International: All stories
Climate death toll could be higher, says report
22 Jan 2019
Rising global temperatures could lead to many more deaths than the 250,000 a year predicted just five years ago, a new report says.
AUSSIE OVEN: ‘It’s like hell here’
22 Jan 2019
It was 48.9C last Tuesday in Port Augusta, South Australia, an old harbour city that now harvests solar power.
Why sea-ice cover is so low (it’s not just climate change)
22 Jan 2019
Sea-ice cover in Antarctica shrank rapidly to a record low in late 2016 and has remained well below average. But what’s behind this dramatic melting and low ice cover since?
Troubled Tesla cuts 7% of workforce
22 Jan 2019
Tesla is cutting its full-time staff headcount by about 7 per cent, as it tries to reduce the price of its cars and boost margins, CEO Elon Musk has announced
Poor losing the high ground in Miami
21 Dec 2018
Miami's poor are being pressured to leave their high-ground homes as rising sea levels threaten the city's wealthy coastal suburbs.
Global water supply shrinks in wetter world
21 Dec 2018
Even in a world with more intense rain, communities could begin to run short of water.
Risks of 'domino effect' greater than thought
21 Dec 2018
Policymakers have severely underestimated the risks of ecological tipping points, according to a study that shows 45 per cent of all potential environmental collapses are interrelated and could amplify one another.
How did grim Poland get such a strong carbon price?
21 Dec 2018
Strange as it might sound, the coal-promoting host of this year’s climate negotiations, Poland, has one of the strongest carbon prices in the world.
Scientists find plastic pollution at deepest point of the ocean
21 Dec 2018
The deepest point on Earth is heavily polluted with plastic, scientists have discovered, showing how pervasively the world has been contaminated.
Believe it or not, Australia's going to get hotter and drier
20 Dec 2018
Australia will experience more extreme heat, longer fire seasons, rising oceans and more marine heatwaves.
EU reaches coal deal (with caveat for Poland)
20 Dec 2018
EU legislators have reached agreement over a proposed reform of electricity market rules that includes a 2025 cut-off date for coal subsidies, and a special clause for Poland.
California insists on electric buses
20 Dec 2018
The Californian Air Resources Board has revealed its plan to have an all-electric bus fleet in California by 2040.
Warming pause didn't happen, say experts
20 Dec 2018
Claims of a global warming ‘pause’ in observed temperatures early this century are unfounded and lack statistical significance, researchers say.
Watch plastic toys, Christmas shoppers warned
20 Dec 2018
Christmas shoppers in Europe are being warned to avoid plastic toys after they appeared in more than half of EU intergovernmental alerts for products containing banned chemicals this year.
Stage set for humanity’s two most crucial years
19 Dec 2018
Decisions made from now to 2020 will determine to what extent Earth remains habitable.
EU agrees deal to cut emissions from cars
19 Dec 2018
The European Union has agreed to a goal of cutting carbon emissions from cars by 37.5 per cent in a decade, finally settling differences between vehicle-producing countries and environmentally-conscious lawmakers.
BBC under pressure to tell climate story
19 Dec 2018
A pressure group has called on the BBC, as Britain's public broadcaster, to convey the severity of the climate and ecological emergency.
NZ and Europe to strengthen market cooperation
18 Dec 2018
New Zealand is to strengthen its carbon market ties with Europe.
Anti-climate change strongmen still on the outer
18 Dec 2018
The COP24 talks just ended in Poland have shown that global warming treaties can survive the era of the anti-climate strongman.
Protesters to up pressure on governments
18 Dec 2018
Civil society groups have pledged growing international protests to drive rapid action on global warming after the UN climate summit in Poland.
Climate passports might come in handy
18 Dec 2018
As climate change leads to the flooding of whole countries a “climate passport” might allow the most distressed to settle in countries that have been largely responsible for the impact.
GOOD HEALTH: Let's hear it for yew trees and Gila monsters
18 Dec 2018
The Pacific yew tree and the Gila monster have an unlikely connection ... and that's good news for the future of the human race.
There's no problem a billion cockroaches can't handle
18 Dec 2018
China is producing so much food waste it has had to come up with some out-of-the-box thinking — like using a billion cockroaches to take care of the problem.
Shaw hopes for carbon market rules next year
17 Dec 2018
Climate minister James Shaw is optimistic that rules governing carbon markets will be settled next year.
What was agreed and why did it take so long?
17 Dec 2018
Fractious UN climate change talks in Poland ended with a deal on putting the Paris agreement into practice – but much else left unresolved
Sydney and Melbourne vow to ditch coal power
17 Dec 2018
Sydney and Melbourne have committed themselves to phasing out coal, in a move at odds with the Australia’s aggressively pro-coal national government.
London mayor unveils climate change plan
17 Dec 2018
London mayor Sadiq Khan has outlined his new climate change plan, designed to protect people from floods, fires and political upheaval.
Meet the Australian farmer with 240 million trees to his name
17 Dec 2018
Through the cacophony of the UN’s global climate talks, an Australian farmer is quietly spreading his plan to reforest the world.
