International: Australia
Australia-US minerals deal underpinned decision to allow mining company to clear threatened indigenous forest
Mon 23 Feb 2026
The Australian government’s decision to allow the US mining giant Alcoa to continue clearing swathes of Western Australian jarrah forest despite past illegal clearing practices was made in part due to a critical minerals deal reached between Australia and the Trump administration last year, a new document shows.
The case for Australian carbon tariffs
19 Feb 2026
OPINION: It may seem a niche issue but sorting the issue of carbon leakage from emissions-intensive facilities is needed to put industrial climate policy on a firm footing.
Australian gas producer Santos wins court fight over net zero claims
18 Feb 2026
An Australian court on Tuesday threw out a lawsuit against gas producer Santos that alleged the company misled the public on its plans to achieve net zero carbon emissions.
Australia's Liberals elect net zero opponent as new leader
16 Feb 2026
Australia's opposition Liberal Party elected as leader on Friday a conservative who lobbied to drop its commitment to net zero emissions, as it seeks to counter an insurgent populist right and rebuild support after a disastrous election loss last year.
Australia's renewables boom delivers coveted power price payoff
11 Feb 2026
Australia's wholesale electricity prices fell to the lowest in four years in 2025, bucking the rising price trends seen elsewhere and validating claims that renewables-heavy power system overhauls can help lower consumer power costs.
Australian ministers met Japanese gas companies 20 times amid fossil fuel lobbying push
11 Feb 2026
Australian government ministers met Japanese gas company executives more than 20 times in the last term of parliament as Labor encouraged investment in the fossil fuel industry.
Making polluters pay could fix Australia’s climate problem – and its budget
4 Feb 2026
A new report shows how making polluters pay will not only diminish the threat from climate change, but it can also help restore the budget and the economy.
Australia hits new renewable milestone of over 50%
2 Feb 2026
Renewables have reached a major milestone. For the past three months wind and solar has supplied more power to the grid than fossil fuels.
How the garden sprinkler conquered Australia
2 Feb 2026
The invention of the cheap plastic sprinkler helped create the suburban dream. But watering the garden now sits at the centre of a growing climate dilemma.
Australian heatwave fans bushfires, towns evacuated, Melbourne endures hottest day in 17 years
28 Jan 2026
A major heatwave across Australia's southeast stoked bushfires, forced hundreds of residents in rural towns to evacuate and brought record-breaking temperatures, with Melbourne recording its hottest day in nearly 17 years.
Australia’s worst heatwave since black summer made five times more likely by global heating
26 Jan 2026
Extreme heat ‘is getting worse and whether we like it or not … there’s ultimately a limit to what we can actually physically cope with’, scientist says.
Battery subsidy scheme set for 'urgent' overhaul as costs run out of control
16 Dec 2025
Australian Energy Minister Chris Bowen has announced big changes to the government's battery subsidy scheme amid claims most of its $2.3 billion budget has been spent in just six months.
Australian Government wants EV, PHEV owners to start sending power to the grid
15 Dec 2025
The newly announced Vehicle-Grid Network is part of a plan to establish Australia as a leader in vehicle-to-grid technology.
Australia has new laws to protect nature. Do they signal an end to native forest logging?
11 Dec 2025
Reforms to Australia’s nature laws have passed federal parliament. A longstanding exemption that meant federal environment laws did not apply to native logging has finally been removed from the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.
Australian market operator slashes wind farm predictions amid falling costs for solar and batteries
11 Dec 2025
The body that runs Australia's biggest power market has scaled back its plans for high-voltage power lines and wind farms to meet the country's green energy targets.
Shell subsidiary paid Queensland museum more than $10m to shape children’s climate education
9 Dec 2025
The educational materials distort how fossil fuel pollution has caused the climate emergency, new report finds.
Wildfires destroy 40 homes and kill a firefighter in Australia
9 Dec 2025
There were 52 wildfires burning across New South Wales on Monday and nine remained out of control. A total of 20 homes had destroyed over the weekend in that state.
What Victoria auditor-general's report actually says about so-called 'transition chaos'
8 Dec 2025
Mainstream media loves a electricity blackout scare, but in the wake of this week’s report from the Victorian auditor-general on the state of the state’s transition to renewables, the headline hysteria hit new heights.
NSW government, energy company under fire after native bird habitat cleared for renewables project
5 Dec 2025
A New South Wales government-backed renewable energy project has been accused of environmental vandalism after dozens of threatened birds were found in native trees it had cleared.
Shipping movements disrupted as climate change protesters block coal ships
2 Dec 2025
NSW police have arrested 141 people who attempted to block the shipping channel in Newcastle Harbour during Rising Tide protests, which began on Thursday.
