International: All stories

Shanghai second city to trade carbon
12 Apr 2013
Just days after Shenzhen became the first Chinese city to set a launch date for its city-wide carbon trading scheme, Shanghai has followed suit with confirmation its own carbon market will be in place before the end of June.

We’re losing good land, says report
12 Apr 2013
The international community is losing vast amounts of agricultural production due to the effects of continuing land degradation such as desertification, says a new study.

US gives pass mark to climate change ... but UK says no
12 Apr 2013
The American school system is incorporating climate change into its science curriculum.

Australia's weather bad and getting worse
5 Apr 2013
The heatwaves, flooding and bush fires striking Australia have already been intensified by climate change and are set to get worse, says a new report.

Stern: It could be worse than we thought
5 Apr 2013
The world could be headed toward warming even more catastrophic than expected, says the author of an influential 2006 study on climate change.

Pioneer activist quits job … to get busy
5 Apr 2013
One of the United States’ most prominent voices on climate change, NASA scientist James Hansen, is retiring so he can get busier with activism.

Farmers get $30m to help them to adapt
5 Apr 2013
The Australian Government has pumped $30 million into a project that will look at how farm practices can be adapted to reduce carbon emissions and earn farmers a second income stream by generating and selling carbon credits.

China outlines carbon trading road map
28 Mar 2013
China has laid out an ambitious road map to reduce emissions by 40-45 per cent by 2020, including the world’s largest national carbon trading scheme.

Don’t be like Obama, expert tells Europe
28 Mar 2013
Europe’s environmental goals will become meaningless unless countries learn from US President Barack Obama's mistakes, says a top climate analyst..

Climate change could make us a better wine producer
28 Mar 2013
New Zealand is one of a handful of countries that could benefit as the Earth's warming phase drives a wave of change through the world of wine, according to climate change experts.

Combet becomes minister of everything
28 Mar 2013
It’s one of the great political job titles … Minister of Industry, Innovation, Climate Change, Science, Research and Tertiary Education.

Kyoto call kills off tar sands project
22 Mar 2013
Canada’s withdrawal from the Kyoto Protocol has led to one of the world’s most prestigious research institute pulling out of a $25 million tar sands project.

Makers use bag of tricks to make cars look good
22 Mar 2013
Drivers of European cars who find that the fuel efficiency in their new car doesn't match up to the claims made by the manufacturer, now know it is not their driving to blame.

Clean energy advocates join forces
22 Mar 2013
Australian and United States clean energy organisations have joined forces to advance the use of research and energy information.

Energy storage solutions win backing
22 Mar 2013
Cost-effective battery storage for residential and commercial renewable energy systems is a step closer following an Australian Government investment of $480,000 to test a world-leading battery technology.

Money worries stall Europe's e-car plans
15 Mar 2013
Plans to kick-start Europe’s low-carbon vehicles industry with a huge infrastructure package have run into early roadblocks.

Japan might re-open carbon discussion
15 Mar 2013
Japan might revive discussions regarding a carbon market to effectively reduce pollution levels after elections for the Upper House of parliament in July.

Australia cuts new car emissions
15 Mar 2013
Australia’s average new car emissions have reduced by 21 per cent in 11 years, according to new figures.

Climate the enemy, says top Navy man
15 Mar 2013
Climate change is the biggest long-term security threat in the Pacific, says the US Navy’s top man in the area.

UN experts eye ways to fight drought
15 Mar 2013
Countries need to work together to use their experiences, science and technologies to create formal national preventive policies against droughts, say United Nations officials.

Europe eyes ambitious restructure
8 Mar 2013
Five weeks after voting down the ‘backloading’ (or withholding) of allowances to raise carbon prices, the European Parliament’s industry committee is proposing two far-more ambitious structural measures.

Australia backs clean food production
8 Mar 2013
A $20 million centre to boost clean, green food production has been opened in Sydney by Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

Nations make stand on illegal timber
8 Mar 2013
European rules to combat the trade of illegal timber have come into force, but critics doubt the readiness of EU countries to carry out the legislation.

Expense puts farmers off, says expert
8 Mar 2013
Many current livestock emission reduction technologies would not be adopted by farmers at the current price for carbon without a significant reduction in their cost, an Australian conference has been told.

Europe gives airlines a break
1 Mar 2013
European Union lawmakers have backed a Commission plan to suspend for a year a law that would make all airlines using EU airports pay for their carbon emissions.

Water huge issue for food producers, says Nestle chief
1 Mar 2013
The food industry has been warned by one of its biggest players that water scarcity is among the greatest threats it faces.

