International: All stories

Whales could help to save Pacific from carbon pollution
13 Apr 2017
If conservation efforts pay off, whales could help Pacific islands to meet their emissions reductions targets.

Barrier bleaching could set back Queensland by $1b
13 Apr 2017
Queensland's economy and tourism sector could suffer a billion-dollar hit, if extreme coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef continues, says a new report.

More fish dinners now ... but not as much nutrition
13 Apr 2017
People in Bangladesh are eating 30 per cent more fish than they did 20 years ago, but they are getting a smaller amount of important nutrients from it.

Auckland says yes to ethical investments
12 Apr 2017
Auckland Council has joined the fossil-fuel divestment movement.

US causes delay in G7 climate statement
12 Apr 2017
Nations attending a G7 summit could not release a joint climate statement at the end of a meeting this week because the Trump administration is reviewing its policies.

Former climate chief sets 2020 as cuts deadline
12 Apr 2017
Global policymakers should set their sights on 2020 as the deadline for delivering the rapid emissions cuts needed to save the world from dangerous global warming, according to a new campaign spearheaded by former UN climate chief Christiana Figueres.

US again shrinks electricity’s carbon footprint
12 Apr 2017
Carbon emissions from US electric power plants have fallen by about 5 per cent for the second year in a row.

Are neonicotinoids killing you?
12 Apr 2017
Traces of pesticides known as neonicotinoids for the first time have been found drinking water.

SEE YOU IN COURT: Activists get ready to fight Trump
11 Apr 2017
Environmental campaigners have promised to wage fierce and protracted legal battles against “outrageous and wrong-headed” Trump administration moves.

HIGH TIDE: Rising waters threaten China’s rising cities
11 Apr 2017
In China's Pearl River Delta, breakneck development is colliding with the effects of climate change.

Beating the heat for apartment dwellers
11 Apr 2017
Heatwaves could be deadly for many Australian apartment dwellers if the grid fails, so architects are coming up with ways to manage temperatures passively.

Three Australian banks review exposure to fossil fuels
10 Apr 2017
Three of Australia’s big four banks are reviewing their exposure to fossil fuels, including their lending practices to households and farmers, in response to climate change.

Complacency threatens climate change action
10 Apr 2017
The world is “meandering into a failed future” because of its unwillingness to take decisive action on climate change, a leading UK academic has warned.

Arctic meltwater ponds feed climate concerns
10 Apr 2017
Even in the white-out world of ice, the Arctic is growing greener. Plankton blooms below the frozen ocean and in Greenland’s icy mountains meltwater ponds become little ecosystems that will eventually enrich the ocean.

Nine-year-old sues over climate change inaction
10 Apr 2017
A nine-year-old girl has filed a lawsuit against the Indian government for failing to take action on climate change.

States gang up to challenge Trump over climate actions
7 Apr 2017
A coalition of 17 US states has filed a legal challenge against efforts by President Trump’s administration to roll back climate change regulations.

Debbie shows up dangers of concentrated cropping
7 Apr 2017
The damage wrought by cyclone Debbie raises broader questions about the resilience of Australia’s fresh vegetable supply, much of which comes from a relatively small number of areas that are under pressure from climate and land use change.

Open letter urges Turnbull to deliver energy reforms
7 Apr 2017
Former Australian Liberal party leader John Hewson and sustainable energy entrepreneur Simon Holmes à Court are among the signatories to a new open letter urging Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to implement three urgent reforms to the energy market.

Memo Australia: There'll be many more Debbies
6 Apr 2017
Climate change will continue to amplify extreme weather events in Australia, including intense heavy rainfall and flooding, like that triggered by cyclone Debbie.

Britain seeks to abandon green goals
6 Apr 2017
Britain is looking for ways to scrap its 2020 clean energy targets while maintaining everyday trade in Europe’s energy market.

After 25 years of trying, why aren’t we more sustainable?
5 Apr 2017
In 1992, more than 170 countries came together at the Rio Earth Summit and agreed to pursue sustainable development, protect biological diversity, prevent dangerous interference with climate systems, and conserve forests.

Extreme heat threat rises for megacities
5 Apr 2017
The area of the world, and the numbers of city dwellers, exposed to serious risk from extreme heat will multiply later this century even if the world’s nations keep their promise and contain global warming to 2deg or less, according to new research.

Australia in ‘disaster alley’ for climate refugees
5 Apr 2017
Australia could be on the frontline of a new wave of climate refugees displaced by extreme weather events, droughts and rising seas.

EU takes next step in reform of trading scheme
5 Apr 2017
The next step in the European Emissions Trading Scheme reform process is under way.

Australia looks at benefits of social impact investing
4 Apr 2017
Governments, communities and industries are grappling with issues such as climate change, inequality and social justice – and how to mobilise more funding to tackle these issues. One possible solution is impact investing.

