Thẻ: Climate change

Green energy statecraft and Australia’s clean industry future

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

lowyinstitute.org Elizabeth Thurbon Oliver Yates

A new policy model that removes the risk in clean commodity innovation will put Australia ahead of the pack.

Australia will need to lead as global supply chains pivot towards low-emissions production (Getty Images)

Australia will need to lead as global supply chains pivot towards low-emissions production (Getty Images)

Published 9 Jul 2025  Australia Australian trade, investment & economy

As global supply chains pivot towards low-emissions production, Australia will need to lead, or risk being left behind. The country’s challenge is not a lack of technology, capital, or ambition. It’s a gap in policy architecture. Without bankable demand, Australia’s most promising clean commodity projects – green iron, sustainable aviation fuel, and clean ammonia – remain stuck at the starting line.

To meet that challenge, we propose a new demand-side policy model: the Clean Commodities Trading Initiative (CCTI) – a flagship example of green energy statecraft. At its heart is a new tool for national transformation: Clean Commodity Credits that reward innovation and emissions savings.

A market-friendly mechanism to kickstart large-scale clean production.

Green energy statecraft is a strategic approach to governance that uses the clean energy transition to simultaneously advance a nation’s economic, environmental, social, and geostrategic goals. Unlike conventional industry policy, which focuses on domestic market corrections, statecraft treats clean energy as key to national security and prosperity – used to build alliances, secure supply chains, boost productivity, and shape global rules.

The European Union, China, Japan, and South Korea are all pursuing variations of green energy statecraft. Australia must do the same – on its own terms, with tools suited to its advantages, institutions, and budget.

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More than a third of this country’s population has applied to relocate

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By Angus Watson, CNN Updated 4:50 AM EDT, Fri June 27, 2025

People swim in the lagoon in Funafuti, Tuvalu, on November 28, 2019.

People swim in the lagoon in Funafuti, Tuvalu, on November 28, 2019. Mario Tama/Getty ImagesSydney, AustraliaCNN — 

More than a third of the population of Tuvalu has applied to move to Australia, under a landmark visa scheme designed to help people escape rising sea levels.

The island nation – roughly halfway between Hawaii and Australia – is home to about 10,000 people, according to the latest government statistics, living across a clutch of tiny islets and atolls in the South Pacific.

With no part of its territory above six meters, it is one of the most at-risk places in the world to rising seas caused by climate change.

On June 16, Australia opened a roughly one-month application window for what it says is a one-of-a-kind visa offering necessitated by climate change. Under the new scheme, Australia will accept 280 visa winners from a random ballot between July and January 2026. The Tuvaluans will get permanent residency on arrival in Australia, with the right to work and access public healthcare and education.

More than 4,000 people have applied under the scheme, according to official figures seen by CNN.

“The opening of the Falepili Mobility Pathway delivers on our shared vision for mobility with dignity, by providing Tuvaluans the opportunity to live, study and work in Australia as climate impacts worsen,” Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said in a statement.

CNN has reached out to the Tuvalu government.

According to Tuvalu’s Prime Minister Feleti Teo, more than half of Tuvalu will be regularly inundated by tidal surges by 2050. By 2100, 90% of his nation will be regularly under water, he says.

Fongafale, the nation’s capital, is the largest and most populated islet in Tuvalu’s main atoll, Funafuti. It has a runway-like strip of land just 65 feet (20 meters) wide in some places.

“You can put yourself in my situation, as the prime minister of Tuvalu, contemplating development, contemplating services for the basic needs of our people, and at the same time being presented with a very confronting and disturbing forecast,” Teo told the United Nations Oceans Conference this month in Nice, France.

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‘Plenty of fish in the sea’? Not anymore

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UN.org

A report launched at the Third UN Ocean Conference, in Nice, shows that 35 per cent of the global fish stocks are being harvested unsustainably.

© The Ocean Story/Vincent Kneefel

A report launched at the Third UN Ocean Conference, in Nice, shows that 35 per cent of the global fish stocks are being harvested unsustainably.

