International: All stories
Urban sprawl is threatening Sydney’s foodbowl
26 Feb 2016
Sydney loves to talk about food, and the housing market. But rarely does the city talk about the threat that housing poses to the resilience of Sydney’s food system.
Oil industry must thwart divestment calls, say Saudis
26 Feb 2016
Big Oil must thwart the movement to leave fossil fuels in the ground, the world’s most powerful oilman has said.
CSIRO executives to face fresh scrutiny over cuts
26 Feb 2016
CSIRO executives are likely to face another grilling over their plans to lop 350 jobs, including many climate scientists, with a Senate committee planning a fresh inquiry next month.
Most of Honda's cars will be green by 2030
26 Feb 2016
Honda is aiming for new-energy vehicles to account for two-thirds of its line-up by 2030 from around 5 per cent now, as increasingly stringent global emissions regulations prompt automakers to make greener cars.
EV carsharing is changing one American city
26 Feb 2016
In the first three months of operation, Indianapolis' BlueIndy all-electric carsharing programme has attracted about 1000 members who took 7000 rides.
Kiwi trader poised and ready in Sydney
25 Feb 2016
Australia might not have a carbon market yet, but Auckland-based OMFinancial says it will be ready when Canberra moves.
Energy markets unlikely ally in the emissions effort
25 Feb 2016
In the aftermath of Paris climate talks, analysts lined up to point out why the celebrated agreement was simply not good enough.
China will 'far surpass' 2020 climate target
25 Feb 2016
China’s lead climate envoy has hinted the country could exceed planned greenhouse gas cuts for 2020 by up to 10 per cent, as the economy slows and coal use falls.
Your rubbish bin is an energy factory
25 Feb 2016
There's energy in your rubbish bin. A large part of it is renewable. And it works even when there is no wind or sun.
Indian city to make rooftop solar mandatory
25 Feb 2016
An Indian city is planning on becoming the second municipality to make rooftop solar mandatory on all buildings.
AGL boss: Get out of the 'emissions business'
24 Feb 2016
The boss of Australia’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases says his company needs to be out of the “CO2 emissions business” regardless of what they think of the science of climate change, simply to manage the financial risk.
You talk too much, market expert tells Canberra
24 Feb 2016
The Australian Government could restore certainty to the market if it did a better job of selling its climate change policy.
China finds capacity biggest trading hurdle
24 Feb 2016
Capacity is the biggest issue holding back the development of China’s national emissions trading market, says a new report.
Paris pact promotes but complicates carbon trading
24 Feb 2016
One out of every six molecules of climate pollution released to the atmosphere next year will be regulated under a cap-and-trade system, according a new global estimate that highlights the remarkable ongoing growth in carbon markets around the world.
US greenhouse gas emissions rise - a little
24 Feb 2016
United States greenhouse gas emissions increased by less than 1 per cent in 2014, according to new Environmental Protection Agency data.
Green investment bank excused green projects
24 Feb 2016
The bank set up by the British government to to fund green infrastructure and cited frequently by Prime Minister David Cameron as evidence of the UK’s leadership on climate change will no longer be required by law to invest in green schemes.
California spends millions on e-car stations
24 Feb 2016
Nearly $9 million in new funding has awarded by the California Energy Commission to four companies to build electric vehicle fast-charging stations along major routes in the state.
China to close more than 1000 coal mines in 2016
23 Feb 2016
China will aim to close more than 1000 coal mines over this year, with a total production capacity of 60 million tonnes, as part of its plans to tackle a price-sapping supply glut in the sector.
Why oil demand will likely peak by 2030
23 Feb 2016
Will global oil demand peak by 2030? Is peak oil demand the new peak oil supply? Many trends now point in the direction of this remarkable possibility.
Beijing raises 'red alert' threshold
23 Feb 2016
Beijing is to raise the thresholds for issuing its highest air pollution warnings, two months after acrid smog triggered the city’s first ever “red alert”.
Americans are driving more than ever
23 Feb 2016
Americans drove more miles than ever before in 2015, a departure from totals that have stayed mostly flat since 2004.
Fossil fuel emissions behind record spring heat
23 Feb 2016
Scientists say it is highly likely greenhouse gas emissions are behind Australia’s run of three hottest springs on record - 2014, 2015 and 2013.
