In November 2011 the Australian Government announced funding of almost $148 million for world-class collaborative research and innovation under the Cooperative Research Centres (CRC) program. The funding includes $30 million for the CRC for Water Sensitive Cities and $28 million for the CRC for Low Carbon Living.
The CRC for Water Sensitive Cities will deliver the socio-technical urban water management solutions, education and training programs, and industry engagement required to make Australian towns and cities water sensitive.
The CRC for Low Carbon Living brings together key property, planning and policy organisations with leading Australian researchers to develop new social, technological and policy tools for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the built environment.
Bushland and Urban Biodiversity Management in a Changing Climate is the final report of the investigation that looked into the current understanding of the impacts of climate change on local governments ability to manage their biodiversity and bushland assets. The report has been prepared by the Eastern Alliance for Greenhouse Action (EAGA) which was established in 2008 to provide a regional framework for local stakeholders to work together on climate change and greenhouse gas projects in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria.
The Science Alert article Urban estuaries 100-fold weaker as ‘Blue Carbon sinks reports that Australian scientists have found a 100-fold weakening in the ability of coastal ecosystems to sequester carbon since the time of European settlement. Collecting soil cores from sites in and around Botany Bay, the scientists have reconstructed the past six thousand years in estuary sedimentation records and found that changes in plant and algae abundance point to a possible undermining of these natural coastal carbon sinks.
The Australian Government has opened the first grant application round of the Biodiversity Fund, with applications closing 5pm AEDT Tuesday 31 January 2012. The Biodiversity Fund is a key element of the Australian Government’s Clean Energy Future Land Sector Package and supports land managers to store carbon, enhance biodiversity and build resilience across the Australian landscape.
Decision Point is a downloadable monthly magazine from the Centre of Excellence Environmental Decisions (CEED). The November issue contains a timely story on good decision making under climate change. It’s one of the first studies of its kind that undertakes ecological optimisation of investments in managing plant communities that are expected to be lost under climate change. There are also articles on sufficiency (as opposed to efficiency), using INFFER to make better decisions, conservation theory, and publishing persistence.
The European Citizens Climate Cup (ECCC) is an energy saving competition between households throughout 10 European countries. From April 2011 to April 2012, households are invited to join the competition and use the online toolkit (ESA) to monitor their household energy consumption against that of previous years. This website helps provide all participants with information and tips and tricks on how they can save energy in their home and the ESA will calculate and demonstrate the savings they make. At the end of the competition, there will be an ‘Energy Saver of the Year’ – the individual or household that has made the greatest energy savings.
The Water Resources and Freshwater Biodiversity adaptation network brings together Australia’s top water scientists with interests and skills in water resources and freshwater biodiversity, and the implications of climate change. There is an urgent need to understand the risks to Australia’s surface and groundwater resources and freshwater biodiversity due to climate change (in the context of other pressures) as well as the technical and policy interventions that will be required to meet future human water needs without further degrading freshwater ecosystems and the important natural assets and values they provide. The network is coordinated by the the National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility (NCCARF).
On Thursday, 2 June 2011 the Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities, the Hon Tony Burke MP and the Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency, the Hon Greg Combet AM MP, asked the House Standing Committee on Climate Change, Environment and the Arts to inquire into and report on Australia’s biodiversity in a changing climate. The Committee invites submissions addressing one or more of the points listed in the terms of reference. Submissions should be forwarded by email by Friday 29 July 2011.