International: Australia
Australian oil and gas producers push back
22 May 2020
Australia’s oil and gas producers have warned against the Morrison government underwriting a massive expansion of the domestic industry, saying the country does not have a gas shortage and intervention could reduce supply and raise prices.
Scott Morrison is still Coal-Mo to the core
20 May 2020
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has just celebrated the first anniversary of his surprise election win in May, 2019. And he’s been getting some glowing reviews from some predictable quarters.
Australia ... further to fall, harder to rise
20 May 2020
"Pestilence is so common," writes Albert Camus in The Plague: There have been as many plagues in the world as there have been wars, yet plagues and wars always find people equally unprepared. When war breaks out, people say: ‘It won’t last. It’s too stupid.’ And war is certainly too stupid, but that doesn’t prevent it from lasting.
How Australia can build a green economy
14 May 2020
As the Australian government prepares plans for economic recovery, investors and green groups alike say this is a once-only opportunity to move towards zero emissions.
Shareholders call for Rio Tinto to make stand
11 May 2020
Shareholders in global miner Rio Tinto have rebuked the company over its climate stance, with 37 per cent voting at a meeting in Australia for a resolution that would require it to set binding emissions targets.
How will we fly, drive, commute and ride?
11 May 2020
Social distancing rules will kill cities, experts warn – and the future of mass transit hangs in the balance.
Judge rules feral horses must go
11 May 2020
The Australian federal court has ruled that feral horses can be removed from the Victorian high country.
Businesses see climate and virus recovery as one
7 May 2020
A leading Australian business group is calling for the two biggest economic challenges in memory – recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic and cutting greenhouse gas emissions – to be addressed together, saying it would boost growth and put the country on a firm long-term footing.
Westpac to stop funding coal for power
5 May 2020
Westpac says it will stop funding mining projects for coal to be used for power generation by 2030, as part of a broader commitment to reach a net-zero emissions business model by 2050.
Coal industry uses enough water for 5 million people
5 May 2020
Coal mining and coal-fired power stations in New South Wales and Queensland use the same amount of water as 5.2 million people, or more than the entire population of Greater Sydney, says a new report.
Morrison offers $300m to boost hydrogen
4 May 2020
The Morrison government will change the investment mandate of the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, directing it to make up to $300m available for a new Advancing Hydrogen Fund as part of the national hydrogen strategy.
Australia closes in on hydrogen economy
8 Apr 2020
Australia says it is a step closer to a hydrogen economy, with new research into a “nanobelt” catalyst for breaking down water.
Australia has 'probably the worst year in a century'
2 Apr 2020
Record heat and drought across Australia delivered the worst environmental conditions across the country since at least 2000, with river flows, tree cover and wildlife being hit on an unprecedented scale, says a new report.
Australian academics call for survival strategy
1 Apr 2020
A group of Australian scientists, business leaders, public servants and academics is calling for nations to work together to develop a strategy for humans to survive climate change, pandemics and other looming threats.
Smoke from bushfires killed hundreds
26 Mar 2020
Smoke from Australia’s recent bushfires killed hundreds of people and sent thousands to hospitals and emergency rooms, according to a new study.
Australian leaders told to get on with it
20 Mar 2020
Australia’s Government has been told to implement comprehensive climate-change policies in the national interest.
Green turns brown as the ecosystem suffers
17 Mar 2020
The drought in eastern Australia drove the recent bushfires but it also caused another, less well- known, environmental calamity: entire hillsides of trees turned from green to brown.
NSW makes life easier for electric vehicles
16 Mar 2020
New South Wales is aiming for a more-efficient transport future by encouraging electric vehicle uptake in its just-announced Net Zero Plan.
Burning gas “worse than coal” for climate
12 Mar 2020
Emissions from natural gas have been dangerously underestimated and it was wrong to treat gas as a “transition fuel” in the shift away from coal, according to an Australian think-tank.
Expert debunks myth about e-car emissions
10 Mar 2020
Dutch electric vehicle expert Auke Hoekstra has cut through the latest claims of renowned climate denialist Bjorn Lomborg, published at the weekend by The Australian, on the emissions from electric vehicles.
