International: All stories
Our war with the environment is leading to pandemics
31 Mar 2020
The Global covid-19 crisis and the climate and biodiversity crises are deeply connected, health experts say.
Campaigners attack Japan's 'shameful' climate plans
31 Mar 2020
Japan has laid out its plans to tackle greenhouse gas emissions under the Paris agreement in the run-up to UN climate talks this year, becoming the first large economy to do so.
Trump throws lifeline to oil industry
31 Mar 2020
The Trump administration's unprecedented decision to suspend enforcement of US environmental laws amid the covid-19 crisis throws a lifeline to the oil industry.
Pandemic recovery needs green strings attached
30 Mar 2020
Governments and financial institutions are under growing pressure to make economic bailouts designed to counter the coronavirus pandemic dependent on climate action in the longer term.
Scientists seek signs of economic shock on CO2 levels
27 Mar 2020
Scientists are monitoring the atmosphere at a mountaintop in Hawaii for clues that the coronavirus will be the first economic shock in more than 60 years to slow a rise in carbon dioxide levels that are heating the planet.
Pandemic leading to huge drop in air pollution
27 Mar 2020
The coronavirus pandemic is shutting down industrial activity and temporarily slashing air pollution levels around the world, satellite imagery shows.
Earth's deepest ice canyon vulnerable to melting
27 Mar 2020
East Antarctic's Denman Canyon is the deepest land gorge on Earth, reaching 3500m below sea level. It's also filled top to bottom with ice which has a significant vulnerability to melting.
Too early to predict impact, says WMO
26 Mar 2020
The World Meteorological Organisation says it’s too soon to predict the impact the covid-19 pandemic will have on climate change.
Oil eyes $10 as world runs out of storage space
26 Mar 2020
The world might soon run out of space to store its extra oil as Saudi Arabia prepares to increase fossil fuel production.
Smoke from bushfires killed hundreds
26 Mar 2020
Smoke from Australia’s recent bushfires killed hundreds of people and sent thousands to hospitals and emergency rooms, according to a new study.
Shell to slash $9 billion from spending
25 Mar 2020
Royal Dutch Shell plans to slash $9 billion from its spending plans to weather the collapse in oil market prices in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.
Pensacola plays host to a climate killer
25 Mar 2020
Ten miles north of Pensacola, Florida, an aging chemical plant, its tanks, smokestacks and stainless steel pipes sprawling across hundreds of acres, is a climate killer hiding in plain sight.
Closures will cut emissions - but not by much
24 Mar 2020
Shutting down the global airline industry for good would deliver only a fraction of the emissions reductions needed in a year to avert disastrous levels of climate change, an expert says.
European recycling markets reel from coronavirus
24 Mar 2020
By MARK VICTORY | Concerns over the long-term impact of the coronavirus outbreak on key European recycling markets sharply escalated this week, following the adoption of further containment measures across the continent.
Climate change is harder to spot in some places
24 Mar 2020
Changeable weather in mid-latitude countries might have masked the impact of climate crisis up to now, a new study finds.
Why planners must look beyond history to judge risks
24 Mar 2020
Predictions based on past weather extremes are dramatically underestimating growing threats of extreme heat and rain linked to warming, researchers find.
Virus forces climate activists to rethink tactics
23 Mar 2020
The coronavirus pandemic has created a quandary for the climate activists just as the movement has achieved unprecedented momentum.
Australian leaders told to get on with it
20 Mar 2020
Australia’s Government has been told to implement comprehensive climate-change policies in the national interest.
One summer cost Greenland 600 billion tonnes of ice
20 Mar 2020
Greenland lost 600 billion tonnes of ice last summer due to an exceptionally warm season, according to a new study.
The frightening origins of coronavirus
20 Mar 2020
In November 2002, a 46-year-old man from the Chinese coastal province of Guangdong developed a fever and struggled to breathe.
Southeast Asian mangrove destruction is rampant
20 Mar 2020
Southeast Asia’s aggressive development to spur economic growth are stripping the region’s coasts of mangrove forests at rates faster than anywhere.
Study fingers US banks as largest fossil fuel financers
19 Mar 2020
A new analysis from a coalition of environmental groups has found that four US banks are the world’s largest fossil fuel financers.
