The types of energy we use and how we use them are central factors in determining to what extent we are moving towards a more sustainable society.
Showing posts with label Australia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Australia. Show all posts
Volunteerism the Key to a Sustainable Global Future
Image via WikipediaOpening the second day of the conference, Keher said volunteerism is not just a contributor to gross domestic product, but to social wellbeing.
Competition to be greenest will spur action on climate
Image via WikipediaBJORN Stigson tells his business students at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden: ''I have been in business for about 40 years in different ways, but I'm not going to talk to you about my experiences. What I am going to talk to you about is your life - your 40 years.
''The starting point for your life, coming out of university, is not the best.
''The legacy you are getting from me and my generation is not the best.
Sustainable Energy Association on mission for clean tech
Australian Minister for Trade, Hon Dr Craig Emerson MP, together with the Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs, The Hon Richard Marles MP, begin an Austrade trade mission to China today leading and 100 business leaders, including Sustainable Energy Association of Australia (SEA) Chief Executive Professor Ray Wills.
Australian Government invests $66.4 million in sustainable agriculture
Image via WikipediaEnvironment Minister, Tony Burke, Minister for Agriculture, Senator Joe Ludwig, and Parliamentary Secretary for Agriculture, Dr Mike Kelly, today announced base-level funding across 22 regional natural resource management organisations for 2011-12 and 2012-13.
Dollars must flow if numbers to grow
This insularity appears to sit oddly with Australia's history and economy: a sparsely populated migrant nation whose wealth has grown with its size. But this view ignores the immediate impact of more people in local communities, and in particular, on the hip pocket of taxpayers. If increased population growth means higher taxes, people are unlikely to embrace it.
Tax Breaks to incentivise sustainability
“Around 95 per cent of Australia’s commercial buildings are not brand new. This means that the greening of our existing buildings is a considerable challenge – and one that must be tackled to secure Australia’s sustainable future,” says the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA) Executive Director Robin Mellon.
A matter of conscience
It is little wonder then, that so-called responsible investing - also referred to as ethical, green or sustainable investing - is striking a chord with a growing number of individuals and fund managers.
At a time when many people are still reeling from the effects of the global financial crisis, the consumer demand for responsible investment products has almost doubled.
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The Responsible Investment Association Australasia (RIAA) reports ethical adviser portfolios grew from $972 million to $1.46 billion in 2010, following a decrease of 21 per cent in 2009.
Lord Mayor and Sydney State Independent MP Clover Moore will table the petition in parliament May 4 after Premier Barry O’Farrell promised his government would debate any issue with more than 10,000 signatures.
Together with the City of Sydney Council, lobby group Australians for Sustainable Development (AFSD) are pushing for the reinstatement of an overseas passenger terminal at Barangaroo, the abolition of a proposed hotel built on the water and a reduction in the size of other buildings.
AFSD spokeswoman and Deputy Lord Mayor Marcelle Hoff said the group was hoping for a debate in parliament as soon as possible.
Qantas hopes algae will play a part in its sustainable fuel strategy
Image via WikipediaTo this end, the carrier this year signed an agreement with California-based renewable energy company Solazyme to develop a business case for introducing algae-based aviation fuel technology to Australia.
In the 12-month study, the two companies will examine the possibility of using a locally grown biomass source - most likely sugar cane - as a feedstock to produce Solazyme's microalgae-derived Solajet aviation fuel in Australia.
Companies, environmental groups campaign against illegal logging
Image via WikipediaThey've given the federal government 11 points on imposing laws to achieve a globally sustainable forestry.
There is currently no law banning the importation of illegally logged timber or the products made from them.
But the government has introduced such legislation to parliament.
Australian Conservation Foundation has welcomed the government's early efforts but believes more needs to be done to ensure the $14 billion trade is snuffed out.
Green-tech hub blow from asbestos woes
Image via WikipediaThe Rann government paid $32.5m for the former Mitsubishi Motors Australia vehicle assembly plant at Tonsley Park, in Adelaide's south, spruiking it as the future premier sustainable technologies site in Australia.
At the heart of the "clean-tech hub" was to be a state-of-the-art facility, bringing together TAFE, universities and industry.
However, inquiries yesterday revealed the government has scrapped the planned demolition of the main assembly building on the site and will instead reuse its "basic structure".
Try making a sustainable economy without steel
Image via WikipediaThat was the clear message that came out of last week’s meeting of the AWU leadership called to discuss carbon pricing.
The Australian Workers' Union is proud of its track record in preserving good steel jobs - and we're not going to support a carbon tax that costs even one steel job.
