International: All stories
Fonterra to talk farming at Bonn climate talks
9 Nov 2017
Fonterra will strut its stuff tomorrow at international climate talks in Bonn.
Africans call for US to be kicked out of Bonn talks
9 Nov 2017
African campaigners have called for US negotiators to be barred from climate talks under way in Bonn.
Barclays issues €500m bond for 'green mortgages'
9 Nov 2017
UK banking giant Barclays has successfully issued a €500 million green bond - the first of its kind in the UK to use funds backed by domestic assets.
EU acts to clean up transport and boost e-vehicles
9 Nov 2017
The European Commission has a legislative package aimed at reducing CO2 emissions in road transport and encouraging the uptake of electric cars.
Can California eliminate millions of fossil cars?
9 Nov 2017
California State leaders are discussing banning the sale of the millions of cars that run on gasoline or diesel.
LOST LANDS: Rising seas washed away Pacific history
9 Nov 2017
The story of the now-vanished Micronesian island of Nahlapenlohd holds some valuable lessons about recent climate change in the western Pacific.
Auckland - clean power but lacking environmental protection
8 Nov 2017
New Zealand’s clean electricity supply has won Auckland 48th place in the 2017 Smart City Index – but its traffic congestion and lack of environmental protection have let it down.
US now only country saying it won't be part of Paris Agreement
8 Nov 2017
Syria has decided to sign the Paris agreement on climate change, the world's final functioning state to do so.
Do it differently to ensure markets do their job
8 Nov 2017
Carbon markets need to do things differently to avoid the mistakes of the Kyoto Protocol, a market watchdog says.
Sulphur pollution on the rise in India
8 Nov 2017
India is on course to surpass China as the world’s largest emitter of anthropogenic sulphur dioxide.
New Zealand's team in Bonn
7 Nov 2017
New Zealand will be represented at international climate negotiations by climate minister James Shaw and Pacific minister Aupito William Sio.
The other China that wants to lead on climate change
6 Nov 2017
By PATTRICK SMELLIE | As international delegations descend on Bonn for the November 6-17 annual global climate change summit, spare a thought for the other country that calls itself China but, instead of claiming a leadership position in the global debate, is shut out on the sidelines.
UN climate summit means business
6 Nov 2017
This year’s annual UN climate summit, the twenty-third Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (https://cop23.unfccc.int/) in UN jargon (or COP23 for short), starts on 6 November – and for once it may have an unusual spring in its step.
India readies for clashes with developed world at Bonn
6 Nov 2017
SEVERAL AREAS of unfinished business mean talks in Bonn could ignite as developing nations seek concessions from the industrialised world
5 things MFAT wants you to know about COP23
6 Nov 2017
INTERNATIONAL NEGOTIATIONS to put meat on the bones of the Paris Agreement start in Bonn today, with Fiji in the presidency.
Climate change will create 'world's biggest refugee crisis'
3 Nov 2017
Tens of millions of people will be forced from their homes by climate change in the next decade, creating the biggest refugee crisis the world has ever seen, according to a new report.
Market forces can go further, faster and cheaper to cut emissions
3 Nov 2017
Government delegations gathering in Bonn for the start of annual UN climate talks on Monday need to ramp up efforts, says the International Emissions Trading Association.
Paris possible with huge private-secctor investement
3 Nov 2017
Global investment could hold the key to fighting climate change, with $1 trillion already invested in solutions such as renewables and energy efficiency, says International Finance Corporation
Europe still drilling for oil, despite Paris Agreement
3 Nov 2017
Just days before international climate talks start in Bonn, firms are lining up to drill for oil - at great expense - in northern European waters.
Is China the leader UN climate talks need?
3 Nov 2017
china is more assertive than ever about its climate leadership ambitions, as 195 countries head to Bonn for the annual UN summit.
Fossil fuel companies undermining Paris agreement negotiations – report
2 Nov 2017
Global negotiations seeking to implement the Paris agreement have been captured by corporate interests and are being undermined by powerful forces that benefit from exacerbating climate change, according to a report released ahead of the second meeting of parties to the Paris agreement – COP23 – next week.
EPA aims to block scientists who get EPA funding
2 Nov 2017
US Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt is poised to jettison scientists who have received grants from the EPA and replace them with industry experts and state government officials.
Pacific Islanders call on Australia not to fund Adani
2 Nov 2017
Pacific Islanders whose homes face eradication by rising sea levels have called on Australia to not fund the Adani Carmichael coalmine, as a new report reveals the worsening impact of climate change across Oceania.
Whyalla steel goes green with solar and storage
2 Nov 2017
UK billionaire Sanjeev Gupta has made good on his commitment to transform his newly acquired Australian steel business into a renewable energy powerhouse.
Ice cracks again close Antarctic research station
2 Nov 2017
A British research station in Antarctica is being shut down for the second winter in a row following concerns over growing cracks in the 150-metre thick ice shelf on which it stands.
