International: All stories
World needs to manage food, water and energy
27 Jan 2017
There is an increasing global demand for food, water and energy. All three are inter-linked, a fact that has increasingly become the focus of attention for policy makers and governments.
Climate change caused Middle East dust storm
27 Jan 2017
A storm of dust so fierce that it obscured seven Middle Eastern nations from satellite observation has been blamed on climate change.
Trump silences government scientists
26 Jan 2017
Scientists in two US government agencies have been told they can no longer discuss research or departmental restrictions with anyone outside their offices - including news media.
This threat to animals should provoke shame in our hearts
26 Jan 2017
By TIM FLANNERY | While Australia bakes through another hot, angry summer, its precious wildlife is increasingly under threat, not just from the extreme weather of fires and floods but by the growing reality of a changing climate.
Canadian scientists race to back up worried Americans
25 Jan 2017
The election of Donald Trump as president of the United States has touched off a mad scramble by some scientists to back up critical scientific data as government researchers reckon with the new administration’s threats to scrub climate data and strip funding for ongoing climate research.
PACIFIC PROBLEM: Carbon cuts will not settle seas
24 Jan 2017
Even supposing the world does make dramatic reductions in carbon dioxide emissions, the fate of the small island states remains uncertain.
China taking green bond market by storm
24 Jan 2017
China issued $US36.9 billion worth of green bonds in 2016, dominating the global market in climate-friendly infrastructure investment.
SUPER SAVER: Replace sticky labels with laser marking
24 Jan 2017
The humble fruit sticker may seem an unlikely cause for environmental concern but removing it from produce could create huge savings in plastic, energy and CO2 emissions.
Come see Pacific for yourself, MP tells Trump
21 Dec 2016
A New Zealand MP is challenging United States president-elect Donald Trump to come to the Pacific and see the impacts of climate change for himself.
EU countries stall over carbon market reform
21 Dec 2016
After more than a year of negotiations, EU member states have come up short in their efforts to find common ground on a carbon market reform seen as necessary if the ambitions of the Paris Agreement on climate change are to be met.
Climate change puts the squeeze on coffee belt
21 Dec 2016
As a famous old song says, they’ve got an awful lot of coffee in Brazil. But if the findings of New Zealand and Australian researchers are right, that will change over the next 30 years.
Red alert as smog shuts down China
21 Dec 2016
A red alert, the highest level in the China's pollution warning system, has been issued in at least 23 cities as smog cancelled flights, shut factories and stopped traffic.
Las Vegas reaches energy milestone
21 Dec 2016
Ten years of effort finally paid off for Las Vegas this week when officials announced the city government will now be powered entirely by renewable energy.
The seven deadly things we’re doing to trash the planet
20 Dec 2016
We weep at the disappearance of endangered species but avert our eyes to the causes of Earth’s destruction.
This year is days away from sealing record-hot spot
20 Dec 2016
In less than two weeks, 2016 will officially be the hottest year on the books in more than 120 years of record keeping by US agencies. It will be the third straight record-setting year — and of the 17 hottest years, 16 have been this century.
Gates suggests Trump will support green energy
20 Dec 2016
Federal support for research and development into clean tech should appeal to incoming president, says Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates.
Driverless buses arrive in Australia
20 Dec 2016
Autonomous buses are likely to be better for passengers and the environment, but not everyone is excited.
Green Climate Fund gives millions to help Pacific
19 Dec 2016
The Green Climate Fund board has approved eight funding proposals worth $US315 million ($NZ452m) at a meeting in Samoa.
States urge Trump to kill clean-power plan
19 Dec 2016
Officials in 24 states have urged US president-elect Donald Trump to kill the centerpiece of President Barack Obama's strategy to combat climate change and shut down coal-fired power plants.
Obama makes final climate-change push
19 Dec 2016
With little more than a month left in office, the Barack Obama administration is quietly trying to accomplish one last big thing on climate change: creating a policy for relocating entire towns threatened by extreme weather and rising seas.
Trump gives Musk advisory job
16 Dec 2016
US president-elect Donald Trump has appointed Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk to his Strategic and Policy Forum.