Brussels abuzz as carbon vote falters
1 Mar 2013
A planned European Parliament vote on fast-tracking negotiations with EU states over carbon market reform was inexplicably cancelled as rumours and counter-rumours swirled around Brussels

California credits surpass reserve price
1 Mar 2013
All of the nearly 13 million 2013 carbon credits sold at auction in California this week at above-reserve prices.

Brazilian beauty stands with Al Gore in energy push
1 Mar 2013
Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bündchen is joining campaigner Al Gore to urge support for the United Nations initiative to achieve universal access to modern energy services by 2030.

European Parliament votes for backloading
22 Feb 2013
Lawmakers on the European Parliament’s environment committee voted by 38-25 in favour of an amendment in support of the EU’s ‘backloading’ plans for the Emissions Trading System, throwing a lifeline to the crisis-hit carbon market.

Land laps up third of Aussie fuel emissions
22 Feb 2013
The Australian landscape soaked up one third of the carbon emitted by fossil fuels in Australia over the past 20 years, according to a new CSIRO study.

UN boosts 30 countries into green economies
22 Feb 2013
United Nations agencies will support 30 countries over the next seven years to build green economy strategies that will generate jobs, promote clean technologies and reduce environmental risk.

Solar can save millions for poor countries
22 Feb 2013
Countries that switch from lamps, candles, flashlights and other traditional lighting systems to solar power can recover the costs in less than one year, says the United Nations.

Obama vows to take tough line
15 Feb 2013
United States President Barack Obama wants a carbon market.

US stand puts Abbot on the spot
15 Feb 2013
The Australian Labor Party is using US President Barack Obama’s tough new line on climate change to launch an offensive against Opposition Leader Tony Abbot.

Ban slams leaders who ignore climate change
15 Feb 2013
Too many world leaders seem content to keep climate change at arm’s length and in its policy silo, says UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Solar sponge soaks up gas emissions
15 Feb 2013
Australian scientists have created a 'solar sponge' which captures and then releases carbon dioxide using the power of natural sunlight.

Cuts will delay low-carbon Europe
15 Feb 2013
Cuts to the energy infrastructure package in the EU's new budget will increase costs and delays to the European Commission’s plans for a low carbon economy by 2050, says the EU’s top energy civil servant.

Australia helps embattled Kiribati
15 Feb 2013
Australia will pay $15 million to rehabilitate 40 kilometres of main road on Tarawa, Kiribati, which has been undermined by rising sea levels and coastal erosion.

Kenya eyes millions from carbon trade
15 Feb 2013
Kenya is eyeing millions of dollars from carbon trade derived from its government forests.

Power plants cut gas emissions
8 Feb 2013
Greenhouse gases emitted by United States power plants fell 4.6 per cent in 2011 from the previous year as the industry burned less coal, says a new report.

Ice yields secrets of a warmer world
8 Feb 2013
Ice cores drilled in the Greenland ice sheet, recounting the history of the last great warming period more than 120,000 years ago, are giving scientists their clearest insight to a world that was warmer than today.

Asia seeks ways to reduce air pollution
8 Feb 2013
Officials from 19 Asian countries have began a series of discussions on how to reduce the impact of air pollutants in the Asia-Pacific region.

Dirty vans might be running out of road
8 Feb 2013
A coalition of three small business associations has issued a call for tougher fuel economy standards to be imposed on Europe’s fume-chugging light commercial vehicles.

Manufacturers get help to cut emissions
8 Feb 2013
Three Sydney manufacturers have been cited as good examples of how businesses can reduce their carbon emissions while at the same time increasing their overall competiveness and sustainability.

Germans to build solar plant in Australia
8 Feb 2013
A leading German solar energy company has received planning permission to build a solar power plant in Australia.

Green port sends message to children
8 Feb 2013
The Port of Los Angeles is taking the story of its environmental stewardship to the children of America.

EU credits could be junk, says power chief
1 Feb 2013
Europe is staring at a ‘lost decade’ that will make decarbonisation impossible and reduce carbon credits to the value of ‘junk bonds’ unless politicians back a carbon market reform package, says the head of Europe’s electricity industry association.

Why you should give up red meat, not flying
1 Feb 2013
People who want to have an effect on climate change would be better to give up red meat and changing lightbulbs than to stop taking flights, says a new study.

Our oil sands are fine, insists Canada
1 Feb 2013
A Canadian bid to persuade European Union policymakers to soften proposed fuel quality laws has come unstuck.