This Month
Climate won’t be central to Labor’s environment law overhaul
Environment Minister Murray Watt said there were already mechanisms to deal with emissions from Australian coal and gas burnt overseas.
Miners set for green investment boost from new classification system
New guidelines developed with Treasury will help banks and super funds reduce greenwashing by classifying economic activity based on its emissions profile.
Getting ahead of the curve to pull building industry higher
The Green Building Council of Australia has won the Sustainability Leaders award for property and construction for its push to lift building standards.
BHP and Rio’s hopes for carbon millions dashed by sceptical officials
The country’s two biggest miners wanted approval to generate lucrative credits for storing carbon in mineral waste and producing diesel from trees.
Attenborough joins 10,000 people to urge action on High Seas Treaty
Australia is set to back a major new ocean protection treaty to limit industrial-scale fishing and protect international waters from destruction.
Tuvalu said gas project decision was a matter of trust. Then it wasn’t
A small Pacific Island nation came out firing against Labor’s North West Shelf call. Then it backtracked.
May
Westpac shifts climate targets and eases path for more lending to gas
The bank, which lends to Woodside Energy, will change lending rules even as it demands better energy transition plan disclosures from borrowers.
Carbon credit critics let the perfect be the enemy of good
The anti-greenwashing campaign against Climate Active has generated unwarranted scepticism about the rigour which underpins Australia’s carbon market.
Landfill carbon offset companies face stricter rules
The credits, which are earned by companies that burn the methane emitted by garbage waste to produce electricity, account for around a quarter of offsets purchased under the government’s safeguard mechanism.
Farmers warn: ‘Don’t make us carry the can on emissions’
Australian grain growers say strong climate targets could create an overreliance on offsets that will discourage direct emissions reductions.
AustralianSuper invests in Whitehaven Coal, says it is ESG consistent
The big investor says it was drawn to the miner’s shift to metallurgical coal and remains committed to net zero by 2050 after buying shares last week.
Can Labor turn a big win into a green energy reality?
Clean energy advocates hope Labor can use the policy seeds planted in its first term to deliver its energy transition agenda. The reality will be much harder.
Hardest part of net zero challenge still ahead for Labor
Labor may have neutralised its opponent, but that was the easy part. Now Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen has his work cut out for him.
Labor does diplomatic dance on climate targets
Australia needs an ambitious 2035 emissions reduction target, and soon, if it is to have any hope of hosting COP next year, experts say.
Big emitters at odds over questionable carbon offsets
Australia’s top emitters are divided about the merits of carbon offsets based on projects that avoid the clearing of forests.
Companies ‘claim credit for keeping forests they never meant to clear’
A carbon market expert says many of the offsets purchased by Australia’s top emitters last year were of low integrity.
Not as relaxed about super tax as Professor Stewart
AFR readers’ views on Miranda Stewart’s opinion of the super tax, confiscating unrealised gains, and Sydney’s data centre ban.
Bowen in line for top global climate role
Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen is a contender for one of the world’s top climate roles.
‘There’s not much left’: Coalition retreats on climate policy
Energy experts say the opposition does not have any credible policies to tackle climate change.
April
Accounting change scrambles coal mine emissions
Changes to measurement methods have led several major coal mines to report drastically lower carbon emissions in 2024.