Australia is home to eight of the world’s fourteen different terrestrial habitats, with over one million unique species and thousands of distinct regional ecosystems. Around 20% of Australia’s landmass is protected under the National Reserve System (NRS): a framework introduced in 1992 to conserve Australia’s international status as a “region of mega-diversity”. Different regions provide...
At the time of writing, Australia is in a hopeful position. Strong leadership from state governments has squashed the pandemic curve and prevented significant damage to Australia’s medical system. While lifting restrictions on people’s movement is months away, the nature of Australia’s post-pandemic recovery is beginning to be discussed in earnest. Surprisingly, Australia’s conservative government...
Since the Paris Agreement was signed in December 2015 the Australian energy sector has been trending away from fossil fuels. Electricity generation from fossil fuel sources has declined and has been replaced almost exclusively by wind and solar power. Decommissioned coal power stations have not been replaced with new coal or gas: instead, there is...
In 2011 Australia’s federal government, led by Labor PM Julia Gillard, passed the Clean Energy Act. The Act sought to regulate carbon pollution by putting a fixed price on emissions, which would be overseen by a newly-created regulator. Entities that emitted above a certain threshold would need to purchase one “carbon unit” for each tonne...
Australia’s current fire season is one for the history books. As of mid-January official estimates are that 17 million hectares has been burnt. 80% of the world renowned Blue Mountains and 50% of the Gondwana Rainforest world heritage area has been lost (though, in a rare good news story, groves of prehistoric-age Wollemi Pines have...