That small patch of bush might be saving a species
17 Dec 2018
It might not look like a pristine expanse of Amazon rainforest or an African savannah, but the patch of bush at the end of the street could be one of the only places on the planet that harbours a particular species of endangered animal or plant.
Shaw has high hopes for Katowice success
14 Dec 2018
Climate minister James Shaw is confident a Paris Agreement rule book and agreement about limiting warming to 1.5deg will come out of bogged-down talks in Poland.
China says it's open to ‘uniform’ climate rules
14 Dec 2018
China has signalled it is open to following “uniform” global climate change rules, shifting from its usual push for a clear division of responsibilities for rich and poor countries.
Instead, let’s focus on the cost of avoiding climate change
14 Dec 2018
As delegates at the UN climate summit in Poland discuss the possibility of restraining global warming to 1.5deg, it might sound like a reasonable question to ask how much money it will cost if they fail.
Better land use could slash emissions
14 Dec 2018
US scientists have found a new way to cut or offset 22% of the greenhouse gas emissions from American factory chimneys, car exhausts and power stations -- better land use.
SILENT REVOLUTION: It's all power to the e-bus in this city
14 Dec 2018
All 16,000 buses in the fast-growing Chinese megacity of Shenzhen are now electric, and soon all 22,000 taxis will be, too.
Why Whyalla faces a bright new future
14 Dec 2018
Whyalla’s death notice has been written a number of times but the South Australian industrial town's future took a big step forward in 2017 when British-based industrialist Sanjeev Gupta bought the steelworks.
UN chief in bid to revive flagging talks
13 Dec 2018
UN Secretary-General António Guterres has made a dramatic intervention to revive flagging climate talks in Poland by flying back to the conference and preparing a personal call to Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Saudi falls foul of developing countries
13 Dec 2018
Competing visions of climate justice have alienated Saudi Arabia from other developing countries at UN climate talks in Poland.
They're trying to save us, so why do we punish activists?
13 Dec 2018
Green activists are fighting to save us all – so why do their sacrifices warrant punishment?
We're making progress - towards 3deg warming
12 Dec 2018
If all governments achieve their largely insufficient climate targets, the world will see 3deg of warming by 2100, twice the 1.5deg limit they agreed in Paris three years ago, says the Climate Action Tracker’s annual update, delivered today at the climate talks in Katowice.
Indigenous peoples clinch climate deal
12 Dec 2018
Indigenous peoples clinched a deal in Poland that will give them a voice in global climate change negotiations, but only after conceding to a push to put national sovereignty above their rights.
Vietnam milk boom leads to billions of cartons on beaches
12 Dec 2018
More than eight billion Tetra Paks are sold every year in Vietnam – and only a few percent are recycled. It’s having a devastating effect on the environment.
Patagonia gives $10m tax cut to the cimate cause
12 Dec 2018
Outdoor clothing company Patagonia will be giving to the planet the $10 million it made as a result of President Trump's tax cuts.
Australia's silence shocks delegates
11 Dec 2018
Australia has been accused of tacitly supporting oil allies’ rejection of the UN's latest science report at the climate summit in Katowice.
US is still very much in the game
11 Dec 2018
Forget Donald Trump’s rejection of the Paris Agreement. The US is still very much in and zealously setting the tone of international climate change negotiations.
Bolsonaro appoints 'beef caucus' minister
11 Dec 2018
Brazil’s far right president-elect Jair Bolsonaro has named Ricardo de Aquino Salles, a 43-year-old lawyer and a staunch ‘beef caucus’ ally to lead his environment department.
Climate plans pushed to 2041 in UN draft
11 Dec 2018
The start date of an important element of the Paris Agreement would be set 23 years in the future under a proposal from major emerging economies.
Global investors call for more action
10 Dec 2018
The largest-ever group of institutional investors has called on governments around the world to urgently increase their efforts to meet the Paris climate change agreement goals.
Oil producerrs scrap over UN climate report
10 Dec 2018
Four big oil and gas producers blocked UN climate talks from welcoming the most influential climate science report in years, as a meeting in Poland descended into acrimony.
California plans coastal retreat as sea starts swallowing homes
10 Dec 2018
Ocean-front homes could be demolished along California's coastline under a groundbreaking proposal to preserve the state's made-for-movies beaches before they're destroyed by rising seawater.
War hero president MIA in early climate battles
10 Dec 2018
Among the tributes paid to former US president George H.W. Bush has been plenty of reflection on his war record – but less on how he handled himself during the early skirmishes of the climate battle.
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.
Trump administration sues California over the state’s nation-leading vehicle-emission rules
Tue 17 Mar 2026
The Trump administration ramped up a battle with California over the state’s nation-leading vehicle-emission standards Thursday, suing air regulators over rules aimed at curbing pollution from cars.
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.
Summit aims to revive stalled UN talks on phasing out fossil fuels
11 Mar 2026
Colombia and the Netherlands have set out three priorities for a conference on phasing out fossil fuels they will co-host in Colombia in April.
