International: All stories
US ready to lead on climate change, Chu tells China
17 Jul 2009
US Energy Secretary Steven Chu has told an audience in China that the United States is now ready to lead in the fight against climate change.
Japan opposition eyes bolder emissions cuts
17 Jul 2009
Japan's main opposition party will adopt bolder greenhouse gas cuts than the government by using the global emissions market and increasing green jobs if it wins an upcoming election, the party's head of green policy said.
Power bills up £200 a year in UK energy move
14 Jul 2009
Household energy bills in Britain will rise by more than £200 a year under the Government’s low-carbon strategy being announced this week.
Indonesia issues first forest-carbon revenue rules
14 Jul 2009
Indonesia's forestry ministry has released what are believed to be the world's first set of revenue sharing rules governing forest carbon projects, a ministry official said.
Get on with it, Gore tells Australians
14 Jul 2009
Former US vice-president Al Gore has waded into the Australian carbon trading debate, suggesting passing even an imperfect bill this year could help to secure a new treaty to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
US officials to prod China on climate change
14 Jul 2009
US Energy Secretary Steven Chu and Commerce Secretary Gary Locke visit their ancestral homeland this week to press China to join with the US in stepped-up efforts to fight global warming.
Greenpeace calls for pressure on rich nations
14 Jul 2009
Greenpeace has called for massive public pressure to demand that the world's wealthiest nations take decisive action on climate change.
World leaders fail to agree on emissions targets
10 Jul 2009
The world's leading industrial nations have tentatively agreed to try to prevent global temperatures from rising above a fixed level, after a more far-reaching proposal to slash greenhouse gases fizzled.
UN accuses G8 of doing too little
10 Jul 2009
The world's richest countries are not doing enough to tackle climate change and secure the "future of humanity", the United Nations says.
Senate delays action on climate bill
10 Jul 2009
US President Barack Obama's push for quick action by Congress on climate change legislation suffered a setback yesterday when the Senate committee leading the drive delayed work on the bill until September.
New angle on emissions: Make rich people pay
10 Jul 2009
Researchers in the US have proposed a new way of allocating responsibility for carbon emissions they say could solve the impasse between developed and developing countries: make the rich pay.
Al Gore invokes spirit of Churchill in climate war
10 Jul 2009
Al Gore invoked the spirit of Winston Churchill yesterday when he urged political leaders to follow the example of Britain’s wartime leader in the battle against climate change.
Accountants the winners as carbon economy grows
10 Jul 2009
As a carbon-trading economy gathers steam in the United States, the accounting industry is expected to profit handsomely.
Let’s get inventing, says climate report
10 Jul 2009
The fight against climate change would not be won unless a “revolution” in the use of existing low-carbon technology, and numerous new inventions took hold, says a new report.
G8 leaders could set emissions goal of 80%
7 Jul 2009
Leaders of the G8 nations meeting in Italy this week are to set a target to cut greenhouse gases by 80 per cent by 2050, the BBC understands.
Obama to seek climate deal in Moscow
7 Jul 2009
United States President Barack Obama will move to seal a deal with Russia for joint action on climate change during his summit in Moscow this week.
Could rice possibly be the new concrete?
7 Jul 2009
Concrete is the world's most abundant building material; rice is one of the world's most abundant food crops. Now, one group of researchers is putting the two together to try to make concrete more environmentally friendly.
Un-baa-lievable ... Scottish sheep are shrinking
7 Jul 2009
Along with polar icecaps and sandy beaches, sheep on a remote Scottish island are gradually shrinking as a result of global warming, say reasearchers.
Greenpeace to carry on fight with Rainbow Warrior III
7 Jul 2009
Greenpeace has signed a contract with a German shipyard for construction of a new Rainbow Warrior to help the environmental organisation in its climate change campaigns.
Sweden: Learn from our climate change miracle
3 Jul 2009
Sweden plans to use its “climate change miracle” to convince China and the United States to sign up to tough cuts in greenhouse gases at the Copenhagen summit to find a successor to the Kyoto Protocol.
Democrats gear up for Senate climate bill battle
3 Jul 2009
US Senate Democratic leaders are preparing for what is expected to be a tough fight over climate change legislation, even tougher than it was in the House of Representives.