By Fabrice Robinet, reporting from Nice  Climate and Environment

At the Third UN Ocean Conference in Nice, the “catch of the day” wasn’t a seabass or a red mullet – it was a figure: 35 per cent. That’s the share of global fish stocks now being harvested unsustainably, according to a new UN report released Wednesday.

https://x.com/UN_News_Centre/status/1932800237715783856?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1932800237715783856%7Ctwgr%5Ed912305c5ff556ade0e29bacd77858c0403f520d%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fnews.un.org%2Fen%2Fstory%2F2025%2F06%2F1164251

As yachts bobbed gently and delegates streamed by in a rising tide of lanyards and iPads at Port Lympia, Nice’s historic harbor, that statistic sent a ripple through the conference’s third day – a stark reminder that the world’s oceans are under growing pressure from overfishing, climate change and unsustainable management.

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‘Madness’: World leaders call for deep-sea mining moratorium at UN ocean summit

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Mongabay.com Elizabeth Claire Alberts 11 Jun 2025 France

  • World leaders have renewed calls for a global moratorium on deep-sea mining at the 2025 U.N. Ocean Conference (UNOC) in Nice, France, as the U.S. moves to mine the deep sea in international waters under its own controversial authority.
  • Four additional countries have joined the coalition of nations calling for a moratorium, precautionary pause, or ban on deep-sea mining, bringing the total number to 37.
  • The U.S., which did not have an official delegation at UNOC, is pushing forward with its plans to mine in international waters — a decision that has drawn criticism from the international community.

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China is Southeast Asia’s biggest public funder of clean energy with US$2.7bn in investment

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eco-business.com

Indonesia received the most funding from China over the last decade, according to a new report by Zero Carbon Analytics. But uncertainties caused by US-driven tariff plans could see Southeast Asian countries retract green investments, said an analyst.

Cirata floating solar Indonesia
China’s PowerChina Huadong Engineering Corporation Limited constructed the Cirata floating solar plant in West Java, Indonesia. Image: PLN Nusantara

By Hannah Alcoseba Fernande June 4, 2025

China is the leading source of public clean energy investments in Southeast Asia over the last decade, channeling over US$ 2.7 billion into projects across the region, according to a report by international research organisation Zero Carbon Analytics.

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Reclamation: A flawed solution

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beaneaththesand.earth

A deep dive into the rationale behind some of Asia’s reclamation projects, the toll they take on our environment and communities, and the search for more sustainable alternatives.

Reclamation is seen as a solution for countries to deal with increasing land demands, by expanding their territory and rehabilitating previously uninhabitable lands or seas. Yet, the process guzzles an alarming amount of sand, causing massive environmental damage as well as a rise of transnational criminal syndicates trading in illegal sand.

Coastlines, ecosystems, and entire populations are now facing adverse impacts due to increased sand-mining activity, with one of the major driving forces being land reclamation. This practice of creating new land at sea is often touted as a solution to urban expansion and climate change.

Read full story at https://www.beneaththesands.earth/reclamation

A “Turning Point”: How International Courts Are Addressing The Climate Emergency

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climatecourt.com

Dana Drugmand May 15, 2025

A "Turning Point": How International Courts Are Addressing The Climate Emergency
Credit: Ben Bohane

Co-published with One Earth Now

The climate crisis is the single greatest global public health threat of this century, health professionals say. Human rights experts warn it poses an unprecedented risk to human rights. For the world’s poor and most vulnerable people and communities on the frontlines of climate impacts like rising seas, it is an existential crisis threatening their very survival.

Yet the global response to what scientists say is undoubtedly a global emergency has fallen woefully short, through a United Nations governance framework that essentially rests upon voluntary pledges that nations of the world submit – called Nationally Determined Contributions – to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. Last year, leading climate experts wrote to top UN officials calling for reform of the international climate negotiations, arguing that the “current structure simply cannot deliver the change at exponential speed and scale, which is essential to ensure a safe climate landing for humanity.”

