For the first time, the long-term outlook for the Great Barrier Reef has been downgraded from “poor” to “very poor” by the federal government’s five-year reef report. The evidence-based report is written by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, and reviewed and released by the federal Environment Minister. The report said climate change is escalating and is the …

Labor will set a national electric vehicles target of 50% new car sales by 2030, and 50% for the government fleet by 2025, as well as allowing business to deduct a 20% depreciation for private fleet EVs valued at more than $20,000, as part of its climate change policy to be unveiled on Monday. Bill Shorten will also flag a …

The Japanese Government has confirmed it will restart commercial whaling in July, exiting the International Whaling Commission (IWC). It will stop its so-called scientific whaling in the Antarctic Ocean, and only fish in seas near Japan and the country’s exclusive economic zone. Japan has long been fed up with the deadlock at the IWC, with pro- and anti-whaling nations unable …

Sir David Attenborough says the “collapse of our civilisations and the extinction of much of the natural world is on the horizon” unless urgent action is taken against global warming. The 92-year-old famed British naturalist and BBC presenter blamed humans for the, “man-made disaster of global scale, our greatest threat in thousands of years”. “The world’s people have spoken, their …

Global efforts to tackle climate change are way off track says the UN, as it details the first rise in CO2 emissions in four years. The emissions gap report says that economic growth is responsible for a rise in 2017 while national efforts to cut carbon have faltered. To meet the goals of the Paris climate pact, the study says …

Prolonged ocean warming events, known as marine heatwaves, take a significant toll on the complex ecosystem of the Great Barrier Reef. This is according to a new study on the impacts of the 2016 marine heatwave, published in Nature. In surveying the 3,863 individual reefs that make up the system off Australia’s north-east coast, scientists found that 29% of communities …

When Mandelena became a mother, she was only 16 years old. During the prolonged dry season in Gwor County, South Sudan over the last two years, Mandelena and her family have been able to eat only one meal per day. In her community, crops are failing, cattle are dying and children are dropping out of school because of hunger. Women …

NSW Environment Minister Gabrielle Upton was warned by her own department that an easing of land-clearing codes could trigger a 45 per cent jump in the rate of native vegetation destruction on farms. Advice by the Office of Environment & Heritage (OEH) dated August 25, 2017 – just as the minister was signing off on an overhaul of the state’s …

THE National Parks Association (NPA) of NSW says the North Coast koala population has halved in the past 20 years and will fall further with the signing of land clearing laws. NPA chief executive Alix Goodwin urged the protection of wildlife ecosystems and koala habitat on public land. She also said Freedom Of Information documents showed Environment Minister Gabrielle Upton …

The final stages of a planned housing development on (Lot 612) Black Head Road, Hallidays Point has been referred to the Department of Planning and Environment. Located adjacent to Tallwoods Village, the 17 hectare mainly cleared site has been used for small scale grazing activities. A wetland on the north-eastern corner of the site would be included in a conservation …