Morrison stops funding international collaboration
9 Mar 2020
The Morrison government has told researchers at two of Australia’s leading universities it will break a commitment to fund an international collaboration into what is required to shift to a zero emissions future.
Australia's summers getting longer
3 Mar 2020
Australia’s summers are getting longer and winters have become shorter as a result of global heating, according to a new report.
Logging is the last thing fire-forests need
2 Mar 2020
The New South Wales’ Forestry Corporation this week will start “selective timber harvesting” from two state forests ravaged by bushfire on the state’s south coast.
Morrison to encourage plastics recycling
2 Mar 2020
The Australian government will use its procurement policy to encourage the recycling of plastics, as well as committing financial assistance for upgrading infrastructure to boost the capacity for this waste to be reused.
Australia's carbon emissions fall just 0.3%
25 Feb 2020
Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions have dipped slightly on the back of new clean energy and a sharp fall from agriculture due to drought, but the decline was almost entirely wiped out by surging industrial pollution.
How these big polluters are free to up emissions
24 Feb 2020
The Australian Coalition Government's safeguards mechanism was meant to stop rises in industrial emissions cancelling out cuts paid for by taxpayers – but it’s a colossal failure.
Hydrogen gas study for towns wins funding
24 Feb 2020
By ANDREW SPENCE | Adelaide-based Australian Gas Networks has been awarded $1.28 million in Federal Government funding to support a study into introducing renewable hydrogen into South Australian and Victorian towns.
Morrison backs technology over taxation
19 Feb 2020
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has described a report he might adopt a technology investment target to avoid signing up to a commitment of zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 as speculation, but confirmed his government will take a “technology over taxation” approach to climate change.
Climate change already hurting Aust, says reserve bank
17 Feb 2020
Australia’s leading economic regulator has warned that climate change is already having a “profound” effect on the Australian economy, dragging down production, the value of Australian exports and the confidence of Australian consumers.
Parcels might join people on city buses
17 Feb 2020
Sydney is looking at using its public transport system to cut the number of delivery vans clogging its streets.
Renewables to power outback mine
14 Feb 2020
By ANDREW SPENCE | Australian mining company Oz Minerals plans to power its proposed West Musgrave copper nickel mine in central Australia with up to 80 per cent renewables.
Record growth sends Australia's emissions soaring
12 Feb 2020
Emissions from Australia’s largest industrial emitters have surged to 60 per cent above 2005 levels, thanks to record growth in the oil and gas, transport and mining sectors, analysts say.
Bushfire towns find water contaminated
12 Feb 2020
Communities affected by the Australian bushfires are starting to reckon with a complex, expensive aftermath: the threat to their drinking water.
Give them a shot of the truth
4 Feb 2020
Australia’s bushfire crisis was remarkable for the deluge of disinformation spread by climate deniers.
Protesters ‘call bullshit’ on News Corp coverage
31 Jan 2020
Campaigners from Extinction Rebellion have dumped a load of manure outside the Queensland office of News Corp to protest against the media giant’s coverage of climate change.
Conservation scientists grieving after bushfires
28 Jan 2020
For many conservation biologists and land managers, the unprecedented extent and ferocity of the Australian bushfires has incinerated much more than koalas and their kin.
Australians might be told to evacuate their drought towns
13 Dec 2019
The NSW state government is considering evacuating the residents of as many as 90 towns seriously affected by drought.
Australia risks being dumping ground for cars with potent gas
10 Dec 2019
Australia is at risk of becoming a dumping ground for cars pre-charged with a greenhouse gas 1400 times more potent than carbon dioxide, industry groups warn.
Cool ideas needed to sooth scorching cities
10 Dec 2019
International urban environment experts are gathering in Adelaide this week to tackle the challenge of climate change in increasingly hotter cities.
ESSAY: Living with fire and facing the fear
9 Dec 2019
By DANIELLE CLODE | It is only mid-November but we have to walk early to avoid the heat.
Work begins on Adelaide green hydrogen plant
3 Dec 2019
Construction has begun on a pioneering hydrogen production facility in Adelaide, which will play a major role in South Australia’s bid to become a global leader in certified green hydrogen.