China's greenhouse emissions rise 2.6%
19 Mar 2020
China’s greenhouse gas emissions rose 2.6 per cent in 2019 despite a fall in the share of coal in the country’s energy mix, driven by a rise in energy consumption and greater use of oil and gas.
Pandemic plays havoc with climate legislation
19 Mar 2020
Debate on new climate action is being delayed in Australia and the United States because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Johnson under pressure to stage UN climate talks
19 Mar 2020
Nicholas Stern, one of the most prominent global experts on the climate crisis, has urged UK leader Boris Johnson to resist calls to postpone vital UN climate talks this year, despite the coronavirus outbreak.
India finally takes climate crisis seriously
19 Mar 2020
With financial losses and a heavy death toll from climate-related disasters constantly rising, India is at last focusing on the dangers of global warming.
Blame the rich, says university study
18 Mar 2020
The rich are primarily to blame for the global climate crisis, a study by the University of Leeds of 86 countries claims.
South Korea wants Green New Deal
18 Mar 2020
South Korea's ruling party has announced its ambition for the nation to adopt a Green New Deal and deliver net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Air pollution likely to increase virus death rate
18 Mar 2020
The health damage inflicted on people by long-standing air pollution in cities is likely to increase the death rate from coronavirus infections, experts have said.
Virus could hurt growth of solar power
18 Mar 2020
Fallout from the global spread of the Covid-19 virus could deliver the first down year for global solar growth since at least the 1980s, a new report says.
Old fridges still pumping out emissions
18 Mar 2020
Old fridges, air-conditioners and insulating foam still being used are contributing nine billion tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions and causing a six-year delay in the recovery of the ozone hole.
Biden and Sanders go head to head on climate
17 Mar 2020
It only took 10 debates, a worldwide pandemic, and the winnowing of the Democratic field down to two men in their late 70s — but the American public finally got to hear a substantive debate about climate change.
Big Money firms back Amazon oil boom
17 Mar 2020
Five large financial firms from the US and UK are bankrolling an oil boom in the western Amazon, says a new report.
US shale will be first casualty of oil price war
17 Mar 2020
Although the oil price war was triggered by the Russia-Saudi fall-out, US shale will be the first casualty.
STOP THE ROT: The fight to save fresh food
17 Mar 2020
An American firm has developed an organic coating that extends the shelf-life of fruit and vegetables. Might it save the world?
Green turns brown as the ecosystem suffers
17 Mar 2020
The drought in eastern Australia drove the recent bushfires but it also caused another, less well- known, environmental calamity: entire hillsides of trees turned from green to brown.
Virus threatens climate action, says energy watchdog
16 Mar 2020
The coronavirus health crisis might lead to a slump in global carbon emissions this year but the outbreak poses a threat to long-term climate action by undermining investment in clean energy, according to the global energy watchdog.
Coronavirus could mean the end of Small Oil
16 Mar 2020
In a globalised world, the US economy cannot escape the effects of a global pandemic, geopolitical upheaval, and the subsequent plunge in oil prices.
Attenborough calls for ban on deep-sea mining
16 Mar 2020
Sir David Attenborough has urged governments to ban deep-sea mining, following a study warning of “potentially disastrous” risks to the ocean’s life-support systems if it goes ahead.
NSW makes life easier for electric vehicles
16 Mar 2020
New South Wales is aiming for a more-efficient transport future by encouraging electric vehicle uptake in its just-announced Net Zero Plan.
Wind and solar plants will soon be cheaper than coal
13 Mar 2020
Building new wind and solar plants will soon be cheaper in every major market across the globe than running existing coal-fired power stations, according to a new report.
BOE eyes bank capital charge on polluting assets
13 Mar 2020
Britain’s first stress-test of the response of banks to climate change will help the Bank of England to determine if polluting assets should face “penalty” capital charges.
Europe’s farm sector struggles to cut emissions
13 Mar 2020
Europe’s agricultural sector has barely managed to reduce its emissions since 2018, according to a report by the European Environment Agency.
