International: All stories
Electric food – the new sci-fi diet that could save our planet
2 Nov 2018
Growing food without plants or animals sounds like science fiction. But it could stop environmental destruction.
Bolsonaro to merge environment and agriculture
2 Nov 2018
Brazil President-elect Jair Bolsonaro will merge the environment and agriculture ministries, a move activists have warned could imperil the Amazon rainforest.
NSW launches emerging energy programme
2 Nov 2018
New South Wales has launched one of the most significant energy transition projects in Australia designed to help to replace most of the state’s ageing coal plants with wind, solar and storage.
US makers double down on utes and SUVs
2 Nov 2018
The big three US vehicle makers - GM, Ford and Fiat Chrysler - talk about a cleaner future, but in reality are pushing the sales of gas-guzzling SUVs and utes.
Only 16 countries meet their Paris commitment
1 Nov 2018
Only 16 countries out of the 197 that signed the Paris Agreement have defined national climate action plan ambitious enough to meet their pledges.
Wildlife in 'mindblowing' crisis, says WWF
1 Nov 2018
Global wildlife populations have fallen by 60 per cent in just over four decades, as accelerating pollution, deforestation, climate change and other manmade factors have created a "mindblowing" crisis, the World Wildlife Fund says in a new report.
Climate change drives migrant caravan
1 Nov 2018
While violence and poverty have been cited as the reasons for the Central Amica exodus, experts say the big picture is that changing climate is forcing farmers off their land – and it’s likely to get worse.
UK announces tax on plastic packaging
1 Nov 2018
The UK has announced a world-leading plastics tax which will apply to any business that produces or imports plastic packaging that does not contain at least 30 per cent recycled content.
Chinese city launching own moon to save on power bill
1 Nov 2018
A private aerospace institute in China plans to launch its own moon to save money on nightime lighting in a provincial city.
Investors challenge 55 companies on climate lobbying
31 Oct 2018
Five weeks before a pivotal UN climate conference starts, a group of investors, led by the Church of England Pensions Board and the Swedish national pension fund, has sent a letter to 55 companies to challenge them on climate lobbying.
Polish utility sued over financial risk of coal plant
31 Oct 2018
Activist shareholders have filed a climate lawsuit against utility Enea over a planned €1.2 billion coal plant in north-east Poland.
Clean energy is surging – and headed for a fall
31 Oct 2018
The relentlessly corrosive nature of Australian political debate about climate change can sometimes mask that this is a golden moment for the clean energy industry.
Big brands pledge to turn tide on plastic waste
31 Oct 2018
Big brands – from Coca Cola to Kellogg – have pledged to cut all plastic waste from their operations in what the UN calls the most ambitious effort yet to fight plastic pollution.
Will Trump of the Tropics wreck Amazon rainforest?
30 Oct 2018
Will Jair Bolsonaro dedicate himself to the meticulous destruction of the Amazon now he has won Brazil's presidential election?
Catholic bishops call for faith in Paris target
30 Oct 2018
Catholic Church leaders have urged governments around the world to ramp up their climate action efforts, calling for “ambitious implementation” of the Paris Agreement.
Litigation likely to rise on back of IPCC report
30 Oct 2018
Climate-related litigations are set to break new grounds following the rcent landmark IPCC report which provides lawyers with new evidence that limiting global warming to 1.5deg is still possible.
Air pollution the new tobacco, warns WHO head
29 Oct 2018
Air pollution is the new tobacco, the head of the World Health Organisation has warned, saying the simple act of breathing is killing seven million people a year and harming billions more.
Spain to close most coalmines in $400m deal
29 Oct 2018
Spain is to shut down most of its coalmines by the end of the year after government and unions struck a deal that will mean €250m ($NZ430m) will be invested in mining regions over the next decade.
How boiling Darwin could keep the people and regain its cool
29 Oct 2018
July 2018 in Darwin was 2deg hotter than any previous July and the record heat has continued. Surveys show that it's the reason people are leaving the city.
Climate fund approves $1b for poor countries
29 Oct 2018
A UN Green Climate Fund backed fund has approved more than $1 billion for 19 new projects to help developing countries to tackle climate change.
Ocean-sweeper targets plastic waste in Caribbean
29 Oct 2018
SodaStream has announced the launch of its massive ocean-sweeper, a contraption designed to dismantle plastic waste patches in marine waters.
