Your Planet Needs You is a Landcare Australia and Coastcare joint campaign as a call to action, to get Australians motivated and engaged and doing something to help the planet on World Environment Day. So here is what Landcare Australia and Coastcare gathered about Australians:
The aim of the Your Planet Needs You campaign is to make it easy for people to sign up to a volunteer register, tick some boxes to say what skills they can offer (it could be anything really from hosting a BBQ to driving and even walking), and spread the message.
Please promote the Your Planet Needs You campaign through your networks.
World Environment Day 2009, commemorated each year on 5 June, is one of the principal vehicles through which the United Nations stimulates worldwide awareness of the environment and enhances political attention and action. The theme for WED 2009 is ‘Your Planet Needs You-UNite to Combat Climate Change’. It reflects the urgency for nations to agree on a new deal at the crucial climate convention meeting in Copenhagen some 180 days later in the year, and the links with overcoming poverty and improved management of forests.
Visit Sanctuary magazine’s sustainable house profiles page and click on the locations on the map to read articles about leading sustainable homes around Australia as featured in the highly regarded Sanctuary magazine.
A friend in America asked Andrew Campbell to comment on media suggesting that the 7 February 2009 bushfires could have been avoided through more fuel reduction burning, and alleging that the ‘green agenda’ is at least in part responsible for the tragic loss of life and property – read Andrew’s response. Andrew is Managing Director of Triple Helix Consulting and formerly Executive Director of Land & Water Australia.
The Nature Conservation Council of NSW (NCC) Biodiversity Under Fire Conference will focus on ecologically sustainable bushfire management in the context of the threats to Australia’s biodiversity. There will be an emphasis on achieving best possible biodiversity outcomes. The conference will occur at a time when climate change is at the forefront of political debate and extreme weather conditions resulting in severe fire danger are occurring with unprecedented frequency and seasonality. The conference will provide an important forum for information sharing, discussion and debate.
The new Green Cities report showcases and supports the innovative ways in which America’s cities are creating an equitable green economy. The report is based on conversations with the brightest thinkers in the field, and the findings from a survey of 40 of the country’s largest cities. Green Cities takes a step back to see what cities have accomplished, while also identifying areas in which their efforts have fallen short.
The Green Cities report is an initiative of Living Cities, a unique philanthropic collaborative of 21 of the world’s largest foundations and financial institutions. Over the past 18 years, Living Cities has invested more than $600 million in American cities, leveraged into $16 billion and making a demonstrable difference in neighbourhoods throughout the nation. Living Cities is also serving as a resource to inform the usage of federal dollars available through stimulus funds and the workforce dollars associated with investments in the energy efficiency sector.
The 13 May 2009 edition of CO2 News includes:
Join the Alternative Technology Association (ATA) on 2 June 2009 as they launch their latest report The Victorian Urban Wind Resource Assessment undertaken by ATA for Sustainability Victoria. This report looks at typical wind regimes at 10 sites within 25 kilometres of Melbourne’s CBD and comments on the suitability of urban locations for installation of micro wind turbines.
At it’s 30 April 2009 meeting, the Council Of Australian Governments (COAG) agreed to the new expanded National Renewable Energy Target (RET) and five key measures to improve the energy efficiency of residential and commercial buildings across Australia and . COAG also reaffirmed its commitment to introducing a comprehensive National Strategy for Energy Efficiency, and agreed to reform the current rating and assessment processes for building energy efficiency standards. (Source: EnviroInfo – 7 May 2009).
The Green Loans Program is a new Australian Government initiative to help Australians tackle climate change. The program starts on 1 July 2009 and will assist Australian families to install solar, water saving, and energy efficient products. The Green Loans Program will provide:
Anyone interested in a Home Sustainability Assessment can register now.
As part of the Water for the Future framework, the National Urban Water and Desalination Plan will provide investment of $1 billion for desalination, water recycling and stormwater harvesting projects to assist major towns and cities in securing their long term water supply. The Government has now decided to enhance the scope of the National Urban Water and Desalination Plan by providing greater incentives for urban stormwater harvesting projects in order to reduce the demand on potable water supplies.