On Sunday, the Western Australian government’s comprehensive plan to ban single-use plastics was announced. This plan comes on the feedback of a recent discussion paper on disposable plastics that indicated 98% community support for the government to take action to reduce the impacts of single-use plastics. According to the paper, in 2018–19, a total of 3.4...
China’s President Xi Jinping surprised the global community recently by committing his country to net-zero emissions by 2060. Prior to this announcement, the prospect of becoming “carbon neutral” barely rated a mention in China’s national policies. China currently accounts for about 28% of global carbon emissions – double the US contribution and three times the...
Climate activists from grassroots campaigns #StopAdani and Insure our Future have gathered at the London headquarters of insurance giant Lloyd’s of London and delivered two giant postcards – one from the Pacific Climate Warriors and one from the global #StopAdani movement – calling on the insurance company to align its policies to the Paris Agreement...
In his best-selling book 21 Lessons for the 21st Century , historian and philosopher Yuval Noah Harari explains that the principle of democracy operates on the aphorism that “you can fool some of the people all of the time, you can fool all of the people some of the time but you can’t fool all...
Earlier today, former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd launched a petition calling for a Royal Commission into the “abuse of media monopoly in Australia” and focussing specifically on Rupert Murdoch’s media empire– News Corp. In a video release, Rudd explains the petition also aims to make recommendations “for media diversity ownership for the future lifeblood of...
Climate Week 2020 was held last week, from September 21st until the 27th. There were over 350 live and virtual events held across New York and all over the world that aimed to explore lessons that we could learn in our battle against climate change. Ten overarching themes guided the discussions, seminars, and exhibitions during...
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death has generated an outpouring of grief around the globe. Part of this grief reflects her unparalleled status as a feminist icon and pioneer for women in the legal profession and beyond. There is already considerable interest in what her departure means for the future of the US Supreme Court, and...
Every government school in Victoria will now provide students free pads and tampons in a bid to to reduce shame and embarrassment around periods for girls and ease the cost of living on families. An Australian first, the $20.7 million initiative will be rolled out to more than 1500 government schools across Victoria. The menstrual...
Dutch politicians voted today in favour of fast-tracking the shut down of the estimated 128 remaining mink fur farms in the Netherlands, following outbreaks of SARS-CoV-2, commonly known as COVID-19, on 17 fur farms in April. The coronavirus was first identified on two Dutch mink farms (holding more than 20,000 animals) on 26 April 2020. This comes...
The coronavirus is disrupting almost every country in the world. Pandemics have struck before, but this one is affecting nations and citizens in new ways. Many countries, including the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy and United States are implementing quarantines, lockdowns and social distancing measures to try and slow the spread of the virus. As COVID-19...
There is something kind of romantic about the phrase stay at home – pre-COVID-19, that is. You encourage your partner to stay home and his or her mind immediately wanders to the near future when both of you are up in your room trying to get it on. If you have teenage kids, there’s a...
Everyday, the headlines are dire. All we see on our TV screens, and read or watch from online feeds are lockdowns, rising statistics of confirmed cases and deaths — all because of COVID-19. As of this writing, the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared it a pandemic. This disease and its massive rate of infection have...