“ Try making a sustainable economy without steel – that’s what we’re telling politicians as the debate over carbon pricing continues," Paul Howes, AWU National Secretary, said
Aussie Sustainability Spend ‘to Hit $3bn’
The Australian sustainable business market is poised to grow to AU$2.9 billion (US$3.1 billion) in 2014, dependent on the outcome of the country’s hotly debated carbon tax, analyst firm Verdantix has projected. A Verdantix study predicts that the market will increase at a 13 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from AU$1.6 billion in 2010. The report, Australian Sustainable Business Spending 2009-14, forecasts that sustainability spending will exceed AU$1.8bn in 2011, a nine percent rise over 2010 levels, before increasing by 13 percent to AU$2.1bn in 2012.
Europe to follow Australian sustainability lead
Seen as a leader in innovation and leadership in the field of responsible investing, Australia presented its expertise to London's Australia House for a meeting arranged by Austrade and the Victorian government.
Mangers representing over half of all Australian AUM are now signed up to the Principles for Responsible Investment, a strong example for its UK counterparts, said Penny Shepherd, chief executive, UK Sustainable Investment and Finance association (UKSIF).
International immigrants fill gap as locals flee costly and dirty cities
Image via WikipediaAs NSW voters prepare to go to the polls, and the Gillard government works on a sustainable growth strategy, researchers have found immigrants are largely responsible for Sydney's continued population growth.
Graeme Hugo and Kevin Harris from the University of Adelaide, in a draft report of their study for the Department of Immigration and Citizenship, have highlighted how immigrants filled the vacuum left by 121,000 people moving out of Sydney between 2001 and 2006 -- the largest exodus in the nation.
Independent UN expert urges Australia to adopt human rights approach to foreign aid
Image via Wikipedia
We do not need sustainable population policy
Image via WikipediaAustralia should just get on with making do as Australia grows. As demographer Peter McDonald remarked recently: "We should not be wasting a lot of time and energy on debating what the population will or should be in 2050. We are the only country in the world that even raises the question."
Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities Minister Tony Burke has just released a discussion paper, A Sustainable Population Strategy for Australia.
In it, Burke points out that since the 1970s all population inquiries sponsored by Australian governments have rejected the notion of a population target or national carrying capacity.
Indeed, he states: "A growing population does not have to be an unsustainable population."
Nicely said.
Australia Supports Sustainable Eco-tourism Project in Western Province
Image via WikipediaThe AusAID funding has also been used to expand and strengthen the Wilderness Lodge's human resources, including through hospitality training of local staff in conjunction with other ecotourism operations.
The ECF is an Australian Government initiative which aims to assist in commercialising business projects in participating countries. The fund targets projects that will stimulate growth and ensure that the poor are included in the consequent benefits and opportunities.
ECF In-Country Manager, Bob Pollard, who has helped facilitate the Wilderness Lodge initiative, said the project's close linkages with communities, the training of local people to undertake key roles in the business, and its comprehensive environment protection strategy represent a model that can be replicated in other locations in Solomon Islands and elsewhere.
Banking reform 'on the run' propels us headlong into disaster
THE Treasurer's pledge to increase competition among banks creates more risk for taxpayers.
Image by The Prime Minister's Office via Flickr
WAYNE Swan's claim that his banking package would cut interest rates lasted about 24 hours. It was overtaken by the Treasurer's admission that the Reserve Bank set the level of interest rates and that his package was really about empowering big bank customers "to walk down the road and get a better deal".
It also became painfully clear that Swan's "competitive and sustainable banking" package was policy on the run, driven by the politics of rising mortgage interest rates and Joe Hockey's populist bank bashing.
The architecture of Australia's post-financial crisis banking system is not being drafted by a serious policy review by the Council of Financial Regulators - the Reserve Bank, the Australian Prudential and Regulatory Authority, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission and the Treasury - that Labor supposedly relied on to steer the economy through the crisis.
Image by The Prime Minister's Office via FlickrWAYNE Swan's claim that his banking package would cut interest rates lasted about 24 hours. It was overtaken by the Treasurer's admission that the Reserve Bank set the level of interest rates and that his package was really about empowering big bank customers "to walk down the road and get a better deal".
It also became painfully clear that Swan's "competitive and sustainable banking" package was policy on the run, driven by the politics of rising mortgage interest rates and Joe Hockey's populist bank bashing.
The architecture of Australia's post-financial crisis banking system is not being drafted by a serious policy review by the Council of Financial Regulators - the Reserve Bank, the Australian Prudential and Regulatory Authority, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission and the Treasury - that Labor supposedly relied on to steer the economy through the crisis.
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