International: All stories
Emperor penguins flee unsteady ice
29 Apr 2019
Antarctica's charismatic emperor penguins have abandoned one of their biggest colonies after breeding pairs there failed to raise almost any new chicks in three years.
Figures show we're heading into a hot 2019
26 Apr 2019
Global surface temperatures in 2019 are on track to be either the second or third warmest since records began in the mid-1800s, behind only 2016 and possibly 2017.
Climate warming might boost economic inequality
26 Apr 2019
Warmer temperatures are widening the chasm separating richer and poorer countries.
Dying bananas signal we've got our global food system wrong
26 Apr 2019
Panama disease, an infection ravaging banana plants globally, is a warning that we are growing our food in an unsustainable way.
New study pushes global deal for nature
24 Apr 2019
For years, experts in conservation and climate science have urgently pursued two parallel paths—one to interrupt a large-scale extinction event, the other to avert a runaway climate crisis.
IT'S NO JOKE: Laughing gas is leaking from Alaska permafrost
24 Apr 2019
US scientists have identified yet another hazard linked to the thawing permafrost - laughing gas.
Pacific cities call for rethink of climate resilience
24 Apr 2019
Climate change planning for Pacific Islands cities and towns has been limited, despite their rapid growth.
Climate scientists support youth protests
24 Apr 2019
The youth protests urging political action on climate change have won strong global backing from climatologists, as more than 6000 scientists express their support.
Greta goes for climate change general strike
23 Apr 2019
Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old Swedish environmental activist, has given her support for a general strike for the climate.
Flygskam (that's flight shame) is spreading across Europe
23 Apr 2019
Fears over climate change have led many to rethink the way they travel and, in Sweden, they've even invented a new word for the shame associated with flying.
New York sets ambitious climate rules
23 Apr 2019
New York City has set an ambitious new standard for combating greenhouse gas emissions, approving a package of climate policies designed to slash energy use in big buildings.
Europe needs its own Green New Deal
18 Apr 2019
Europe needs its own Green New Deal to stave off the perfect storm of populism, climate change and economic crisis.
Finance ministers pledge climate action
18 Apr 2019
Finance ministers from 23 countries have pledged to back climate action through their policy, tax and spending decisions.
Asian voters want environmental action
18 Apr 2019
Voters across Asia are most likely to usher in governments that take a stronger stance on climate change and other environmental issues, according to surveys released in the lead-up to national elections.
China eyes nuclear fusion power by 2040
17 Apr 2019
China aims to complete and start generating power from an experimental nuclear fusion reactor by around 2040.
Finns vote for party against climate action
17 Apr 2019
A Finnish political party that campaigned against ambitious climate change policies has won the second-highest number of seats in parliamentary elections.
Could tipping points save the climate crisis?
17 Apr 2019
Search online for “climate change” and “tipping points” and you’ll find some scary results.
BLOWIN' IN THE WIND: How plastic can get everywhere
17 Apr 2019
Microplastic is raining down on even remote mountaintops, a new study has revealed, with winds having the capacity to carry the pollution “anywhere and everywhere”.
'Hair dryer' winds pressure Antarctic ice
16 Apr 2019
Warm, dry winds in Antarctica can cause major melt as they sweep across the ice, even during frigid winter months.
Crowds of climate protesters disrupt London
16 Apr 2019
Thousands of people have blocked well-known landmarks and a bridge in central London, bringing widespread disruption to the capital in a “climate rebellion” that organisers say could last several days.
MARINE MESSAGE: From under the sea, a president's plea
16 Apr 2019
The Seychelles president has made a plea for stronger protection of the “beating blue heart of our planet”, in a speech delivered from deep below the ocean’s surface.
UK plant aims to make hydrogen from plastic waste
16 Apr 2019
Two British companies are joining forces to establish a plant which will turn plastic waste into hydrogen.
Rio Tinto ready to quit Minerals Council
15 Apr 2019
Rio Tinto has signalled it is prepared to quit its membership of industry associations, including the Minerals Council, if the council makes public statements inconsistent with Australia’s Paris climate agreement commitment.
Australia not ready, say expert firefighters
15 Apr 2019
More than 20 former fire and emergency chiefs from multiple states and territories say Australia is unprepared for worsening natural disasters from climate change and governments are putting lives at risk.
Glaciers’ global melt might leave peaks bare
15 Apr 2019
Many of the planet’s most scenic – and most valued – high-altitude landscapes are likely to look quite different within the next 80 years: the glaciers’ global melt will have left just bare rock.
Worried property dealers size up climate threat
12 Apr 2019
Big real estate firms are pouring resources into calculating climate risk and its likely effect on property portfolios — everything from increasingly extreme weather to sea-level rise.
Today’s young face lives with tiny carbon footprints
12 Apr 2019
Children born today will have to live their lives with drastically smaller carbon footprints than their grandparents if climate change is to be controlled.
Queensland upsets with new solar rules
12 Apr 2019
Queensland has confirmed plans to put in place controversial new regulations for solar farm construction that will restrict the installation or removal of PV panels to licensed electricians.
Australia sitting pretty on hydrogen
11 Apr 2019
With demand set to rise across the world, Australia is set to become a global primary producer of hydrogen.
Tasmania's bushfires raise mercury scare
11 Apr 2019
Tasmania’s bushfires might have resulted in the release of significant amounts of mercury from burnt trees into the atmosphere.
World Bank's new chief confirms green commitment
11 Apr 2019
Donald Trump’s choice to run the World Bank has moved swiftly to allay fears that his appointment will lead to a softening of the organisation’s approach to climate change.
In the land of El Dorado, clean water has become ‘blue gold’
11 Apr 2019
In the land where the legend of El Dorado began, the race is on to solve the mystery of a vital 21st century treasure – the water that tens of millions of people rely upon across northern South America.
Warming pushes Arctic toward ‘unprecedented state'
10 Apr 2019
Global warming is transforming the Arctic, and the changes have rippled so widely that the entire biophysical system is shifting toward an "unprecedented state," scientists say.
DC dawdles, so powerco chiefs go for green
10 Apr 2019
Patti Poppe used to drive around with an "I Love Coal" bumper sticker, but now the CEO of Michigan-based CMS Energy Corp. is eager to talk about phasing out the fossil fuel.
Threatening tide levels see UN launch push for floating cities
10 Apr 2019
A UN-backed partnership will study the futuristic prospect of floating cities, looking at how platforms at sea might help to bail out coastal cities at risk of flooding.
Europe’s food imports devour rainforests
10 Apr 2019
Human appetites drive global rainforest destruction. Now science has measured how Europe’s food imports leave scorched tropical soils and greenhouse gases.
Australia's fire forests might be changed forever
9 Apr 2019
Parts of Australia’s climate change-impacted forests might never be the same again, scientists say.
Climate change drives migrants to the US
9 Apr 2019
The northern triangle of Central America, the largest source of asylum seekers crossing the US border, is deeply affected by environmental degradation.
Sikhs aim to plant a million trees as 'gift to the planet'
9 Apr 2019
Sikhs around the world are marking 550 years since the birth of founder Guru Nanak by planting a million trees as a “gift to the entire planet”.
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.
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.
