International: All stories
You're acting like children, child tells leaders
5 Dec 2018
Action to fight global warming is coming whether world leaders like it or not, school student Greta Thunberg, 15, has told the UN climate change summit, accusing them of behaving like irresponsible children.
Adani will fund mini-version of its mega-mine
5 Dec 2018
Indian mining multinational Adani has announced that it will self-fund a significantly smaller coal mine in Queensland, after failing to secure finance from more than 30 domestic and international banks and lenders.
Rising tides bring threat to Pacific military readiness
5 Dec 2018
On a Pacific archipelago 2400 miles southwest of Hawaii, the United States' enormous military capability collides with the accelerating climate risk that threatens to erode it.
Stella McCartney makes eco-fashion charter
5 Dec 2018
Eco-friendly British fashion designer Stella McCartney has announced a United Nations charter for Sustainable Fashion.
NZ will take agriculture lead role at Katowice
4 Dec 2018
New Zealand will lead discussions at international climate talks in Poland on upping emissions reductions from farming.
Attenborough: Collapse of civilisation is on the horizon
4 Dec 2018
The collapse of civilisation and the natural world is on the horizon, Sir David Attenborough has told the UN climate change summit in Poland.
Kiwi sitting at the Katowice top table
4 Dec 2018
New Zealander Jo Tyndall is one of the most influential people at international climate talks in Poland.
Host calls for solidarity with coal workers
4 Dec 2018
Polish leaders have delivered a clear message that climate change must be tackled, but not at the expense of the coal workers who built the industrial city that is hosting this year’s Cop24 summit.
Cheap drainage nets keep water pollution at bay
4 Dec 2018
The Western Australia city of Kwinana is using a somewhat obvious, simple and cost-effective system of nets to prevent waste from entering its waters.
Asia's media ignores air pollution shocker
4 Dec 2018
It's a public health crisis that kills almost five million people in Asia every year. So why isn’t air pollution a bigger story?
Climate watchdog calls on NZ to show the way
3 Dec 2018
New Zealand is on a list of countries being called on to cut emissions as an example to the world.
COP 24 OPENS: The world at a crossroads
3 Dec 2018
Four senior figures behind efforts to limit climate change have warned that the planet "is at a crossroads" as key talks opened a day early in Poland.
Thousands of Aussie kids take to the streets
3 Dec 2018
Thousands of schoolchildren across Australia walked out of class on Friday to demand action by the federal government on climate change.
It's just worst-case stuff, says Trump
3 Dec 2018
The Trump administration is minimising warnings from scientists by arguing that they are exaggerated and based on the worst-case scenario.
Happy birthday, big battery
3 Dec 2018
By most accounts, Adelaide's giant lithium-ion battery - the world's largest - has been a remarkable success. But there are some concerns that have so far escaped scrutiny.
GOOD COP: You've got to know your NDCs from your LMDCs
3 Dec 2018
International climate talks are fiendishly complex and stacked with jargon. Here's a glossary of the key concepts, forums and alliances you need to navigate the UN negotiations which started today in Katowice and the diplomacy that surrounds them.
Why China must lead to save life on Earth
30 Nov 2018
China must play a leading role if the world is to draw up a new and more effective strategy to halt the collapse of life on Earth, according to senior delegates at the close of this week’s UN biodiversity conference.
Global food system is broken, say world’s science academies
30 Nov 2018
The global food system is broken, leaving billions of people either underfed or overweight and driving the planet to climate catastrophe, scientists say.
France sets up independent climate council
30 Nov 2018
France has set up independent climate council, a group of 13 experts which will hold the government to account for aligning with the Paris Agreement.
Heat threatens hospital systems, says Lancet
30 Nov 2018
The recent impact of climate change on heat-related diseases should be seen as a harbinger of future dangers including the threat of a systemic failure of hospitals, says a Lancet report.
EU plan calls for ‘climate neutrality’ by 2050
29 Nov 2018
The European Commission today will unveil its much-anticipated plan for a “climate-neutral Europe” in an effort to show EU countries how to stick to the goals of the Paris Agreement and endorse a shared long-term strategy.
Brazil pulls offer to host COP 25 summit
29 Nov 2018
Brazil has withdrawn its offer to host the COP 25 UN climate summit next year, citing budgetary constraints and the transition to a new government.
Wild plant ancestors need more protection
29 Nov 2018
Everything that humans eat or drink comes directly or indirectly from plants. Many wild plant ancestors, of even the most precious species, could be at risk.
Everest's glaciers sensitive to climate change
29 Nov 2018
It's not only glaciers in Greenland and Antarctica that are feeling the effects of a changing climate.
