In 1858 and 1859, oil was discovered for the first time in commercial quantities in Ontario Canada and Pennsylvania, USA. This was a turning point in human civilization. From producing diesel for steam engines to using kerosene to light up house lamps, oil was the ‘oil’ of civilization. By the middle of the 20th century almost all...
Abuja, Nigeria: Nicholas Patrick Wiseman, back in 1845, once wrote that an idea is immortal and cannot be killed. Personally, I think ideas are pretty much eternal. All the greatest changes in human lives across the world had at one time or another stemmed from an idea. From the concept of slavery to that of...
While there are many prominent men flying the flag for climate change and sustainability – Al Gore and Leonardo DiCaprio quickly spring to mind here – there are plenty of prominent women leading the way too. Below, famous female leaders from a variety of professions and backgrounds, share their thoughts on climate change, sustainability and...
Electronic waste, or e-waste for short, is one of the world’s fastest growing waste streams, being dumped in landfills at record rates in Australia and across the world. According to Sustainability Victoria, an estimated 16 million TVs and one million mobile phones are discarded in Australia each year. But rather than throwing these away, electronic goods such...
With pollution rates on the rise and climate change drastically altering our world, it’s vitally important right now for kids to learn about nature and ways to protect and save it – before it’s too late. Those who care about the future of our environment need to promote the education of climate change in schools...
Brisbane, Australia: The Victorian Government is making it illegal to dump e-waste in landfill from 1 July 2019. According to Sustainability Victoria, an estimated 15 million electronic items were sent to landfill in Australia in 2007-2008, and that number has steadily increased. Electronic waste, or e-waste, refers to any electronic item with a plug, battery or...
This article was originally published on The Conversation. Author: Frank Jotzo, Director, Centre for Climate Economics and Policy, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University and Salim Mazouz, Research Manager, Crawford School of Public Policy; and Principal at NCEconomics, Australian National University. Renewables are stealing the march over coal in Australia, and the international outlook is...
In 2016, 174 nation states (including Australia) and the European Union, agreed on the United Nations Paris Agreement on climate change. This global acknowledgement that humans are the primary drivers of climate change was a critical turning point in history. To avoid the most serious impacts of human-induced climate change, scientists estimated that the planet’s average temperatures could...
Ocean Conservancy’s 33rd annual International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) is on September 15. The world’s largest single-day volunteer effort to fight against ocean plastic pollution, this year the non-profit launches their new #SuitUpToCleanUp campaign encouraging people to suit up and head to their local beach or waterway to help pick up litter and plastic debris and...
This article was originally published on The Conversation. Author: Chelsea Liu, Senior Lecturer, Adelaide Business School, University of Adelaide Companies with more gender-balanced boards are less often sued for breaching environmental laws, suggesting that these companies are more mindful of protecting the environment. That is the key finding of my research, published in the Journal of...
UNITED STATES: On Tuesday, August 21, the Environmental Protection Agency unveiled plans to roll back Obama-era regulations on emissions from coal-fired power plants and give states the power to regulate their own emissions. These rules would undo much of the progress the Obama administration made in the fight against climate change and cause catastrophic consequences on...
This article was originally published on The Conversation. Author: Sarah Graham, Honorary Associate, University of Sydney The Trump administration’s withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement was greeted with dismay around the world. Less well known, but probably just as damaging to emissions reductions, was freezing standards for carbon dioxide emissions from cars in July. The erosion of...