Climate Action Show

Mon 6th Nov 2017What lessons can we learn from  Bangladesh?The 2017 floods in the north of Bangladesh coincided with over half a million refugees staggering in from Myanmar in the east.India has built a security fence with armed guards around its border with Bangladesh. But despite being on the frontline, this country is NOT intending to create climate refugees.Vivien learns how Bangladesh is adapting. Tom Bamforth from Red Cross/Red Crescent has recently been there.  Climate Scientist Dr Saleemul Huq is on skype from Dhaka at the International Centre for Climate Change and Development. He is a beacon of adaptation expertise and humanity.He will inspire you with what a country rich in community spirit is doing. He says to  us “We  don’t want your money, we want your empathy”.Australia’s  task is to see the victims of our emissions. As he says , continuing carbon exports and carbon pollution is “not a victimless crime” and the climate criminals must pay. Of course emergency aid is needed,  but the ball is in our court to rapidly decarbonise.We can also co operate at the  Bonn Climate COP in November to compensate front line countries for the unbearable loss and damage they are dealing with.Rob Roggema is Professor of Sustainable Urban Environments at UTS in Sydney. Dutch expertise is much in demand among low lying countries like Bangladesh. He will tell us how  to go with nature, letting the rivers flood, saving the water in city reservoirs and building to prevent damage.This encouraging show will help us rebuild our civil society and remember we have choices, going under is not inevitable.GuestsTom Bamforth   –   Red Cross/ Red CrescentDr Saleemul Huq-  International Centre for Climate Change and DevelopmentProfessor Rob Roggema – UTS- Sustainable Urban EnvironmentsProductionVivien Langford – InterviewsAndy Britt-       ProductionJodie Green and Roger Vize -PodcastsRead more:DCAN is holding a MUSIC FOR A WARMING WORLD fundraiser event next Sunday 12thhttp://podcast.bze.org.au/storage/monday/Poster%20Music%20Warming_A4_PressQ.pdf

Mon 30th October 2017In the land of the lyrebirds  everyone is enthralled.Scientists  measuring the carbon stock, citizens battling the pulp mill, visionaries with maps of the linked up forests, all pause.The first people who came in to this moist forest with its giant trees going back hundreds of years, must have laughed to hear the lyrebird imitate a kookaburra, imitate a cracking branch, imitate them. When the wildfires went through what a thing to be mourned.As we learn new words like eco- system services and legacy industries, what will be the future of this carbon dense series of forests from central Victoria to Southern NSW?. They are our richest ecological asset.Bringing you  a narrative of restoration in these febrile times of climate disruption:Paul Payton from the Great Southern Forest AllianceDr Heather Keith  from The Fenner School of Environment and Society A.N.U.Steve Meacher from The Great Forest National ParkDaisy Barham from Nature Conservation Council of N.S.W.Interviews by Vivien Langford and Kurt Johnson. Production by Andy Britt. Podcast by Jodie Green and Roger VizeYoutube by wildlife artist Stephen PowellFurther reading :Tom Griffiths-  Forests of Ash . An environmental history.Heather Keith -The Conversation “Money can’t buy me love, but you can put a price on a tree. Oct 11th 2017The Great Forest National ParkThe South East Forest AllianceProf. David Lindenmayer AO Keynote Presentation Great Forest National Park Launch   29 Oct 2017|Categories: Community Show

