In 2026, the dangers of fossil fuel dependence have been laid bare like never before. The illegal invasion of Iran has brought pain and destruction to millions across the Middle East and triggered a global energy crisis impacting us all. Communities in the Pacific have been hit especially hard by rising fuel prices, and Australians have seen their cost-of-living woes deepen.
Such moments of crisis and upheaval can lead to positive transformation. But only when leaders act with courage and foresight.
There is no clearer statement of a government’s plans and priorities for the nation than its budget — how it plans to raise money, and what services, communities, and industries it will invest in.
As we count down the days to the 2026-27 Federal Budget, will the Albanese Government deliver a budget for our times? One that starts breaking the shackles of fossil fuels, accelerates the shift to clean energy, protects nature, and sees us work together with other countries towards a safer future for all? Or one that doubles down on coal and gas, locks in more climate chaos, and keeps us beholden to the whims of tyrants and billionaires.
Here’s what we think the moment demands, and what we’ll be looking out for when Treasurer Jim Chalmers steps up to the dispatch box on 12 May.
1. Stop fuelling the fire
2. Make big polluters pay
3. Support everyone to be part of the solution
4. Build the industries of the future
5. Build community resilience
6. Be a better neighbour
7. Protect nature
1. Stop fuelling the fire
In mid-April, Pacific governments and civil society met to redouble their efforts towards a Fossil Fuel Free Pacific. Moving beyond coal, oil and gas is fundamental to limiting warming to 1.5°C — a survival line for vulnerable communities and ecosystems. And as our Head of Pacific, Shiva Gounden, explained, it is “also a path of liberation that frees us from expensive, extractive and polluting fossil fuel imports and uplifts our communities”.
Pacific countries are at the forefront of growing global momentum towards a just transition away from fossil fuels, and it is way past time for Australia to get with the program. It is no longer a question of whether fossil fuel extraction will end, but whether that end will be appropriately managed and see communities supported through the transition, or whether it will be chaotic and disruptive.
So will this budget support the transition away from fossil fuels, or will it continue to prop up coal and gas?
When it comes to sensible moves the government can make right now, one stands out as a genuine low hanging fruit. Mining companies get a full rebate of the excise (or tax) that the rest of us pay on diesel fuel. This lowers their operating costs and acts as a large, ongoing subsidy on fossil fuel production — to the tune of $11 billion a year!
Greenpeace has long called for coal and gas companies to be removed from this outdated scheme, and for the billions in savings to be used to support the clean energy transition and to assist communities with adapting to the impacts of climate change. Will we see the government finally make this long overdue change, or will it once again cave to the fossil fuel lobby?
2. Make big polluters pay
While our communities continue to suffer the escalating costs of climate-fuelled disasters, our Government continues to support a massive expansion of Australia’s export gas industry. Gas is a dangerous fossil fuel, with every tonne of Australian gas adding to the global heating that endangers us all.
Moreover, companies like Santos and Woodside pay very little tax for the privilege of digging up and selling Australians’ natural endowment of fossil gas. Remarkably, the Government currently raises more tax from beer than from the Petroleum Resource Rent Tax (PRRT) — the main tax on gas profits.
Momentum has been building to replace or supplement the PRRT with a 25% tax on gas exports. This could raise up to $17 billion a year — funds that, like savings from removing the diesel tax rebate for coal and gas companies, could be spent on supporting the clean energy transition and assisting communities with adapting to worsening fires, floods, heatwaves and other impacts of climate change.
As politicians arrive in Canberra for budget week, they will be confronted by billboards calling for a fair tax on gas exports. The push now has the support of dozens of organisations and a growing number of politicians. Let’s hope the Treasurer seizes this rare window for reform.
3. Support everyone to be part of the solution
As the price of petrol and diesel rises, electric vehicles (EVs) are helping people cut fuel use and save money. However, while EV sales have jumped since the invasion of Iran sent fuel prices rising, they still only make up a fraction of total new car sales. This budget should help more Australians switch to electric vehicles and, even more importantly, enable more Australians to get around by bike, on foot, and on public transport. This means maintaining the EV discount, investing in public and active transport, and removing tax breaks for fuel-hungry utes and vans.
