International: All stories
Cook’s weather-watching pays off for climate change scientists
5 Aug 2008
Legendary navigator Captain James Cook, whose careful cartography in the 1700s put New Zealand on the map, is now helping 21st century scientists to chart the course of climate change.
China enters pact with UK carbon trading player
1 Aug 2008
British carbon exchange specialist Climate Exchange has confirmed that it has signed an agreement with the Chinese authorities to start an emissions trading scheme in the country.
South Africa vows to shift energy policy from coal to nuclear
1 Aug 2008
The South African government says it will move away from cheap coal - long the engine of its economic growth - and embrace nuclear and renewable energy in a bid to combat climate change.
Australians strongly back carbon trade scheme, poll shows
1 Aug 2008
Australians overwhelmingly back government plans to introduce one of the world's biggest carbon trading schemes, a poll found this week.
Firms found to be ill-prepared for cap-and-trade scheme
1 Aug 2008
Many UK firms remain unprepared for the introduction of a cap-and-trade scheme, and have little experience of the IT systems and trading processes that will be required to comply with the new legislation.
Farmers backed with $26.5 million for climate change training
1 Aug 2008
Australian primary producers and industries will have access to specialised training to help them to deal with the impacts of climate change under a $26.5 million FarmReady fund just announced by the Rudd Government.
American judge rejects proposed coal-fired power plant
29 Jul 2008
A benchmark decision by a Georgia judge to revoke the building permit for a coal-fired power plant marks the first time in the US that a court has based a ruling on concerns over CO2 emissions.
Aussie opposition plans response to Rudd's green paper
29 Jul 2008
Liberal and National MPs will gather in Canberra today and tomorrow to hammer out a response to the Rudd government's green paper on an emissions trading scheme.
Battle-weary US soldiers told to cut carbon bootprint
29 Jul 2008
As if they didn’t have enough on their hands fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, American soldiers are now being told they must reduce their carbon bootprint to ease the pain of climate change.
California comes down hard on ships’ diesel exhaust emissions
29 Jul 2008
Foreign-flagged and US ships sailing off California will face the world’s toughest rules on marine fuel-use under new regulations just adopted by the state’s Air Resources Board.
Two children enough in climate-changing world, experts argue
29 Jul 2008
Family planning experts have urged couples to limit themselves to two children as a contribution to combating climate change.
Schwarzenegger vetoes climate change teaching in schools
29 Jul 2008
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has vetoed a that would have required climate change be added to the state school curriculum.
Finland joins 26-country partnership to curb methane emissions
29 Jul 2008
Finland is the latest country to join the Methane to Markets Partnership, whose 26 members aim to reduce emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas and clean energy source.
Australians singing the same old song
29 Jul 2008
New Zealanders watching debate across the Tasman in the wake of the Australian Government's release of its draft emissions trading scheme can be forgiven a sense of deja vu.
California joins major North American effort to curb greenhouse gases
25 Jul 2008
California, six other Western states and four Canadian provinces will launch a market-based carbon trading system in a major North American effort to cut greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming, according to a draft proposal released yesterday.
Report details huge climate change cost for US states
25 Jul 2008
Climate change will carry a price tag of billions of dollars for some US states, researchers have said.
Hungary joins us in international carbon trading scheme
25 Jul 2008
Hungary has joined New Zealand and three other countries in linking to a carbon trading scheme under the Kyoto Protocol, allowing the country to sell government-level emissions permits, a Hungarian ministry spokesman said.
Indonesia eyes $700 million in aid to fight climate change
25 Jul 2008
Indonesia needs at least $US728 million in assistance to address climate change, including dealing with extreme weather events linked to global warming and helping local farmers boost crop production, a report says.
Indian businesses reluctant climate change players, says report
25 Jul 2008
Indian corporates are not ready to tackle climate change despite a wide awareness of the issues, says a study just released by global consultancy KPMG.
Canadian PM under pressure as major province signs up with US emissions group
22 Jul 2008
The Canadian government faces new pressure to adopt a more aggressive climate-change plan after its largest province threw its considerable political weight behind a North American initiative to tackle global warming.
BBC TV about to air climate change the thriller
22 Jul 2008
Climate change joins mainstream television this week with the screening in Britain of the environmental thriller Burn Up.
Holden's Commodore top polluter - and the costliest
22 Jul 2008
ONE of the most popular cars in Australia and New Zealand, the Holden Commodore, has topped a new Federal Government list of bad environmental performers.