This BZE Radio episode was broadcast on Monday 23rd October 2017 “Every parrot in the pet shop is talking about Energy Policy” ACCCBut for a summit , a lot of voices were absent. Big Wind, Big Solar and the growing movement of citizens, intellectuals and NGO’s demanding the rapid energy descent away from coal oil and gas. The chiefs who supply us with over 80% of our dirty energy were there as the clean energy target was swallowed up and the National Energy Guarantee emerged.The NEG requires Energy Retailers to give a guarantee of reliability. They will need to contract or own a certain amount of dispatchable power. As more coal fired power stations close, this could mean they invest in pumped hydro storage , batteries or gas turbines. In a heatwave when all the air conditioners go on, pumped hydro storage can turn on in 20 seconds and batteries in 1 second, according to Professor Andrew Blakers ANU.  He says 20 or 30 of the 22,000 possible sites need to be developed for pumped hydro storage and they can be built quickly, but none of this was discussed at the summit.The NEG also requires retailers to guarantee electricity with a set level of emissions intensity. The amount will be reduced each year. The emissions from gas were hardly mentioned. Does this mean the responsibility for our Paris Commitments is in the hands of retailers?Many of the people we interview say that we need a carbon tax to cut emissions in every sector and it was clear at the summit that even business leaders who had opposed this in the past were now demanding any sort of policy framework as long as it could survive short term governments. Mark Butler said  “At the end of the day companies will start contracting and trading with each other and a price will emerge on that which reflects the carbon obligation”.Comments that the RET was a subsidy to renewables ,that all subsidies are out and we now have a level playing field might bamboozle some people. But until all subsidies to fossil fuels are removed and Dr Finkel’s recommendation that we have an Economy Wide Plan by 2020 to map out the energy descent away from fossils, we are expected to trust to the market.We hear fromChief Scientist Dr Allan Finkel Environment and Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg Opposition leader Bill Shorten ACOSS head Cassandra Goldie National Farmers Federation  leader Fiona Simpson. Further Reading:https://reneweconomy.com.au/kidston-pumped-hydro-storage-capacity-boosted-25-24533/ http://reneweconomy.com.au/investor-confidence-could-be-smashed-without-additional-detail-62884/   22 Oct 2017|Categories: Community Show

Coming up …..This BZE Radio episode was broadcast on Monday 16th October 2017Rethinking CementGuests:Jordi Bates, Kathryn Bennett, Michael Lord and Tim BuckleyYou may not have been thinking very much about cement, but BZE researchers have.Manufacturing cement makes up 8% of world carbon emissions and rising.Could it be made without these emissions?Would a price on carbon make us look differently at fly ash?Don’t be dismayed.Michael Lord makes it all clear as he launches the new BZE report Rethinking Cement in Newcastle.Vivien also learns about the late Jen Bates from her husband and mother. They dedicated the new report to her because of her dynamic support of BZE in Newcastle and to her lifetime’s work protecting our precious environment.Staying with heavy industry, Tim Buckley speaks to Dirt radio about Whitehaven Coal.

This BZE Radio episode was broadcast on Monday 9th October 2017Carbon Sinking in KenyaDr David Kimiti- Lewa Wildlife Conservancy in KenyaClimate blind Journalism from Texas to Bangla DeshGeorge Monbiot-  Author of ” OUT of the Wreckage” on misreporting Hurricane HarveyProfessor Karin Wahl-Jorgensen- Cardiff University on Disaster reporting as climate changes.We continue our series on carbon sequestration through land management and visit a UNESCO Heritage wildlife conservancy in Kenya.Hurricanes in the USA and Caribbean prompt thoughts about how we could report on it better. Meanwhile unusual floods in Nepal, Bangla Desh and India prompt very little media attention while some journalists say “Now is not the time to mention fossil fuels or climate disruptions. It’s insensitive”George Monbiot thinks we need a new politics for an age of crisis. He says that humans are actually altruistic and co-operative and that the media can build a politics of belonging rather than the destruction of hope and appetite for solutions.Professor Karin Wahl-Jorgensen is interested in how disasters are reported and tells us about the new crop of students she is training to face the Age of Crisis.

Beyond Zero Community show             25-9-17  New Zealand

This BZE Radio episode was broadcast on Monday 18th September 2017CLIMATE WARS in a time of man made disaster  When millions are displaced by floods in Bangladesh we call it a “natural disaster”. At the same time refugees are flooding INTO Bangladesh and we call it a human rights disaster. What sort of disaster is it when an educated country like Australia is paralysed by climate wars at the centre of government? We see government being told to “get out of the way” by Clean Energy Finance ex chief Oliver Yates, as our clean energy target morphs into a dirty energy target.We see government trying to prevent the shut down of coal fired power and offering subsidies to new coal mines.AND We see pumped hydro,  demand /response and batteries answering the question about when the wind doesn’t blow and the sun doesn’t shine. In an extended talk with Vivien Langford, Mark Butler examines how Australia came to politicise”climate”in such a disastrous way. His book “Climate Wars” is a partial history emphasising the ALP way forward. However, Mark Butler consults widely in the community and his message is consensus. Book: Climate Wars – Mark ButlerYouTube Video: Tropical Storm Harvey: the story so far – The GuardianGuardian Article: Why are the crucial questions about Hurricane Harvey not being asked? – George Monbiot  MONDAY BZE Radio Mon 5-6pm TUNE in http://3cr.org.au/streaming  LIVE CATCH Podcasts @ http://bze.org.au/podcasts TWEET it in : @beyondzeronews and #bzelive FB conversation: https://www.facebook.com/beyondzeroemissions/