We can’t take many more populists like Bolsonaro
26 Oct 2018
Just when Earth badly needs pro-environment leaders, we get big-business strongmen. There’s a reason for this grim irony.
Hunger for raw materials bad news for the climate
26 Oct 2018
Just when you might think the world has heard an unmistakable warning of the need to curb climate change drastically and fast, along comes another warning, about humans’ voracious appetite for the raw materials we use so profligately.
Coalition digs deeper into coal and climate denial
26 Oct 2018
If the Wentworth and Wagga Wagga by-elections in Austraia were supposed to send a message to the Coalition government about the need to act on carbon emissions and embrace renewables, it hasn’t worked.
Ocean warming hits highest recorded level
25 Oct 2018
Ocean heat content set a record in the first half of 2018, with more warmth in the oceans than at any time since records began in 1940.
Brexit and Germany erode EU climate resolve
25 Oct 2018
Britain is leaving, Germany is wobbling and talks on EU emissions cuts are tipping in favour of the bloc’s more reticent countries, according to diplomatic sourcese following climate files in Brussels.
Australia shows interest in hydrogen power
25 Oct 2018
The Australian Renewable Energy Agency has announced funding to produce renewable hydrogen from wind and solar power.
How one small island showed us how to clean up our act
25 Oct 2018
In just 10 years, the Isle of Man has rid its beaches of plastic and earned Unesco status as a world leader in ocean protection. So how did it do it?
US scientists keen to get political power
24 Oct 2018
More than a dozen scientists are candidates for US House and Senate seats this year in a wave fueled by the Trump Administration’s anti-science agenda.
Coalition could help out new power projects
24 Oct 2018
Energy minister Angus Taylor has signalled the Australian government could indemnify new power generation projects against the future risk of a carbon price, and says it could also support the retrofitting of existing coal plants.
Australia to have ultra-fast charging network
24 Oct 2018
Drivers travelling between Australia’s major cities could soon charge their electric vehicles in just 15 minutes with a super-fast network being rolled out across the country.
How a little warming paved the way for reign of the dinosaurs
24 Oct 2018
Massive flooding of Pangea millions of years ago - caused by climate warming of 4deg-7deg - led to mass extinction and allowed for dinosaurs to rapidly diversify and spread around the world.
US emissions fell in 2017 as coal plants shut
23 Oct 2018
Greenhouse gas emissions from the largest US industrial plants fell 2.7 per cent in 2017 as coal plants shut, according to the Trump administration.
Trump tries again to stop youngsters' case
23 Oct 2018
President Trump’s administration has for a second time asked the US Supreme Court to put the brakes on a lawsuit filed by young activists who have accused the government of ignoring the perils of climate change.
Nauruans (and refugees) have nowhere to hide
23 Oct 2018
Everyone on Nauru – indigenous Nauruans and refugees alike – is experiencing the impacts of one the greatest social, economic and political threats faced by the world today: global environmental change.
Study finds 90% of table salt contains microplastics
23 Oct 2018
Ninety per cent sea, rock and lake salt brands sold around the world contain microplastics, a new study shows.
Russian town besieged by hungry polar bears
23 Oct 2018
A coastal town in the Russian Arctic has been besieged by hungry polar bears who are spending more time on land as sea ice melts due to climate change.
Global carbon emissions set to hit new high
19 Oct 2018
Global carbon emissions will rise to a new record level in 2018, making the chances of reaching a target to keep temperature increases to 1.5deg or 2deg “weaker and weaker every year, every month,” says the International Energy Agency.
Wales to turn back on coal mining
19 Oct 2018
Future coal mining applications are set to be rejected as a matter of policy for the first time in Wales.
New climate threatens heritage sites
19 Oct 2018
More powerful storms, flooding, desertification and the melting of permafrost are already destroying important heritage sites at an alarming rate.
Fracking protesters set free on appeal
19 Oct 2018
Three protesters jailed for blocking access to a UK fracking site have walked free after the court of appeal quashed their sentences, calling them “manifestly excessive”.
Rice gene bank wins survival funding
19 Oct 2018
The world’s largest collection of rice varieties has secured indefinite funding in what officials say will be crucial for the development of seeds resilient to the effects of climate change.
ANGKOR'S END: Did floods speed the end of ancient city?
