International: Australia
Power price woes are more due to gas than wind
26 Jul 2016
The past few weeks have seen extraordinarily high wholesale electricity prices in South Australia, averaging A$321 per megawatt hour, compared with A$80 per MWh for July 2015.
Australia to build first hybrid wind-solar farm
26 Jul 2016
Australia’s first large-scale hybrid wind and solar farm is set to be built near Canberra.
Melbourne hosts 'Tesla Town'
21 Jul 2016
An Australian property group is building the world’s first “Tesla Town” in suburban Melbourne, with the first 60 homes to go on sale this week.
It's not easy being green when you're poor
20 Jul 2016
The transition to a clean-energy future is upon us, as shown by the huge uptake of solar panels and by the Turnbull government’s decision to set up a A$1 billion Clean Energy Innovation Fund. But what about those people who are at risk of being left behind?
Victoria approves state's largest windfarm
20 Jul 2016
Victoria has approved a $650m, 96-turbine windfarm that will be the largest in the state as it bids to become Australia's renewable energy leader.
New climate minister believes in 'moral case' for coal
19 Jul 2016
A man who recently argued there is a strong moral case for Australia to build new coal mines and export the coal to India is now in charge of the country’s climate change policy.
This time, can Turnbull do climate and energy?
15 Jul 2016
Australia’s re-elected Coalition government has the opportunity to revamp its policies on climate change.
Renewable jet fuel could be growing on gum trees
11 Jul 2016
Australia’s economy might have ridden on the sheep’s back, but the colonies’ first export was actually eucalyptus oil.
Solar panel recycler finds business is booming
8 Jul 2016
Australia's only solar panel recycling company is looking to scale up production as the number of broken and end-of-life systems mounts.
Hanson brings climate denial to Senate
6 Jul 2016
Fringe Australian political groups such as One Nation, Family First and the Liberal Democrats still reject the evidence that humans are causing climate change.
Banks trim lending to renewables projects
5 Jul 2016
Australia’s big four banks’ lending for Australian renewable energy projects has tumbled in the first half of 2016, despite all of them spruiking their continuing support for the sector.
Sydney sets sights on zero carbon by 2050
29 Jun 2016
Sydney says it will have net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, and that half its electricity will come from renewable sources by 2030.
Bulk-buy promises Australians cheaper solar
27 Jun 2016
Australia’s first bulk-buy programme for solar battery storage has launched, with more than 1000 people in Newcastle expressing interest and more than 500 attending a sign-up event to buy home battery systems.
Australians spend billions on rooftop solar
24 Jun 2016
Australian households and small businesses have invested more than $1bn a year in rooftop solar over the past five years, spending a total of almost $8bn since 2007, new calculations show.
Are the Greens the climate radicals Australia needs?
23 Jun 2016
If you despair of Australia’s lacklustre climate policies, you might take heart from the Greens’ stated goal of limiting global warming to 1.5degC. But are the party’s own policies up to the job?
Rugged climate puts the squeeze on cuddly koalas
23 Jun 2016
More frequent extremes of heat and drought predicted for Australia could have a devastating impact on the habitat of the marsupial found nowhere else on Earth.
Catholic church thinking big on fossil fuel divestment
22 Jun 2016
The decision by four Australian Catholic orders to divest fully from fossil fuels can be interpreted as a direct response to the encyclical on the environment, issued by Pope Francis almost exactly a year ago.
GREEN DREAM: Petrol to drive car market in 2030
22 Jun 2016
Petrol-powered vehicles are predicted to dominate the Australian car market in the year 2030 despite the growing concern of carbon emissions and its impact on the environment, a new study has found.
More want climate action now than before carbon tax
20 Jun 2016
By DEBORAH COTTON | In April 2011, not long after Julia Gillard was returned to power in the 2010 federal election, I asked a representative sample of Australians about their attitudes to climate policy.
Could ‘nitrogen trading’ help the Great Barrier Reef?
17 Jun 2016
Among the increasing sums of money being pledged to help save the Great Barrier Reef is a federal government pledge to spend $A40 million on improving water quality. The Queensland government has promised another $33.5 million for the same purpose.
Flood-hit farmers demand climate action
15 Jun 2016
Flood-affected Tasmanian farmers want to see more action on climate change, a topic which has received little debate during the election campaign.
Victoria sets date to be carbon neutral
10 Jun 2016
The State of Victoria is pledging to be carbon-neutral by 2050.
Cities need a clean-up as massive storms pump pollution into the sea
8 Jun 2016
The massive storms that have lashed Australia’s east coast over the past few days are not just a threat to lives and property, but also to marine wildlife.
Queensland bankrolls council climate projects
3 Jun 2016
The Queensland Labor government will bankroll projects by coastal councils to mitigate the effects of rising sea levels, less than two years after its Liberal National predecessor banned mentions of climate change impacts from planning policy.
Temperature records tumble in Australia
3 Jun 2016
Australia has posted its hottest autumn on record, with Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane among the cities to post their warmest temperatures for the season, as the giant El Nino in the Pacific wound down.