Merchants believe in the business case for bikes
2 Nov 2017
Merchants in an Oregon town believe new walking and biking infrastructure will attract cusatomers to their businesses.
Billion-dollar renewables boom boosts Queensland
1 Nov 2017
Queensland is a leader in Australia’s renewables boom, with more than $1.6 billion dollars invested in large-scale projects creating more than 1300 construction jobs.
Brazil’s carbon emissions rose 8.9% in 2016
1 Nov 2017
Despite Brazil’s worst recession in history, national greenhouse gases emissions are estimated to have risen 8.9 per cent in 2016 and reached the highest level since 2008.
Winter coming later ... and leaving earlier
1 Nov 2017
Across the United States, the year’s first freeze has been arriving further into the calendar, according to more than a century of measurements.
CARS CRUNCH: More and more cities say they don't want them
1 Nov 2017
After more than 100 years of living with cars, some cities are slowly starting to realize that the automobile doesn’t make a lot of sense in the urban context.
Heat stress, malnutrition ... climate change makes us sick
1 Nov 2017
Climate change is already having an impact on our health, by exposing people to dangerous heat waves and more extreme weather.
Global atmospheric CO2 levels hit record high
31 Oct 2017
The concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere increased at record speed last year to hit a level not seen for more than three million years.
Sea could rise 1.3m unless coal power ends by 2050
31 Oct 2017
Sea levels could rise 1.3m this century unless coal-generated electricity is virtually eliminated by 2050, according to a new paper that contains the latest understanding of Antarctica’s contribution.
Demand for fresh vegetables all year round is killing soils
31 Oct 2017
Consumers’ expectations that certain types of produce will be available all year round mean that farmers must engage in unsustainable and destructive practices.
Why California’s wine country fires were so destructive
31 Oct 2017
As of late October, more than a dozen wildfires north of San Francisco had killed more than 40 people, burned approximately 160,000 acres and destroyed more than 7000 structures.
Regional businesses use renewables to slash costs
31 Oct 2017
From solar to running generators, some regional businesses in Australia have quit the energy grid and several others are showing interest in defecting.
For cattle farmers in Brazil, money can’t buy love
31 Oct 2017
In regions of the Amazon where farmers could choose to grow more sustainable and lucrative crops like fruit or vegetables, ranchers persist in their low-income cattle business.
Climate change looms like a tragedy for Greeks
31 Oct 2017
Greece is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change in Europe, according to experts, and faces a gloomy future.
WHALE TALE: 100 years of protection and still hurting
31 Oct 2017
For some whale populations, even 100 years of protection is not long enough to recover from the excesses of commercial hunting.
Super-rich's supersonic private jets will be super-polluting
30 Oct 2017
Hundreds of supersonic jets could be flying businesspeople over Europe within 10 years, but documents show the EU preparing to cede oversight of their huge CO2 emissions.
Italy eyes a coal-free future with new energy strategy
30 Oct 2017
Italy plans to phase out coal power plants by 2025, the country’s industry minister said during a presentation of a new energy strategy.
Changing climate is blurring the lines for map makers
30 Oct 2017
As soon as cartographers had finished drawing the Arctic ice sheet in 2013, their map was already out of date.
Big sweet firms 'breaking promises over palm oil use'
30 Oct 2017
Nestlé, Mars and Hershey have been accused of breaking pledges to stop using conflict palm oil from deforested Indonesian jungles with the annual Halloween confectionery frenzy just around the corner.
Rising seas are flooding Virginia’s vast naval base
27 Oct 2017
The giant United States naval base at Norfolk is under threat by rising seas and sinking land - and little is being done to hold back the tides.
EPA scrubs website clean of ‘climate change’
27 Oct 2017
The US Environmental Protection Agency has removed dozens of online resources dedicated to helping local governments address climate change.
US unprepared to face costs of climate change
27 Oct 2017
The risks to the US are big, and they’re rising, a new report says - just as the Trump administration is changing how it calculates costs to make them look smaller.
If nothing is done, we will be 'toasted, roasted and grilled'
27 Oct 2017
If we don't do anything about climate change now, in 50 years we will be toasted, roasted and grilled, says International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde.
China’s carbon market exposes Australia’s energy paralysis
27 Oct 2017
When China’s national carbon market is launched later this year it will be the world’s second-largest carbon market, after the European emissions trading scheme.
Fewer poor means more climate work for the rich
26 Oct 2017
Ending poverty means the world’s rich will have to work harder to keep climate change under control, new research shows.
EU eyes green clause in trade deals (including ours)
26 Oct 2017
As Europe embarks on a new round of trade talks with New Zealand, Japan, Australia, and various South American countries, calls are growing for the EU to enforce environmental and social clauses in commercial agreements.
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
Today 11:00am
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
Today 11:00am
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
Wed 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.
