International: All stories
Q&A: Robert Redford tells us what he told the UN General Assembly
6 Jul 2015
The climate change crisis involves action from every country, every nation and every person, actor and environmental activist Robert Redford told the United Nations last week.
Dutch court orders state to slash greenhouse emissions
29 Jun 2015
A Dutch court has ordered the state to slash greenhouse gas emissions nationwide by at least 25 per cent by 2020, in a case that could serve as a blueprint for activists around the world.
If everyone lived in an ecovillage, the Earth would still be in trouble
29 Jun 2015
We are used to hearing that if everyone lived in the same way as North Americans or Australians, we would need four or five planet Earths to sustain us.
Australia can halve emissions by 2030, says new analysis
29 Jun 2015
Australia can reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 50 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030, according to analysis by ClimateWorks.
The carbon tax wasn’t a ‘slug’ to the economy and Direct Action may be a waste of money
29 Jun 2015
Federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt, writing in the Fairfax opinion pages, has said that the now abolished carbon tax was a far more expensive way to reduce Australia’s carbon emissions than the Direct Action policy that replaced it.
WORLD TODAY: World’s aquifers losing replenishment race
29 Jun 2015
* Outcry as UK plans to privatise green bank * Climate change can destroy 50 years of health and development * Gates to invest $2bn in breakthrough renewable energy projects * Obama sets sizzling climate action pace in push to leave legacy * Why Cisco is buying solar energy
Prospect of warmer winters doesn’t mean fewer deaths
29 Jun 2015
Global warming is unlikely to mean that fewer people in northern latitudes will die from cold during the winter, according to a study by scientists in the United States.
What the Pope said about the trouble we're in
22 Jun 2015
In a document remarkable for its sweep and its depth, Pope Francis last week unveiled his long-awaited encyclical on the environment, in essence calling on humanity to address a climate and environmental crisis that calls for urgent global action.
WORLD TODAY: The Earth stands on the brink of its sixth mass extinction and the fault is ours
22 Jun 2015
* Is Russia moving toward a fracking future? * Carbon emissions from aircraft endanger human health, says US * Venezuela: The climate paradox of the petro-state * It’s Prost v Senna again – and this time the racing really is electric
India blames heatwave deaths on climate change
22 Jun 2015
Fierce temperatures in India doubled the heat-related deaths normally recorded in May − and the government insists natural causes are not to blame.
Insurance industry leaders must stand up, says UN
22 Jun 2015
The insurance industry has been told it must play a strong role in shaping a more sustainable future.
The G7 is right to call for fossil fuel phase-out, but it can happen sooner
15 Jun 2015
The G7 nations, at their summit in Germany, called for “a decarbonisation of the global economy over the course of this century”. Of course, this group of nations is among those most heavily in favour of strong climate action, but the opportunities for climate-friendly growth are everywhere.
Australia's emissions figures wrong, says report
15 Jun 2015
Australia’s official greenhouse gas emissions projections – used by the Government in its submission to the United Nations ahead of December’s climate conference in Paris – may be overstated by more than 200 million tonnes, latest research shows.
Australia faces stormy future as temperatures soar
15 Jun 2015
Destructive storms and sudden floods are set to intensify across Australia as global warming plays havoc with rainfall patterns.
Rich countries’ climate plans leave yawning gap
15 Jun 2015
Some of the world’s richest countries are not preparing to do anything like enough to limit their greenhouse gas emissions, according to new analysis.
WORLD TODAY: Pope's environment statement could change the climate fight
15 Jun 2015
* Bonn meeting ends with last-minute compromise on Paris climate text * Nine things we learned at the UN climate talks in Bonn * Planes choking people and planet, says US environment agency * Indigenous Australians call on bank not to fund coal mine project * Hawaii signs bill setting 100% renewable energy goal * UK sales of ultra-low emission vehicles rise by more than 350%
Australia in the spotlight at climate talks, for all the wrong reasons
8 Jun 2015
Australia has been given a grilling at the United Nations' midyear climate negotiations in Bonn.
Apollo plan asks for the moon in switch to renewables
8 Jun 2015
The vision is simple, the cost would be eye-watering, and the result could stop the growing threat from burning fossil fuels in its tracks.
World leaders urged to kick killer coal habit
8 Jun 2015
Leaders of G7 countries at the summit in Germany are being called on to show leadership by pledging to end all coal burning for electricity generation in the industrialised world.
WORLD TODAY: Norway to ditch $8 billion of coal assets in state pension fund
8 Jun 2015
* Ikea pledges $1b on renewable energy and climate change efforts * Ban rallies support for 'once-in-a-generation' UN sustainability agenda * Bishop rejects Kofi Annan claim Australia a 'free-rider' on climate change * Logging companies plundering Congo's rainforest * Walmart's food suppliers at odds with store's code of ethics, report claims
China’s investment in renewables soars by a third
2 Jun 2015
Despite a slowdown in its economy and the continued reliance on coal, China is pumping billions of dollars into its renewable energy industry.
