WHAT’S ON
Granny Smith Festival Will be held on 19 October in Eastwood 9am-8.30pm. Ryde Council will have a Green Hub where you can learn about all things environmental, waste, sustainability and resilience. For more info go to https://www.ryde.nsw.gov.au/Events/Granny-Smith-Festival
Lane Cove Sustainability Fair On 13 October 9am-4pm on Burns Bay Road outside Australia Post there will be a fair on all things sustainable. For details http://wwww.lanecove.nsw.gov.au/sustainabilitylane
2040 film We’re excited that at last count 94 tickets had been sold for our showing of this film. We look forward to seeing you there. Tickets are still available at https://fan-force.com/screenings/2040-event-cinemas-macquarie/
Be Fantastic – Cut Single-use Plastic Ryde Council is running a sustainable solutions expo on Thursday 7 November 5-8pm at Ryde Civic Hall. Learn how to reduce your reliance on it. Free but bookings essential. https://www.ryde.nsw.gov.au/Events/Listing/Be-Fantastic.-Cut-Single-Use-Plastic-Sustainable-Solutions-Expo
Resilience Plan 2030 Ryde Council’s survey on the city’s resilience is open now until 11 October. Have your say in this important aspect of dealing with climate change. https://www.ryde.nsw.gov.au/Community/Ryde-Resilience-Plan-2030
Public Environment Forum The NSW Labor party is running a public forum on the environment on 20 October 2-4pm at Longueville Sporting club cnr Kenneth and River Rd, Longueville. Free but registration necessary. https://www.lanecovelabor.org.au/environment
WHAT WE’VE BEEN DOING
In the last month we have done the following:
We went to the climate strike rally.
NEWS AND EVENTS
Climate Strike We hope you made it to the massive strike in Sydney in Hyde Park. Here’s some images of protests around the world. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/gallery/2019/sep/20/global-climate-strike-millions-protest-worldwide-in-pictures And a message from Greta https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/sep/19/greta-thunberg-we-are-ignoring-natural-climate-solutions And her speech at UN Climate Summit https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/sep/23/world-leaders-generation-climate-breakdown-greta-thunberg
Sign the petition supporting Greta and the scientists calling for action on climate change to counter the Trumps, Morrisons and Bolts of the world. https://www.getup.org.au/campaigns/surge/we-stand-with-greta/we-stand-with-greta
And now the NSW government wants to make it illegal for us to protest https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/right-to-farm-bill-is-a-threat-to-democracy-that-affects-us-all-20190929-p52vwu.html
Climate Emergency petition Sign the petition asking the government to declare a climate emergency. It’s the biggest ever e-petition in Australia. https://www.aph.gov.au/petition_list?id=EN1041
Are you prepared for an emergency? Summer is threatening to be bad in many ways. Are you prepared? Go to the Red Cross website and find out what you need to do and download the app https://www.redcross.org.au/prepare
Protecting the oceans Morrison says it’s a government priority. Sign the petition asking he actually does something https://saveourmarinelife.org.au/oceans/
Saving the reef Powershop, the energy retailer, has set up a foundation to develop coral that is resistant to climate change. Want to help them? Go to https://reefrestorationfoundation.org/
Can’t come soon enough. A government report says the GBR outlook is poor. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/aug/30/great-barrier-reef-outlook-now-very-poor-australian-government-review-says
ACT leads the way The ACT has put out a tender for battery storage and is increasing its renewable generation. It’s lead the rest of the country by reaching 100% renewables. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-09-12/canberra-to-house-one-of-australias-biggest-batteries/11505528
Queensland – big on renewables Queensland, the state that has more to lose than any other due to climate change, is big on renewables. Read the report from the Climate Council https://www.climatecouncil.org.au/resources/welcome-queensland-renewable-report/
Adani The royalty deal with the Queensland government has not been finalised but Adani is keen for taxpayers to subsidise the mine. https://www.tai.org.au/content/adani-yet-contact-regulators-rail-royalty-deal Write a letter asking for the deal to be stopped https://www.stopadani.com/royalties
Myths about emissions The Climate Council has put out a myth-busting guide about Australia’s emissions. https://www.climatecouncil.org.au/resources/busting-six-emissions-myths/
The United in Science report presented to the recent UN Climate Summit (the one Morrison bother attending) says countries need to reduce emissions by five fold
https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/blog/2019/09/unite-in-science-report/
Australia – we have a major problem https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/politics/2019/09/28/the-week-australia-failed-climate-change/15695928008836
Morrison thinks Australia’s doing its bit (or is that just fake news?)
https://www.themonthly.com.au/today/russell-marks/2019/26/2019/1569476353/faking-it
Is mining responsible for Sydney’s water restrictions? Coal mining in Sydney’s water catchment area – what could possibly go wrong? https://www.smh.com.au/environment/sustainability/where-s-the-squelch-coal-mine-drying-out-greater-sydney-catchment-20190917-p52s4v.html
AMA says climate change is a health emergency It joins the same call from US and British doctors and Doctors for the Environment Australia https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/sep/03/australian-medical-association-declares-climate-change-a-health-emergency
Equinor wants to drill in the Great Australian Bight Here’s why it must not be allowed to. https://www.greenpeace.org.au/wp/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/CrudeIntentionsREPORT-301118-LR.pdf
Large-scale investment in renewables in doubt It’s looking like renewables investment will grind to a halt because the government thinks it doesn’t need to do any more to support it. Sign the petition calling for large-scale renewable projects to be saved. https://www.solarcitizens.org.au/save_clean_energy
In the meantime, Angus Taylor thinks the government’s doing a great job https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/sep/12/angus-taylor-taken-to-task-over-sudden-drop-in-renewable-energy-investment
Big strides in amount of new wind production The Australian Wind Alliance has some great news about the record level of wind energy being produced. https://www.windalliance.org.au/
And burning of brown coal has for electricity has decreased https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/business/the-economy/brown-coal-in-sharp-decline-as-power-plants-close-and-renewables-rise-20190912-p52qlu.html
Government plan – attack companies concerned about climate change while not having any policies itself https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/sep/18/when-scott-morrison-lectured-ceos-about-speaking-out-on-climate-change-it-was-quite-a-fight-to-pick
RBA, yet again, warns of risks to the financial system if climate change is not dealt with. https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/oct/04/reserve-bank-warns-climate-change-posing-increasing-risk-to-financial-stability
And most of the world’s biggest firms won’t meet Paris targets https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/sep/24/most-of-worlds-biggest-firms-unlikely-to-meet-paris-climate-targets
How will the climate crisis affect you? Have a look at this interactive map from CSIRO and Bureau of Meteorology. Be warned – no-one is immune. https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/ng-interactive/2019/sep/21/how-the-climate-crisis-will-affect-you-interactive-map
This is that Climate Change Looks like – a guide from Climate Council
https://www.climatecouncil.org.au/resources/ecosystems-report/