Six experts respond to Labor’s plans for agriculture, resources, the built environment, industry, transport and energy. What did it get right and what more needs to be done?
Sign up for climate and environment editor Adam Morton’s free Clear Air newsletter here
The 62-70% emissions target is a slap in the face to the people growing Australia’s food. It is nothing short of betrayal to farmers around the country and the generations who come after us. The climate chaos described in Australia’s first Climate Risk Assessment is not inevitable, but with a weak target like this it pushes us towards a future no one wants or deserves.
Continue reading...
Breaking Waves: Ocean News
09/18/2025 - 04:28
09/18/2025 - 04:27
Exclusive: Residents of western Sydney and outer suburbs of Melbourne are at particular risk of high temperatures, data shows
Sign up for climate and environment editor Adam Morton’s free Clear Air newsletter here
As the federal government warns the climate crisis will increase heat-related deaths, with the impact disproportionately borne by the already vulnerable, data obtained exclusively by Guardian Australia shows the parts of Australia’s major cities that are most vulnerable to heat.
The new measure, called the Heat Vulnerability Index and compiled by researchers at RMIT, combines temperature readings from satellites, with data on populations particularly susceptible to heat (such as older Australians and those with disabilities), the built environment and green space, and socioeconomic factors like income and education.
Continue reading...
09/18/2025 - 03:00
On a tiny Italian island, scientists conducted a radical experiment to see if the bees were causing their wild cousins to decline
Off the coast of Tuscany is a tiny island in the shape of a crescent moon. An hour from mainland Italy, Giannutri has just two beaches for boats to dock. In summer, hundreds of tourists flock there, hiking to the red and white lighthouse on its southern tip before diving into the clear waters. In winter, its population dwindles to 10. The island’s rocky ridges are coated with thickets of rosemary and juniper, and in warmer months the air is sweetened by flowers and the gentle hum of bees.
“Residents are people who like fishing, or being alone, or who have retired. Everyone has their story,” says Leonardo Dapporto, associate professor at the University of Florence.
Giannutri island’s remote location made it a perfect open-air laboratory for the bee experiments. Photographs: Giuseppe Nucci
Continue reading...
09/18/2025 - 02:41
‘Heartbreaking’ drone footage has captured the moment a mother and calf became trapped. Four humpbacks have been snared in recent days
Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates
Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast
A whale entangled in a shark net about five days ago with her calf is yet to be fully freed, two of four humpback whales to be entangled in shark nets off the coast of Queensland in recent days.
Dr Olaf Meynecke, who researches marine mammals at Griffith University, said humpback whales were caught in shark nets every year, but this was the first time involving four whales trapped at the same time.
Continue reading...
09/18/2025 - 01:00
The people of Johnshaven have watched the sea edge closer and closer. Preserving the path is key to protecting their community
Photographs by Murdo MacLeod
When Charis Duthie moved to Johnshaven with her husband in 1984, she could cycle along the coastal path out of the village. Now, she meets a dead end where the sea has snatched the land and is instead greeted with a big red warning sign of what is to come: Danger Coastal Erosion.
“You can see gardens that were there and now they’re gone,” she says.
Johnshaven, on Scotland’s North Sea coast, will attract more visitors if it has a well maintained coastal path
Continue reading...
09/18/2025 - 01:00
Increasingly erratic water cycle is creating food scarcity, rising prices, conflict and migration, says UN agency
Only a third of the world’s river basins experienced normal conditions last year as the climate crisis drove extremes of drought and flood, sometimes both in the same region.
The increasingly erratic water cycle is creating big problems for societies and governments and causing billions of dollars in damage, scientists warned.
Continue reading...
09/17/2025 - 22:47
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, announced the Labor government will set a 62-70% emissions reduction target by 2035, taking the advice of the Climate Change Authority. In his announcement, Albanese said 'It is the right target to protect our environment, to protect and advance our economy and jobs and to ensure that we act in our national interest and in the interest of this and future generations.'
Continue reading...
09/17/2025 - 22:04
Albanese says 62% to 70% range represents ‘the sweet spot’ as Coalition rejects ‘economy wrecking’ target while Greens label it a ‘betrayal’
What is a climate target, and how does Australia’s stack up?
Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates
Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast
The Albanese government insists its new 2035 emissions reduction target of 62% to 70% represents the “maximum level of ambition”, as climate campaigners warn it falls short of what Australia should be doing to combat global heating.
The climate change minister, Chris Bowen, said a 2035 target above 70% on 2005 levels was “not achievable” as he claimed the government’s new goal was aligned with the global aim of limiting temperature rise to 1.5C.
Continue reading...
09/17/2025 - 14:13
Joel Engardio, who becomes fifth elected city official to be ousted in four years, says he stands by his decision
A San Francisco supervisor was recalled on Tuesday after he successfully pushed to turn a stretch of coastal highway used heavily by neighborhood motorists into a car-free park despite strong objections by some of his constituents.
Joel Engardio became the fifth elected official in San Francisco to be ousted in a recall vote in four years. He conceded, saying in a statement that he accepted the outcome and still stood by his decision to help create a park called Sunset Dunes.
Continue reading...
09/17/2025 - 10:00
Some Māori believe that when they die, their spirit travels up New Zealand to the tip of the North Island – souls flying like birds
Australian bird of the year 2025: nominate your favourite now
After a long struggle with her health, Mum died in Auckland in 2012. At the end of her funeral service a blackbird (Turdus merula) flew inside the church. It fluttered and hopped about her coffin, which was laid on the floor in front of the altar on a beautiful Tongan tapa cloth. The blackbird lingered next to Mum for some time, then flew back out the open doors.
I stayed at my sister Lisa’s home for a week after the funeral. The morning after the ceremony, a blackbird appeared in the back yard. I noticed it as I sat outside. It stayed around for a few days, sometimes perched in the sunshine on a brown wooden fence, often poking around for insects in the new spring grass. Those days were warm, still and quiet – far from how I felt. I found solace in the blackbird.
Continue reading...