This BZE Radio episode was broadcast on Monday 11th September 2017Guests:Dr Alecia Bellgrove – Deakin UniversityJane Hammond -Film Maker “A crude injustice”Nathaniel Pelle- Greenpeace Ocean CampaignerHow can seaweed help us draw down the millions of tonnes of CO2 we emit daily?How can seaweed farmers, ruined by the Montara Oil Spill, find justice?When will the climate changing oil industry forget the Great Australian Bight?We start with the potential of seaweed, which Dr Tim Flannery brought to a wide audience on Catalyst and ask “What could possibly go wrong?”Dr Alecia Bellgrove appeared in that film and explains to us why she sounded a note of caution.Journalist Jane Hammond found that West Timorese seaweed farmers had been encouraged by Ausaid. Yet when their green gold turned to porridge at the same time as the oil spill reached Indonesian waters, it was denial all round. Her film is timely because their class action is still before the Australian Federal Court.Nathaniel Pelle is campaigning with Greenpeace to prevent oil drilling in the Great Australian Bight. He describes the great kelp forests and the wealth of biodiversity there which would be ruined by an oil spill. Even the sonic exploration is disturbing deep living creatures.

This BZE Radio episode was broadcast on Monday 4th Sept 2017“The majority of the Emissions Reduction Fund is poured into questionable abatement schemes to discourage land clearing, while mass deforestation cancels out any climate gains.” Mike Seccombe Guests:David Gallan – Director of the film “Understorey”Dr Mehreen Faruqi –  Environment spokesperson for the Greens in NSW ParliamentJessica Panegyres – Wilderness Society – National Nature CampaignerSummary:State laws are failing to prevent massive landclearing. Regional Forest Agreements are giving loggers a victory.What new mindset will  cause  us to value forests for their carbon? The HistorianDavid Gallan recounts the 40 year battle to save the South East Forests of NSW round Bega. His film celebrates the growing awareness of how  many species lived there with rare footage of quolls and lyrebirds. Farmers wanted to preserve the water catchment. Locals realised that forests are “worth more standing”. Scientists came to see logging for woodchips as outdated as whaling for oil. Now  that we need to draw down carbon,  they are thinking big.The ParliamentarianDr Mehreen Faruqi explains how new state laws are reducing our capacity to sequester carbon. The Reputex report shows that ” ending land clearing would compete with renewables for carbon abatement”. Yet the new NSW land clearing laws will see emissions soaring.   She says they “make a mockery of any commitment from the NSW government to get to ZERO EMISSIONS by 2050”.The CampaignerJessica Panegyres sees koala populations down by 80% because of deforestation and landclearing. She says “enough!”She is the National Nature Campaigner with the Wilderness Society. As a Rhodes Scholar and former Greenpeace activist, she has seen the global struggle not to let our tropical forests go up in smoke. She will show us how all the work to sequester carbon in Qld is sabotaged by  land clearing on steroids AND  she will invite us to join the  03 Sep 2017|Categories: Community Show

This BZE Radio episode was broadcast on Monday 28th August 2017Tune in today at 5pm for Mark Butler MP, Christine Milne and Dr John Hewson on Australia’s time-wasting ‘climate wars’.How did we become the first country to repeal a carbon tax?How did we discourage investment in renewable energy and end up with costly electricity?Why  have citizens lost confidence in parliament’s capacity to unify round climate policy?The Hon Mark Butler, in a conversation with Vivien Langford, takes an unflinching look at the time wasting climate wars.As Naomi Klein says ” No is not enough” .We need a plan for a future we can say yes to.Mark Butler’s book gives us part of a new narrative  and he consults widely in the community.Former parliamentary leaders Christine  Milne and John Hewson will round out the picture.http://www.3cr.org.au/streaming 3CR Community Radiohttps://www.mup.com.au/books/9780522871685-climate-wars 28 Aug 2017|Categories: Community Show