International: Australia
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.
It’s only October, so what’s with all these bushfires?
15 Oct 2019
Summer might be more than six weeks away, but out-of-control bushfires have already torn across parts of eastern Australia in recent days, destroying homes and threatening lives.
Jail climate protesters, says Australian minister
7 Oct 2019
Protesters who disrupt traffic should have their welfare payments cut and be subject to mandatory jail sentences, Australia's home affairs minister Peter Dutton has declared.
NSW considers laws to stop courts blocking coalmines
3 Oct 2019
The New South Wales government is considering legislation that could limit the ability for planning authorities to rule out coalmines projects based on the climate change impact of emissions from the coal once it is burned.
Towns prepare for 'unimaginable' water crisis
1 Oct 2019
Livelihoods in Australia are now at risk from drought worsened by climate change, a predicament more familiar to developing countries.
Queensland plans huge hydrogen projects
1 Oct 2019
Two huge renewable hydrogen projects have been planned for the heart of Queensland’s major coal and gas regions.
'It's heartbreaking': A town watches its beach wash away
30 Sep 2019
Stockton beach in New South Wales is being washed away by dramatic coastal erosion which has already claimed a childcare centre.
Mining magnate puts millions into war on plastics waste
26 Sep 2019
An Australian mining billionaire has launched a business-driven initiative to try to tackle the hundreds of millions of tonnes of plastic waste produced every year.
Canberra switching to 100% renewable energy
23 Sep 2019
Canberra will become the first city outside Europe to shift from fossil fuel to 100% renewable energy.
Protest-rubbish photo is just that ... rubbish
23 Sep 2019
A hoax photo that claims to show rubbish left behind by Australian climate strike protesters is circulating on Facebook, despite being revealed as fake months ago.
Mine protesters tackle All Blacks on eve of World Cup
18 Sep 2019
A petition launched just days before the World Cup opens in Japan calls on the All Blacks to dump their principal sponsor AIG over ties to a controversial Australian coal mine development.
More Australians drown as summers heat up
17 Sep 2019
More Australians are drowning as the country faces record high temperatures, lifesavers have warned.
Australia launches emergency relocation of fish
12 Sep 2019
Faced with a ferocious summer with little rain forecast, the New South Wales government has embarked on a Noah’s Ark type operation to move native fish to safe havens.
More Australians fear effects of changing climate ...
11 Sep 2019
Australians are increasingly concerned about droughts and floods, extinctions and water shortages associated with climate change, according to new research.
... but the disaster minister has his doubts
11 Sep 2019
Australia’s minister responsible for drought and natural disasters, David Littleproud, has said that he doesn’t “know if climate change is manmade”.
Queensland coal goes to war with solar
6 Sep 2019
In Queensland, it seems the legacy coal generators are deciding not to ramp down as the market might expect. Instead, some observers suspect they are trying to force the solar plants out of the market.
Doctors declare climate health emergency
4 Sep 2019
The Australian Medical Association has formally declared climate change a health emergency, pointing to “clear scientific evidence indicating severe impacts for patients and communities now and into the future”.
Australia hits seven-year high on emissions
2 Sep 2019
Australia’s greenhouse gas status has worsened again, showing a 0.6 per cent rise in the March quarter to a seven year high of 538.9 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent.
Carbon criticism nonsense, says e-car council
29 Aug 2019
Australia’s Electric Vehicle Council is dismissing as nonsense claims that EVs emit more carbon dioxide than do fossil-fuel cars.
Trump’s budget would cut billions from climate programs while boosting military spending
Wed 8 Apr 2026
Trump’s 2027 budget proposal targets what the administration calls the “Green New Scam” through budget cuts to energy and environment programs.
China's Xi urges faster development of new energy system as Middle East war continues
Wed 8 Apr 2026
Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for accelerated planning and construction of a new energy system to safeguard the country's energy security, weeks into the Iran war that has triggered global energy shocks.
The European Commission has published the first quarterly price for CBAM certificates
Thu 9 Apr 2026
The European Commission has officially set the reference price for the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism certificate for the first quarter of 2026 at €75.36 per ton of CO2.
Britain hits renewable power record in 2025, but fossil fuel use also up
Wed 8 Apr 2026
Renewable power such as wind and solar provided a record 52.5% of Britain’s electricity generation in 2025, government data showed on Thursday, but fossil fuel use also rose.
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.
How Pakistan’s solar boom is shielding it from worst of Iran war crisis
Thu 9 Apr 2026
A quarter of Pakistani households are now using solar panels. This insulates millions of families from the energy supply crunch prompted by the US-Israel war on Iran.
Vanuatu Indigenous leaders raise concerns over plans to build resort for cruise tourists
1 Apr 2026
Indigenous community leaders in Vanuatu have raised concerns over plans by the cruise operator Royal Caribbean to build a private beach club on the island of Lelepa, arguing environmental impact assessments by the company are “incomplete” and “misleading”.
China's huge push to reduce air pollution had an unexpected consequence in the Arctic
2 Apr 2026
China's cuts to aerosol emissions reduced sea ice loss, but it may have revealed a bigger story about climate change.
Rationing power and diluting petrol – how African countries are coping with effects of Iran war
30 Mar 2026
Countries across Africa have taken measures such as diluting petrol and restricting electricity consumption to cope with the fuel crisis triggered by the US and Israel's war in Iran.
Beef production drives 40% of agriculture-linked forest destruction, Brazil leads
26 Mar 2026
Beef production is the leading driver of agriculture-linked deforestation, accounting for 40% of all forest clearing done to open space for food production, according to details of a study released on Tuesday.
Iran war should trigger faster exit from fossil fuel dependence, UN climate chief says
18 Mar 2026
The disruption to energy markets caused by the Iran war is a lesson on the risks of relying on fossil fuels which should drive governments to wean their economies off oil and gas faster, the U.N. climate secretary told Reuters on Monday.
