International: All stories
Why don't all buildings have green roofs?
15 Oct 2019
Rooftops covered with grass, vegetable gardens and lush foliage are now a common sight in many cities around the world.
SURVIVAL CITY: What happens if cities act but nations don't?
15 Oct 2019
It is cities, not national governments, that are most aggressively fighting the climate crisis – and in 30 years they could look radically different.
It’s only October, so what’s with all these bushfires?
15 Oct 2019
Summer might be more than six weeks away, but out-of-control bushfires have already torn across parts of eastern Australia in recent days, destroying homes and threatening lives.
Big Three oversee $300b in fossil fuel investments
14 Oct 2019
The world’s three largest money managers have built a combined $300bn fossil fuel investment portfolio using money from people’s private savings and pension contributions, the Guardian reveals.
World needs a massive carbon tax, says IMF
14 Oct 2019
A global agreement to make fossil fuel burning more expensive is urgent and the most efficient way of fighting climate change, the International Monetary Fund says.
The 20 firms behind a third of all carbon emissions
11 Oct 2019
The Guardian has revealed the 20 fossil fuel companies whose relentless exploitation of the world’s oil, gas and coal reserves can be directly linked to more than one-third of all greenhouse gas emissions in the modern era.
Fight for our largest forest (it's not the Amazon)
11 Oct 2019
Cheremkhovsky forest covers a 7900 sq km sweep of terrain, but it is merely a dot in the sprawling 12 million sq km Russian boreal forest, or taiga, the world’s largest forested region.
It seems there's a little bit of the climate denier in all of us
11 Oct 2019
It's easy to spot outright rejection of the facts on climate change. But it's far harder to see our own biases and excuses that lead us to delay or deny the need for real action.
Coal is still king in Southeast Asia
10 Oct 2019
Not only will coal continue to be the dominant fuel source in power generation in Southeast Asia, its use will grow and peak in 2027 before slowing, according to a new study.
TOMATO SOURCE: Hothouses will grow up to 20 tonnes a day
10 Oct 2019
Giant greenhouses will be used to grow up to 20 tonnes of tomatoes a day using the heat from water treatment facilities in the UK.
Pope v president as Amazon burns
8 Oct 2019
Two of the most powerful forces in Brazil, the president and the pope, are pulling in opposite directions on an issue critical to climate change.
How Extinction Rebellion put the whole world on red alert
8 Oct 2019
Members of Extinction Rebellion have been described in the UK media as ecomaniacs, ecoradicals, dangerous, and a bloody mess.
Universities sign landmark deal to buy renewable
8 Oct 2019
Twenty of the UK’s leading universities have struck a £50m deal to buy renewable energy directly from British windfarms for the first time.
Human ancestors lived in a low-carbon world
8 Oct 2019
For the entire 2.5 million years of the Ice Age epoch called the Pleistocene, it was a low-carbon world.
Can cities save the planet?
7 Oct 2019
By 2050 about two-thirds of the human population — that is six out of the world’s nine billion people — will be living in cities.
Jail climate protesters, says Australian minister
7 Oct 2019
Protesters who disrupt traffic should have their welfare payments cut and be subject to mandatory jail sentences, Australia's home affairs minister Peter Dutton has declared.
Ocean boom picks up plastic for first time
4 Oct 2019
A huge floating device designed to clean up an island of rubbish in the Pacific Ocean that is three times the size of France has successfully picked up plastic from the high seas for the first time.
Scotland takes aim at green red tape
4 Oct 2019
Developments that tackle climate change could avoid having to get planning permission, under proposals being considered by the Scottish government.
Antarctica shows 65,000 ‘meltwater lakes’
4 Oct 2019
Blue lakes have been forming in record numbers around the edges of the Antarctic ice sheet as warmer temperatures cause snow and ice to melt and collect in depressions on the surface.
TURNING OF THE SCREW: Royal Shakespeare Company cuts BP
4 Oct 2019
The Royal Shakespeare Company is to end its sponsorship deal with BP amid growing opposition to fossil fuel sponsorship of cultural institutions.
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.
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.
