International: Australia
Turnbull might allow power firms to buy offsets
19 Apr 2018
The Turnbull government is hedging its bets on whether to allow Australian energy companies to buy offsets to comply with their new 26 per cent emissions reduction target.
Australia's gas boom is getting out of whack
18 Apr 2018
The massive growth of Australia’s natural gas industry is inconsistent with the country's Paris commitments.
ACT takes lead on electric vehicles
17 Apr 2018
The Australian Capital Territory government has announced the country’s most ambitious transition plan to electric vehicles.
KOALA CRISIS: Don't blame urban sprawl for the deaths
11 Apr 2018
Tree clearing, not urban sprawl, is to blame for the deaths of thousands of koalas in Queensland, say environmentalists.
Most Australians want rid of coal power
3 Apr 2018
A majority of Australians would support phasing out coal power by 2030, including half the people in a sample identifying as Coalition voters, according to a new survey.
US and China behave as global emissions increase
26 Mar 2018
While global carbon emissions crept upward in 2017 the trends were not entirely bad news - the world's two biggest emitters, China and the United States, made progress in their own ways.
Thousands rally against coal in Sydney
26 Mar 2018
Thousands of people have marched through Sydney calling for an end to coal seam gas and coal mining and a renewed focus on renewables.
Ocean heatwave caused massive gas release
23 Mar 2018
A severe heatwave off Western Australia eight years ago hammered the world's largest region of seagrass, triggering the release of as much as nine million tonnes of carbon dioxide.
Climate champion Weatherill chucks it in
20 Mar 2018
The Turnbull government is one step closer to being able to implement its proposed national energy guarantee, courtesy of Jay Weatherill’s departure as the South Australian premier after Saturday’s state election.
Greens want to end sale of fossil fuel cars by 2030
14 Mar 2018
The Ausralian Greens have proposed introducing mandatory fuel efficiency standards, ending the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by 2030, and imposing a four-year 17 per cent tax on luxury vehicles.
Landmark case challenges NT land clearing
13 Mar 2018
A landmark court case in the Northern Territory is set to consider a challenge to a massive land-clearing approval based on its impacts on climate change.
Canberra politicians ride the golden escalator
12 Mar 2018
More than 180 individuals have moved between senior public service roles and the fossil fuel industry in Australia over the past decade - providing a golden escalator for former senior politicians.
Record means Australia's solar future looks bright
8 Mar 2018
The future of Australia’s solar industry is looking bright after a record 3.5m panels were installed on rooftops last year, giving the equivalent output of a medium-sized coal-fired power station.
Rio Tinto faces $84 billion shareholder revolt
5 Mar 2018
Australia’s second-biggest miner, Rio Tinto, faces a shareholder revolt over the role it plays in the country’s climate and energy debate.
Take your brolly to Broome ... it's had 1.5m of rain this year
26 Feb 2018
It has been a soggy start to the year in the Western Australian town of Broome. In the two months of 2018, 1.5 metres of rain has fallen,
Australia has a role for coal, says Shorten
21 Feb 2018
Labor Party leader Bill Shorten has declared there is a role for coal in Australia, and characterised the controversial Adani coalmine as just “another project”.
Canberra gives carbon emitters the go-ahead
20 Feb 2018
Nearly 60 Australian industrial sites have been given the green light to increase crbon emissions, cancelling out cuts paid for by the Coalition governmet using public money.
Battery boom keeping Australia’s grid fully charged
16 Feb 2018
Australia’s love affair with clean energy and battery storage is only just beginning, with the nation on the verge of an energy storage boom.
Australia's solar boom could almost double capacity in a year
13 Feb 2018
A record-breaking month of rooftop installations and a flood of large-scale solar farms could almost double Australia’s solar power capacity in a single year, industry analysts say.
Rail company rethink another blow to Adani mine
12 Feb 2018
Adani's plans for a mega coal mine in Queensland have taken a fresh hit with freight company Aurizon no longer seeking federal funding to build the project’s rail line.
First foreign Holden ‘missed opportunity’ to be hybrid
12 Feb 2018
The new Holden Commodore – the first to be made overseas – is a “missed opportunity” to launch a high-profile electric or hybrid car in Australia, according to pro-renewables groups.
Tourism Australia's least prepared for climate change
9 Feb 2018
Tourism is Australia’s most vulnerable and least-prepared industry to deal with climate change despite the fact it is already feeling its effects, according to a new report.
Tesla to outfit 50,000 homes with solar and Powerwalls
7 Feb 2018
Tesla will install solar arrays and Powerwalls on 50,000 homes in South Australia to create the biggest virtual power plant in the world.
Australian firms strike first forest credits deal
2 Feb 2018
Australian companies have struck the first long-term deal in that country to sell carbon credits generated from plantation forestry.
Australian university to be 100% solar powered
25 Jan 2018
The University of New South Wales in Sydney has signed an agreement to ensure 100 per cent of its electricity needs will be met by solar photovoltaics.
