International: All stories
Global financial system must change, says UN
8 Apr 2019
A comprehensive overhaul of the world’s financial system is necessary if governments are to honour climate commitments, says a new UN-led report.
Norway’s giant oil fund dives into renewables
8 Apr 2019
Norway's trillion-dollar oil fund, the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund, is to plunge billions of dollars into wind and solar power projects.
Last Antarctic forests send a message on climate change
8 Apr 2019
Scramble across exposed rocks in the middle of Antarctica and it's possible to find the mummified twigs of shrubs that grew on the continent millions of years ago.
These countries have prices on carbon
5 Apr 2019
More than 40 governments have now adopted some sort of price on carbon, either through direct taxes on fossil fuels or through cap-and-trade programmes.
New York to make drivers pay for pollution
5 Apr 2019
New York is set to become the first US city to charge drivers a fee for releasing planet-warming pollution from their cars.
Chinese consumers ignore calls to eat less beef
5 Apr 2019
Despite increasing prices and evidence that too much beef is bad for health and the environment, the belief in China that eating red meat makes you strong persists and consumption is accelerating.
Science festival bans fossil fuel sponsorship
5 Apr 2019
The charity running the Edinburgh international science festival is to ban sponsorship from oil companies including Shell and Total after protests by climate campaigners.
Coalition tailors budget for climate denial
4 Apr 2019
The Australian government has delivered its last budget before May elections with long-term climate and clean energy policies and technologies being ignored.
German Greens want to become the people’s party
4 Apr 2019
Germany’s Greens want to stabilise their steep rise in popularity and formulate new basic principles. What do they want to do differently?
Termites show humans how to keep their high-rise cool
4 Apr 2019
Scientists are studying the architectural skills developed by termites so we can keep cool, dry and well-ventilated in tall buildings without using fossil fuels.
Trade war spells disaster for the Amazon
3 Apr 2019
An analysis of global soya-bean production forecasts massive deforestation in Brazil — and stakeholders must act fast to prevent it.
Labor climate policy is to hit big polluters
3 Apr 2019
A Bill Shorten Labor government in Australia would add about 100 high polluters to those subject to an emissions cap, and drastically slash the present cap’s level.
EU on track for 50% emission cuts by 2030
3 Apr 2019
While Germany and Eastern European countries continue to oppose raising the EU’s 40 per cent emission reduction target for 2030, a new analysis insists the bloc will actually manage at least 50 per cent cuts under a business-as-usual scenario.
Ryanair joins what used to be the EU's all-coal polluters' club
3 Apr 2019
Low-cost carrier Ryanair has made it to the list of Europe’s top 10 carbon emitters, meaning it now ranks as high as the continent’s coal power plants in terms of pollution.
Canada imposes carbon tax on four provinces
2 Apr 2019
Canada has imposed a landmark carbon tax on four provinces which had defied Ottawa’s push to combat climate change.
Slovakia's new leader will fight Big Coal
2 Apr 2019
Slovakia’s first female president, Zuzana Èaputová, will challenge long-standing industrial interests and the financing of coal mining after being elected at the weekend.
Judge blocks Trump's Arctic drilling plans
2 Apr 2019
A judge's ruling restores former president Barack Obama’s orders putting large parts of the Arctic off-limits to offshore drilling and throws Donald Trump’s oil and gas lease sale plans into question.
How the lion lost its mojo
2 Apr 2019
The legacy of colonial hunting has made the king of beasts genetically feebler and more vulnerable.
Japan to oppose new coal-fired power plants
2 Apr 2019
Japan’s environment minister has announced he will “in principle” oppose any new plans to build or expand coal-fired power stations, as further signs emerge of a dramatic energy pivot by Australia’s top export market for thermal coal.
Can the world quench China’s thirst for milk?
1 Apr 2019
China’s leaders have championed milk as the emblem of a modern, affluent society – but their radical plan to triple the nation’s consumption will have a huge environmental cost.
CLIMATE QUESTION: How do we keep the kids interested?
1 Apr 2019
Nearly 1.5m students walked out of school on March 15 to protest about the failure of the governments to tackle climate change. The job now is to find ways to mobilise their passion in the long-term.
Corporate giants join green-energy alliance
1 Apr 2019
Hundreds of US corporate companies have joined together for a renewable-energy alliance.
Canberra gets blame for failure to cut vehicle emissions
1 Apr 2019
Cuts to carbon emissions from vehicle efficiency standards have been left out of government projections for meeting Australia’s Paris climate commitments, indicating the policy has been shelved.
UNEQUAL EMISSIONS: The gulf between global rich and poor
1 Apr 2019
Being rich, especially ultra-rich, means being directly responsible for the majority of the world’s carbon emissions.
China and India are making a greener Earth
29 Mar 2019
Despite climate change, water scarcity and the many ills affecting the planet, this generation is living on an increasingly greener Earth.
Climate denial is evil, says Mary Robinson
29 Mar 2019
The denial of climate change is not just ignorant, but “malign and evil”, according to Mary Robinson, because it denies the human rights of the most vulnerable people on the planet.
Senate defeats Green New Deal proposal
28 Mar 2019
The US Senate has defeated a motion to take up the Green New Deal, the non-binding proposal spearheaded by progressive Democratic lawmakers.
