Here’s a selection of stories from Nanna Good News to remind us that a lot was achieved by the climate and environment movement in 2024. Nannas are also pleased about the movement’s growing numbers and increasing coordination and diversity.
There were many victories we haven’t included here as well as examples of ongoing battles without clear wins. As the year closes we pay tribute to all the persistent people who stood together through tough battles to protect nature and the climate in 2024.
Renewables
“A better way to live:” Indigenous-owned solar microgrid lights way for energy democracy in remote community (One Step Off The Grid)
Indigenous groups becoming key partners in renewables projects (National Indigenous Times)
‘Staggering’ rise of rooftop solar puts all other power generation in the shade (ABC News)
Rooftop solar: Australia celebrates “momentous” milestone as 4 million households tap cheapest power (One Step Off The Grid)
Solar’s off-the-charts global growth (Renew Economy)
Central Queensland communities back state’s first renewable energy zone to offer future beyond coal (Renew Economy)
Kicking out gas: Canberra’s path to become Australia’s first all-electric city (Renew Economy)
Victoria bans gas rebates and incentives for homes as shift to all-electric gathers pace (Renew Economy)
Batteries on wheels: Australia to allow vehicle-to-grid installations by end of year (The Driven)
Big batteries kept the lights on during NSW heatwave (Renew Economy)
Boral unveils new tech to cut emissions in cement used for wind turbine foundations (Renew Economy)
From zero to 100 pct renewables in just 20 years: South Australia’s remarkable energy transition (Renew Economy)
Fossil Fuels
Share of coal in Australia’s main grid falls below 50 percent for first time (Renew Economy)
International banks no longer involved with Santos’ Barossa gas project (Market Forces)
Commonwealth Bank is cutting ties with fossil fuel companies and has already dropped $700 million in oil and gas lending (Market Forces)
One of Australia’s oldest coal generators at Lake Macquarie refused bank guarantees, operating status under threat (Renew Economy)
Queensland rejects Glencore carbon capture and storage proposal for Great Artesian Basin (The Guardian)
Glencore backs down on monster Hunter Valley Operations (HVO) coal mine expansion (Lock The Gate)
Fracking ban takes effect in Queensland’s Channel Country (ABC News)
Otway Basin seismic testing plans abandoned in blow to offshore gas exploration (ABC News)
Labor offered the Greens a ban on fossil fuel subsidies under its cornerstone Future Made in Australia scheme. (ABC News)
Observations reveal methane emissions from oil and gas operations that other satellites don’t see (MethaneSat)
Koalas
Hawkesbury City Councillors voted unanimously to fully fund a Koala Plan of Management. (Hawkesbury Environmental Network)
A motion to put koala protections on Appin Road was unanimously passed by Campbelltown Council with an amendment to impose 50km dusk to dawn speed limits.
Koalas bounce back in Sydney’s north-west decades after deadly Hills-Hornsby fire (ABC News)
Koala counting project finds ‘strong case’ of unrecognised population in Hills district (ABC News)
ACT has the first confirmed wild koala sighting in three years in Canberra’s far north (ABC News)
Logging
State-owned logging company VicForests will cease to exist from June 30 this year (ABC News)
Woolworths to stop sourcing beef linked to deforestation (ACF)
Saving the greater glider from extinction, one den tree at a time (Pearls and Irritations)
Water
Tanya Plibersek rejects Toondah Harbour project over impact on globally significant wetlands (The Guardian)
NSW Government commits to consider climate change in water rules, ending long-standing legal dispute (Nature Conservation Council)
Headwaters and springs of Belubula River in Central West NSW protected from gold mine tailings dam by a Section 10 under the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act Tanya Plibersek media release
Forever chemicals to be filtered from tap water (SMH)
Waste
First solar panel recycling plant in Queensland opens, expected to recycle 240,000 panels a year (ABC News)
WA first state in Australia to ban takeaway coffee cups and lids (The New Daily)
Single use balloons, tinsel, streamers banned by Byron Bay Council (9 News)
Corporate Greenwashing
Investors vote down Woodside’s offset-heavy climate plan (The Guardian)
Compulsory climate reporting for businesses brings Australia in line with trading partners and support investment (Renew Economy)
Regulators, including the ACCC and the Australian Securities and Investment Commission, crack down on corporate greenwashing (Sydney Morning Herald)
Drive
Scott Morrison resigns three days after a Tesla, towing a boat, parks in front of his office (The Driven)
Electric truck does lap of Australia for half the cost of diesel (The Driven)
New Vehicle Efficiency Standard passed in parliament to take effect from 1 January 2025 (DCCEEW)
In Court
Court finds NSW government bid to prevent Rising Tide protest in Newcastle harbour invalid (The Guardian)
The Gomeroi people appealed a decision by the National Native Title Tribunal (NNTT) to allow Santos to go ahead with the Narrabri Gas Project without their consent. The federal court determined the NNTT erred at law by declining to have regard to evidence on climate impacts and ordered the case be sent back to the NNTT for a decision on climate grounds only. A decision is expected in March 2025.
NSW Supreme Court of Appeal upheld an appeal lodged by the Bingham Catchment Landcare Group against Bowdens’ silver/lead project, east of Mudgee (ABC News)
Supreme court throws out parts of Adani’s ‘embarrassing’ case against activist (The Guardian)
Sustainable Timber Tasmania pays legal costs of protesters wrongly banned from state’s public native forest reserves (ABC News)
Uranium
WA rules out uranium mining policy change amid nuclear energy push from Peter Dutton (ABC News)
Jabiluka to be absorbed into Kakadu National Park, preventing uranium mining on the site. (ABC News)
Whales
Fin whales make a strong comeback in the Southern Ocean (Institute of Marine Science)
The founder of the anti-whaling organisation Sea Shepherd, Paul Watson, has been released from detention in Greenland, avoiding extradition to Japan. (ABC News)