US scientists issue dire new warning on effects of climate change
22 Jul 2008
Climate change threatens the health and well-being of every American but could widen the divide between people who can adapt to a more hostile environment and society's youngest, oldest and poorest, a US government report says.
Global action needed for food and energy crises - UN Assembly head
22 Jul 2008
Reducing subsidies, lifting tariffs and other trade barriers would stimulate food production and offer a route to development for 180 million small farmers in Africa, UN General Assembly president Srgjan Kerim told member states as the Assembly met to discuss the two global crises.
Smog-clogged Mexico City promises to reduce greenhouse gases
22 Jul 2008
The government of notoriously polluted Mexico City is promising to cut harmful greenhouse gas emissions 12 per cent by 2012.
'Carbon bomb' lies waiting in world's wetlands, warn scientists
22 Jul 2008
New Zealand’s wetlands are part of a world-wide chain that could release a planet-warming "carbon bomb" if they are destroyed, ecological scientists say.
For animals, it might be a case of relocation, relocation, relocation
22 Jul 2008
ANIMALS threatened with extinction because of climate change should be moved to parts of the world where they are more likely to survive, a team of scientists has suggested.
‘Swindle’ doco broke the rules, says UK watchdog
22 Jul 2008
A documentary shown on Prime TV in New Zealand earlier this year which claimed that man-made climate change is a fraud broke strict broadcasting rules on impartiality, the UK media regulator said yesterday.
US power giant will spend $10b to slash gas emissions
18 Jul 2008
The United States’ largest electricity and gas utility, Exelon, has released a $10 billion plan to eliminate or offset its carbon dioxide emissions, positioning itself ahead of expected federal climate change legislation.
Canadian premiers squabble over climate change action
18 Jul 2008
The annual Canadian premiers' conference has opened in Ottawa with rival camps in the climate change debate digging in their heels, reports the Toronto Star.
Pioneering carbon scheme promotes school energy efficiency
18 Jul 2008
Carbon emissions from UK state schools are to be included in a pioneering carbon trading scheme for local authorities from April 2010, Environment Secretary Hilary Benn announced yesterday.
UN embarks on worldwide survey to assess deforestation
18 Jul 2008
As part of efforts to gain a comprehensive understanding of the world's forests, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation will carry out a global remote sensing survey of the vital ecosystems.
Australia announces all-gases and almost-all sectors ETS
16 Jul 2008
Australia has announced a proposal for a broad emissions trading scheme that covers all six greenhouse gases and every sector except agriculture.
REACTION: Green Paper gives cold comfort to those wanting to delay emissions trading
16 Jul 2008
The Green Paper outlining the Australian Government’s thinking on emissions trading shows it is well aligned with New Zealand’s plans, says the New Zealand Business Council for Sustainable Development
Acting on climate change: towards an Australian carbon pollution reduction scheme
16 Jul 2008
The following is the official summary of the Australian Government’s green paper on climate change, released today by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, Treasurer Wayne Swan and Climate Change Minister Penny Wong.
Bush administration slams door on climate change
15 Jul 2008
Arguing that it's the wrong tool for the job, the Bush Administration has said that it will not use the nation's leading clean air law to regulate emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
Garnaut urges big spend on renewable energy and carbon capture
15 Jul 2008
Australia must plough significant research and development dollars into renewable energy sources, including geothermal and solar energy, as well as carbon capture and storage, says the author of the national climate change review, Professor Ross Garnaut.
Corporate 'greening' wasted on consumers, report says
15 Jul 2008
Consumers are showing an increasing willingness to adjust their habits in ways they believe will help to address the problem of climate change, but at the same time, they aren’t recognising the efforts of major corporations trying to do the same thing, according to the results of a new international market survey.
Queensland looks at transforming cattle land with trees
15 Jul 2008
CSIRO research under way in Central Queensland’s cattle country is investigating whether the integration of trees, pasture and livestock into a single agricultural system will produce greater net returns for producers and the environment.
Campaign highlights climate-change plight of women
15 Jul 2008
The international aid agency Oxfam is highlighting how women around the world are hardest hit by storms, floods and droughts caused by global warming.
G8 good start but fast action needed to tackle global crises, says UN chief
11 Jul 2008
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has welcomed the Group of Eight’s statement on climate change, food security and development as a good start for addressing the three interrelated global crises, while stressing the need for speedier action in the days ahead.
