International: All stories
Crisis could pose catastrophic threat, experts warn
27 Feb 2020
Climate change could become a “catastrophic” threat to global security, as people lose their livelihoods, fall ill and battle over scarce water and food, a host of US security, military and intelligence experts have warned.
A third of plants and animals risk mass extinction
27 Feb 2020
Within 50 years, a third of all plant and animal species could be caught up in a mass extinction, as a consequence of climate change driven by ever-rising temperatures. What is new about this warning is the method, the precision, the timetable and the identification of a cause.
Newly waterproofed Arctic seed vault hits 1m samples
26 Feb 2020
The Arctic global seed vault has reached the milestone of having one million varieties stored in its deep freeze.
Older people can be mobilised to fight crisis
26 Feb 2020
Older people can be nudged into taking action on climate change by getting them to think about their legacy, researchers say.
Australia's carbon emissions fall just 0.3%
25 Feb 2020
Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions have dipped slightly on the back of new clean energy and a sharp fall from agriculture due to drought, but the decline was almost entirely wiped out by surging industrial pollution.
How these big polluters are free to up emissions
24 Feb 2020
The Australian Coalition Government's safeguards mechanism was meant to stop rises in industrial emissions cancelling out cuts paid for by taxpayers – but it’s a colossal failure.
Greenhouse gases have a puzzling double effect
24 Feb 2020
Lustier plant growth as greenhouse gases climb should counter global heating and atmospheric carbon build-up. But it’s not quite so simple.
Bali does battle with plague of plastic
24 Feb 2020
Indonesia is the world’s second-largest ocean plastic polluter, after China.
Singapore joins drive to phase out fossil fuel vehicles
24 Feb 2020
Climate-vulnerable Singapore will part ways with fossil fuel vehicles within the next two decades and throw its weight behind cleaner vehicles.
Hydrogen gas study for towns wins funding
24 Feb 2020
By ANDREW SPENCE | Adelaide-based Australian Gas Networks has been awarded $1.28 million in Federal Government funding to support a study into introducing renewable hydrogen into South Australian and Victorian towns.
What’s holding back China’s bamboo furniture makers?
24 Feb 2020
Wood consumption has jumped 173 per cent in China over the past decade, and restrictions on felling primary forest mean the country relies on wood imports for over half its demand.
Record Antarctic temperatures fuel sea level worry
21 Feb 2020
Sea levels might threaten coastal cities sooner than expected, scientists say, as ice loss speeds up and Antarctic temperatures rise.
Coronavirus cuts China’s CO2 emissions
21 Feb 2020
As China battles one of the most serious virus epidemics of the century, the impacts on the country’s energy demand and emissions are only beginning to be felt.
UK airports must shut to reach 2050 climate target
21 Feb 2020
All UK airports must close by 2050 for the country to reach its target of net zero climate emissions by then, scientists say.
Oil and gas climate impact worse than we thought
20 Feb 2020
The oil and gas industry has had a far worse impact on the climate than previously believed, according to a study indicating that human emissions of fossil methane have been underestimated by up to 40 per cent.
Renewables could power the world by 2050
20 Feb 2020
Wind, water and solar sources − the renewable energy trio − could meet almost all the needs of our power-hungry society in 30 years.
Climate change could wipe out coral reefs by 2100
20 Feb 2020
The changing climate could destroy nearly all remaining coral reefs by the end of the century, according to new research.
Coal giant eyes 30% fall in carbon emissions
20 Feb 2020
Mining giant Glencore has predicted its carbon footprint will shrink by almost a third by 2035, but will not set climate targets for the company.
Why we must protect 30% of Earth for animals
20 Feb 2020
Governments should sharply expand protected areas for animals and plants to cover 30% of the planet by 2030 to pull back from “the precipice of irreversible loss of biodiversity”, a group of former foreign ministers says.
Bezos pledges $10b to save the planet
19 Feb 2020
Jeff Bezos, the Amazon founder and Washington Post owner, has announced that he is donating $10 billion to save the Earth’s environment – barely a month after it was revealed Amazon threatened to fire employees who spoke out about the company’s role in the climate crisis.
