"If Jaguar’s forecasts are correct, this means Australian car dealers could be selling an average of 1.2 million EV or PHEV cars per year over the next 10 years, around double what is anticipated by AEMO."
Ireland votes to divest from fossil fuels within 5 years | Renew Economy
Curb new nuclear plants and back renewables, government advisers say | Reuters
One of the World's Biggest Insurers Is Ditching Coal | Earther
Earlier this week, one of the biggest re-insurance companies in the world started implementing a policy reflecting the growing risk around new coal projects. Swiss Re announced on Monday it would no longer insure companies that get 30 percent of their revenue or generate 30 percent of their power from coal burned for energy (known in energy parlance as ‘thermal coal’).
Munich Re sticks with coal underwriting despite investor pressure | Reuters
Yes, your energy bills are too high. Here's how the ACCC thinks prices can be slashed | The ABC
The consumer watchdog believes Australians are paying too much for their electricity. A lack of competition in the energy market and policy mistakes by successive state and federal governments has added significant costs to power bills, according to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).
"We've got a lot of costs imposed into the system, the market's too concentrated and we've had some unfortunate behaviour by retailers."
Here's a link to the ACCC media release and you can find the ACCC report here.
Ex-IPCC Vice-Chair: EU contribution to Paris goals is ‘unambitious and outdated’ | Euractiv
The European Union needs to “significantly improve its policy package” for 2030 in order to align itself with the emission trajectories of the Paris Agreement, according to renowned Belgian climate scientist Jean-Pascal van Ypersele.
Screws tighten on thermal coal as Swiss Re pulls plug | Financial Review
Swiss Re, the world's second largest reinsurer, has pulled the plug on underwriting policies for companies with more than 30 per cent of thermal coal in their mining or power-generation portfolios, further tightening the screws on a fuel which is paradoxically enjoying buoyant demand in Asia
Red-hot planet: All-time heat records have been set all over the world during the past week | Washington Post
'Unacceptable': Energy grid 'gaming' cost Australian consumers $3.4 billion | AFR
Mostly working: Australia’s wholesale electricity market | The Grattan Institute
High electricity prices are here to stay, according to a new Grattan Institute report that calls on politicians to tell Australians the truth about the future of energy costs.
Climate Horizons Report 2018 | Centre for Policy Development
"Climate change is not some distant threat. It is a global tragedy unfolding before our eyes, disrupting ecosystems, communities and economies. For companies, investors and financiers the risks and opportunities are immediate and pressing. The expectations of markets and policymakers on emissions reduction targets and adaptation measures are ramping up. Customers, shareholders and regulators demand increasingly sophisticated responses. If Australian businesses and company directors fail to react urgently and coherently, then they will jeopardise their own future: assets will be stranded or uninsurable, investment will stall, debts will go unpaid, and companies will collapse.” Download the full report here
Rising seas: 'Florida is about to be wiped off the map' | The Guardian
"Take the 6 million people who live in south Florida today and divide them into two groups: those who live less than six and a half feet above the current high tide line, and everybody else. The numbers slice nearly evenly. Heads or tails: call it in the air. If you live here, all you can do is hope that when you put down roots your choice was somehow prophetic."
Financing a Sustainable Economy | John Price, Commissioner, ASIC
Climate change
Keynote address by John Price, Commissioner, Australian Securities and Investments Commission, Centre for Policy Development: Financing a Sustainable Economy, Sydney, Australia, 18 June 2018
“However, notwithstanding these issues, as a general proposition we do not consider that the law or our policy would impede an entity from undertaking scenario analysis. Likewise, we do not think that director liability should be a major impediment to reporting under TCFD Recommendations provided that the modelling adopts reasonable assumptions and inputs and discloses them in full. This can be achieved by making sure the disclosure is the product of a robust assessment of the best evidence available at the time”
Download the full speech here
The Effects Of Weather Events On Corporate Earnings Are Gathering Force | Resilience Economics and S&P Global
"A review of the earnings call transcripts of S&P 500 companies in the past ten years revealed that "climate" and "weather" combined were among the most frequently discussed topics among executives, even more common than "Trump", "the dollar", "oil", and "recession”.
Climate risks should be a priority for boards of directors | The Fifth Estate
"Climate risks are risks to businesses and therefore need to be on the radar for boards of directors, David Singleton argues. "
ASIC warns on climate risk as heat turns on directors | The Age
"In another sign the corporate cop is closely focused on the issue, Mr Price also said ASIC was working on a review of how companies across the ASX 300 index disclosed information on climate change, and it planned to publish the findings later this year.”
We just got a clear sign the trillion-dollar coastal property bubble could burst any time | Think Progress
Their analysis of home prices versus flood risk reveals that from 2007 to 2017, homes at “high” or “very high” risk of extreme flooding saw a 4.8 to 5.6 percent drop in price, while homes at the lowest risk saw an 8.4 to 9.6 percent rise.
When planetary catastrophe is your day job | The Monthly
“Meanwhile, back at home, the shambles that is Australian climate policy limps on, with some backbenchers as fossilised as their favourite fuel. Defying global trends, the government wound back the Renewable Energy Target, and we remain the only developed country to repeal a carbon price.”
Scientists to America: Embrace climate action or lose your coastal cities | Think Progress
“The situation in 2070 — roughly 50 years away — is a calamity. Sea levels will have risen nearly half a meter (20 inches, or 1.6 feet) since 2000. Flooding of coastal cities will be costing the world more than $1 trillion a year.”