International: All stories
If planners understand it's cool to green cities, what's stopping them?
10 Mar 2016
Cities are getting hotter, more crowded and noisier. Climate change is bringing more heatwaves, placing pressure on human health, urban amenity, productivity and infrastructure.
JP Morgan: Coal investment like child labour
10 Mar 2016
Investing in coal is now on par with sanctioning child labour, according to JP Morgan Chase, one the world’s largest banks.
Carbon counting: tracking emissions in a post-Paris world
10 Mar 2016
As the Paris climate deal requires developing countries to monitor their emissions, organisations are using online courses to train a new breed of green accountants capable of the complex task.
Tata joins RE100 clean energy movement
10 Mar 2016
Tata Motors is aiming to source 100 per cent of its electricity from renewables as part of the RE100 initiative of international organisations transitioning to clean energy.
Satellite will get trees to tell carbon secrets
10 Mar 2016
In 2018, America's space agency is going to send a laser into the galaxies to assess the world's trees. And the data will reveal how much carbon forests store.
Las Vegas casinos seek to power bright lights
10 Mar 2016
Ambitious plans by MGM Resorts, Wynn, and Las Vegas Sands are overshadowed by an ongoing battle with regulators and the state’s biggest utility.
US and Canada about to join forces on climate
9 Mar 2016
Barack Obama and Justin Trudeau will commit to work together to fight climate change and protect an Arctic experiencing the mildest winter ever recorded, sources familiar with the initiatives said.
EU emissions trading scheme needs urgent reform
9 Mar 2016
The Paris agreement has shown that the EU’s proposal to decrease CO2 emissions by 40 per cent by 2030, from 1990 levels, was the most ambitious pledge at the summit. Other industrialised countries, such as the US and Australia, as well as emerging powers, notably China and India, are lagging behind Europe.
Electric car sales in China up 223% in 2015
9 Mar 2016
Sales of electric vehicles in China increased by 223 per cent last year and made up a 1.4 per cent share of the country's total auto market in December.
Obama pays out $500m to climate change project
9 Mar 2016
The Obama administration has made a first installment on its $3bn pledge to help poor countries to fight climate change – defying Republican opposition to the president’s environmental plan.
Pentagon makes 'climate change' official
9 Mar 2016
The US Department of Defense has long acknowledged the threat to global and national security posed by climate change. But last week, it officially included "climate change" in its official glossary for the first time.
How climate helped to trigger the fall of Angkor Wat
8 Mar 2016
Scientific evidence is growing that the decline of once-mighty Angkor, the famed temple site in modern Cambodia, was in large part due to abrupt climate change.
China's emissions may have peaked, says Stern
8 Mar 2016
Carbon emissions may have peaked already in China, years earlier than its leaders pledged, according to a study co-authored by the renowned economist Lord Stern.
IMF chief calls for end to fossil fuel subsidies
8 Mar 2016
Fossil fuel subsidies should be cut as part ofthe global effort to combat climate change, according to the head of the International Monetary Fund.
EU open to increasing 2030 carbon target
8 Mar 2016
Europe’s chief climate negotiator has said he is open to increasing the EU’s carbon target for 2030, in a backdown by the European commission.
Plenty of room to store carbon, study finds
8 Mar 2016
Geological sites suitable for storing carbon dioxide emissions are available in most parts of the world, according to data collated by an industry body.
Who's looking after the planet ... and who isn't
8 Mar 2016
The 2016 Environmental Performance Index ranks 180 countries according to their performance in safeguarding ecosystems and protecting human health from environmental harm.
What the White House hopefuls think of new energy
7 Mar 2016
The long-term global transition away from fossil fuels will deliver many benefits, including jobs, reduced air pollution, lower greenhouse gas emissions and less exposure to the volatility and risks of extracting, storing and transporting fossil fuels.
An environmentally just city works best for all
7 Mar 2016
Melbourne’s population is expected to almost double by mid-century, overtaking Sydney as Australia’s biggest city. But all states are growing and the increases are concentrated in the capital cities.
Warming means unfair share for poor
7 Mar 2016
Climate change could seriously redistribute resources and reallocate wealth – but not in a fair way.
CEOs emerge unscathed by environment lawsuits
7 Mar 2016
Images of environmental damage caused by large corporations certainly stir public outrage; but new research shows that the chief executives of companies sued for environmental wrongdoing commonly suffer little reputational damage.
Why is 2016 smashing heat records?
7 Mar 2016
Yet another global heat record has been beaten. It appears January 2016 - the most abnormally hot month in history, according to Nasa - will be comprehensively trounced once official figures come in for February.
Cheap oil undermining nearly every climate plan
7 Mar 2016
The fate of what might prove to be the most important technology for solving global warming - carbon capture and storage - is floundering.
Canadians set outlines of carbon pricing deal
7 Mar 2016
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has persuaded the country's 10 provinces to accept the concept of putting a price on carbon but agreed the specific details could be worked out later.
Proposal to define wood-burning as carbon neutral
7 Mar 2016
US federal legislation promoting wood-burning power plants as a “carbon neutral” way to make energy is drawing criticism from some scientists.
Trudeau, Obama set to sign climate pact
4 Mar 2016
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is poised to sign on to a continental environment and climate-change strategy with outgoing US President Barack Obama when the two leaders hold their first formal bilateral meeting in the Oval Office next Thursday.