Greenpeace sues Poland's largest carbon emitter
13 Mar 2020
Greenpeace Poland has filed a lawsuit today against the largest carbon emitter in the country, demanding that the company stop any further fossil fuel investments and achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions from its existing coal plants by 2030.
2020 make or break for climate action, says UN
12 Mar 2020
The year 2020 will be pivotal for climate action if the world is to control ever-worsening impacts and indicators of climate change before it is too late, says the United Nations.
Public backs ban on short-haul flights
12 Mar 2020
A majority of European citizens would support a ban on short-distance flights to fight climate change, according to a new survey.
Burning gas “worse than coal” for climate
12 Mar 2020
Emissions from natural gas have been dangerously underestimated and it was wrong to treat gas as a “transition fuel” in the shift away from coal, according to an Australian think-tank.
VW wants to hire climate activist
12 Mar 2020
Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess wants to recruit an “aggressive climate activist” to work for the company, with direct access to the board in order to challenge its green policies.
EU announces ‘clean hydrogen alliance’
11 Mar 2020
Plans for an EU-wide hydrogen alliance were confirmed yesterday when the European Commission unveiled its new industrial strategy.
Amazon-sized ecosystems can collapse within decades
11 Mar 2020
Even large ecosystems the size of the Amazon rainforest can collapse in a few decades, according to a study that shows bigger biomes break up relatively faster than small ones.
Oil refinery fire at key Victoria facility
16 Apr 2026
Explosions and towering flames were reported as a significant fire broke out at one of Australia’s major oil refineries.
Trump takes a ‘wrecking ball’ to independent scientific advisory board
Thu 30 Apr 2026
Without the impartial oversight of its board, the National Science Foundation is now “fully at the behest of the White House,” experts warn.
China’s leadership calls for ‘strict control’ of fossil fuels
Tue 28 Apr 2026
Chinese government leaders published a policy document on 22 April – Earth Day – calling for stricter controls on fossil-fuel consumption and greater oversight of heavy emitters.
EU faces ‘China shock’ as EV imports drive Beijing’s record surplus with bloc
Fri 1 May 2026
The EU is experiencing a prolonged “China shock” as a flood of Chinese EVs into Europe helped push Beijing to a record surplus with the bloc.
UK scientists to fire salt water into the sky in bid to tackle climate crisis
Fri 1 May 2026
Government supporting new geoengineering techniques as race against unregulated companies seeking to capitalise on need for climate cooling tech heats up.
Canada, Alberta close in on carbon price agreement, sources say
Wed 29 Apr 2026
Canada and Alberta are expected to strike a deal in the next two weeks that will increase the price on carbon for the province's industrial emitters, but a broader agreement to tackle oil sands greenhouse gases and green-light a new crude oil export pipeline remains elusive.
India submits new climate action pledges to UN body, flags condition to fulfil promise
Wed 29 Apr 2026
India has formally submitted its pledge to the UN climate body, underline importing conditions noting the developing countries' committments cannot be fulfilled without adequate support in terms of finance and technology transfer.
Tuvalu to host world leaders before COP31 summit
16 Apr 2026
Tuvalu, the Pacific nation at the forefront of the global climate crisis, will host a special meeting of world leaders before this year’s Cop31 summit, as the conference president expresses “complete faith” in Chris Bowen to lead tough negotiations.
Drowned chicks and food scarcity: Emperor penguin and Antarctic fur seal now endangered
13 Apr 2026
The primary drivers are shrinking sea ice and warming oceans driven by climate change.
Rationing power and diluting petrol – how African countries are coping with effects of Iran war
30 Mar 2026
Countries across Africa have taken measures such as diluting petrol and restricting electricity consumption to cope with the fuel crisis triggered by the US and Israel's war in Iran.
Beef production drives 40% of agriculture-linked forest destruction, Brazil leads
26 Mar 2026
Beef production is the leading driver of agriculture-linked deforestation, accounting for 40% of all forest clearing done to open space for food production, according to details of a study released on Tuesday.
Extreme heat threatens global food systems, UN agencies warn
23 Apr 2026
Extreme heat is pushing global agrifood systems to the brink, threatening the livelihoods and health of more than a billion people, according to a new report by the U.N.'s food and weather agencies.
