International: All stories
Unhappy investors criticise firms over Paris pact
3 Oct 2019
Investors representing more than $55 trillion say just a fraction of companies are doing their part in meeting the Paris Agreement.
UK to deploy special climate protest police
3 Oct 2019
British police will deploy specially trained climate protest officers to London this weekend to help to deal with two weeks of protests planned by Extinction Rebellion.
Drought could hit half world’s wheat at once
3 Oct 2019
The planet’s daily bread could be at risk as almost two-thirds of the world’s wheat-growing areas face “severe, prolonged, and near-simultaneous droughts”.
NSW considers laws to stop courts blocking coalmines
3 Oct 2019
The New South Wales government is considering legislation that could limit the ability for planning authorities to rule out coalmines projects based on the climate change impact of emissions from the coal once it is burned.
OUR HEALTH: Should we be worried about microplastics?
3 Oct 2019
Plastic is everywhere – in our food, air, water and oceans. But do we know enough to determine how harmful it is to our health?
Shippers rig vessels with 'cheat machines'
2 Oct 2019
Global shipping companies have spent billions rigging vessels with “cheat devices” that circumvent new environmental legislation by dumping pollution into the sea, a UK newspaper says.
How Britain ended its coal addiction
2 Oct 2019
The UK was once the world’s largest coal consumer, but the highly polluting fossil fuel has been pushed out by renewable energy and natural gas.
Giant iceberg breaks off east Antarctica
2 Oct 2019
The calving of the 1636 sq km iceberg in Antarctica is not linked to climate change, scientists say, but could speed up further melting.
Rugby stars are losing their Pacific islands
2 Oct 2019
Whatever happens on the pitches, rugby stars from the Pacific islands face a battle back home to save their ancestral lands from rising sea levels.
Towns prepare for 'unimaginable' water crisis
1 Oct 2019
Livelihoods in Australia are now at risk from drought worsened by climate change, a predicament more familiar to developing countries.
VILLAGERS DIG IN: 'Human rights before mining rights'
1 Oct 2019
Villagers living on the edge of one of Germany’s biggest surface coalmines have vowed not sell their properties to the energy company RWE, and to fight any attempt to oust them from their homes.
Queensland plans huge hydrogen projects
1 Oct 2019
Two huge renewable hydrogen projects have been planned for the heart of Queensland’s major coal and gas regions.
Why you should stop buying new clothes
30 Sep 2019
The fashion industry is one of the most polluting industries in the world, producing 20 per cent of global wastewater and 10 per cent of global carbon emissions – and it’s estimated that by 2050 this will have increased to 25 per cent.
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.
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.
