The Australian Council of Superannuation Investors (ASCI) said companies must align their corporate strategies with the landmark Paris Agreement and the target of net-zero emissions by the year 2050.

Firms must also set short, medium as well as long-term emissions reduction targets, said the council, adding it’s tightening its climate change policy and could recommend voting against directors of companies who’re not doing enough to fulfill Paris goals.

“Climate change risks are deeply embedded in the financial system and impact all sectors and asset classes. For long-term investors, this poses a serious challenge to long-term value creation across investment portfolios,” said ASCI CEO Louise Davidson.

Faced with an extreme economic contraction that left over 30% of the country’s workforce without full-time jobs, the World Bank’s recent move will boost the South Pacific nation’s recovery apart from creating economic, social, and climate resilience.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has inflicted a terrible cost on the economies of Small Island Developing States at a time when we need every resource available directed at building resilience to devastating climate impacts,” said Fiji’s Acting Minister for Economy, Faiyaz Koya.

McCormack told Sky News that while Australia must do its “international bit”, regional Australia should not be made to suffer.

It should be mentioned here that New Zealand has set a framework for its path to net zero emissions by 2050 but has provided an exemption for farming.

About 14 million tonnes of plastic pieces will possibly be at the bottom of the world’s oceans, revealed a new study carried out by Australia’s government science agency CSIRO.

The agency examined the ocean floor’s cores about 300km off the country’s southern coast in the Great Australian Bight, The Guardian reported.

As per the news report, there could be more than 30 times as many plastic pieces at the bottom of the world’s ocean as compared to the plastic floating on the surface.

With COVID-19 appearing to worsen around the world, farmers in New Zealand believe if agriculture is going to drag the nation’s economy back into shape, there is a need to fix labour shortages.

While urban centres went into a strict lockdown in the months of April and May – contributing to a 12.2% tumble in GDP, agriculture, forestry and fishing witnessed only a marginal drop of over 2%.

As per NZHerald report, General manager of Yummy Apples Paul Paynter termed agriculture as the “shining light” for keeping the country’s economy going. But as harvesting season approaches, he worried a lot of fruit might not make it to supermarket shelves, as the border remains closed to the seasonal workers who’d usually pick it.

As many as 1.2 billion people around the world could be displaced by 2050 due to the global climate crisis as ecological disasters drive mass migrations and greater armed conflict, according to an analysis.

Sydney-based Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) projected that no nation will be able to escape the effects of the climate crisis, but the world’s poorest as well as most vulnerable populations will be hardest hit.

The regions facing the highest number of threats are:

• Sub-Saharan Africa
• South Asia
• Middle East
• North Africa

Wheat Quality Australia’s (WQA) 2020 Wheat Variety Master List has been released, containing the names of all current varieties approved by the country’s wheat classification process.

The list features 9 newly classified wheat varieties, along with the removal of 10 old varieties first flagged in 2018. It also records the highest possible grade available for respective varieties.

The new releases contain varieties classified in the Hard classes:

• APH, AH and APW
• Noodle AH(N)
• Durum ADR and Feed
• LRPB Stealth
• Rockstar
• BASF Ascot
• Bitalli
• Westcourt
• HAW1
• HAW2
• HAW3
• RGT Ivory

As China effectively banned barley imports from Australia from the country’s largest grain exporter, farmers now have to sell their barley supplies to the domestic livestock industry or cheaper international markets.

“The financial hit will be enormous but we can look at domestic livestock market which doesn’t have much feed at hand after the drought,” Andrew Weidemann, a grain grower in Victoria told Reuters.

Meanwhile, China has started a second investigation into imports of Australian wine, a move that could further escalate tensions between the two nations.

In a significant ruling that might threatens to inflame bilateral tensions between China and Australia, the Chinese government suspended barley imports from Australia’s largest grain exporter.

Barley shipments from CBH Grain, a co-operative of farmers, have been halted following pests were found on multiple occasions, China’s General Administration of Customs said.

As per the Reuters’ report, CBH is Australia’s largest grain exporter that sells millions of tonnes of wheat, barley and canola to Asia and the Middle East.

Unveiling its new agricultural innovation agenda, Australia has put digital innovations at its centre stage. The government will also invest $86 million to set up 8 Adoption and Innovation Hubs.

To be set up in major climatic and agricultural zones, the hubs will harness research, development and innovation to build drought resilience.

“Analysis has shown that widespread uptake of digital technologies could add up to $20 billion to farm gate output, but to realise this we need the right policy and regulatory settings to support farmers to adopt safe and proven technologies,” National Farmers’ Federation Chief Executive Tony Mahar said.