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Paris Agreement

Yesterday

The group chief financial officer of Ramsay Health Care, Martyn Roberts.

Don’t dump corporate climate targets because of Trump, CFOs say

Big business is locked in to its decarbonisation path given commitments made in other countries, and to investors, senior executives said.

  • Amelia McGuire

The energy transition will be much cheaper than you think

Analysts have for decades severely overestimated energy demand and underestimated the speed of technological advances.

A protester speaks at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan.

No-shows and early exits make climate talks a sideshow

The world leaders who skipped Baku last week are all in Brazil now. While COPs are always fraught and fractious, this one feels at risk of sliding into irrelevance.

  • Updated
  • Hans van Leeuwen

This Month

Fortescue executive chairman Andrew Forrest at COP29 in Baku.

Forrest makes ‘dollars and cents’ appeal to climate sceptic Trump

The US president-elect has already reached out to the Fortescue boss, who has switched from environmental rhetoric to the language of economic rationalism.

  • Hans van Leeuwen
‘Gift of God’ … Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev extols his country’s natural resources.

Oil and gas are ‘a gift of God’: COP29 leader

The Azerbaijan president’s opening speech was a striking start to the climate summit, already marred by uncertainty and absenteeism.

  • Hans van Leeuwen
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John Podesta at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan. “Are we facing new headwinds? Absolutely. But we won’t revert to the energy system of the 1950s. No way.”

Carbon trading deal struck despite likely US exit from Paris accord

Carbon trading could help raise some of the cash developing countries need to adapt to the effects of climate change, and enable big polluters to cut emissions.

  • Kenza Bryan, Attracta Mooney and Aime Williams
COP29 isn’t looking likely to be a high-visibility climate summit.

Why no one is turning up to this year’s climate summit

COP29 is meant to land a $US1 trillion deal to fund poor nations’ fight against climate change. But political and business leaders are a widespread no-show.

  • Hans van Leeuwen
Trump has pledged to increase oil drilling, such as at Oil Search’s Alaskan site.

Pressure on other countries to lead on climate after Trump win

Experts say Trump’s election means countries will need to engage with US businesses and states to ensure the energy transition continues.

  • Hannah Wootton

October

Donald Trump in 2017, when he lifted an Obama-era policy that curtailed the financing of coal-fired power plants overseas.

Trump is the elephant in the room on climate targets

The US election result next week will influence the world’s global climate change action plans, including Australia.

  • John Kehoe
Pathzero co-founders Charbel Ayoub and Carl Prins in Sydney. Their Pathzero system allows asset owners to discover energy transition risks lurking in their investment portfolio.

Emissions tracking tool a winner for super funds and Pathzero

Aware Super and Hesta use Pathzero software. So do 600 fund managers. It’s already the world’s largest data sharing network for private market carbon emissions.

  • James Eyers
A lithium-rich lagoon in Chile’s Atacama Desert.

How this Aussie mining tech company is doing its bit for the planet

ElectraLith is named the 2024 AFR BOSS Most Innovative Company in the Agriculture, Mining, Engineering and Utilities sector.

  • Sally Patten
Amry truck in Ballina in 2022.

‘We should learn from history’: ex-general warns of climate wars

As chief of the Dutch armed forces, Tom Middendorp was castigated for suggesting climate change was a security threat. Now his views are mainstream.

  • Andrew Tillett

September

Australia is planning to co-host alongside Pacific islands that are vulnerable to sea level rise and severe storms.

Bringing COP31 Down Under will be an unprecedented opportunity

Australia could co-host the global climate meeting in 2026 well on the way to emissions targets, and ready to drive fresh momentum.

  • Kerry Schott and John Connor
APA is studying pipelines that would transport gas from exploration ventures in the Beetaloo Basin in the Northern Territory.

UniSuper faces uprising from scientists over its support of gas

More than 1000 members of the $140 billion industry super fund have signed a letter to its board demanding it leverage its influence over APA Group or risk greenwashing.

  • Hannah Wootton
WA’s economy is more dependent on gas than any other state.

New gas projects approved, but supply buffer shrinks

Labor has approved two small gas projects in Victoria, hot on the heels of a new warning that gas supplies are shrinking.

  • John Kehoe
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Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.

Microsoft’s climate hypocrisy on AI

The tech giant has marketed AI technology to ExxonMobil and Chevron as a powerful tool for finding and developing new oil and gas reserves.

  • Karen Hao

Learning to live with 50 degree temperatures

From Dubai to Mumbai, cities are having to adapt to hotter summers, often exacerbating economic inequality in the process.

  • Chloe Cornish
Agriculture is already facing challenges from renewable energy projects.

Farmers slam call to create huge forest to reduce emissions

The Climate Change Authority review sparked criticism from the agricultural sector over a call for large-scale forestation.

  • Angela Macdonald-Smith and Ronald Mizen
Bugs for dinner.

How changing your diet can help get to net zero

Eating more chicken, pork, kangaroo – and even algae and insects – could be necessary to get to net zero by 2050, according to the Climate Change Authority.

  • Ronald Mizen
Matt Kean after being named the new chair of the Climate Change Authority.

Matt Kean unveils plan to achieve net zero by 2050

The Climate Change Authority’s landmark report downplayed the Coalition’s nuclear ambitions and said wind and solar generation needs to move faster to ensure Australia’s net zero ambitions are not derailed.

  • Ronald Mizen and Angela Macdonald-Smith

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/topic/paris-agreement-60d