International: Australia
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.
Queensland to build one of longest e-vehicle highways
28 Jul 2017
Within six months, Queensland will have a 2000km network of electric vehicle charging stations that make up one of the world’s longest electric vehicle highways.
Aboriginals take carbon farming to Canada
27 Jul 2017
Australia’s world-leading indigenous land management and carbon farming programmes are spreading internationally, with a formal agreement signed to help to build a similar programme in Canada.
Get together and slash emissions, Australians told
20 Jul 2017
Australians collectively could slash greenhouse gas emissions by a staggering 70 per cent if they joined forces to become energy and climate trailblazers in their own backyards.
Australian powerco head supports Paris targets
19 Jul 2017
The head of Australia’s biggest energy utility – and its biggest coal generator – says that if any Clean Energy Target is to be effective it has to take into account global climate targets.
AA fights plan to cut car greenhouse gas emissions
17 Jul 2017
The Australian Automobile Association has tried to kill any government move to cut greenhouse gas emissions from cars, arguing it would increase the cost to consumers and contradicting comprehensive government modelling.
Environmental groups demand a nationwide freeze on data center construction
Wed 10 Dec 2025
In a letter to Congress, the groups said data center development raises concerns about rising energy costs, water use and climate impacts. Many communities are fighting back.
China’s BEV trucks and the end of diesel’s dominance
4 Dec 2025
Cheap Chinese battery electric heavy trucks are no longer a rumor. They are real machines with real price tags that are so low that they force a reassessment of what the global freight industry is willing to pay for electrification.
EU closes deal to slash green rules in major win for von der Leyen’s deregulation drive
Wed 10 Dec 2025
Controversial “omnibus” bill saw center-right EU lawmakers side with the far right to water down environmental standards.
UK soars past wind power generation record for second time in two months
Wed 10 Dec 2025
Great Britain’s maximum wind generation record was broken on Friday, 5 December, the National Energy System Operator (NESO) has confirmed.
Top climate adviser resigns, says Canada doing worse 'than almost any other country'
Today 12:15pm
Catherine Abreu explains why she was one of two founding members to resign from Canada's Net-Zero Advisory Body last week, saying she 'could no longer, in conscience, sit on this government-appointed body' after policy rollbacks and oil subsidies in the Alberta energy MOU.
India at COP30: A mismatch between grandstanding and climate action
Today 12:15pm
Despite India’s attempt to anoint itself as the leader of the developing world, at the COP30 summit, New Delhi’s track record remains contradictory.
Storms in the Southern Ocean are producing more rain – and the consequences could be global
Mon 8 Dec 2025
Storms in the Southern Ocean influence weather patterns across Australia, New Zealand and the globe.
Scientists discovered something alarming seeping out from beneath the ocean around Antarctica
13 Oct 2025
Planet-heating methane is escaping from cracks in the Antarctic seabed as the region warms, with new seeps being discovered at an “astonishing rate".
European Investment Bank pledges over 2 billion euros for African renewables projects
26 Nov 2025
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is pledging more than 2 billion euros ($2.3 billion) of financing for renewable energy projects on the African continent over the next two years.
In blow to Lula, Brazil Congress revives controversial environmental bill
2 Dec 2025
Brazil's conservative-led Congress on Thursday reinstated much of a bill that makes it easier for companies to secure environmental permits, infuriating the leftist government and green groups.
UN environment report 'hijacked' by US and others over fossil fuels, top scientist says
Today 12:15pm
A key UN report on the state of the global environment has been "hijacked" by the United States and other countries who were unwilling to go along with the scientific findings, the co-chair has told the BBC.