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Pest Migration from Southeast Asia Threatens Crops in Southern China, Research Found

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laotiantime.com By Kheuakham Chanlivong May 8, 2025

Rice field (Photo: 123RF)

Southern China is facing a surge in agricultural pests migrating from neighboring Southeast Asian countries, including Laos, Myanmar, and Cambodia. This pest migration, driven by climate-related factors, poses a growing threat to regional food security.

A recent study highlights the role of extreme weather in this phenomenon. Researchers found that the ongoing El Niño event, marked by unusually warm ocean temperatures in the Equatorial Pacific, is contributing to hotter and more humid conditions, which are ideal for pest breeding.

In addition to favorable breeding conditions, strong seasonal winds are carrying these pests into Southern China, facilitating their rapid spread and increasing the risk of crop damage. 

While wind is a major factor in their movement, scientists note that insect migration is also influenced by environmental stressors such as extreme heat, drought, and the presence of predators.

Insects migrate in response to immediate environmental cues, the study explains. They may move to escape harsh conditions, find food, avoid overcrowding, or locate new habitats suitable for reproduction.

The problem isn’t confined to China. In Laos, climate change is also taking a toll. The country has experienced record-breaking heatwaves, reaching 43.2 degrees Celsius in 2024, along with persistent water shortages and weakened agricultural infrastructure. 

These factors have led to crop failures, livestock losses, and growing food insecurity. An estimated 82 percent of households lack access to safe water, compounding the crisis for rural communities.

Globally, climate change is expected to worsen food insecurity. Rising temperatures and shifting rainfall patterns are already making it more difficult to grow crops in traditional farming regions. 

By 2100, nearly 30 percent of the world’s food crops may be exposed to climate conditions they have never encountered before. While much of the focus is on staple crops like rice and wheat, many other plants grown in equatorial regions could also suffer under the changing climate.

China plans to build the world’s largest dam – but what does this mean for India and Bangladesh downstream?

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theconversation.com

Published: April 8, 2025 5.33pm BST

Author Mehebub SahanaLeverhulme Early Career Fellow, Geography, University of Manchester

China recently approved the construction of the world’s largest hydropower dam, across the Yarlung Tsangpo river in Tibet. When fully up and running, it will be the world’s largest power plant – by some distance.

Yet many are worried the dam will displace local people and cause huge environmental disruption. This is particularly the case in the downstream nations of India and Bangladesh, where that same river is known as the Brahmaputra.

The proposed dam highlights some of the geopolitical issues raised by rivers that cross international borders. Who owns the river itself, and who has the right to use its water? Do countries have obligations not to pollute shared rivers, or to keep their shipping lanes open? And when a drop of rain falls on a mountain, do farmers in a different country thousands of miles downstream have a claim to use it? Ultimately, we still don’t know enough about these questions of river rights and ownership to settle disputes easily.

The Yarlung Tsangpo begins on the Tibetan Plateau, in a region sometimes referred to as the world’s third pole as its glaciers contain the largest stores of ice outside of the Arctic and Antarctica. A series of huge rivers tumble down from the plateau and spread across south and south-east Asia. Well over a billion people depend on them, from Pakistan to Vietnam.

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What are the High Seas (and why should we care?)

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Mongbay.com Abhishyant Kidangoor 23 Oct 2024

High seas cover over half of our planet’s surface, and represent two-thirds of the entire ocean. They serve as a crucial habitat for countless marine species, many of which remain undiscovered. They also play a vital role in climate regulation. The high seas are also home to secret treasures that could potentially reshape medical science. Painkillers, antibiotics and many other drugs have been produced from genetic material found in the depths of the ocean.

Despite their immense ecological and medical importance, only 1% of these international waters are legally protected. Since they fall outside the jurisdiction of any country, high seas are not governed by anyone. This has led to patchy regulation and uncoordinated management, leaving them vulnerable to threats like overfishing, shipping traffic, and ocean acidification.

