International: All stories
Critics say approval of ‘climate credits’ rules on day one of COP29 was rushed
13 Nov 2024
Agreement on rules paving way for rich countries to pay for cheap climate action abroad breaks years-long deadlock.
The world’s best hope to beat climate change is vanishing
13 Nov 2024
To have a chance against global warming, key economies and industries need to hit crucial emissions targets by 2030. They’re far off track.
Frontline countries must not be stuck with the climate bill at UN conference
13 Nov 2024
Someone will have to pay for the rising costs of the climate crisis – will it be those causing the damage, or those that suffer it? 
Australian engineer says Elon Musk, JD Vance key to US climate policy under Donald Trump
13 Nov 2024
An Australian engineer says billionaire Elon Musk and vice-president-elect JD Vance could become unexpected climate allies under the Trump administration.
Durability of carbon dioxide removal is critical for stabilising temperatures
13 Nov 2024
Letting countries or companies neutralize fossil fuel emissions with temporary carbon removal fundamentally breaks the math of net zero.
How a former ExxonMobil employee confronted the climate disinformation machine
13 Nov 2024
Former ExxonMobil climate scientist Lindsey Gulden: “It was after I was fired for reporting a garden variety fraud that I really sat back and thought about the implications for climate change.”
COP29 countries endorse global carbon market framework
12 Nov 2024
Countries at the two-week COP29 climate summit gave the go-ahead on Monday to carbon credit quality standards which are critical to launching a U.N.-backed global carbon market that would fund projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Despite likely setback for climate action at the US election, new climate champions set to enter Congress
12 Nov 2024
Across the US, voters elected new members to Congress who have promoted climate action at the state level and could prevent environmental laws from being weakened under Republican leadership.
Multilateral banks are key to financing the fight against global warming. Here is how they work
12 Nov 2024
As climate change leads to a seemingly endless stream of weather disasters around the world, countries are struggling to adapt to the new reality. Preparing to better withstand hurricanes, floods, heat waves, droughts and wildfires will take hundreds of billions of dollars.
Want food security? Eat less meat, major report says
12 Nov 2024
Europe’s top farming university is calling for smaller livestock herds and a shift toward plant-based diets.
Fifty-year extension for one of Australia’s biggest CO2 emitters likely after WA ditches emissions-reduction rules
12 Nov 2024
Extending life of Woodside’s North West Shelf gas processing plant on Burrup Peninsula could result in billions of tonnes of climate pollution, critics say.
COP29 chief exec filmed promoting fossil fuel deals
11 Nov 2024
A senior official at COP29 climate change conference in Azerbaijan appears to have used his role to arrange a meeting to discuss potential fossil fuel deals.
‘A total waste of time’: why Papua New Guinea pulled out of Cop29 and why climate advocates are worried
11 Nov 2024
Country’s foreign minister says UN climate summits have produced ‘no results’ as Pacific nation takes the rare step of withdrawing from upcoming Cop29.
Donald Trump is likely to scale back America's climate targets - will other countries follow suit?
11 Nov 2024
The US had been a major diplomatic force in climate talks under previous administrations, but Donald Trump's election will likely usher in a new era.
'Sin City could be called Solar City': How Las Vegas is going green
11 Nov 2024
From conserving water to scaling up solar, Sin City is investing millions in sustainability measures.
The frozen carbon of the northern permafrost is on the move – we estimated by how much
11 Nov 2024
Among the most rapidly changing parts of our planet are the coldest landscapes near the top of the globe, just south of the Arctic. This region is warming two to four times faster than the global average.
Trump stranglehold adds to growing doubts at climate talks
8 Nov 2024
Nearly 200 nations will soon gather for the annual COP29 summit, where efforts to increase funding for poor countries and slash emissions will run against the reality of a hostile American president.
Deadlock over climate finance is undermining Paris agreement, Singapore minister says
8 Nov 2024
Efforts by the United States and others to persuade more countries to contribute to a new global climate financing initiative risks undermining the Paris agreement, Singapore's Environment Minister Grace Fu told Reuters on Wednesday.
European climate agency says this will likely be the hottest year on record - again
8 Nov 2024
For the second year in a row, Earth will almost certainly be the hottest it’s ever been.
Big Oil’s dirty legacy in Nigeria
8 Nov 2024
Who will clean up the environmental mess when Shell and others pull out of the Niger Delta?