We must triple efforts or face catastrophe, says UN
28 Nov 2018
Countries are failing to take the action needed to stave off the worst effects of climate change, a UN report has found, and the commitments made in the Paris Agreement will not be met unless governments urgently introduce additional measures.
China drags chain on emissions trading scheme
28 Nov 2018
China still needs to do a lot of work before it can fully launch its long-awaited nationwide carbon emissions trading scheme.
Mishap forces Pacific garbage patch swimmer to give up
28 Nov 2018
A plastics-pollution campaigner has given up his attempt to swim across the Pacific - a trip that was to take him through 1600km of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
Gas demand spurs race to build tankers
28 Nov 2018
Busy shipyards along the coasts of South Korea, China and Japan are competing for lucrative contracts to build liquefied natural gas carriers.
End of an era as Ireland closes its peat bogs
28 Nov 2018
When the semi-state company that harvests Ireland’s peatlands recently announced the closure of 17 bogs, the news was greeted as the end of an era.
Draft G20 statement waters down Paris stand
27 Nov 2018
A draft communique from the leaders of the G20 shows that resolve to stand up for the Paris climate agreement against critical voices, such as the US, might be weakening.
Labor’s smashing win tonic for clean energy
27 Nov 2018
The relief from Victoria’s stunning election result last weekend was palpable.
Trailblazing UK climate change act a global model
27 Nov 2018
Ten years after its creation, the landmark UK climate change legislation has many lessons for other countries as they look for ways to turn the Paris deal into national action.
Scientist unveils blueprint to save bees and enrich farmers
27 Nov 2018
The collapse in bee populations can be reversed if countries adopt a new farmer-friendly strategy, says the architect of a new masterplan for pollinators.
Morrison tells striking schoolkids to butt out
27 Nov 2018
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has been labelled “out of touch” for angrily condemning a national student strike to protest government inaction on climate change.
Hunt begins for 'detergent' to clean up the sky
26 Nov 2018
Antarctic ice records pre-industrial levels of a chemical that scrubs the atmosphere of greenhouses gases.
Risks are spiraling, warns US weather scientists
26 Nov 2018
The US government's own climate scientists have issued a blunt warning that global warming is a growing threat to human life, property and ecosystems across the country, and that the economic damage will spiral in the coming decades.
Report over the top, say Trump's people
26 Nov 2018
The Trump administration has tried to downplay the stark findings of its own climate change assessment, as Democrats sought to pressure the White House to avert looming economic and public health disaster.
Europe, too, will feel the heat
26 Nov 2018
Unrestrained global warming and a hotter climate will cost Europe dear in lives lost and economies squeezed. Even if it’s limited, there’ll be a price to pay.
She trolled Trump, but can she lead green wave across Europe?
26 Nov 2018
Swedish minister Isabella Lövin found fame in a jibe aimed at the White House. Now she aims for change beyond Twitter.
Climate-heating gases at record levels, says UN
23 Nov 2018
The main greenhouse gas emissions driving climate change have all reached record levels, UN experts have reported.
Chinese money will make or break climate fight
23 Nov 2018
Despite its claims of being green, most of China's Belt and Road Initiative money is still flowing into fossil fuel projects and traditional transport.
Vanuatu eyes climate action against fossil fuel companies
23 Nov 2018
Vanuatu says it will explore whether it can take legal action against fossil fuel companies and countries for their role in causing climate change.
Polish government split over coal
23 Nov 2018
Poland’s energy ministry has come out fighting for the coal sector, ahead of UN climate talks in Katowice next month.
US exporters find new coal friend in India
23 Nov 2018
US coal exporters have effectively lost a promising market in China since the imposition of tariffs but have managed to find other buyers in Asia, chiefly India.
UK advised to look at hydrogen heating
23 Nov 2018
Millions of gas boilers will need to be replaced with hydrogen alternatives and coupled with electric heating devices if Britain is to hit its carbon targets at the lowest cost.
Mangroves are on the march
23 Nov 2018
Mangrove forests could be adapting to climate change by growing beyond their usual range, according to a recent study.
Ten EU countries demand net-zero goal
22 Nov 2018
Ministers from 10 EU countries have urged the European Commission to chart a “credible and detailed” path towards net-zero emissions in 2050, ahead of the launch of a landmark climate strategy next week.
Attenborough to speak for the people at UN climate summit
22 Nov 2018
Sir David Attenborough will address the UN’s climate change summit in Poland next month, taking up a newly established “people’s seat” at the negotiations.
Oceans could be facing mass extinctions
22 Nov 2018
The world’s oceans have lost more than 2 per cent of their dissolved oxygen reservoir over the past five decades.
Marshalls first to submit new climate targets
22 Nov 2018
The Marshall Islands is the first country to submit new, binding climate targets to the United Nations this week, sending a signal to other countries to commit to more ambitious emissions cuts.
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.