Millions of Australians already enjoy the cost-saving benefits of rooftop solar, batteries, and getting off gas. This budget should enable more households, and in particular those on lower incomes, to access these benefits. This means maintaining the Cheaper Home Batteries Program, and building on the Household Energy Upgrades Fund.
4. Build the industries of the future
If we’re to transition away from fossil fuels, we need to be building the clean industries of the future.
No state is more pivotal to Australia’s energy and industrial transformation than Western Australia. The state has unrivaled potential for renewable energy development and for replacing fossil fuel exports with clean exports like green iron. Such industries offer Western Australia the promise of a vibrant economic future, and for Australia to play an outsized positive role in the world’s efforts to reduce emissions.
However, realising this potential will require focussed support from the Federal Government. Among other measures, Greenpeace has recommended establishing the Australasian Green Iron Corporation as a joint venture between the Australian and Western Australian governments, a key trading partner, a major iron ore miner and steel makers. This would unite these central players around the complex task of building a large-scale green iron industry, and unleash Western Australia’s potential as a green industrial powerhouse.
5. Build community resilience
Believe it or not, our Government continues to spend far more on subsidising fossil fuel production — and on clearing up after climate-fuelled disasters — than it does on helping communities and industries reduce disaster costs through practical, proven methods for building their resilience.
Last year, the Government estimated that the cost of recovery from disasters like the devastating 2022 east coast floods on 2019-20 fires will rise to $13.5 billion. For contrast, the Government’s Disaster Ready Fund – the main national source of funding for disaster resilience – invests just $200 million a year in grants to support disaster preparedness and resilience building. This is despite the Government’s own National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) estimating that for every dollar spent on disaster risk reduction, there is a $9.60 return on investment.
By redirecting funds currently spent on subsidising fossil fuel production, the Government can both stop incentivising climate destruction in the first place, and ensure that Australian communities and industries are better protected from worsening climate extremes.
No communities have more to lose from climate damage, or carry more knowledge of practical solutions, than Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The budget should include a dedicated First Nations climate adaptation fund, ensuring First Nations communities can develop solutions on their own terms, and access the support they need with adapting to extreme heat, coastal erosion and other escalating challenges.
6. Be a better neighbour
The global response to climate change depends on the adequate flow of support from developed economies like Australia to lower income nations with shifting to clean energy, adapting to the impacts of climate change, and addressing loss and damage.
Such support is vital to building trust and cooperation, reducing global emissions, and supporting regional and global security by enabling countries to transition away from fossil fuels and build greater resilience.
Despite its central leadership role in this year’s global climate negotiations, our Government is yet to announce its contribution to international climate finance for 2025-2030. Greenpeace recommends a commitment of $11 billion for this five year period, which is aligned with the global goal under the Paris Agreement to triple international climate finance from current levels.
This new commitment should include additional funding to address loss and damage from climate change and a substantial contribution to the Pacific Resilience Facility, ensuring support is accessible to countries and communities that need it most. It should also see Australia get firmly behind the vision of a Fossil Fuel Free Pacific.
7. Protect nature
There is no safe planet without protection of the ecosystems and biodiversity that sustain us and regulate our climate.
Last year the Parliament passed important and long overdue reforms to our national environment laws to ensure better protection for our forests and other critical ecosystems. However, the Government will need to provide sufficient funding to ensure the effective implementation of these reforms.
Greenpeace has recommended $500 million over four years to establish the National Environment Agency — the body responsible for enforcing and monitoring the new laws — and a further $50 million to Environment Information Australia for providing critical information and tools.
Further resourcing will also be required to fulfil the crucial goal of fully protecting 30% of Australian land and seas by 2030. This should include $1 billion towards ending deforestation by enabling farmers and loggers to retool away from destructive practices, $2 billion a year for restoring degraded lands, $5 billion for purchasing and creating new protected areas, and $200 million for expanding domestic and international marine protected areas.
Conclusion
This is not the first time that conflict overseas has triggered an energy crisis, or that a budget has been preceded by a summer of extreme weather disasters, highlighting the urgent need to phase out fossil fuels. What’s different in 2026 is the availability of solutions. Renewable energy is now cheaper and more accessible than ever before. Global momentum is firmly behind the transition away from fossil fuels. The Albanese Government, with its overwhelming majority, has the chance to set our nation up for the future, or keep us stranded in the past. Let’s hope it makes some smart choices.