Most Australian voters support renewable energy
1 Jun 2016
Battery storage technology has the potential to reshape not just the energy and transport sectors but also the upcoming Australian federal election, according to a new report.
Australia’s low-emissions roadmap a trip to nowhere
30 May 2016
The Australian Government on Friday made a low-key announcement of its new Low Emissions Technology Roadmap. To be developed by the CSIRO, it will aim to “highlight areas of growth in Australia’s clean technology sector”.
Climate groups join forces for election blitz
25 May 2016
An unprecedented level of coordination between Australian climate activists and conservation groups is aiming to raise the profile of climate change in this year’s election.
Coastal climate law shift is a landmark reform
25 May 2016
Coastal management in Australia is subject to competing interests and challenges. These range from land use and strategic planning issues to ecosystems preservation.
EATING AUSSIES: Dining on kangaroos and camels could help the environment
24 May 2016
We might be what we eat, but our dietary choices also affect the health of the environment, and farmers' back pockets.
ELECTION 2016: Climate politics off to a chilly start
23 May 2016
One week into Australia's extended federal election campaign, climate has not featured prominently.
Want to know if the Paris climate deal is working?
23 May 2016
The Paris climate agreement has been praised for sending a strong signal to the world that we are now serious about cutting greenhouse emissions.
Future climate could cast shade on renewables
19 May 2016
Fighting climate change will involve massive changes to the way Australia produces and distributes energy.
Coal-free SA could fill the gap with batteries
17 May 2016
South Australia’s last coal-fired power station closed last week, leaving the state with only gas and wind power generators.
Summer storms will bring flash floods to cities
16 May 2016
Scientists warn that global warming will lead to more intense and concentrated summer storms, seriously testing city drainage systems already struggling to cope.
Australia delays ETS report till after election
10 May 2016
The release of the results of a review into whether Australia should have an emissions trading scheme is being delayed until after that country’s general election in July, prompting suggestions of political interference.
Change to clean energy means massive social change
10 May 2016
Global climate change, driven by human emissions of greenhouse gases, is already affecting the planet, with more heatwaves, droughts, wildfires and floods, and accelerating sea-level rise.
Canberra spends $500m in Direct Action auctions
9 May 2016
The Australian Government has funded projects to reduce carbon dioxide emissions to the tune of half-a-billion dollars in the latest round of the Direct Action auctions.
Enviro scorecard shows Australia again in decline
6 May 2016
After some unusually wet years, Australia's landscape and ecosystems have once again returned to poorer conditions that were last experienced during the Millennium Drought.
There's more than one way to fund urban infrastructure
5 May 2016
With the Australian federal government aiming to kick-start investment in urban infrastructure, pledging $50 million of public money in the 2016 budget to look at alternative financing mechanisms, attention is turning to the idea of “land value capture” as a means to attract the necessary funds.
Australia's renewable energy target in doubt
3 May 2016
Fresh doubts have been raised about Australia's ability to meet the 2020 renewable energy target after a new analysis found that $10 billion of extra investment is needed in a market where lenders are wary because of changing regulations.
Is carbon farming the answer for clapped-out Australia?
29 Apr 2016
Australia's Clean Energy Regulator this week will hold the third emissions reduction fund auction and farmers across the nation will move to the forefront of efforts to rescue a “clapped-out” country.
Labor’s climate policy puts it back in the game
28 Apr 2016
The Australian Labor Party has announced the climate policy it will take to the federal election, including a return to carbon pricing under an emissions trading scheme.
Policy sounds good to us, say investors
28 Apr 2016
The Australian Labor Party’s new climate change policy has many of the elements investors are looking for, including market-based carbon pricing, says the Investor Group on Climate Change.
Drought forecasting isn’t just about water
27 Apr 2016
The Millennium Drought taught Australians many lessons about living under extremely dry conditions – not just about how to conserve water, but also about human suffering.
Labor promises emissions trading scheme
27 Apr 2016
A Labor government in Australia would slash carbon emissions by about 50 per cent more than the Turnbull-led Coalition by 2030, introduce a broad-based emissions trading scheme, and block states like NSW and Queensland from expanding land clearing.
Cool building ideas for hot cities of the future
22 Apr 2016
"Another hot and humid day in Sydney tomorrow with a maximum of 32 degrees in the city and 38 in the western suburbs." How many times have we heard that on TV or radio weather reports?
Nature is neglected in election at nation's peril
20 Apr 2016
Economic issues undoubtedly will dominate the looming Australian election, but are they highest priority on the political agenda?
Here's a six-point plan for getting Australia on track
19 Apr 2016
The past two years have been the hottest on record globally, yet Australian climate policy is frozen in the past.
Day of the industrials in next ERF auction
14 Apr 2016
Low-cost industrial projects are likely to out-bid many land-use projects in Australia’s next Emissions Reduction Fund auction, says analyst RepuTex.
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.
