International: Australia
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.
Turnbull convinces party to unite on energy policy
19 Oct 2017
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has secured party-room backing to impose new reliability and emissions reduction guarantees on energy retailers and large energy users from 2020.
Qantas eyes transpacific biofuel flights by 2020
18 Oct 2017
Qantas has announced that its Los Angeles to Melbourne flights will be powered by biofuel from 2020.
Chevron dumps plan to drill in Australian Bight
17 Oct 2017
Chevron has become the second big oil company to abandon plans to drill for oil in the Great Australian Bight, almost exactly a year after BP ditched its more advanced plans for the untapped basin.
Abbott reckons climate change is 'probably doing good'
11 Oct 2017
Former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott has suggested climate change is “probably doing good” in a speech in London in which he likened policies to combat it to “primitive people once killing goats to appease the volcano gods”.
Cities must face the reality of living with 50deg heat
9 Oct 2017
The predictions of extreme heat in Australian cities is worrying, but not particularly surprising given the fact that the country is setting hot weather records at 12 times the pace of cold ones. But it does call for an urgent response.
Brisbane aims to be centre for aviation biofuel
6 Oct 2017
Brisbane is set to become a hub for sustainable aviation fuel under an agreement between Virgin Australia and United States-based biofuel producer Gevo.
Sweltering September sets Australian records
6 Oct 2017
Australian temperature records tumbled again in September, with the country experiencing the hottest day since records began, and New South Wales breaking that record twice within a few days.
Australian cities head for 50deg summer days
5 Oct 2017
Even if the Paris Agreement to limit the global temperature rise to below 2deg is met, summer heatwaves in major Australian cities are likely to reach highs of 50deg by 2040.
David Suzuki: Australia's marine threat is sickening
28 Sep 2017
Growing global momentum to protect the world’s oceans from overfishing could be undermined by Australia, warns renowned conservationist David Suzuki and nearly 1500 other scientists.
Australia failing to meet Paris targets, report says
26 Sep 2017
With the Coalition still hamstrung by internal divide over a clean energy target, a new report shows Australia is in danger of not meeting its Paris agreement commitments unless it acts soon.
We need coal power, Joyce tells Australians
15 Sep 2017
Australia's deputy prime minister, Barnaby Joyce, says any new investment mechanism for the energy sector, be it a clean energy target or an alternative, will need to keep coal-fired power stations open.
Coal plant closes but emissions still on the rise
14 Sep 2017
Australia’s overall greenhouse gas emissions last financial year were the highest since 2011, despite the closure of the Hazelwood coal-fired power plant.
South Australia commits $150m to new-energy fund
13 Sep 2017
The government of South Australia has just announced it will invest $A150 million in renewable energy projects as part of its Renewable Technology Fund.
Australian business gets the tech message
6 Sep 2017
Australian businesses are now starting to grasp the fact they need to cut greenhouse gas emissions, says a company that had to take its carbon dioxide-capture technology to Europe because there was no interest at home.
Australia’s record winter linked to climate change
5 Sep 2017
Australia’s winter had the highest average daytime temperatures on record. It was also the driest in 15 years.
Abbott to be keynote speaker at climate sceptics' meeting
4 Sep 2017
Former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott next month will give the annual lecture to a London-based climate sceptic group.
More states powering ahead on climate targets
1 Sep 2017
Australian states and territories are powering ahead, developing policies that will meet the federal government’s internationally agreed greenhouse gas emission targets, with South Australia, the ACT and Tasmania leading the race.
Renewable energy boom could turn to bust
31 Aug 2017
Australia produced enough renewable energy to power 70 per cent of households last financial year, but advocates warn the booming industry will flounder unless the Turnbull government commits to a clean energy target.
Australian firm converts carbon emissions into 'green' concrete
28 Aug 2017
An Australian pilot project capturing carbon emissions and storing them in building materials aims to have a full-scale production plant by 2020.
Victoria moves to enshrine renewables targets in law
25 Aug 2017
The Victorian government has introduced legislation to enshrine its renewable energy targets in law and establish a reverse auction mechanism to build 650 megawatts worth of new projects.
Solar towers and storage plants will reshape energy markets
23 Aug 2017
The 150MW solar tower and molten salt storage plant to be built in South Australia could help to reshape Australian power markets, including the end of “baseload” power.
Premier renews warning states could go it alone
23 Aug 2017
South Australian premier Jay Weatherill has renewed his warning that Labor-led state governments could go it alone on energy policy if the Turnbull government can’t resolve its internal battle over the clean energy target.
Dry winter primes NSW for 'horrific' fire season
22 Aug 2017
After a dry winter, NSW is preparing for an early start to bushfires with fire fighters forecasting an “horrific” season.
South Australia to build solar thermal plant
18 Aug 2017
South Australia will build a 150MW solar thermal plant to bring clean, reliable power to the state.