The 2026 budget test: Will Australia break free from fossil fuels?
New York, United States, 21 May 2026 — The United Nations General Assembly voted with overwhelming support to adopt a landmark resolution led by Vanuatu and 12 other countries which will advance implementation of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) Advisory Opinion on climate change and state responsibility, today.
The resolution passed with 141 votes in favour, 8 against and 28 abstentions. Australia voted in favour of the resolution, welcoming the landmark ICJ advisory opinion and its constructive role in advancing global climate action, although stopped short of co-sponsoring the resolution.
The outcome formally reaffirms the Court’s findings and calls on governments to align their policies with their legal obligations to limit global warming to 1.5°C – including by delivering deep, rapid and sustained emissions cuts, regulating fossil fuel companies, and protecting the right to a healthy environment. The resolution also requests the UN Secretary-General submit a report in 2027 on how to advance compliance with all obligations in relation to the Court’s findings – ensuring that pressure and scrutiny on governments will be sustained to deliver their legal obligations.[1]
Shiva Gounden, Head of Pacific, Greenpeace Australia Pacific said: “The world has followed the Pacific’s lead. Vanuatu and Pacific nations have once again shaped the global climate agenda, turning the voices of frontline communities into international action.
“While it is positive that Australia voted in favour of the resolution, Australia should have gone much further to stand with its Pacific family by co-sponsoring the resolution. This would have been a more genuine show of support for Pacific leadership as Australia prepares to preside over COP31 negotiations, where it has promised to centre Pacific needs and priorities.
“Governments can no longer ignore their legal responsibilities while backing the expansion of the fossil fuel industry. Pacific communities have fought for this moment because we are already living with the consequences of the climate crisis, and we will continue fighting until there is a fast, fair and funded phase-out of fossil fuels. This outcome is for the realisation of human rights of current and future generations to experience a life of dignity and to stand proudly on the righteous legacies of the past.”
In July 2025, the ICJ issued an advisory opinion outlining that states have legal obligations under international law to take urgent, equitable action to protect the climate system, including through emissions reduction, international cooperation, holding corporate polluters to account, and preventing climate harm.[2]
The UNGA resolution is expected to strengthen the political and legal weight of the Advisory Opinion across international negotiations, national policymaking, and climate litigation, while increasing pressure on governments to align their actions with their obligation to limit global warming to 1.5°C.
-ENDS-
Notes
[1] Greenpeace Media statement: World’s highest court delivers historic protections for climate-impacted communities
[2] A Just Transition Away from Fossil Fuels: Greenpeace Policy Briefing
Media contact
Kate O’Callaghan on 0406 231 892 or kate.ocallaghan@greenpeace.org
UNGA heeds Pacific voices, backs world court on states’ climate obligations
The Turkish government and the International Renewable Energy Agency have called for a stronger global push to run vehicles, industry and buildings on electricity rather than fossil fuels, ahead of this year’s COP31 climate talks.
COP31 President Murat Kurum told the Copenhagen Climate Ministerial on Wednesday that governments should be “decarbonising the way we generate electricity, but also expanding electrification into every sphere of life”.
“We must make the technologies of the future accessible at scale – and we must ensure that no one is left behind,” he told the gathering of climate diplomats and ministers from around 40 countries in the Danish capital.
Kurum said that the percentage of final energy consumption which is met by electricity – the key metric of electrification, which is currently around 20% globally – should be increased “as much as we possibly can”.
The head of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), Francesco La Camera, also addressed the Copenhagen gathering. While his comments to ministers were not public, IRENA released a statement ahead of the talks calling for a goal to increase electricity’s share of final energy consumption to 35% by 2035.
The two officials did not reference the war with Iran and the price hikes in oil and gas as a result of related supply disruptions, but UN and other leaders have used this as an argument in favour of transitioning away from planet-heating fossil fuels towards clean, domestically produced renewables.