19 Oct 2018
A series of floods that hit the ancient city of Angkor would have overwhelmed and destroyed its vast water network, according to a new study that provides an explanation for the downfall of the world’s biggest pre-industrial city.
Leaders move past Trump to protect the world
18 Oct 2018
Far more must be invested in adapting to warming, says a new global commission that aims to rebuild political will after the US withdrawal from the Paris Agreement.
Banks and insurers must have plans, says BoE
18 Oct 2018
The Bank of England has told Britain’s banks and insurers they must come up with credible plans for protecting themselves against risks from climate change and that they might need to hold more capital.
Judge rules youngsters can sue the state
18 Oct 2018
A lawyer for a group of young Americans suing the federal government over climate change said a judge’s decision to allow the suit to move forward should clear the way for a trial to begin this month.
CLIMATE CASE: The fact is we just don't have enough data
18 Oct 2018
Climate researchers must understand the past before they can understand the future. But across huge swaths of the world, scientists simply don’t have the data they need.
Greens big winners in European elections
18 Oct 2018
The Greens have been the big winners at the weekend elections by attracting new voters in Belgium, Luxembourg and Bavaria.
Change ‘laboratories’ open up in EU
18 Oct 2018
Stark warnings from the United Nations ahead of a make-or-break summit in Poland in December have propelled climate change up the political agenda in Europe.
Australia should be 'exporting sunshine, not coal'
17 Oct 2018
Economist Jeffrey Sachs has criticised successive Australian governments for “defending a 19th or 20th century industry” rather than taking decisive action on climate change, saying Australia should be “exporting sunshine, not coal”.
Darwin methane leak ‘covered up’ by gas companies and regulators
Today 11:30am
At the heart of the project that heralded northern Australia’s gas boom — Darwin’s first liquefied natural gas plant — was a storage tank that operators hailed as a major feat of engineering.
We used to stash gold in Fort Knox. What if we did the same with carbon?
Fri 29 Aug 2025
If we could convince the masses that waste carbon dioxide is sacred and worth hoarding — like gold — one of our most existential problems might solve itself.
China's carbon market to introduce absolute emissions caps from 2027
Wed 27 Aug 2025
China will tighten its carbon trading market by introducing absolute emissions caps in some industries for the first time starting by 2027.
EU’s record wildfire emissions highlight threat to forest carbon sinks
Mon 1 Sep 2025
As carbon emissions from forest fires spike in Europe, experts warn that wildfires pose a growing risk to national efforts to meet climate goals.
UK Conservatives pledge to get all oil and gas out of North Sea
Today 11:30am
Opposition leader Kemi Badenoch has said her party will remove all net zero requirements on oil and gas companies drilling in the North Sea if elected.
Challenges persist in bid to mine the deep sea, even after boost from Trump
29 Jul 2025
After years of delay, the deep-sea mining plans of Canadian firm The Metals Company (TMC) now appear to be progressing as it pursues a controversial new path to securing a license to mine in international waters under U.S. jurisdiction.
Singapore seals carbon credit deal with Thailand, its first South-east Asian partner
Thu 28 Aug 2025
The agreement, the eighth for Singapore, helps both nations meet climate targets under the Paris Agreement, directing finance to Thai projects.
Rise in dengue fever outbreaks across the Pacific driven by the climate crisis, experts say
13 Aug 2025
Samoa, Fiji and Tonga among the worst affected amid warning the disease and others will become ‘more common and more serious’ as the planet warms.
Iconic Antarctic species at risk amid 'regime shift', with 'rapid and self-perpetuating changes'
22 Aug 2025
Scientists say there is emerging evidence of abrupt and potentially unstoppable changes in the Antarctic environment.
Liberia has a new plan to protect its rainforests. Can it work?
Today 11:30am
Half of West Africa’s remaining rainforests are in Liberia, but in 2024, it lost more than 38,000 hectares (94,000 acres) of humid primary forest, according to Global Forest Watch.
Lessons from the Incas: How llamas, terraces and trees could help the Andes survive climate change
Thu 28 Aug 2025
New research suggests solutions may lie in environmental knowledge that the Incas and their predecessors developed centuries ago.
Brazil issues last-ditch plea for countries to submit climate plans ahead of COP30
20 Aug 2025
Only 28 countries have submitted carbon-cutting proposals to the UN, with some of the biggest emitters yet to produce plans.
