International: Australia
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.
Business picking up the pace ahead of Paris summit
16 Nov 2015
Twelve Australian companies last week committed to strong measures to tackle climate change at the Australian Climate Leadership Summit in Sydney.
As drought looms, the Murray-Darling is healthier
9 Nov 2015
Water markets have made it easier for irrigators and other water users to operate in Australia's Murray -Darling Basin.
Big Aussies signal quit-carbon commitments
2 Nov 2015
Companies representing a significant chunk of the Australian stock exchange will this week announce new commitments to fighting climate change.
Plantation boom broken, so let’s go carbon farming
2 Nov 2015
In the rolling hills of Victoria’s Strzelecki Ranges, among paddocks of pasture and potatoes, stands a simple steel monument to the world’s tallest tree.
Red-hot summer means blue-green algae
27 Oct 2015
Australia is in for a hot, dry summer as the El Niño takes hold. Those conditions are ideal for blue-green algae to bloom in lakes, ponds and reservoirs.
Early action could see voluntary carbon market
12 Oct 2015
A voluntary carbon market could emerge in Australia as early as 2017, an analyst says.
Is Turnbull the man to clean up the climate mess?
12 Oct 2015
Australia’s climate policy is messier than a teenager’s bedroom, but is new Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, who visits New Zealand this week, the man to tidy it up?
Solar tops renewables in Australia
12 Oct 2015
Solar photovoltaic became Australia’s largest source of renewable energy in 2014, a new report shows.
Auction 2 could see contracts total worth $1b
5 Oct 2015
The second round of Australia’s Emissions Reduction Fund auction may see up to $1 billion worth of contracts entered into for the delivery of emissions reductions from land-use and high-emitting companies.
A 21st century government must care for nature
5 Oct 2015
Australia’s new prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, has announced what he calls a “21st century government”. This article is part of The Conversation’s series focusing on what such a government should look like. John Woinarski and Stephen Garnett report:
Australian states threaten to go back to the future
5 Oct 2015
China has added itself to the list of countries prepared to price carbon. Of course, Australia knows more about putting a national price on carbon than almost any other country. And it also knows about dismantling such a price.
Global experts talk low-carbon economy
5 Oct 2015
International experts and institutions managing more than $1 trillion in funds gather in Melbourne this week talk about accelerating the shift to a low-carbon economy.
Remote Queensland solar plant makes a mark
5 Oct 2015
Australia’s first commercial diesel-displacement solar plant has begun operating at a remote mine in northern Queensland.
Turnbull should go back to his old climate self
21 Sep 2015
No more “stop the boats” or “axe the tax”. In announcing his challenge to Tony Abbott, Malcolm Turnbull promised to take Australian politics away from the mantrafication of policy by three-word chant.
Australian climate turns up heat on tennis stars
21 Sep 2015
Study of Melbourne weather records shows that temperatures have been steadily rising – especially during the Australian Open tennis championship.
Canberra climate boss quits over 'hostile' minister
14 Sep 2015
The chairman of Australia's Climate Change Authority, Bernie Fraser, has quit – apparently after a long period of bad relations with Environment Minister Greg Hunt.
... so, where does the authority go from here
14 Sep 2015
Bernie Fraser’s resignation as chairman of Australia’s Climate Change Authority has left many wondering what is left of it and what its future might be.
Australia’s new cap a trading scheme in all but name
7 Sep 2015
The Australian Government has released its final draft for a cap on greenhouse gas emissions. The “safeguard mechanism” will form part of the government’s central climate policy, and will fine large businesses for exceeding emissions baselines.
Scientists rate Australia even worse than NZ
31 Aug 2015
Australia has got an even worse review from an international coalition of climate scientists for its post-2020 emissions reduction target than New Zealand got.
Sydney sets energy sights on saving $600 million
24 Aug 2015
A new energy efficiency plan is set to save Sydney more than $600 million in power bills by 2030.
Australia's 'weak' emissions targets don't add up
17 Aug 2015
Australia has a huge gap between its projected and target 2030 emissions, an analyst is warning.
Frustrated Sydney gets climate act together
17 Aug 2015
Sydney is acting to protect itself against heat waves, floods, storms and energy shortages as a result of climate change.
Australia's worst emitters look like dodging the bullet
3 Aug 2015
None of Australia’s 20 largest emitting facilities is expected to be accountable for emissions, despite almost all being forecast to grow emissions over the next 10 years.
Sustainable oil from algae: the technology is ready, but what about the politics?
3 Aug 2015
Ultimately, all of the oil we use to power our modern lives comes from living creatures such as algae – albeit ones that lived 3.5 billion years ago, before gradually morphing into fossil fuel.
Message in a bottle: wine industry gives farmers a taste of what's to come
3 Aug 2015
Wine seems to be a handy way to galvanise concerns about the future ill-effects of climate change.
One year on from the carbon price experiment, the rebound in emissions is clear
27 Jul 2015
Just over a year ago, Australia concluded a unique public policy experiment. For the preceding two years and two weeks, it had put a price on a range of greenhouse gas emitting activities, most significantly power generation.