WORLD TODAY: It's time to wean ourselves off the fairytale version of farming
2 Jun 2015
* Garnaut: Australia can slash carbon by 40pc at modest cost * Ignoring carbon risk is ‘gross negligence’, says pensions chief * Car makers gear up for next round of CO2 emission cuts * France defends 'imperfect' fossil fuel sponsors for Paris climate summit * The greening of the airline industry * Cameron recruits climate hawk for top UK policy post
Why global finance must face up to the climate challenge
2 Jun 2015
The world’s financial system must undergo comprehensive change by 2035 if humanity is to make the transition needed to reduce the threat of dangerous climate change, says a new United Nations report.
Wait and pay: action on climate change is cheap, delay is costly
2 Jun 2015
A plethora of economic studies on the costs of climate action share a common message: action on climate change is cheap, and delaying it will be costly.
The world is waking up to the $5.3 trillion cost of fossil fuels
25 May 2015
Prospects for global energy markets have been reshaped by two recent pieces of news, one of which helps to explain the other.
Heat and drought pose threat to US power supplies
25 May 2015
Climate change could mean that things get really tough for people in the US west in the second half of this century, according to new research.
Wealthy nations overlook the dangers of climate change
25 May 2015
By ALEX LO.- Do rich countries care more about the environment that poorer ones? In a recent study I found that’s not necessarily the case.
Hungarian leader first head of state to back climate campaign
25 May 2015
Hungarian president János Áder has become the first head of state to join the Live Earth: Road to Paris campaign that aims to ensure world leaders agree to a binding deal on tackling climate change.
WORLD TODAY: Dirty Dozen ... the fossil fuel industry’s polluting league table
25 May 2015
* Energy industry will decide climate battle, says Kerry * Canadian scientists say Government is muzzling them * Obama scales back ambitious goals for electric car use * Axa to divest from high-risk coal funds due to threat of climate change * Governments not planning properly for energy efficiency, report warns
Will the presidential candidates have a substantive debate on climate change?
18 May 2015
Republican New Jersey governor and presidential hopeful Chris Christie briefly made news last week when he said that global warming is real and that “human activity contributes to it.”
World Bank advocates long-term thinking on climate change
18 May 2015
Switching to a zero-carbon economy is more than just a dream, according to the World Bank. But costs will be high for countries that fail to act quickly.
WORLD TODAY: Vast Antarctic ice shelf a few years from disintegration, says Nasa
18 May 2015
* China is on track for the biggest reduction in coal use ever recorded * Merkel calls for global emissions trading system * Tar sands still full speed ahead, but Canada promises emissions cuts * Renewable energy vital for internet lifestyles, says Greenpeace * Charlize Theron: Mad Max landscape awaits unless we tackle climate change
Canadian city wants to be the world's greenest
18 May 2015
Canada has been dubbed an international disgrace for its climate change policies, but now one of its major cities is aiming to be the greenest in the world by 2020.
Weather events taken to extremes by climate change
18 May 2015
As temperatures soar to record heights, blame it on global warming − but only about three-quarters of the time. And when the rain comes down by the bucketful, you can attribute one downpour in five to climate change.
A tale of two futures: Australia’s economy under climate change
18 May 2015
Economic modelling and its associated forecasts are always open to criticism, particularly when the results align with the predisposition of the modellers or their paymasters.
No green shoots for sustainability in this Budget
18 May 2015
Last week’s Australian Budget is very disappointing in the broad area of environmental protection.
Geraldton pools get in the swim
18 May 2015
The indoor swimming pools and air temperature inside the Aquarena in Geraldton are now heated using state-of-the-art geothermal technology as part of the Western Australian city’s bid to go green.
We’re not there yet, Garnaut tells Australia
11 May 2015
Following the repeal of the carbon tax, the Australian Government has implemented its Direct Action climate policy, centred on the A$2.55 billion Emissions Reduction Fund.
Australia pays cost of climate-driven heat waves
11 May 2015
Climate change can be bad for a country’s economic health. Absenteeism and lower productivity because of heat stress may have cost the Australian economy an estimated $6.2 billion in the year 2013/14, according to new research in Nature Climate Change.
Canberra dragging the chain, says UN climate chief
11 May 2015
Sigmund Freud would have had a field day with the speech by United Nations climate change chief Christiana Figueres to a Melbourne summit on greenhouse emissions reductions. Because what was most interesting was not what she did say, but what she didn’t.
