International: Australia
Australian city stands to receive $200m economic boost if bid to co-host UN climate talks succeeds
12 Sep 2024
Australia and Pacific countries are vying with Türkiye to host the annual United Nations climate change talks in 2026.
Australia may delay release of 2035 climate target as world awaits outcome of US election
6 Sep 2024
Experts urge Australia not to delay target too long as report by Climate Change Authority identifies six barriers to net zero.
How climate change accelerated Australia's spring winds
4 Sep 2024
Strong winds in eastern Australia this week are being driven by climate change interfering with jet streams, the powerful high-altitude winds that encircle the globe.
Australian homeowners struggling to afford insurance as climate risks grow, report says
28 Aug 2024
Home insurance is becoming unaffordable for a growing number of Australian households as increased climate threats drive up their premiums.
Australia passes landmark bill mandating climate risk disclosures for companies
26 Aug 2024
New reporting standards require climate resilience assessments under both 1.5°C and 2.5°C warming scenarios.
Summer heat arrives in August, threatening to break all-time Australian winter temperature records
26 Aug 2024
Extraordinary August heat is developing across Australia, causing temperatures to spike up to 16 degrees Celsius above average while threatening all-time seasonal records in multiple states.
Humans can work with nature to solve big environmental problems – but there’s no quick fix
21 Aug 2024
“Nature-based solutions” are gaining momentum in environmental policy, including in Australia.
‘Unacceptable’: Red flag for huge Australian gas project
6 Aug 2024
Australia's federal government could be forced into a potential choice between environmental protection and its commitment to long-term gas supply to Australia’s trading partners.
Tasmanian 'Eco-Milk' tests shoppers' thirst for climate-friendly dairy
26 Jul 2024
A small dairy in Tasmania is stocking supermarket shelves with what it says is the world's first branded milk produced by cows fed with a seaweed that makes them emit lower levels of environmentally damaging methane gas.
Climate activists have received months-long sentences. Are tougher laws eroding Australians’ right to protest?
23 Jul 2024
NSW enacts highest number of new laws among states, with climate protesters disproportionately affected, report finds.
Methane leaking out of old mining site in Dharawal National Park near Sydney that closed decades ago
23 Jul 2024
In the heart of what appears to be a pristine national park, a greenhouse gas is leaking out of an underground coal mine more than 30 years after it was last used.
Australian Super accused of greenwashing by investing funds from ethical option in coal, oil and gas industries
19 Jul 2024
Australia's largest super fund has invested money from its 'Socially Aware' option in the coal, oil and gas industries.
Gas giant Woodside buys grazing properties in southern NSW to offset carbon emissions
18 Jul 2024
Woodside has bought four sheep and cattle farms in NSW for $40 million to help offset emissions from oil and gas projects.
‘Knowledge keeps the fires burning’: how ancient Indigenous wisdom can transform our battle against climate change
15 Jul 2024
As climate change worsens, Indigenous peoples can offer valuable insights into sustainability and resilience, Australian researchers say.
Rising risks of climate disasters mean some Australian communities will need to move
9 Jul 2024
Many Australians live in areas increasingly exposed to climate change and associated extreme weather such as floods, fires, coastal erosion, cyclones and extreme heat.
Women 14 times more likely to die in natural disasters: Australian study
8 Jul 2024
Women faced increased rates of violence and homelessness after climate disasters in Australia, researchers say.
From 'carbon-based economies' to renewable energy hubs, regions face their future
5 Jul 2024
While a small coal mining town is facing thousands of job losses, a farming region is picturing renewable energy being generated on its fertile cropping land.
Australia’s ‘carbon budget’ may blow out by 40% under the coalition’s nuclear energy plan
3 Jul 2024
The Coalition’s pledge to build seven nuclear reactors, if elected, would represent a huge shift in energy policy for Australia.
Fossil fuel giant uses new tactic to fight climate change movement
2 Jul 2024
Santos is trying an unusual new tactic to fight the climate movement by pursuing environmental groups who championed the court case of traditional owners opposing the Barossa gas project
Renewables and storage to replace coal, as Australia urged to go faster
1 Jul 2024
The Australian Energy Market Operator has confirmed that a combination of renewables and storage, backed by significant investments in transmission upgrades, remains the cheapest and smartest course.
Former NSW treasurer appointed head of Australia's Climate Change Authority
25 Jun 2024
Former NSW treasurer and energy and environment minister Matt Kean has been appointed to lead the Climate Change Authority, less than a week after announcing his resignation from state politics.
