The Green Canary Podcast

Settle back on the couch with a six-pack. No, not beer. A six-pack of stories! In our final episode for 2022, Ant and Elfy run you through their pick of the big green news stories of 2022. Some were major stories, some got a lot less airplay. Some were Australian, some were from overseas. But all of them gave real depth and insight to what was going on in the environmental arena. We hope you enjoy this recap as much as we enjoyed bringing you the green-themed news this year. Thanks and happy holidays to all our loyal listeners!

We got there. It didn't look likely at the halfway point, but COP27 finally delivered an international fund to pay for the “loss and damage” which developing nations suffer as a result of climate change. What else was achieved? This week's guest Peter Newman (Distinguished Professor of Sustainability at Curtin University) was in Egypt, and he explains how a few rogue fossil fuel players won a small battle or two, but why they're starting to lose the war. Also this week: punishing plastic polluters, the problem with pet food, and plenty more!

When are we going to get serious about cutting down on air travel? And why have 1000 aviation industry heavies jetted into Melbourne this week? Alex Mungall from Flight Free Australia joins us to tell us what's going down, and explains why his group will be protesting the Melbourne event. Also this week, the latest from COP27, our provocative solution to a failed plastics recycling scheme, and guess who got arrested again? All that and more on The Canary!

We're not lawyers or tax accountants, so we can't explain the intricacies of how dozens of Australia's largest fossil fuel companies manage to pay no tax. But we know someone who gets this stuff, so we asked him. In more upbeat news this week, we speak to the head of a grassroots activists group that had a massive win against state-owned logger VicForests. We also invent a new term called a "glitcher"! What's a glitcher – and do you happen to be one? All is revealed in this week's ep!

Can you believe it's been a year and 50 episodes since The Green Canary launched during COP26 in Glasgow? So what can we expect from the global climate talkfest this time around? We tell you what's on the menu. Also this week, the UN has a new climate report and it ain't good news, but there's one thing that did make us smile, and that's the hefty fine dished out to a company for greenwashing. Cop THAT! All that and plenty more on The Canary!

It was a public relations disaster. A mistimed, mismanaged marketing mishap that had Australians cringing and laughing in equal amounts. Why is it a green news story? Because in the fallout from the ill-advised and ill-timed BoM's rebranding exercise we've learned that our national weather agency ain't all we'd like it to be from a climate perspective. Also this week: Australia's EV uptake is increasingly (but slowly). We're rewiring the grid (hopefully a little quicker). Plus there's a special interview with Murray-Darling Basin ecologist Matt Herring. When is water too much water? Will these floods eventually do more good than harm? All that and more on The Canary!

They're coming for the great Aussie barbie! No more snags! No more steaks! Noooooo! Yes, the Nationals are up to their old tricks, running a scare campaign that BBQs will be no more if the Albanese govt signs up to the Global Methane Pledge. Guess what? To use a cow-related phrase, "it's bullshit!" How do we know? Because in this week's pod we interviewed a beef farmer who's cutting methane while keeping his herd thriving, that's how. Also this week, netball says no to Gina Rinehart's climate denialism, and why even well-watered lawns aren't so green. All that and more on The Canary!

Do you despair at the price of electric vehicles? Despair no more, friends, because a group of Tassie environmental scientists have launched affordable, reliable electric vehicles to the Australian market. Yes, the Good Car company is here to save the world, and your hip pocket, supported to the tune of $10m by Boundless – a philanthropic foundation backed by Mike Cannon-Brookes – and we speak to them on the pod. Also this week, more wild weather, a new fight in Kosciuszko National Park, a better way to spend fossil fuel subsidies, plus a whole lot more, including the amazing green power of worm spit. Yes, worm spit. Only on The Canary!

No more native animal extinctions. None. That's the word from Fed Enviro Minister Tanya Plibersek who launched her Zero Extinction Target in the govt's Threatened Species Action Plan. Can they really pull this off? How many damned feral cats are out there anyway? This week's interview guest reveals all. Oh, speaking of ferals, sometimes it's hard to tell between the feral people and the feral animals as our own Ant Sharwood (author of The Brumby Wars) found out in recent clashes with brumby advocates. Also this week, our largest emitting industrial facility is closing early, Qld gets serious about renewables, blueberry blues, and plenty more!