International: All stories
Watchdog rules ads overstate climate change risk
19 Mar 2010
Two UK Government adverts which used nursery rhymes to raise awareness of climate change have been banned for overstating the risks, a watchdog has announced.
Arrogance undid Copenhagen summit, says Stern
19 Mar 2010
The "disappointing" outcome of December's climate summit was largely down to "arrogance" on the part of rich countries, according to Lord Stern.
Time to stop pointing fingers, says Maldives
19 Mar 2010
The climate change debate should be reframed in economic and security terms ahead of a year-end UN summit in Mexico seeking a binding climate deal, the president of the Maldives says.
UN chief sees progress toward next talks in Mexico
19 Mar 2010
Countries responsible for more than four-fifths of global emissions of greenhouse gases have now backed the accord that emerged from last year’s climate change summit in Copenhagen, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said yesterday.
World watches for a green world cup in South Afica
19 Mar 2010
The international community is hoping that hosting the world’s largest sporting event will have a positive impact on South Africa’s green energy projects.
Report lists 10 ‘fat cats’ getting rich from carbon
12 Mar 2010
Windfall profits from Europe’s system for trading industrial carbon quotas could discourage big regional polluters from doing anything to curb emissions.
EU might cancel carbon auctions if price too low
12 Mar 2010
As part of a plan to centralise carbon emissions allowances auctions, the European Union might suspend auctions if allowance prices fall “abnormally low,” according to the World Business Council for Sustainable Development.
IPCC review scientists won't revisit landmark report
12 Mar 2010
An outside review of the work of the United Nations’ climate change panel will not re-check the body’s controversial latest report but will instead focus on improving procedures for the future.
China and India sign, but keep climate stand
12 Mar 2010
China said it will not deviate from its stand on climate change even after it gave qualified approval to the Copenhagen climate accord this week.
More Americans stop worrying, poll shows
12 Mar 2010
Americans are less concerned about the threat of climate change than they were two years ago and almost half say the seriousness of global warming is overblown, a Gallup poll shows.
Vietnam to get $790m climate change funding
12 Mar 2010
Vietnam has received $790 million in pledges from donor countries and international organisations to devise measures to cope with climate change and curb carbon emissions.
Big Oil asks Senate for carbon fee on industry
5 Mar 2010
Key United States senators are weighing a request from Big Oil to levy a carbon fee on the industry rather than wrap it into a sweeping cap-and-trade system that covers most of the nation’s economy.
UK adviser calls for carbon tax on China
5 Mar 2010
Britain should consider a carbon tax on imports to help struggling manufacturers, according to one of the government's key advisers, despite fears such a measure could lead to a global trade war.
Britain plans soft loans for home efficiency
5 Mar 2010
British households will be able to take out soft loans to improve the efficiency of their homes, under a new proposed law to fight climate change and cut fuel poverty.
Houses with low energy efficiency will lose value
5 Mar 2010
British homes with low energy efficiency will lose value under government plans to intervene in the property market to help to cut greenhouse gas emissions from homes by a third by 2020.
Uncertainty dries up Aussie carbon market
5 Mar 2010
The carbon market in Australia has come to a complete halt since the Labor Government announced last May that it would delay the introduction of emissions trading.
Green tech now must fight off the fakes
5 Mar 2010
Recycling used tech gear has a far less desirable, unintended consequence - contributing to a rise in fake computer chips.
New body to watch UN climate change panel
5 Mar 2010
The head of the United Nations-backed panel tasked with preparing scientific reports on the impact of climate change has announced the establishment of an independent review body to ensure that procedures are closely followed.
Australia, Indonesia sign forest carbon agreement
5 Mar 2010
Australia and Indonesia have signed a multi-million dollar pact to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and forest degradation on Sumatra.
US no wiser as Obama chats up business leaders
26 Feb 2010
US climate experts and the energy industry were no wiser about how Barack Obama will manage the country’s greenhouse gas emissions after the president spoke to top CEOs yesterday.
Aussie trading scheme bogs down again
26 Feb 2010
The Australian government's emissions trading scheme is again bogged down in parliament and now might not go to a vote in the Senate until May.
