International: All stories
At halfway point, 2017 is second-hottest year on record
20 Jul 2017
At the halfway point of the year, 2017 remains the second-hottest year to date — a surprise given the demise of the El Niño that helped to boost temperatures to record levels last year.
World’s young face $535 trillion bill for climate
20 Jul 2017
The next generation will have to pay a $535 trillion bill to tackle climate change, relying on unproven and speculative technology.
Get together and slash emissions, Australians told
20 Jul 2017
Australians collectively could slash greenhouse gas emissions by a staggering 70 per cent if they joined forces to become energy and climate trailblazers in their own backyards.
Protesters die as Canadian company mines hills of silver
20 Jul 2017
In Guatemala, one of the world’s largest silver deposits reaps millions for its Canadian owners - but for local farmers the price is their land and even their lives
EU slapped for breaching access to environmental justice
20 Jul 2017
The European Union has accepted a UN ruling that found the bloc in breach of international laws requiring the public to have access to justice on environmental matters.
Rising seas threaten scores of Pacific species with extinction
19 Jul 2017
The Chuuk flying fox. The Black-spotted Cuscus. The Fijian crested iguana. The Mariana skink. The greater monkey-faced bat. Poncelet’s giant rat. They live on islands in the Pacific and they are facing extinction.
California extends cap-and-trade to 2030
19 Jul 2017
California lawmakers have voted to extend the state's signature programme for cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
Australian powerco head supports Paris targets
19 Jul 2017
The head of Australia’s biggest energy utility – and its biggest coal generator – says that if any Clean Energy Target is to be effective it has to take into account global climate targets.
GROW FOOD ON MARS: Los Angeles startups get inventive
19 Jul 2017
Geeks are inventing ways to keep Los Angeles cool with products and services that aim to avert environmental disaster – and make a profit.
Bloomberg and California launch climate action plan
18 Jul 2017
California Governor Jerry Brown and Michael Bloomberg have announced the launch of America’s Pledge, which will allow US states, cities and businesses to stay aligned with the Paris Agreement.
US approves oil drilling off Alaska
18 Jul 2017
An Italian multinational oil and gas company has received permission to move ahead with drilling plans in federal waters off Alaska.
Activists being murdered in record numbers
18 Jul 2017
Some 200 environmental and land-rights activists were killed in 2016, making it the deadliest year on record.
Is it a human right to have a healthy environment?
18 Jul 2017
Do we have a fundamental right to breathe clean air, drink clean water and eat safe food?
AA fights plan to cut car greenhouse gas emissions
17 Jul 2017
The Australian Automobile Association has tried to kill any government move to cut greenhouse gas emissions from cars, arguing it would increase the cost to consumers and contradicting comprehensive government modelling.
Japan to export renewable energy expertise
17 Jul 2017
Japan plans to export its expertise in renewable energy technologies such as low-emitting geothermal, solar and hydrogen power.
Steel town sets out to redesign the rustbelt
17 Jul 2017
The world is urbanising at a pace never before seen in human history. By 2050, 66 per cent of the world is projected to live in cities.
Communities and cities are getting on with the job
17 Jul 2017
As the international community putters along, cities and local communities are already staking out the front lines of the fight against climate change.
China signed big coal deal days before G20 pledge
14 Jul 2017
Chinese president Xi Jinping endorsed a G20 plan calling on development banks to support poor countries to lower their emissions, just days after his own development bank had signed a $1.5 billion loan deal to build a South African coal plant.
HEY, BABE: Want to save the climate? Have fewer children
14 Jul 2017
The greatest impact individuals can have in fighting climate change is to have one fewer child, according to a new study that identifies the most effective ways people can cut their carbon emissions.
California about to vote on emissions trading scheme
14 Jul 2017
California lawmakers are expected to vote next week on legislation to extend the state's landmark cap-and-trade programme, the country's most progressive, statewide attempt to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
States threaten to go it alone on clean energy
14 Jul 2017
Australian state energy ministers are threatening to go it alone with a clean energy target as they ramp up pressure on the Coalition government.
