Australia projected to miss 2035 emissions reduction target ‘by a country mile’ unless it ramps up climate policies

Big day.

The rewriting of Australia’s nature laws comes as a relief, yet I can’t help feel a sense of foreboding. By Georgina Woods

First take on EPBC amendments in the compromise deal struck to get it passed Justine Bell-James, @euanritchie.bsky.social, @drphilmccormack.bsky.social & me in @aunz.theconversation.com #NativeForestLogging #MinisterialDiscretion #UnacceptableImpacts #PayToDestroy #NationalEnvironmentalStandards

Quick explainer on some of the main features of the new nature laws, noting some details remain to be seen

With Lisa Cox's years of detailed investigations & reporting, there's ZERO excuse to NOT KNOW the many & varied failures of NSW's biodiversity offset scheme Choosing to repeat these mistakes is contempt of public interest biodiversity policy #EPBC #BiodiversityOffsets #PayToDestroy

The Albanese government’s nature reforms would change biodiversity offsets policy, including by setting up a “restoration contributions” fund. Guardian Australia reporting exposed major failures with a similar scheme in NSW. Experts are warning the federal plan could repeat those mistakes

Oil and gas giant Inpex has proposed Australia’s largest carbon capture facility in waters off the Northern Territory. By @petrastock.bsky.social

Back from leave with some analysis of the government’s nature legislation

One postmortem shows one of the koalas had a joey when she was translocated. The joey was found dead in her pouch during a health check after the first koala deaths in April but the adult female was re-released. She was found on the ground in the forest in late May and died on the way to the vet.

Exclusive: The NSW government rejected advice from an expert scientific panel before it attempted a failed reintroduction of koalas to a forest in the state’s south. 8 out of 13 koalas died, one more than the govt claimed, with postmortems showing emaciation and “undernutrition”.

‘Baudin’s or bauxite?’ Stark warning black cockatoo won’t survive mining expansion

‘So tiny and so vulnerable’: what chance will one of Australia’s smallest birds have against a rocket launchpad? by @lisacox.bsky.social #birdoftheyear #birds www.theguardian.com/environment/...

The federal environment minister has conceded that successive governments acted unlawfully when they failed to create mandatory recovery plans for native species threatened with extinction

The Minns government has confirmed its long-awaited great koala national park, announcing it will add 176,000 hectares of forest to existing reserves in mid-north New South Wales to create one of the largest national parks in the state and protect more than 12,000 koalas.

The head of the Western Australian Museum has told staff that burning fossil fuels is something “almost all of us are guilty of in one way or another” in an email defending the institution’s renewed research partnership with Woodside.

Top 5 stories on Guardian Aus this morn are environment and climate related. To mark this occasion, a thread.

Environment watchdog buried report on lead in children’s blood to placate mining companies, emails show. By @natashamay.bsky.social

Forest and woodland across an area more than 1,000 times the size of the Sydney CBD was bulldozed in Queensland in 2022-23, newly published figures show - @lisacox.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

Minns government’s environmental integrity condemned as ‘nonexistent’ amid 40% surge in land clearing - by @lisacox.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

In the first three weeks of 2025-26, only 65.2% of services on the main intercity lines were on time. Resigned travellers say they now just expect their train to be late.” I commute on the Central Coast line and keep a diary of all the delays. Glad this is getting some attention.

Australia warned it could face legal action over ‘wrongful’ fossil fuel actions after landmark climate ruling from world’s top court

The New South Wales court of appeal has overturned the approval of the largest coalmine expansion in the state after a community environment group successfully argued the planning commission failed to consider the impact of all of the project’s greenhouse gas emissions.

Significant court decision 1 www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Effects of marine heatwave driving ‘foreseeable’ SA algal bloom could rival black summer fires, scientists warn

In delivering the decision, Justice Michael Wigney noted: “There could be little if any doubt that the Torres Strait Islands and their inhabitants face a bleak future if urgent action is not taken.”

Report by @lisacox.bsky.social on the Torres Strait climate case judgment

An attempt by the New South Wales government to reintroduce koalas to a forest in the state’s far south has failed after more than half of the moved animals died, including two with signs of septicaemia, and the remaining marsupials were taken into care.

Calls for ‘urgent’ investigation into lobbying activities of fracking advocate and gas company

Off to Nipaluna (Hobart) to present a dingo 🐾 collaboration with dear friend and cartoon-artist legend, @jessharwoodart.bsky.social, at the International Environmental Communication Association’s 18th Biennial Conference on Communication and Environment. #COCE2025

Exclusive: Leaked documents claim consulting firm promised private deals, gathered signatures and hired land council members to smooth way for Northern Territory gas sales

Some Guardian Aus environment reporting this weekend

‘It was our hope spot’: scientists heartbroken as pristine coral gardens hit by Western Australia’s worst bleaching event

It’s me. We’re so sick of being gaslit. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Labor accused of ‘gaslighting’ Australians on climate crisis as fossil fuel projects keep getting approved

Forestry agency should be shut down for repeatedly breaking law, critics argue

Leaked document shows two threatened species could be wiped out at Middle Arm development site

YouTube's CEO personally lobbied the communications minister less than two days before the platform was given an exemption from the under 16s social media ban, documents I obtained reveal. www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

‘As if a silent snowfall has descended’: more than 80% of the world’s reefs hit by historic bleaching event

Santos wins final approval for Barossa gas project as environment advocates condemn ‘climate bomb’

Endangered koalas and the ecologist documenting their extinction – video www.theguardian.com/environment/...

It takes a community to help save #threatenedspecies. What a privilege to be part of. #landcare #turtle #conservation

Endangered bum-breathing turtles and the town working to save them – video

The fifth video in our Last Chance series about the extinction crisis is about the critically endangered Mary River turtle and a rescue mission after unusual flooding during the turtle’s breeding season. @marilynjc.bsky.social

‘Endearing and fascinating’ yellow-bellied glider faces ‘inexorable slide’ into extinction

Today’s video in our Last Chance series is in the Victorian high country: Bogong moths and the traditional owners scaling mountains to track them – video

When sadness strikes I remember I’m not alone in loving the wild boundless beauty of the living world. By @georgefwooods.bsky.social

The far eastern curlew can fly 10,000km non-stop – but may not be able to escape a $1bn government-funded development

The next video in our Last Chance nature series is about the critically endangered far-eastern curlew and the people working to protect this amazing migratory shorebird’s coastal habitat at Darwin harbour