International: All stories
Universities sign landmark deal to buy renewable
8 Oct 2019
Twenty of the UK’s leading universities have struck a £50m deal to buy renewable energy directly from British windfarms for the first time.
Human ancestors lived in a low-carbon world
8 Oct 2019
For the entire 2.5 million years of the Ice Age epoch called the Pleistocene, it was a low-carbon world.
Can cities save the planet?
7 Oct 2019
By 2050 about two-thirds of the human population — that is six out of the world’s nine billion people — will be living in cities.
Jail climate protesters, says Australian minister
7 Oct 2019
Protesters who disrupt traffic should have their welfare payments cut and be subject to mandatory jail sentences, Australia's home affairs minister Peter Dutton has declared.
Ocean boom picks up plastic for first time
4 Oct 2019
A huge floating device designed to clean up an island of rubbish in the Pacific Ocean that is three times the size of France has successfully picked up plastic from the high seas for the first time.
Scotland takes aim at green red tape
4 Oct 2019
Developments that tackle climate change could avoid having to get planning permission, under proposals being considered by the Scottish government.
Antarctica shows 65,000 ‘meltwater lakes’
4 Oct 2019
Blue lakes have been forming in record numbers around the edges of the Antarctic ice sheet as warmer temperatures cause snow and ice to melt and collect in depressions on the surface.
TURNING OF THE SCREW: Royal Shakespeare Company cuts BP
4 Oct 2019
The Royal Shakespeare Company is to end its sponsorship deal with BP amid growing opposition to fossil fuel sponsorship of cultural institutions.
Unhappy investors criticise firms over Paris pact
3 Oct 2019
Investors representing more than $55 trillion say just a fraction of companies are doing their part in meeting the Paris Agreement.
UK to deploy special climate protest police
3 Oct 2019
British police will deploy specially trained climate protest officers to London this weekend to help to deal with two weeks of protests planned by Extinction Rebellion.
Drought could hit half world’s wheat at once
3 Oct 2019
The planet’s daily bread could be at risk as almost two-thirds of the world’s wheat-growing areas face “severe, prolonged, and near-simultaneous droughts”.
NSW considers laws to stop courts blocking coalmines
3 Oct 2019
The New South Wales government is considering legislation that could limit the ability for planning authorities to rule out coalmines projects based on the climate change impact of emissions from the coal once it is burned.
OUR HEALTH: Should we be worried about microplastics?
3 Oct 2019
Plastic is everywhere – in our food, air, water and oceans. But do we know enough to determine how harmful it is to our health?
Shippers rig vessels with 'cheat machines'
2 Oct 2019
Global shipping companies have spent billions rigging vessels with “cheat devices” that circumvent new environmental legislation by dumping pollution into the sea, a UK newspaper says.
How Britain ended its coal addiction
2 Oct 2019
The UK was once the world’s largest coal consumer, but the highly polluting fossil fuel has been pushed out by renewable energy and natural gas.
Giant iceberg breaks off east Antarctica
2 Oct 2019
The calving of the 1636 sq km iceberg in Antarctica is not linked to climate change, scientists say, but could speed up further melting.
Rugby stars are losing their Pacific islands
2 Oct 2019
Whatever happens on the pitches, rugby stars from the Pacific islands face a battle back home to save their ancestral lands from rising sea levels.
Towns prepare for 'unimaginable' water crisis
1 Oct 2019
Livelihoods in Australia are now at risk from drought worsened by climate change, a predicament more familiar to developing countries.
VILLAGERS DIG IN: 'Human rights before mining rights'
1 Oct 2019
Villagers living on the edge of one of Germany’s biggest surface coalmines have vowed not sell their properties to the energy company RWE, and to fight any attempt to oust them from their homes.
Queensland plans huge hydrogen projects
1 Oct 2019
Two huge renewable hydrogen projects have been planned for the heart of Queensland’s major coal and gas regions.
Why you should stop buying new clothes
30 Sep 2019
The fashion industry is one of the most polluting industries in the world, producing 20 per cent of global wastewater and 10 per cent of global carbon emissions – and it’s estimated that by 2050 this will have increased to 25 per cent.
