Amu Coal a Kenyan and Chinese consortium is set to build a coal plant in an area untouched by industrial development. The emissions alone will double the country’s energy sector's CO2 emissions.
Mining companies are keen to get to work in underdeveloped, deeply rural parts of South Africa.
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Mining proposals are often hugely controversial in South Africa and can even lead to violence. Better strategic assessments based on participation and precaution would help.
The Green Growth Plan for Perth represents the first strategic environmental assessment of a whole city in Australia.
Richard Wainwright/AAP
With a strategic plan adopted, it not only shows where development should be avoided but clears the way for development in other areas. So Perth needs to get it right.
Many of Australia’s mines haven’t been cleaned up as thoroughly as they should have been.
CSIRO/Wikimedia Commons
Rehabilitating old mines is a crucial responsibility for the industry. But many Australian mine sites have been simply left alone or left for the taxpayer to fix.
Movie sets- like this Hobbiton Village from Lord of the Rings- can transform natural landscapes into magical sets.
Alastair Bull/AAP
Wandering around Australia, you might want to watch your step — the country currently has more than 50,000 abandoned mines. Some represent a significant threat from contamination; others may pose safety…
Part of Shoalwater Bay in Queensland, where the federal government blocked a major new coal port in 2008 over its “clearly unacceptable” environmental impacts".
Daniel E. Smith/Wikimedia Commons
Deep cuts to environmental programs and staff predicted in today’s federal budget aren’t the only “green” cuts that Australians should be concerned about. The federal government is currently holding an…
A report criticising government oversight of a major Gladstone harbour dredging project has warned against cutting resources for environmental monitoring and compliance.
Flickr/GreensMPs
A long-awaited report on environmental failures at the biggest port along the Great Barrier Reef coastline and today’s federal budget may not seem connected – but if you read the report, it’s clear just…
Four out of five Australians live within 50 kilometres of the coast – but expanding cities are taking a toll on our environment.
Paul Boyce/Flickr
In the lead-up to the budget, the story of crisis has been hammered home, but there’s more to a country than its structural deficit. So how is Australia doing overall? In this special series, ten writers…
Australia’s environmental laws are there to protect places like the Great Barrier Reef.
Flickr/eutrophication&hypoxia
The new Federal Government has approved a broad framework for achieving a “one-stop-shop” that will hand to state and territory governments the final decisions on projects assessed under Australia’s main…
Port developments shouldn’t be assessed individually.
AAP Image/Dave Hunt
The Queensland and Australian government’s draft strategic assessment of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area has been released today. The strategic assessment was prompted by the 2012 UNESCO-IUCN…
Many coal and CSG projects will affect groundwater, much of which is already in use.
Flickr/rhondda.p
New environment minister Greg Hunt recently announced 50 large coal and coal seam gas developments to be pushed through Australia’s environmental approval process, including assessment under the new federal…
The Franklin River in Tasmania, site of the landmark decision by the Commonwealth to stop a state-proposed dam.
Flickr/Two Big Paws
The Commonwealth will not delegate to the states decisions under its national environmental laws in which the states have a “conflict of interest”. Federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt confirmed this…
Queensland’s groundwater is vital to the continued success of its agriculture.
Brian Yap
Mine operators have proposed nine major new coal mines for the Galilee Basin in central Queensland. Those proposals currently being assessed by the Queensland government could significantly impact water…
Tony Abbott might think his approvals plan will simplify things, but it will unleash new complications.
AAP Image/Lukas Coch
While the political focus in Australia was on the Labor Party leadership challenge, the Opposition released its policy for “a one-stop-shop for environmental approvals”. The policy claims that handing…
The lack of transparency for the economic modelling of the Galilee Coal Project means the public must rely on the word of Waratah Coal.
AAP Image/Lukas Coch
Clive Palmer’s Waratah Coal claims its Galilee Coal Project, which will create four underground mines, two open-cut mines, and 468 kilometres of railway line in central Queensland, will bring economic…
Water is in short supply and high demand in Australia: who should have the final say on its use?
The release of a Senate report into a Commonwealth water trigger marks another chapter in a debate that has simmered and bubbled for 30 years in Australia. The report recommends that the main Commonwealth…
There has been an acceleration in the number of coal seam gas and mining proposals approved in Australia. Since 2010, eight projects have been given the green light in Queensland alone. All projects have…
Take care! The precautionary principle can only go so far without data to rely on.
Jeremy Buckingham
Yesterday, the Federal government issued new recommendations for methods to estimate emissions from conventional gas and from coal seam gas production. So what did we learn? The proposals seek to refine…