International: All stories
EU puts onus on ‘renewable hydrogen’
23 Jun 2020
An updated version of the European Commission’s draft hydrogen strategy confirms the EU’s “priority focus” on clean hydrogen produced from renewable electricity, but also recognises the role played by “fossil-based hydrogen” in the transition.
Grass keeps cities cool when heat goes on
23 Jun 2020
Keeping suburban parks green year-round can lower city temperatures by up to 12 deg during summer heatwaves, researchers say.
Why sport is bad news for the climate
23 Jun 2020
The carbon footprint of sport is causing is worldwide damage. And global heating is itself penalising players and fans alike.
Why world has six months to divert climate crisis
22 Jun 2020
The world has only six months in which to change the course of the climate crisis and prevent a post-lockdown rebound in greenhouse gas emissions that would overwhelm efforts to stave off climate catastrophe, one of the world’s foremost energy experts has warned.
China’s Erin Brockovich goes global to stop China
22 Jun 2020
Environment lawyer Zhang Jingjing has worked in 20 countries since 2015 to help clean up or shut down Chinese-owned mines, power plants or industrial projects.
Map of uncharted ocean beds takes shape
22 Jun 2020
The ocean floor is less well known than the surface of Mars and charting it could help show how oceans impact the earth's climate.
Climate 'progressives’ fail on Paris carbon target
22 Jun 2020
Nations which pride themselves on their zeal in tackling climate change by cutting carbon dioxide emissions as they have promised, the so-called “climate progressives”, are a long way from living up to their promises, scientists say.
Why we’ll still need waste in a circular economy
19 Jun 2020
Every year, we buy 30 billion tonnes of stuff, from pizza boxes to family homes. We throw out or demolish 13 billion tonnes of it as waste – about two tonnes per person.
Construction begins on biggest liquid air battery
19 Jun 2020
Construction is beginning on the world’s largest liquid air battery, which will store renewable electricity and reduce carbon emissions from fossil-fuel power plants.
The iciest Antarctic waters are now less icy
19 Jun 2020
An unusual combination of events has caused the Weddell Sea to lose more sea ice than in recent years.
Threatened mangrove forests won’t protect coasts
19 Jun 2020
Rising tides driven by global heating could swamp global mangrove forests – bad news for the natural world, and for humans.
Globally, how much do people care?
18 Jun 2020
New survey results from 40 countries show that climate change matters to most people. In the vast majority of countries, fewer than three per cent said climate change was not serious at all.
Siberia heat wave sets alarm bells ringing
18 Jun 2020
A prolonged heatwave in Siberia is “undoubtedly alarming”, climate scientists have said. The freak temperatures have been linked to wildfires, a huge oil spill and a plague of tree-eating moths.
Markets reel as oil major opts to downgrade itself
17 Jun 2020
This week, BP said it was writing down or reducing the value of its assets by between $US13 billion and $17.5b. BP’s shares fell by 5.4 per cent after the news was announced, making it one of the biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 share index.
The awful truth of our hidden plastic superhighway
17 Jun 2020
Solving the issue of waste in our seas turned out to be more complex than scrounging for bottles off the beach.
This job will take more than a few more cycle lanes
17 Jun 2020
The coronavirus lockdown gave a glimpse of what cleaner cities can look like, but as people turn to private cars for safety from infection, pollution could soar.
Sea warming spurs marine life to rapid migration
16 Jun 2020
Far from the sunlight and even at the lowest temperatures, ocean warming is making marine life uncomfortable.
Carbon-neutral coffee arrives by schooner
16 Jun 2020
The French schooner De Gallant has docked in Falmouth harbour three months after leaving Santa Marta in Colombia laden with tonnes of sustainably sourced coffee beans.
Fewer blizzards for North America as snow lessens
15 Jun 2020
It could soon be safe to think with nostalgia of the snows of yesteryear. Snowstorms in the future in the US could happen less often, with less intensity. And they would be of a smaller size.
Residents fght to keep compost getting trashed
15 Jun 2020
Just this past March, New York City Council Speaker Corey Johnson proposed making composting mandatory for city residents to help combat climate change. Now, with the coronavirus taking an immense financial toll on New York, even food waste recycling programs that existed before that proposition have become casualties of covid-19.
Unanswered questions dog new nuclear plans
15 Jun 2020
The French company EDF, a company in a hurry, wants permission to start building two more reactors in the United Kingdom, and it hopes to save money – by arranging for British taxpayers to pay the capital costs of its new nuclear plans.
Post-lockdown carbon emissions bound back
12 Jun 2020
Carbon dioxide emissions have rebounded around the world as lockdown conditions have eased, raising fears that the level of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere could surge higher than ever unless governments take swift action.
LOVE IS BLIND: Germany's affair with the car
12 Jun 2020
A world leader in cutting emissions from electricity production, the German government, in thrall to the auto industry, "overlooked" pollution from cars and trucks.
SHIFTING SANDS: We don't have the full story
12 Jun 2020
Humans see sand as an infinite resource. We are astounded to discover there are more stars in the universe than grains of sand on our beaches.
