International: All stories
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.
Bonn talks bring a poison pill for Poland
24 Nov 2017
If anything came out of the COP23 climate conference in Bonn, it’s a poison pill for Poland.
India to add 10,000 e-vehicles to official fleet
24 Nov 2017
India has called tenders for 10,000 electric vehicles as replacements for its official fleet.
Community solar heads for rooftops of New York
24 Nov 2017
New York City’s public housing authority is taking bids in a plan to lease its roofs for community solar projects that could power thousands of urban homes.
THIN ICE: Antarctic glaciers could flood the planet
24 Nov 2017
In a remote region of Antarctica known as Pine Island Bay, 2500 miles from the tip of South America, two glaciers hold human civilisation hostage.
LIGHT FRIGHT: Nights getting brighter and not in a good way
24 Nov 2017
Nights are getting alarmingly brighter – bad news for all sorts of creatures, humans included – as light pollution encroaches on darkness almost everywhere.
Climate change drove Trumps out of Germany
24 Nov 2017
Climate change contributed to the wave of German immigration to the US that included Donald Trump’s grandfather.
California nets $860 million from carbon auction
23 Nov 2017
California will collect $860 million from auctioning carbon-emissions permits after the allowances sold out at a record price for the second straight quarter.
You're spies, Russia tells green campaigners
23 Nov 2017
The Russian government is using anti-spying legislation to silence environmental campaigners, a leading watchdog has warned.
As oceans warm, kelp forests begin to disappear
23 Nov 2017
Kelp forests are being wiped out from Tasmania to California, replaced by sea urchin barrens that are nearly devoid of life.
Senate bill would cut EPA funding by $150 million
23 Nov 2017
The US Senate Appropriations Committee this week introduced a bill that would cut nearly $150 million in funding for the Environmental Protection Agency next year.
Poland faces $170,000-a-day fines over illegal logging
23 Nov 2017
Poland has been given two weeks to stop illegal deforestation in a Unesco-protected forest or face fines of at least $NZ170,000 a day.
BEAN BUSES: In London, it's wake up and smell the traffic
23 Nov 2017
Seeking to curb toxic diesel fumes, London transport officials are hunting for new sources of energy for buses. The latest idea? Coffee grounds.
Meet the green gurus who use 1400 disposable cups a day
23 Nov 2017
More than 2.5 million disposable cups have been purchased by the UK’s environment department for use in its restaurants and cafes over the past five years – equivalent to nearly 1400 a day.
EPA revises social cost of potent greenhouse gas
22 Nov 2017
The Trump administration is tweaking how it measures the costs of emitting a potent greenhouse gas, a move that will have major impacts for climate rules.
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.
