Key posts
- Schott fires at Bandt over climate policy as Greens double down
- UN issues ‘survival guide’ on climate crisis
- Former SAS soldier charged with Afghanistan war crime
- Putin flaunts alliance with Xi as ‘dear friends’ meet in Kremlin
- This morning’s headlines at a glance
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Schott fires at Bandt over climate policy as Greens double down
The Commonwealth’s former top energy adviser Kerry Schott is urging the Greens to back Labor’s signature climate policy as Adam Bandt doubles down on his demand that new fossil fuel projects are vetoed in return for his party’s support.
Schott – who chaired the Energy Security Board from 2018 to 2021 and worked on the redesign of the National Electricity Market to prepare for a boom in renewable energy – will deliver a speech at the National Press Club today urging the federal parliament, where the Greens hold the balance of power in the Senate, to back the government’s safeguard mechanism.
Kerry Schott is set to speak at the National Press Club on the safeguard mechanism today. Credit:Oscar Colman
“The reason I am standing here doing so is that the safeguard mechanism is a really important policy measure to reduce emissions and as you know its passage through the Senate is proving difficult,” she will say, according to a draft copy of her speech.
Read the full story here.
UN issues ‘survival guide’ on climate crisis
Humanity has a last-ditch chance to make meaningful cuts to greenhouse gases and secure a habitable future for life on Earth and our actions this decade will have profound consequences for thousands of years, says the definitive report on climate change.
The latest report from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) says the climate crisis is rapidly altering Earth’s atmosphere, oceans, land and frozen poles, causing widespread extreme weather, including severe heatwaves and drought, catastrophic flooding and rising sea levels.
Earth is likely to surpass the Paris Agreement’s target of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees within the next decade – although alternative pathways remain possible – and the impacts from climate change are more severe than estimated in previous IPCC assessments, the report authors say.
Read the latest on the UN guidance here.
Former SAS soldier charged with Afghanistan war crime
A decorated former special forces soldier faces life in prison after becoming the first current or former Australian Defence Force member to be charged with war crimes under Australian law.
Oliver Schulz, 41, was arrested on Monday morning by the Australian Federal Police in the NSW southern highlands.
Former special forces soldier Oliver Schulz was arrested in NSW on Monday.
The AFP said in a statement it will be alleged that Schulz murdered an Afghan man while deployed to Afghanistan with the ADF.
More on this issue is available here.
Putin flaunts alliance with Xi as ‘dear friends’ meet in Kremlin
IVladimir Putin has hosted his “dear friend” Xi Jinping for dinner in the Kremlin, showing off his relationship with his most powerful ally just days after an international court called for the Russian president’s arrest for war crimes in Ukraine.
Washington denounced Xi’s visit on Monday (Russia time), saying the timing showed Beijing was providing Moscow with “diplomatic cover” to commit further crimes.
Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping shake hands before their meeting.Credit:AP
It was the first trip abroad for Xi since he obtained an unprecedented third term last month.
The Chinese leader has been trying to portray Beijing as a potential peacemaker in Ukraine, even as he deepens economic ties with his closest ally.
Read the full story here, courtesy of international wires.
Reuters
This morning’s headlines at a glance
Good morning, and thanks for your company.
It’s Tuesday, March 21. I’m Caroline Schelle, and I’ll be anchoring our live coverage for the first half of the day.
Here’s what you need to know before we get started:
- A former SAS soldier has been charged with war crimes under Australian law, and is the first current or former ADF member to be charged.
- The judge who led the investigation into Australian war crimes in Afghanistan is expected to be selected to head the first federal anti-corruption body.
- The federal government rejected an opposition push to create a parliamentary committee to scrutinise the AUKUS deal.
- The former top energy adviser is urging the Greens to back Labor’s signature climate policy, the safeguard mechanism to lower emissions. Kerry Schott, who was the chair of the Energy Security Board, will be interviewed on radio shortly.
- Staying with environment news, the latest report from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change issued a stark warning as the climate crisis is rapidly altering Earth’s atmosphere, oceans, land and frozen poles which will lead to severe heatwaves, catastrophic floods and rising sea levels.
- In overseas news, Russian President Vladimir Putin has flaunted his alliance with China’s president during a meeting at the Kremlin.
- French President Emmanuel Macron’s government survived a no confidence vote after his decision to push through a deeply unpopular pension change.
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