Republicans' strategy: just ban the words 'climate change'
22 Feb 2016
Florida’s Republican governor Rick Scott has forbidden employees from using terms like “climate change,” “global warming” or “sea-level rise”.
We just had the hottest January ever recorded
22 Feb 2016
January was the globe's most unusually warm month ever recorded, and the past three months have been the most unusually warm three-month period on record, says NASA.
Apple launches $1.5b green bond
22 Feb 2016
Apple has issued US$1.5 billion worth of green bonds to raise money for climate-friendly initiatives.
Statoil to invest $200m in renewable energy
22 Feb 2016
Norway’s biggest oil and gas producer Statoil will invest as much as US$200 million in renewable energy over four to seven years as part its plan to diversify the company’s portfolio.
Europe places energy bets on natural gas
22 Feb 2016
The future of Europe’s energy supply is to rely heavily on natural gas for the coming two decades and beyond, according to a new strategy set out by the European commission.
Figueres to leave UN climate change role
22 Feb 2016
Christiana Figueres will step down in July after six years at the helm of the UN’s top climate body.
Blame climate for stirring up ancient political turmoil
15 Feb 2016
Volcanic eruptions that triggered climatic extremes could have heralded deadly plague and famine in Europe and undermined the Roman empire.
Worldwire ...
15 Feb 2016
SOME STATES FORGING AHEAD WITH EMISSIONS PLANS: Not all states are suspending work on the Clean Power Plan despite the Supreme Court's bombshell decision last week to put a temporary hold on the tight new rules that are at the heart of the Obama administration's climate policies.
Australia backs liveable cities with $250m boost
15 Feb 2016
Australia's better cities commitment is being given a boost with a $250 million programme which will help to provide affordable energy efficient housing to low income earners.
Senate orders carbon risk disclosure probe
9 Feb 2016
Australia’s Senate has ordered an inquiry into carbon risk disclosure, following on the heels of a Financial Stability Board task force on the issue.
CSIRO boss' logic could waste billions in taxes
9 Feb 2016
CSIRO chief executive Larry Marshall offered the following justification for his decision to cut 110 jobs from the agency’s climate science staff: "We have spent probably a decade trying to answer the question 'is the climate changing?' After the Paris climate summit that question has been answered. The next question now is what do we do about it? The people that were so brilliant at measuring and modelling climate change might not be the right people to figure out how to adapt to it."
Worldwire ...
9 Feb 2016
OBAMA PROPOSES OIL TAX TO PAY FOR TRANSPORT: President Obama’s proposal to impose a $10 tax on every barrel of oil and spend the money on advances in transportation is one of the most comprehensive attempts yet to address the climate impacts of moving people and freight from place to place.
Canberra pulls plug on emissions funding
2 Feb 2016
Australia’s Emissions Reduction Fund is expected to run out of money by the end of the year, after the Government said it won’t put in any more.
Worldwire
2 Feb 2016
Copenhagen’s mayor has announced plans to divest the city’s 6.9bn kroner ($NZA1.5b)) investment fund of all holdings in coal, oil and gas.
Sydney makes a plan to win the climate war
25 Jan 2016
Sydney has announced a series of measures to help the city to cope with soaring temperatures, worsening storms and rising sea levels.
What is a garden city – and why is money being spent on building them?
25 Jan 2016
The British government is investing more than £300m ($NZ659m) in building what Chancellor of the Excheque George Osborne has described as the first “proper” garden city in nearly a century, near Ebbsfleet, Kent.
Climate-conscious cities take lessons from New York
25 Jan 2016
Up to two-thirds of the world’s population – some six billion people – may live in cities by 2050.
Out-of-touch traffic modelling drives policy madness
25 Jan 2016
According to all the data, urban car use has peaked, but official traffic modelling forecasts a remarkable reversal.
Worldwire
25 Jan 2016
CITIES FIND WAYS TO NUDGE PEOPLE OUT OF CARS: Home to more than half of the planet’s seven billion people and a large portion of its 1.2 billion cars, cities face a huge challenge as the world strives to meet the Paris climate goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 deg above pre-industrial levels.
Don't scare the horses, advises academic
18 Jan 2016
Fewer scare stories and an appeal to people’s better natures are the key to getting voters on-side over environmental issues, says a politics expert.
America's politics of climate unlikely to change
18 Jan 2016
In an American lection year, with two parties dug in on opposite sides of the climate issue, perhaps only extreme weather will roil the debate.
