International: All stories
Ban lays out criteria for success in Copenhagen
30 Oct 2009
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has laid out his four benchmarks for success at the Copenhagen climate talks which open in a few weeks.
China-US pact unlikely from Obama visit
30 Oct 2009
President Barack Obama's visit to China next month is not likely to yield a separate accord on countering global warming, says the top US envoy on climate change.
Europe faces oversupply of carbon credits
30 Oct 2009
A vast supply of pollution credits from abroad is threatening to overwhelm systems for capping and trading greenhouse gases, a senior European Union official has warned.
Aussies face losing famous barbie at the beach
30 Oct 2009
The changing climate might put paid to the beach lifestyle revered by Australians.
Sydney drags chain in Asian carbon-hub race
30 Oct 2009
Sydney might be the loser as Hong Kong, Beijing and Singapore gear up to be the Asian hub of carbon trading.
Climate change turmoil poses security risks
30 Oct 2009
An island in the Indian Ocean, vital to the US military, disappears as the sea level rises … rivers critical to India and Pakistan shrink, increasing military tensions in South Asia … drought, famine and disease forces population shifts and political turmoil in the Middle East.
All aboard the climate train to Copenhagen ...
30 Oct 2009
A one-time train link between Kyoto and Copenhagen opens up next week - a UN-sponsored one-month, 9000-kilometre journey symbolically joining the site of the last global warming pact with what is hoped to be the birthplace of the next major treaty to combat climate change.
Farmers condemn Stern’s vegetarian call
30 Oct 2009
British farmers have accused a leading climate change expert of being “irresponsible” for urging the world to turn vegetarian.
Australia gives e-cars a three-month workout
30 Oct 2009
A road trial of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, which could one day end up in every Australian driveway, is under way.
Australia readies for key climate debate next week
23 Oct 2009
The Australian Government’s last bid to have a carbon trading scheme in place before the Copenhagen climate talks kicked off yesterday with the reintroduction of carbon reduction legislation into parliament.
Emissions from major nations continue to rise
23 Oct 2009
Harmful greenhouse gas emissions produced by industrialised countries rose for the seventh consecutive year in 2007, the United Nations reported yesterday.
Europe: Sign the deal and we’ll cut emissions 95%
23 Oct 2009
Europe tried to reassert its international leadership in the fight against global warming yesterday, offering to slash its greenhouse gas emissions by up to 95 per cent by 2050 and by 30 per cent by 2020 if a climate change pact is sealed in Copenhagen in six weeks.
Interim steps … that’s about it from Copenhagen
23 Oct 2009
With the clock running out and deep differences unresolved, it now appears that there is little chance that international climate change negotiations in Copenhagen in December will produce a comprehensive and binding new treaty on global warming.
China, India forge alternative to UN treaty
23 Oct 2009
China and India’s joint plan to cut greenhouse-gas emissions provides the developing world with an alternative to the global climate treaty that wealthier nations want them to sign in Copenhagen this year, analysts said.
Leaders could feel wrath of people-power protest
23 Oct 2009
Experts are predicting that climate change could spark the first worldwide grassroots movement if the world’s leaders fail to settle the issue.
Tourism could be climate victim, UN warns
23 Oct 2009
Rising sea levels could inundate coastal holiday spots while melting snow caps could spell an end to ski resorts, the UN World Tourism Organisation has warned.
Maldives rallies nations under climate threat
23 Oct 2009
The Maldives will convene a summit next month of countries suffering some of the worst impacts of climate change, government officials said.
Bangkok flop leaves little hope for Copenhagen
16 Oct 2009
As the latest round of UN climate talks in Bangkok ended with little progress, negotiators are preparing for the Copenhagen summit in December on the assumption that not every detail will be agreed this year.
Push to exempt Australian farmers from carbon laws
16 Oct 2009
The Australian government will be asked to exempt farmers from carbon trading in order to pass landmark emissions laws through parliament under changes this week being pushed by opposition lawmakers.
Oceans vital in climate change fight, says report
16 Oct 2009
Preventing the destruction of marine life, from plankton to seagrasses and mangrove forests, could help to offset between 3 per cent to 7 per cent of current fossil fuel emissions, a UN environment report says.
Airlines confident of reaching emission goals
16 Oct 2009
The airline industry will reach some ambitious emissions reductions goals, despite severe financial setbacks faced by airlines across the globe, says International Air Transport Association chief Giovanni Bisignani.
Biodiesel looking better than ever, says study
16 Oct 2009
Biodiesel is better than ever at harnessing the power of the sun and turning it into fuel, new research says.
Soros pledges $1bn to search for clean energy
16 Oct 2009
Billionaire financier and philanthropist George Soros has pledged to invest more than $1 billion of his own money in clean energy technology to tackle climate change.
US ‘deeply committed,’ says energy chief
16 Oct 2009
The US is “deeply committed” to solving the problem of climate change, Energy Secretary Steven Chu says.
Ban urges adoption of green technologies
16 Oct 2009
Green technologies generate not only environmental advances but also promote economic growth, UN Secretary Ban Ki-moon said yesterday.
G8 countries could face class actions on climate change
9 Oct 2009
The US and other G8 countries could face class actions on behalf of people in the developing world if they fail to take convincing steps to cut the emissions blamed for causing climate change, a lawyer has warned.
What's to become of the Kyoto Protocol?
9 Oct 2009
Whether to tweak, bolster or bury the Kyoto Protocol - the only binding global agreement for curbing greenhouse gases - has become a red-hot issue as UN negotiators in Bangkok try to lay the groundwork for a successor treaty.