OPINION; Scott Morrison and the big lie
26 Nov 2019
By RICHARD FLANAGAN | Australians everywhere are ready to get on with the job of dealing with the climate crisis. We just need a prime minister to lead us.
Australians see wildlife vanishing
25 Nov 2019
Farmers, bird watchers and other Australians close to the land are noticing the impacts of climate change on the country’s wildlife.
POWER TO THE PEOPLE: Suburbs take to solar
18 Nov 2019
Australians are embracing the ‘virtual power plant’, which advocates say can protect the grid, save money and combat the climate crisis.
Australia (briefly) hits 50% renewables
8 Nov 2019
Australia’s main electricity grid was briefly powered by 50% renewable energy this week in a new milestone that experts say will become increasingly normal.
Australia looks to Aboriginals' land knowledge
5 Nov 2019
Australia’s indigenous academics are calling for a fresh look at the governance and practices of mainstream environmental management institutions.
Coastal homeowners don’t want to rock the boat
1 Nov 2019
Many coastal homeowners appear to be denying the need to act on rising sea levels for fear their property values will fall.
Engineers turn backs on new fossil fuel projects
22 Oct 2019
Engineering firms in Australia are under increased pressure from their own employees to abandon controversial fossil fuel projects, as the sector turns its attention to the climate crisis.
BARE FACTS: Australia's hidden climate crisis
17 Oct 2019
Farming communities in Australia are bitterly divided over an epidemic of land clearing they say is sabotaging efforts to address climate change.
Queensland wants to jail XR protesters
16 Oct 2019
Queensland has proposed two-year jail sentences for Extinction Rebellion protesters caught with a locking device used to fix people in public places.
Clean energy stocks jump after tax on solar and wind projects is removed from Trump’s big bill
Thu 3 Jul 2025
Shares of renewable energy companies are rising after a tax on solar and wind was removed from the Senate version of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
Floods swamp cities in Southwest China with more storms due
26 Jun 2025
Citizens in Guizhou and other parts of southern China have been swamped by days of record-breaking rainfall as the East Asia monsoon kicked into high gear over the past week.
Brussels to stand its ground on 90% emissions cut by 2040
Wed 2 Jul 2025
The European Commission is set to propose a target to slash greenhouse gas emissions to a mere tenth of the levels seen back in 1990 – but a leaked summary confirms it will offer significant leeway as a sweetener for reluctant EU members.
Activists protest at London headquarters of global ad giant promoting fossil fuels
Thu 3 Jul 2025
The agency’s work for the fossil fuel industry has made it “complicit in causing existential harm to people and planet”, say campaigners, who are calling on WPP to drop those clients.
Is Mark Carney turning his back on climate action?
23 Jun 2025
The G7 summit in Alberta, hosted by Prime Minister Mark Carney, has ended with only passing mention of fighting climate change, including a statement on wildfires that is silent on the pressing need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Pakistan slams climate ‘injustice’ as deadly floods hit country again
Tue 1 Jul 2025
Pakistan’s climate minister says country facing ‘crisis of injustice’ as more deadly flooding and extreme weather events hit the country.
Nearly a third of Tuvaluans have applied for climate migration visa
27 Jun 2025
With their country threatened by sea level rise, the people of Tuvalu have been offered an escape route through an agreement with Australia, and many are contemplating leaving their home.
I just returned from Antarctica: climate change isn’t some far-off problem – it’s here and hitting hard
13 May 2025
Antarctica is often viewed as the last truly remote place on Earth – frozen, wild and untouched. But is it really as untouched as it seems?
Congo death toll hits 77 after extreme weather brings floods and sinks boats, 107 remain missing
18 Jun 2025
Authorities in Congo said the death toll following devastating floods and separate boat accidents has reached 77, with more than 100 people missing.
‘We are perilously close to the point of no return’: climate scientist on Amazon rainforest’s future
Tue 1 Jul 2025
Carlos Nobre, who has fought for decades to save the rainforest, says up to 70% of it could be lost if a tipping point is reached.
Global climate science body roiled by controversies stoked by Saudis, US
Thu 3 Jul 2025
The proposed selection of a Saudi Aramco oil company staffer as one of the authors of a key science report has been denounced as “political capture.”