Fossil fuel now costs more, says study
28 Mar 2019
Around three-quarters of US coal production is now more expensive than solar and wind energy in providing electricity to American households, according to a new study.
ON YER TRIKE! A new way to ensure the mail gets through
28 Mar 2019
The mail must get through ... and now it's the job of e-trikes to deliver letters and parcels.
I want plans, not speeches, says UN head
27 Mar 2019
UN chief Antonio Guterres is calling on world leaders to bring plans, not speeches to a climate summit he is hosting in September.
Don't know how to save the planet? This is what you can do
27 Mar 2019
Should we become vegetarians? Is it OK to fly? The author of There Is No Planet B, a Handbook for the Make or Break Years, answers the big questions.
Top companies accused of undermining Paris deal
26 Mar 2019
New analysis shows 22 of Australia’s largest companies are actively working to undermine the Paris Agreement targets, betting shareholders’ money on strategies that assume global climate change action fails.
Six ways to fill your wardrobe with sustainable clothing
26 Mar 2019
While the push for a more sustainable fashion market is in its early days, individuals can still make easy choices right now to have a more environmentally friendly style.
Russia floats first law to regulate emissions
25 Mar 2019
Russia is considering climate legislation that could give the world’s fifth largest emitter a framework for regulating carbon emissions for the first time.
How insurance could be out of reach for many
25 Mar 2019
Insurers have warned that climate change could make cover for ordinary people unaffordable after the world’s largest reinsurance firm blamed global warming for $24bn of losses in the Californian wildfires.
UK lines up first deep coal mine in decades
25 Mar 2019
Local councillors in Cumbria have voted unanimously to approve a new deep coal mine, Britain’s first in three decades.
Melting ice exposing bodies of Mt Everest's missing climbers
25 Mar 2019
Melting glaciers on Mount Everest have begun exposing the bodies of climbers who died on the mountain.
Attenborough to tell us the facts in new film
25 Mar 2019
The BBC has just announced that David Attenborough, 92, will present a 60-minute film, Climate Change - The Facts, which will be screened this northen spring.
US judge halts hundreds of drilling projects
22 Mar 2019
In the first significant check on the Trump administration’s “energy-first” agenda, a US judge has temporarily halted hundreds of drilling projects for failing to take climate change into account.
More gas mining threatens climate, water and health
22 Mar 2019
Australia, like its competitors Qatar, Canada and the US, aspires to become the world’s largest exporter of gas, arguing this helps importing nations reduce their greenhouse emissions by replacing coal.
Toyota's Melbourne plant to make hydrogen
22 Mar 2019
Toyota and the Australian Renewable Energy Agency will kick in $7.4m to transform part of the carmaker’s decommissioned Melbourne car manufacturing site into a commercial-grade hydrogen production and refuelling site.
Most US produce has pesticide residues - even after washing
22 Mar 2019
About 70 per cent of fresh produce sold in the US has pesticide residues on it even after it is washed, according to a health advocacy group.
FLANNERY: People are shocked; they should be angry
21 Mar 2019
Author and scientist Tim Flannery, who has returned to his roots at the Australian Museum, says the world is about to see a major shift towards climate action.
Good keen youths could form a Green Army
21 Mar 2019
A volunteer conservation army could mobilise young people who want to fight climate change by channelling them into work to restore ecosystems.
Look what happened when they cleaned up this rubbish beach
21 Mar 2019
Baby-turtles have officially returned to Mumbai - and it's all because one of the world’s largest beach clean-up efforts.
America cares about climate change again
20 Mar 2019
For the first time in years, a broad spectrum of US climate advocates is going on the offensive.
Green New Deal aims for triple payback
20 Mar 2019
Just suppose we could see a way to transform the global economy, society and even the environment so that they met real needs, and promised to go on doing so far into the future. Well, we can. And it’s growing simpler all the time, futurologists say.
‘No doubt’ Arctic temperatures will rise 3.5deg
20 Mar 2019
New research by the UN has found that a temperature rise of up to 3.5deg in the Arctic is now inevitable.
Weatherman wants climate change 'forecasts'
20 Mar 2019
A veteran UK weatherman has called on the BBC and other major broadcasters to radically overhaul their forecasts to incorporate information about climate change.
Japanese investors back renewables
19 Mar 2019
Major Japanese investors, including those most indebted to coal, are seeking to back large-scale renewables projects across Asia, marking a “monumental” shift that energy market analysts say is “the start of the end for thermal coal”.
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.
States sue to stop Trump cancellation of $7 billion solar grant program
Today 11:00am
Nearly two dozen states are suing the Trump administration over its cancellation of a $7 billion grant program aimed at expanding solar energy in low-income communities, according to court papers.
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.
How one country’s Russian gas crisis became a green energy boom
Today 11:00am
When Russia invaded Ukraine, Moldova quickly empowered its small towns to produce their own renewable energy so no one could push it around.
UK Prime Minister will attend Brazil climate summit
Today 11:00am
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
Today 11:00am
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.
Four Brazilians to watch at COP30
Wed 15 Oct 2025
Influential Brazilians, from government figures to Indigenous activists, will take center stage during UN climate talks in the Amazon next month.
New UN carbon market rules could reshape how investors value nature
Mon 20 Oct 2025
A debate over carbon permanence – how long CO2 must stay stored to count towards offsetting emissions – is reshaping global carbon markets and could determine whether nature remains investable.