Pope aims to win hearts and minds on climate change
11 May 2015
A declaration at the end of a meeting in Rome hosted by the Vatican made a plea to the world’s religions to engage and mobilise on the issue of climate change.
WORLD TODAY: What does Cameron's election win mean for the environment?
11 May 2015
* Australia PM's adviser: climate change is UN hoax to create new world order * Tesla says Powerwall sold out for 12 months, demand ‘just nutty’ * Canadian water for California’s drought? * South Africa prepares to give shale gas go-ahead * Food waste an enormous economic problem, say G20 ministers * Community energy model is speeding US move to renewables
Farming our forests could be the answer to green-world prayers
11 May 2015
Forests may be the green investment with the richest returns for humankind, according to new research.
New Sydney waste effort rakes in the e-rubbish
4 May 2015
The City of Sydney has delivered a trailblazing e-waste programme to apartment blocks, with special recycling bins in six large apartment buildings serving 1500 apartments as part of an on-going trial.
US braces itself for even worse wildfire season
4 May 2015
The firefighters are primed, hoses at the ready. May and June are often the peak months for forest fires in the southwest of the US, and the outlook for this year is grim.
Europe sets timetable to slash plastic bag use
4 May 2015
Single-use plastic bags could soon become a thing of the past in European supermarkets.
WORLD TODAY: Church of England ends investments in heavily polluting fossil fuels
4 May 2015
* Tesla unveils home battery to rev up low carbon transition * US, Japan and Canada miss Green Climate Fund donation deadline * Obama signs energy efficiency bill into law * Solar power plant floating on wastewater hailed for multiple environmental benefits * Russia to power Arctic drilling with floating nuclear reactors * UN chief and Pope Francis discuss climate change
Malaysian authorities seize book on timber corruption
4 May 2015
Malaysia’s Home Ministry has seized an explosive book on timber corruption in the Malaysian state of Sarawak.
Companies sold themselves short, says analyst
4 May 2015
Many companies bidding for carbon credits in Australia’s first auction sold themselves short, says market analyst Reputex.
So, where's the carbon auction money going?
28 Apr 2015
The results of the Australian Government’s first reverse auction (https://theconversation.com/explainer-how-does-todays-direct-action-reverse-auction-work-40152) of carbon-cutting projects have been released. Where is the money going?
Battery subsidy scheme set for 'urgent' overhaul as costs run out of control
16 Dec 2025
Australian Energy Minister Chris Bowen has announced big changes to the government's battery subsidy scheme amid claims most of its $2.3 billion budget has been spent in just six months.
EPA erases references to human-caused climate change from websites
19 Dec 2025
EPA has scrubbed references to people’s contribution to rising temperatures from some of its climate change webpages.
Verra cancels four tree planting projects in China. And starts reviews of 45 more projects
16 Dec 2025
“Multiple carbon projects in China are facing serious allegations regarding the authenticity of government approval documents."
France updates its 2050 carbon neutrality roadmap
17 Dec 2025
To mark the 10th anniversary of the Paris Agreement, France released a revamped climate plan promising to phase out oil and gas and sharply increase electricity use.
Net-zero scenario is ‘cheapest option’ for UK, says energy system operator
15 Dec 2025
A scenario that meets the “net-zero by 2050” goal would be the “cheapest” option for the UK, according to modelling by the National Energy System Operator (NESO).
The ecological havens flourishing beneath power lines
19 Dec 2025
Initiatives to foster native wildflowers, grasses and shrubs are turning utility corridors into wildlife corridors.
‘Not normal’: Climate crisis supercharged deadly monsoon floods in Asia
12 Dec 2025
Cyclones like those in Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Malaysia that killed 1,750 are ‘alarming new reality’.
Pacific fisheries summit gives a boost to albacore and seabirds
19 Dec 2025
Much of the world’s albacore tuna catch, which usually ends up in a can, comes from the southwestern Pacific Ocean, where fishery managers just passed a new set of conservation rules.
Arctic endured year of record heat as climate scientists warn of ‘winter being redefined’
18 Dec 2025
Region known as ‘world’s refrigerator’ is heating up as much as four times as quickly as global average, Noaa experts say.
Are rainforests now a cause of, rather than the answer to, climate change?
15 Dec 2025
A new study finds that Africa’s forests, responsible for one-fifth of global carbon removal, are beginning to generate carbon as the result of human activity.
Thousands of climate disasters are not included in official reports from Amazonian countries
12 Dec 2025
More than 12,500 extreme weather events impacted the Amazon and its population in 10 years, but countries have not generated enough information about it, according to a new scientific study.
UN environment report 'hijacked' by US and others over fossil fuels, top scientist says
11 Dec 2025
A key UN report on the state of the global environment has been "hijacked" by the United States and other countries who were unwilling to go along with the scientific findings, the co-chair has told the BBC.
