threaten vulnerable species and other "matters of national environmental significance". Senator Watt said everyone agreed the current laws were broken. "They're not adequately protecting the environment," he told reporters after the meeting. "They're not delivering for business in terms of certainty and timeliness of approval." He did not expressly rule out a climate trigger in the reworked rules, but pointed to the safeguard mechanism and other existing legislation driving down domestic industry emissions. "The other point is that the scope three emissions - so emissions that are generated when fossil fuels developed in Australia are burned and used overseas - are managed under the Paris Agreement that almost every country has signed up to," he said. Climate Council chief executive officer Amanda McKenzie, who attended the roundtable, welcomed the "renewed energy" behind the reforms and reiterated her call for climate to be included. "In terms of the approvals of large fossil fuel projects, climate should be included in the act so those projects can be prevented," she told AAP. Ms McKenzie said the minister appeared to have grasped the importance of a more efficient, streamlined environmental approval system for the clean energy transition. In May, conservation groups and the clean energy industry joined forces to urge the government to hurry the reforms, with "faster yeses and faster nos" a key ask for renewables developers. Senator Watt expressed his desire to deliver new environmental protections in the first half of the parliamentary term and his willingness to work with either the Greens or the opposition to pass them. The plan is to develop a full package of reforms in one go, rather than break it into pieces as happened in 2024 when time ran short before the election.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Concerning reason $5 Aussie pantry staple is about to jump in price
Step into any supermarket and you can buy a grinder full of black pepper for less than $5. But the household staple is set to become more scarce over the next 18 months, and while Aussies won't have any problem finding it on shelves, prices are already increasing for wholesalers. Ian Hemphill, the founder of the iconic Aussie brand Herbie's Spices, is paying 20 per cent more for pepper than he was five months ago. But it's a problem he expects to see with the various spices he purchases because they are agricultural commodities that can be impacted by the weather. A key reason for the price increase is a lack of rain where the crop is primarily harvested — India, Vietnam and Sri Lanka. 'The main thing that will affect pepper is when you get a poor monsoon,' Hemphill told Yahoo News. 'When you get a good monsoon, you'll have a spike of green pepper corns that look like a luscious bunch of grapes, but when it's poor, you have fewer berries forming.' Related: Pepper grinders sold at supermarkets have major problem There have always been fluctuations in the spice trade, which merchants lovingly refer to as the 'world's second oldest profession'. In the late 1990s, vanilla plantations in Madagascar were hit with severe storms, and the farm-gate price jumped by 1,300 per cent over two years. Experts at the independent think tank, the Climate Council, expect consumers in Australia to face more fluctuations in grocery prices as the climate continues to warm and traditional weather patterns destabilise. Its economist Nicki Hutley predicts significant and permanent increases in costs as weather patterns change. This could mean growing more crops in hothouses, embracing lab-grown meat, or raising animals in sheds rather than paddocks. 'We're going to have to get smarter around farming. But this doesn't necessarily mean groceries will be cheaper, in fact it will be the opposite,' she said. 'We'll still get a lot of volatility. You can't grow everything in a greenhouse at the scale we need.' Extreme weather events are a constant around the world. After the March floods, Queensland alone is believed to have lost more than 100,000 head of livestock. At the same time, parts of Victoria, NSW, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania are experiencing record-breaking drought, forcing farmers to hand-feed their animals with hay and grains, which are surging in price. Sadly, the problem is set to get worse. Countries like Australia and the United States are continuing to extract fossil fuels from the ground. Australia just approved an extension of its second-largest fossil fuel project in history, the North-West Shelf, which is set to release billions of tonnes of carbon-like emissions into the atmosphere over its lifetime. The world could reach 2 degrees of warming above pre-industrial levels in just 15 years, making droughts, floods and cyclones more severe and frequent than they are today. 