Only 60% of Australians accept climate disruption is human-caused, global poll finds
25 Jun 2024
Exclusive: French survey of 26 countries finds fewer Australians than global average agree that climate change is the greatest health threat facing humanity.
Telstra ditches carbon credits to push harder on direct emissions
24 Jun 2024
Australia's telco giant is dumping its carbon credit offset scheme and claims its plans are “carbon neutral” or “carbon offset”, instead moving to a direct-investment model.
Australia’s foreign affairs minister warns dropping 2030 climate targets would abandon Pacific nations
18 Jun 2024
Foreign Affairs Minister labels the Coalition's decision to rule out setting a 2030 climate target as a move that will increase energy bills and risk further Chinese influence in the Pacific.
The anti-windfarm 'odd couple' joining forces to fight the renewable energy projects Australia's already failing to build
13 Jun 2024
Deep in coal country, a lifelong environmentalist and one-time Greens candidate is feeling the applause.
Australia’s leader says opposition will renege on greenhouse gas emissions target if elected
11 Jun 2024
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Monday said the opposition Liberal Party would renege on the nation’s ambitious target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 if it wins elections due within a year.
This week in Australia energy and climate collided; it’s a global story
28 May 2024
The announcement that the NSW government would extend the life of Australia’s biggest coal-fired power station was neither a surprise to energy observers in this country nor unique in a world struggling to at once battle climate change and keep pace with soaring energy demand.
More desalination is coming to Australia’s driest states – but super-salty outflows could trash ecosystems and fisheries
15 May 2024
From around 1996 to 2010, Australia was gripped by the millennium drought and as water shortages bit hard, most capital cities built large seawater desalination plants.
Australia’s PM faces internal revolt from inner-city Labor MPs over gas strategy
14 May 2024
Resources minister Madeleine King released party’s future gas strategy, which says new sources will be needed ‘to 2050 and beyond’.
Climate risks ignored in National Defence Strategy, Australian former defence chief says
6 May 2024
A former chief of Australia's defence force says the federal government has failed to understand the risk climate change poses to the nation's security.
Torres Strait Islanders in landmark Australian federal court case
1 May 2024
Uncle Paul Kabai and Pabai Pabai are suing the Australian government for "failing its duty of care" to protect their ancestral lands from the impacts of climate change.
Australia could reach an ‘ambitious’ emissions cut of up to 75% by 2035, advisers tell Labor
17 Apr 2024
Climate Change Authority says goal could be achievable if more action is taken by governments, business, investors and households.
Scientists warn Australians to prepare for megadroughts lasting more than 20 years
5 Apr 2024
New research shows megadroughts lasting up to 20 years or more have occurred in Australia in the past and could happen again.
Australia’s carbon credits system a failure on global scale, study finds
28 Mar 2024
Researchers find carbon offsets approach, which is supposed to regenerate scrubby outback forests, was not reducing emissions as promised.
Australia's New Vehicle Efficiency Standard weakened
27 Mar 2024
The Australian government will loosen fuel economy standards for utes and vans in its proposed climate laws for cars.
Climate-conscious investors put nuclear dead last on list of desirable Australian ventures
26 Mar 2024
Nuclear energy ranks last on the list of climate technologies that big institutional investors want exposure to, according to a survey of climate conscious investors with $37tn under management.
A role for nuclear in Australia’s climate response?
7 Mar 2024
In the facts-lite political debate, the opportunities and comparative advantages of solar are being sidelined.
Melbourne Extinction Rebellion climate activists jailed for disrupting traffic
6 Mar 2024
Two environmental activists have been jailed for causing major traffic disruptions in Melbourne, after they used a rental truck to block the West Gate Bridge.
Australia's capital cities will see number of hot days double by 2050 without urgent climate change action
29 Feb 2024
By the time today's children reach retirement, Australia's capital cities will swelter through at least twice as many days over 35 degrees and large swathes of the country will be all but uninhabitable for much of the year.
‘They ain’t seen nothing yet’: UN boss names climate change impacts coming to Australia
27 Feb 2024
Top UN climate official Simon Stiell says Australia will be “front and centre in resettling entire national populations” if climate targets are not met.
Australian Prime Minister vows full support amidst wildfires destroying homes
26 Feb 2024
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese pledges immediate assistance to Victoria amid wildfire crisis, emphasising urgency in addressing climate change.
Pressure from young people for Anthony Albanese to consider duty of care over climate harm
23 Feb 2024
A group of young Aussies fronted up to demand Anthony Albanese do more to protect them from one issue.