An international treaty aims to address these concerns. Last year, countries around the world agreed upon the Agreement on Marine Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ Treaty) after decades of discussions and negotiations. The historic treaty aims to establish legal frameworks for the conservation and sustainable use of marine resources. The treaty has created a blueprint for countries that want to propose and create protected areas in the high seas. It tackles prior assessment of potentially damaging activities like deep sea mining while also trying to figure out a way to share and distribute marine resources in an equitable manner. Sixty countries will have to ratify the treaty before it goes into effect.

Watch this video to learn more about the high seas, the significance of the BBNJ treaty and the questions that remain unanswered

“Cool” years are now hotter than the “warm” years of the past: tracking global temperatures through El Niño and La Niña

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oneworldata.org

The world is warming despite natural fluctuations from the El Niño cycle.

In 2024, the world was around 1.5°C warmer than it was in pre-industrial times.1 You can see this in the chart below, which shows average warming relative to average temperatures from 1861 to 1890.2

Temperatures, as defined by “climate”, are based on temperatures over longer periods of time — typically 20-to-30-year averages — rather than single-year data points. But even when based on longer-term averages, the world has still warmed by around 1.3°C.3

But you’ll also notice, in the chart, that temperatures haven’t increased linearly. There are spikes and dips along the long-run trend.

Many of these short-term fluctuations are caused by “ENSO” — the El Niño-Southern Oscillation — a natural climate cycle caused by changes in wind patterns and sea surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean.

While it’s caused by patterns in the Pacific Ocean and most strongly affects countries in the tropics, it also impacts global temperatures and climate.

There are two key phases of this cycle: the La Niña phase, which tends to cause cooler global temperatures, and the El Niño phase, which brings hotter conditions. The world cycles between El Niño and La Niña phases every two to seven years.4 There are also “neutral” periods between these phases where the world is not in either extreme.

The zig-zag trend of global temperatures becomes understandable when you are taking the phases of the ENSO cycles into account. In the chart below, we see the data on global temperatures5, but the line is now colored by the ENSO phase at that time.6

The El Niño (warm phase) is shown in orange and red, and the La Niña (cold phase) is shown in blue.

You can see that temperatures often reach a short-term peak during warm El Niño years before falling back slightly as the world moves into La Niña years, shown in blue.

Full article https://ourworldindata.org/global-temperatures-el-nino-la-nina?utm_source=OWID+Newsletter&utm_campaign=df01bb5c85-biweekly-digest-2025-03-07&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-0c7f305164-537125314

Mekong Dam Monitor Weekly Update

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February 24 – March 2, 2025 Stimson Mekong Monitor

Spotlight

Significant releases from China’s large dams push river to higher-than-normal levels.

Sustained large releases from China’s Xiaowan and Nuozhadu Dams are causing the river to run at levels 1-2 meters higher than normal along the Thai-Lao border. The two graphs illustrate  the sudden spike in river level occurring during the last days of February, corresponding to about 900 million cubic meters of water releases from China’s dams. Under normal dry season conditions, the river level does not spike in a manner seen on the graphs. At this time of year, the river level should gradually decrease over the next six weeks. Sudden spikes in river level, particularly those which run for sustained periods at higher levels, can be devastating for the river’s ecological processes and for the communities who depend on the river.

What Happened Last Week?

    • Where’s the Water: Last week, dams throughout the basin released a significant cumulative total of 1.6 billion cubic meters of water. Significant releases came from Xiaowan (PRC, 749 million cubic meters), Nuozhadu (PRC, 164 million cubic meters), and Thuen Hinboun Expansion (LAO, 199 million cubic meters). Dry season water releases generate hydropower but also artificially raise the level of the river. Where is the water?
    • River Levels: River levels throughout the basin are now about one meter higher than normal. See how this looks.
    • Wetness and Weather: While the headwaters of the Mekong in China are excessively wet (blue), most of the lower Mekong region is experiencing intensifying drought (red). Dry season irrigation activities in the Mekong Delta are creating slightly above average wetness anomalies in Vietnam’s delta. Temperatures in the Mekong basin were about average overall, with slightly above-average temperatures in the northern portion of the basin and slightly below average temperatures in the lower basin. See the maps.

