International: All stories
'Gas is over,' says EU bank chief
26 Jan 2021
The European Investment Bank says it will end all funding for fossil fuels before the end of the year.
Fuel industry leaders join Aussie emissions reduction panel
26 Jan 2021
Fossil-fuel industry leaders and a controversial economist have joined a committee responsible for ensuring the integrity of projects that get climate funding in Australia.
Reformed trade rules could help save the climate
26 Jan 2021
Reformed trade rules could provide a climate dividend of the rancorous Brexit process of leaving the European Union.
Biden's Keystone death sentence means oil industry must innovate
26 Jan 2021
In one of his first acts of office, United States President Joe Biden has issued an executive order that effectively kills the Keystone XL pipeline project.
US return boosts chances of COP26 success
22 Jan 2021
The United States' return to the Paris Agreement is vital to the next round of negotiations, says former New Zealand climate ambassador Dr Adrian Macey.
Biden takes US back into Paris
22 Jan 2021
Joe Biden has moved to reinstate the US to the Paris climate agreement just hours after being sworn in as president, as his administration rolls out a cavalcade of executive orders aimed at tackling the climate crisis.
Countries signal greater climate ambition but ‘step change’ needed on road to Glasgow
14 Dec 2020
As 2020 comes to a close, world leaders have sent a signal of their willingness to step up their climate ambition, at a virtual event celebrating the fifth anniversary of the Paris Agreement.
FTSE giants fail to disclose their carbon footprint
14 Dec 2020
BP, Glencore and Rolls-Royce are among eight FTSE 100 companies who have refused to comply with investor demands to disclose their carbon dioxide emissions, as the UK government prepares to compel firms to report their climate impact.
UN chief calls for more climate finance for poor nations as 2020 goal slips
14 Dec 2020
Rich nations are "lagging badly" on a longstanding pledge to channel $100 billion a year in funding, from 2020 onwards, to help poorer countries develop cleanly and adapt to the worsening impacts of climate change, the U.N. chief said on Saturday.
NZ cheering from the sideline in Sprint to Glasgow
11 Dec 2020
Officials will represent New Zealand at this weekend’s Sprint to Glasgow event marking the fifth anniversary of the Paris Agreement.
Australia will not be given speaking slot at climate summit, Morrison says
11 Dec 2020
Scott Morrison has signalled Australia will not be granted a speaking slot at a climate ambition summit this weekend, despite telling Parliament a week ago he would attend to “correct mistruths” about the Government’s heavily criticised record on emissions reduction.
Global 'elite' need to slash high-carbon lifestyles
11 Dec 2020
The world's wealthiest 1 per cent account for more than twice the combined carbon emissions of the poorest 50 per cent, according to the United Nations.
One-in-500,000 spring heat in Australia
10 Dec 2020
Australia’s hottest spring on record, which saw temperatures more than 2deg above average, would have been “virtually impossible” without human-caused climate change, new analysis has found.
Climate tipping point threatens Australia and China
10 Dec 2020
The grasslands of northern China and Mongolia could be about to lurch into a climate tipping point, an irreversible sequence of heat and drought.
Brazil sets ‘indicative’ goal of carbon neutrality by 2060
10 Dec 2020
Brazil has announced it will aim for carbon neutrality by 2060, sparking anger among campaigners who say the pledge is meaningless and a deliberate distraction from president Jair Bolsonaro’s destruction of the Amazon rainforest.
Parisversaire party to revive momentum on climate
9 Dec 2020
At the end of year dominated by the coronavirus pandemic, world leaders are expected to revive momentum for climate action with fresh commitments to bring the goals of the Paris Agreement closer.
Is the Paris Agreement strong enough to avert climate catastrophe?
9 Dec 2020
No-one who was in the hall that winter evening in a gloomy conference centre on the outskirts of the French capital will ever forget it. Tension had been building throughout the afternoon, as after two weeks of fraught talks the expected resolution was delayed and then delayed yet again.
Japan's emissions at record low
9 Dec 2020
Japan's greenhouse gas emissions fell 2.7 per cent to a record low in the 2019 financial year that ended March 2020, government figures showed on Tuesday, thanks to growing use of renewable energy and lower energy consumption by manufacturers.
Bank links bosses' pay to sustainability performance
8 Dec 2020
Deutsche Bank says it will join a small number of financial institutions that link management pay to environmental, social and governance-related criteria.
Morrison yet to be granted speaking slot at weekend climate summit
8 Dec 2020
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison does not yet have a speaker’s spot at a global climate ambition summit this weekend, despite telling his parliament last week he intended to use an appearance at the event to “correct mistruths” about the government’s heavily criticised record on emissions reduction.
