International: Australia
Rising seas will threaten 1.5 million Australians by 2050 – report
16 Sep 2025
One and a half million Australians living in coastal areas are at risk from rising sea levels by 2050, a landmark climate report has warned.
Australia’s biggest gas project greenlit to 2070 with ‘partial’ protection for Indigenous rock art
15 Sep 2025
Approval met with fury from conservation groups and the Greens, who called it a ‘betrayal’ of Australians who want climate action.
Australian Labor Party under internal pressure to commit to at least 70% emissions reduction by 2035
12 Sep 2025
The party’s grassroots campaigners have urged its leadership to ignore business warnings about the cost of setting an ‘ambitious’ target.
Fortescue rejects ‘credibility’ of business council modelling on Australia's 2035 emissions target
8 Sep 2025
A fight over climate policy has broken out within a major Australian business lobby, with mining billionaire Andrew Forrest’s Fortescue sharply criticising the Business Council of Australia over its modelling of the costs of making emissions cuts.
Darwin methane leak ‘covered up’ by gas companies and regulators
2 Sep 2025
At the heart of the project that heralded northern Australia’s gas boom — Darwin’s first liquefied natural gas plant — was a storage tank that operators hailed as a major feat of engineering.
Australia’s biggest gas advocates are quietly swapping out peaking gas plans for big batteries
1 Sep 2025
Big batteries are rapidly displacing plans for gas peaking plants, as cost and commercial factors prompt a rethink on how much the owners of these sites want to spend.
“There was so much death.” A toxic algal bloom is ravaging Australia’s southern coast – warming waters are to blame
29 Aug 2025
Three ingredients are required for an algal bloom to get going – temperature, the right conditions and food. South Australia had all the preconditions necessary, thanks to climate change.
‘Off like a rocket’: Battery rebate prompts massive rooftop power surge
28 Aug 2025
The federal government’s home battery rebate has proved so popular it is adding the equivalent to South Australia’s big battery to the grid every 8.7 days.
500 Australian businesses back 75% climate target
27 Aug 2025
Atlassian, Canva and Fortescue are among a coalition of more than 500 businesses operating in Australia that are backing a 75% emissions reduction target for 2030, which modelling from Deloitte found was technically achievable.
No room for the timid: setting Australia’s 2035 emissions target is a daring tightrope act
26 Aug 2025
Any week now, Australia will set its 2035 emissions target. It must signal the nation’s strong ambition on climate action, to drive policy and investment. And it must avoid being seen as either unrealistic or too costly.
Australian academics concerned about local research amid US funding cuts
26 Aug 2025
Scientists in regional Australia warn that major policy and funding changes in the United States will have a significant impact on critical research locally.
Sydney records most rain since weather station opened in 1858
20 Aug 2025
Sydney's wettest August in 27 years has tipped the city's recent climate into uncharted territory.
Forget net zero. We need ‘real zero’ – and these companies prove it’s profitable
15 Aug 2025
OPINION: Three huge global companies – IKEA, Lendlease and Fortescue Mining – are heading towards real zero. If they can do it, so can everyone.
Climate crisis risks to Aus economy and environment ‘intense and scary’, unreleased govt report
14 Aug 2025
Sources say delayed risk assessment includes modelling of effects of climate crisis in ways that have been little discussed in political debate so far.
Australia can hit an 85% emissions cut by 2035 – if government and business seize the moment
13 Aug 2025
Discussions are hotting up over Australia’s 2035 emission reduction target, which the federal government is due to reveal by September this year. It will be a crucial announcement, for several reasons.
Great Barrier Reef suffers biggest annual drop in live coral since 1980s after devastating coral bleaching
11 Aug 2025
Researchers warn reef may reach tipping point where coral cannot recover fast enough between major catastrophic events
What’s in a number? New carbon target sparks new climate warfare
4 Aug 2025
Casual observers of Australia's federal parliament might this week have been startled by a sudden resumption of conflict over climate, but the timing was no accident.
Reintroducing a carbon price the 'most economically efficient tax reform' to repair Australia's budget
1 Aug 2025
Economist Ross Garnaut has warned of "tragic consequences" for productivity and the federal budget, as well as climate change, unless Australia reintroduces a carbon price "as a matter of urgency".
As US climate data-gathering is gutted, Australian forecasting is now at real risk
30 Jul 2025
As damage from climate change intensifies, political change overseas is threatening Australia’s ability to track what’s happening now, and predict what will happen next.
UN climate chief urges Australia to 'go big' on 2035 emissions target
29 Jul 2025
One of the world's top climate diplomats has urged the federal government to commit to an ambitious 2035 target to cut carbon emissions, saying Australia can reap "colossal" economic rewards if it embraces clean energy.
