International: All stories
EU recovery fund has green strings attached
28 May 2020
It’s now official: the EU’s updated seven-year €1 trillion budget proposal and €750 billion recovery plan will both be geared towards the green and digital transitions.
It’s time to let the ‘fire people’ care for the land
28 May 2020
Since last summer’s bushfire crisis, there’s been a quantum shift in public awareness of Aboriginal fire management.
COP26 likely to be delayed again
27 May 2020
Vital international climate talks due to be hosted by the United Kingdom are expected to be delayed until late next year because of the coronavirus crisis, it has emerged, dashing hopes they could be reconvened sooner.
Act now, says former fossil fuel company exec
26 May 2020
Ian Dunlop - the former head of the Australian Coal Association - worries about his grandchildren. He worries time is running out.
United push for Australia to target emissions in covid recovery
25 May 2020
Australian businesses, unions, investors and environmentalists are joining forces in a call for a covid-19 pandemic economic recovery programme based on energy efficiency.
Green New Deal turns South Korea from climate villain to model
25 May 2020
The country’s youngest MP is on a mission, inspired by Greta Thunberg, as climate moves up political agenda.
Fires and pandemic a sign of things to come, letter warns
25 May 2020
Leading health professionals, including a Nobel laureate and a former Australian of the Year, say the Australian Government must put human health “front and centre” in a new generation of environment laws in the aftermath of the Covid-19 and bushfire crises.
It's up to us by how much sea levels will rise
22 May 2020
It’s a racing certainty that sea levels everywhere will go on climbing. Unless the world’s nations act to contain global warming, by 2100 the tides around the world will be one metre higher. And by 2300, they could be five metres higher.
Australian oil and gas producers push back
22 May 2020
Australia’s oil and gas producers have warned against the Morrison government underwriting a massive expansion of the domestic industry, saying the country does not have a gas shortage and intervention could reduce supply and raise prices.
Climate change turning Antarctica's snow green
21 May 2020
Warming temperatures in Antarctica are helping the formation and spread of “green snow” that in places can be seen from space.
Denmark proposes two huge ‘energy islands’
21 May 2020
Denmark plans to build two “energy islands” totalling 4GW of offshore wind capacity, under plans to reduce emissions by 70 per cent from 1990s levels by 2030 and become a green energy exporter.
Supermarket chains threaten Brazil boycott
21 May 2020
British supermarkets have warned Brazil they might have to boycott its products if lawmakers there pass a contentious bill that could enable faster destruction of the Amazon rainforest.
Seattle permanently closes 20 miles of street
21 May 2020
Seattle has made bold moves to put pedestrians and cyclists first by permanently closing up to 20 miles of roadways to nonessential through traffic to encourage people to exercise safely.
Startups invest $4bn in UK battery factory
21 May 2020
Two British startups have announced plans to invest as much as $4 billion in building the UK’s first large-scale battery factory, in a move that could prove a major boost to the country’s struggling car industry.
Emissions slashed, but scientists issue warning
20 May 2020
The global economic shutdown caused by the covid-19 pandemic cut the world’s greenhouse gas by nearly 18 million tonnes a day – and the second-highest rate of reduction was in New Zealand.
Scott Morrison is still Coal-Mo to the core
20 May 2020
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has just celebrated the first anniversary of his surprise election win in May, 2019. And he’s been getting some glowing reviews from some predictable quarters.
Europe plans for three billion trees in 10 years
20 May 2020
The European Commission this week will launch a sweeping effort to tackle the global biodiversity crisis, including a call for three billion trees to be planted by 2030 and a plan to better protect the continent’s last primeval forests.
Spain sets out to cut gas emissions by 2050
20 May 2020
Spain’s Cabinet is set to approve a bill setting out a path to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net-zero by 2050, putting it on course to join a handful of wealthy nations that have written the target into law.
Nuclear tests affected weather 60 years ago
20 May 2020
Cold War nuclear tests did change the weather in the 1960s. The Earth did not catch fire, but a hard rain did begin to fall.
Australia ... further to fall, harder to rise
20 May 2020
"Pestilence is so common," writes Albert Camus in The Plague: There have been as many plagues in the world as there have been wars, yet plagues and wars always find people equally unprepared. When war breaks out, people say: ‘It won’t last. It’s too stupid.’ And war is certainly too stupid, but that doesn’t prevent it from lasting.
Investing and tech will be megatrends of the 20s
19 May 2020
Responsible investing and technology will inevitably be the top two megatrends of the 2020s, says the head of one of the world’s largest independent financial advisory organisations.
Natural forests are best at storing carbon
19 May 2020
Two new studies have freshly confirmed an argument unchallenged for more than three decades: the best way to absorb and permanently store carbon from the atmosphere is to restore and conserve existing natural forests.
Largest Arctic science expedition finds itself on thin ice
19 May 2020
Covid-19 is just one of many setbacks for hundreds of scientists pursuing critical climate questions in the world’s most remote and inhospitable environment.