UK announces stronger 2030 emissions target
7 Dec 2020
The UK government has announced it will slash greenhouse gas emissions at least 68 per cent by 2030, compared to 1990 levels, in line with independent advice.
The Danish climate minister closing down the oil industry for good
7 Dec 2020
Denmark’s climate minister is fairly certain that the deal to close down the nation’s oil industry by 2050, announced on Friday morning, marks the biggest moment in his career.
China might ban coal-power investment abroad
4 Dec 2020
China’s environment ministry is proposing a crackdown on state involvement in building coal power plants abroad, in a report co-authored with international green groups.
Pressure mounts on UK to update its UN climate target
4 Dec 2020
Scotland and British businesses are piling pressure on the UK government to set an ambitious 2030 climate target ahead of a summit co-hosted by Britain and the UN on the fifth anniversary of the Paris Agreement.
Humanity is waging war on nature, says UN secretary general
3 Dec 2020
Humanity is facing a new war, unprecedented in history, the secretary general of the UN has warned, which is in danger of destroying our future before we have fully understood the risk.
Fossil-fuels to blow climate targets despite pandemic dip, report warns
3 Dec 2020
The United Nations-backed Production Gap report projects a 2 per cent annual rise in global fossil fuel output this decade, when 6 per cent cuts are needed in line with a 1.5deg warming limit
Australia endures hottest spring ever
2 Dec 2020
Australia has sweltered through its hottest spring and November on record, with both the season and the month more than 2deg warmer than the long-term average.
EU countries face off over hydrogen
2 Dec 2020
EUROPEAN Union member states are fighting over which type of hydrogen to support, with two opposing camps facing off: those backing green hydrogen produced exclusively from renewable electricity, and those in favour of a broader “low-carbon” definition, which also includes nuclear power and decarbonised gases.
UK scrambles to decide first post-Brexit climate pledge
1 Dec 2020
Britain is preparing to announce its first solo carbon-cutting pledge to the Paris climate agreement, in a tight political manoeuvre ahead of an ambition summit on December 12.
European states ordered to respond to climate suit
1 Dec 2020
The European court of human rights has ordered 33 European governments to respond to a landmark climate lawsuit lodged by six youth campaigners, the Guardian has learned.
Scottish homes will use 100% green hydrogen in world first
1 Dec 2020
Scotland is set to start the world’s first trials of green hydrogen to replace natural gas for cooking and heating in 300 homes.
Italian and German trains hitch up to hydrogen bandwagon
1 Dec 2020
Rail operators in Italy and Germany are turning to hydrogen power in an attempt to make their train networks more environmentally friendly, with Deutsche Bahn, partnering up with Siemens, among the trailblazers.
China to force firms to report use of plastic in new recycling push
1 Dec 2020
Restaurants, e-commerce platforms and delivery firms will be forced to report their utilisation of single-use plastics to the authorities and also submit formal recycling plans, China's commerce ministry said in proposals published on Monday.
Draft plan to criminalise ecosystem destruction
1 Dec 2020
International lawyers are drafting plans for a legally enforceable crime of ecocide – criminalising destruction of the world’s ecosystems – that is already attracting support from European countries and island nations at risk from rising sea levels.
Severe fire danger for Australia as temperatures smash records
30 Nov 2020
Parts of Australia, including Sydney, have sweltered through the hottest November night on record with temperatures likely to stay high, prompting authorities to issue a total fire ban.
Lorde urges climate action ahead of new book on Antarctica trip
27 Nov 2020
Kiwi singer Lorde has written an impassioned entreaty for the world to face the climate emergency head-on after visiting Antarctica.
Big bosses join to beat climate change
27 Nov 2020
Australia’s top corporate leaders have met to discuss tackling climate change in line with the Paris Agreement as part of an environmental initiative backed by Richard Branson’s The B Team.
EU backs global hydrogen market with euro as key currency
27 Nov 2020
Europe wants to install the euro as the reference currency for trading hydrogen, but a global market with harmonised standards needs to be put in place first in order to meet demand, says the EU’s energy commissioner.
Steelmakers call for ‘Green Deal’ to counter Chinese dumping
25 Nov 2020
New Zealand is not alone in considering a carbon border-tax on steel; steelmakers in Europe say they need a "Green Deal" to protect them from high-emissions imports from China.
Carbon-pricing rises as world's weapon of choice in climate fight
25 Nov 2020
Can you put a price on pollution? Some of the world's biggest economies are doing just that as they wrestle with how to make good on grand pledges to tame planet-warming emissions.
CO2 hits new record despite covid-19 lockdowns
24 Nov 2020
Climate-heating gases have reached record levels in the atmosphere despite the global lockdowns caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the UN’s World Meteorological Organisation has said.
