International: Australia
Australia’s compromised climate negotiators
10 Oct 2023
Sitting in a bar in Manhattan recently, there for Climate Week NYC and the United Nations Climate Ambition Summit, I watched as Australians from both government and the private sector worked the room.
Sydney smashes 1 October heat record as Victoria fights bushfires
4 Oct 2023
The previous hottest start to October in Sydney was 33.1C but Sunday’s mercury peaked at 35.6C.
Queensland carbon-negative soil project issued record number of credit units
29 Sep 2023
They look like any other cattle strolling through a grassy paddock in Queensland, but beneath their hooves the soil is doing more than producing feed. It is helping to fight climate change.
Australia would be raising $70 billion a year from the carbon price if it wasn't dismantled
19 Sep 2023
The problems at Qantas, and the explosion in executive remuneration this century, reflect a much more general problem in the Australian economy.
Australia braces for bushfire season
13 Sep 2023
Smoke sweeps through the treetops as a fire consumes the dense undergrowth of the Australian winter bush.
Canberra could protect decarbonising industries from unfair competition
8 Sep 2023
The Australian government has engaged an eminent academic to study the need for a carbon tariff to protect local manufacturers from unfair competition from imports which are not subject to restrictions on emissions of CO2.
Eco-anxiety looms as headspace survey reveals young people want climate change action
8 Sep 2023
An Australian survey of young people shows more than half fear for the future due to climate change.
Sydney is running out of water while facing climate change and a population boom
5 Sep 2023
Experts are getting increasingly nervous about a problem that’s been lying dormant for years: Sydney’s water supply is running out.
Aus govt acknowledges risk of climate change to bonds after court case
1 Sep 2023
The federal government has agreed to settle a world-first court case accusing it of misleading investors by failing to disclose the risk climate change poses to its bonds.
Australia's most popular carbon credit scheme questioned by experts
22 Aug 2023
Deep in the Australian outback, there are billions of dollars being made from carbon farming.
Australia weighs up green imports tariffs for steel, cement
18 Aug 2023
Imported steel and cement could face a tariff to ensure Australian producers seeking to reduce carbon emissions are not disadvantaged.
Santos’s deep-sea carbon capture fantasy
16 Aug 2023
New laws will allow a notorious gas field project to dump carbon dioxide in Timor-Leste waters – using a process that has not worked anywhere in the world – so it can meet its net-zero requirements.
Fossil fuel sites in Australia releasing climate-damaging methane into atmosphere
11 Aug 2023
An investigative report published by a global nonprofit has made worrying revelations about methane leaks from as many as 35 fossil fuel sites located in Australia.
Australian aid policy to focus on climate — and countering China
10 Aug 2023
Australia has put the climate and job creation in the Pacific at the centre of its new foreign aid policy, part of an effort to woo back island nations that have fallen under China’s deep-pocketed influence.
Climate crisis: Australia must ready for ‘devastating’ regional disruption, MPs told
4 Aug 2023
Failed states, a rise in authoritarian politics and heightened risks of conflict among potential threats outlined in thinktank’s assessment.
Australian doctors want urgent action on climate threats
2 Aug 2023
Medical colleges representing over 100,000 doctors, physicians and medical experts say Australia's healthcare system is unprepared for the next disaster.
Australia's kelp forests an underwater 'Amazon' could help climate change
17 Jul 2023
To most people, the word "forest" would conjure images of vast tree communities, like the towering karri forests of WA's South West.
Asparagopsis seaweed: scientists call for stricter oversight in livestock sector
4 Jul 2023
Safety concerns have been raised about the native seaweed asparagopsis, which is now being commercialised to help farmers reduce methane emissions in sheep and cattle.
Aus sides with China, Russia in bid to sink Pacific nations’ climate plan
4 Jul 2023
Australia has been criticised for siding with China and Russia to oppose a popular plan from a group of Pacific Island nations to tackle carbon emissions from the shipping industry.
Scientists researching cloud brightening in bid to cool Great Barrier Reef
28 Jun 2023
Queensland scientists who have been altering clouds with tiny particles to try and limit the effects of global warming are presenting their findings for the first time this week.
Australia commits to build $34 million renewable hydrogen plant
27 Jun 2023
Australia has green-lit plans to build a A$51 million (US$34 million) renewable hydrogen plant in Victoria state, as the country moves to cut carbon emissions and boost alternative power resources.
Farmers lead climate change adjustment in Victoria, Australia
22 Jun 2023
Information that is relevant, accessible and trusted is critical for farmers seeking to adapt their agricultural business amid changes in climate, according to analysis of surveys conducted by the North East Catchment Management Authority (NECMA).
Climate change threatens all island life, hearing told
14 Jun 2023
When Paul Kabai was growing up on Saibai he was taught how, when and where to plant food, such as the root vegetable cassava, by his Aunties and Uncles.
New plan to manage health impacts of climate change
9 Jun 2023
Australians have been asked to have their say on a new plan to ensure the nation's health care system can respond to the impacts of climate change.
Conservationists file complaint with ASIC over fertiliser producer's climate marketing
8 Jun 2023
South Australia's peak environment group has called on the corporate watchdog to investigate accusations a Leigh Creek fertiliser company's marketing is misleading about the climate impacts of its processing plant – an allegation the company strenuously denies.
Companies ‘greenhushing’ to avoid scrutiny of climate goals, Asic says
7 Jun 2023
Practice allows companies to claim to have good environmental policies without having them tested, according to Australia’s corporate watchdog
Aus govt urged to push international banks to stop funding fossil fuel development
2 Jun 2023
Report claims Australia’s shareholdings in development banks has made it responsible for investing $828m in fossil fuel projects over five years.
