International: All stories
Changing climate puts load on labourers
12 Jul 2017
Climate change could affect labour productivity – at least in the wine industry, new research suggests.
Diplomats assess China’s climate leadership promise
12 Jul 2017
The international community is asking itself whether China really has what it takes to lead global climate policy now the US has yielded that mantle.
ON YER BIKE: China launches smog-eating bicycles
12 Jul 2017
Commuters in China's smog-bound cities soon will be able to clean the air as they ride bicycles that inhale dirty air, clean it, and then release fresh air into the environment.
Countries with coral reefs must do more, says UN
12 Jul 2017
Custodians of world heritage-listed sites should aim to keep global temperature increases to just 1.5deg, the United Nations says.
UN climate fund under fire for using private banks
12 Jul 2017
Civil society organisations warn that the Green Climate Fund’s decision to accredit more private banks will disadvantage poor countries.
Musk's big battery is a real game-changer
11 Jul 2017
Elon Musk’s agreement to build the world’s largest battery for South Australia isn’t just an extraordinary technological breakthrough that signs coal’s death warrant.
Changing climate could mean end of the Emperor penguin
11 Jul 2017
Antarctica's iconic Emperor penguins might not be able to handle a changing climate and could be extinct by the end of the century, a new report says.
Sahel monsoon might see African drylands bloom
11 Jul 2017
Suddenly, a drought-stricken African region could benefit from a Sahel monsoon, with climate change storm clouds breaking over Chad and Mali.
G20 leaders' climate statement highlights rift with US
10 Jul 2017
World leaders have made clear the isolated stance of the US on climate change, with 19 of the G20 countries affirming their commitment to the “irreversible” Paris climate agreement.
Tesla to build giant battery for South Australia
10 Jul 2017
US-based Tesla and French company Neoen will build the world’s largest lithium ion battery in South Australia with plans to complete construction before summer.
G20 SUMMIT: Dealing with climate change in the Age of Trump
7 Jul 2017
As the world’s big emitters meet, their response to the G20 climate plan will be a barometer of their willingness to push back on Trump and fulfill the Paris accord.
How a shipping firm took control of a country’s UN mission
7 Jul 2017
How the climate-threatened Marshall Islands came to be represented at UN shipping talks by a private company based in Virginia, 11,000km away.
France decrees commercial rooftops must be green
7 Jul 2017
According to a new law, rooftops on new buildings in commercial zones across France must either be partially covered in plants or solar panels.
Pacific nations push for Paris pact commitments
6 Jul 2017
A commitment by rich nations to the Paris Agreement and an end to fossil-fuel development were the two major issues to come out of a pan-Pacific climate meeting in Fiji this week.
RICH LIST: Is inequality bad for the whole environment?
6 Jul 2017
From buying stuff to eating meat to wasting water, there is growing evidence that countries with a bigger gap between rich and poor do more harm to the planet and its climate.
Indian utility bets $10 billion on coal power
6 Jul 2017
India's state-run power utility plans to invest $10 billion in new coal-fired power stations over the next five years.
Scientists know how big the Larsen C iceberg will be
6 Jul 2017
Just three miles separate the Larsen C crack — a rift slicing the front off a major Antarctic ice shelf — from open water.
Climate Change Authority loses last climate scientist
6 Jul 2017
The Australian government's Climate Change Authority has just lost its last climate scientist.
Poor countries prepare to fight climate change alone
6 Jul 2017
Developing countries have been promised $100 billion per year by 2020. With no sign of it arriving some are taking matters into their own hands.
G20 fossil fuel investment threatens Paris targets
5 Jul 2017
G20 countries have stepped up green finance, but their investment in fossil fuels remains so high that the “well below 2 degree” warming limits set in the Paris Agreement will be missed by a wide margin, a new report shows.
DIZZY DAYS: What Trump has scrapped since January
5 Jul 2017
Since January, the White House, Congress and EPA have engineered a dizzying reversal of regulations designed to protect the environment and public health.
How Australia bungled climate policy
5 Jul 2017
Australia has never had climate consensus – and it has been costly, argues Labor frontbencher Mark Butler in an extract from his book Climate Wars.
Universities in global South aim to end reliance on West
5 Jul 2017
Universities from the world’s least developed countries have launched a cooperative programme aimed at ending their dependence on climate experts and expensive consultants from rich countries.
Climate change will worsen US poverty
5 Jul 2017
Yet another study has exposed the cruel cost of climate change as it increases US poverty. It could be worse than the Great Recession.
In the Netherlands, a better way to rebuild the beach
5 Jul 2017
A $US78 million experiment aims to reinforce the rapidly eroding coastline, while avoiding the ecological damage common with other nourishment schemes.