XR launches campaign of financial disobedience
24 Nov 2020
Extinction Rebellion is launching a campaign of financial civil disobedience aimed at exposing the “political economy’s complicity” in the unfolding ecological crisis.
Trump takes another swipe at Paris Agreement
23 Nov 2020
Out-going United States president Donald Trump railed against the Paris climate accord overnight, telling world leaders at a virtual summit that the agreement was designed to cripple the US economy, not save the planet.
Boomers are the greenest generation - study
23 Nov 2020
Parents and grandparents, not the so-called Generation Green, are the most likely groups to try to minimise their environmental footprint, a new study finds.
Green guide to investment
23 Nov 2020
The European Commission has launched “the world’s first ever ‘green-list’” of sustainable economic activities for private investors by publishing draft guidelines under the EU’s green finance taxonomy.
Billionaire investor forcing climate action from companies
23 Nov 2020
British billionaire Chris Hohn is aiming to force hundreds of US and European companies to slash their greenhouse gas emissions by enlisting global investors to demand an annual vote on their climate plans at shareholder meetings.
Canada to join NZ in going net-zero by 2050
23 Nov 2020
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has presented a bill to commit Canada to cut its emissions to net zero by 2050 and set five-year targets to meet the goal.
Nuclear-produced hydrogen is green, says EU
20 Nov 2020
The European Commission will consider hydrogen produced from nuclear power as “low-carbon”, says a senior EU official who spoke in the European Parliament this week.
Paris goals threatened by farms, forests and industry
20 Nov 2020
Many parts of the global economy, especially agriculture and the cement and steel industries, are heading in the wrong direction or cleaning up their act far too slowly to limit global warming to 1.5deg researchers are warning..
NZ called out over 2030 target
19 Nov 2020
New Zealand is being accused by countries most vulnerable to climate change of “defaulting on climate survival leadership”.
Australian governments subsidising fossil fuel use by more than $30,000 a minute, analysis finds
Fri 13 Mar 2026
Australian federal and state government subsidies that encourage fossil fuel use and help drive the climate crisis will reach $16.3bn this year after leaping by nearly 10%, according to a new analysis.
US National Academies of Sciences says no to demands it remove climate info
Wed 18 Mar 2026
State attorneys general won't get climate chapter removed from a legal manual.
What does China’s 15th ‘five-year plan’ mean for climate change?
10 Mar 2026
China’s leadership has published a draft of its 15th five-year plan setting the strategic direction for the nation out to 2030, including support for clean energy and energy security.
Germany misses climate targets as emissions barely fall in 2025
Tue 17 Mar 2026
Greenhouse gas emissions in Germany have again missed targets set by the Climate Protection Act and barely fell at all in 2025.
UK emissions fall 2.4% in 2025 as coal hits 400-year low
9 Mar 2026
The UK’s greenhouse gas emissions fell by 2.4% in 2025 to their lowest level in more than 150 years, according to new analysis.
Mark Carney just picked his lane on climate change
17 Feb 2026
COMMENT: Mark Carney's time as prime minister has been defined in part by his decision to roll back Trudeau-era climate policies.
'The situation is dire': War on Iran squeezes India's cooking-gas supplies
Mon 16 Mar 2026
The shockwaves of a war being fought nearly 3,000km away are now reaching India's kitchens.
Vanuatu moves forward with UN climate resolution despite Trump opposition
9 Mar 2026
The Trump administration’s attempt to sink a UN resolution demanding countries act on the climate crisis has caused cuts to the proposal but hasn’t entirely killed it, according to the tiny Pacific island country spearheading the effort.
Limiting warming to 2C is ‘crucial’ to protect pristine Antarctic Peninsula
24 Feb 2026
Keeping global warming to less than 2C above pre-industrial temperatures is “crucial” for limiting damage to the Antarctic Peninsula’s unique ecosystems, according to a new study.
'Blackwater' lakes and rivers in the Congo Basin are now emitting ancient carbon into the atmosphere
Mon 16 Mar 2026
Carbon that has been buried in the Congo Basin's peatlands for millennia is seeping into lakes and rivers. Why this is happening remains unclear, but researchers warn that tropical peatlands could be nearing a tipping point.
Companies – including Blackrock – retired 2 million carbon credits after Verra suspended project
12 Mar 2026
Verra suspended the Pacajai REDD project in Brazil in September 2023, pending an investigation into the project’s validity. That didn’t stop Mastercard, BlackRock, Philip Morris International from retiring carbon credits from the project to offset their greenhouse gas emissions.
Iran war should trigger faster exit from fossil fuel dependence, UN climate chief says
Wed 18 Mar 2026
The disruption to energy markets caused by the Iran war is a lesson on the risks of relying on fossil fuels which should drive governments to wean their economies off oil and gas faster, the U.N. climate secretary told Reuters on Monday.