35 by 35 goal
“The world must adapt to a new energy reality,” La Camera said in the IRENA statement. “Beyond the goals of tripling renewables and doubling energy efficiency [by 2030] lies the wider challenge of transforming entire energy systems and reducing fossil fuel use across supply and demand. Electrification and fossil fuel phase-out are inseparable and must advance together.”
He said electrification, which can be achieved through technologies like electric heat pumps, vehicles and cookers, will reduce greenhouse gas emissions, enhance energy security and bolster economic competitiveness.
A new “transitioning away from fossil fuels” roadmap released by IRENA says this 35% by 2035 electrification goal is vital if the world is to “remain” on a pathway to limit global warming to 1.5C. Electrification should reach at least 50% by 2050, it adds.
-
Electric car sales race ahead in SE Asia and Latin America amid oil supply crisis
The energy squeeze caused by the Iran war is making the economics of electric cars more attractive, the International Energy Agency says -
Ukraine can help Europe meet its battery material needs, experts say
The country could contribute to the European Union’s efforts to reduce its dependence on China for graphite but the war poses major challenges -
UK halves Green Climate Fund contribution, as it spends more on security
After promising £1.6 billion to the UN’s flagship climate fund in 2023, the UK government has now said it will only hand over half as much
To enable this goal to be met, the amount of money invested in power grids each year should double from $0.5 trillion in 2025 to around $1 trillion each year until 2035. Significant investment in electricity storage and demand flexibility is also needed, the roadmap says.
Clémence Dubois, campaigns manager for green group 350.org, welcomed Kurum’s remarks but added that electrification and energy justice should be funded through large developed countries taxing the windfall profits of fossil fuel companies.
Collective goal or coalition?
It is not yet clear whether the Turkish government, or the Australian government which is tasked with leading the COP31 negotiations, will attempt to get all countries to agree to an electrification goal at November’s climate summit in Antalya.
If so, such a goal could be collectively endorsed by all nations in a COP decision, as with the COP28 targets to triple renewables capacity and double the rate of growth in energy efficiency, both by 2030. Where there is narrower support, other goals have been voluntarily launched at COPs, backed by coalitions of countries, including pledges to boost nuclear energy, biofuels and grid investment.
A source with knowledge of Türkiye’s priorities confirmed that electrification is important to the COP31 host, alongside energy storage, energy security, clean cooking and resilient and clean energy systems.
The post Electrification emerges as Turkish COP31 priority appeared first on Climate Home News.
Climate Change
Cropped 20 May 2026: Deforestation roadmap | Melanesian Ocean Summit | Returning pet parrots to the wild
We handpick and explain the most important stories at the intersection of climate, land, food and nature over the past fortnight.
This is an online version of Carbon Brief’s fortnightly Cropped email newsletter.
Subscribe for free here.
Key developments
Deforestation talks
COP30 ROADMAP: Brazil’s global roadmap away from deforestation will involve countries producing their own voluntary pathways to halt and reverse forest loss by 2030, according to a first outline covered by Climate Home News. At the COP30 climate talks in Belém last year, some 93 countries called for a deforestation “roadmap” to be part of the summit’s formal outcomes. Despite this, countries failed to agree to one – leading host nation Brazil to promise to bring forward a voluntary roadmap as a compromise.
FOREST FORUM: Speaking at the UN Forum on Forests earlier this month, Juliano Assunção, an advisor to the COP30 presidency on deforestation, presented a first outline of the roadmap, said Climate Home News. According to the publication, Assunção said the roadmap “will not prescribe a single model”, but would instead invite countries to convert their pledges “into forest roadmaps grounded on regional and national diagnosis”. Elsewhere at the forum, Indonesia announced carbon-offsetting plans involving the restoration of 12m hectares of degraded land, said Reuters.
GOALS REPORT: Amid the talks, the UN published its latest assessment on achieving six global forest goals for 2017-30, concluding that “progress is evident, but insufficient”. Down to Earth reported that, according to the report, the world remains off track on two of the “key” targets: ending deforestation and eliminating extreme poverty among forest-dependent populations. Sustainability magazine reported that the goals set a target of increasing global forest area by 3% by 2030, but that, in reality, forest area has declined by more than 40m hectares since 2015.
