International: Australia
Australia rejects IPCC call to dump coal
10 Oct 2018
The Australian government has rejected the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report’s call to phase out coal power by 2050, claiming renewable energy cannot replace baseload coal power.
Morrison says no more money for climate fund
9 Oct 2018
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has resisted conservatives’ calls to withdraw Australia from the Paris Climate Agreement but ruled out providing more money to the global climate fund.
Labor says Australia can remain energy 'superpower'
5 Oct 2018
Australia is in a position to replace thermal coal exports with the export of renewable energy technologies if the parliament can settle an energy policy and end a decade of policy chaos, Labor frontbencher Pat Conroy says.
Victoria renewables boom opens up jobs
3 Oct 2018
The renewable energy construction boom in Victoria is on track to create more than 6000 annual jobs, according to a new analysis.
Australia’s gas emissions climb again
1 Oct 2018
Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise, fuelled by expansion in gas exports and production, according to new figures.
WE'RE BEING HELD HOSTAGE, SAYS FLANNERY
25 Sep 2018
Five years since the Abbott government scrapped the Climate Commission, the environmentalist Tim Flannery says Australia's energy policy remains hostage to lobbyists, political self-interest and “mad ideologues”.
Investors voice concern at lack of risk disclosure
21 Sep 2018
Investors are calling on Australian businesses to lift their game in the wake of a report showing they are failing to disclosure their carbon exposure to the market.
Australian emissions soar over Paris targets
17 Sep 2018
New studies show Australia is on track to miss its Paris Agreement emissions target by nearly a billion tonnes.
MEMO AUSTRALIA: The Kiwis have a good plan
14 Sep 2018
As Australia prepares for another climate policy reset, it's easy to look to New Zealand and wonder what might have been.
Australia stuck in the slow lane on transport
14 Sep 2018
Australia is stuck in the slow lane on transport pollution as one of the only OECD countries without greenhouse gas emission standards for vehicles, says a new report.
How Australia could be 100% renewable by 2030s
12 Sep 2018
Australia could reach the equivalent of 100 per cent renewables for its electricity needs by the early 2030s by doing nothing more than maintaining the current pace of wind and solar development, a new report has found.
Sylvia tackles Australia in her Tesla ... and look what it cost
12 Sep 2018
Sylvia Wilson, a 70-year-old retired farmer, drove around Australia in an electric car. It cost her $150.90.
Morrison says national energy guarantee 'dead'
10 Sep 2018
Australia's new government remains committed to meeting its Paris emissions targets even as it moves to dump climate change moves that led to the demise of the previous leadership.
Australian Greens back Labor and climate action
5 Sep 2018
Australian Greens leader Richard Di Natale will promise to work with a new Labor government to get action on climate change back on track.
Australia rolls out roll-out solar panels
31 Aug 2018
Australia has installed its first solar cells made using a conventional reel-to-reel printer.
Morrison names anti-wind man as energy minister
28 Aug 2018
New Prime Minister Scott Morrison has appointed one of Australia's most prominent anti-wind campaigners as energy minister and a former mining industry lawyer as environment minister.
Sunshine Coast to try smart street lighting
28 Aug 2018
A scheme to use intelligent street lighting is to be given a two-year trial on Australia’s Sunshine Coast.
Does ScoMo mean slo-mo for climate change action?
27 Aug 2018
Australia's new Prime Minister Scott Morrison in February last year brandished a lump of coal in Parliament and told members: "This is coal. Don’t be afraid, don’t be scared.”
Australian climate woes sank a raft of PMs
22 Aug 2018
Australia's inability to come to terms with climate change policy has cost a raft of political leaders their jobs.
Labor offers Victoria half-priced solar panels
21 Aug 2018
Owner-occupiers of homes in Victoria will get half-priced solar panels with no upfront cost under a $1.24 billion election promise by the state Labor government.
Turnbull goes for regulation to set carbon cuts
20 Aug 2018
The Turnbull government is preparing to set the Australian emissions reduction target for the national energy guarantee by regulation rather than legislation.
Huge grant to reef outfit a scandal, Greens say
9 Aug 2018
The awarding of $444 million in taxpayers’ money by the Australian prime minister to the small Great Barrier Reef Foundation without consultation “stinks” and the money should be handed back, the Greens say.
Most Australians want more renewables
7 Aug 2018
More than 70 per cent of Australians want the government to set a high renewable energy target to put downward pressure on power prices, according to a new poll.
Smart cities can also cost the environment
2 Aug 2018
The Australian government has allocated $50 million for the Smarter Cities and Suburbs Program to encourage projects that “improve the livability, productivity and sustainability of cities and towns”.
Australia energy plan might breach Paris Agreement
27 Jul 2018
An Australian government plan to lock in electricity emissions targets might breach a key commitment to the Paris Agreement.
Waste crisis could become a design opportunity
26 Jul 2018
Researchers are looking for ways to re-purpose expanded polystyrene, taking advantage of this very useful material and keeping it out of landfills.
Officals block Sydney waste-power incinerator
23 Jul 2018
A plan for a massive waste-to-energy incinerator in western Sydney has been blocked, after the New South Wales Independent Planning Commission ruled there was “uncertainty” over human health and environmental impacts.
