Some of the coal-burning Hazelwood Power Station's eight chimneys begin to topple as they are demolished and the station is decommissioned in Hazelwood, Victoria, on May 25, 2020
THE Australian government took a major step today towards implementing a key climate policy that would force major greenhouse gas polluters to reduce emissions.
The governing Labour Party said the so-called Safeguard Mechanism reforms are essential for Australia to reach its target of reducing emissions by 43 per cent below 2005 levels by the end of the decade.
The reforms would create a ceiling on the nation’s emissions and force Australia’s 215 biggest polluting facilities to reduce the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions by 205 million metric tons by 2030.
TONY BURKE surveys the shifting political landscape and the challenges Labour needs to address if it is to prevail in the 2028 federal elections
The glacier collapse in Nepal is yet another warning that a warming planet is making Himalayan disasters more frequent and destructive – but the countries facing the greatest risks are often those least responsible, says LI YANG
![Ontario Premier Doug Ford speaks in front of a live map of smoke movement during a press conference updating media on ongoing forest fires in Ontario, in Toronto [Pic: Cole Burston/The Canadian Press via AP]](https://msd11.gn.apc.org/sites/default/files/styles/desktop/public/2026-07/8canadafire.jpg.webp?itok=9a8C3kap)
As Ontario burns, campaigners are demanding action – not more pipelines, says DAVE McKEE
