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We start The Sustainable Hour no 388 on 10 November 2021 by listening to clips from Victorian Animal Justice Party’s MP Andy Meddick and City of Greater Geelong’s Councillor Belinda Moloney talking at Sunday’s Floating Gas Hub Protest Picnic at Moorpanyal Park which overlooks the channel where the LNG tankers will go if Viva’s proposed “floating gas hub” gets approved. To find out more about the Geelong Renewables Not Gas campaign, go to www.geelongrenewablesnotgas.org
Mik Aidt then starts a discussion on what will happen as the temperature rises – no joy there, but that’s where we are at. That’s why we face a climate emergency.
Our first guest today is John Pead in a live cross to an Extinction Rebellion protest action outside Health Minister Greg Hunt’s electoral office, where John he is the Police Liaison Officer. John very articulately describes the action he sees unfolding around him for us.
Our next guests are from Hobsons Bay. They are firstly young mum Deborah Frankel who successfully lobbied Council earlier this year to subsidise the cost of reusable nappies for residents and ratepayers in the jurisdiction. Deborah explains why she pitched this idea to council who unanimously approved the funding to allow it to go ahead.
Hobson Bay Mayor Jonathon Marsden gives his perspective on why Deborah’s project was accepted. He goes on to explain other sustainability initiatives that his council is undertaking in its quest to get its emissions as low as it possibly can. If you would like to find out more about Hobson Bay’s sustainability initiatives, go to www.hobsonsbay.vic.gov.au
Colin Mockett‘s Global Outlook begins this week in Glasgow – where else? – where Greta Thunberg led a protest march of 100,000 mostly young people calling for more and faster action from COP26 which she described as the ‘Blah Blah Blah’ PR event of global leaders talking then flying out. There were more than 1,000 similar protest marches throughout the United Kingdom on the same subject. Meanwhile, the COP26 talks continue without world leaders except Boris Johnston.
Away from the protest heat, scientists have taken a cooler look at the talks so far, and their opinion was that this COP had made considerable progress – but not enough. They found a number of positives to come from the COP26 meetings and a momentum that seems to be real. There were increased national CO2 reductions commitments, as well as pledges to reduce methane and end deforestation, mostly found by credible analysts to have the potential to reduce warming. There was also significant movement on an international movement to kill off the coal power sector as fast as possible. If all the actions pledged at COP26 hold firm, global warming could peak at 1.9° degrees Celcius this century according to that analysis.
But that’s if every nation keeps its promises – and all the money pledged is forthcoming. And to put that 1.9° degrees into perspective, a pre-Glasgow analysis placed the world on a trajectory for a 2.7° degree temperature rise, while the talks’ objective was to hold it to below 1.5°C.
In India the Diwali Hindu festival of light has taken place against the background of COP26. This year the government called for a green Diwali, with changes such as gifting plants to loved ones, avoiding plastic products, reusing holiday decorations and a ban on fireworks and firecrackers until January – a measure Delhi’s Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said could be lifesaving. But despite this, in Delhi police arrested 26 people and seized more than 4,000 kilograms of fireworks, according to local media. And still the air quality was described as the worst ever.
At COP26, Indonesia surprised everyone by bringing forward its target to phase out coal by 2040. Indonesia is the 11th largest user of coal in the world, and has had a number of climate-related disasters from floods and landslides to rising sea levels. But president Joco Widodo has since qualified this by saying he will need to invest $200 billion to achieve this and the world would need to help.
And to complete a week of negative news, we hear how our favourite English soccer team, the world’s only carbon-neutral football team, Forest Green Rovers, lost 3-2 to St Albans City in the first round of the FA Cup. As usual Colin gives some telling statistics from the game.
We also intended to have a spokesperson from Blockade Australia, who are undertaking a couple of weeks of non-violent direct action in the coal centre of Newcastle, but poor reception didn’t allow that. We will try to get them on next week. In the meantime you can find out about them here: www.blockadeaustralia.com
Till next week, we hope that all our listeners continue to channel their inner climate revolutionary. We’ll be back next week with more food for thought from solution seekers to inspire you with hope and action. Be the difference!
~ Anthony Gleeson and Jackie Matthews
“It is up to us, the sub-national governments, to really pitch in – to undo the damage and to move when the national government is not acting.”
~ Jonathon Marsden, mayor of Hobsons Bay
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Acknowledgement
We at The Sustainable Hour would like to pay our respect to the traditional custodians of the land on which we are broadcasting, the Wathaurong People, and pay our respect to their elders, past, present and future.