Scientists frantically copying US climate data
16 Dec 2016
Alarmed that decades of crucial climate measurements could vanish under a hostile Trump administration, scientists have begun a feverish attempt to copy reams of government data on to independent servers in hopes of safeguarding it from any political interference.
EU to cancel one billion pollution permits
16 Dec 2016
THE EUROPEAN UNION will cancel a billion pollution permits under a package of carbon market reforms agreed by EU lawmakers yesterday.
Peruvian loses lawsuit against German coal giant
16 Dec 2016
A climate lawsuit by a Peruvian farmer and mountain guide against energy company RWE has just been dismissed by Essen district court in Germany.
Bloomberg study urges climate financial disclosures
15 Dec 2016
Climate-related financial disclosures should be part of the public reporting of companies, a major new report says.
Businesses must come clean on carbon, says Carney
15 Dec 2016
Bank of England governor Mark Carney has warned that the fight against climate change will be jeopardised unless companies with big carbon footprints come clean about their exposure to global warming risks.
SANTA SHOCK: Reindeer have become smaller and weaker
15 Dec 2016
It's climate change news the kids didn't want to hear ... Santa's reindeer might not be up to the job this Christmas.
Queensland plugs in largest solar farm
15 Dec 2016
Queensland’s largest operating solar farm has plugged into the national electricity grid and is set to generate enough power for almost 10,000 households by the end of 2016.
Addiction to big houses is blowing the energy budget
15 Dec 2016
Australia’s houses are getting bigger, but usually not more sustainable.
TRUMP TEAM 1: Exxon's Tillerson gets state job
14 Dec 2016
Donald Trump has officially tapped Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson to run the State Department, raising concerns over how the US will approach international climate negotiations.
TRUMP TEAM 2: Perry heads outfit he pledged to scrap
14 Dec 2016
Donald Trump has chosen former Texas governor Rick Perry to head the US Department of Energy, putting him in charge of the agency he once proposed eliminating.
US solar power smashes records in 2016
14 Dec 2016
US solar power has just had its biggest quarter in history, and it’s about to get even bigger, according to a new report.
Shrinking glaciers tell the whole climate story
14 Dec 2016
Retreating glaciers clearly document regional climate change over decade-long periods of time, suggesting that today’s shrinking glaciers are conclusive evidence that the climate is changing, says a paper published in Nature Geoscience.
Methane’s rapid spurt puts pressure on climate fight
13 Dec 2016
One year ago today, with huge relief, scarcely able to believe their achievement, world leaders finally agreed to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide.
Study shows global power of Antarctic ice
13 Dec 2016
A study published today in the journal Nature reveals just how sensitive the Earth’s climate might be to changes taking place in Antarctica.
Dear Green Climate Fund, Samoa needs you
13 Dec 2016
The board of the Green Climate Fund this week is meeting in the Samoan capital Apia. Here, the country’s ambassador to the UN outlines his hopes.
Anxious oil countries look at low-carbon future
13 Dec 2016
Squeezed budgets and rising energy demand will significantly heighten the demand and use of renewable and energy efficiency technologies across the Middle East, says a new white paper.
Canada sets first carbon price at $10 a tonne
12 Dec 2016
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced that carbon pollution will cost $10 ($NZ10.63) a tonne in 2018, rising by $10 a year until it reaches $50 ($NZ53.16) in 2022.
Trump lines up ardent climate denier for key green post
12 Dec 2016
Cathy McMorris Rodgers, a sixth-term Republican from Washington State who is a climate change denier and an ardent opponent of regulations for greenhouse gas emissions, has been nominated by US President-elect Donald Trump for Secretary of Interior.
Earth's bulging wasteline is becoming a problem
12 Dec 2016
In school, we learnt that the tropical zone is defined as the hot region of our planet – between the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn.
Climate deniers face scientific pushback
12 Dec 2016
People who argue that climate change is not happening or that the scientific case for it is overstated – climate deniers – should probably start preparing for a more robust response from scientists themselves.
Trump pick to head EPA is climate sceptic
9 Dec 2016
Donald Trump has reportedly nominated an attorney-general who has sued and reviled the Environmental Protection Agency to be the body’s new chief.
