International: All stories
UK sees value in rebirth of the railways
11 Dec 2017
Proposals in the UK aimed at reversing decades of decline in the rail system, have been praised as the “rebirth of the railways”.
The most northerly town in the world is at risk of disappearing
11 Dec 2017
It’s freezing, snowing and so far north that the sun won’t rise again until March, but the 2000 residents of the world’s most northerly town wish it were much colder.
Farm grows food under streets of Paris
11 Dec 2017
La Caverne is an urban farm that grows mushrooms, herbs and greens beneath the streets of Paris.
Is this the end of the road for Adani’s megamine?
8 Dec 2017
Adani’s operations in Australia appear to be hanging on by a thread, as activists prove effective at undermining the company’s chances of getting the finance it needs.
Canada and China shake on carbon and climate
8 Dec 2017
The premiers of China and Canada have announced deeper collaboration on climate change and energy, including on carbon markets.
Air pollution could do huge harm to unborn babies
8 Dec 2017
Air pollution significantly increases the risk of low birth weight in babies, leading to lifelong damage to health, according to a large new study.
Hyundai building battery bigger than Tesla's
8 Dec 2017
Tesla’s South Australia battery system won’t hold the title of world’s largest for long - Hyundai is building one 50 per cent bigger.
Citizens fight EU weedkiller decision
8 Dec 2017
The public is fighting back against an EU decision to renew the licence of controversial pesticide Glyphosate.
London's new e-cabs come with all the mod cons
8 Dec 2017
Wi-Fi, USB charging and even a sunroof are among the features of London's new six-seat, battery-powered cabs.
Outlook grim for warmer Auckland, warns report
7 Dec 2017
Floods, fires, droughts, storms, slips, pests and diseases are Auckland’s future, threatening primary production and human health, warns a new report.
China’s footprint threatens to trample the natural world
7 Dec 2017
Many observers of China’s escalating global programme of foreign investment and infrastructure development are crossing their fingers and hoping for the best.
Oceans under greatest threat in history, says Attenborough
7 Dec 2017
The world’s oceans are under the greatest threat in history, according to Sir David Attenborough.
Iceland's new PM vows carbon neutrality by 2040
7 Dec 2017
Iceland's new Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir, 41, says she wants her nation to be carbon neutral by 2040.
In Poland’s coal heartland, miners imagine a greener future
7 Dec 2017
While the Polish government champions coal, the area around Katowice, host of next year’s UN climate summit, is starting to diversify its economy.
Sacre bleu! It seems the French are world's smartest farmers
7 Dec 2017
France has topped the 2017 edition of the Food Sustainability Index exhibiting the best performance across food loss and waste, sustainable agriculture and nutritional challenges.
Can a massive barrier save Venice from drowning?
6 Dec 2017
The engineering limitations and cost overruns of a huge barrier designed to protect Venice from sea level rise are raising questions about the mega-projects that many coastal cities are hoping can save them.
Military money in genetic extinction tech raises fears
6 Dec 2017
Technology could be used to wipe out malaria carrying mosquitos or other pests but UN experts say fears over possible military uses and unintended consequences strengthen case for a ban.
London mayor wants to put stopper on plastic water bottles
6 Dec 2017
London Mayor Sadiq Khan wants to see free water fountains and bottle refill stations across the city to reduce the use of plastic bottles.
Yes, it's a massive battery, but it does quite a lot
6 Dec 2017
Australians are watching in anticipation to see what impact South Australia's Tesla battery has on the local electricity market, and whether it could be a game-changer nationally.
Nature's drying up, so maybe we should be mining our cities
5 Dec 2017
Instead of extracting dwindling raw materials from nature, the time has come to start re-using materials from buildings and infrastructure in cities.
‘I don’t know how Turnbull faces his grandkids’
5 Dec 2017
Former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd talks about the failure of his country’s climate policy, the rise of China and the Carmichael coal mine.
Why remote Antarctica is so important in a warming world
5 Dec 2017
The Antarctic Treaty was signed 58 years ago this week, protecting the continent for peace and science.
Nations agree to ban Arctic fishing for 16 years
5 Dec 2017
Nine nations and the European Union have reached a deal to place the central Arctic Ocean off-limits to commercial fishers for at least the next 16 years.
How Airbus was allowed to write its own climate rules
4 Dec 2017
E-mails between the European Commission and Airbus show how the European aircraft manufacturer was offered privileged access to the EU decision-making process, allowing it to write its own environmental rules.
Tesla big battery officially switched on in South Australia
4 Dec 2017
The Tesla big battery – the world’s biggest lithium-ion battery storage installation – was officially switched on in South Australia on Friday.