UK billionaire eyes EVs in old Holden plant
24 Jan 2018
UK billionaire Sanjeev Gupta is looking to buy equipment from and use part of the old Holden factory in South Australia to create an electric vehicle production line.
Australia climbs clean energy leaderboard
24 Jan 2018
Australia has been named among the top 10 nations investing in clean energy, with more than $11.3 billion spent on renewables in 2017.
Good sports sweat it out in stadiums not up to the job
22 Jan 2018
As Australian sports fans and players swelter through another summer season, questions of stadium design to deal with extreme heat are becoming more urgent.
Super battery beats expectations for first month
22 Jan 2018
The world’s largest lithium ion battery has brought much needed flexibility to the South Australian grid, encouraging other Australian states to follow suit.
Australia's greenhouse gas emissions highest on record
12 Dec 2017
Australia’s emissions over the past year were the highest on record, when relatively unreliable emissions from land use are excluded, according to new estimates.
Is this the end of the road for Adani’s megamine?
8 Dec 2017
Adani’s operations in Australia appear to be hanging on by a thread, as activists prove effective at undermining the company’s chances of getting the finance it needs.
Yes, it's a massive battery, but it does quite a lot
6 Dec 2017
Australians are watching in anticipation to see what impact South Australia's Tesla battery has on the local electricity market, and whether it could be a game-changer nationally.
‘I don’t know how Turnbull faces his grandkids’
5 Dec 2017
Former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd talks about the failure of his country’s climate policy, the rise of China and the Carmichael coal mine.
Tesla big battery officially switched on in South Australia
4 Dec 2017
The Tesla big battery – the world’s biggest lithium-ion battery storage installation – was officially switched on in South Australia on Friday.
Victorian logging could trigger ecosystem collapse
4 Dec 2017
Decades of unsustainable logging has created an “extinction debt” in Victoria’s central highlands that will trigger an ecosystem-wide collapse within 50 years without urgent intervention.
Labor victory could spell end of Adani coal mine
1 Dec 2017
Queensland Labor looks certain to form a government promising to veto a $1b public loan, which observers say puts the giant Adani coal project in serious doubt.
Australian shareholders should be told, says thinktank
30 Nov 2017
Australian companies need to start developing sophisticated scenario-based analyses of climate risks, and incorporating them into their business, a thinktank has said.
Musk's Australia battery poised for final testing
27 Nov 2017
The world’s largest lithium-ion battery, which is being built in South Australia by Tesla to store renewable energy, is about to enter final testing.
Melbourne consortium underwrites windfarm
27 Nov 2017
Three Melbourne councils, two universities, Zoos Victoria, and half a dozen corporations have banded together to underwrite a windfarm in western Victoria.
Disaster on Australia's doorstep, officials warn
24 Nov 2017
Climate change is creating a disaster on Australia’s doorstep, according to a government white paper.
Former UN climate chief lobbies against Adani loan
21 Nov 2017
Former UN climate chief Christiana Figueres has made a rare intervention in Australian politics, urging the Turnbull government not to grant a controversial coal project a near A$1 billion loan.
Australia a Top 10 nation - for cutting down trees
20 Nov 2017
Eastern Australia ranks in the top 10 of the world’s major deforestation fronts – the only area in a developed nation.
Medibank drops millions worth fossil-fuel investments
15 Nov 2017
Australia’s largest private health insurer, Medibank, will shed tens of millions of dollars in fossil-fuel investments because of the effects of climate change on human health.
Coal-fired plant sent $1b offshore while pocketing public's $117m
10 Nov 2017
The owner of one of Australia’s dirtiest coal-fired power plants quietly moved $1bn offshore within days of pocketing $117m from taxpayers.
Whyalla steel goes green with solar and storage
2 Nov 2017
UK billionaire Sanjeev Gupta has made good on his commitment to transform his newly acquired Australian steel business into a renewable energy powerhouse.
Billion-dollar renewables boom boosts Queensland
1 Nov 2017
Queensland is a leader in Australia’s renewables boom, with more than $1.6 billion dollars invested in large-scale projects creating more than 1300 construction jobs.
Demand for fresh vegetables all year round is killing soils
31 Oct 2017
Consumers’ expectations that certain types of produce will be available all year round mean that farmers must engage in unsustainable and destructive practices.
Regional businesses use renewables to slash costs
31 Oct 2017
From solar to running generators, some regional businesses in Australia have quit the energy grid and several others are showing interest in defecting.
China’s carbon market exposes Australia’s energy paralysis
27 Oct 2017
When China’s national carbon market is launched later this year it will be the world’s second-largest carbon market, after the European emissions trading scheme.
Car lobby wants better testing to combat emissions
25 Oct 2017
Australia’s motoring lobby wants “real-world” vehicle emissions testing, arguing the current system is misleading consumers and regulators.
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.
