International: All stories
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.
Mine protesters tackle All Blacks on eve of World Cup
18 Sep 2019
A petition launched just days before the World Cup opens in Japan calls on the All Blacks to dump their principal sponsor AIG over ties to a controversial Australian coal mine development.
Global warming hotspots pass safe limit
18 Sep 2019
By land and sea, some of the planet’s hotspots are already above the temperature agreed by scientists and politicians as the maximum allowable to prevent a disastrous climate crisis.
$1m-a-minute farm subsidies drive crisis, says report
17 Sep 2019
The public is providing more than $1m per minute in global farm subsidies, much of which is driving the climate crisis and destruction of wildlife, according to a new report.
Why the New York climate summit matters
17 Sep 2019
As world leaders converge on New York City for the United Nations Climate Action Summit on September 23, they enter what may be the most consequential week in climate politics since Donald Trump’s surprise election as president of the United States in 2016.
Trump's plan is to destroy Obama's green legacy
17 Sep 2019
The White House is not only overturning as many environmental protections as it can - it also wants to significantly change the legal landscape to make it harder to reinstate them.
More Australians drown as summers heat up
17 Sep 2019
More Australians are drowning as the country faces record high temperatures, lifesavers have warned.
The 'Lionesses' changed our measure of climate ambition
17 Sep 2019
In 2013, a group of women sat around the kitchen table at Glen House, a country estate in the Scottish borders.
Americans are waking up, new poll shows
16 Sep 2019
Two-thirds of Americans believe climate change is either a crisis or a serious problem, with a majority wanting immediate action to address global heating and its damaging consequences, a new poll shows.
Trump ditches water protection policy
16 Sep 2019
The Trump administration has repealed an Obama-era policy designed to protect US waterways.
Deforestation getting worse, says study
16 Sep 2019
Big agribusinesses aren't doing enough to stop deforestation in their supply chains, critics say.
Welcome to Welly ... the Paris of the southern hemisphere
13 Sep 2019
Wellington is the new Paris of the South, according to the latest cities’ liveability index.
No need to cut back on beef, say UK farmers
13 Sep 2019
Farming can become climate neutral by 2040 without cutting beef production or converting substantial areas of farmland into forest, according to UK farmers.
Guards watch Canadian environment minister
13 Sep 2019
Canadian environment minister Catherine McKenna says she has been assigned a security detail because of abuse she has received both online and in person.
UN confident China will raise climate ambition
12 Sep 2019
China is expected to come to the UN climate action summit with a more ambitious climate plan, a top UN official believes.
KNEES UP: Hot days in the field might see test stars in shorts
12 Sep 2019
The changing climate has brought to the holy temple of cricket a raft of possible consequences, from more drinks breaks to playing in shorts.
Australia launches emergency relocation of fish
12 Sep 2019
Faced with a ferocious summer with little rain forecast, the New South Wales government has embarked on a Noah’s Ark type operation to move native fish to safe havens.
Building climate defences could boost economies
11 Sep 2019
Countries could reap a $7 trillion economic prize by investing in measures to adapt to a changing climate, according to an analysis backed by Ban Ki-Moon, Bill Gates and the head of the World Bank.
'CHAOS, CHAOS, CHAOS': A trip through Bolsonaro's inferno
11 Sep 2019
From afar, it resembles a tornado: an immense grey column shooting thousands of feet upwards from the forest canopy into the Amazonian skies.
More Australians fear effects of changing climate ...
11 Sep 2019
Australians are increasingly concerned about droughts and floods, extinctions and water shortages associated with climate change, according to new research.
... but the disaster minister has his doubts
11 Sep 2019
Australia’s minister responsible for drought and natural disasters, David Littleproud, has said that he doesn’t “know if climate change is manmade”.
RETURN OF THE BLOB? Marine heatwave settles over Pacific
10 Sep 2019
The Pacific Ocean off the western coast of North America is five degrees hotter than usual after warming at an unusually rapid rate.
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
Today 11:15am
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
Thu 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
Today 11:15am
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
Today 11:15am
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’
Today 11:15am
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.
