International: All stories
Nestle eyes using plastic waste for fuel
3 Sep 2018
NESTLE is exploring the use of plastic waste as a raw material for fuel.
Australia rolls out roll-out solar panels
31 Aug 2018
Australia has installed its first solar cells made using a conventional reel-to-reel printer.
How making smartphones can bury a whole village in sludge
31 Aug 2018
Mining of precious metals used in smartphones is a vital activity that underpins the modern global economy. But the environmental cost can be enormous.
California plans to run on carbon-free power by 2045
31 Aug 2018
Legislation has been passed to move California towards 100 per cent clean energy by 2045.
French environment minister walks out
30 Aug 2018
France’s high-profile environment minister Nicolas Hulot has unexpectedly announced his resignation live on national radio, lamenting the government’s lack of decisive action on green issues.
How a warming planet could speed up the southern seas
30 Aug 2018
As the planet warmed at the end of the last ice age, the abyssal Pacific circulation kicked into high gear.
Keep flying and eating red meat, says UN
30 Aug 2018
Don't bother changing your lifestyle to stop climate change - just buy carbon credits, says a UN climate change video promotion.
Brazil could restore a huge swathe of the Amazon
30 Aug 2018
Although almost 40 per cent of the Brazilian Amazon is conserved by protected areas and indigenous lands, some 428,721 sq km has been deforested over the past three decades.
Experts want to turn Henderson carparks into housing
29 Aug 2018
Five teams have been short-listed in a global design competition that could see two Auckland carparks redeveloped as eco-housing centres.
Rising emissions could push millions into malnutrition
29 Aug 2018
An additional 290 million people could face malnutrition by 2050 if little is done to stop the rise of greenhouse gas emissions, a study finds.
Dire climate report raises fears for California
29 Aug 2018
California’s summer of deadly wildfires and dangerous heatwaves will soon be the new normal if nothing is done to stop climate change, a new report warns.
Truck makers push back against EU carbon limits
29 Aug 2018
The European Commission’s proposal to mandate a 15 per cent cut in CO2 emission from trucks by 2025 is overly ambitious, according to an industry association.
Minecraft mod brings into play battle to beat climate change
29 Aug 2018
The GlobalWarming mod was created by a student who wants people to learn to work together to combat climate change.
Morrison names anti-wind man as energy minister
28 Aug 2018
New Prime Minister Scott Morrison has appointed one of Australia's most prominent anti-wind campaigners as energy minister and a former mining industry lawyer as environment minister.
Tropical disease outbreaks growing in Europe
28 Aug 2018
Europe is facing a growing threat of tropical disease outbreaks, as rising temperatures linked to climate change cause illnesses brought by travellers to spread more easily.
Sunshine Coast to try smart street lighting
28 Aug 2018
A scheme to use intelligent street lighting is to be given a two-year trial on Australia’s Sunshine Coast.
Europe to ban halogen lightbulbs
28 Aug 2018
After nearly 60 years of brightening homes and streets, halogen lightbulbs will be banned across Europe on 1 September 1.
Does ScoMo mean slo-mo for climate change action?
27 Aug 2018
Australia's new Prime Minister Scott Morrison in February last year brandished a lump of coal in Parliament and told members: "This is coal. Don’t be afraid, don’t be scared.”
STORM SURGE: Hurricane Lane carries warning for the Pacific
27 Aug 2018
Warming water in the Central Pacific as global temperatures rise is likely to boost tropical storm activity in a region largely spared in the past.
Don't divest, government advisers tell Norway
27 Aug 2018
Government advisers have urged Norway not to ditch oil and gas investments from its $1trillion sovereign wealth fund.
Last year second-worst for tropical tree loss
27 Aug 2018
Last year was the second-worst on record for global tropical tree cover loss, according to new data. An area roughly the size of the New Zealand's South Island was lost.
Global cities commit to net-zero building emissions
27 Aug 2018
Nineteen of the world’s largest cities have made ground-breaking pledges to cut carbon emissions from new buildings.
Tesla to boost power in Pago Pago
24 Aug 2018
American Samoa is transforming to 100 per cent renewable energy with the help of a Tesla powerpack.
Kerala shows how floods are changing
24 Aug 2018
Across the world, cities and communities are underprepared for the new flooding regime that climate change is ushering in.
Maersk moves in as warming Arctic opens up icy sea route
24 Aug 2018
Maersk, the world's largest container line, is about to test the frigid waters of the Arctic in a trial of shorter shipping lanes that could become viable as warmer temperatures open up the Northern Sea Route.
Better tree mix means better storage, says carbon study
24 Aug 2018
Forests containing several tree species could store twice as much carbon as the average monoculture plantation, research finds.
