International: All stories
China faces pressure over illegal greenhouse gases
12 Nov 2018
China will be urged to crack down on illegal CFC-11 production under an international declaration set for adoption at a meeting in Ecuador this week.
Germany pours money into EV battery ventures
12 Nov 2018
Germany has earmarked one billion euros to support a consortium looking to produce electric car battery cells and plans to fund a research facility to develop next-generation solid-state batteries.
Flash floods increase as mercury climbs
12 Nov 2018
Scientists once again have confirmed that humankind’s actions have triggered ever-greater extremes of rainfall – and an ever-greater rise in disastrous flash floods.
End of the end of the Earth ... according to Jonathan Franzen
12 Nov 2018
A writer at the top of his game considers climate change, what we can do and what keeps him from despair.
Carbon Clock wound back - just a tick
9 Nov 2018
The Carbon Clock showing how much time the world has left before it exhausts its carbon budget has been set back a fraction.
JFK first to be warned about climate change
9 Nov 2018
John F. Kennedy was warned about "climate control" in February 1961, becoming perhaps the first American president to learn about people's impact on planetary temperatures.
Red-meat tax would save many lives, says study
9 Nov 2018
Taxing red meat would save many lives and raise billions to pay for healthcare, according to new research.
WORTHY AWARD: 'Single-use' named 2018 word of the year
9 Nov 2018
Single-use, a term referring to products – often made of plastic – that are made to be used once and thrown away, has been named Collins Dictionary’s word of the year for 2018.
Climate change back on US political agenda
8 Nov 2018
With their win of control of the US House of Representatives, Democrats will now have the numbers to put climate change issues back on the Congressional agenda.
Aussie schoolkids take action over climate change inaction
8 Nov 2018
Hundreds of students around Australia are preparing to strike from school because of what they say is a failure by politicians to recognise climate change as an emergency.
Palau bans sunscreen to protect coral reefs
8 Nov 2018
Palau is set to become the first country to ban reef-toxic sunscreen.
Ministers call for transparency in climate finance
7 Nov 2018
EU economy and finance ministers have stressed the need to scale up public and private money for climate change.
E-car demand fuels rise in Congo child labour
7 Nov 2018
Demand for electric vehicles is fuelling a rise in child labour in cobalt mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo, experts said this week, urging companies to take action as the industry expands.
Unseasonably hot, you say? Not any more
7 Nov 2018
The record hot weather being experienced across prts of Australia is now the new normal as the effects of climate change become baked-in.
Living normally, a platypus could ingest 69 drugs a day
7 Nov 2018
Insects near waste water could give a platypus or trout half a daily human dose of antidepressants, a new study reveals.
Plastics pollution on our beaches is becoming a pain
6 Nov 2018
Plastic rubbish on New Zealand beaches is not only hurting wildlife, it’s hurting us, too.
In two years we could face our own extinction, says UN
6 Nov 2018
The world must thrash out a new deal for nature in the next two years or humanity could be the first species to document our own extinction, warns the United Nation’s biodiversity chief.
Is corporate Australia facing a 'tipping point'?
6 Nov 2018
In the parlance of climate science, a "tipping point" is a dire prospect – a critical threshold breach that triggers an abrupt and rapid change in climate.
Court allows children's climate case to go ahead
6 Nov 2018
Two weeks after it put the case on hold, the US. Supreme Court has allowed a lawsuit brought by 21 children and young adults against the federal government over climate change to proceed.
Threatened cities trade sea walls for parks
5 Nov 2018
Under a new plan to deal with higher tides, Boston will allow the rising water to come in to the city, rather than fighting to keep it out.
Climate warming messes with the jet stream
5 Nov 2018
Greenhouse gases are increasingly disrupting the jet stream, a powerful river of winds that steers weather systems in the Northern Hemisphere.
Dreaded tsetse flies wilt in Africa’s growing heat
5 Nov 2018
Global warming might have done one good thing for the Zambezi Valley: it may have done for the tsetse flies, with conditions soon too hot for them to breed there any longer.
Scientists will risk prison to get climate action
2 Nov 2018
A group of British scientists and their supporters is willing to risk a prison term to press governments to tackle climate change and environmental crises.
The Paris climate gang is breaking up
2 Nov 2018
In 2015, a group of countries banded together to shape the global climate pact, but political turmoil is pulling the alliance apart.
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.
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.
