Fourteen years ago, on this day, October 8th, 2012,
The Office of Climate Change of Renewables Innovation is established: The Office brings together the Clean Energy Regulator, the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, ARENA, the Climate Change Authority and the climate change and renewable energy functions of the Department of the Environment.
The amount of carbon dioxide in the air was 395ppm. As of 2026, when this post was published, it is 430ppm. This matters because the more carbon dioxide in the air, the more heat gets trapped. The more heat, the more extreme weather events. You can make it more complicated than that if you want, but really, it’s not. Fwiw, I have a tattoo of the Keeling Curve on my left forearm.
The broader context was that in the aftermath of Copenhagen and before the road to Paris came along, there was still movement on renewables and innovation in various countries around the world, because technologies were maturing and the public appetite hadn’t completely died away, and you could see in the distance that renewables would eventually be price competitive with fossil fuels.
The specific context was that Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard had successfully shepherded the Clean Energy Package through parliament, and now there was the need for a ‘co-ordinating’ office.
What I think we can learn from this is that there are always these little bodies, offices formed. They give a minister a feeling of importance. They give a sand pit to play in, and then you see them produce a couple of reports, maybe host a conference, some legislation gets passed, they’re swallowed or abolished, and the carousel continues. At their best, you don’t even notice them. At their worst (or in their absence) you do.
What happened next
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On this topic, you might like these other posts on All Our Yesterdays
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References
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You can see the chronological list of All Our Yesterdays “on this day” posts here.
What do you think? Does this pass the ‘so what?’ threshold? Have I got facts wrong? Interpretation wrong? Please do comment on this post, unless you are a denialist, obvs.
If you want to get involved, let me know.
If you want to invite me on your podcast, that would boost my ego and probably improve the currently pitiful hit-rate on this site (the two are not-unrelated).
Also on this day:
October 8, 1959 – Shell says “nothing to see here” on carbon dioxide build-up – All Our Yesterdays
October 8, 1978 – The Times runs an “ice caps melting” story – All Our Yesterdays