International: All stories
France to close coal plants two years early
31 Jan 2018
French President Emmanuel Macron has announced that all the country’s coal-fired plants will shut down by 2021- two years earlier than initially planned.
Would you host a nuclear waste disposal plant for £1m a year?
31 Jan 2018
Communities around England, Wales and Northern Ireland will be offered £1m a year to volunteer to host an underground nuclear waste disposal facility.
California wants five million electric cars by 2030
31 Jan 2018
California Governor Jerry Brown wants to put five million electric cars on the state’s roads by 2030.
Urban forests add to cities’ health ... and wealth
31 Jan 2018
Planting more urban forests is a simple way not only to improve the health of a city’s people, but to make them wealthier, too.
Chile creates five national parks over 10m acres
31 Jan 2018
Chile has created five sprawling national parks to preserve vast tracts of Patagonia – the culmination of more than two decades of land acquisition by two US philanthropists.
NZ and island nations pay climate fee on time
30 Jan 2018
New Zealand and five small states in the area are among the handful of countries that have paid this year’s dues to the United Nations’ climate change work.
Britain takes another look at personal carbon accounts
30 Jan 2018
The UK is getting serious about tackling collective individual behaviour which threatens the environment.
Local people tackle tide of beach plastic
30 Jan 2018
Local volunteers have collected more than 12,000 tonnes of plastic from a beach in Mumbai.
Capitalism must be changed, says major investor
26 Jan 2018
Capitalism must change to avert climate change, says the world’s largest asset manager, Blackrock.
Gas field earthquakes put firms on notice
26 Jan 2018
Two hundred of the Netherlands’ biggest companies have been told by their government to stop sourcing fuel from a major Dutch gas field within four years following a series of increasingly significant earthquakes.
German emissions rise for second year in a row
26 Jan 2018
An increase in transport sector emissions drove up Germany’s total greenhouse gas emissions for the second time in a row in 2016.
The climate solution no-one in Davos will be talking about
25 Jan 2018
Economists say a global carbon tax would efficiently shift the world to safer energy production. So why is it barely mentioned?
Angry scientists condemn Trudeau's climate research cut
25 Jan 2018
In a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, 250 Canadian scientists highlight their concern over the imminent end of a research programme to better understand climate change.
Trump tariffs will cost thousands of solar jobs
25 Jan 2018
President Donald Trump’s decision to impose a tariff on imported solar panels will cost the US solar industry about 23,000 jobs this year and risks slowing the growth of clean energy.
Why 'blended' finance is key to sustainability
25 Jan 2018
Public and private sector funds must increasingly pool resources to finance larger global sustainability and climate change projects, a new study shows.
Australian university to be 100% solar powered
25 Jan 2018
The University of New South Wales in Sydney has signed an agreement to ensure 100 per cent of its electricity needs will be met by solar photovoltaics.
PLASTIC POISON: Market failure has put the world in peril
24 Jan 2018
Climate change is the result of the greatest market failure the world has ever seen.
UK billionaire eyes EVs in old Holden plant
24 Jan 2018
UK billionaire Sanjeev Gupta is looking to buy equipment from and use part of the old Holden factory in South Australia to create an electric vehicle production line.
Australia climbs clean energy leaderboard
24 Jan 2018
Australia has been named among the top 10 nations investing in clean energy, with more than $11.3 billion spent on renewables in 2017.
Illegal cocoa farming destroys African forests
24 Jan 2018
Côte d’Ivoire’s brown gold has gradually destroyed the country’s national parks and protected forests.
Climate change drives farmers from Mekong delta
24 Jan 2018
Saltwater intrusion and drought are destroying crops in one of the most fertile places on earth, prompting an exodus of farmers.
Why China wants to rule green-energy markets
23 Jan 2018
As other major powers find themselves in climate denial or atrophy, China might well boost its power and status by becoming the global energy leader of tomorrow.
