Voices For Nature

However, it's not just electricity generation that matters. Other sectors also have an important role to play in reducing emissions. This includes the built environment. Buildings are responsible for half of Australia’s emissions. Emissions from buildings come from energy use, gas use and emissions from the manufacture of building materials (what’s called embodied carbon).

The quality of buildings and developments also determines how comfortable and healthy they are for people and how much they cost to run. Building all new developments and homes to withstand a hotter future is a crucial part of adapting to climate change.

Proposed earlier this year, the Design and Place SEPP is an opportunity for the government to improve planning rules to achieve net zero emissions and make our urban environment’s better more sustainable places to live. Once the draft SEPP comes out for consultation later this month, we’ll be in touch about how to make your voice heard, so we can help get a strong Design and Place SEPP over the line - so make sure to listen to understand the issue.

When fighting for nature in parliament, how does the upper house differ from the lower? In our final crossbench episode of Inside the Bear Pit we chat to Cate Faehrmann of the Greens and independent Justin Field about their experiences in Upper House. Both Cate and Justin are close to our hearts as previous staff members of Nature Conservation council and we are very excited to have them here on the podcast. In this mini-series of the Voices for Nature Podcast, we have been speaking to politicians from across the political spectrum about their views surrounding nature, how environmental policy is formulated, how to effectively influence decision-makers, and the environmental politics of the current parliament.

How much do our views on nature differ between the terrace houses of inner Sydney and the big sky country of the Riverina? We talk with two crossbench MPs, Alex Greenwich representing inner Sydney, and Helen Dalton of the Shooters, Fishers & Farmers Party, representing Murray, a geographically giant electorate that takes in the south-west quarter of NSW. In this new mini-series of the Voices for Nature Podcast, we have been speaking to politicians from across the political spectrum about their views surrounding nature, how environmental policy is formulated, how to effectively influence decision-makers, and the environmental politics of the current parliament.

The latest scientific reports on climate change have spurred the United Nations to formally call for a rapid phase out of coal.

Meanwhile, the NSW Government is conducting a consultation to issue new coal exploration licenses.

The area it’s looking at near Rylstone is calculated to contain 910 million tonnes of coal. Yet, over the last decade we’ve seen a string of new coal mines rejected by the planning system, or withdrawing after sustained community opposition.

Caroona, Shenhua, Bylong, Rocky Hill, Angus Place, Hume Coal, have all been stopped. Casting a shadow on this good news is the approval of massive expansions to existing coal mines that have quietly been approved.

In this episode we talk to activists and campaigners who are on the ground fighting for the Rylstone area and look at what’s really happening with coal in NSW.

It’s been over seven years since Tony Abbott abolished Australia’s carbon price. Now the international community has indicated it will not tolerate Australia being a laggard on climate action and is set to implement carbon tariffs on imports to stop their own climate policies being undermined. With the next United Nations Climate Change Conference to be held in Glasgow this November, many nations are ratcheting up their ambition. Yet, the Australian government continues obstinate resistance despite broad public support for action on climate change.

Kosciuszko National Park is under threat from plans to let development rip! A new proposal, being pushed by Deputy Premier John Barilaro, would see thousands of new beds on the mountain, gas heated ‘thermal pools’ and helicopter transport to resorts in Kosciuszko National Park.

The primary purpose of Kosciuszko National Park is to protect the unique and fragile alpine ecosystem, but proposed changes to the Plan of Management would allow huge development with a massive impact on the environment.

To unpack this further we spoke to Gary Dunnett from the National Parks Association, author and academic Deirdre Slattery, and former Environment Minister Bob Debus.

If you want to have your say on this 'Major plan', head to:

https://npansw.org.au/2021/07/26/submission-guide-for-the-snowy-mountains-special-activation-precinct-and-the-amendment-to-the-kosciuszko-national-park-plan-of-management/

Also, if you have the means and you want to support the NPA or the Colong Foundation their links are below.

NPA: https://npansw.org.au/npa/donate/

Colong Foundation: https://www.colongwilderness.org.au/donate

We're back in lockdown so we decided to give some of our friends a call and keep up the conservation conversation!

Today we caught up with Bruce Maynard to discuss the concerning pesticide pollution he’s seen from over spraying that is causing damages and disease to surrounding crops and vegetation.

Bruce is the owner and developer of one of the most inspirational regenerative farms in Australia.

Bruce has become well known for the invention and development of a number of innovations in Agriculture including: No Kill Cropping, Stress Free Stockmanship and Self Herding (with Dr Dean Revell).

This week on the Voices for Nature Podcast we speak to ecologist Phil Sparks and Xavier Martin Vice President of NSW Farmers on the current mouse plague that is running through western NSW. 

In what locals are calling the worst mouse plague in living memory, millions of mice are infesting western NSW and eating away the futures of many residents.

The plague is also responsible for major ecological damage as the ecosystem is thrown out of balance. But is bulk poison the answer? What ecological impacts will various poisons have? What can we do to help out our farmers?

Transport is the biggest cause of climate change after coal power in NSW, with nearly 20% of our emissions coming from this sector. Overseas, they’re dealing with the transport issue by implementing policies, tax cuts and incentives to get more electric vehicles on the road, but here in Australia – we're asleep at the wheel.

Last summer, as the smoke clouded the sun for weeks on end, fire management and science came, once again, to the foreground. This week, in a prelude to our 2021 Bushfire Conference, we have teamed up with three leading fire professionals to answer your #BurningQuestions regarding Bushfires, Bushfire management, and the science of Hazard Reduction Burning.