International: Australia
Australia eyes role as clean-energy exporter
6 Dec 2018
Politicians around Australia are proposing ambitious plans to export renewable energy from Australia, using high-voltage power lines laid under the oceans.
Adani will fund mini-version of its mega-mine
5 Dec 2018
Indian mining multinational Adani has announced that it will self-fund a significantly smaller coal mine in Queensland, after failing to secure finance from more than 30 domestic and international banks and lenders.
Cheap drainage nets keep water pollution at bay
4 Dec 2018
The Western Australia city of Kwinana is using a somewhat obvious, simple and cost-effective system of nets to prevent waste from entering its waters.
Thousands of Aussie kids take to the streets
3 Dec 2018
Thousands of schoolchildren across Australia walked out of class on Friday to demand action by the federal government on climate change.
Happy birthday, big battery
3 Dec 2018
By most accounts, Adelaide's giant lithium-ion battery - the world's largest - has been a remarkable success. But there are some concerns that have so far escaped scrutiny.
Labor’s smashing win tonic for clean energy
27 Nov 2018
The relief from Victoria’s stunning election result last weekend was palpable.
Morrison tells striking schoolkids to butt out
27 Nov 2018
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has been labelled “out of touch” for angrily condemning a national student strike to protest government inaction on climate change.
Aussie schoolkids take action over climate change inaction
8 Nov 2018
Hundreds of students around Australia are preparing to strike from school because of what they say is a failure by politicians to recognise climate change as an emergency.
Unseasonably hot, you say? Not any more
7 Nov 2018
The record hot weather being experienced across prts of Australia is now the new normal as the effects of climate change become baked-in.
Living normally, a platypus could ingest 69 drugs a day
7 Nov 2018
Insects near waste water could give a platypus or trout half a daily human dose of antidepressants, a new study reveals.
Is corporate Australia facing a 'tipping point'?
6 Nov 2018
In the parlance of climate science, a "tipping point" is a dire prospect – a critical threshold breach that triggers an abrupt and rapid change in climate.
NSW launches emerging energy programme
2 Nov 2018
New South Wales has launched one of the most significant energy transition projects in Australia designed to help to replace most of the state’s ageing coal plants with wind, solar and storage.
Clean energy is surging – and headed for a fall
31 Oct 2018
The relentlessly corrosive nature of Australian political debate about climate change can sometimes mask that this is a golden moment for the clean energy industry.
How boiling Darwin could keep the people and regain its cool
29 Oct 2018
July 2018 in Darwin was 2deg hotter than any previous July and the record heat has continued. Surveys show that it's the reason people are leaving the city.
Coalition digs deeper into coal and climate denial
26 Oct 2018
If the Wentworth and Wagga Wagga by-elections in Austraia were supposed to send a message to the Coalition government about the need to act on carbon emissions and embrace renewables, it hasn’t worked.
Australia shows interest in hydrogen power
25 Oct 2018
The Australian Renewable Energy Agency has announced funding to produce renewable hydrogen from wind and solar power.
Coalition could help out new power projects
24 Oct 2018
Energy minister Angus Taylor has signalled the Australian government could indemnify new power generation projects against the future risk of a carbon price, and says it could also support the retrofitting of existing coal plants.
Australia to have ultra-fast charging network
24 Oct 2018
Drivers travelling between Australia’s major cities could soon charge their electric vehicles in just 15 minutes with a super-fast network being rolled out across the country.
Australia should be 'exporting sunshine, not coal'
17 Oct 2018
Economist Jeffrey Sachs has criticised successive Australian governments for “defending a 19th or 20th century industry” rather than taking decisive action on climate change, saying Australia should be “exporting sunshine, not coal”.
Australia needs a plan, says chief scientist
16 Oct 2018
Australia’s chief scientist Alan Finkel says the question facing the nation’s energy future is not about renewables versus coal but how best to create “a whole-of-economy emissions reduction strategy”.
Reality bites for Australian farmers
15 Oct 2018
A new study shows that 43 per cent of Ausralian farmers accept climate change poses a risk to their region, compared with just 32 per cent five years ago.
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.
California, Connecticut preparing 'attack' against Trump's repeal of basis of US climate regulation
Fri 20 Feb 2026
California and Connecticut are working together on a multi-state "plan of attack" against President Donald Trump's repeal of the foundation of federal climate regulation of vehicles, the states' attorneys general told Reuters on Tuesday.
As Trump retreats from climate goals, China is becoming a green superpower
Thu 19 Feb 2026
How the world's biggest carbon emitter is now at the helm of a renewables revolution.
EU countries back stronger price curbs on new carbon market
Fri 20 Feb 2026
European Union countries on Wednesday backed plans to strengthen price curbs in the bloc's upcoming carbon market, EU diplomats told Reuters, in response to concerns from some governments that the policy could raise fuel bills.
Britain strengthens ties with California as new clean energy and climate agreement signed
Thu 19 Feb 2026
Britain has forged a deeper alliance with California on clean energy and climate action, as Energy Secretary Ed Miliband and Governor Gavin Newsom signed a new agreement aimed at boosting transatlantic investment and environmental protection.
Mark Carney just picked his lane on climate change
Tue 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.
Modi's rooftop solar push slowed by reluctant lenders, states
Thu 19 Feb 2026
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's push to accelerate the rollout of rooftop solar power is falling short of targets despite heavy subsidies due to loan delays and limited support from state utilities, vendors and analysts say.
Pacific fisheries summit gives a boost to albacore and seabirds
19 Dec 2025
Much of the world’s albacore tuna catch, which usually ends up in a can, comes from the southwestern Pacific Ocean, where fishery managers just passed a new set of conservation rules.
Warming climate threatens Greenland's ancestral way of life
12 Feb 2026
The Arctic region is on the frontline of global warming, heating up four times faster than the rest of the planet since 1979, according to a 2022 study in scientific journal Nature, causing the sea ice to retreat.
Africa leads growth in solar energy as demand spreads beyond traditional markets, report says
Mon 16 Feb 2026
A report shows that Africa has emerged as the world's fastest-growing solar market even as global growth slowed last year, driven by a 60% surge in imports of solar panels from China.
Argentina fires ravage pristine Patagonia forests, fueling criticism of Milei’s austerity
4 Feb 2026
The wildfires, among the worst to hit the drought-stricken Patagonia region in decades, have devastated more than 45,000 hectares (174 square miles) of Argentina’s forests in the last month and a half, forcing the evacuation of thousands of residents and tourists.
Why Trump might be onboard with a UN carbon-offset programme for airlines
12 Feb 2026
The president’s team has backed the rollout of an initiative that calls for the use of sustainable aviation fuel and carbon credits, even as Trump has pulled back from other international emissions-reduction efforts.