Toxic algae are turning South Australia’s coral reefs into underwater graveyards
29 Jul 2025
Since March, a harmful algal bloom, fueled by a marine heat wave, has been choking South Australia’s coastline.
The ICJ’s ruling means Australia and other major polluters face a new era of climate reparations
25 Jul 2025
By Harj Narulla | OPINION: Australia has found itself on the wrong side of history.
Torres Strait leaders lost their landmark case. How can governments be held to account on climate?
21 Jul 2025
Experts and advocates say it’s time for the law to change after judge says matters based on climate policy cannot be decided by courts.
Rio Tinto urges Albanese govt to reimpose carbon tax, boost green energy subsidies
17 Jul 2025
The mining giant has used it’s submission to the Productivity Commission ahead of the Albanese government’s economic roundtable to lobby for the re-imposition of a carbon pricing scheme and bolstered green energy subsidies.
Indigenous elders lose landmark climate battle against Australian government
16 Jul 2025
The Australian government has won a landmark climate case against residents of islands under siege from the impacts of climate change.
Warmer seas fuel dangerous ‘weather bomb’ in New South Wales
3 Jul 2025
If the storm shapes up as predicted, we can expect to see damage to houses and trees as well as significant beach erosion – especially in heavily populated areas exposed to the storm’s southern flank.
Australia's red meat industry drops 2030 carbon neutral goal
2 Jul 2025
An Australian livestock industry body said on Tuesday it had abandoned its goal to make the sector, a significant emitter of planet-warming methane, carbon neutral by 2030 but that reducing emissions would remain a priority.
How bad can climate damage get? Worse than you imagine
26 Jun 2025
How bad can climate damage get? Worse than you imagine, if Australians’ recent experience of more extreme weather and natural disasters — driven by a hotter climate — are an indication, because the past is no longer a reliable guide to the future.
Australian opposition poised for protracted brawl over climate targets
16 Jun 2025
The financial cost to reach net zero by 2050 may shape the Coalition’s decision on whether to retain or abandon the target, the new shadow minister, Dan Tehan, says, as he prepares to lead a heavily contested internal review of the policy.
Labor accused of ‘gaslighting’ Australians on climate crisis as fossil fuel projects keep getting approved
9 Jun 2025
‘They offer sympathy and then just go and approve massive fossil fuel projects anyway,’ one advocate says.
Australian farmers face 'new world' of extreme weather as scientists urge action on climate change
6 Jun 2025
Scientists and politicians are warning big policy shifts are needed to mitigate extreme weather impacts, following what farmers describe as unprecedented flooding in the New South Wales Hunter and Mid North Coast regions last month.
Australia: Carbon tariff on the table for overseas businesses
3 Jun 2025
Labor has left the door open to a tax on cement and steel coming in from places not taking sufficient climate action.
Australia lets biggest LNG plant run to 2070 in climate blow
29 May 2025
Australia gave preliminary approval to extend the life of its biggest and oldest liquefied natural gas plant for decades, potentially creating billions of dollars in new drilling opportunities but raising questions about the nation’s climate agenda.
Greenwashing is rife in Australia, but could its days be numbered?
28 May 2025
COMMENT: Have you ever ticked the box to “fly carbon neutral”, had something delivered via “carbon-neutral shipping” or chosen to pay a bit extra to buy “carbon-neutral gas” from your energy retailer?
Australia: land of drought and flooding rains
27 May 2025
As towns flood on one end of Australia, large areas further south are experiencing their worst drought on record. The people in these regions are preparing for life in a future climate.
Albanese government must redirect Australia’s near $600 per person annual fossil fuel giveaway
26 May 2025
COMMENT: Every Australian unwittingly contributes about $563 each year to subsidise fossil fuels – a staggering number given the urgency of climate action.
Energy Australia apologises to 400,000 customers and settles greenwashing legal action
22 May 2025
Energy retailer says carbon offsetting ‘not the most effective way’ to reduce emissions.
Australia is unlikely to hit its renewable energy goal, Wood Mackenzie says
20 May 2025
Australia is set to fall far short of its target of 82% renewable generation by 2030 due to state-level rollbacks, grid connection delays and inadequate investment, consultancy Wood Mackenzie said on Thursday.
Energy Australia is in court accused of greenwashing. What is the case about and why is it significant?
16 May 2025
Climate group alleges energy giant misled 400,000 customers about ‘Go Neutral’ product, arguing that carbon credits don’t actually remove emissions.
Five huge climate opportunities await the next Australian parliament – and it has the numbers to deliver
12 May 2025
Australians have returned an expanded Labor Party to government alongside a suite of climate-progressive independents. Meanwhile, the Coalition – which promoted nuclear energy and a slower renewables transition – suffered a historic defeat.
Cost of emissions from five major Australian resource companies more than $900bn, study finds
6 May 2025
US researchers link BHP, Rio Tinto, Santos, Whitehaven Coal and Woodside Energy to specific climate harms over three decades.