Morrison backs technology over taxation
19 Feb 2020
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has described a report he might adopt a technology investment target to avoid signing up to a commitment of zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 as speculation, but confirmed his government will take a “technology over taxation” approach to climate change.
Malaysia’s banks buck trend against coal
19 Feb 2020
Malaysia’s major banks are bucking a global trend toward the decarbonisation of the finance industry by continuing to finance new coal-fired power projects in Southeast Asia, a new report has found.
EU plans to halve municipal waste by 2030
18 Feb 2020
The European Commission will aim to “absolutely decouple” economic growth from natural resource use in a draft circular economy action plan due to be unveiled in March.
Carbon pricing role crucial, say experts
18 Feb 2020
Carbon pricing is emerging as central to international climate negotiations, the Mercator Climate Institute says.
Europe’s airports face watery grave
18 Feb 2020
More than 20 of Europe’s airports could be under water by the end of the century if current climate trends continue.
Johnson names new COP26 president
18 Feb 2020
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has appointed Alok Sharma to preside over the COP26 UN climate talks in November.
Earth just had its hottest January on record
17 Feb 2020
The Earth had its hottest January in recorded history last month, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Climate change already hurting Aust, says reserve bank
17 Feb 2020
Australia’s leading economic regulator has warned that climate change is already having a “profound” effect on the Australian economy, dragging down production, the value of Australian exports and the confidence of Australian consumers.
FIGUERES: The only uncertainty is how long we’ll last
17 Feb 2020
Christiana Figueres, leader of the 2015 Paris Agreement, talks about her new book, The Future We Choose, and why it’s crunch time for humanity.
Billions of acres of cropland await the Big Thaw
17 Feb 2020
As the climate warms in the decades ahead, billions of acres, most of them in the northern hemisphere, will become suitable for agriculture and could, if ploughed, emit a massive, planet-altering amount of greenhouse gases.
Parcels might join people on city buses
17 Feb 2020
Sydney is looking at using its public transport system to cut the number of delivery vans clogging its streets.
New BP chief vows net-zero emissions by 2050
14 Feb 2020
BP's new chief executive Bernard Looney has outlined plans to cut the company's carbon emissions from its operations and barrels produced to net-zero by 2050.
Cities turn to freewheeling public transport
14 Feb 2020
In the United States, once the home of car culture, cities are increasingly experimenting with free public transport. But the idea is not an American preserve: it’s catching on fast across the globe.
Antarctic melt led to 3m sea level rise 120,000 years ago
14 Feb 2020
Mass melting of the West Antarctic ice sheet, driven by warmer ocean temperatures, was a major cause of extreme sea level rise more than 100,000 years ago, according to new research.
Renewables to power outback mine
14 Feb 2020
By ANDREW SPENCE | Australian mining company Oz Minerals plans to power its proposed West Musgrave copper nickel mine in central Australia with up to 80 per cent renewables.
Splatter tests show decline in insect numbers
14 Feb 2020
Two scientific studies of the number of insects splattered by cars have revealed a huge decline in abundance at European sites in two decades.
Study blames fossil fuel pollution for 4m deaths
13 Feb 2020
Air pollution from burning fossil fuels is responsible for more than 4 million premature deaths around the world each year and costs the global economy about $US8 billion ($NZ12.37 billion) a day, according to a study.
Trump budget slashes environment funding
13 Feb 2020
President Trump’s proposed budget for fiscal 2021 calls for significant reductions to US environmental programmes at federal agencies, including a 26 per cent cut to the Environmental Protection Agency.
BBC to film the Greta Thunberg story
13 Feb 2020
The BBC will produce a television series about 17-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg.
Record growth sends Australia's emissions soaring
12 Feb 2020
Emissions from Australia’s largest industrial emitters have surged to 60 per cent above 2005 levels, thanks to record growth in the oil and gas, transport and mining sectors, analysts say.
Bankers' book delivers stark climate change warning
12 Feb 2020
The Green Swan brings a clear message from people who should know: bankers say the climate crisis means major change lies ahead.
Rise of climate anxiety 'overwhelming and terrifying’
12 Feb 2020
Medical experts are concerned that young people’s mental health is being particularly hit by reality of the climate crisis.
