@wesmorgan.bsky.social
Writes on Australia & Pacific Islands I climate change, geopolitics, diplomacy I Research Associate - UNSW Institute for Climate Risk & Response I Fellow - Climate Council of Australia I Views my own
Reposted
UN set to reject World Heritage listing for Murujuga rock art. Wants polluters like Woodside's North West Shelf plant removed. ===Breaking news===
www.boilingcold.com.au/un-set-to-re...
www.boilingcold.com.au/un-set-to-re...
UN set to reject Murujuga World Heritage listing
The draft of a decision to be made in July tells the Australian Government to remove polluting industries - such as Woodside's North West Shelf plant - from the area.
www.boilingcold.com.au
May 28, 2025 at 12:46 AM
UN set to reject World Heritage listing for Murujuga rock art. Wants polluters like Woodside's North West Shelf plant removed. ===Breaking news===
www.boilingcold.com.au/un-set-to-re...
www.boilingcold.com.au/un-set-to-re...
This week EnergyAustralia was forced to clarify that: “Burning fossil fuels creates greenhouse gas emissions that are not prevented or undone by carbon offsets …”
Re-upping this Conversation piece explaining *why* offsets can’t be used to cut emissions.
theconversation.com/a-tonne-of-f...
Re-upping this Conversation piece explaining *why* offsets can’t be used to cut emissions.
theconversation.com/a-tonne-of-f...
A tonne of fossil carbon isn’t the same as a tonne of new trees: why offsets can’t save us
Labor must resist the false promise of carbon offsets in its safeguard mechanism. The only thing that matters is actually cutting emissions
theconversation.com
May 24, 2025 at 1:49 AM
This week EnergyAustralia was forced to clarify that: “Burning fossil fuels creates greenhouse gas emissions that are not prevented or undone by carbon offsets …”
Re-upping this Conversation piece explaining *why* offsets can’t be used to cut emissions.
theconversation.com/a-tonne-of-f...
Re-upping this Conversation piece explaining *why* offsets can’t be used to cut emissions.
theconversation.com/a-tonne-of-f...
Workshops May 20-22: UNSW's Institute for Climate Risk and Response is holding three half-day workshops to give practical insights on climate risk - covering climate science, climate law, and climate decision drivers. Sign up here for one session, or all three. www.eventbrite.com.au/e/icrr-works...
May 9, 2025 at 5:12 AM
Workshops May 20-22: UNSW's Institute for Climate Risk and Response is holding three half-day workshops to give practical insights on climate risk - covering climate science, climate law, and climate decision drivers. Sign up here for one session, or all three. www.eventbrite.com.au/e/icrr-works...
The debate about energy policy is now, in broad terms, over. Australia’s energy future is wind and solar, backed by storage. Ben Newell and I have penned a piece explaining Australia is set to be a renewables nation. This will change our place in the world. theconversation.com/australia-is...
Australia is set to be a renewables nation. After Labor’s win, there’s no turning back
Under a Labor government, coal and gas have a fast-declining role to play in Australia’s energy mix – and nuclear has none at all.
theconversation.com
May 8, 2025 at 1:49 AM
The debate about energy policy is now, in broad terms, over. Australia’s energy future is wind and solar, backed by storage. Ben Newell and I have penned a piece explaining Australia is set to be a renewables nation. This will change our place in the world. theconversation.com/australia-is...
Reposted
In 2022, the Australian people voted to finally act on climate change
After three years of progress- in 2025 they said keep going.
After three years of progress- in 2025 they said keep going.
May 3, 2025 at 12:38 PM
In 2022, the Australian people voted to finally act on climate change
After three years of progress- in 2025 they said keep going.
After three years of progress- in 2025 they said keep going.
Peter Dutton threatens to take Australia backwards on climate - expanding gas production, weakening emissions targets and abandoning plans to host COP31 with Pacific nations. As I explain here 👇 this would undermine Australian foreign policy in our region theconversation.com/peter-dutton...
Peter Dutton’s climate policy backslide threatens Australia’s clout in the Pacific – right when we need it most
As China seeks to expand its influence in our region, Pacific leaders have questioned Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s climate action stance.
theconversation.com
April 11, 2025 at 5:52 AM
Peter Dutton threatens to take Australia backwards on climate - expanding gas production, weakening emissions targets and abandoning plans to host COP31 with Pacific nations. As I explain here 👇 this would undermine Australian foreign policy in our region theconversation.com/peter-dutton...