Australian ecosystems face collapse
6 Jul 2018
The Great Barrier Reef has become a notorious victim of climate change, but it is not the only Australian ecosystem on the brink of collapse.
Why electricity sector won't bear brunt of Paris cuts
5 Jul 2018
A leading energy market analyst has warned that parts of the economy other than electricity will bear the brunt of Australia’s emissions reduction effort under the Paris agreement.
Stores pull plastic bags ... and Aussie shoppers don't get it
4 Jul 2018
A call has gone out for Australians to be educated about plastic pollution after a shop assistant was assaulted and retail workers were abused by shoppers when major stores pulled plastic bags.
Australia will need coal 'possibly forever', says Turnbull
28 Jun 2018
Coal will have an important role in Australia “possibly forever”, according to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.
Australia records worst-ever emissions
27 Jun 2018
Australia’s emissions over the past year were again the highest on record when unreliable data from land use and forestry sectors are excluded, according to new data.
Australia passes 3m small solar installs
26 Jun 2018
Rooftop solar and solar hot water installs in Australia have passed the three million-mark, as homes and businesses continue to take the power back against rising energy costs.
Farmers' federation lines up against Tony Abbott
25 Jun 2018
Australia's National Farmers’ Federation has added its voice to a chorus of Liberals and some Nationals warning Tony Abbott and other conservatives not to scuttle the government’s national energy guarantee.
Macquarie offers £500m for sustainable projects
21 Jun 2018
Australian investment group Macquarie has offered £500 million to finance green projects.
Australian firms told to catch up on climate risk
19 Jun 2018
Australian companies are not doing enough work to model the risks of climate change and how it will affect their profitability, a new report says.
Gas-guzzler Australia on road to becoming the next Cuba
15 Jun 2018
Australia's reluctance to recognise electric vehicles could mean that eventually it will join Cuba as the globe's Jurassic Park for cars.
Worsening drought pushes farmers to the brink
13 Jun 2018
On NSW's Liverpool plains, cows are being slaughtered because there is no way of feeding them after years of extreme weather.
Green steel king vows cheap power for Aussies
12 Jun 2018
UK “green steel” billionaire Sanjeev Gupta has unveiled a landmark agreement to provide cheap solar power to five major South Australian companies, promising to slash their electricity costs by up to 50 per cent.
Sweet turns sour as sugar takes on solar
12 Jun 2018
As solar farms spread across the central agricultural regions of Queensland, opponents are becoming increasingly vocal.
Australian beats Elon Musk to $820,000 Global Energy Prize
11 Jun 2018
Australia’s “father of PV”, Professor Martin Green, has been awarded the 2018 Global Energy Prize, beating out a shortlist that included Tesla’s Elon Musk.
Climate change a clear and present danger to Australia
25 May 2018
The changing climate means Australia is facing a range of important domestic and international security implications, a Senate report has found.
Australian businesses back renewables
16 May 2018
Australian businesses are jumping on board the renewables boom with almost half of the nation's major companies making the switch to clean, affordable and reliable renewable energy.
How will drought-hit farmers feed Australia?
15 May 2018
Australia has just experienced the eighth-driest April on record with rainfall across grain, sheep and cattle heartlands well below normal. So how do farmers plan to keep the country fed?
No money in Aussie budget to fight climate change
14 May 2018
Australia's response to intensifying extreme weather events remains at the bottom of the national agenda, after the Federal Budget failed to deliver funding for measures to tackle climate change.
Energy service finds best deal for customers
11 May 2018
An Australian consumer group Choice has launched a $99 service to compare prices from electricity retailers, monitor them for 12 months and automatically switch subscribers to the best deal.
Droughts could be worst in 800 years
7 May 2018
Droughts, floods, heatwaves, and fires have battered Australia for millennia. Are recent extreme events really worse than those in the past?
Rio Tinto climate resolution marks big shift
7 May 2018
What does the advocacy group the Australian Centre for Corporate Responsibility have in common with the Local Government Super fund, the Church of England Pensions Board, and the Seventh Swedish National Pension Fund?
Climate 'culture war' will doom Australia
3 May 2018
Australia will not achieve its emissions reductions targets until it ends the “culture war” on climate policy, Labor frontbencher Mark Butler has said.
Labor states won't compromise on renewables
20 Apr 2018
Australia's Labor states will seek a watertight undertaking that their renewable energy schemes and targets will remain undisturbed by the Turnbull government’s proposed national energy guarantee at a critical meeting today.
What’s at risk for Arctic wildlife if Trump expands oil drilling in fragile northern Alaska
Today 10:30am
The area is vital for the health of the planet. However, its future is at risk.
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.
EU Commission proposes allowing carbon offsets to help meet 2040 climate goal
Today 10:30am
Campaigners accuse the European Commission of adding “loopholes” and “distractions” to the 90% emissions reduction target.
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.
Central Chinese cities fight floods unleashed by record rain
Today 10:30am
A record summer downpour in China's central province of Hubei dumped more than a month's worth of rain in just 12 hours on the city of Xianfeng, prompting authorities to move 18,000 people to safety, shut schools, and suspend bus services.
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.
UN expert urges criminalising fossil fuel disinformation, banning lobbying
Today 10:30am
Rapporteur calls for defossilisation of economies and urgent reparations to avert ‘catastrophic’ rights and climate harms.