Climate problem urgent, says Chinese leader
26 Feb 2010
Chinese President Hu Jintao has said his country must urgently confront climate change and make it a central part of the government's development strategy.
Antarctic ice shelves melting, says report
26 Feb 2010
The ice shelves in the southern part of the Antarctic Peninsula are disappearing because of climate change, according to a new report from the US Geological Survey and the British Antarctic Survey.
Weather experts agree to collect better climate data
26 Feb 2010
World weather agencies have agreed to collect more precise temperature data to improve climate change science, officials said this week.
Solar builders chase $1.5b for power stations
26 Feb 2010
Fifty-two applications have been received for grants to construct large-scale power stations under the Australian Government’s $1.5 billion Solar Flagships programme.
UN climate talks to resume in April
26 Feb 2010
The United Nations says formal negotiations on an international treaty to control global warming will resume in Bonn in April, four months after the failed climate change summit in Copenhagen.
Thailand eyes up nuclear power in energy plans
26 Feb 2010
Thailand is looking to build nuclear power plants as it studies ways to ease its reliance on imported oil and gas.
Food supply cracking under people pressure
26 Feb 2010
With global population expected to increase by about 2.5 billion by 2050, it might be time to rethink what we eat and how we produce food, says a Harvard Medical School authority on health and environmental change.
Obama backs new nuclear plant with $8 billion
19 Feb 2010
President Barack Obama has announced $8 billion in government-loan guarantees for a new nuclear-power plant in Georgia, the first to be built in the US for almost 30 years.
Big companies quit US climate change coalition
19 Feb 2010
Three influential companies have resigned from the US Climate Action Partnership, a coalition of business and environmental groups spearheading the movement in Washington.
Australia under fire for $60b China coal deal
19 Feb 2010
Environmental activists are attacking a $60 billion deal that will keep Chinese power stations supplied with Australian coal for at least the next two decades.
UN must probe ‘bias’, says former climate chief
19 Feb 2010
The UN body that advises world leaders on climate change must investigate an apparent bias in its report that resulted in several exaggerations of the impact of global warming, according to its former chairman.
UN climate chief stepping down to go private
19 Feb 2010
United Nations climate change chief Yvo de Boer said today that he has made the “difficult decision” to step down from his position.
BA to build first green jet-fuel plant in Europe
19 Feb 2010
British Airways says it has signed a partnership to build Europe's first green jet-fuel plant.
Korea floats carbon tax plan ... among others
19 Feb 2010
The Korean government is studying ways to introduce a carbon tax and other strong measures to reduce carbon emissions.
US looks at other ways to limit gas emissions
12 Feb 2010
With climate change legislation all but dead for the year, the United States is looking at scaled down ways to limit greenhouse gas emissions.
Rudd’s ETS heads for the Senate … again
12 Feb 2010
The Australian Government’s embattled emissions trading scheme is on its way back to the Senate for a third time.
How green policies could move UK out of the red
12 Feb 2010
Britain could slash its deficit by £12bn a year by scrapping tax breaks for carbon-intensive industries and halting investment in projects that will increase carbon emissions, according to a new study.
Pachauri toughs it out as pressure grows
12 Feb 2010
A couple of years ago, Rajendra Pachauri seemed destined for a scientist’s version of sainthood.
Website tracks daily climate change
12 Feb 2010
The United States Government is creating a climate service that will help communities to plan infrastructure to avoid weather-related problems.
Personal carbon credit deal earns couple $17
12 Feb 2010
A Pennsylvania couple who invested $58,000 in solar panels have earned the world's first carbon credit for reducing personal emissions … and are $17.20 better off.
Obama retreats from goal of cap-and-trade bill
5 Feb 2010
President Barack Obama said this week for the first time legislation that would require industries to pay for emissions of greenhouse gases might need to be separated from a more popular "green jobs" bill in the Senate.
Rudd and Abbott trade blows over climate schemes
5 Feb 2010
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has seized on an admission by a top economist commissioned to cost Opposition leader Tony Abbott's rival climate change plan that the country needs an emissions trading scheme.
