El Niño poses critical threat to nations’ defences, says Ed Miliband in presentation to global foreign ministers
The UK has warned countries around the world that the climate and nature crises and the coming El Niño threaten their national security and defence, presenting foreign ministries with the findings of an explosive report suppressed under Keir Starmer.
Ed Miliband, the UK’s foreign secretary, made a presentation to the foreign ministers of the EU as well as Kenya and other countries on Wednesday night at a private meeting during the UN general assembly in New York, based on the report by the UK’s spy chiefs that found the collapse of natural systems around the world would lead to conflict, migration and food shortages.
This spot on the city’s northern beaches has been named the cleanest, while another popular Sydney beach is given a “poor” rating for the fifth year running.
Hiking in Australia is having a moment. In the ten years to 2024, bushwalking popularity rose 81%.
Social media reels of remote, beautiful landscapes make these places feel more accessible. But there’s a risk the increased visibility of remote places can draw newer hikers to undertake overly challenging routes.
Many are getting into trouble. Rescues from Western Australia’s highest peak, Bluff Knoll, increased fourfold in a year, while Queensland’s Glasshouse Mountains have seen a surge in rescues. A similar trend in England and Wales has been linked to reliance on unsuitable navigation apps and popular social media locations.
Inevitably, this has led to tragedies. In Australia, a tourist died of hypothermia at Tasmania’s Cradle Mountain, as did two university students near Victoria’s Mount Bogong.
After the tragic death of 18-year-old hiker Lily Hooper on a remote trail in New South Wales this year, her grieving family called for the creation of “Lily’s Law” to avoid future tragedies. This would aim to improve awareness of personal locator beacons and other emergency communication and tracking technologies.
Earlier this year, the grieving family of a prospector who died in remote Western Australia called for mandatory beacon use in other remote settings.
These tragedies raise a broader question: should hikers be required to carry a personal locator beacon or other emergency communication device on remote or high-risk routes?
The answer is – probably not. While these emergency devices are great at locating missing hikers, they don’t stop people getting lost or injured – and they won’t necessarily make difficult rescues any easier. We should focus instead on encouraging rental and loan schemes to overcome cost issues – and boost hiker education.
How do beacons help?
Emergency communication devices can send distress signals via satellite. Personal locator beacons are one example.
They have clear uses. In 2024, a dehydrated hiker on the Larapinta Trail in the Northern Territory was rescued by helicopter after activating her beacon. Hikers going into areas without mobile coverage often carry a beacon or similar device somewhere accessible on their person.
Authorities say their value is in speeding up rescue. As Tasmania Police search and rescue coordinator Sergeant Bernard Peters told the ABC:
time is your biggest advantage […] if you can get an emergency signal out that someone’s in distress earlier, the faster you’re going to receive a response
The potential benefits of beacons include:
giving hikers a way to call for help
letting rescuers find hikers faster
reducing exposure to dangerous conditions for hiker and rescuers
less time and money spent searching.
Beacons have limits
Rescuing people from tough terrain will still be difficult, even if a beacon locates them quickly.
Tasmania’s Federation Peak is widely regarded as one of the most dangerous hikes in Australia. Rescuers face real risks and challenges, even if they know the location. In 2016, authorities were forced to delay rescue efforts after a hiker fell, as severe weather conditions made landing a helicopter impossible. The hiker’s location was known, but that didn’t make it easier.
Emergency communication devices are also only useful if people know how to use them, are operational and are quickly accessible. Solo hikers are at particular risk, as a fall or loss of consciousness may make it impossible to activate the beacon.
Beacons and similar devices typically cost hundreds of dollars, which may be offputting for occasional hikers. A 2021 study found many day-hikers in Tasmania did not carry essential equipment such as beacons.
Another risk is that hikers with a beacon may feel safer in the lead up to the hike, which could leave them underprepared in terms of suitable clothing, shelter and food.
Rescues of hikers from dangerous hikes such as Tasmania’s Federation Peak will remain a challenge even with beacons.Posnov/Getty
Mandatory schemes aren’t easy
For authorities, making beacons or satellite devices mandatory would come with tricky decisions around which hikes to include and how to enforce the rules.
It would be easier to introduce mandatory beacons for popular hikes through remote areas where permits are required, such as the Larapinta Trail.
But there would still be questions over enforcement. Many hikes have no staff near the trailhead and do not require a formal check-in or safety briefing. Even if checks were possible, carrying a beacon isn’t the same as knowing how or when to use it.
Could we make beacons more accessible?
Personal locator beacons and similar devices have real merit. But they are not a silver bullet. Making them mandatory may not be the best way to improve hiker safety.
A better solution might be for authorities or bushwalking clubs to expand outdoor gear libraries, so occasional hikers can borrow and return beacons and other equipment. This could be coupled with practical hiker education on route planning, appropriate equipment, changing conditions and how to use emergency devices.