Cattle farmers look below the surface to capture sustainable, carbon-neutral future
30 May 2023
Most farming achievements – fat cattle, healthy crops and good returns – are seen above the ground. But by digging into the soil, the Mackenzie family says they are seeing all that boom while also balancing out their emissions.
Study finds 2 billion people will struggle to survive in a warming world
26 May 2023
Two billion people, including many Australians, will find themselves living in dangerously hot places this century if global warming reaches 2.7℃, research released today reveals.
Dep. Climate Change seeks advice: potential conflicts on agency's board
24 May 2023
The department in charge of the Climate Change Authority (CCA) has told senate estimates it is seeking legal advice over potential conflicts of interest on the authority's board.
'Crunch time' for integrity of Australian carbon market
23 May 2023
An improved savannah fire management method for earning carbon credits is a priority for federal Labor, along with the release of once-secret data to restore public confidence.
World's biggest carbon capture plant running at one third capacity
19 May 2023
United States oil and gas giant Chevron has acknowledged its flagship carbon capture and storage project off Australia's north-west coast is operating at just a third of its capacity as problems bedevil the facility.
Australian government approves first new coal mine since elected
15 May 2023
The Australian government was bound by national environment laws when considering Central Queensland's Isaac River coal mine, a spokeswoman said.
World’s tallest wind power testing mast hopes to herald new generation of turbines
10 May 2023
With the inauguration of a new onshore wind power testing mast with a height of 300 metres, project developers in Germany hope it will pave the way for a new generation of wind turbines.
Dairy farmer uses multi-species, legumes and charcoal to combat climate change
9 May 2023
Summer arrives sooner and the hot, dry winds linger longer than when David Vonhoff was a child helping his parents on the farm.
Australian government's new ‘net zero’ body gets green light from key union and Climate Council
8 May 2023
The Albanese government’s new ‘National Net Zero Authority’ – a body that will help workers in fossil fuel industries to transition into other employment – has won high praise from two key bodies that savaged past governments over their climate change policies.
Santos strikes deals to bury carbon dioxide under the Timor Sea
4 May 2023
Australian energy giant Santos has signed non-binding deals with four other gas producers to take their emissions and stash them in depleted gas reservoirs beneath the Timor Sea at its proposed Bayu-Undan carbon capture and storage project.
Eight hour battery trumps pumped hydro in NSW long duration storage tender
2 May 2023
A proposed big battery with eight hours storage has emerged as a surprise winner in the NSW state government’s first long duration storage tender, beating out pumped hydro projects that had been expected by some to emerge as a dominant force.
Torres Strait islanders forcing action on climate change
2 May 2023
Incorporating Indigenous knowledge systems and science is an effective way of addressing the impacts of climate change, and it's urgent in the Torres Strait.
Climate change endangering Australian wine
1 May 2023
In 2008, the Brown family watched on helplessly as destructive bushfires ripped through the Victoria countryside. For them, it was a wakeup call.
Victoria’s new public energy utility begins search for first renewables and storage deal
28 Apr 2023
Labor’s election promise to revive the SEC put forward a 10-year plan to invest “at least” $1 billion re-establishing the generation (and possibly retail) utility, based in the Latrobe Valley to give the state’s coal centre a key role in the energy transition.
Australia again tops global solar per capita, as world installs 240GW of PV in 2022
20 Apr 2023
Australia has once again claimed the title of having the most solar installed per capita of any country in the world, in the latest Snapshot of Global PV Markets published t by the International Energy Agency and Photovoltaic Power Systems Program.
Australia introduces vehicle pollution rules to boost EV uptake
20 Apr 2023
Australia said on Wednesday it would introduce new standards targeting vehicle emissions to boost the uptake of electric cars, as it looks to catch up with other developed economies.
Australian super funds sink $25 billion into coal, oil and gas
18 Apr 2023
Australia’s 15 largest super funds have invested a total of more than $25 billion into new and expanding coal, oil and gas projects, according to an analysis from The Australian Conservation Foundation.
What to expect when Australia’s oldest coal plant closes
14 Apr 2023
After more than five decades, the last operating units of the Liddell coal-fired power station will close this month. The station’s owner, AGL, is Australia’s largest carbon polluter. Liddell’s closure will reduce the company’s emissions by 17%.
Aussie roof top solar sends grid demand to record lows
12 Apr 2023
Rooftop solar made its mark on the grid in a mostly sunny and mild Easter weekend, forcing grid demand down to new record lows in a dramatic weekend that also saw new highs for wind and solar output, and also record levels of wind and solar curtailment.
Former Australian defence leaders urge govt to release climate change report
6 Apr 2023
The Australian government has brushed aside a call from former defence leaders who are urging it to release a secret report into the national security risks posed by climate change.
Australia's home battery boom
6 Apr 2023
Home batteries were installed in record numbers in almost every state and territory in Australia in 2022, as power prices hit record new highs and tens of thousands more households opted to invest – or invest further – in energy independence.
Torrents of Antarctic meltwater are slowing the currents that drive our vital ocean ‘overturning’ – and threaten its collapse
31 Mar 2023
The Conversation - Off the coast of Antarctica, trillions of tonnes of cold salty water sink to great depths. As the water sinks, it drives the deepest flows of the “overturning” circulation – a network of strong currents spanning the world’s oceans.
Australia caps major fossil fuel polluters
31 Mar 2023
Australia’s parliament has passed breakthrough climate laws targeting the nation’s worst polluters, forcing coal mines and oil refineries to curb emissions by about 5% each year.
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
Today 11:45am
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
Today 11:45am
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
Today 11:45am
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.