Australia hit its Kyoto target, but it was more a three-inch putt than a hole in one
20 Jul 2015
In the saga of mendacity that is the climate policy debate, no claim has been more audacious than the one now being told by the federal government about Australia’s “success” in meeting its Kyoto emissions target.
Bioenergy: making money and clean energy
20 Jul 2015
The Australian government’s draft direction to the Clean Energy Finance Corporation to invest in “emerging” clean energy over mature sources such as wind and rooftop solar has added yet more uncertainty to the renewable sector in the country.
Carbon players look to world market
6 Jul 2015
Carbon market players will gather in Sydney on Friday to talk about how to create an international carbon market.
Australia’s ‘climate roundtable’ could unite old foes and end the carbon deadlock
6 Jul 2015
Climate policy is in the Australian media yet again, but this time it might be different. The set of policy principles released by the Australian Climate Roundtable are extraordinary for two reasons.
Australia can halve emissions by 2030, says new analysis
29 Jun 2015
Australia can reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 50 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030, according to analysis by ClimateWorks.
The carbon tax wasn’t a ‘slug’ to the economy and Direct Action may be a waste of money
29 Jun 2015
Federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt, writing in the Fairfax opinion pages, has said that the now abolished carbon tax was a far more expensive way to reduce Australia’s carbon emissions than the Direct Action policy that replaced it.
Australia's emissions figures wrong, says report
15 Jun 2015
Australia’s official greenhouse gas emissions projections – used by the Government in its submission to the United Nations ahead of December’s climate conference in Paris – may be overstated by more than 200 million tonnes, latest research shows.
Australia faces stormy future as temperatures soar
15 Jun 2015
Destructive storms and sudden floods are set to intensify across Australia as global warming plays havoc with rainfall patterns.
Australia in the spotlight at climate talks, for all the wrong reasons
8 Jun 2015
Australia has been given a grilling at the United Nations' midyear climate negotiations in Bonn.
Wait and pay: action on climate change is cheap, delay is costly
2 Jun 2015
A plethora of economic studies on the costs of climate action share a common message: action on climate change is cheap, and delaying it will be costly.
The world is waking up to the $5.3 trillion cost of fossil fuels
25 May 2015
Prospects for global energy markets have been reshaped by two recent pieces of news, one of which helps to explain the other.
Wealthy nations overlook the dangers of climate change
25 May 2015
By ALEX LO.- Do rich countries care more about the environment that poorer ones? In a recent study I found that’s not necessarily the case.
What’s at risk for Arctic wildlife if Trump expands oil drilling in fragile northern Alaska
Fri 4 Jul 2025
The area is vital for the health of the planet. However, its future is at risk.
Floods swamp cities in Southwest China with more storms due
26 Jun 2025
Citizens in Guizhou and other parts of southern China have been swamped by days of record-breaking rainfall as the East Asia monsoon kicked into high gear over the past week.
EU Commission proposes allowing carbon offsets to help meet 2040 climate goal
Fri 4 Jul 2025
Campaigners accuse the European Commission of adding “loopholes” and “distractions” to the 90% emissions reduction target.
Activists protest at London headquarters of global ad giant promoting fossil fuels
Thu 3 Jul 2025
The agency’s work for the fossil fuel industry has made it “complicit in causing existential harm to people and planet”, say campaigners, who are calling on WPP to drop those clients.
Is Mark Carney turning his back on climate action?
23 Jun 2025
The G7 summit in Alberta, hosted by Prime Minister Mark Carney, has ended with only passing mention of fighting climate change, including a statement on wildfires that is silent on the pressing need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Central Chinese cities fight floods unleashed by record rain
Fri 4 Jul 2025
A record summer downpour in China's central province of Hubei dumped more than a month's worth of rain in just 12 hours on the city of Xianfeng, prompting authorities to move 18,000 people to safety, shut schools, and suspend bus services.
Nearly a third of Tuvaluans have applied for climate migration visa
27 Jun 2025
With their country threatened by sea level rise, the people of Tuvalu have been offered an escape route through an agreement with Australia, and many are contemplating leaving their home.
I just returned from Antarctica: climate change isn’t some far-off problem – it’s here and hitting hard
13 May 2025
Antarctica is often viewed as the last truly remote place on Earth – frozen, wild and untouched. But is it really as untouched as it seems?
Congo death toll hits 77 after extreme weather brings floods and sinks boats, 107 remain missing
18 Jun 2025
Authorities in Congo said the death toll following devastating floods and separate boat accidents has reached 77, with more than 100 people missing.
‘We are perilously close to the point of no return’: climate scientist on Amazon rainforest’s future
Tue 1 Jul 2025
Carlos Nobre, who has fought for decades to save the rainforest, says up to 70% of it could be lost if a tipping point is reached.
UN expert urges criminalising fossil fuel disinformation, banning lobbying
Fri 4 Jul 2025
Rapporteur calls for defossilisation of economies and urgent reparations to avert ‘catastrophic’ rights and climate harms.
