Exclusive: Guidance distributed to MPs seeks to pre-empt questions about plan’s compatibility with Paris agreement, indicating opposition is aware of potential breach
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Coalition MPs are being told to argue that the decision to dump a net zero emissions target is “entirely consistent” with the Paris agreement, despite leaked documents suggesting the opposition is aware such a position could conflict with Australia’s obligations under the climate pact.
Guardian Australia has obtained talking points issued to MPs to help them stay on message about Sussan Ley’s new energy and emissions plan, which was finalised on Sunday after months of bitter infighting.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
11/20/2025 - 09:00
11/20/2025 - 07:56
Brazilian president underlines need to reduce emissions as Turkey set to host next year’s summit
Guteress has told delegates that “communities on the frontlines are watching too” as he reminds them of flooded homes, failed harvests and lost livelihoods.
“Please engage in good faith to reach ambitious compromise,” he pleaded. “1.5c must be your only red line. This is the hour for leadership. Be bold. Follow the science. Put people before profit and please keep your eyes on the finish line.
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11/20/2025 - 06:40
The reason for the disappearance of Lac Rouge in Quebec, Canada, is not confirmed, but the trigger may have been a combination of heavy rainfall and wildfires having rendered the surrounding soil more water-repellent.
Tree root systems allow for greater water retention, meaning soil is able to absorb more water as snow melts in spring. Nicolas Mainville, the conservation and climate director at Snap Quebec, said: 'Flying over the area reveals how huge swathes of forest have been completely removed by salvage logging and post-fire scarification.
'The forest is fragile. It is time to better protect the land'
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11/20/2025 - 06:00
Experts fear plan, one of many attempts Trump’s made to dismantle wildlife protection, will speed up extinction crisis
The Trump administration presented a new plan to roll back regulations in the Endangered Species Act (ESA) on Wednesday, a move experts fear will accelerate the extinction crisis if adopted.
The proposed changes would allow the federal government more power to weigh economic impact against habitat designations, remove safeguards against future events – including the impacts from the climate crisis – and rescind the “blanket rule” that automatically grants threatened species the same protections as those designated as endangered.
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11/20/2025 - 05:43
It’s a climate-vulnerable nation, while also being the world’s sixth-largest greenhouse-gas emitter. Global investment in climate action is vital
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11/20/2025 - 05:00
Study finds rising seas could flood facilities handling waste, sewage, and oil and gas – and coastal states most at risk
More than 5,500 toxic sites nationwide could face coastal flooding by 2100 due to rising sea levels, according to new research.
The study, published on Thursday in Nature Communications and led by scientists at the University of California, warns that if heat-trapping pollution continues unabated, rising seas will flood a wide range of hazardous facilities including those handling sewage, toxic waste, oil and gas, as well as other industrial pollutants.
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11/20/2025 - 05:00
Researchers in British Columbia catch sea wolves in the act after placing camera to solve mystery of damaged traps
The clues read like something from mystery novel: crab traps, suspiciously hauled ashore by unseen hands, had been damaged by baffling teeth marks. The bait inside was missing.
The question for researchers in the remote corner of British Columbia was: whodunnit? As with many crimes of opportunity in the modern era, the culprit was unmasked by a remote camera.
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11/20/2025 - 04:00
Sussan Ley’s offer allows a clear path to pass laws to rewrite Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act in final sitting week
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The Coalition has offered to help Labor rush through new nature laws if it agrees to gut environment protection, challenging Labor to side with business interests over green groups to implement the long-awaited changes.
Environmental lawyers are urging the government against further weakening already flawed laws at the “behest of industry”.
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11/20/2025 - 02:16
While the outcome is a let down for those who want Australia to do better on climate, Chris Bowen looks set to play a pivotal role in the UN talks
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Ouch. From one perspective, Australia’s long-running bid to host the Cop31 UN climate conference next year has ended in clear failure.
It campaigned for more than three years for the right to put on the world’s biggest climate summit and green trade fair, which would have brought tens of thousands of people to the South Australian capital of Adelaide next November.
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11/20/2025 - 00:00
Scientists discover thousands of sea creatures have made their homes amid the detritus of abandoned second world war munitions off the coast of Germany
In the brackish waters off the German coast lies a wasteland of Nazi bombs, torpedo heads and mines. Thrown off barges at the end of the second world war and forgotten about, thousands of munitions have become matted together over the years. They form a rusting carpet on the shallow, muddy seafloor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western tip of the Baltic Sea.
Over the decades, the Nazi arsenal was ignored and forgotten about. A growing number of tourists flocked to the sandy beaches and calm waters for jetskiing, kite surfing and amusement parks. Beneath the surface, the weapons decayed.
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