ExxonMobil still funds climate change sceptics
3 Jul 2009
ExxonMobil, the world’s largest oil company, is continuing to fund researchers who cast doubt on global warming, despite public promises to cut support for climate change sceptics.
Permafrost melt poses major climate change threat
3 Jul 2009
New research shows that the amount of carbon stored in frozen soils at high latitudes is double previous estimates and could, if emitted as carbon dioxide and methane, lead to a significant increase in global temperatures by the end of this century.
Canada hits rock-bottom on emissions scorecard
3 Jul 2009
Canada has fallen to last place in the latest G8 Climate Scorecard by the World Wildlife Fund and insurance giant Allianz.
Nuclear energy key to India’s climate action
3 Jul 2009
The Indian Government has revealed that nuclear energy will be an important component of 24 “critical initiatives” to be taken up by different ministries to combat climate change.
EPA allows California to regulate car gases
3 Jul 2009
The US Environmental Protection Agency has granted California's request to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from cars and light trucks as the Obama administration implements measures to increase fuel efficiency and reduce the impact on global warming linked to these gases.
Carbon management is information management
3 Jul 2009
For most businesses today, sophisticated carbon management is simply not possible.
Obama hails climate bill … but has some changes
30 Jun 2009
United States President Obama has praised the House of Representatives for taking an "extraordinary first step" by passing a climate change bill.
Bill positive, says China, but more action needed
30 Jun 2009
China’s chief climate change official says the United States climate change bill is a key step forward but much more action will be needed to reach an agreement during talks on global warming at the end of the year.
Aussie Liberals go soft on climate bill stance
30 Jun 2009
Australia's beleaguered carbon-emissions trading scheme has won a lift by the opposition Liberal Party withdrawing its threat to block enabling legislation passing through parliament.
UK wants billions in climate fund for poor countries
30 Jun 2009
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has tried to break the deadlock over climate change by proposing the creation of a £60 billion international fund to help poorer countries adapt to the situation.
Ford gets $6 billion loan for green vehicles
30 Jun 2009
The United States Energy Department will lend $5.9 billion to Ford and $2.1 billion to Nissan and Tesla, making the three automakers the first beneficiaries of a $25 billion fund to develop fuel-efficient vehicles.
California cracks down on windscreens
30 Jun 2009
Climate-conscious California is increasing pressure on the automobile by getting tough on windscreens and upping its incentives for owners of clunker cars to get them off the road.
Australia delays vote on carbon trading
26 Jun 2009
The Australian government failed to get its carbon trading scheme through the Senate yesterday after the opposition Coalition and crossbench senators criticised the scheme’s economic and environmental analysis as being inadequate.
Ban calls leaders to ‘unprecedented’ climate summit
26 Jun 2009
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has extended an invitation to heads of state and governments to attend an “unprecedented” global summit at the United Nations to spur action towards reaching an ambitious climate change pact later this year.
US climate bill proponents agree to concessions
26 Jun 2009
An agreement on a string of demands sought by United States farmers and lawmakers from rural areas erased a major obstacle facing a massive climate bill that would limit pollution linked to global warming and redirect the nation toward greater use of clean energy.
Myths … and the making of a climate bill
26 Jun 2009
No bill is perfect …certainly not one that contains a thousand pages and seeks to overhaul the way a nation uses energy, says the respected US science watchdog, the Pew Centre.
Scotland sets emissions cut target at 42%
26 Jun 2009
Scotland’s Climate Change Minister Stewart Stevenson has lodged an amendment to the Climate Change Bill that will set the interim target for greenhouse gas emissions at 42 per cent.
Russia not ready for climate battle, says bank
26 Jun 2009
Russia is ill-prepared to cope with climate change because of the legacy of Soviet environmental mismanagement and crumbling infrastructure, the World Bank says.
Welcome to Hopenhagen …
26 Jun 2009
The United Nations and an international coalition of advertising agencies has launched a global marketing campaign for the climate change treaty to be ratified in Copenhagen later this year.
New York sees world’s smallest car
26 Jun 2009
The world's smallest car, the Peel 50, debuted this week at Ripley's Believe it or Not museum in Times Square, New York.
Australian opposition stalls vote on emissions laws
23 Jun 2009
A vote on the Australian government's emissions trading scheme appears certain to be delayed until August, but the Senate was locked in procedural wrangling for much of yesterday about how to achieve the delay.
