International: All stories
UK faces huge bill to get rid of North Sea oil
8 May 2018
The UK’s North Sea clean-up costs – the price to be paid for decommissioning its oil and gas industry – will probably more than double, a British group says.
NZ gets pat on the back in Bonn
7 May 2018
New Zealand’s promise to be carbon-neutral by 2050 has earned it a rare positive mention in dispatches from Climate Action Tracker.
Droughts could be worst in 800 years
7 May 2018
Droughts, floods, heatwaves, and fires have battered Australia for millennia. Are recent extreme events really worse than those in the past?
Winter winds melting Antarctica ice shelf
7 May 2018
Parts of Antarctica’s Larsen C ice shelf are melting in the depths of winter, when temperatures typically stay well below freezing, research finds.
Rio Tinto climate resolution marks big shift
7 May 2018
What does the advocacy group the Australian Centre for Corporate Responsibility have in common with the Local Government Super fund, the Church of England Pensions Board, and the Seventh Swedish National Pension Fund?
Coal pollution is poisoning China's rice
7 May 2018
Mercury pollution is a problem usually associated with fish consumption. But some people in China, the world’s largest mercury emitter, are exposed to more methylmercury from rice than they are from fish.
Auckland vows to free city centre of emissions
4 May 2018
Auckland is signing up to go fossil fuel-free, pledging to make the city centre emissions-free by 2030 and to clean up the bus fleet.
The true cost of making cities from the sea
4 May 2018
Asia is growing. Literally. From Malaysia to Dubai, luxury developments are rising on artificial islands and coastlines.
E-waste innovator is going to prison
4 May 2018
A Southern California man who built a sizable business out of recycling electronic waste is headed to federal prison for 15 months.
Canada eyes carbon price to cut emissions
4 May 2018
Canada says that setting a nationwide carbon price could help to cut emissions by 90 million tonnes while maintaining a strong economy.
When mountains fall into the sea
4 May 2018
As glaciers melt, unstable slopes are being exposed and are on the precipice of collapse.
Climate 'culture war' will doom Australia
3 May 2018
Australia will not achieve its emissions reductions targets until it ends the “culture war” on climate policy, Labor frontbencher Mark Butler has said.
TALANOA TALK: The 11 key themes in Bonn
3 May 2018
The Talanoa Dialogue could be a springboard to stronger action on climate change, or just another talking shop.
There’s money in sun and wind, says activist
2 May 2018
ENVIRONMENTAL campaigner Bill McKibben - who visits New Zealand next week - says the financial sector has picked up on the future of energy much quicker than politicians have.
Boaty McBoatface to spy on melting Antarctic glacier
2 May 2018
The precarious state of a vast, remote Antarctic glacier will provide an inaugural mission for the British vessel once dubbed Boaty McBoatface and its remotely operated submarine of the same name.
China's solar power boom can be seen from space
2 May 2018
China is the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, but it's also leading the world in clean energy investment and deployment.
All Paris pact counties now have climate policies
2 May 2018
All 197 countries which signed the Paris Agreement now have at least one law in place to limit global temperatures.
Belt and Road will cost the environment
1 May 2018
China is aggressively trying to leverage on a trillion-dollar transportation and energy infrastructure construction programme that poses potential environmental impacts.
What price trees in our megacities?
1 May 2018
The ecological footprint of population growth is vast and there’s far more that can be done to improve life for urban residents around the world.
Supermud bricks could rescue housing and carbon emissions
1 May 2018
The housing problems of western nations like New Zealand pale in comparison to the scale of the crisis facing much of the world.
DIVIDED COUNTRY: Border gets the creeps
1 May 2018
The stark climatic border in the US separating the sultry east from the dry west is rapidly shifting - a change that could have a significant future impact.
The hills are alive with the signs of plastic
1 May 2018
A major study has found microplastics in soil across Switzerland and scientists warn urgent research is needed into impacts on food safety.
Arctic currents change as did the ancient Pacific
1 May 2018
Changes in Arctic currents today appear to reflect similar changes thousands of years ago – in the North Pacific. Scientists think they may be linked.
Bonn meeting to sort out Paris pact
30 Apr 2018
A meeting to hammer out the “operating manual” for the Paris Agreement starts in Bonn today.
Making our cities cooler is a no-brainer
30 Apr 2018
Numerous cities are trying to do something what's known as the urban heat island effect. But there is a very long way to go. So what is holding us back, and what needs to happen?
GOING UP? Modern elevators are being given a green lift
30 Apr 2018
Elevator companies have begun to explore a wide and somewhat outlandish array of green alternatives to the traditional rope-and-pulley systems of 100 years ago.
EU votes to ban bee-killing pesticide
30 Apr 2018
The EU has overwhelmingly voted for a ban on the use of a pesticide known to be harmful to bees.
Starbucks customers like reusable cups
30 Apr 2018
A survey in UK Starbucks stores shows that reusable cup usage has surged by 156 per cent since the intoduction of a 5p charge.
Climate will empty islands in just decades, warns report
27 Apr 2018
Low-lying atolls around the world will be overtaken by sea-level rises within a few decades, according to a new study.
DRASTIC PLASTIC: Kenya grounds the flying toilet
27 Apr 2018
KENYA'S tough plastics laws appear to be working. Waterways are clearer, the food chain is less contaminated – and there are fewer “flying toilets”.
Globalisation might be better for environment
27 Apr 2018
The increasing pace of globalization and how it affects the environment has been a major global concern.
Hands up those companies making an effort
26 Apr 2018
An analysis of more than 600 top US companies has found that those seeing the effects of global warming first-hand are taking the most concrete actions.