And now, the weather: Prepare for 10,000 years of drought
13 Jul 2017
Climate history locked in stalagmite evidence warns of 10,000 years of drought – 100 centuries – to come in the Middle East.
Believe it or not, Queensland plans to cut emissions
13 Jul 2017
Coal-hungry Queensland is preparing to slash its pollution to net-zero by 2050, under new plans just released by the State Government.
Coal price will decline, experts tell Australia
13 Jul 2017
As Australia mulls the building of its biggest-ever export thermal coal mine, its biggest foreign buyers look set to reduce their consumption, driving down the price of Australian coal, and the profitability of its mines.
Trillion-tonne iceberg breaks away from Antarctica
13 Jul 2017
A trillion-tonne expanse of ice that has broken off Antarctica's Larsen C shelf isn't going to raise sea level on its own, but it can't be viewed in isolation.
Finland ignores scientists and increases logging
13 Jul 2017
Plans to increase logging in Finnish forests will have dire impacts on the climate; yet the Finnish government is ignoring evidence and denigrating scientists.
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.
Oil refinery fire at key Victoria facility
16 Apr 2026
Explosions and towering flames were reported as a significant fire broke out at one of Australia’s major oil refineries.
Trump takes a ‘wrecking ball’ to independent scientific advisory board
Thu 30 Apr 2026
Without the impartial oversight of its board, the National Science Foundation is now “fully at the behest of the White House,” experts warn.
China’s leadership calls for ‘strict control’ of fossil fuels
Tue 28 Apr 2026
Chinese government leaders published a policy document on 22 April – Earth Day – calling for stricter controls on fossil-fuel consumption and greater oversight of heavy emitters.
EU faces ‘China shock’ as EV imports drive Beijing’s record surplus with bloc
Fri 1 May 2026
The EU is experiencing a prolonged “China shock” as a flood of Chinese EVs into Europe helped push Beijing to a record surplus with the bloc.
UK scientists to fire salt water into the sky in bid to tackle climate crisis
Fri 1 May 2026
Government supporting new geoengineering techniques as race against unregulated companies seeking to capitalise on need for climate cooling tech heats up.
Canada, Alberta close in on carbon price agreement, sources say
Wed 29 Apr 2026
Canada and Alberta are expected to strike a deal in the next two weeks that will increase the price on carbon for the province's industrial emitters, but a broader agreement to tackle oil sands greenhouse gases and green-light a new crude oil export pipeline remains elusive.
India submits new climate action pledges to UN body, flags condition to fulfil promise
Wed 29 Apr 2026
India has formally submitted its pledge to the UN climate body, underline importing conditions noting the developing countries' committments cannot be fulfilled without adequate support in terms of finance and technology transfer.
Tuvalu to host world leaders before COP31 summit
16 Apr 2026
Tuvalu, the Pacific nation at the forefront of the global climate crisis, will host a special meeting of world leaders before this year’s Cop31 summit, as the conference president expresses “complete faith” in Chris Bowen to lead tough negotiations.
Drowned chicks and food scarcity: Emperor penguin and Antarctic fur seal now endangered
13 Apr 2026
The primary drivers are shrinking sea ice and warming oceans driven by climate change.
Rationing power and diluting petrol – how African countries are coping with effects of Iran war
30 Mar 2026
Countries across Africa have taken measures such as diluting petrol and restricting electricity consumption to cope with the fuel crisis triggered by the US and Israel's war in Iran.
Beef production drives 40% of agriculture-linked forest destruction, Brazil leads
26 Mar 2026
Beef production is the leading driver of agriculture-linked deforestation, accounting for 40% of all forest clearing done to open space for food production, according to details of a study released on Tuesday.
Extreme heat threatens global food systems, UN agencies warn
23 Apr 2026
Extreme heat is pushing global agrifood systems to the brink, threatening the livelihoods and health of more than a billion people, according to a new report by the U.N.'s food and weather agencies.