UK will pay people for wind and solar power
5 Feb 2010
Britain soon will being paying homeowners who produce low-carbon power such as solar or wind.
55 nations set 2020 goals under Copenhagen Accord
5 Feb 2010
Fifty-five nations accounting for almost 80 per cent of world greenhouse gas emissions have set national goals for fighting climate change by a deadline in the Copenhagen Accord, the United Nations says.
I won't resign, says posh-suits Pachauri
5 Feb 2010
Indian scientist Rajendra Pachauri has refused to apologise for a mistake in a 2007 climate change report and has hit out at his critics.
Firms to pioneer employee cap and trade scheme
5 Feb 2010
A small group of UK firms is poised to trial an innovative personal carbon trading scheme that promises to slash employees' carbon emissions by offering the greenest members of staff financial bonuses.
Sony, Nokia fight it out for green company titles
5 Feb 2010
Consumer electronics companies Sony and Nokia were among five international businesses named the greenest companies in the world in 2009.
It’s all America’s fault, says Bin Laden
5 Feb 2010
Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden has blamed the US and western industrial nations for climate change and called for a boycott of the dollar and US products to halt “the wheels of the American economy”.
Obama goes quiet on cap and trade
29 Jan 2010
President Barack Obama did not mention a cap and trade market in his annual State of the Union speech to Congress this week.
South Korean decision to close all coal-fired power plants by 2040 sounds alarm for Australian exports
Wed 19 Nov 2025
Decision announced at Cop30 climate conference signposts risks for Australia’s reliance on fossil fuel exports, analysts say.
Trump’s anti-climate agenda could result in 1.3m more deaths globally, analysis finds
Fri 21 Nov 2025
Fallout from increased emissions linked to president’s ‘America First’ policies expected to most affect those in poor, hot countries.
China’s diesel trucks are shifting to electric. That could change global LNG and diesel demand
Fri 21 Nov 2025
China is replacing its diesel trucks with electric models faster than expected, potentially reshaping global fuel demand and the future of heavy transport.
Turkey set to host COP31 after reaching compromise with Australia
Fri 21 Nov 2025
The COP31 climate meeting is now expected to be held in Turkey after Australia dropped its bid to host the annual event.
Scotland's first wind farm 'supercharged' after upgrade
11 Nov 2025
Scotland's first commercial wind farm will be able to deliver five times more clean power than before after being upgraded.
The hidden dangers in Canada’s oil and gas ambitions
Tue 18 Nov 2025
Premier of Alberta Danielle Smith thinks global demand for oil will grow to 2050, perhaps beyond, and the Alberta industry will be viable for a hundred years.
South Korean growers sue state power utility, blaming climate change for crop damage
17 Nov 2025
Five South Korean farmers recently sued the state utility Korea Electric Power Corporation and its power-generating subsidiaries, alleging that their reliance on coal and other fossil fuels has accelerated climate change and damaged their crops.
Pacific Islands rue lost chance to host COP climate summit
Fri 21 Nov 2025
Pacific islanders decried on Thursday a wasted chance to draw eyes to their climate troubles, after their bid to co-host next year's COP climate summit was brushed aside.
Scientists discovered something alarming seeping out from beneath the ocean around Antarctica
13 Oct 2025
Planet-heating methane is escaping from cracks in the Antarctic seabed as the region warms, with new seeps being discovered at an “astonishing rate".
What do African countries want from COP30?
11 Nov 2025
At the UN climate summit, African negotiators are seeking more “debt-free” financing that would allow them to implement climate solutions – from adaptation to just transition.
Ecuador’s voters protect rights of nature, reject proposal to rewrite constitution
Wed 19 Nov 2025
Ecuadorians handed their Trump-allied president a resounding defeat, choosing to maintain their “ecological constitution” and rejecting an attempt to allow foreign military bases in the country.
COP30 climate talks evacuated after fire breaks out
Fri 21 Nov 2025
The UN climate talks COP30 have been evacuated due to a fire breaking out inside the venue in Belém, Brazil.