Australia’s centre-left Labor Party retains power in vote seen as test of anti-Trump sentiment
5 May 2025
Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has secured a second term in office in a disastrous night for his conservative rivals, as voters chose stability over change against a backdrop of global turmoil inflicted by US President Donald Trump.
Where Labor and the Coalition stand on nature and environment policies this federal election
2 May 2025
So what are political parties offering when it comes to our nature laws?
Australia: Coalition under fire for planning to scrap Labor climate policies
22 Apr 2025
With Peter Dutton’s views on climate change in the spotlight, the focus has turned onto whether there will be any policies to reduce emissions in the next decade.
Australia: Climate change pushing up insurance risk
17 Apr 2025
With flood waters rising, there are warnings of a “climate-induced credit crunch” as natural disasters threaten the viability of home insurance.
Garbage bag giant fined $8.25m for falsely claiming products were recycled plastic
16 Apr 2025
The company behind GLAD garbage bags has been fined $8.25m for falsely claiming the products were made from recycled ocean plastics.
Australia: Coalition clarifies commitment to Paris Agreement after confusion on climate targets
14 Apr 2025
The federal Coalition has clarified it remains committed to the Paris climate accord, despite earlier comments from the shadow energy minister indicating it could leave the agreement.
Australia urgently needs to get serious about long-term climate policy – but there’s no sign of that in the election campaign
11 Apr 2025
The federal election should be an earnest contest over the fundamentals of Australia’s climate and energy policies.
Labor’s home batteries policy could help Australians who will never take it up. Here’s how
9 Apr 2025
The government’s promise to slash the cost of household batteries should be welcomed – it could drive a change that benefits everyone who uses the power grid.
Properties destroyed as ‘horrendous’ waves batter Sydney coast
3 Apr 2025
Residents have been evacuated, properties flooded and coastal infrastructure damaged after a large swell combined with a king tide to batter the Australian shore.
The war in Iran shows us another cost of our fossil-fuel economy
Fri 6 Mar 2026
When people debate the cost of fossil fuels versus renewables, the conversation almost always centers on the price at the pump or the cost per kilowatt-hour on your electricity bill. That’s understandable — those are the costs you can see. But they’re not the whole story.
China sets cautious climate target as carbon deadline looms
Fri 6 Mar 2026
China, the world’s top polluter, set a cautious new climate target for the rest of the decade, frustrating hopes for tighter policy that would accelerate the nation’s work to curb emissions.
EU countries give final approval to 2040 climate target for 90% emissions cut
Mon 9 Mar 2026
European Union countries gave the final approval on Thursday to a new climate target to slash greenhouse gas emissions 90% by 2040, pressing ahead with the bloc's ambitious climate agenda despite political resistance.
UK emissions fall 2.4% in 2025 as coal hits 400-year low
Mon 9 Mar 2026
The UK’s greenhouse gas emissions fell by 2.4% in 2025 to their lowest level in more than 150 years, according to new analysis.
Mark Carney just picked his lane on climate change
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.
Gaps in adaptation taxonomies hinder climate finance in Asia: report
Thu 5 Mar 2026
Without clearer criteria and metrics in adaptation taxonomies, Asia risks widening its climate financing gap, warns a new report by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA).
Vanuatu moves forward with UN climate resolution despite Trump opposition
Mon 9 Mar 2026
The Trump administration’s attempt to sink a UN resolution demanding countries act on the climate crisis has caused cuts to the proposal but hasn’t entirely killed it, according to the tiny Pacific island country spearheading the effort.
Limiting warming to 2C is ‘crucial’ to protect pristine Antarctic Peninsula
24 Feb 2026
Keeping global warming to less than 2C above pre-industrial temperatures is “crucial” for limiting damage to the Antarctic Peninsula’s unique ecosystems, according to a new study.
Solar-powered truck charging gains ground on South Africa’s freight corridors
Wed 4 Mar 2026
Africa’s freight corridors, long dominated by diesel trucks and constrained by unreliable power grids, are emerging as a new frontier in the global shift toward clean logistics, with solar-powered charging hubs designed specifically for heavy-duty electric trucks.
Floods and landslides in Brazil kill at least 30 after record rainfall
26 Feb 2026
Three firefighters pulled a man’s body from the mud amid the rubble of houses swept away in a landslide in south-eastern Brazil, where 30 people died and 39 were still missing on Tuesday after torrential rains.
Half of nations meet UN deadline for nature-loss reporting
Wed 4 Mar 2026
Half of nations have met a UN deadline to report on how they are tackling nature loss within their borders, Carbon Brief analysis shows. This includes 11 of the 17 “megadiverse nations”, countries that account for 70% of Earth’s biodiversity.
