11 May 2021
A raft of policy announcements, rumoured internal decisions and general economic trends are all pointing to a looming downturn in fossil exports for Australia, with many more announcements set to come in the coming months prior to the global COP26 meeting later this year.
China, comfortably one of Australia’s largest customers and a country heavily reliant on Australia’s gas exports, was recently reported by Bloomberg as issuing instructions to delay shipments of gas from Australia. This is part of an ongoing trade dispute rather than any clear climate policies within China.
However, it highlights that Australia remains significantly exposed to this type of posturing due to its heavy economic reliance on fossil exports to China. And at the April Biden Climate Summit, China announced that it plans to “strictly control” its coal plants over the next five years, and to begin reducing coal output in China over the five years after that.
7 May 2021
The Morrison government will pour a further $58.6 million into the gas industry as part of a funding package for new gas storage facilities and a gas import terminal on Australia’s east coast.
The funding will be included in the federal budget, to be handed down on Tuesday next week and represents a doubling-down by the Morrison government on its ‘gas led recovery’ push to expand the gas industry.
The package includes support for Squadron Energy, backed by resources billionaire Andrew Forrest, to build a new gas import terminal at Port Kembla. It comes as the UN releases a new report that calls for a dramatic cut in methane emissions – much of which comes from the extraction of fossil gas – over the next decade.
30 April 2021
One of the defining characteristics of Australia’s energy and climate debate – and RenewEconomy readers will be deeply familiar with this – is that it is inherently circular. A closed loop repeating pattern of a small and predictable set of policy tricks are enacted by a conservative government, the opposition party does not oppose them. Industries heavily vested in fossil fuels twist the knobs and turn the levers in the background to maximise opportunity and eradicate risk, and the cycle repeats.
Occasionally, something weird happens. Tony Abbott was weird. The West-Australian election, and the Liberal party’s plan to literally decarbonise the entire power sector in 10 years, was weird. But for the most part, it’s the same simple tropes on repeat.
israel. reporter: just outside the israeli embassy, then in front of the white house, hundreds of protesters rallied against israel s deadly seizure of an aid flotilla headed for gaza. some of the protesters were jewish. i think it s an absolutely appalling act israel did. there was no reason to do it. israel is acting like a bully and everywhere you turn, israel says everybody is a terrorist. reporter: the trouble began monday morning as the israeli navy raided a flotilla of aid vessels headed for the gaza shim. aboard one of those ships, a violent clash that left at least nine dead and others wounded. israel says the flotilla violated its naval blockade and blames the violence on the activists and organizers. [ indiscernible ] reporter: white house issue add statement expressing regret over the loss of life and says the administration is working to understand the circumstances surrounding the tragedy. the protesters are calling on the president to take a stronger