Australia finally acknowledges environment underpins all else. That’s no small thing
1 Dec 2025
COMMENT: In what are dangerous times for democracies around the world, parliament’s overhaul of nature laws in the EPBC Act shows ambitious reform remains possible.
Government projected to badly miss 2035 climate target, fall shy of 2030
28 Nov 2025
Australia is expected to badly miss its 2035 climate commitment, according to department projections.
Experts dismiss coalition claims Chris Bowen cannot remain minister while leading COP31 negotiations
26 Nov 2025
Experts have dismissed claims Chris Bowen cannot remain a senior minister while playing a leading role in international climate negotiations, with one describing the argument as evidence of an Australian “culture cringe”.
South Korean decision to close all coal-fired power plants by 2040 sounds alarm for Australian exports
19 Nov 2025
Decision announced at Cop30 climate conference signposts risks for Australia’s reliance on fossil fuel exports, analysts say.
Australia rejects offer to co-host UN climate summit with Turkey
18 Nov 2025
Australia rejected on Monday Turkey's offer to co-host next year's UN climate summit, which Canberra is pushing to take place in the city of Adelaide.
Australia's green energy push, Pacific ties face setback from COP31 impasse
14 Nov 2025
Australia risks undermining efforts to establish itself as a leader in the green energy transition and letting down its vulnerable Pacific island neighbours if its bid to host next year's biggest climate summit fails, diplomats and analysts say.
Liberal Party formally abandons net zero by 2050 climate target
14 Nov 2025
The Liberal Party has agreed to scrap its commitment to reach net zero emissions by 2050, which was first set under the Morrison government.
EV and hybrid sales soar in Australia as internal combustion cars fall below 70% market share for first time
13 Nov 2025
Data from peak motoring body shows battery-electric vehicles accounted for 9.7% of new cars sold in September quarter, the highest proportion on record.
Forty per cent of Australian women without kids hesitant to have children because of climate change, survey finds
11 Nov 2025
The survey, on attitudes about the impacts of global heating, also found that half of Australians were very or extremely concerned about climate change and two in five believed the climate would be “much hotter” in 2050.
We have more renewable energy than ever before. Why are we switching it off?
11 Nov 2025
Experts say until more storage is installed to soak up the waves of renewable energy flooding the grid, much of that power will occasionally have to be curtailed.
“Dirty and expensive:” City of Sydney bans gas as it votes to electrify all new big buildings
6 Nov 2025
The City of Sydney has followed the example of the ACT and Victoria governments and voted unanimously to require all newly built residential buildings, medium to large commercial buildings, hotels, and serviced apartment buildings, to be all-electric.
Australian Nationals formally abandon commitment to reach net zero emissions by 2050
3 Nov 2025
Nationals leader David Littleproud said the party would shift its focus to climate adaptation instead of being "focused solely" on reducing emissions, noting Australia's small share of the global effort.
Companies could have profits from breaking environment laws stripped under Australian reforms
23 Oct 2025
The Albanese government wants the power to strip companies of any financial gains made from breaking environment laws, as part of a package of landmark reforms to be put before parliament in the next two weeks.
US, Australia to invest $2 billion in critical minerals, advance Alcoa gallium project
23 Oct 2025
The United States and Australia extended financial support to several Australian companies as part of a wide-ranging critical minerals agreement aimed at countering China's hold over the industry.
Australian rainforests no longer a carbon sink – study
17 Oct 2025
Australia's tropical rainforests are among the first in the world to start emitting more carbon dioxide than they absorb, scientists said Thursday, linking the "very concerning" trend to climate change.
For Australia to get moving on electric vehicles, we must ban petrol and diesel cars by 2035
17 Oct 2025
COMMENT: If nothing is done, transport is projected to be Australia’s largest emissions source by 2030.
Solar panel efficiency record broken in big boost for renewable energy
10 Oct 2025
Scientists in Sydney have smashed the efficiency record for a new type of solar panel.
Media and political attacks on Australia’s emissions targets ‘straight out of the climate obstruction playbook’
9 Oct 2025
Recent political and media attacks on renewable energy and climate action in Australia have come “out of the climate obstruction playbook” that has been honed over decades around the world by fossil fuel interests, according to professor Christian Downie.
Transport will make or break Australia’s new climate plan – and time is running out to fix it
1 Oct 2025
Australia has a new climate target: cutting emissions by 62-70% below 2005 levels by 2035. Meeting even the lower end means halving emissions in a decade.
Chris Bowen meets Turkey’s first lady as lobbying to hold Cop31 intensifies
26 Sep 2025
Climate minister, who is trying to persuade Turkey to allow Australia to host the summit, appears with Emine Erdoğan at New York event.
With 2035 emissions targets set, what Australia does next will help shape global efforts to keep 1.5°C alive
24 Sep 2025
This week, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will attend the annual United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York. He will bring something important: Australia’s new 2035 emission cut target of 62–70% on 2005 levels.
