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IMF says fossil fuel subsidies in Australia amount to nearly $1,200 per person, or a total of $29 billion.

The post Global fossil fuel subsidies reach $5.2 trillion, and $29 billion in Australia appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Scott Morrison says government took reef ‘off the endangered list’ – despite no such list existing

Scott Morrison has credited his government as having “saved” the Great Barrier Reef, a claim rejected as “ridiculous” by scientists, environment groups and the Queensland government.

At the Liberal party’s campaign launch in Melbourne on Sunday, Morrison thanked past environment ministers Greg Hunt and Josh Frydenberg for their work on reef issues.

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If climate action from every country was as inadequate as Australia’s, the world would be on track for 4°C warming.

The post Australia’s major parties’ climate policies side-by-side appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Neoen's 100MW Numurkah solar farm, which will help power Sanjeev Gupta's Laverton steel works, and Melbourne's trams, starts production.

The post Numurkah solar farm, to help power steel works, Melbourne trams, begins production appeared first on RenewEconomy.

One thing I can tell you is that a snail's bottom is right over its head. Bill Bateman, Associate professor, Curtin University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

The Faroe Islands declared themselves shut down as foreign volunteers came to take part in sustainable tourism.

Social researcher Rebecca Huntley and economist Matthew Warren say Australians have come to realise that it's time to act on climate change.

Part of Abokado’s spring menu, insects claimed to be healthy and sustainable food source

It brings a whole new meaning to grabbing some grub for lunch. Roasted crickets are to go on sale this week at outlets of a London snack brand – the first time in the UK edible insects will appear on the regular daily menu at a takeaway food chain.

The crunchy whole crickets, from Eat Grub, will be available in Abokado shops across London from Tuesday as part of the chain’s new spring menu. The sweet chilli and lime-flavoured snack will join its customisable range of toppings for fresh salads, poke bowls and hotpots, and also be available as bagged snacks alongside nuts, edamame and popcorn.

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The Apollo 11 landing: What did it take to pull off one of the greatest achievements in human history?

Here's how the coalition, Labor and the Greens stack up against the Paris targets. Kate Dooley, Research fellow, Climate and Energy College, University of Melbourne Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Simply giving the Commonwealth more power won't fix the Murray-Darling Basin crisis. Adam Webster, Departmental Lecturer in Law and Public Policy, Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

An elephant calf was coaxed out of Dipor Bil, northern India, after it became separated from its mother. Officials managed to encourage the elephant out of the lake and into the safety of the forest, although it had yet to be reunited with its mother

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UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urges world leaders to follow science advice on climate change.

AEMO confirms big de-ratings for some wind and solar farms, but the news is not so bad for some installations that get a reprieve after new calculations were made.

The post AEMO confirms big de-ratings for wind and solar farms, reprieve for some appeared first on RenewEconomy.

A quick tour of the big stores shows they could do much more to cut out plastic

Craig Curtis, the new president of the Recycling Association, is staring with exasperation at the aisle full of salad leaves. He presses a bag of rocket.

“Do you hear that?” he says, as the plastic crackles. “That’s laminated. One sort of plastic on the outside, and a totally different sort on the other.” He shakes his head at the supermarket display. “You can’t recycle it. It just goes into waste. If these things were made from one polymer, we could recycle all of it.”

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Mass-breeding of the highly intelligent creatures is ecologically unjustified, a new study says

Plans to create octopus farms in coastal waters round the world have been denounced by an international group of researchers. They say the move is ethically inexcusable and environmentally dangerous, and have called on private companies, academic institutions and governments to block funding for these ventures.

The researchers say that farming octopuses would require the catching of vast amounts of fish and shellfish to feed them, putting further pressure on the planet’s already threatened marine livestock.

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Containers holding more than 1,600 of endangered species’ eggs placed in remote areas of Mt Kosciuszko national park

A few days before the United Nations released a report warning that 1 million species, including 40% of all amphibians, could become extinct within decades, staff from Melbourne zoo were nursing chilled containers of frogs’ eggs to be taken to remote areas of sphagnum bog in the Mt Kosciuszko national park.

The containers held 1,673 fertilised eggs of the critically endangered southern corroboree frog, a species near the top of Australia’s extinction watchlist.

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Officials in north-east India guided an elephant calf to safety, after it became separated from its mother.

This election campaign has involved more than political candidates and parties on the hustings. We’ve seen grassroots community groups, political activist organisations and social media players getting involved too. But, just how influential are they? And is there enough scrutiny on them? Katherine Gregory investigates.