Seabed carbon storage could help in climate crisis
30 Sep 2019
Climate scientists say seabed carbon storage could be a new ally to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions by a volume greater than all the carbon dioxide pumped into the atmosphere from the planet’s coal-burning power stations.
Poland plunges ahead with new coal mines
30 Sep 2019
Poland’s ruling Law and Justice Party plans to introduce legislation that will allow the government to open new coal mines without the approval of local authorities.
'It's heartbreaking': A town watches its beach wash away
30 Sep 2019
Stockton beach in New South Wales is being washed away by dramatic coastal erosion which has already claimed a childcare centre.
Activists suing Europe’s biggest coal plant
27 Sep 2019
It is Europe’s biggest coal plant, with annual CO2 emissions roughly equivalent to those of the whole of New Zealand – but the future of the Beùchatów power station in central Poland has been called into question.
Sacked scientists keep working in snub to Trump
27 Sep 2019
Air pollution scientists disbanded by the Trump administration plan to continue their work with or without the US government.
Newspaper says no thanks to ads from fossil fuel companies
27 Sep 2019
A Swedish newspaper has announced it will stop taking advertising that promotes fossil fuel-based goods and services with immediate effect.
China’s tree-planting drive could backfire
27 Sep 2019
China has been warned that its tree-planting drive to hold back deserts could strain water resources.
Can Asia's climate-cooked cities beat the heat?
26 Sep 2019
Extreme heat has affected the Rugby World Cup being held in Japan and the story looks like it will be the same for next year's Olympic Games.
Mining magnate puts millions into war on plastics waste
26 Sep 2019
An Australian mining billionaire has launched a business-driven initiative to try to tackle the hundreds of millions of tonnes of plastic waste produced every year.
Don’t bet on UN to fix climate crisis – it’s failed for 30 years
25 Sep 2019
We’re constantly encouraged to think of the next big climate summit as the most important one, the one that is about to make the all-important breakthrough.
Major economies fail to answer New York call
25 Sep 2019
Delivering on a goal of net zero emissions is a ‘daunting’, ‘civilisational’ task, which the UN climate summit in New York showed leaders do not have plans to meet.
Russia formally signs up to Paris Agreement
25 Sep 2019
The world’s fourth-largest emitter, Russia, has formally adopted the Paris Agreement, drawing an end to months of national tensions on the subject.
Pacific nations seek cash to clean up shipping
25 Sep 2019
A coalition of Pacific island nations wants to raise $500m to make all shipping in the Pacific Ocean zero carbon by the middle of the century.
Young climate protesters will force nations to answer to UN
24 Sep 2019
Five members of the G20 are the subject of a complaint to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child for failing to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
UK to give £1bn aid for climate fight
24 Sep 2019
Up to £1bn of UK aid funding will be spent on helping developing countries fight climate change.
US bird numbers drop by nearly three billion
24 Sep 2019
In the past five decades US bird numbers have plummeted by 29 per cent. As populations dwindle, so do the chances of species survival.
Ardern in star turn at UN climate summit
23 Sep 2019
New Zealand will again take centre stage at international climate talks in New York, with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern giving a keynote speech in the early hours of tomorrow morning.
The hard truths of climate change — by the numbers
23 Sep 2019
A set of troubling charts shows how little progress nations have made toward limiting greenhouse-gas emissions.
California and 23 other states sue Trump
23 Sep 2019
California and 23 other states have filed a lawsuit to stop the Trump administration from blocking California’s authority to set emission standards for cars and trucks.
Canberra switching to 100% renewable energy
23 Sep 2019
Canberra will become the first city outside Europe to shift from fossil fuel to 100% renewable energy.
Protest-rubbish photo is just that ... rubbish
23 Sep 2019
A hoax photo that claims to show rubbish left behind by Australian climate strike protesters is circulating on Facebook, despite being revealed as fake months ago.
Make phones that last longer and we could cut emissions
20 Sep 2019
Extending the lifespan of smartphones by just one year would significantly reduce carbon emissions in the European Union, according to a new report .
