If the Morrison government does not impose emissions reduction policies, exporters may need to buy carbon permits in the EU.
Will Australia face carbon tariffs under the Biden regime? | Spectator Australia
Incoming US Secretary of the Treasury, Janet Yellen, a firm believer in restraining carbon emissions, has been working with the Republican-Democrat group, the Climate Leadership Council, on means of implementing such policies. She has suggested countries that introduced carbon adjustment fees could form “carbon customs unions” compliant with World Trade Organization rules. This is similar to EU thinking under which countries will be able to avoid punitive carbon tariffs only if their climate policies match that of Europe.
BHP cuts Mount Arthur coalmine valuation by $1.5bn after thermal coal price plunges | The Guardian
BHP will slash its valuation of its Mount Arthur coalmine in New South Wales by at least $1.5bn after a dramatic fall in the price of thermal coal, which is burned to produce electricity.
The move will wipe out most of the book value of the Hunter Valley mine, leaving it worth between $325m and $455m, BHP said in a quarterly update on Wednesday.
Australia Takes Massive Financial Hit From Climate Change | Climate Council
“No developed country has more to lose from climate change-fuelled extreme weather, or more to gain as the world transforms to a zero-carbon economy, than Australia does,” said Professor Will Steffen.
Policy Forum on Climate Related Disclosures | Kings Business School
Climate-related corporate disclosures are the next big thing in fostering the transition to a net-zero carbon economy. The Qatar Centre of Global Banking & Finance convened a policy forum of experts to debate the issues involved in designing a set of coherent standards.
Catch up on the Virtual Seminar Series
The next virtual seminar series will begin on Monday 15 February 2021 with the full details being announced soon. These seminars aim to provide a forum for researchers at central banks and academics working on central banking issues to present their research. Seminars take place fortnightly every Monday each term and last one hour, including time for questions from the attendees.
Annual Conference 2021: Challenges facing central banks in the 2020s
The conference to be held on 17th & 18th of May 2021 will focus on new directions in central bank research and policymaking. Areas of interest include but are not confined to:
Central bank mandates, policy frameworks and governance arrangements,
Understanding the interaction of fiscal, monetary and macroprudential policies,
Understanding new and emerging threats to economic stability, including COVID, climate change and new financial technologies,
Conducting monetary and macroprudential policies in times of uncertainty, and
Data analytics for central banking.
99 Good News Stories From 2020 You Probably Didn't Hear About | Future Crunch
If we want more people to devote their energy to making progress against large global problems, we should make sure that more people know that it is possible to make progress against such problems.
@MaxCRoser
Investors place Australian bets on compulsory emissions reductions | Sydney Morning Herald
Companies are buying up Australian carbon credits at an increasing rate even though they're not required to offset their emissions under local laws, in what experts say is a bet on future international regulations.
Market Advisory Group managing director Raphael Wood said investment in Australian carbon credits was doubling every year, albeit off a low base.
Scientists Warn Humanity in Denial of Looming 'Collapse of Civilization as We Know It' | Ecowatch
"Ours is not a call to surrender — we aim to provide leaders with a realistic 'cold shower' of the state of the planet that is essential for planning to avoid a ghastly future," according to the perspective paper, co-authored by experts across Australia, Mexico, and the United States, and published in the journal Frontiers in Conservation Science.
Business Council of Australia backs Zali Steggall's climate change bill for 2050 net zero target | The Guardian
A business group representing mining, retail, manufacturing, banking and energy bosses has formally backed climate change legislation proposed by the independent MP Zali Steggall, saying Australia needs to set a net zero emissions target for 2050 and lay out a path to get there.
QBE hikes catastrophe allowance by 24% after extreme weather | Sydney Morning Herald
QBE told investors on Monday it would set aside $US685 million ($890 million) for claims related to extreme weather for calendar year 2021, after breaching its $US550 million cap last year due to Australia's horror bushfires and the northern hemisphere's worst hurricane season on record.
The legacy of a godawful year | Alan Pears for Renew Magazine
Like all of us, Alan Pears is glad to show 2020 the door. But what does 2021 hold? A better approach to CO2 accounting, a warning from the IEA, and... learning from ants?
What a year!
2020 will be memorable for many reasons. It is a year that will reframe priorities, lives and economies as we face economic and social recovery from a global pandemic, and confront the early stages of global heating, and an increasingly uncertain global political context.
There have been tragedies, pain and economic challenges—and still we face much more. However, we have also seen staggering progress, much of which could underpin transition—if our leaders act in the public interest and rise above ideology and petty politics. Our multi-layered “competitive democracy” model does seem to be mobilising with some worthwhile initiatives from states, communities and business, despite fragmentation and limited coordination.
In writing this column, I read over my 2020 Renew columns, which address many relevant issues and suggest paths forward: there is some worthwhile summer reading in them!
Worried about Earth's future? Well, the outlook is worse than even scientists can grasp | The Conversation
The problems, all tied to human consumption and population growth, will almost certainly worsen over coming decades. The damage will be felt for centuries and threatens the survival of all species, including our own.
Companies will fill leadership vacuum on climate, ICC chief warns | SMH
In an interview with The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, Mr Denton said the ICC had an "absolute, explicit" commitment to global climate goals of limiting temperature increases to 1.5 degrees and achieving net zero emissions status within three decades.
JP Morgan economists warn climate crisis is threat to human race | The Guardian
The world’s largest financier of fossil fuels has warned clients that the climate crisis threatens the survival of humanity and that the planet is on an unsustainable trajectory, according to a leaked document.
The governance professional’s guide to better managing climate change risks | Governance Institute
The Governance Institute of Australia has released guidance for company directors and other governance professionals that breaks down the complexity of identifying and disclosing climate change-related risks.
A 60% rise in industrial emissions points to failure of Coalition's 'safeguard mechanism' | The Guardian
RepuTex’s executive director, Hugh Grossman, said emissions from electricity generation had fallen 9% since 2005, but those gains were being eroded by unchecked carbon pollution in other areas. “While we have seen record levels of investment in renewable energy technology in the electricity sector, the industrial sector has been largely missing from the national emissions reduction challenge,” he said.
Business leaders back net zero emissions by 2050 | AFR
Blackrock is getting serious about climate change | World Resources Institute
Our investment conviction is that sustainability and climate-integrated portfolios can provide better risk-adjusted returns to investors. And with the impact of sustainability on investment returns increasing, we believe that sustainable investing is the strongest foundation for client portfolios going forward.
Climate change-related litigation was once seen as a joke, but could soon become business reality | ABC
Emma Herd, chief executive of the Investor Group on Climate Change and member of the global Steering Committee for the Climate Action 100+, said the change in sentiment was because of greater recognition by CEOs that climate change is not just an ethical issue.
"This is about financial risk, as well a company's social licence to operate," she said.
Brian Preston: The activist judge shaking the climate change world | AFR
In what lawyers say is one of the most important parts of the decision, Preston rejected Fisher's "market substitution" argument. There was no proof other mines would go ahead, he asserted, and wealthy countries such as Australia have a responsibility under the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris agreement "to take the lead" on climate change.