NCWQ Environment Advisers Report November 2016
Update on Great Barrier Reef (GBR): In their response to the Great Barrier Reef Water
Science Taskforce (GBREST) the Queensland Government (QG) has agreed or agreed in
principle in August to all recommendations and allocated an additional $90 million over four
years. The recommendations included enhanced communication, increased levels of
agricultural extension, a greater focus on innovation, expanded monitoring, financial and
other incentives, and staged and targeted regulations. Some recommendations require formal
public consultation processes or working with stakeholders and/or the Australian Government
to be fully implemented. The QG has commenced implementation of some of the
recommendations e.g. investments into monitoring improvements, additional extension
resources, communications, establishment of an innovation fund and the commencement of
the projects to tackle nutrient, pesticide and sediment loss the Wet Tropics and the Burdekin
catchments. http://www.gbr.qld.gov.au/taskforce/final-report/; taskforce-final-report-response.pdf
The QG commissioned the GBRWST to investigate the cost of various policy options to meet
the reef water quality targets (sediment runoff to be reduced by 50% in the Fitzroy, Burdekin
and Wet Tropics regions, and nitrogen levels by 80% in Burdekin and Wet Tropics
catchments; sediment runoff by 20% and nitrogen levels by 50% in Mackay-Whitsunday and
Burnett Mary catchments) below 2009 levels. The GBRWST estimated that A$8.2 billion
would be the likely cost using current methods and prices to reach the targets albeit with a
little more to be done in the Wet Tropics. $6.46 billion and $1.1 billion would be required to
meet the maximum 50 per cent fine sediment reduction target in the Fitzroy basin and the
Burdekin respectively. However, by spending around A$600 million in the most costeffective areas halfway to the nitrogen and sediment targets could be achieved. Focusing on
these areas would enable significant improvement to be made while allowing time to find
more cost-effective solutions to close the remaining gap. . http://theconversation.com/the-8-2-billionwater-bill-to-clean-up-the-barrier-reef-by-2025-and-where-to-start-62685;
http://statements.qld.gov.au/Statement/2016/8/11/government-agrees-to-all-reef-taskforce-recommendations;
costings_report.pdf
Graziers are being encouraged to participate in the voluntary, industry-led Grazing Best
Management Practice program and identify practices that can help them improve the longterm profitability and sustainability of their enterprise as well as protect the GBR.
http://statements.qld.gov.au/Statement/2016/11/23/environment-minister-supports-best-management-practice-graziers-withsponsorship-for-reef-and-beef-event However, at the first annual GBR Synthesis Workshop (a
recommendation of the GBREST) held on 9-11 November2016, attendees considered
broader actions than just changing land management practice on farms were needed. Priority
actions identified included:
 trialling advances in forecasting technology to predict rainfall
 investigating the long-term impact of sediment and nutrient discharge
 confirming the causes of crown-of-thorns starfish outbreaks
 assessing the critical factors to help ecosystems recover
 understanding social and economic drivers to encourage landholders to improve their
agricultural practices
 communication and engagement to support the release of the Scientific Consensus
Statement
 targeting gully hotspots.
The Scientific Consensus Statement synthesises the latest scientific knowledge on reef water
quality issues and will guide the review of the Reef Water Quality Protection Plan due to be
completed in mid-2017. http://statements.qld.gov.au/Statement/2016/11/15/experts-identify-priority-actions-for-thegreat-barrier-reef
In a new matched funding arrangement, Greening Australia and the QG will each provide $2
million over four years to trial innovative approaches to gully remediation. The QG
contribution will be from the Great Barrier Reef Innovation Fund established on a
recommendation of GBREST. wttp://statements.qld.gov.au/Statement/2016/10/18/palaszczuk-governmentcommits-funding-for-4-million-project-to-help-improve-reef-water-quality
Severe damage at Douglas Shoal was caused in April 2010 by the Chinese bulk carrier Shen
Neng 1 running aground due to negligence. Following the out of court settlement
($39.3million )with the owners the GBRMPA will now initiate field operations to remove
toxic anti-fouling paint and rubble, enabling restoration of the natural ecological processes on
this reef. http://www.gbrmpa.gov.au/media-room/latest-news/corporate/2016/statement-on-out-of-court-settlementwith-owners-of-shen-neng-1 http://www.joshfrydenberg.com.au/guest/mediaReleasesDetails.aspx?id=258
Recently small oil patties from the same type of oil used by large trading ships washed up
along a sixty kilometre stretch of coastline of Fraser Island and were removed by 30 shoreline
personnel over a period of a week by rake and shovel to minimises the impact on the
environment. There were no reports of any impact on wildlife. Authorities are attempting to
identify the ship allegedly responsible. Maximum fines for a corporation for a discharge
offence can include $11.78 million under Queensland law and $17 million under
Commonwealth law. http://statements.qld.gov.au/Statement/2016/10/24/oil-cleanup-winding-down-on-fraserisland
Update on Paris Agreement on Climate: As of 21 November 2016: 193 Parties have
signed the Paris Agreement and 112 Parties ratified, accounting in total for 78.78% of the
total global greenhouse gas emissions While most of those countries ratifying the Agreement
make a minor contribution, it is pleasing major contributors China (20.09%) and USA
(17.89%) have ratified. India (4.10%) and Australia (1.46%) have also ratified.
http://unfccc.int/paris_agreement/items/9444.php. http://climateanalytics.org/hot-topics/ratification-tracker.html
Terrestrial Carbon Sinks: An international team of scientists have found that increases in
atmospheric carbon dioxide levels between 2002 and 2014 led to enhanced photosynthesis in
plants so that they could absorb more of the greenhouse gas. As, at same time, the slowdown
of global temperatures reduced the amount of CO2 plants breathed out, more carbon was
taken up by plants than released. However, the scientists warn the slowdown in the growth
rate of atmospheric CO2 could be temporary http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-11-09/plants-key-to-recent-pause-ingrowth-rate-of-atmospheric-co2/8006072 Keenan, T. F. et al. Recent pause in the growth rate of atmospheric CO2 due to enhanced
terrestrial carbon uptake. Nat. Commun. 7, 13428 doi: 10.1038/ncomms13428 (2016).
Between 1930 and 2013, more than 69 billion tonnes of cement was manufactured globally
with an estimated 38.2 gigatonnes of CO2 released during the manufacture by calcination of
carbonate rocks. However Xi et al found that carbonation of cement materials over the life
cycle of cement represented a large and growing net sink of CO2 and estimated that 4.5
gigatonnes of carbon would have been absorbed over that period. http://www.abc.net.au/news/201611-22/concrete-is-a-carbon-sink/8043174?section=science Fengming Xi, Steven J. Davis, Philippe Ciais, Douglas
Crawford-Brown, Dabo Guan, Tiemao Shi, Mark Syddall, Jie Lv, Lanzhu Ji, Longfei Bing, Jiaoyue Wang, Wei Wei,
Keun-Hyeok Yang, Isabel Galan, Carmen Andrade, Ying Zhang & Zhu Liu (2016) Nature Geoscience Published Online,
Pat Pepper, NCWQ Environment Adviser