Humanity finished if it fails to adapt, says Goodall
11 Jun 2020
Humanity will be finished if we fail to drastically change our food systems in response to the coronavirus pandemic and the climate crisis, prominent naturalist Jane Goodall has warned.
‘Final blow’ as EU agrees to weaken aviation rules
11 Jun 2020
The climate plan for aviation is losing its last shred of credibility, after the European Union confirmed it will back an industry proposal to water down the rules.
Minister rejects Queensland wind farm project
11 Jun 2020
Federal environment minister Sussan Ley has rejected a $100m wind farm proposal in central Queensland on the ground it would clear old-growth forest important to vulnerable species, including the koala.
US backs changes to airline emissions scheme
10 Jun 2020
The US supports changing a landmark aviation emissions scheme now under review by a UN agency, after airlines said the current deal could leave them with higher carbon offsetting costs when air travel recovers from coronavirus.
Forest trees are growing shorter and dying younger
10 Jun 2020
Temperatures could get too high for tropical forests, and forest trees everywhere are changing in response to human action.
Climate change threatens mortgage market
9 Jun 2020
US taxpayers could be on the hook for billions of dollars in climate-related property losses as the government backs a growing number of mortgages on homes in the path of floods, fires and extreme weather.
Millions of species face extinction emergency
9 Jun 2020
An extinction emergency unparalleled in the history of life on Earth could soon overtake millions of species – thanks to us.
Talks delays deepen uncertainty over carbon markets
9 Jun 2020
Projects to curb greenhouse emissions in developing countries are in limbo amid another delay for nations to design a new global carbon market.
Coronavirus waste ends up in oceans
9 Jun 2020
Conservationists have warned that the coronavirus pandemic could spark a surge in ocean pollution – adding to a glut of plastic waste that already threatens marine life.
Germany unveils plans for €40bn climate splurge
8 Jun 2020
The German government has unveiled plans for a massive €130 billion stimulus package that features at least €40 billion climate-related spending.
Siberia dries out as forests burn
8 Jun 2020
A huge swathe of Arctic Russia is changing rapidly as oil leaks, the climate warms and Siberia dries out.
Car industry pushes for scrappage scheme
8 Jun 2020
The UK car industry has been in confidential talks with the government over a possible £1.5 billion scrappage scheme that it insists should encourage the purchase of diesel and petrol cars on an equal footing with cleaner vehicles.
Our chance to reset global economy, says Charles
5 Jun 2020
The Prince of Wales has unveiled a five-point plan to stimulate sustainable economic growth.
Virus could cause $25tn fossil fuel industry collapse
5 Jun 2020
The coronavirus outbreak could trigger a $25 trillion collapse in the fossil fuel industry by accelerating a terminal decline for the world’s most polluting companies.
Japan to launch ‘green recovery’ platform
4 Jun 2020
Japan wants to bolster global momentum for climate action by hosting an online platform and high-level political event on greening the post-coronavirus economic recovery.
European Green Deal needs strong methane rules
4 Jun 2020
Oil and gas companies throughout the supply chain need to do much more to bring down methane emissions immediately, says Shell's new-energies director Maarten Wetselaar.
Climate change the most important mission for unis
4 Jun 2020
The future of universities will involve articulating their unique role as embedded, ethical generators of crucial knowledge and skills, well-equipped to handle coming contingencies and helping others to do the same - and that means climate change.
Weeds on march put food on defensive
3 Jun 2020
Climate-change-induced weed invasions threaten food production in many countries, including Europe, the United States and Australia, scientists say.
How the super-rich conquered London
2 Jun 2020
Over cups of tea in his ramshackle London home I chatted with a novelist. Talk inevitably turned to its expanding population of wealthy residents.
Why is there so much furore over China’s Belt and Road?
2 Jun 2020
There were certainly questions asked when Victoria first signed a memorandum of understanding to join China’s Belt and Road Initiative in 2018, but it wasn’t until the past week that the criticism reached a fever pitch.
'Zombie fires’ are erupting in Alaska
2 Jun 2020
The bitterly cold Arctic winter typically snuffs out the seasonal wildfires that erupt in this region. But every once in a while, a wildfire comes along that refuses to die.
US renewables take the 2019 top spot
2 Jun 2020
Renewable energy consumption in the US topped coal consumption in 2019, the first time this has occurred in more than 130 years.
South Asia’s twin threat: extreme heat and foul air
2 Jun 2020
Climate change means many health risks. Any one of them raises the danger. What happens when extreme heat meets bad air?
How a contrarian scientist helped Trump's EPA
29 May 2020
In March 2017, a scientist named James Enstrom rattled many public health experts by publishing a study concluding that there was no link between fine soot air pollution and premature death.
There's plenty of room for carbon storage underground
29 May 2020
There's plenty of room for more of the main greenhouse gas on this planet – as long as it’s caught and trapped in carbon storage underground.
One project exposes Morrison's gas plan as folly
28 May 2020
Every few years, the idea that gas will help Australia transition to a zero-emissions economy seems to re-emerge, as if no one had thought of it before.
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
Today 11:30am
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
Thu 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
Today 11:30am
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.