Miner Adani faces claims of financial fraud
17 Aug 2017
Indian mining giant Adani, seeking public funds to develop one of the world’s largest coal mines in Australia, has been accused of fraudulently siphoning hundreds of millions of dollars of borrowed money into overseas tax havens.
Carmichael matters to Australia – and the world
17 Aug 2017
Proposals for Adani's Carmichael coal mine in Queensland threatens not only the Great Barrier Reef, but also global efforts to reduce carbon emissions.
UK wrapping up $3b Green Bank sale to Australia
17 Aug 2017
The UK government this week is preparing to complete the $3 billion sale of its Green Investment Bank to a group led by Australia's Macquarie Group.
THE MADHOUSE EFFECT: How Australia and the US compare
16 Aug 2017
Climate policy in both Australia and the United States is being built upon alternative facts, fake news, outright lies, PR spin and industry-written talking points.
Climate change could spell disaster for Australia
15 Aug 2017
Military and climate experts, including a former chief of the defence force, have warned that Australia faces potential “disastrous consequences” from climate change.
Queensland gives nod to Wandoan coal mine
10 Aug 2017
A multibillion-dollar coalmine proposal in Queensland has been granted mining leases years after it was shelved amid falling commodity prices and a ramped-up global response to climate change.
Shareholder action 'sign of things to come'
9 Aug 2017
Shareholder moves to sue an Australian bank for failing to adequately disclose its financial exposure to climate change are a sign of things to come, a lawyer says.
Shareholders sue Commonwealth Bank
9 Aug 2017
The embattled Commonwealth Bank is being sued by shareholders for what they say is a failure to properly disclose the risks to the business posed by climate change.
Shortage of climate scientists puts Australia at serious risk
4 Aug 2017
Australia has a critical shortage of climate scientists, leaving it at serious risk of not delivering essential climate and weather services.
Australia records hottest July
2 Aug 2017
Australia has had its warmest July on record, the Bureau of Meteorology says.
Australia left in the slow lane for electric cars
1 Aug 2017
News that deliveries to Australia of the Tesla Model 3 – the company’s first sub $60,000 electric vehicle – will not begin until 2019, nearly 3 years after enthusiasts put down a refundable deposit, shows just how far Australia has slipped in the race to vehicle electrification.
Poor power users hurt by climate policy uncertainty
1 Aug 2017
Low-income and disadvantaged Australians are bearing the brunt of energy price rises caused by climate policy uncertainty, a new report says.
A call to merge the climate and immigration movements
Fri 22 Aug 2025
On Hurricane Katrina's 20th anniversary, a Louisiana native makes the case for solidarity.
Record solar growth keeps China’s CO2 falling in first half of 2025
Fri 22 Aug 2025
Clean-energy growth helped China’s carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions fall by 1% year-on-year in the first half of 2025, extending a declining trend that started in March 2024.
Spain battles one of its most destructive fire seasons even as its heat wave eases
Thu 21 Aug 2025
Spain tackled several major wildfires on Tuesday in one of the country’s most destructive fire seasons in recent decades, despite temperatures dropping across the Iberian Peninsula.
What happens to net zero if the trees don’t survive?
Wed 20 Aug 2025
When climate change undermines the climate plan.
Challenges persist in bid to mine the deep sea, even after boost from Trump
29 Jul 2025
After years of delay, the deep-sea mining plans of Canadian firm The Metals Company (TMC) now appear to be progressing as it pursues a controversial new path to securing a license to mine in international waters under U.S. jurisdiction.
Death toll from northern Pakistan monsoon floods rises to almost 400
Thu 21 Aug 2025
Torrential rains across the country's north have caused flooding and landslides that have swept away entire villages.
Rise in dengue fever outbreaks across the Pacific driven by the climate crisis, experts say
13 Aug 2025
Samoa, Fiji and Tonga among the worst affected amid warning the disease and others will become ‘more common and more serious’ as the planet warms.
Iconic Antarctic species at risk amid 'regime shift', with 'rapid and self-perpetuating changes'
Fri 22 Aug 2025
Scientists say there is emerging evidence of abrupt and potentially unstoppable changes in the Antarctic environment.
Africa’s top climate change challenges: a fairer deal on phasing out fossil fuels and mobilising funds
Fri 22 Aug 2025
African countries have made binding commitments to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. To do this, they will need to shift to renewable energy and stop mining and using fossil fuels like oil and coal.
Bolivia will choose a new president but environmental activists see little hope of progress
Fri 22 Aug 2025
Many Indigenous and environmental leaders doubt the election will bring progress in stopping deforestation, wildfires or pollution in the Amazon.
Brazil issues last-ditch plea for countries to submit climate plans ahead of COP30
Wed 20 Aug 2025
Only 28 countries have submitted carbon-cutting proposals to the UN, with some of the biggest emitters yet to produce plans.