Melanesian Ocean Summit
SEA SOLIDARITY: The leaders of Papua New Guinea, Fiji and Vanuatu signed a declaration to establish the Melanesian Ocean Corridor of Reserves, reported the Pacific Islands News Association. The corridor will “establish joint border governance, enforcement and marine science frameworks” across five Pacific nations and territories, said the outlet. Vanuatu’s prime minister, Jotham Napat, told the Melanesian Ocean Summit that the corridor “reminds us that our solidarity, not the legacy of colonial rule, determines our future”, according to Vanuatu’s Daily Post.
SEA SOVEREIGNTY: Part of the Melanesian corridor is a new marine protected area the size of the UK, announced by Papua New Guinea at the summit, said Oceanographic magazine. The new MPA will “prohibit all fishing within its boundaries”, reported the outlet. Meanwhile, Tuvalu’s Post Courier reported that the country is “currently developing its first-ever national-security policy, which will place maritime conservation and management at the absolute centre of the country’s strategic architecture”. Prime minister Feleti Teo stated: “The ocean is our sovereignty.”
CONSIDER THE OCEAN: In a comment article in the journal npj Ocean Sustainability, Dr Carlos García-Soto from the Spanish National Research Council wrote that there is a “structural weakness” in UN climate processes. He noted that the final decision text from COP30 “omitted the ocean entirely”, despite the summit “deliver[ing] the strongest ocean-related initiatives ever presented at a UN climate conference”. García-Soto also outlined five key priorities for integrating ocean considerations into climate governance.
News and views
- CANADA OWN GOAL: The Canadian government has no plans to enshrine into law commitments meant to ensure the nation meets its international nature goals, despite hosting the pivotal COP15 biodiversity summit less than four years ago, said CBC News.
- CREDIT CHANGE: Brazil’s national monetary council has postponed a regulation that would have blocked farms involved in deforestation from receiving rural credits, reported Folha de São Paulo. The change occurs “following pressure from agribusiness groups to relax the rules”, said the outlet, and means the requirement will now not take effect until January 2027.
- SAND CRISIS: A growing global appetite for sand is outstripping demand and threatening ecosystems, according to a new UN report covered by Reuters.
- LAOS DAMMED: A natural world heritage site in northern Laos is being put at risk by a $3.5bn dam project, reported Nikkei Asia.
- RAPID RESPONSE: The European Commission released its fertiliser action plan to “provide rapid support to farmers…and prevent rising food prices” amid the conflict in the Middle East, said Agenzia Nova.
- MARSH REVIVAL: Rising water levels are “beginning to revive” southern Iraq’s Cibayish marshes following a years-long drought and “drawing buffalo herders and fishermen back to areas once abandoned”, said Reuters. The country’s water ministry was able to “release growing volumes” of water from reservoirs following heavy winter rains, added the newswire.
Spotlight
Returning pet parrots to the wild
This week, Carbon Brief visits a conservation project working to return former pet parrots to the wild in Colombia.
Beautiful feathers. The playfulness and intellect of a small child. On occasion, the ability to partake in some pleasant conversation.
Parrots have captured the attention of humans for centuries. But their unique qualities have also contributed to their decline in the wild.
Some 16m parrots were moved across borders to be sold as pets over 1975-2016, according to one study, making them the most internationally traded bird in the world.
In Colombia, the world’s most biodiverse country by area, the introduction of tougher laws in 2016 means keeping a wild animal as a pet is now viewed as a “crime against the environment”, punishable with monetary fines.
These stricter rules led to greater numbers of wild parrots being seized by the police and more people giving up their birds voluntarily.
But this clampdown created a new conundrum: What will the Colombian authorities do with their growing population of these, formerly pet, parrots?
A charity called Fundación Loros – “Parrot Foundation” in English – hopes to have the answer.
Parrot rehabilitation
The foundation is based on 33 hectares of tropical dry forest in Bolívar – around a 40-minute car ride from the popular tourist city of Cartagena on Colombia’s Caribbean coast.
The deafening screeches of parrots when entering through the site’s gates were impossible to ignore.
Inside, foundation guide Corina walked Carbon Brief through the various stages of pet parrot rehabilitation.
Former pet parrots that are released directly into the wild are unlikely to survive. This is because they often lack the necessary skills, such as how to find food or stay away from predators, including monkeys and coatis.