Australia’s best known carbon-neutral farm can no longer offset its emissions
21 Feb 2024
Trees and soil on Jigsaw Farms in western Victoria have now passed peak sequestration – reflecting the challenge for the broader red meat industry.
Climate change is forcing Australians to weigh up relocating
19 Feb 2024
Big environmental changes mean ever more Australians will confront the tough choice of whether to move home or risk staying put.
Veteran economists say a carbon levy would cut emissions, cut inflation and raise billions, but see little prospect of adoption
16 Feb 2024
Two of Australia’s most respected economists have put forward a bold plan to lower global carbon emissions by at least 6 per cent, super-charge a new green export industry, deliver much cheaper power bills and dramatically cut the rate of inflation.
Climate change ambassador explains why Australia won't back Pacific's calls to urgently phase out fossil fuels
1 Dec 2023
Australia's climate change ambassador says the federal government cannot yet back the Pacific's call to rapidly phase out fossil fuels because it's grappling with "complex" and "difficult" issues thrown up by decarbonisation.
Australia climate change activists disrupt shipping at coal port
27 Nov 2023
A climate change protest off Australia's east coast disrupted operations at the country's biggest coal export port on Saturday.
World’s biggest carbon storage project off WA coast burying only a third of what it promised
15 Nov 2023
After seven years of operation US giant Chevron is burying just a third of the carbon pollution it committed to burying at its Gorgon gas export project.
We are looking for a transformational roadmap to transform our energy sectors: German envoy
8 Nov 2023
With less than four weeks until the next UN climate conference COP-28, Germany's special envoy for climate diplomacy, Jennifer Morgan, is in Australia for a series of meetings with key climate players.
The Beetaloo gas field is a climate bomb. How did CSIRO modelling make it look otherwise?
1 Nov 2023
As Australia braces for a summer of projected extreme heatwaves and bushfires, the fossil gas industry is gearing up for a truly enormous new fracking project in the Northern Territory’s Beetaloo Basin.
US Securities and Exchange Commission chief threatens ban on European accounting rules
Today 11:15am
Paul Atkins questions whether overseas companies should be barred from using International Financial Reporting Standards.
China aims to nearly double battery storage by 2027 in $35 billion plan
Today 11:15am
China is looking to almost double its so-called new energy storage capacity to 180 gigawatts (GW) by 2027, according to an industry plan announced by authorities on Friday.
EU considers faster Russian oil and gas exit after US pressure
Mon 15 Sep 2025
The European Union is considering a faster phase-out of Russian fossil fuels as part of new sanctions.
UK foreign aid for nature hits £800m record due to cash for carbon credits
Today 11:15am
The UK’s climate-aid spending on “nature protection and restoration” reached record levels of nearly £800m last year, according to government figures obtained by Carbon Brief.
Carney government noncommittal about Canada meeting 2030 climate goals
9 Sep 2025
Prime Minister Mark Carney would not say Monday whether Canada will meet its climate goals under the Paris agreement by 2030, as his government faces criticism over his emission-reduction plans.
Tax rebalancing in Indian energy sector: Renewables cheaper, coal costlier
Fri 12 Sep 2025
Industry experts and developers have hail GST cuts on clean energy equipment, saying it will be a major enabler for India’s ambitious climate goals.
China, climate crisis and COP31: Five takeaways from the Pacific Islands Forum
Today 11:15am
A key climate crisis funding treaty struck as Pacific leaders backed Australia’s bid for Cop31 despite some criticism of its environmental credentials.
Iconic Antarctic species at risk amid 'regime shift', with 'rapid and self-perpetuating changes'
22 Aug 2025
Scientists say there is emerging evidence of abrupt and potentially unstoppable changes in the Antarctic environment.
Second Africa Climate Summit seeks to jump hurdles to green industrialisation
Wed 10 Sep 2025
A report on progress since the first summit in 2023 says financial, infrastructure and trade obstacles are hampering “climate-positive growth” on the continent.
Brazil implores businesses to attend COP30 climate summit, despite 'second thoughts' amid Trump backlash
5 Sep 2025
November's COP30 summit comes at a precarious time for climate action, as companies back away from environmental initiatives, and attacks on green energy by President Trump.
UN pushes countries for new climate targets this month
9 Sep 2025
The United Nations urged countries on Wednesday to set more ambitious climate plans during this month, seeking to pressure major economies including the EU and China ahead of this year's U.N. climate summit.