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The National Security Imperative of USAID’s Food Security Programs

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Climateandsecurity.org

As of today, the Trump Administration has paused two essential US global food security initiatives, Feed the Future and the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET). Created in reaction to the 2007-8 global food crisis and resulting instability, Feed the Future is a marquee US government food security program and tool for implementing the bipartisan Global Food Security Act, working in 20 countries to build a more resilient food system and supporting agricultural innovation at 17 US universities. Operating since 1985, FEWS NET provides rigorous analysis and forecasting of acute food insecurity to inform US and other humanitarian responses in 30 countries.

These programs make invaluable contributions to US national security and global stability. For example, Feed the Future builds resilience in five countries where the US National Intelligence Estimate on climate change assesses “building resilience…would probably be especially helpful in mitigating future risks to US interests.” In Central America, where drought during growing seasons has driven increased migration to the United States, Honduran Feed the Future beneficiaries report a 78% lower intent to migrate than the wider population. Meanwhile, FEWSNET’s data and analysis more quickly and efficiently direct US humanitarian support in reaction to conflict, economic shocks, and extreme weather, including in regions where the US military is deployed. 

Both programs have historically received consistent bipartisan support. Speaking at the launch of a new Feed the Future initiative last year, Senator John Boozman (R-AR) noted, “food security is national security.” Another Feed the Future supporter, Representative Tracey Mann (R-KS 1st District), has highlighted the value of his district’s Feed the Future Innovation Lab and stated that global food security programs have “an especially strong return on investment because they support American agriculture producers today, while greatly reducing the need for conflict or war-related dollars spent tomorrow” and are “a way to stop wars before they start.” As Executive Director of the World Food Program (2017-2023), former South Carolina Governor and Representative David Beasely testified to the Senate that “Investments in early warning systems like USAID’s Famine Early Warning System…allow humanitarian partners to project and respond in real time to potential emergencies….Without this capacity to forecast food insecurity, the cost of humanitarian intervention is much greater, both in dollars and lives lost.”

Last year, dozens of national security leaders, including the former commanders of Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM), Africa Command (AFRICOM), and Central Command (CENTCOM), endorsed the Council on Strategic Risks’ The Feeding Resilience Plan: Safeguarding US National Security at the Crossroads of Food and Climate Change. The report makes recommendations to US policymakers to better anticipate, prevent, and respond to food- and climate-driven national security threats, including to:

  • “Support long-term resilience building in vulnerable countries by sustaining and expanding Feed the Future,” noting it and similar programs “bolster vulnerable countries’ ability to withstand food shocks and forestall security threats or need for costly US assistance,” and
  • “Expand on USAID’s FEWS NET to include longer-term food insecurity warnings” and to have security and defense agencies better “integrate FEWSNET projections with processes to forecast political instability and conflict.”

Amid multiplying threats from instability, extreme weather, and geopolitical competition, these recommendations remain critical today, and highlight the important national security benefits of capabilities like Feed the Future and FEWS NET.  

A critical system of Atlantic Ocean currents could collapse as early as the 2030s, new research suggests

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Angela Fritz

By Angela Dewan and Angela Fritz, CNN

Updated 10:56 AM EDT, Sat August 3, 2024

Light blue and turquoise phytoplankton seen through the clouds highlight the ocean currents off the coast of Greenland. New research suggest an important system of these currents is at risk of collapsing as soon as next decade.

Light blue and turquoise phytoplankton seen through the clouds highlight the ocean currents off the coast of Greenland. New research suggest an important system of these currents is at risk of collapsing as soon as next decade. NASA Earth/Shutterstock/FILECNN — 

A vital system of Atlantic Ocean currents that influences weather across the world could collapse as soon as the late 2030s, scientists have suggested in a new study — a planetary-scale disaster that would transform weather and climate.

Several studies in recent years have suggested the crucial system — the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, or AMOC — could be on course for collapse, weakened by warmer ocean temperatures and disrupted saltiness caused by human-induced climate change. Tiếp tục đọc “A critical system of Atlantic Ocean currents could collapse as early as the 2030s, new research suggests” →