Mangroves poorly equipped to survive changing climate
4 Dec 2017
New research shows that salt-water-loving mangrove plants are likely ill-equipped to cope with rising sea levels.
German court to hear Peruvian farmer's climate case
4 Dec 2017
A German court has ruled that it will hear a Peruvian farmer’s case against energy giant RWE over climate change damage in the Andes.
Don't bury bike-sharing, there's still room on the road
4 Dec 2017
Dramatic images of bike graveyards shouldn't be taken at face value – there's hope for bike-sharing schemes yet.
Victorian logging could trigger ecosystem collapse
4 Dec 2017
Decades of unsustainable logging has created an “extinction debt” in Victoria’s central highlands that will trigger an ecosystem-wide collapse within 50 years without urgent intervention.
Labor victory could spell end of Adani coal mine
1 Dec 2017
Queensland Labor looks certain to form a government promising to veto a $1b public loan, which observers say puts the giant Adani coal project in serious doubt.
Southern Spain is getting that sinking feeling
1 Dec 2017
When the heat is on, ground shrinkage means subsiding soils. Sustained drought could cause structural problems in parts of Spain.
Figueres to co-lead Formula E advisory board
1 Dec 2017
Formula E has announced that its new advisory board will be co-led by UN climate champion Christiana Figueres.
Can China actually lead on climate change?
30 Nov 2017
China is in the driving seat when it comes to international co-operation on climate, said President Xi Jinping at a major political meeting in Beijing ahead of the climate talks in Bonn.
Australian shareholders should be told, says thinktank
30 Nov 2017
Australian companies need to start developing sophisticated scenario-based analyses of climate risks, and incorporating them into their business, a thinktank has said.
How deforestation is starving São Paulo of water
30 Nov 2017
São Paulo could face more devastating water shortages if farmers continue to clear the Amazon forest, warns the utility chief who recently steered the biggest city in the Americas from the edge of drought catastrophe.
After Bonn, five things to watch for in the coming year
30 Nov 2017
Unusually for a large UN climate conference, the recent Bonn talks didn’t finish with any late-night haggling. Progress, in the form of various commitments and pledges, is best described as slow and steady.
DUMPSTER DIVING: For some it's the ethical way to dine
30 Nov 2017
People looking for different ways to approach food and waste have begun “dumpster diving” - searching waste bins for edibles.
Peru’s melting glaciers are a godsend (until they’re gone)
29 Nov 2017
Accelerating glacial melt in the Andes caused by climate change has set off a gold rush downstream, letting the desert bloom. But as the ice vanishes, the vast farms below might do the same.
Rising tides lap at the Pacific's dome of poison
29 Nov 2017
Rising seas caused by climate change are seeping inside a United States nuclear waste dump on a remote and low-lying Pacific atoll.
What do the Koch brothers want from Time?
28 Nov 2017
That Charles and David Koch are putting $650m into Meredith Corp’s purchase of Time would ordinarily be cause for great soul-searching in media. But these are not ordinary times.
China reverses flow of carbon emissions
28 Nov 2017
The flow of China’s carbon emissions has reversed, according to new research led by scientists at the University of East Anglia.
Cleaner coolants fund gets $540m
28 Nov 2017
Rich countries will pay $540 million over three years into a fund to support a shift to cleaner coolants, under a deal agreed in Montreal on Saturday.
Swedish power plant burns clothes instead of fossil fuels
28 Nov 2017
A Swedish power plant is turning to recycled wood and trash for alternatives, including discarded clothing from a retail chain.
ROAD RAGE: Highways could open a Pandora's Box of ills
27 Nov 2017
Within the next 30 years, there could be another 25 million kilometres of road worldwide – enough to encircle the planet 600 times.
Drilling awakens sleeping faults in Texas
27 Nov 2017
Since 2008, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and a handful of other states have experienced unprecedented surges of earthquakes.
Musk's Australia battery poised for final testing
27 Nov 2017
The world’s largest lithium-ion battery, which is being built in South Australia by Tesla to store renewable energy, is about to enter final testing.
Melbourne consortium underwrites windfarm
27 Nov 2017
Three Melbourne councils, two universities, Zoos Victoria, and half a dozen corporations have banded together to underwrite a windfarm in western Victoria.
City trees feel the heat ... and love it
27 Nov 2017
City trees are responding to climate change and urban growth, making the most of the heat island effect.
China likely to hit peak emissions around 2030
24 Nov 2017
China’s carbon emissions will probably peak on or before 2030, a new survey has found.
Disaster on Australia's doorstep, officials warn
24 Nov 2017
Climate change is creating a disaster on Australia’s doorstep, according to a government white paper.
“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.