Brazil seeks millions in cattle compensation
23 Jun 2009
Brazilian authorities investigating illegal deforestation have accused the suppliers of several UK supermarkets of selling meat linked to massive destruction of the Amazon rainforest.
Report: How climate change will affect business
23 Jun 2009
United States businesses have been warned that climate change could mean shipping delays, more insured losses, constrained energy supplies and a decline in some tourism-based activities.
Landmark science warns UK faces climate dangers
23 Jun 2009
Cutting-edge scientific projections just launched by UK Environment Secretary Hilary Benn provide the most detailed picture to date of the threat facing Britain from soaring summer temperatures, more extreme weather and rising sea levels.
US pours $600b into Asian green energy deals
23 Jun 2009
The United States has pledged nearly $600 million in funding assistance to support clean-energy projects in Asia and in other parts of the world.
Filibustering may delay carbon trading vote
19 Jun 2009
The Opposition is likely to seek to prolong debate on the Australian Government's carbon emissions trading scheme in a bid to delay a vote in the Senate.
Australia unveils new renewable energy targets
19 Jun 2009
The Australian Government has introduced laws aimed at driving renewable energy investment and curbing greenhouse emissions.
Big emitters deny overstating carbon scheme cost
19 Jun 2009
Big emitters Woodside Petroleum and Rio Tinto have denied claims by an environmental group they overstated costs of proposed Australian climate change legislation to the public and the government.
US House may vote on climate bill next week
19 Jun 2009
Legislation to drastically reduce carbon dioxide pollution blamed for global warming could be voted on by the US House of Representatives as early as next week.
Australia’s biggest gas project greenlit to 2070 with ‘partial’ protection for Indigenous rock art
Mon 15 Sep 2025
Approval met with fury from conservation groups and the Greens, who called it a ‘betrayal’ of Australians who want climate action.
Trump sends fracking CEO to Europe to sell climate denial—and gas
Mon 15 Sep 2025
Debunking some of Chris Wright's most egregious lies.
China on course to peak fossil fuel power as soon as this year, reports say
Thu 11 Sep 2025
The Asian nation’s energy transition is entering a new phase, with soaring renewables reducing demand for fossil fuels, analysis shows.
EU considers faster Russian oil and gas exit after US pressure
Mon 15 Sep 2025
The European Union is considering a faster phase-out of Russian fossil fuels as part of new sanctions.
Ex-actor Zack Polanski's unusual path to become UK Green Party's new leader
9 Sep 2025
Zack Polanski has stormed to victory in the Green Party leadership election on a platform promising bold communication and "eco-populism".
Carney government noncommittal about Canada meeting 2030 climate goals
9 Sep 2025
Prime Minister Mark Carney would not say Monday whether Canada will meet its climate goals under the Paris agreement by 2030, as his government faces criticism over his emission-reduction plans.
Tax rebalancing in Indian energy sector: Renewables cheaper, coal costlier
Fri 12 Sep 2025
Industry experts and developers have hail GST cuts on clean energy equipment, saying it will be a major enabler for India’s ambitious climate goals.
Australian PM says Vanuatu security, climate agreement delayed
Thu 11 Sep 2025
PM Anthony Albanese says he won’t sign Nakamal Agreement in Vanuatu, despite recent high-level talks on the pact.
Iconic Antarctic species at risk amid 'regime shift', with 'rapid and self-perpetuating changes'
22 Aug 2025
Scientists say there is emerging evidence of abrupt and potentially unstoppable changes in the Antarctic environment.
Second Africa Climate Summit seeks to jump hurdles to green industrialisation
Wed 10 Sep 2025
A report on progress since the first summit in 2023 says financial, infrastructure and trade obstacles are hampering “climate-positive growth” on the continent.
Brazil implores businesses to attend COP30 climate summit, despite 'second thoughts' amid Trump backlash
5 Sep 2025
November's COP30 summit comes at a precarious time for climate action, as companies back away from environmental initiatives, and attacks on green energy by President Trump.
UN pushes countries for new climate targets this month
9 Sep 2025
The United Nations urged countries on Wednesday to set more ambitious climate plans during this month, seeking to pressure major economies including the EU and China ahead of this year's U.N. climate summit.
