Author Archive: roman

UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons signed by 50 states

ICAN Australia reported on Saturday, Oct 24th:

History was made today as the number of countries ratifying the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons reached 50. Honduras ratified the treaty overnight bringing the world a step closer to the abolition of nuclear weapons. Just a day ago, on United Nations Day, Jamaica and Nauru ratified the treaty.

This milestone means the treaty will become international law on January 22, 2021, increasing pressure on nuclear armed states and other countries to support the treaty. It now has 84 signatories and 50 states parties.

Entry-into-force will cement the illegality of nuclear weapons in international law. This change will influence the behaviour of states, even those which don’t join the treaty, interrupt the flow of funds to nuclear arms producers, stimulate debate and increase pressure on treaty hold-outs.

Why is entry-into-force important?

  • All countries that have ratified the treaty will be bound by it.
  • It establishes clearly that nuclear weapons are inhumane, unacceptable, and now illegal, and that no state should possess, use or threaten to use them.
  • It puts Australia out of step with international law on nuclear weapons.
  • A ban treaty can change the behaviour of countries that haven’t joined, as demonstrated by the bans on landmines and cluster munitions.
  • More financial institutions will divest from companies that produce nuclear weapons, in line with policies to exclude weapons banned by international law.
  • It creates pressure and momentum for more nuclear weapons abolition action.

Just days before the 50th ratification, the US tried to obstruct the treaty’s progress by urging states parties to withdraw. This brazen, and unsuccessful, attempt to undermine international law demonstrates significant desperation to prevent the ban taking effect.

Our next step is to ensure Australia joins this growing global movement by signing and ratifying the treaty.

Read more >>

Australia needs to deal with the “facts and the reality” of the changing energy system — Audrey Zibelman, AEMO

The outgoing head of the Australian Energy Market Operator, Audrey Zibelman, says Australia needs to deal with the “facts and the reality” of the changing energy system, and not get bogged down by the politics of energy that questions whether the grid should be transitioning or not.

In her first interview since announcing her end-of-year departure from AEMO … Zibelman tells RenewEconomy’s Energy Insiders podcast that technology change is unavoidable, not political.

Zibelman also reveals AEMO’s key role in a new global partnership – the Global Power System Transformation Consortium – that brings together six leading energy system operators from Australia, the US and  Europe with the aim of “fomenting a rapid clean energy transition at unprecedented scope and scale.”

Zibelman says the sharing of knowledge and experience was the key goal of the new consortium that includes independent system operators (ISOs) from Australia, California, Texas, Ireland, Denmark, and the UK, all of whom are at the leading edge of the clean energy transition.

It also involves key global financial institutions such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, as well as research groups such as Australia’s CSIRO, Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute, Imperial College London, and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in the US. It intends to share its information with grid operators in developing countries in Asia, Latin America and Africa.

It’s actually a collaborative that’s made up of five of the six of the power system operators around the world to have more than 50 percent renewables in their mix,” Zibelman tells the Energy Insiders podcast.

“We’re looking at these issues around how do we integrate these resources better …. so that we can work together and solve these problems.”

Zibelman did not say much more about the Global PST Consortium, before its official launch next week, but its website shows that it appears to be more than just a collaboration and sharing of information.

Read more >>

Do you want to help?

We’ve noted a few tasks with which we’d like some help from members.

Specifically, we’re looking for people who can contribute their time and knowledge to the following:

  • Drafting an SA version of transforming VIc
    — there are sections on food, transport, energy etc which need local examples of action in SA added
  • Writing content for the Adelaide FoE website
  • Looking after our facebook page and responding to queries
  • Preparing leaflets/banners for upcoming events

We will discuss this further in part two of the online meeting Oct 29th, or you can contact the secretary at adelaide_office@foe.org.au

Smart Energy Summit 2020 worth watching

Global Smart Energy Summit 2020 Event Summary

On Tuesday 29 and Wednesday 30 September 2020 the Smart Energy Council and partners the Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation and Zoom delivered an amazing lineup of international and local industry and political leaders in exploring ways to tackle the economic and climate crises simultaneously.

some of the stand out speeches from both days include:

More details at https://www.smartenergy.org.au/global-smart-energy-summit-2020-event-summary

 

Adelaide FoE Meeting Oct 29th, Online

We invite members and friends to join us for an online Zoom meeting at 6pm Thursday, October 29th.

David Noonan, Independent Environment Campaigner, joins us to talk about Nuclear mines and Waste Dumps

 

Zoom details:  FoE Adelaide meeting
Time: Oct 29, 2020 06:00 PM Adelaide
Part One: Guest Speaker David Noonan, talking about Nukes — Oct 29, 2020 6:00pm Adelaide time
<tea break: 6:40-6:50>
Part Two: Oct 29, 2020 6:50pm More discussion with David,
followed by details of the Transforming SA document,
and a discussion of FoE Adelaide activities.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/75378123953?pwd=anFIeWttU1VCSUJDSzVjaWxwTEw0dz09

Meeting ID: 753 7812 3953
Passcode: 0gBQn1