New York mayor prods businesses in city's $2b emissions clean-up
11 Jul 2008
New York mayor Michael Bloomberg threw down a challenge to big business when he announced his city would spend $2.3 billion to cut greenhouse gas emissions from municipal buildings and operations by 30 per cent in 30 years.
Green cars - Honda's Civic GX pick of the bunch
11 Jul 2008
Honda’s Civic GX comes out on top of an American list of what’s hot in the world of environmentally friendly cars.
Cows given rbST reduce environmental impact, study shows
11 Jul 2008
Cows that receive recombinant bovine somatotropin (rbST) make more milk, all the while easing natural resource pressure and substantially reducing environmental impact, according to a US study by Cornell University.
UN opens first zero-emission community centre in outback Kenya
11 Jul 2008
The first power-generating centre using environmentally friendly hydro and solar power has been inaugurated in a remote Kenyan village by the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO).
Japan summit to test G8 leaders on climate change, world economy and security
8 Jul 2008
The leaders of the Group of Eight (G8) industrialised nations gather in Hokkaido, Japan, today for their annual summit and face the challenge of showing greater resolve to fight global warming, remedying the world economy and easing tensions in the world's hot spots.
Climate change report reads like a disaster novel, says Australian minister
8 Jul 2008
Australian scientists predicting climate catastrophe across their country have been told by a senior government minister that their report “reads like a disaster novel”.
Troubled Tasmania: Where do we sit in carbon trading scheme?
8 Jul 2008
Tasmanians blessed with large forest reserves and a significant renewable energy base are questioning how their state would fit into the Australian carbon-trading picture.
Braver than Kiwis, British Columbians start paying carbon tax on fuel
8 Jul 2008
Canada’s British Columbian state government’s new carbon tax came into effect last week, indicating how the New Zealand may have missed a chance to introduce carbon prices here with limited public opposition.
India shapes up as second-biggest emitter, says report
8 Jul 2008
India, with a rising demand for crude oil and coal, is likely to overtake the US as the second-largest emitter of carbon from energy use by 2050 after China, a new study says.
Researchers compare the footprint of meat vs. plant-based dog foods. The differences were staggering.
Mon 13 Oct 2025
Global pet food emissions rival those of a small country. A new UK study reveals that switching dogs to plant-based foods could slash emissions tenfold—without sacrificing nutrition.
Why Trump is not a death knell for global climate action
Tue 14 Oct 2025
In his rambling speech to the United Nations last month, United States President Donald Trump described climate change as “the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world”.
China carbon prices hit two-year low as market faces oversupply pressures
Tue 14 Oct 2025
Carbon credit prices in China have fallen to their lowest point since mid-2023, pressured by an excess of supply and tepid demand amid ongoing adjustments to the national emissions trading system.
'Not up for discussion': Brussels rejects Washington's pressure on climate rules
Mon 13 Oct 2025
In response to US demands to roll back the EU's environmental legislation, the European Commission defended its autonomous power to adopt laws.
Government told to prepare for 2C warming by 2050
Today 10:45am
The UK should be prepared to cope with weather extremes as a result of at least 2C of global warming by 2050, independent climate advisers have said.
Renewables are a global economic engine, not a culture war threat
2 Oct 2025
Energy companies are learning this lesson faster than Alberta Premier Danielle Smith.
India calls on COP30 to focus on lack of funds for developing nations
Today 10:45am
India has said the United Nations climate conference in Belm, Brazil, should focus on tackling the critical shortage of resources that developing countries need to adapt to climate change and curb greenhouse gas emissions.
Familiar tensions emerge at the Pacific Islands Forum
26 Sep 2025
With China-Taiwan rivalry, China-Western competition, and big carbon emitters at odds with the islands on climate policy, there is plenty of tension to go around.
Scientists discovered something alarming seeping out from beneath the ocean around Antarctica
Mon 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".
Angola lowers climate ambition in blow to spirit of Paris Agreement
Tue 14 Oct 2025
Angola has scaled back its targets for reducing emissions in its new national climate plan, saying it chose “realism and implementability” over the Paris Agreement's calls for governments to set progressively more ambitious goals.
Four Brazilians to watch at COP30
Wed 15 Oct 2025
Influential Brazilians, from government figures to Indigenous activists, will take center stage during UN climate talks in the Amazon next month.
Climate critics try to discredit IPCC author for linking disasters to global warming
Mon 13 Oct 2025
Roger Pielke Jr. and oil industry supporters are attacking climate scientist Friederike Otto, whose work has been used in lawsuits against polluters.
