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The rise would end three years of flat carbon emissions – a ‘huge leap backward’ say some scientists, while others say the longer term trend is more hopeful

The burning of fossil fuels around the world is set to hit a record high in 2017, climate scientists have warned, following three years of flat growth that raised hopes that a peak in global emissions had been reached.

The expected jump in the carbon emissions that drive global warming is a “giant leap backwards for humankind”, according to some scientists. However, other experts said they were not alarmed, saying fluctuations in emissions are to be expected and that big polluters such as China are acting to cut emissions.

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Uptick in coal use in China sees global CO2 emissions projected to rise after years of little or no growth.

The two draft savanna fire management methods have been released for public consultation. Consultation period closes 27 November 2017.

St Mary’s Island, Northumberland Children with fluorescent nets peer into plastic buckets; their cries of excitement echoed by the piping of seabirds

Heading south on the coastal path, we leave Old Hartley village, drawn magnetically by St Mary’s Island with its tall white lighthouse. The sea is a muted grey, with two vast container ships at rest near its meeting with a paler sky.

The footpath skirts a tufty hillock where a kestrel hovers over rough grass, fenced off from the path by chestnut paling. I catch the medicinal scent of mugwort, its glaucous leaves curling and turning winter brown. The scrubby clifftops are a tangle of rose briars and brambles, safe thickets for stonechat and wren. Amongst the windblown tussocks are seedheads of wild carrot, yarrow and knapweed, with late flowers of red clover.

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Queensland energy politics has something for everyone – including a new coal plant – but bookmakers are backing the state Labor. Meanwhile, on the NEM...

One of two wind turbines that help to power Australia's Mawson research station in Antarctica has partially collapsed.

ESCO Pacific's proposed 60MW Mirani Solar Farm has failed to win approval from the local council, after strong opposition from local sugar can growers.

Medibank’s announcement it will divest tens of millions of dollars from fossil fuels due to the ‘health effects of climate change’ has been welcomed by environmental finance group Market Forces.

South Australia now has access to an additional 276 MW of electricity generation, with the state’s new power plant installed in time for the warmer summer months.

A new research paper into the health impacts of wind farms has raised serious concerns over academic credibility.

Australia’s largest private health insurer says it ‘acknowledges the science of climate change and the impacts on human health’

Australia’s largest private health insurer, Medibank, will shed tens of millions of dollars in fossil-fuel investments because of the effects of climate change on human health.

In a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange before its annual general meeting in Melbourne on Monday, its chair, Elizabeth Alexander, said the company would move to low-carbon investments “in line with our commitment to the health and wellbeing of our customers”.

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Labor commits to "at least" 50% renewables by 2030, and promises $50m for first large scale solar tower and storage plant. Premier hails technologies that can power Queensland 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

CWP Renewables proposes 250MW solar tower and storage project near Townsville, while SolarReserve looking at six different projects in Queensland.

Making a global transition to 100% renewable electricity grid has long been a dream of many, and new research shows it is a viable reality.

The more we look at the NEG, the more bizarre it gets. And it seems disrespectful, or even arrogant, of the ESB to think an overnight thought bubble is going to be superior to carefully developed process in overseas markets.

Leading Australian impact fund manager Impact Investment Group is proud to announce the appointment of Daniel Madhavan as Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

Foodbanks were originally established as a temporary measure to alleviate food insecurity. But have they become an excuse for governments not to deal properly with the problem? Nick Rose, Lecturer, William Angliss Institute Susan Booth, Casual Academic, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

A small plane entering the airspace had delayed Saturday's launch from Virginia in the US.

Notification of planned clearing is up 30% in the past year compared with the previous three-year average

A dramatic land-clearing surge in Queensland could turn into a “tsunami” in the coming year, say conservationists, the rate of notifications of planned clearing rising 30% in the past year compared with the previous three-year average.

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Lincoln Gap wind project to add "unsubsidised" battery storage - the third wind farm to commit to storage in South Australia in recent months.