The Japanese government said that it is concerned about its likelihood of obtaining a fair hearing from a case brought against it by Australia, saying that "serious anomalies" have arisen from the admission of New Zealand as an intervenor in the case on Australia's side. Australia has taken Japan to the International Court of Justice over its Antarctic whaling hunt, saying that its so-called scientific whaling breaches a moratorium on commercial whaling.

Australia must take swift action to protect the Great Barrier Reef, according to environmental groups. UNESCO issued a warning last June over development on the reef, and the United Nations said that the reef will be listed as "in danger" if there is no progress by February 1. The reef is worth approximately $6.26 billion in tourism to the economy annually. "Australia's most important environmental asset is under serious threat from existing and proposed industrialization along the Queensland coast," said Felicity Wishart, campaign director for the coalition.

Australia formally declared vast tracts of ocean protected areas as part of efforts to create the world's largest marine reserve. The new reserve will total over 2.3 million kilometers, completing a 3 million kilometer ring around Australia's coasts. The Coral Sea, home to dozens of coral reefs and marine species, will also be protected. As part of the deal, Australia will pay fishermen around $100 million to compensate for the impacts of the reserve, and fishermen will have until July 2014 before restrictions on fishing practices take effect.

India and Canada finalized the terms of their nuclear deal, allowing Canadian firms to sell uranium to India. A 1976 ban on the trade of nuclear materials with India, enacted after the nation used Canadian nuclear technology to build its first atomic bomb in 1974, previously halted the trade of Canada's large uranium resources, but India won an exemption in 2008 from the Nuclear Suppliers Group to trade nuclear supplies and technology despite not signing the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

New Zealand will not commit to a second phase of the Kyoto Protocol, according to Climate Change Minister Tim Groser. Groser announced that New Zealand will pledge under the United Nations Framework Convention along with nations responsible for 85% of the world's emissions. While the minister announced the country stands behind its existing Kyoto commitment, he said that the government had decided it was in "New Zealand’s best interests" to join China, Japan, the United States, and other heavy carbon polluters under the Framework.

Approval of a significant increase in fishing quota for an Australian super trawler was called into question last week after a record of proceedings showed that a proponent of the fishing venture was allowed to outline the plan.

Australia announced that it will build the world's largest marine park, banning offshore oil and gas exploration in an area the size of India. The plan will increase the nation's total park cover to 6 million square kilometers and increase the number of marine reserves from 27 to 60, preventing all new oil and gas projects in the area and limiting commercial fishing in the most sensitive spots.

Ross Garnaut, an architect of Australia's stalled climate change policy, has called for increased efforts to halt climate change in response to a recent spate of natural disasters linked to climate change. Garnaut said that recent disasters, like last month's devastating flooding and last week's Cyclone Yasi, were examples of extreme weather events likely to increase if global warming goes unchecked. "If we are seeing an intensification of extreme weather events now, you ain't seen nothing yet," said Garnaut.

The government of Australia tried for a third time last week to charge for carbon emissions, releasing a new fixed-price plan to start in 2012. Prime Minister Julia Girrard said that carbon polluters would pay a fixed price starting in July 2012, then move to a market-based system within the next five years. The move faces opposition from conservative parties, who describe it as a "great big new tax." In addition, crucial details, such as the starting price, have yet to be agreed with the Greens.

Critics of a new multi-billion dollar development in Barangaroo, a Sydney suburb, will file a new claim to stop construction after a last-minute law change exempting Barangaroo projects from site remediation planning laws thwarted their previous case. Justice Peter Biscoe in the Land and Environment Court allowed the work to proceed only after Planning Minister Tony Kelly changed the applicable law just days before a decision was due.