At COP27, the European Union’s climate chief has challenged the Albanese government to dig deeper into its coffers to compensate for a growing shortfall of funding from the world’s wealthiest nations to combat the climate crisis, however Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen says that it’s unlikely that discussions on loss and damage will result in commitments this year.

Vanuatu is leading the charge for an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice at COP27. This could force governments to consider the human rights impacts of climate policy, which would help compel more ambitious action under the Paris Agreement.

At least eight coal mining projects in Great Barrier Reef catchments and floodplains have been exempted from requiring environmental impact statements by the Queensland government, with six already gaining state environmental approval.

Let the court decide: Vanuatu's climate push raises hopes
Seeking to speed up global efforts against climate change, Vanuatu is leading efforts to get the International Court of Justice involved, a move praised by activists at UN talks.

Australia not paying its ‘fair share’, EU’s climate chief says
Australia’s renewed climate ambitions do not make up for its failure to pay its “fair share” in public finance contribution to help poorer nations fight climate, the European Union’s most senior climate policymaker says.

Deal on ‘loss and damage’ unlikely at COP, says Chris Bowen
The world is unlikely to come to an agreement at COP27 talks in Egypt over contentious calls for wealthy nations to pay loss and damage compensation to developing countries, says Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen.

Fears in Egypt that the gas industry ate the climate talks
The mood at world climate talks in Egypt has turned testy and tense, with observers outside the negotiating rooms fearing that proceedings have been hijacked by powerful interests, and those inside fighting over differences that were thought to have been settled a year ago in Glasgow.

Torres Strait duo take climate fight to COP27
Two First Nations leaders from Torres Strait will take their climate battle against the Australian government to the world stage at COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. Due to the rising sea levels, their community is in danger of losing sacred sites, cemeteries, and their homes.

Coal projects in Great Barrier Reef catchments approved without environmental impact statements
At least eight coal mining projects in Great Barrier Reef catchments and floodplains have been exempted from requiring environmental impact statements by the Queensland government, with six already gaining state environmental approval.

Australians facing prohibitive insurance premiums after climate-related disasters
After a near-endless series of climate disasters, Australians are facing soaring insurance premiums with many households and businesses facing the choice of underinsuring their properties if they can afford policies at all.

Gas giant’s $3.2b effort to bury carbon pollution is failing
The world’s biggest carbon pollution reduction project at Chevron’s Gorgon gas plant is working at just one-third capacity after six years, delivering a setback to the credibility of carbon capture and storage as a means to achieve net-zero emissions.

‘They’re coming back’: huge flows set to restore life to parched end of Murray-Darling system
La Niña rains have caused terrible flooding upriver, but South Australia is anticipating a much-needed ‘reset’ for stressed environmental systems.

The Victorian government announced the protection of this old-growth forest, satellite data shows within days it was being logged
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews announced “90,000 hectares of Victoria’s remaining rare and precious old growth forest will be protected immediately,” but at the very moment, a crew hired by the Victorian government-owned logging agency VicForests was clearing an area on Mount Delusion in East Gippsland.

White-bellied whipbird, presumed extinct, rediscovered in arid north-west Victoria
An endangered bird has been rediscovered in north-west Victorian wilderness 40 years after it was presumed extinct in the state.

SA modelling shows hotter days, less rain
South Australia is in for hotter days and more of them, less rain but with heavier falls and more severe fire conditions. The glum outlook is being forecast by the state's department for environment and water based on the likely effects of climate change obtained by modelling different greenhouse gas emission scenarios.