The Albanese government has just caved in to pressure from mining executives. As a result, the long-promised reformed nature laws and national independent environment watchdog will not be legislated this term of government. It’s a bitterly disappointing back down where our wildlife, natural environment and communities stand to lose most.
A Decision with Real Consequence for Nature
Australia has one of the worst deforestation rates in the world. We are in the middle of an extinction crisis, with iconic species like the koala pushed to the brink of local extinction in Queensland and New South Wales.
Labor’s positive plan was supposed to address this accelerating environmental decline. It was meant to provide better protection for wildlife and forests and include an independent environment watchdog with real power to hold corporations accountable for environmental destruction.
This was based on years of discussion, consultation and an independent review conducted way back in 2020 that uncovered how broken our national system of environmental protection really is.
Yet instead of following through on these desperately needed nature law reforms, the government has walked away, at least for this term.
This decision follows heavy lobbying from fossil fuel and mining corporations as well as political pressure from Western Australia’s Premier Roger Cook who faces his own re-election in March this year.
A Compromise Deal Ignored
The government needed the votes of a combination of the Greens and independent Senators to get its proposed legislation through parliament. The legislation had already passed the lower house last year and negotiations had apparently led to a compromise deal.
But this was quashed following a concerted campaign from mining and fossil fuel interests, particularly in Western Australia.
A last ditch attempt to get this critical deal done in early February was made over the past week in the hope these reforms could finally be legislated just before the next election. But once again vested interests stood in the way and the reforms have been dumped for this term of government.
The government is now heading into an election without delivering on this critical promise.
“Rather than standing up for nature and wildlife, Prime Minister Albanese and WA Premier Roger Cook have caved to big fossil fuel and mining executives railing against environmental protection in the interest of profits. The outcome will be devastating — more forest and habitat destruction, more wildlife killed, and a diminished natural environment for all Australians.”
– Glenn Walker, Head of Nature at Greenpeace Australia Pacific
Australians Want Real Environmental Protections
Australians care deeply about nature. We love our beaches, forests, and unique wildlife. We don’t want to see koalas driven to extinction or ancient forests bulldozed for logging or mining projects.
The government cannot afford to ignore the public’s demand for real action on nature protection.
A recent poll showed that 75% of Australians support strengthening national environmental law to protect nature, with just 4% opposing and the rest undecided.
As we head rapidly towards another federal election, it’s time all political parties acted on the strong public support and demand for nature laws that work.
What You Can Do
Together, we won’t let fossil fuel and mining companies dictate Australia’s nature laws.
We’re demanding that all parties make these critical nature law reforms a priority in the first 100 days of parliament.
Here’s how you can take action:
- Add your name to our petition calling on the Albanese government to implement strong nature protection laws that will end Australia’s deforestation crisis
- Contact your local MP and demand they stand up for nature, not corporate polluters.
Consumers remain vulnerable to price spikes despite record domestic oil and gas production. But experts doubt the crisis will boost clean energy, absent strong policy.
In President Donald Trump’s telling, the United States has fuel enough to hover above the chaos that his attack on Iran has triggered in global energy markets.
Iran Energy Shock Tests Limits of Trump’s Vision of US Energy Dominance
A World War II-era policy is stopping old coal plants from closing, despite high costs and the wishes of their owners.
At one time, the U.S. electricity grid ran mostly on coal.
Italy has delayed the permanent closure of its four coal-fired power plants to 2038, after the war in the Middle East caused the cost of producing electricity from gas to spike.
The government inserted the measure into a broader bill aimed at addressing the energy crisis. Parliament approved the legislation on Wednesday after the government tied it to a confidence vote, meaning that losing the vote would see the right-wing coalition government collapse.
The decision marks a climbdown from a pledge first made under centre-left Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni in 2017 to phase out coal by 2025 on the mainland and by 2028 on the island of Sardinia.
The Mediterranean island’s 1.5 million people remain heavily dependent on coal for electricity due to limited grid connections with the European mainland and a slow rollout of renewable energy.
Riccardo Molinari, a member of Parliament for the governing coalition Lega party, which championed the amendment, said the plants could be kept open as a “strategic reserve”, which can be turned on if needed.
“Unnecessary” decision
But analysts say the practical impact of the move is likely to be limited. Luca Bergamaschi, executive director of Italian climate think tank ECCO, described the extension as “largely symbolic”.
“Keeping them open will not materially affect electricity prices, which are driven by gas – for most hours of the day – and EU market rules,” he told Climate Home News. “The decision sends a negative signal but we don’t expect any meaningful impact on prices or emissions, which shows how unnecessary this is”.
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Coal has already been largely phased out of Italy’s power mix. Generation from coal has fallen over 90% since 2012 and accounted for less than 2% of electricity production last year, almost entirely in Sardinia.
In 2024, Italy got about half of its electricity from gas and half from clean sources like hydropower, solar and wind.
Coal plants on stand-by
Italy has four coal-fired power plants left but only two, both in Sardinia, are still producing electricity.
The other two are run by the country’s largest utility Enel, in Brindisi and Civitavecchia. They were shut down at the end of last year after they became uneconomic.
The company had planned to begin decommissioning them, but the government intervened at the last minute, requiring them to remain on standby in case of an energy crisis.
Gilberto Pichetto Fratin, Italy’s Minister of Environment and Energy Security, said at the end of March that these two power plants could be switched back on “right away, with a government decree”.
“If the price of gas exceeds 70 euros per megawatt hour, producing with coal would be convenient,” he told Italian newspaper Il Corriere della Sera.
European gas prices spiked to just below that level in mid-March as the Iran war escalated, but have since come down to around 50 euros per megawatt hour.
Coal surge in Asia
Italy’s move comes amid a broader, though limited, shift back towards coal in some parts of the world as countries respond to restricted gas supply. Germany slightly increased coal-fired generation in March and has considered reactivating idle plants as a precaution.
Outside Europe, the trend has been more pronounced. Several Asian countries heavily exposed to disruptions in Gulf gas supplies have increased coal use.
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Japan has allowed its coal power plants to operate at a higher rate to reduce the need for liquified natural gas (LNG). Bangladesh, Thailand and the Philippines have also increased electricity generation from coal since the start of the conflict in the Middle East.
But analysis from Zero Carbon Analytics suggested that producing electricity from solar is cheaper than coal in most south-east Asian countries.
“Energy security in Southeast Asia will not come from switching between fossil fuels,” Amy Kong added. “It will come from reducing dependence on them altogether.”
The post Italy pushes coal exit back after gas prices rise appeared first on Climate Home News.
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