Latest environment news
An historic deal to tackle climate change
Tom Arup, Peter Hannam in Paris Almost 200 countries have struck a grand bargain to take collective action on climate change, as the Paris summit delivers the first global agreement to cut greenhouse gas pollution in almost two decades.
Analysis: Paris delivers. Can Turnbull?
Tom Arup With the Paris summit wrapping up having delivered an historic global climate agreement, questions will inevitably turn to whether Malcolm Turnbull will use the international momentum to advance the climate debate back home
Analysis
Comment: Well done on the Paris deal, but the real test still to come
Peter Hannam Is the Paris climate summit, as the French phrase goes, "the mountain that gives birth to the mouse"?
A quick guide to the Paris climate deal
Tom Arup 4:26 PM What you need to know about the Paris climate deal.
Is it really possible to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees?
Tom Arup Why is there sudden momentum for this more ambitious target? And what is the real world difference between 1.5 and 2 degrees?
Small states struggle to keep up with negotiating giants at climate talks
Peter Hannam Small nations are stretched to make sure their voices are not drowned out by big countries when negotiating climate change deals.
Paris climate negotiations turn to Zulu-style meetings in a bid to break deadlocks
Tom Arup Climate negotiators have turned to the idea of "indaba" – a traditional Zulu meeting style – as they seek for breakthroughs on deadlocks plaguing the Paris climate talks.
After six years of opposition, Australian government suddenly backs carbon markets
Tom Arup After a brutal six-year war on carbon pricing, is the Coalition softening its position?
Australia has 'serious concerns' about climate draft in Paris
Peter Hannam and Tom Arup Australia told the conference it is "deeply disappointed" that some areas have been weakened in a bid to get deal.
Australia named 'fossil of the day' at Paris summit for coal speech
Activists in Paris have awarded Australia the "fossil of the day" award – a dubious honour given to a country that has done the most in the past 24 hours to stop a meaningful response to climate change.
'Loss and damage' controversy smoulders at Paris climate talks
Megan Rowling Having a mechanism to address the losses and damage caused by climate change included in the draft of a U.N. deal to tackle global warming is a victory for vulnerable island states, and they will fight to keep it in, said Tuvalu's prime minister.
Abbott toppled because of climate scepticism, Monckton says
Peter Hannam Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott would have pushed back against a world government at the Paris climate summit and was brought down because of his anti-warming views, according to leading sceptic Christopher Monckton.
Australia in the cellar with Saudi Arabia in climate rankings
Tom Arup A new report card on major emitters ranks Australia ahead of only oil-rich Kazakhstan and Saudi Arabia.
Analysis: Breaking down old walls in the heart of Paris
Tom Arup If you ride the RER train from the middle of Paris to the Le Bourget conference centre, where the climate talks are being held, along the way you will spy a little circus set up on the side of the tracks.
Exclusive
Japan whale hunt tensions to flare
Daniel Flitton, Andrew Darby Australia is considering dragging Japan back to the international court in an attempt to halt whaling.
'Why would you bother?': Turnbull government backbenchers warn against world's emissions plan
Nicole Hasham 1:49 PM The world may have struck a much-heralded deal in Paris to ratchet up pollution cuts in the decades ahead, but a number of Turnbull government backbenchers insist climate science is unconvincing and Australia has already promised enough.
US town rejects solar farm after sunlight, cancer fears
Michael Koziol 12:50 PM World leaders may have committed to ambitious climate targets in Paris at the weekend, but that in small-town America, all that solar hocus pocus is still viewed with a healthy dose of slack-jawed cynicism.
Fisherman lands 250-kilogram bull shark in Hastings Rivers
Tracey Fairhurst 10:32 AM The two words uttered by fisherman Denis Rivers when he hauled in this massive beast will be left to your imagination but there is nothing fake about the bull shark in this story.
Heat turned up on Turnbull's climate policies
Nicole Hasham 5:50 AM A watershed climate pact in Paris has stepped up pressure on Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to act at home to curb emissions and phase out fossil fuels, as the government warns it will not risk the economy to meet the new global commitment.
Canberra could have hottest December week in 13 years
Clare Sibthorpe 8:18 PM Canberrans should brace for what could be the region's hottest December week in 13 years.
COMMENT
A global deal made in China (and the US)
Daniel Flitton 5:24 PM Without concord between Beijing and Washington, the world could not have struck a comprehensive deal to tackle global warming.
Climate deal's $23 trillion price tag
Alex Morales and Ewa Krukowska 5:09 PM The agreement struck in Paris requires a huge investment in cleaning up the Earth's atmosphere.
Christmas bush fire risk still real despite recent rain
Lucy Cormack 3:08 PM Heavy rain in the first two weeks of November has left people in bushfire-prone areas complacent, Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons says.
World on the cusp of historic climate deal in Paris
Tom Arup and Peter Hannam, Paris The world is on the cusp of a historic agreement to tackle climate change after the organisers of the Paris summit released the final wording of a deal, mapping out compromises on the key disputes that had divided countries.
Historic climate deal appears imminent
Tom Arup and Peter Hannam in Paris An historic global deal to limit and tackle climate change appears imminent after a final draft agreement has been completed at the United Nations conference in Paris.
The zombies trying to avoiding a global warming apocalypse in Paris
Peter Hannam It's not quite zombie time but the strains are beginning to show as the Paris climate summit nears a climax.
Paris climate summit to miss Friday deadline
Tom Arup and Peter Hannam Work on an historic climate deal that for the first time would require all countries to play a role in curbing greenhouse gas emissions will continue through the weekend after organisers conceded the summit would not meet its Friday night deadline.
ActewAGL partners with Panasonic in the solar power revolution
David Ellery ActewAGL teams up with Panasonic for the next step in the solar power revolution.
Sydney temperatures hit 35 degrees
Michael Koziol Sydney will encounter another very hot Friday, with temperatures due to reach the mid-30s across the city.
A new space race: satellites could verify nations' emissions
Barbara Lewis, Richard Valdmanis and David Stanway Improved satellite technology may allow greenhouse gas emissions to be monitored from space.
Emperor penguins can't stand the heat in the deep Antarctic winters
Marcus Strom Male emperor penguins are often portrayed standing alone, stoically resisting the icy blasts to keep an egg warm while their mate hunts for food.
Here's the climate deal the world really wants
Tom Randall Elon Musk, the founder of electric car marker Tesla, and oil giant Exxon Mobil's boss Rex Tillerson have starkly different visions of the world. But on the best tool for fighting climate change, they agree.
Nations make final push for climate deal
Exhausted climate negotiators from 195 nations seeking ways to strengthen a planned agreement to combat global warming are arguing over who should pay billions of dollars to help developing nations meet those goals.
'Unlikely we would have seen this under Abbott'
Lucy Cormack A $67 million boost for something the former PM described as "visually awful".