Do these bottles herald the end of plastic?
18 May 2020
Beer and soft drinks could soon be sipped from “all-plant” bottles under new plans to turn sustainably grown crops into plastic in partnership with major beverage makers.
Alaska patiently awaits ice-melt tsunami
18 May 2020
A melting glacier in Alaska might trigger a landslide that would cause a major tsunami, scientists have warned.
Shorter supply chains needed to end hunger, says UN
18 May 2020
The coronavirus crisis is deepening inequalities in accessing healthy food, the UN special envoy for food systems has warned.
Could New York's youth convince the State to divest?
18 May 2020
One analyst says oil, gas and coal were the biggest pension contributors for 30 years, but now are the worst performing sector—and there are no signs of improvement.
Big Business backs a better economy
15 May 2020
Chief executives from more than 330 businesses, including Microsoft, Nike and Visa, are calling on US bipartisan federal lawmakers to build back a better economy from covid-19 by infusing resilient climate solutions.
Trump buying one million barrels of oil
15 May 2020
The Trump Administration is planning to buy one million barrels of oil from US companies after funding to make a larger purchase failed to pass Congress.
Don't forget the other curve - the climate one
15 May 2020
If any image has singularly captured the public’s attention during the coronavirus pandemic, it has been The Curve.
Biden taps Ocasio-Cortez and Kerry to fight climate
15 May 2020
Presidential hopeful Joe Biden has appointed Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the avatar of the Green New Deal, and former Secretary of State John Kerry, an architect of the Paris climate agreement, to his climate team.
Bangladesh to double fossil fuel imports
15 May 2020
Bangladesh is expected to double its imports of fossil fuels in the coming decade and will miss its 2020 clean-energy target.
How Australia can build a green economy
14 May 2020
As the Australian government prepares plans for economic recovery, investors and green groups alike say this is a once-only opportunity to move towards zero emissions.
Lessons from the rush on toilet paper
14 May 2020
The speed of official reaction to covid-19 has prompted some people to ask whether modern societies can act as fast to protect themselves, not only from another pandemic, but against a possible comparable global threat such as climate change.
Plastic waste now litters Antarctic shore
13 May 2020
British and German scientists have identified "sickening" levels of plastic waste in the Southern Ocean that washes around Antarctica.
World could lose half its sandy beaches
13 May 2020
Sea level rise fueled by man-made climate change threatens to consume half the world's sandy beaches by the end of the century, according to a new study.
Fossil fuel giants set for virus bailout bonanza
13 May 2020
Fossil fuel companies and coal-powered utilities in the US are set for a potential bonanza under federal government plans for a bond bailout, part of the rescue package for the coronavirus crisis.
Bolsonaro sends in his soldiers
13 May 2020
Brazil has deployed thousands of soldiers to protect the Amazon rainforest as the government mounts a response to surging deforestation ahead of the high season for forest fires.
Will the virus crisis trump the climate crisis?
12 May 2020
The battle over how to spend recovery funds — to quickly restore the old economy or invest in a greener one — will define the post-pandemic world.
Extreme heat set to trap millions indoors by 2060
12 May 2020
Extreme heat and humidity are increasing across the globe, threatening millions of lives and economies in places where it could become fatal to work outdoors.
Belt and Road backers failing to protect nature
12 May 2020
The financial backers of China’s Belt and Road Initiative are being accused of failing to require safeguards to protect nature.
Plastic piles up as covid sidelines pollution fight
12 May 2020
Green groups worry about a plastic "onslaught" in Southeast Asia as home deliveries during lockdowns add to mountains of waste.
Shareholders call for Rio Tinto to make stand
11 May 2020
Shareholders in global miner Rio Tinto have rebuked the company over its climate stance, with 37 per cent voting at a meeting in Australia for a resolution that would require it to set binding emissions targets.
How will we fly, drive, commute and ride?
11 May 2020
Social distancing rules will kill cities, experts warn – and the future of mass transit hangs in the balance.
We must save economy and climate together
11 May 2020
There’s growing agreement by economists and scientists: Covid-19 needs the world to rescue both economy and climate together.
Covid sees bikes pushing cars out of cities
11 May 2020
Curfews paralysed traffic as the covid-19 pandemic hit many cities, but now the cities have started to promote the bicycle revolution and ban cars.
Don't count out batteries in the future
11 May 2020
The clean energy sector of the future will need both batteries and electrolysers, says a new International Energy Agency report.
Judge rules feral horses must go
11 May 2020
The Australian federal court has ruled that feral horses can be removed from the Victorian high country.
Trump reverses nearly 100 green rules
8 May 2020
After three years in office, the Trump administration has dismantled most of the major climate and environmental policies the president promised to undo.
Infectious disease rates are skyrocketing
8 May 2020
A catastrophic loss in biodiversity, reckless destruction of wildland and warming temperatures have allowed disease to explode.
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.