Park authorities in some states already have schemes to help hikers access personal locator beacons. In NSW, hikers can borrow beacons free in some locations, while Tasmania has a beacon hire service.
Expanding these schemes could boost access. But authorities would have to ensure they can meet demand at peak times.
Hiker education is vital
In the aftermath of tragedy, it’s natural to want to save other people from suffering a similar fate. Personal locator beacons can and do help rescuers locate hikers in distress in remote areas.
To overcome cost and administrative challenges, it could be better to make beacons more accessible through loan and hire schemes.
Beyond that, people planning to enter tough terrain need clear information about the risks of their chosen routes, the emergency equipment they should bring and how to respond to worsening weather. It’s vital to know when to turn back and when the risks are too great.
In an emergency, beacons let hikers call for help. But preventing emergencies from happening in the first place will require education.
Samantha Murdy does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Campaigners say plan marks notable shift away from oil and gas as previously pledges were only for carbon neutrality
Europe’s biggest economy, Germany, has committed to phasing out fossil fuels by 2045, despite fierce debate about its green policies.
In a roadmap published on Wednesday, the German government set out for the first time an explicit promise of “transitioning away” from fossil fuels. Previous pledges were only for “carbon neutrality”.
How we manage dingoes is a source of heated debate. Dingoes play an integral ecological role as a top predator, and have immense cultural significance to First Nations communities. However, many farmers view dingoes as a threat to their livestock, livelihoods and mental health.
The New South Wales government is grappling with this tension, as a parliamentary inquiry considers how to manage dingo populations in the state’s national parks.
In NSW, dingoes are not protected under state law but are legally managed under the category of “wild dogs”, a term that includes dingoes.
The inquiry is currently examining the genetic status, ecological role and cultural significance of dingoes. The inquiry received nearly 400 public submissions.
The dingo debate
The NSW government relies on several core values to guide how it manages the state’s national parks. These include protecting biodiversity, keeping ecosystems intact and upholding the values of local First Nations communities. These principles must be balanced with the need for research and sustainable tourism.
When it comes to dingoes, the crucial question is whether dingo control within national parks conflicts with these considerations.
There is a mounting push to strengthen protection for dingoes across the country, and particularly in national parks. The ecological argument emphasises their role as a top predator that keeps numbers of kangaroos, foxes and other invasive species under control. From a cultural perspective, archaeological evidence chronicles the long-standing relationships between dingoes and Indigenous Australians. Today, dingoes remain a culturally significant native animal among First Nations communities.
However, the argument for controlling dingoes revolves around the damage they can inflict on livestock and rural communities. In areas where dingo habitat overlaps with farms, particularly those with sheep and goats, dingoes have been known to attack, maim, and kill livestock. This can cost farmers thousands of dollars in lost income. Harder to quantify is the psychological toll of losing animals and worrying about future dingo attacks.
Noticing the nuance
The debate about dingoes is often framed as a battle between farmers on the one hand, and conservationists and dingoes on the other. But this is misleading.
The conventional way of managing dingoes involves indiscriminate killing. This is typically done through large scale baiting programs targeting areas where dingoes are known to kill livestock.
However, there is little evidence to suggest this approach actually protects livestock. In one study, for example, baiting across four cattle stations reduced the relative abundance of dingoes but did not reduce how many calves were lost.
And while baiting can curb dingo numbers, these effects can be short lived. Reducing dingo numbers doesn’t necessarily protect livestock from unexpected attacks.
The dingo inquiry could pave the way for a more nuanced approach to dingo management that limits livestock deaths while valuing the ecological role and cultural value of dingoes.
Several non-lethal control methods – including exclusion fencing, guardian animals and targeted responses to individual problem animals – could be effective in managing dingo numbers on lands that neighbour national parks.
But introducing these methods on a large scale comes with major hurdles, such as the high costs of fencing and training guardian animals. Major policy changes are required to recognise dingoes as a native species, protect them within national parks and fund the research needed to understand how people and dingoes can co-exist.
By introducing non-lethal control strategies in or near to national parks, NSW would align with other jurisdictions across the globe that are successfully managing the tension between apex predators and livestock. It would also make NSW a leader in Australian dingo management.
With public hearings concluded, the NSW dingo inquiry is now considering what an alternative approach could look like. The question is no longer whether dingoes should be controlled, but how we can better live alongside them.
Guardian animals, such as Maremma sheepdogs, can help reduce livestock losses.ChristiLaLiberte/Getty
Niraj Meisuria is a committee member of the Australasian Wildlife Management Society. He is also a member of the Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales and the Ecological Society of Australia.
Thomas Newsome receives funding from the Australian Research Council. He is president of the Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales and a member (and past president) of the Australasian Wildlife Management Society. He is also a member of the Australian Mammal Society and the Ecological Society of Australia.
Rhys Cairncross does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