Rush for sapphires wrecks Madagascar rainforests
4 Apr 2017
A “sapphire rush” has brought tens of thousands of people into the remote rainforests of eastern Madagascar, disfiguring a protected environmental area and prompting calls for military intervention.

Brazil halves environment budget
4 Apr 2017
The Brazilian government is cutting its environment ministry budget by 51 per cent as part of a bid to limit the country’s spiralling deficit.

South Australia gets billion-dollar solar farm
3 Apr 2017
A huge $1bn solar farm and battery project will be built and ready to operate in South Australia’s Riverland region by the end of the year.

Trump names May for decision on Paris pact
3 Apr 2017
President Donald Trump is planning to decide by late May on whether the US should stay in the Paris climate change agreement.

Singapore gets tough to meet environment goals
3 Apr 2017
SINGAPORE is set to introduce a series of new regulations in a bid to speed up progress towards the city-state’s environment commitments.

The crazy story of airline food and why so much is dumped
3 Apr 2017
Airlines generated 5.2 million tonnes of waste in 2016, most of which went to landfill or incineration – and it cost them more than $NZ700 million.

Wildlife reshuffle will have huge impact on humanity
31 Mar 2017
Mass migration of species to cooler climes has profound implications for society, pushing disease-carrying insects, crop pests and crucial pollinators into new areas.

Exit Hazelwood ... and the myth of cheap fossil fuels
31 Mar 2017
Australia's giant Hazelwood brown coal generator shut down the last of its eight units at 4pm yesterday, the latest and the most powerful symbol of the vast and rapid change in the nation's energy system.

Only three EU states on track to meet Paris goals
31 Mar 2017
Only three European countries are on course to achieve the Paris Agreement targets, according to research which ranks the UK in fifth position on its progress towards the landmark climate treaty.

KILLER TOYS: How thousand die for Western consumers
31 Mar 2017
Western consumers who buy cheap imported toys, clothes and mobile phones are indirectly contributing to tens of thousands of pollution-related deaths in the countries where the goods are produced.

Europe readies to take global lead on climate efforts
30 Mar 2017
The European Union has led criticism of Donald Trump’s effort to unravel Barack Obama’s measures to combat climate change, suggesting that Europe will now take the lead in global efforts.

Sydney looks at 2050 to be carbon neutral
30 Mar 2017
Sydney has a plan to be carbon-neutral by 2050.

EU countries abuse forestry credits loophole
30 Mar 2017
European Union countries exploited loopholes in United Nations forestry rules to pocket carbon credits worth €600 million and the equivalent of global-warming emissions from 114 million cars.

Debbie could teach us a thing or two
30 Mar 2017
Despite knowing, approximately, where cyclones tend to occur, we've never thought about adjusting our cities to their effects.

Wildlife changing to keep up with climate
30 Mar 2017
Climate change is one of the greatest threats facing Australia’s wildlife, plants and ecosystems, a point driven home by two consecutive years of mass coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef.

Trump climate moves undermine Paris Agreement
29 Mar 2017
President Trump has launched an all-out assault on Barack Obama’s climate change legacy with a sweeping executive order that undermines America’s commitment to the Paris agreement.

Communities retreat as oceans swell and coasts erode
29 Mar 2017
Erosion, rising seas, ferocious storms and other coastal perils have prompted the resettlement of more than one million people worldwide.

Trump about to undo Obama's clean power plans
28 Mar 2017
President Trump is set to sign a sweeping executive order today aimed at promoting domestic oil, coal and natural gas by reversing much of his predecessor’s efforts to address climate change.

BILL McKIBBEN: Adani mine is the line in the sand
28 Mar 2017
There is nowhere else on the planet right now where the dichotomy between two potential futures is playing out in such a dramatic and explosive way as Australia.

Changing climate damages world's reefs beyond repair
28 Mar 2017
The Great Barrier Reef might never fully recover from the combined effects of global warming and an El Niño year, according to a new study.

UN acknowledges retreat on climate campaigns
27 Mar 2017
The United Nations is acknowledging that some countries might be retreating in the effort to fight climate change, recognising an emerging fissure in the landmark Paris Agreement as US President Donald Trump moves forward with plans to gut environmental programmes.

YUK! How disgust stops us from living sustainably
27 Mar 2017
Imagine, for a second, that the slice of delectable cake melting in your mouth was made with flour ground from insects not grains.

Oil theft provides billions for terrorists and drug cartels
24 Mar 2017
Oil theft is fuelling terrorist groups and drug cartels around the world, according to a new analysis.

Australia to shut big-polluting power station
24 Mar 2017
Australia's most polluting power station, Hazelwood, is set to become the ninth coal-fired power station to close its doors, as the nation’s transition from fossil fuels to clean renewable energy continues.

Arctic ice falls to record winter low
24 Mar 2017
The extent of Arctic ice has fallen to a new wintertime low, as climate change drives freakishly high temperatures in the polar regions.