Nations’ plans to ramp up coal, gas and oil extraction ‘will put climate goals beyond reach’
23 Sep 2025
New data shows governments now planning more fossil fuel production in coming decades than they were in 2023.
Govt has not set 2035 renewables target, downplays 90 per cent
23 Sep 2025
Chris Bowen has declined to offer a timeline for setting a 2035 renewables target, despite the Climate Change Authority's projection that more than 90 per cent renewables would be needed to achieve its recommended climate target.
Cut emissions 70% by 2035? There’s only one policy that can get us there
22 Sep 2025
To cut emissions fast, the Australian government will have to dial back its command-and-control approach – and put a price on carbon.
Australia's 2035 climate targets on path to net zero judged by the experts
19 Sep 2025
After much anticipation, Australia has set its new climate targets: a reduction of 62 to 70 per cent within the next 10 years.
Climate risk suburbs: The shocking truth about Aussie house prices
18 Sep 2025
Australia’s property market is hurtling towards a climate reckoning, with billions of dollars in potential losses looming.
Australia: Cost of years of inaction on climate change is now revealed
17 Sep 2025
OPINION: In recent weeks, alarming glimpses into the contents of the federal government’s National Climate Risk Assessment have leaked out.
Rising seas will threaten 1.5 million Australians by 2050 – report
16 Sep 2025
One and a half million Australians living in coastal areas are at risk from rising sea levels by 2050, a landmark climate report has warned.
Australia’s biggest gas project greenlit to 2070 with ‘partial’ protection for Indigenous rock art
15 Sep 2025
Approval met with fury from conservation groups and the Greens, who called it a ‘betrayal’ of Australians who want climate action.
Australian Labor Party under internal pressure to commit to at least 70% emissions reduction by 2035
12 Sep 2025
The party’s grassroots campaigners have urged its leadership to ignore business warnings about the cost of setting an ‘ambitious’ target.
Trump’s plan for rising energy costs: Pump oil, make data centers pay
Thu 26 Feb 2026
Energy affordability was in the spotlight during President Trump’s lengthy and at times rambling State of the Union address Tuesday evening as the president promised to bring down electricity prices in an effort to assuage voter concerns about rising costs.
3,600 times faster: China is shaking up the steel industry
Wed 25 Feb 2026
For over a century, making steel meant coal, heat, and hours of waiting. A Chinese research team now reports collapsing that process into just three to six seconds; no coal, near zero emissions, and a vortex lance already moving toward commercial production. The technology is called flash ironmaking, and in February 2026, its implications are still unfolding.
This city turned its rooftops into a climate shield
Fri 27 Feb 2026
As cities struggle with heat, Zürich offers a masterclass in using vegetation to cool streets, manage stormwater and restore biodiversity.
‘Tinderbox’ UK may be one shock away from food riots, experts say
Wed 25 Feb 2026
A series of issues are making access to food vulnerable in the UK, including the climate crisis, low incomes, poor farming policy and fragile just-in-time supply chains.
Mark Carney just picked his lane on climate change
17 Feb 2026
COMMENT: Mark Carney's time as prime minister has been defined in part by his decision to roll back Trudeau-era climate policies.
South Korean farmers sue utility giant KEPCO over climate damage to crops
Wed 25 Feb 2026
As harvest season approached last November, farmer Ma Yong-un walked through his apple orchard in southern South Korea with a growing sense of dread.
What Vanuatu’s UN resolution on the ICJ climate opinion means for the planet
Mon 23 Feb 2026
Six months after a landmark climate ruling, the UN is being asked to act.
Limiting warming to 2C is ‘crucial’ to protect pristine Antarctic Peninsula
Tue 24 Feb 2026
Keeping global warming to less than 2C above pre-industrial temperatures is “crucial” for limiting damage to the Antarctic Peninsula’s unique ecosystems, according to a new study.
Kenya launches a carbon registry to boost climate finance and credibility
Mon 23 Feb 2026
Kenya has launched a national carbon registry, aiming to position itself as a global hub for high-integrity carbon credits at a time when scrutiny of climate offset markets is intensifying worldwide.
Floods and landslides in Brazil kill at least 30 after record rainfall
Thu 26 Feb 2026
Three firefighters pulled a man’s body from the mud amid the rubble of houses swept away in a landslide in south-eastern Brazil, where 30 people died and 39 were still missing on Tuesday after torrential rains.
UN approves first carbon credits under Paris Agreement market mechanism
Fri 27 Feb 2026
The United Nations has approved the first credits to be issued under a carbon market established by the Paris climate accord, aimed at reducing emissions – a mechanism that has faced scrutiny over greenwashing concerns.