Reposted
April 8, 2025 at 9:28 PM
Reposted
Australia's iron ore exports are worth about $85 billion a year and metallurgical coal a further $34 billion, but the potential increase in value by switching to producing green iron for export was put as high as $252 billion a year. www.reuters.com/markets/comm...
Green iron is a prize worth billions, winning is the trick: Russell
Decarbonising the steel industry is one of the massive challenges in meeting climate goals, but could end up being extremely profitable for companies and governments prepared to take the risks.
www.reuters.com
March 28, 2025 at 5:36 AM
Australia's iron ore exports are worth about $85 billion a year and metallurgical coal a further $34 billion, but the potential increase in value by switching to producing green iron for export was put as high as $252 billion a year. www.reuters.com/markets/comm...
Fresh analysis from me. A national gas reservation scheme is on the table for Australia's federal election. Gas reservation may be useful - to ensure we meet remaining, dwindling, demand and as signal to trade partners like Japan - but no new gas is needed. theconversation.com/dutton-unvei...
March 27, 2025 at 11:07 PM
Fresh analysis from me. A national gas reservation scheme is on the table for Australia's federal election. Gas reservation may be useful - to ensure we meet remaining, dwindling, demand and as signal to trade partners like Japan - but no new gas is needed. theconversation.com/dutton-unvei...
Stating the obvious, but the Republican Party in the US is dangerously radicalised and peddling outright conspiracies. Can only imagine this will get a lot worse before it gets better.
Musk: "The waste and fraud in entitlement spending -- that's the big one to eliminate. That's the half trillion, maybe 600 or 700 billion a year. That's also the mechanism by which Democrats attract & retain illegal immigrants by essentially paying them to come here & then turning them into voters."
March 10, 2025 at 10:16 PM
Stating the obvious, but the Republican Party in the US is dangerously radicalised and peddling outright conspiracies. Can only imagine this will get a lot worse before it gets better.
If you are looking for an analytical framework to think about what is happening in the US, this piece from Steven Levitsky and Lucan Way is very useful - how a radicalised Republican Party is weaponising the machinery of state against political enemies. www.foreignaffairs.com/united-state...
The Path to American Authoritarianism
What comes after democratic breakdown.
www.foreignaffairs.com
March 1, 2025 at 12:20 AM
If you are looking for an analytical framework to think about what is happening in the US, this piece from Steven Levitsky and Lucan Way is very useful - how a radicalised Republican Party is weaponising the machinery of state against political enemies. www.foreignaffairs.com/united-state...
How dangerous is Trump? Has he undermined the post-1945 world order already? He's condoned Russia's invasion of Ukraine and Israel's razing of Gaza (and wants spoils - minerals, land). Comments on Greenland, Panama (and Canada!) suggest a predatory foreign policy 1/4 www.nytimes.com/2025/02/21/o...
Opinion | ‘The World Is There for the Carving’: Two Columnists on the Trump-Putin Alliance (Gift Article)
We’ve never seen anything like this: a president who appears aligned with a Russian dictator in targeting the weak and the vulnerable.
www.nytimes.com
February 22, 2025 at 2:30 AM
How dangerous is Trump? Has he undermined the post-1945 world order already? He's condoned Russia's invasion of Ukraine and Israel's razing of Gaza (and wants spoils - minerals, land). Comments on Greenland, Panama (and Canada!) suggest a predatory foreign policy 1/4 www.nytimes.com/2025/02/21/o...
Great thread here 👇 if you want to understand why today's announcement at Whyalla is so exciting - it paints a picture for a Future Made in Australia (leveraging renewables to export the commodities our trading partners need to decarbonise).
Making green iron in Australia is a critical part of driving global emissions down to zero - quick thread on why given the developments in Whyalla this week.
First up - Each year Australia pulls almost 1bn tonnes of iron ore out of the ground - 39% of total annual production.
First up - Each year Australia pulls almost 1bn tonnes of iron ore out of the ground - 39% of total annual production.
February 20, 2025 at 3:46 AM
Great thread here 👇 if you want to understand why today's announcement at Whyalla is so exciting - it paints a picture for a Future Made in Australia (leveraging renewables to export the commodities our trading partners need to decarbonise).