Two trillion dollars That’s the value of global fossil fuel subsidies, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Yes, TRILLION – $2,000,000,000,000 Twenty-six trillion dollars That’s the value of global pension funds (superannuation), a high proportion of which is currently invested in high-carbon industries Again, twenty-six TRILLION – $26,000,000,000,000 Eighty percent That’s …
How to eradicate poverty and increase ‘human development’ while staying within ecological limits is to many the defining challenge of the twenty-first century. I’ve found no better illustration of this challenge than this simple diagram from the report that launched Oxfam’s GROW campaign back in 2011: To keep within planetary boundaries we must reduce overall …
After years on the increase, food prices in Australia have recently been falling, according to New Limited analysis published on 7 January. Among the key factors, researchers cited the ‘nomalising’ of fruit prices after their sudden rise following natural disasters in Queensland and Victoria. Sadly, this reassuring news came before the record heat wave claimed …
So what I thought would be a quiet week of tying up loose ends and taking stock of the Doha climate conference became altogether more interesting. And maddening. As tired delegates were boarding their flights home, a certain newspaper, which had shown almost no interest in the negotiations up to that point, suddenly sniffed that …
For those involved, whether as campaigners, delegates or journalists, it’s the most exhausting two weeks of the year – at times exasperating, occasionally empowering, but never wholly satisfying. Even watching on from afar felt like a marathon. As each “COP” draws to a close, the chasm between what’s been agreed and what really needs …
“Ask a stupid question, expect a stupid answer,” as one of my early schoolteachers was fond of saying. I’m now in no doubt it’s true that an awful lot of confusion and stupidity comes simply from asking the wrong questions. And sadly, in some cases we’re inclined to ask them again and again and again. …
In the same month that Australia joined the top table of world powers, it has released an almost entirely self-serving study of its place in Asia. No sooner than Foreign Minister Bob Carr had finished telling us of Australia’s noble efforts from Syria to the Solomons and we’re back to how Australia can “seize the …