Why we must see humanity and nature as one
20 Sep 2019
From transport and housing to food production and fashion, our civilisation is driving climate and ecological breakdown.
Lower voting age would give young a climate voice
20 Sep 2019
The voting age should be lowered to 16 because today’s young people are the ones that face a “toxic inheritance” of environmental crises, a leading think tank has said.
CLIMATE ACTION: Meet the good, the bad and the ugly
19 Sep 2019
Ahead of next week's UN climate summit, noted Australian climate academic BILL HARE takes stock of the world's best and worst performers on climate action - including some surprise success stories.
Big Oil to woo climate summit delegates
19 Sep 2019
Oil and gas executives are holding an exclusive invitation-only forum with delegates to next week's UN climate summit, in what critics have condemned as an attempt to influence negotiations.
Trump to block California car emissions rules
19 Sep 2019
The Trump administration is poised to end California’s authority to set its own vehicle emissions standards and bar states from establishing their own regulations.
Can a climate-conscious diet include meat?
19 Sep 2019
Two new studies are making the case that people in high-income countries need to cut back on livestock-based foods, but they're also suggesting that one-size-fits-all recommendations won't work in all cases.
Trollbots swarm Twitter with climate attacks
18 Sep 2019
A new tool is tracking automated and otherwise questionable social media accounts as they sow disinformation, discord and division. Climate change is a target.
“There was so much death.” A toxic algal bloom is ravaging Australia’s southern coast – warming waters are to blame
Fri 29 Aug 2025
Three ingredients are required for an algal bloom to get going – temperature, the right conditions and food. South Australia had all the preconditions necessary, thanks to climate change.
We used to stash gold in Fort Knox. What if we did the same with carbon?
Fri 29 Aug 2025
If we could convince the masses that waste carbon dioxide is sacred and worth hoarding — like gold — one of our most existential problems might solve itself.
China's carbon market to introduce absolute emissions caps from 2027
Wed 27 Aug 2025
China will tighten its carbon trading market by introducing absolute emissions caps in some industries for the first time starting by 2027.
Apple Watch not a 'CO2-neutral product,' German court finds
Thu 28 Aug 2025
Apple can no longer advertise its Apple Watch as a "CO2-neutral product" in Germany, following a court ruling on Tuesday that upheld a complaint from environmentalists, finding that the U.S. tech company had misled consumers.
What happens to net zero if the trees don’t survive?
20 Aug 2025
When climate change undermines the climate plan.
Challenges persist in bid to mine the deep sea, even after boost from Trump
29 Jul 2025
After years of delay, the deep-sea mining plans of Canadian firm The Metals Company (TMC) now appear to be progressing as it pursues a controversial new path to securing a license to mine in international waters under U.S. jurisdiction.
Singapore seals carbon credit deal with Thailand, its first South-east Asian partner
Thu 28 Aug 2025
The agreement, the eighth for Singapore, helps both nations meet climate targets under the Paris Agreement, directing finance to Thai projects.
Rise in dengue fever outbreaks across the Pacific driven by the climate crisis, experts say
13 Aug 2025
Samoa, Fiji and Tonga among the worst affected amid warning the disease and others will become ‘more common and more serious’ as the planet warms.
Iconic Antarctic species at risk amid 'regime shift', with 'rapid and self-perpetuating changes'
22 Aug 2025
Scientists say there is emerging evidence of abrupt and potentially unstoppable changes in the Antarctic environment.
Is Africa about to see the solar energy boom it needs?
Thu 28 Aug 2025
African countries imported a record number of solar panels in the past year, which could be the beginning of a green energy boom on the continent.
Lessons from the Incas: How llamas, terraces and trees could help the Andes survive climate change
Thu 28 Aug 2025
New research suggests solutions may lie in environmental knowledge that the Incas and their predecessors developed centuries ago.
Brazil issues last-ditch plea for countries to submit climate plans ahead of COP30
20 Aug 2025
Only 28 countries have submitted carbon-cutting proposals to the UN, with some of the biggest emitters yet to produce plans.