India gets busy and plants 66 million trees in 12 hours
5 Jul 2017
In India, about 1.5 million volunteers have planted more than 66 million trees in just 12 hours as part of a record-breaking environmental campaign.
UN urges Australia to rethink Adani coal mine
4 Jul 2017
A UN committee has urged Australia to review its support for expanded coal production.
Open your doors to climate refugees, Fiji tells US
4 Jul 2017
Fiji Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama has called on the US to open its borders and offer a permanent home to the people of the Marshall Islands threatened by rising seas.
Cash begins trickling out of Green Climate Fund
4 Jul 2017
Lambasted by Donald Trump and much criticised from all sides, the seemingly friendless Green Climate Fund has begun doling out money.
Europe's contribution to deforestation set to rise
4 Jul 2017
Europe’s consumption of products such as beef, soy and palm oil could increase its contribution to global deforestation by more than a quarter by 2030, analysis shows.
Even the biggest tanker jets can’t win our total war on fires
4 Jul 2017
The more effectively we suppress fires, the worse they become. As climate change makes the world more combustible, we need a new approach.
Germany ‘massively weakens’ draft G20 climate plan
3 Jul 2017
The latest draft of the German plan for this week’s G20 Hamburg meeting contains major concessions to the US and opens the door for coal projects to be defined as “clean”.
WINTER'S NOT COMING: Jon Snow worried over lack of it
3 Jul 2017
His character Jon Snow might fret about the arrival of winter, but Game of Thrones actor Kit Harington has said he was instead confronted by “terrifying” evidence of global warming while filming the TV show.
Lack of green options traps Europe’s energy poor
3 Jul 2017
Fuel poverty affects tens of millions of Europeans. Coupled with continuing subsidies for fossil fuel boilers, this means decarbonisation efforts face an uphill struggle.
OPINION: The view from Antarctica
3 Jul 2017
A week in Antarctica gives Sustainable Business Council chair and Toyota New Zealand chief executive ALISTAIR DAVIS hope that humans can and will act on climate change.
MILLION A MINUTE: Our bottle binge as bad as climate change
30 Jun 2017
A million plastic bottles are bought around the world every minute and the number will jump another 20 per cent by 2021, creating an environmental crisis some campaigners predict will be as serious as climate change.
Antarctica's ice-free areas to increase by up to a quarter by 2100
30 Jun 2017
Climate change will cause ice-free areas on Antarctica to increase by up to a quarter by 2100, says a new study.
Where climate change wars could erupt
30 Jun 2017
Add simmering political tensions to predicted weather shocks and the world has a recipe for disaster.
Giant hailstones set to become the norm across North America
30 Jun 2017
Golfball sized hail that can crack car windscreens, damage roofs and decimate crops are set to become the norm across parts of North America as a result of climate change.
Why we have three years left to stop dangerous climate change
29 Jun 2017
The next three years will be crucial to stopping the worst effects of global warming, says former UN chief Christiana Figueres and other experts.
MODI AND ADANI: Old friends who are laying waste to India
29 Jun 2017
India’s environment has been subjugated to the whims of the prime minister’s industrial cronies. How can the world believe him on climate change?
Things are hotting up for the world's bulging waistline
29 Jun 2017
Earth's tropical atmosphere - our bulging waistline - is growing in all directions and some countries should be worried.
Praising China’s carbon market shows how low the bar has fallen
28 Jun 2017
China is planning the world’s biggest carbon market, but with little detail given for its design, praise for the scheme is premature.
Chokepoints threaten security of world's food supply
28 Jun 2017
The world's food security is increasingly reliant on 14 "chokepoints" for trade, a think-tank report has warned.
French leader vows to stop oil and gas licences
28 Jun 2017
The new French government has announced it will stop granting licences for new oil and gas exploration.
Six million in China just went 100% renewable for a week
28 Jun 2017
Qinghai province in China has just used entirely renewable energy for seven days as part of a trial to prove that it is possible to use just green energy.
How is it possible to use more resources than we can replenish?
28 Jun 2017
Since the 1970s, humans have used more resources than the planet can regenerate.
Paris agreement only way to save coral reefs
28 Jun 2017
Greater emissions reductions and delivering on the Paris climate agreement are now “the only opportunity” to save coral reefs the world over from decline.
Huge Iceland eruption mimics industrial emissions
27 Jun 2017
The largest Iceland eruption in 230 years offers a unique look into how aerosols affect the atmosphere.
LOOK WHO AGREE: Exxon, Hawking and Reagan’s men
27 Jun 2017
What do ExxonMobil, Stephen Hawking, the Nature Conservancy, and Ronald Reagan’s secretary of Treasury and chief of staff have in common?
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.