Climate adaptation finance gap swells to at least $187bn per year
8 Nov 2024
This is according to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)’s ‘Adaptation Gap Report 2024’, which emphasises the increasing vulnerability of developing nations to the worsening effects of climate change and underscores the urgent need for much greater financial support.
‘Drill, baby, drill’: What Trump’s victory could mean for the future, according to climate experts
7 Nov 2024
Trump's victory could be a 'major blow' for global climate action but experts say it may not slow the roll of the green transition.
Why didn’t climate change come up more in the presidential campaign?
7 Nov 2024
Climate change has dangerously supercharged fires, hurricanes, floods and heat waves. Why didn’t it come up more in the presidential campaign?
Leaders from key countries to skip COP29 climate summit
7 Nov 2024
World leaders from major economies including the United States, the European Union and Brazil are planning to skip this year's United Nations climate change summit, known as COP29, in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Scotland passes climate change legislation
7 Nov 2024
Scotland has officially scrapped annual climate targets as well as its 2030 and 2040 interim targets, but is still aiming to reach net-zero by 2045.
Dams have taken half the water from Australia’s second biggest river – and climate change will make it even worse
7 Nov 2024
The largest wetland on Australia’s second longest river, the Murrumbidgee in the southern Murray-Darling Basin, is drying up. This is bad news for the plants, animals and people who rely on the vast Lowbidgee Floodplain.
EU accused of inviting fossil fuel executives to COP28 under false pretences
7 Nov 2024
The European Commission is facing criticism from politicians and campaigners for giving a free pass for senior oil and gas executives to attend last year’s COP28 summit in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
‘The world is watching’: Why US election result could dictate global progress on climate action
6 Nov 2024
The US presidential election comes just days ahead of the world’s most important climate negotiations at COP29. Experts say the outcome will have a profound impact on the US’ leadership role at the talks, and beyond.
How the media is failing us
6 Nov 2024
COMMENT: Journalists setting global news agendas tend to have higher incomes and little personal experience of societal catastrophe. Our complacency and lack of scientific training encourage us to underplay the biggest story of them all, climate change.
Legal experts say Trump could quit Paris pact – but leaving UNFCCC much harder
6 Nov 2024
As the US Senate approved the US joining the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, it’s unclear if a president could easily pull the country out.
Returning grazing land to native forests would yield big climate benefits
6 Nov 2024
Removing cattle from carbon-rich soils in the eastern U.S. and western Europe while intensifying production elsewhere could drastically cut greenhouse gas emissions, with little hit to global protein production, a new study shows.
Global efforts to curb methane fall short as emissions keep rising
6 Nov 2024
Methane emissions from the fossil fuel industry, including coal mining, remain close to a record level set in 2019.
COP29: What is the ‘new collective quantified goal’ on climate finance?
6 Nov 2024
As nations assemble at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, one issue is expected to dominate the summit: climate finance.
The US election’s climate choice
5 Nov 2024
There are many clear choices at stake in the US Presidential election. One of the starkest is climate.
China hopes US will continue climate change collaboration whoever wins election, official says
5 Nov 2024
China hopes the United States will be able to continue to cooperate with other countries on climate change, whatever the outcome of the presidential election next week, a senior government official said on Friday.
We are in danger of forgetting what the climate crisis means: extinction
5 Nov 2024
COMMENT: The catastrophic floods in Valencia remind us that the fate of human beings and animals is what is truly important.
Heat-related deaths and diseases rising due to climate change, experts warn
5 Nov 2024
Lancet report says average person experienced 50 more days of dangerous temperatures than normal due to climate crisis.
Prince William begins a visit to South Africa that focuses on climate and the environment
5 Nov 2024
Prince William will speak with young environmentalists and local fishermen during a visit to South Africa starting Monday that will see his annual Earthshot Prize award $1.2 million in grants to five organisations for innovative environmental ideas.
Austria's alpine refuges and trails crumble as climate warms
5 Nov 2024
Experts say warmer temperatures across the Alps are accelerating glacier melt and thawing permafrost, the year-round ice that binds together giant slabs of rock.
Spain’s apocalyptic floods show two undeniable truths: the climate crisis is getting worse and Big Oil is killing us
4 Nov 2024
COMMENT: If past experience is any guide, the world’s reaction to the floods in Spain last week will be similar to that of motorway drivers at a crash scene: slow down, take in the horror, outwardly express sympathy, inwardly give thanks that fate picked someone else – and foot on the accelerator.
Climate-fuelled extreme weather is hiking up car insurance rates
4 Nov 2024
Home insurers have raised premiums after extreme weather events. Now car insurers in the U.S. are doing the same thing.