The current economic system is looking pretty tired
18 Jan 2016
It’s increasingly clear that there is something fundamentally wrong with the way humans run the world. There are many contradictions experienced daily that prove this: the widening social gaps between rich and poor, the paradox of obesity next to starvation, and the ongoing destruction of the planet for short-term private profit.
Worldwire
18 Jan 2016
BEIJING TO SHUT POLLUTING FIRMS: Beijing will close 2500 small polluting firms this year in its latest effort to combat pollution, state news agency Xinhua reported.
COMMENT: Great, now all we need is a plan
15 Dec 2015
By editor ADELIA HALLETT.- Two months ago, Northern Employers and Manufacturers' Association chief Kim Campbell let fly on climate change.
NZ leads charge for world carbon market
15 Dec 2015
Tentative steps have been made toward the development of an international carbon market.
Treaty emerges from battle of the verbs
15 Dec 2015
Under the Paris Agreement there should be no net addition of greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere sometime in the second half of this century.
What we can learn from the rise and fall of climate and civilizations
15 Dec 2015
This year will likely be the hottest on record, beating the previous record set only in 2014. It is also likely to be the first year the global average temperature reaches 1deg above pre-industrial temperatures (measured from 1880-1899).
US town faces watery end from rising sea
15 Dec 2015
The United States, a strenuous doubter of the facts of climate change, will lose an entire town to rising sea level within the next century.
No room for the timid: setting Australia’s 2035 emissions target is a daring tightrope act
Tue 26 Aug 2025
Any week now, Australia will set its 2035 emissions target. It must signal the nation’s strong ambition on climate action, to drive policy and investment. And it must avoid being seen as either unrealistic or too costly.
California is backsliding on climate progress. It’s (mostly) Gavin Newsom’s fault
Tue 26 Aug 2025
The California Supreme Court just gave state officials a golden opportunity to revitalize the rooftop solar industry, helping millions of homes and businesses lower their electric bills and fight the climate crisis.
Is historically arid Beijing ready for a wetter future?
Mon 25 Aug 2025
Beijing's mountainous northern Huairou district and neighbouring Miyun district received a year's worth of rain in a single week, triggering flash floods that devastated entire villages and killed 44 people in the deadliest flood since 2012.
EU wildfires hit new record as flames scorch area larger than Cyprus
Mon 25 Aug 2025
The area burned this year has exceeded the 1 million hectare mark for the first time since records started in 2006.
What happens to net zero if the trees don’t survive?
20 Aug 2025
When climate change undermines the climate plan.
Challenges persist in bid to mine the deep sea, even after boost from Trump
29 Jul 2025
After years of delay, the deep-sea mining plans of Canadian firm The Metals Company (TMC) now appear to be progressing as it pursues a controversial new path to securing a license to mine in international waters under U.S. jurisdiction.
India needs $467 billion climate finance by 2030 to decarbonise 4 key sectors
Mon 25 Aug 2025
India will need to mobilise USD $467 billion in climate finance by 2030 to put four of its most carbon-intensive sectors – power, steel, cement and transport – on a low-carbon pathway.
Rise in dengue fever outbreaks across the Pacific driven by the climate crisis, experts say
13 Aug 2025
Samoa, Fiji and Tonga among the worst affected amid warning the disease and others will become ‘more common and more serious’ as the planet warms.
Iconic Antarctic species at risk amid 'regime shift', with 'rapid and self-perpetuating changes'
Fri 22 Aug 2025
Scientists say there is emerging evidence of abrupt and potentially unstoppable changes in the Antarctic environment.
Africa’s top climate change challenges: a fairer deal on phasing out fossil fuels and mobilising funds
Fri 22 Aug 2025
African countries have made binding commitments to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. To do this, they will need to shift to renewable energy and stop mining and using fossil fuels like oil and coal.
Bolivia will choose a new president but environmental activists see little hope of progress
Fri 22 Aug 2025
Many Indigenous and environmental leaders doubt the election will bring progress in stopping deforestation, wildfires or pollution in the Amazon.
Brazil issues last-ditch plea for countries to submit climate plans ahead of COP30
20 Aug 2025
Only 28 countries have submitted carbon-cutting proposals to the UN, with some of the biggest emitters yet to produce plans.