Maps of Europe predict scale of climate catastrophe
12 Feb 2020
A series of detailed maps have laid bare the scale of possible forest fires, floods, droughts and deluges that Europe could face by the end of the century without urgent action to adapt to and confront global heating.
Bushfire towns find water contaminated
12 Feb 2020
Communities affected by the Australian bushfires are starting to reckon with a complex, expensive aftermath: the threat to their drinking water.
Most nations ignore climate plans update
12 Feb 2020
The Marshall Islands, Suriname and Norway have submitted plans for tougher action to tackle climate change before a five-year milestone of the Paris Agreement in 2020 - but almost 200 others - including New Zealand - have ignored an informal February 9 deadline.
Gates eyes $830m hydrogen superyacht
11 Feb 2020
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is hoping to hit the seas in the world's first hydrogen-powered superyacht - and it will set him back around $US830 million.
Mystery deaths focus battle for the butterflies
11 Feb 2020
The deaths of two butterfly conservationists have drawn focus to a troubling tangle of disputes, resentments and violence.
Mining leads to flooding in coal capital
11 Feb 2020
Major flooding from just a few hours of heavy rain in Samarinda, Indonesia’s coal-mining capital, has underscored the severity of the environmental degradation being carried out by the industry, officials say.
Antarctica logs hottest day on record
10 Feb 2020
Antarctica has logged its hottest temperature on record, with an Argentinian research station thermometer reading 18.3deg, beating the previous record by 0.8deg.
Europe falls off the pace with solar power
10 Feb 2020
Europe is falling well behind in the race to install enough solar power to keep the rise in global temperatures below dangerous levels, and to reach its own renewable energy targets.
Australian rainforests no longer a carbon sink – study
Fri 17 Oct 2025
Australia's tropical rainforests are among the first in the world to start emitting more carbon dioxide than they absorb, scientists said Thursday, linking the "very concerning" trend to climate change.
Trump is pushing allies to buy US gas. It’s bad economics – and a catastrophe for the climate
Wed 22 Oct 2025
The price of partnership with the United States has changed. Washington is now using assurances of defence and trade access to pressure allies in Europe and Asia to buy more of its fossil fuels under decades-long contracts.
In China, climate litigation starts with the state
16 Oct 2025
With thousands of dedicated courts and more than a million recent cases, environmental and climate litigation is booming in China, but it often looks different to the trend seen elsewhere.
EU plans deforestation delay only for small businesses
Wed 22 Oct 2025
The proposal will need approval of co-legislators, EU countries at the Council and MEPs, who can still push for more changes to the legislation.
UK Prime Minister will attend Brazil climate summit
Tue 21 Oct 2025
Keir Starmer will travel to the Amazon rainforest for the COP30 United Nations climate summit next month, Downing Street has confirmed, after weeks of speculation that he would not.
Renewables are a global economic engine, not a culture war threat
2 Oct 2025
Energy companies are learning this lesson faster than Alberta Premier Danielle Smith.
Indonesia restarts international carbon trade after four years
Fri 17 Oct 2025
Indonesia's President Prabowo Subianto has issued a new decree to restart international carbon emission trading after a four year hiatus.
Mystery heatwave warms Pacific Ocean to new record
Tue 21 Oct 2025
The waters of the north Pacific have had their warmest summer on record, according to BBC analysis of a mysterious marine heatwave that has confounded climate scientists.
Scientists discovered something alarming seeping out from beneath the ocean around Antarctica
13 Oct 2025
Planet-heating methane is escaping from cracks in the Antarctic seabed as the region warms, with new seeps being discovered at an “astonishing rate".
Angola lowers climate ambition in blow to spirit of Paris Agreement
14 Oct 2025
Angola has scaled back its targets for reducing emissions in its new national climate plan, saying it chose “realism and implementability” over the Paris Agreement's calls for governments to set progressively more ambitious goals.
Brazil greenlights oil drilling in Amazon as environmentalists raise alarm
Wed 22 Oct 2025
Conservationists argue president’s oil expansion plans clash with his image as a global leader on climate change.
UN pushes for worldwide disaster alerts as extreme weather ‘spirals’
Wed 22 Oct 2025
Climate-related hazards have killed more than 2 million people in 50 years, said the UN’s meteorological agency, 90 percent of them in developing countries.