The traditional owners lived in harmony with the land. They nurtured it and thrived in often harsh conditions for millenia before they were invaded. Their land was then stolen from them – it wasn’t ceeded. It is becoming more and more obvious that, if we are to survive the climate emergency we are facing, we have much to learn from their land management practices.
Our battle for climate justice won’t be won until our First Nations brothers and sisters have their true justice. When we talk about the future, it means extending our respect to those children not yet born, the generations of the future – remembering the old saying that…
“We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors. We borrow it from our children.”
The decisions currently being made around Australia to ignore the climate emergency are being made by those who won’t be around by the time the worst effects hit home. How disrespectful and unfair is that?
Climate Code Red for humanity
“The spirit of Extinction Rebellion is fantastic. It is not motivated by a hatred of fossil fuels, it is motivated by a love of life, of biodiversity and a planet that is fit for purpose for future generations. As always this is a joyful event. We have a reputation for non-violent direct action. We’ll send a small delegation in to see Greg Hunt and they will be talking about how many people and how many species of plants and animals will be lost.”
~ John Pead, XR Police Liasion Officer outside the Federal Minister for Health Greg Hunt’s office during a live cross to an Extinction Rebellion action
Unmitigated disaster for societies everywhere
In Glasgow, an alarming new analysis of the world’s climate trajectory put a damper on much of the optimism that followed the first week of the COP26 summit, reported Covering Climate Now. The new analysis warns that even with all new Glasgow pledges for 2030, global temperature could rise well above 2° degrees Celcius by the end of the century.
Although reports last week stated that the latest pledges from world governments put humanity on track for 1.8° degrees Celsius of warming above pre-industrial levels — not the 1.5° degrees that the world needs, but progress in that this was the lowest estimate ever achieved — research from the well-respected group Climate Action Tracker said that, in fact, temperatures are likely to rise 2.4° degrees Celcius this century, which in no uncertain terms will mean unmitigated disaster for societies everywhere.
The grim prognosis has reinvigorated calls for nations whose plans aren’t in line with a 1.5° degree future to do more, faster, to correct their planned courses of action.
The Australian climate communicator and researcher David Spratt wrote:
“The news coming out of Glasgow suggests another COP failure. The climate finance deadline has been deferred two years, and with India at 2070 and China at 2060 even the irrelevant net zero 2050 may not make the grade, as happened at the G20. And anything relevant to 2030 or before seems gone.
Most astounding is the Washington Post story about nations collectively cheating a huge 8-13 billion tonnes a year in their declared emissions. Climate pledges built on flawed national data! It was left to journalists to say what no one else would: a huge UNFCCC failure because they must have known but sat on it so as to not offend any convention members. If countries did not enter COP26 with honest intentions and transparency, there is no path to a reasonable outcome.
It seems unsurprising that leaks say that the draft final communique makes no reference to fossil fuels, coal, oil or gas. Just like Paris. Greta is correct in her assessment.”
~ David Spratt
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“In politics, corporations, communities and households across every culture, ethnicity and nationality, people have recognised that the game is up, the bullshit has to end. Some are panicking and others are rapidly repositioning but they all know the global community will no longer put up with being lied to, bought off and pacified by denial, obfuscation and delay at the behest of the fossil fuel industry.”
~ Christine Milne, former leader of the Australian Greens
“Hope is not a lottery ticket you can sit on the sofa and clutch, feeling lucky. It is an axe you break down doors with in an emergency.”
~ Rebecca Solnit, author of ‘Hope In The Dark’
What can I do to help stop climate change?
Energy Saving Trust – 5 November 2021:
Energy Saving Trust’s top five tips to reduce your carbon footprint
1. Learn more about the climate emergency
2. Use low energy lightbulbs
3. Draught-proof your home
4. Walk or cycle more if you can
5. Consider switching to a heat pump
Inspiration from the Energy Saving Trust team
• Buy preloved nappies
• Don’t throw away food – freeze it
• Compost your coffee
• Use reusable period products
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Events we have talked about in The Sustainable Hour
Events in Victoria
The following is a collation of Victorian climate change events, activities, seminars, exhibitions, meetings and protests. Most are free, many ask for RSVP (which lets the organising group know how many to expect), some ask for donations to cover expenses, and a few require registration and fees. This calendar is provided as a free service by volunteers of the Victorian Climate Action Network. Information is as accurate as possible, but changes may occur.
Petitions
→ List of running petitions where we encourage you to add your name
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Live-streaming: on pause
The Sustainable Hour is normally streamed live on the Internet every Wednesday from 11am to 12pm (Melbourne time), but due to the corona lockdown, the radio station has been closed.
» To listen to the program on your computer or phone, click here – or go to www.947thepulse.com where you then click on ‘Listen Live’ on the right.
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Podcast archive
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