Good sports sweat it out in stadiums not up to the job
22 Jan 2018
As Australian sports fans and players swelter through another summer season, questions of stadium design to deal with extreme heat are becoming more urgent.
Super battery beats expectations for first month
22 Jan 2018
The world’s largest lithium ion battery has brought much needed flexibility to the South Australian grid, encouraging other Australian states to follow suit.
Why coal city switched all 8000 taxis to electric
22 Jan 2018
Taiyuan, capital of Shanxi province in China, replaced 8000 petrol-powered taxis with electric vehicles in a single year.
New look at Antarctic raises fears of higher sea levels
15 Dec 2017
Antarctic ice sheet models double the sea-level rise expected this century if global emissions of heat-trapping pollution remain high, according to a new study.
Poland’s new leader eyes nuclear future
15 Dec 2017
Poland is in no hurry to ditch coal power any time soon but the new prime minister insists nuclear energy and renewable sources are a part of the country’s future energy mix.
Bank partners with global mayors to green cities
15 Dec 2017
A European development bank has partnered with city mayors from all over the world to mobilise more than $1.5 billion in urban investment to help combat climate change.
INTERVIEW: Trump's man who doesn't know what 2deg means
15 Dec 2017
Donald Trump’s climate adviser George David Banks cut an intriguing, divisive figure at the recent climate talks in Bonn.
Thailand gets $1.1 billion for wind power project
15 Dec 2017
Southeast Asia’s leading solar energy nation -Thailand - could be the frontrunner in wind energy after renewables developer WEH secured funding for the region’s biggest wind power project.
Mass starvation is our fate if we keep flogging the land to death
14 Dec 2017
The Earth cannot accommodate our need and greed for food. We must change our diet before it’s too late, says George Monbiot.
Germany the champion nation for recycling
14 Dec 2017
Germany is the leading nation for recycling, followed closely by Wales and Singapore, according to new research.
... and France is best at food sustainability
14 Dec 2017
A war on waste food in France has helped it secure the top spot in a ranking of countries by their food sustainability.
Belt-and-road countries could top China’s emissions
14 Dec 2017
China is seeking to clean up its overseas investments and is calling for international support.
Europe utilities vow to be carbon neutral by 2050
14 Dec 2017
More than 3500 European utility companies have vowed to lead the low-carbon energy transition, calling on policymakers to accelerate electrification.
BUBBLE POWER: New device could stop plastic in its tracks
14 Dec 2017
When a river flows into the ocean, so does plastic. Lots of it. Globally, rivers transport as much as four million tonnes of plastic out to sea every year.
Macron pays US scientists to move to France
13 Dec 2017
Eighteen climate scientists from the US and elsewhere have hit the jackpot as France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, awarded them millions of euros in grants to relocate to France.
How Big Oil is tightening its grip on the White House
13 Dec 2017
The oil industry has stalled action on climate change from the inside and sold America on fossil fuels – and its influence goes back further than people realise.
GE's 12,000 job cuts highlight how it went wrong
13 Dec 2017
After spending years building up its gas-power business, General Electric is trying to figure out how to keep pace in a world that’s no longer all that interested in fossil fuels.
Tsunami of data could pump up global emissions by 2025
13 Dec 2017
Billions of internet-connected devices could produce 3.5 per cent of global emissions within 10 years and 14 per cent by 2040.
These high-speed trains could take 3m cars off the roads
13 Dec 2017
A $3 billion project that will introduce high-speed deisel trains to the US could take up to three million cars off the roads.
Australia's greenhouse gas emissions highest on record
12 Dec 2017
Australia’s emissions over the past year were the highest on record, when relatively unreliable emissions from land use are excluded, according to new estimates.
It's hard to get people to reduce food waste
12 Dec 2017
Seventy-six per cent of global consumers say sustainability is important – but only 42 per cent say they always attempt to minimise household food waste, a new survey shows.