Parrots arriving at the foundation follow a seven-stage process.
First, they are checked over by a vet and given a tag, so they can be continuously monitored.
Following this, they are kept in a large enclosure and slowly reintroduced to the types of food they might encounter in the wild, including wild fruits and nuts.
After this, they undergo “flight training” – many of the parrots will have been kept in a small cage and never learned how to travel long distances. This involves workers encouraging the birds to fly greater distances in exchange for rewards.
They also join other birds for “flock cohesion” lessons. In the wild, parrots are highly social animals who rely on their group to survive and raise chicks.
Following these steps, parrots are taken deeper into the foundation’s forest reserve – away from loggers and poachers.
There, they spend some time in an enclosure getting acquainted with their new surroundings.
After this, the door to the cage is opened – allowing them to fly free, but return for shelter and food if they need. Eventually, the birds settle back into the wild.
Waiting list
In addition to their parrot rehabilitation programme, the charity built a series of nest boxes and installed them high in the tree canopy across the reserve.
Their continuous monitoring of the birds has shown that many of the former pets have started raising wild chicks.
The work is hugely rewarding, said Corina, but the charity currently has a waiting list that is “months long”, given the growing number of wild animals needing rehabilitation across Colombia.
Despite helping the authorities with their wild animal problem, the charity largely relies on private donations to continue, she said. The hope is to develop an eco-tourism model to make more revenue in the future, she added.
Watch, read, listen
CARBON CONSULTATIONS: The Diplomat explored whether local residents were properly consulted on a carbon-offsetting programme in Cambodia.
FISH FIGHTS: The Ghanaian Times examined the tensions surrounding marine conservation in the country and how it is unduly burdening small-scale fisherfolk.
DELTA WORK: Mongabay reported on how the world’s “great deltas” are sinking, leading to the loss of a “global food system”.
LITHUANIA PEAT BOGS: The New York Times reported on Lithuanian efforts to restore peat bogs in order to “reinforce the border” and “lock away” carbon.
New science
- Coastal marshes are encroaching on uplands “nearly twice as fast” on agricultural land as they are on forestland, suggesting that agricultural practices are “accelerat[ing] the impacts of saltwater intrusion” | Nature Sustainability
- Fungi that cause diseases in plants will approximately double in abundance around the Antarctic Peninsula by 2100 under a moderate emissions scenario | Global Change Biology
- Conserving Ethiopia’s protected areas currently involves managing “trade-offs between nature and people” that are “central to whether global biodiversity commitments can be delivered” | Nature Ecology and Evolution
In the diary
- 20-22 May: Informal consultations of parties to the UN Fish Stocks Agreement | New York City
- 30 May-6 June: Meeting of the Global Environment Facility Assembly | Samarkand, Uzbekistan
- 31 May: Colombian presidential elections
- 8-18 June:Subsidiary body meetings of the UNFCCC | Bonn, Germany
Cropped is researched and written by Dr Giuliana Viglione, Aruna Chandrasekhar, Daisy Dunne and Orla Dwyer. Please send tips and feedback to cropped@carbonbrief.org
The post Cropped 20 May 2026: Deforestation roadmap | Melanesian Ocean Summit | Returning pet parrots to the wild appeared first on Carbon Brief.
-
Greenhouse Gases9 months ago
Guest post: Why China is still building new coal – and when it might stop
-
Climate Change9 months ago
Guest post: Why China is still building new coal – and when it might stop
-
Greenhouse Gases2 years ago嘉宾来稿：满足中国增长的用电需求 光伏加储能“比新建煤电更实惠”
-
Climate Change2 years ago嘉宾来稿：满足中国增长的用电需求 光伏加储能“比新建煤电更实惠”
-
Climate Change2 years ago
Bill Discounting Climate Change in Florida’s Energy Policy Awaits DeSantis’ Approval
-
Renewable Energy7 months agoSending Progressive Philanthropist George Soros to Prison?
-
Carbon Footprint2 years agoUS SEC’s Climate Disclosure Rules Spur Renewed Interest in Carbon Credits
-
Greenhouse Gases10 months ago
嘉宾来稿：探究火山喷发如何影响气候预测