South Australia says states could go it alone
9 Dec 2016
States could go it alone on a carbon scheme for the electricity sector after the federal government ruled one out, South Australia’s premier says.
Chief scientist criticises climate policy chaos
9 Dec 2016
Australia's chief scientist Alan Finkel says investment in the electricity sector has stalled because of “policy instability and uncertainty”. And he has warned that current federal climate policy settings will not allow Australia to meet its emissions reduction targets under the Paris agreement.
Indonesia bans destruction of peatlands
9 Dec 2016
In potentially one of the biggest climate commitments since the 2015 Paris deal was agreed, Indonesia has banned development on its remaining 15 million hectares of peatlands.
London to double funding to tackle air pollution
9 Dec 2016
Campaigners, health charities and neighbourhood groups have welcomed plans by London mayor Sadiq Khan to more than double funding to clean up the capital’s dirty air.
GLASS GIANTS: How cities are forcing skyscrapers to evolve
8 Dec 2016
Slick, glassy skyscrapers cast their shadows over the streets and spaces of cities all over the world.
Climate change threatens risk management
8 Dec 2016
The ability of the global insurance industry to manage society’s risks is being threatened by climate change, according to a new report.
Protesters get court to block plans for Polish coal plant
8 Dec 2016
Campaigners have won a court case to block construction of a 1.6GW coal plant in northern Poland.
Anxious states await extreme bushfire season
8 Dec 2016
New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory are bracing for another severe bushfire season, as climate change continues to drive extreme conditions, a new report says.
Australian rainforests no longer a carbon sink – study
Fri 17 Oct 2025
Australia's tropical rainforests are among the first in the world to start emitting more carbon dioxide than they absorb, scientists said Thursday, linking the "very concerning" trend to climate change.
Climate scientists and republican lawyers are taking aim at Big Tech’s emissions
Fri 17 Oct 2025
Technology companies have long been one of the biggest investors in clean energy, but new accounting rules could upend that.
In China, climate litigation starts with the state
Thu 16 Oct 2025
With thousands of dedicated courts and more than a million recent cases, environmental and climate litigation is booming in China, but it often looks different to the trend seen elsewhere.
'Not up for discussion': Brussels rejects Washington's pressure on climate rules
13 Oct 2025
In response to US demands to roll back the EU's environmental legislation, the European Commission defended its autonomous power to adopt laws.
Government told to prepare for 2C warming by 2050
Thu 16 Oct 2025
The UK should be prepared to cope with weather extremes as a result of at least 2C of global warming by 2050, independent climate advisers have said.
Renewables are a global economic engine, not a culture war threat
2 Oct 2025
Energy companies are learning this lesson faster than Alberta Premier Danielle Smith.
Indonesia restarts international carbon trade after four years
Fri 17 Oct 2025
Indonesia's President Prabowo Subianto has issued a new decree to restart international carbon emission trading after a four year hiatus.
Familiar tensions emerge at the Pacific Islands Forum
26 Sep 2025
With China-Taiwan rivalry, China-Western competition, and big carbon emitters at odds with the islands on climate policy, there is plenty of tension to go around.
Scientists discovered something alarming seeping out from beneath the ocean around Antarctica
13 Oct 2025
Planet-heating methane is escaping from cracks in the Antarctic seabed as the region warms, with new seeps being discovered at an “astonishing rate".
Angola lowers climate ambition in blow to spirit of Paris Agreement
Tue 14 Oct 2025
Angola has scaled back its targets for reducing emissions in its new national climate plan, saying it chose “realism and implementability” over the Paris Agreement's calls for governments to set progressively more ambitious goals.
Four Brazilians to watch at COP30
Wed 15 Oct 2025
Influential Brazilians, from government figures to Indigenous activists, will take center stage during UN climate talks in the Amazon next month.
UN agency says CO2 levels hit record high last year, causing more extreme weather
Fri 17 Oct 2025
Heat-trapping carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere jumped by the highest amount on record last year, soaring to a level not seen in human civilisation and “turbo-charging” the Earth’s climate and causing more extreme weather.