💰 Woolworths responds to glaring pricing issue as Aussie neighbour loses out 🛒 Coles, Woolworths, Aldi reveal fate of 11,000 tonnes of soft plastics 🚨 281 experts call for ban of 'toxic' product sold at Coles, Bunnings, Woolworths, Mitre 10 But there are other factors also expected to contribute to price fluctuations. Pepper continues to be the world's most traded and consumed spice, and demand remains constant. Despite technology advances in other farming sectors like viticulture and wheat, pepper continues to be mostly picked by hand. And in the long-term, Hemphill believes its price will be impacted by increasing labour costs. Other price influences will be harder to predict. For instance, Hemphill has seen a surge of interest in pepper because it's a key ingredient in turmeric, a power that's been embraced as a popular health drink in Australia. Another factor that doesn't affect the farm-gate price but increases the cost to merchants is shipping. Due to recent conflict in the Middle East, the price of importing a container to Australia has more than doubled. Love Australia's weird and wonderful environment? 🐊🦘😳 Get our new newsletter showcasing the week's best stories.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Cost of household staple that increased 20 per cent set to jump again
Step into any supermarket and you can buy a grinder full of black pepper for less than $5. But the household staple is set to become more scarce over the next 18 months, and while Aussies won't have any problem finding it on shelves, prices are already increasing for wholesalers. Ian Hemphill, the founder of the iconic Aussie brand Herbie's Spices, is paying 20 per cent more for pepper than he was five months ago. But it's a problem he expects to see with the various spices he purchases because they are agricultural commodities that can be impacted by the weather. A key reason for the price increase is a lack of rain where the crop is primarily harvested — India, Vietnam and Sri Lanka. 'The main thing that will affect pepper is when you get a poor monsoon,' Hemphill told Yahoo News. 'When you get a good monsoon, you'll have a spike of green pepper corns that look like a luscious bunch of grapes, but when it's poor, you have fewer berries forming.' Related: Pepper grinders sold at supermarkets have major problem There have always been fluctuations in the spice trade, which merchants lovingly refer to as the 'world's second oldest profession'. In the late 1990s, vanilla plantations in Madagascar were hit with severe storms, and the farm-gate price jumped by 1,300 per cent over two years. Experts at the independent think tank, the Climate Council, expect consumers in Australia to face more fluctuations in grocery prices as the climate continues to warm and traditional weather patterns destabilise. Its economist Nicki Hutley predicts significant and permanent increases in costs as weather patterns change. This could mean growing more crops in hothouses, embracing lab-grown meat, or raising animals in sheds rather than paddocks. 'We're going to have to get smarter around farming. But this doesn't necessarily mean groceries will be cheaper, in fact it will be the opposite,' she said. 'We'll still get a lot of volatility. You can't grow everything in a greenhouse at the scale we need.' Extreme weather events are a constant around the world. After the March floods, Queensland alone is believed to have lost more than 100,000 head of livestock. At the same time, parts of Victoria, NSW, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania are experiencing record-breaking drought, forcing farmers to hand-feed their animals with hay and grains, which are surging in price. Sadly, the problem is set to get worse. Countries like Australia and the United States are continuing to extract fossil fuels from the ground. Australia just approved an extension of its second-largest fossil fuel project in history, the North-West Shelf, which is set to release billions of tonnes of carbon-like emissions into the atmosphere over its lifetime. The world could reach 2 degrees of warming above pre-industrial levels in just 15 years, making droughts, floods and cyclones more severe and frequent than they are today. 💰 Woolworths responds to glaring pricing issue as Aussie neighbour loses out 🛒 Coles, Woolworths, Aldi reveal fate of 11,000 tonnes of soft plastics 🚨 281 experts call for ban of 'toxic' product sold at Coles, Bunnings, Woolworths, Mitre 10 But there are other factors also expected to contribute to price fluctuations. Pepper continues to be the world's most traded and consumed spice, and demand remains constant. Despite technology advances in other farming sectors like viticulture and wheat, pepper continues to be mostly picked by hand. And in the long-term, Hemphill believes its price will be impacted by increasing labour costs. Other price influences will be harder to predict. For instance, Hemphill has seen a surge of interest in pepper because it's a key ingredient in turmeric, a power that's been embraced as a popular health drink in Australia. Another factor that doesn't affect the farm-gate price but increases the cost to merchants is shipping. Due to recent conflict in the Middle East, the price of importing a container to Australia has more than doubled. Love Australia's weird and wonderful environment? 🐊🦘😳 Get our new newsletter showcasing the week's best stories.
