Antinuclear

Australia To Link More Renewable Energy Sites To The Power Grid Source: Government of Australia  The Gov Monitor  6th December 2009 “……..

The 21st meeting of the Ministerial Council on Energy met in Hobart today and agreed to accept a proposal to amend Australia’s electricity rules as recommended by the AEMC.

Ministers agreed that this proposal – together with the AEMC proposal to introduce inter-regional transmission charging arrangements – will encourage greater investment in infrastructure linking renewable energy generation sites to the existing power grid.   As MCE Chair, Minister Ferguson welcomed these developments.

The MCE agreed with the AEMC’s key finding that energy markets will generally be resilient to the challenges associated with the introduction of climate change policies but there was a need to refine existing frameworks to facilitate necessary investment.

What Copenhagen means for insurers Business Spectator, by John Heath7 Dec 2009  Because of the turmoil in the federal Liberal Party climate change is back on the agenda for Australian citizens. But who notices any possible effect on insurance? As much as I am sceptical about the climate change meeting in Copenhagen because I fear it is another meeting of poseurs, a huge, greater intelligent and more powerful force than many institutions in Australia – Munich Re – is demanding a result from global political leaders in the Danish capital.
In a new look at ‘The challenge of the 21st century’, Munich Re’s profoundly researched data shows climate change is having a visible impact on natural catastrophe losses.

The global reinsurer uses the data to enforce its demand that, “the world climate summit in Copenhagen must lay down the main cornerstones for an agreement.”

Its fact sheet says: “Global warming is real.” When we go through the information that comes to us from insurance companies such as Munich Re, Swiss Re, Allianz and global broking houses with the same warnings, you have to start believing “this is serious”.

When an organisation like Munich Re with global investments amounting to €175 billion (about A$287 billion) makes such assertions I feel this is more than a time for political wrangling…………..Insurance is concerned and is doing its best for mitigation of the exposures that are coming with climate change………….Add loss of income due to loss or damage in transit or other reasons, then every business in the world has exposures increased by climate change – the risk to viability is serious.