Sweden's reindeer at risk of starvation
24 Aug 2018
Sweden's indigenous Sami reindeer herders have urged the state to help to mitigate the impact of climate change in the Arctic circle.
Trump guts US climate control regulations
23 Aug 2018
The Trump administration has proposed to replace the nation's landmark climate regulations with a watered-down version that would do next to nothing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from power plants and wouldn't even set a specific national goal.
EU carbon prices could rise quickly, says report
23 Aug 2018
EU carbon prices could average 35-40 euros ($NZ60-70) a tonne over 2019-2023, says a new report.
Overloaded Thailand bans import of e-waste
23 Aug 2018
Thailand, struggling to deal with overflowing waste deposits following China’s trash ban last year, will bar the import of 432 types of scrap electronics.
We're going to throw away 66 tonnes of food every second
23 Aug 2018
The amount of food that is wasted each year will rise by a third by 2030, when 2.1 billion tonnes will either be lost or thrown away, equivalent to 66 tonnes per second, according to new analysis.
New York wants skyscrapers to slash emissions
23 Aug 2018
New York City lawmakers have announced a bill to order massive energy use cuts to big buildings, the largest source of carbon dioxide.
End game not far off, says Pope's weather man
22 Aug 2018
Climate change is now reaching the end game, where very soon humanity must choose between taking unprecedented action, or accepting that it has been left too late and bear the consequences, says the Pope's climate adviser.
Australian climate woes sank a raft of PMs
22 Aug 2018
Australia's inability to come to terms with climate change policy has cost a raft of political leaders their jobs.
On the world's first floating farm, robots milk the cows
22 Aug 2018
Rotterdam has become a pilot city for the world’s first floating farm where robots do the hard work.
We no longer need to conserve oil, says Trump
21 Aug 2018
Conserving oil is no longer an economic imperative for the US, the Trump administration has declared in a major new policy statement that threatens to undermine decades of government campaigns.
Trump closes in on Obama’s climate rules
21 Aug 2018
The Trump administration will shortly release its plan to replace Barack Obama’s ambitious attempts to curb greenhouse gas emissions.
THE GOOD FIGHT: Tracking the battles for green justice
21 Aug 2018
Environmental justice activism is to this age what the workers’ movement was for the industrial age - one of the most influential social movements of its time. But its stories seem to get lost.
Labor offers Victoria half-priced solar panels
21 Aug 2018
Owner-occupiers of homes in Victoria will get half-priced solar panels with no upfront cost under a $1.24 billion election promise by the state Labor government.
World finally waking up, says Hothouse Earth author
20 Aug 2018
The scorching temperatures and forest fires of this summer’s heatwave have finally stirred the world to face the onrushing threat of global warming, claims the climate scientist behind the recent Hothouse Earth report.
Turnbull goes for regulation to set carbon cuts
20 Aug 2018
The Turnbull government is preparing to set the Australian emissions reduction target for the national energy guarantee by regulation rather than legislation.
New Caledonia votes to protect coral reef
20 Aug 2018
New Caledonia has agreed to tougher protections around a huge swathe of some of the world’s last near-pristine coral reefs, in a move conservationists hail as a major breakthrough.
BOILING OVER: The city at 50deg is fast becoming reality
17 Aug 2018
It is the temperature at which human cells start to cook, animals suffer and air conditioners overload power grids. Once an urban anomaly, 50C is fast becoming reality.
OPINION: Capitalism can crack climate change. But only if it takes risks
17 Aug 2018
Anglo-Saxon capitalism’s drive to maximise profits in the short term won’t save the planet. Perhaps the Chinese model can?
Brazil candidate threatens to quit Paris pact
16 Aug 2018
Presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro is threatening to take Brazil out of the Paris Agreement if he wins the October election.
This new coal mine in Germany will soon gobble up 20 villages
16 Aug 2018
When the Garzweiler open cast coal mine in Germany is finished, 5000 people will have been relocated and 20 villages will have been wiped off the face of the Earth.
Europe facing trillion-euros coastal flooding bill
16 Aug 2018
Costs from coastal flooding in Europe could hit almost one trillion euros by 2100, according to researchers.
Rising sea levels threaten Sinatra's old hangout
16 Aug 2018
A proposed island to protect a resort that once was the haunt of stars like Frank Sinatra and Marlene Dietrich could be its ruin.
Pension funds could face legal action over risk
16 Aug 2018
Some of the UK’s largest pension funds are in danger of legal action over the risks posed by climate change.
HEAT BEAT: It's shaping up as the next big inequality issue
15 Aug 2018
The deadly global heatwave has made it impossible to ignore: in cities worldwide, we are now divided into the cool haves and the hot have-nots
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.