Anti-insect paint could cut aviation costs
4 Mar 2016
Insects might not seem the most obvious problem to tackle when trying to make aviation more sustainable. But avoiding them on takeoff could help to cut airlines’ fuel bills and emissions by up to 10 per cent.
Congo plans to open rainforest to loggers
4 Mar 2016
The Democratic Republic of Congo is planning to lift a ban on logging licences, to the concern of campaigners.
Recycled water could help to cut the food bills
3 Mar 2016
Australians eat a lot of water – the water that is used to produce food. New findings from the Foodprint Melbourne study estimate that more than 475 litres of water is used to grow each person’s food every day.
Canada delays new climate plan as provinces rebel
3 Mar 2016
Canada has delayed its promised climate strategy by six months as the government remains at odds with the country’s powerful provincial leaders.
UK solar developers lose case against cuts
3 Mar 2016
The UK Court of Appeal has dismissed claims against the premature closure of the Renewables Obligation support scheme, bringing to an end the long-fought dispute between UK solar developers and the government.
Oops! Google self-driver collides with bus
3 Mar 2016
One of Google’s self-driving cars has collided with a public bus in California, an accident report has revealed, in what appears to be the first example of one of the company’s prototype cars causing an accident.
Top lobbying group in green energy U-turn
2 Mar 2016
The UK’s biggest energy lobbying group has shifted its position on green energy and will start campaigning for low-carbon alternatives for the first time, in what environmental campaigners are describing as a watershed moment.
Al Gore's firm joins carbon pricing research push
2 Mar 2016
A partnership between Al Gore's Generation Investment Management and Ecofys aims to explore how carbon pricing can facilitate sustainable global economic growth.
Nissan gears up to install largest EV power system
2 Mar 2016
Nissan will soon be using its electric car technology to help power its new regional office in France, through the deployment of the world's largest grid-integrated electric vehicle system.
Biggest floating solar farm powers up near London
2 Mar 2016
On a vast manmade lake on the outskirts of London, work is nearing completion on what will soon be Europe’s largest floating solar power farm – and will briefly be the world’s biggest.
Cold light shines on Paris climate pledges
1 Mar 2016
New research finds signs that many countries are making serious attempts to stick to action pledges made at the Paris climate summit – but others are still lagging way behind.
Australia’s pollution rising while Canberra tinkers
1 Mar 2016
Federal government policies are making it harder for the electricity sector to swiftly transition to clean energy, according to the Australian Conservation Foundation, which has just released a report on the country's10 biggest climate polluters.
Capital first, people second, says cities report
1 Mar 2016
Developed cities are spending a much larger percentage of their GDP than poorer cities each year on measures to adapt to the impacts of climate change.
Japan to slash carbon emissions by 80%
1 Mar 2016
The Japanese government is planning to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 80 per cent by 2050 from current levels.
What makes DiCaprio a climate change warrior
1 Mar 2016
Leonardo DiCaprio captured a lot of attention at the Academy Awards yesterday with his plea for climate change action. The Guardian tells us how the actor became a champion for the cause.
Washington state eyes first US emissions tax
1 Mar 2016
Washington could become the first state in the nation to impose a direct tax on carbon emissions from fossil fuels such as coal, gasoline and natural gas.
Canada out of step as global clean investment soars
1 Mar 2016
Renewables attracted US$367 billion of investment worldwide despite low fossil fuel prices, but Canada bucked growth trend.
Australia acts on plastic waste in oceans
1 Mar 2016
The Australian Government will commit an immediate $60,000 to kick-start urgent research into the best way to reduce plastic pollution in oceans, reefs and waterways.
Canberra backs fossil fuel 'growth centre' with $15m
29 Feb 2016
Australia's Industry, Innovation and Science Minister, Christopher Pyne, has launched a new “growth centre” for the fossil fuel industry (and uranium), to be known as National Energy Resources Australia.
Ontario eyes cap-and-trade riches
29 Feb 2016
Ontario plans to raise $US1.4 billion a year from its proposed cap-and-trade programme starting in 2017 as it joins with Quebec and California to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Private equity smells money in troubled new energy
29 Feb 2016
A handful of private equity firms are buying up troubled clean-energy assets, restructuring debts and whole projects in an effort to gain rich rewards from some of the industry’s riskier investments.
LA leak spewed as much pollution as 600,000 cars
29 Feb 2016
A natural gas leak in the mountains above Los Angeles was one of the worst accidental discharges of greenhouse gases in US history. A new study shows the months-long disaster resulted in 97,100 tonnes of methane being dumped into the atmosphere.
Turn your home water heater into a battery
29 Feb 2016
New research suggests that in the future, one of the most lowly, boring, and ubiquitous of home appliances — the electric water heater — could come to perform a surprising array of new functions that help out the power grid, and potentially even save money on home electricity bills.
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.
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.
‘We make a lot of money’: Trump downplays rise in gas prices during Iran war
Mon 16 Mar 2026
Donald Trump on Thursday shrugged off the economic toll the war in Iran is taking on gas prices across the United States, writing on social media that “when oil prices go up, we make a lot of money”.
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.
Eight countries warn EU not to weaken carbon market
Mon 16 Mar 2026
Spain, the Netherlands and six other governments have urged the European Union not to dismantle or suspend the bloc's emissions trading system, its main climate change policy, as Brussels hunts for ways to curb energy prices.
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.