EU backs new circular economy measures
26 Apr 2018
The EU has taken a significant step towards principles which make an asset out of waste.
BP chief urges Cambridge not to divest
26 Apr 2018
BP chief executive Bob Dudley has come under fire from campaigners after he urged Cambridge University not to drop its fossil fuel investments.
Company averts climate chocolate threat
26 Apr 2018
Fears that the supply of cocoa beans would dry up have led a confectionery giant to help farmers to avert a climate chocolate threat.
Bloomberg vows to pay America's Paris dues
24 Apr 2018
Former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg has said he will write a $4.5m cheque to cover this year’s US commitment to the Paris Climate Agreement.
Blockchains could tackle our waste problems
24 Apr 2018
Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin might fill news headlines, but attention has been shifting to the technology that underpins them - blockchains.
California must live with whiplash events
24 Apr 2018
California is likely to swing from drought to extreme rainfall and flooding more often in the future, a new report says.
Off the Green and into the Blue
24 Apr 2018
A staggering number of golf balls wind up in the ocean. What happens to them?
HSBC to stop financing most new coal plants
23 Apr 2018
Europe’s largest bank, HSBC, says it will mostly stop funding new coal power plants, oil sands and arctic drilling.
Miami mans the pumps to beat sea level
23 Apr 2018
Miami Beach's $500 million attempt to elevate and pump itself out of sea level rise's path has drawn criticism, but an expert panel says the city's doing what it needs to survive.
The grass might be greener on the other side – but is death?
23 Apr 2018
The funeral industry is catering for the growing number of people who want to deal with their mortal remains in an environmentally sound way.
Long-lived civilisation might be a dream
23 Apr 2018
Humanity’s cherished hope that we are building a long-lived civilisation may be nothing more than a pipe-dream.
Churches call on Commonwealth to get tough
20 Apr 2018
More than 170 religious leaders from all over the world have urged governments from the Commonwealth to “turn words into action” and stop dangerous climate change.
Put your trust me, says Shell chief
20 Apr 2018
Shell CEO Ben van Beurden has the same message for activists and investors: Trust me.
Labor states won't compromise on renewables
20 Apr 2018
Australia's Labor states will seek a watertight undertaking that their renewable energy schemes and targets will remain undisturbed by the Turnbull government’s proposed national energy guarantee at a critical meeting today.
Dear sir, I'd like to order some e-vehicles ... 10,000 would do
20 Apr 2018
Indian ride-hailing firm Ola will add 10,000 electric three-wheelers to its fleet over the next 12 months.
Japan has a renewable energy puzzle
20 Apr 2018
As Japan rushes to cut carbon emissions by 26 per cent, campaigners worry that forests and wildlife are being trampled.
Turnbull might allow power firms to buy offsets
19 Apr 2018
The Turnbull government is hedging its bets on whether to allow Australian energy companies to buy offsets to comply with their new 26 per cent emissions reduction target.
Tidal power comes of age with Scottish project
19 Apr 2018
The potential for the tides to generate clean, reliable electricity has taken a significant step with the completion of a flagship project in Scottish waters.
Battery subsidy scheme set for 'urgent' overhaul as costs run out of control
16 Dec 2025
Australian Energy Minister Chris Bowen has announced big changes to the government's battery subsidy scheme amid claims most of its $2.3 billion budget has been spent in just six months.
EPA erases references to human-caused climate change from websites
19 Dec 2025
EPA has scrubbed references to people’s contribution to rising temperatures from some of its climate change webpages.
Verra cancels four tree planting projects in China. And starts reviews of 45 more projects
16 Dec 2025
“Multiple carbon projects in China are facing serious allegations regarding the authenticity of government approval documents."
France updates its 2050 carbon neutrality roadmap
17 Dec 2025
To mark the 10th anniversary of the Paris Agreement, France released a revamped climate plan promising to phase out oil and gas and sharply increase electricity use.
Net-zero scenario is ‘cheapest option’ for UK, says energy system operator
15 Dec 2025
A scenario that meets the “net-zero by 2050” goal would be the “cheapest” option for the UK, according to modelling by the National Energy System Operator (NESO).
The ecological havens flourishing beneath power lines
19 Dec 2025
Initiatives to foster native wildflowers, grasses and shrubs are turning utility corridors into wildlife corridors.
‘Not normal’: Climate crisis supercharged deadly monsoon floods in Asia
12 Dec 2025
Cyclones like those in Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Malaysia that killed 1,750 are ‘alarming new reality’.
Pacific fisheries summit gives a boost to albacore and seabirds
19 Dec 2025
Much of the world’s albacore tuna catch, which usually ends up in a can, comes from the southwestern Pacific Ocean, where fishery managers just passed a new set of conservation rules.
Arctic endured year of record heat as climate scientists warn of ‘winter being redefined’
18 Dec 2025
Region known as ‘world’s refrigerator’ is heating up as much as four times as quickly as global average, Noaa experts say.
Are rainforests now a cause of, rather than the answer to, climate change?
15 Dec 2025
A new study finds that Africa’s forests, responsible for one-fifth of global carbon removal, are beginning to generate carbon as the result of human activity.
Thousands of climate disasters are not included in official reports from Amazonian countries
12 Dec 2025
More than 12,500 extreme weather events impacted the Amazon and its population in 10 years, but countries have not generated enough information about it, according to a new scientific study.
UN environment report 'hijacked' by US and others over fossil fuels, top scientist says
11 Dec 2025
A key UN report on the state of the global environment has been "hijacked" by the United States and other countries who were unwilling to go along with the scientific findings, the co-chair has told the BBC.
