International: Australia
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.
Could this be a fair dinkum climate policy for Australia?
12 Apr 2016
An Australian think-tank claims to have done the impossible – come up with an effective climate policy that both sides of the political divide can live with.
Storing carbon could help to meet climate goals
31 Mar 2016
Australia's agricultural lands help to feed about 60 million people worldwide, and also support tens of thousands of farmers as well as rural communities and industries.
Aussie offices race to go green
30 Mar 2016
More than three million square metres of Australia’s office space is officially green.
What will Turnbull’s $1b energy fund actually do?
24 Mar 2016
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has announced the creation of a A$1 billion Clean Energy Innovation Fund, to be jointly managed by the Clean Energy Finance Corporation and the Australian Renewable Energy Agency.
Nature’s hidden wealth is conservation’s missed opportunity
14 Mar 2016
Australia has one of the worst extinction records in the modern world. Since European settlement, a third of the country’s native mammals have disappeared. How can we stem the losses?
How climate denial gained a foothold in the Liberal Party
11 Mar 2016
It seems the Liberal Party is still having trouble letting go of climate denial, judging by the New South Wales branch’s demand that the Turnbull government arrange a series of public debates on climate science.
An environmentally just city works best for all
7 Mar 2016
Melbourne’s population is expected to almost double by mid-century, overtaking Sydney as Australia’s biggest city. But all states are growing and the increases are concentrated in the capital cities.
Recycled water could help to cut the food bills
3 Mar 2016
Australians eat a lot of water – the water that is used to produce food. New findings from the Foodprint Melbourne study estimate that more than 475 litres of water is used to grow each person’s food every day.
Australia’s pollution rising while Canberra tinkers
1 Mar 2016
Federal government policies are making it harder for the electricity sector to swiftly transition to clean energy, according to the Australian Conservation Foundation, which has just released a report on the country's10 biggest climate polluters.
Canberra backs fossil fuel 'growth centre' with $15m
29 Feb 2016
Australia's Industry, Innovation and Science Minister, Christopher Pyne, has launched a new “growth centre” for the fossil fuel industry (and uranium), to be known as National Energy Resources Australia.
Urban sprawl is threatening Sydney’s foodbowl
26 Feb 2016
Sydney loves to talk about food, and the housing market. But rarely does the city talk about the threat that housing poses to the resilience of Sydney’s food system.
Kiwi trader poised and ready in Sydney
25 Feb 2016
Australia might not have a carbon market yet, but Auckland-based OMFinancial says it will be ready when Canberra moves.
Energy markets unlikely ally in the emissions effort
25 Feb 2016
In the aftermath of Paris climate talks, analysts lined up to point out why the celebrated agreement was simply not good enough.
You talk too much, market expert tells Canberra
24 Feb 2016
The Australian Government could restore certainty to the market if it did a better job of selling its climate change policy.
Australia backs liveable cities with $250m boost
15 Feb 2016
Australia's better cities commitment is being given a boost with a $250 million programme which will help to provide affordable energy efficient housing to low income earners.
Senate orders carbon risk disclosure probe
9 Feb 2016
Australia’s Senate has ordered an inquiry into carbon risk disclosure, following on the heels of a Financial Stability Board task force on the issue.
CSIRO boss' logic could waste billions in taxes
9 Feb 2016
CSIRO chief executive Larry Marshall offered the following justification for his decision to cut 110 jobs from the agency’s climate science staff: "We have spent probably a decade trying to answer the question 'is the climate changing?' After the Paris climate summit that question has been answered. The next question now is what do we do about it? The people that were so brilliant at measuring and modelling climate change might not be the right people to figure out how to adapt to it."
Canberra pulls plug on emissions funding
2 Feb 2016
Australia’s Emissions Reduction Fund is expected to run out of money by the end of the year, after the Government said it won’t put in any more.
Sydney makes a plan to win the climate war
25 Jan 2016
Sydney has announced a series of measures to help the city to cope with soaring temperatures, worsening storms and rising sea levels.
Out-of-touch traffic modelling drives policy madness
25 Jan 2016
According to all the data, urban car use has peaked, but official traffic modelling forecasts a remarkable reversal.
Don't scare the horses, advises academic
18 Jan 2016
Fewer scare stories and an appeal to people’s better natures are the key to getting voters on-side over environmental issues, says a politics expert.
Wind, solar, coal and gas will reach similar costs by 2030
30 Nov 2015
Renewable energy sources such as solar and wind by 2030 will cost a similar amount to fossils fuels such as coal and gas, thanks to falling technology costs, according to new forecasts.
Bushfires overlap strains fire-fighting resources
23 Nov 2015
Australia’s bushfire preparedness is under threat from climate change as bushfire seasons there and in the Northern Hemisphere increasingly overlap, putting new demands on critical shared fire-fighting aircraft, a new report shows.
How this agreement deals another blow to coal
23 Nov 2015
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries have agreed to limit subsidies for the export of inefficient coal-fired power plant technologies.
Australia eyes carry-over credits, says expert
23 Nov 2015
Australia is likely to use carry-over credits from KP1 to cover an emissions blow-out, a commentator is predicting.
Auction time again, but it's not really working
16 Nov 2015
Australia goes to its second auction, but policies still seem unlikely to curb emissions, says market analyst Reputex.
Climate scientists and republican lawyers are taking aim at Big Tech’s emissions
Fri 17 Oct 2025
Technology companies have long been one of the biggest investors in clean energy, but new accounting rules could upend that.
In China, climate litigation starts with the state
Thu 16 Oct 2025
With thousands of dedicated courts and more than a million recent cases, environmental and climate litigation is booming in China, but it often looks different to the trend seen elsewhere.
'Not up for discussion': Brussels rejects Washington's pressure on climate rules
Mon 13 Oct 2025
In response to US demands to roll back the EU's environmental legislation, the European Commission defended its autonomous power to adopt laws.
Government told to prepare for 2C warming by 2050
Thu 16 Oct 2025
The UK should be prepared to cope with weather extremes as a result of at least 2C of global warming by 2050, independent climate advisers have said.
Renewables are a global economic engine, not a culture war threat
2 Oct 2025
Energy companies are learning this lesson faster than Alberta Premier Danielle Smith.
Indonesia restarts international carbon trade after four years
Fri 17 Oct 2025
Indonesia's President Prabowo Subianto has issued a new decree to restart international carbon emission trading after a four year hiatus.
Familiar tensions emerge at the Pacific Islands Forum
26 Sep 2025
With China-Taiwan rivalry, China-Western competition, and big carbon emitters at odds with the islands on climate policy, there is plenty of tension to go around.
Scientists discovered something alarming seeping out from beneath the ocean around Antarctica
Mon 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".
Angola lowers climate ambition in blow to spirit of Paris Agreement
Tue 14 Oct 2025
Angola has scaled back its targets for reducing emissions in its new national climate plan, saying it chose “realism and implementability” over the Paris Agreement's calls for governments to set progressively more ambitious goals.
Four Brazilians to watch at COP30
Wed 15 Oct 2025
Influential Brazilians, from government figures to Indigenous activists, will take center stage during UN climate talks in the Amazon next month.
UN agency says CO2 levels hit record high last year, causing more extreme weather
Fri 17 Oct 2025
Heat-trapping carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere jumped by the highest amount on record last year, soaring to a level not seen in human civilisation and “turbo-charging” the Earth’s climate and causing more extreme weather.