An overlooked solution for climate-friendly buildings: Better floor plans
4 Nov 2024
A new algorithm-based method of designing floor plans for apartment buildings could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by ensuring more efficient use of space, according to a new study.
Nine years after the Paris Agreement, the UN confronts the world’s failure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
4 Nov 2024
In one of three new reports on emissions, UN officials went as far as saying that the Paris Agreement’s goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius may be out of reach.
UN report obscures meat’s true climate impact
4 Nov 2024
A United Nations climate report made headlines last week with a stark warning: the planet is on track to heat by 2.6 to 3.1 degrees Celsius within the century.
Deadliest weather made worse by climate change - scientists
1 Nov 2024
Human-caused climate change made the ten deadliest extreme weather events of the last 20 years more intense and more likely, according to new analysis.
BRICS countries reject global climate action
1 Nov 2024
Sovereignty was the theme of this year’s BRICS Summit, the 16th annual conference of major oil producing and rapidly developing countries.
Authoritarianism is on the rise. Is climate change to blame?
1 Nov 2024
There's evidence that global warming creates fertile ground for political strongmen to come to power.
The case for Kamala Harris in a burning world
1 Nov 2024
By Jeff Goodell | COMMENT: The race between Harris and Trump is not about saving the planet. It’s about saving ourselves.
California's schools are embracing vegan meals
1 Nov 2024
How have plant-based lunches spread so successfully? Credit environmentally conscious students — and a handful of state funding programmes.
COP29 must kickstart stalled progress on the lifeline that is adaptation
1 Nov 2024
Targets for adapting to climate change are meaningless without the means to act. It’s time for a clear adaptation finance goal.
How bad can climate damage get? Worse than you imagine
Thu 26 Jun 2025
How bad can climate damage get? Worse than you imagine, if Australians’ recent experience of more extreme weather and natural disasters — driven by a hotter climate — are an indication, because the past is no longer a reliable guide to the future.
US government cuts key data used in hurricane forecasting
Tue 1 Jul 2025
Weather experts are warning that hurricane forecasts will be severely hampered by the upcoming cutoff of key data from U.S. Department of Defense satellites, the latest Trump administration move with potential consequences for the quality of forecasting.
Floods swamp cities in Southwest China with more storms due
Thu 26 Jun 2025
Citizens in Guizhou and other parts of southern China have been swamped by days of record-breaking rainfall as the East Asia monsoon kicked into high gear over the past week.
Next EU climate target to allow carbon offsets from 2036, draft shows
Tue 1 Jul 2025
The European Commission will permit countries to outsource a portion of their climate efforts to poorer countries from 2036, according to a draft proposal.
UK can reach net zero by 2050, climate report finds
Thu 26 Jun 2025
Climate Change Committee says current targets could be met provided country takes ‘steps forward’ to achieve them.
Is Mark Carney turning his back on climate action?
23 Jun 2025
The G7 summit in Alberta, hosted by Prime Minister Mark Carney, has ended with only passing mention of fighting climate change, including a statement on wildfires that is silent on the pressing need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Pakistan slams climate ‘injustice’ as deadly floods hit country again
Tue 1 Jul 2025
Pakistan’s climate minister says country facing ‘crisis of injustice’ as more deadly flooding and extreme weather events hit the country.
Nearly a third of Tuvaluans have applied for climate migration visa
Fri 27 Jun 2025
With their country threatened by sea level rise, the people of Tuvalu have been offered an escape route through an agreement with Australia, and many are contemplating leaving their home.
I just returned from Antarctica: climate change isn’t some far-off problem – it’s here and hitting hard
13 May 2025
Antarctica is often viewed as the last truly remote place on Earth – frozen, wild and untouched. But is it really as untouched as it seems?
Congo death toll hits 77 after extreme weather brings floods and sinks boats, 107 remain missing
18 Jun 2025
Authorities in Congo said the death toll following devastating floods and separate boat accidents has reached 77, with more than 100 people missing.
‘We are perilously close to the point of no return’: climate scientist on Amazon rainforest’s future
Tue 1 Jul 2025
Carlos Nobre, who has fought for decades to save the rainforest, says up to 70% of it could be lost if a tipping point is reached.
How UN climate negotiations can end fossil fuel-industry influence
Tue 1 Jul 2025
COMMENT: Climate COPs remain alarmingly exposed to lobbyists, unlike most global health and anti-corruption bodies that have safeguards to limit interference.
