To develop effective responses to climate change and energy challenges, decision-makers in government and industry draw on a range of information. In Australia, the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting legislation underpins this evidence base by requiring Australia’s largest companies to anually measure and report their greenhouse gas emissions and energy production and use.

This biennial report on climate change finds that the variations Australia is experiencing include increased extreme heat events, warmer oceans, rising sea levels, changes in rainfall patterns, and a long-term increase in extreme fire weather and length of the fire season. These effects are predicted to continue in the decades ahead.

This report provides a snapshot of the ties between the fossil fuel industry and Australian universities. These ties could create a serious conflict of interest or bias when it comes to decisions around fossil fuel divestment, potentially jeopardising universities’ own endowment investments by failing to accurately consider climate change and stranded asset risks.

The objective of this audit was to assess the effectiveness of the Clean Energy Regulator’s administration of the Renewable Energy Target scheme.

With the recent UN warning that emissions are on track to exceed the 1.5°C rise by 2030, it is imperative that all parties at COP24 work together to realign finance flows to meet this crucial commitment.