To phase out coal, leaders should learn from tobacco
12 Dec 2017
A few countries are set to join the coal phase-out club at the One Planet Summit in Paris today, but more levers will be needed to bring major coal users in line.
Meat tax ‘inevitable’ to beat climate and health crises
12 Dec 2017
“Sin taxes” on meat to reduce its huge impact on climate change and human health look inevitable, according to analysts.
GRUB'S UP! Climate-conscious foodies swap cows for crickets
12 Dec 2017
A wave of social enterprises are trying to get people to eat insects instead of meat.
How planting trees changed lives in a former coal town
12 Dec 2017
The UK's National Forest has not only transformed an industrial landscape, it has given people a new sense of belonging and wellbeing, created jobs and boosted wildlife.
US judge sends Volkswagen exec to jail for seven years
11 Dec 2017
A senior Volkswagen executive has been sentenced to seven years in prison by a US court after being found guilty of concealing software used to evade pollution limits on nearly 600,000 diesel vehicles.
Europe's coal plants bleeding cash
11 Dec 2017
Almost all coal plants in the European Union will be outspending their income by the end of the next decade, relying on subsidies to stay open to back up wind and solar generation.
Fiji summit calls for action on climate migration
11 Dec 2017
Civil society leaders from more than 100 countries meeting in Suva have called for action on climate-induced displacement.
“There was so much death.” A toxic algal bloom is ravaging Australia’s southern coast – warming waters are to blame
Today 10:45am
Three ingredients are required for an algal bloom to get going – temperature, the right conditions and food. South Australia had all the preconditions necessary, thanks to climate change.
We used to stash gold in Fort Knox. What if we did the same with carbon?
Today 10:45am
If we could convince the masses that waste carbon dioxide is sacred and worth hoarding — like gold — one of our most existential problems might solve itself.
China's carbon market to introduce absolute emissions caps from 2027
Wed 27 Aug 2025
China will tighten its carbon trading market by introducing absolute emissions caps in some industries for the first time starting by 2027.
Apple Watch not a 'CO2-neutral product,' German court finds
Thu 28 Aug 2025
Apple can no longer advertise its Apple Watch as a "CO2-neutral product" in Germany, following a court ruling on Tuesday that upheld a complaint from environmentalists, finding that the U.S. tech company had misled consumers.
What happens to net zero if the trees don’t survive?
20 Aug 2025
When climate change undermines the climate plan.
Challenges persist in bid to mine the deep sea, even after boost from Trump
29 Jul 2025
After years of delay, the deep-sea mining plans of Canadian firm The Metals Company (TMC) now appear to be progressing as it pursues a controversial new path to securing a license to mine in international waters under U.S. jurisdiction.
Singapore seals carbon credit deal with Thailand, its first South-east Asian partner
Thu 28 Aug 2025
The agreement, the eighth for Singapore, helps both nations meet climate targets under the Paris Agreement, directing finance to Thai projects.
Rise in dengue fever outbreaks across the Pacific driven by the climate crisis, experts say
13 Aug 2025
Samoa, Fiji and Tonga among the worst affected amid warning the disease and others will become ‘more common and more serious’ as the planet warms.
Iconic Antarctic species at risk amid 'regime shift', with 'rapid and self-perpetuating changes'
22 Aug 2025
Scientists say there is emerging evidence of abrupt and potentially unstoppable changes in the Antarctic environment.
Is Africa about to see the solar energy boom it needs?
Thu 28 Aug 2025
African countries imported a record number of solar panels in the past year, which could be the beginning of a green energy boom on the continent.
Lessons from the Incas: How llamas, terraces and trees could help the Andes survive climate change
Thu 28 Aug 2025
New research suggests solutions may lie in environmental knowledge that the Incas and their predecessors developed centuries ago.
Brazil issues last-ditch plea for countries to submit climate plans ahead of COP30
20 Aug 2025
Only 28 countries have submitted carbon-cutting proposals to the UN, with some of the biggest emitters yet to produce plans.