Rich countries’ pledges not enough, says report
9 Oct 2009
Rich countries' pledges to cut greenhouse gas emissions are up to 15 per cent short of what scientists warn is needed to avoid a two-degree temperature rise.
Obama orders agencies to slash emissions
9 Oct 2009
US President Barack Obama ordered federal agencies to tackle their greenhouse gas emissions.
Apple latest to jump ship from US Chamber
9 Oct 2009
The US Chamber of Commerce has been hemorrhaging members in recent weeks after opposing legislation curtailing greenhouse gas emissions.
Humans undermine nature’s help in climate war
9 Oct 2009
Humankind is undermining a crucial natural ally in the battle against climate change through its activities in the world’s oceans and marine ecosystems, a UN agency warns.
Brazilian beef giants agree to moratorium
9 Oct 2009
Four of the world's largest cattle producers and traders have agreed to a moratorium on buying cattle from newly deforested areas in the Amazon rainforest.
Maldives ministers take a dive for climate change
9 Oct 2009
The president of the Maldives, who last year proposed relocating his entire country, is set to chair an underwater Cabinet meeting this month to highlight the threat global warming and rising sea levels pose to his low-lying nation.
US Senate bill toughens emissions target
2 Oct 2009
The first draft of a US Senate climate bill, released yesterday by senators Barbara Boxer and John Kerry, includes a tougher 2020 target than its companion bill passed by the House of Representatives.
Forget ‘cap and trade,’ it's now all about PRI
2 Oct 2009
US Senate Democrats tried out a new catch phrase yesterday to sell their global warming bill: pollution reduction and investment, or PRI.
Back me or sack me, says troubled Turnbull
2 Oct 2009
Australia's conservative opposition leader Malcolm Turnbull has threatened to quit unless opposition lawmakers end divisions over climate policy and avert a possible snap election on carbon-trade laws.
G20 countries to phase out fossil fuel subsidies
2 Oct 2009
G20 government leaders have agreed to phase out fossil fuel subsidies over the medium term while providing targeted support for the poorest households.
China eyes emission trading as part of economic plan
2 Oct 2009
China plans to include a pilot emissions trading system in its five-year plan for economic development from 2010-15, although it is unclear whether carbon dioxide would be covered.
Bank issues dire warning to Asia-Pacific countries
2 Oct 2009
Asia-Pacific countries face food and energy shortages, worsening poverty and declining crop yields if they ignore climate change, according to studies released yesterday.
Climate catastrophe 50 years away, say experts
2 Oct 2009
Catastrophic climate change could happen with 50 years, five decades earlier than previously predicted, according to a UK Met Office report.
Science drills deep to unlock polar climate secrets
2 Oct 2009
Scientists are taking a more in-depth view of how climate change could affect Antarctica’s ice, and how even a small change in temperature could lead to a global rise in sea levels.
Big words, little action from world climate leaders
23 Sep 2009
China has taken a step forward in the delicate diplomatic dance of international climate change talks by committing to an unspecified carbon target.
Airlines plan to halve emissions by 2050
23 Sep 2009
The world’s airlines have unveiled plans to halve emissions by 2050, to fend off calls for new taxes on flying and criticism that they are failing to act quickly enough in the fight against climate change.
Shipowners back expensive global trading net
23 Sep 2009
Shipowners are backing a global carbon trading scheme that could add as much as £5.4 billion in extra cost on to maritime transport and push weaker shipping companies out of business.
EU lists industries exempted from carbon trading
23 Sep 2009
The European Union has agreed on a list of industries ranging from plastics manufacturing to iron and food processing that will be largely exempted from CO2 trading after 2013 for fears that their inclusion would move production abroad.
Carbon emissions post biggest drop in 40 years
23 Sep 2009
Global carbon emissions are expected to post their biggest drop in more than four decades this year as the global recession froze economic activity and slashed energy use around the world.
Contraceptives cut climate change impact, says Lancet
23 Sep 2009
Greater use of contraceptives could help to reduce the global impact of climate change, according to medical journal The Lancet.
Climate leaders set to give up on Copenhagen
18 Sep 2009
Top US energy and climate leaders have begun to openly plan for international global warming talks to trickle into 2010.
Big spenders throw weight behind US bill
18 Sep 2009
Industry, economic and environmental groups are making a final push to influence a climate bill that might go before the United States Senate within weeks.
EU calls on US to do more on climate change
18 Sep 2009
The United States must do more to tackle climate change, says the European Union presidency, in a challenge to President Barack Obama ahead of a key international summit in Pittsburgh.
Climate and rock art advocates take on ‘carbon bomb’ gas project in Aus federal court
Wed 22 Jul 2026
The Albanese government’s decision to approve one of the world’s largest gas projects in Western Australia is being challenged in the federal court, setting up a significant test of how Australia’s environment law deals with the climate crisis.
Trump blames Canada for wildfire smoke affecting US
Tue 21 Jul 2026
A series of Republican “leaders” have started producing angry denunciations of Canada for polluting America’s air with their "thoughtless" fires.
China solar exports to South, Southeast Asia and Africa rise despite post-rebate slump
Wed 22 Jul 2026
China's solar exports to Southeast and South Asia as well as Africa rose year-over-year in June, customs data showed on Monday, though overall solar exports slipped for a second month after China removed an export tax rebate.
Europe’s May and June heatwave deaths – and how they were counted
Tue 21 Jul 2026
Recent weeks have seen a flurry of reports from public health authorities and scientists that estimate the deaths caused by Europe’s record-breaking summer heatwaves.
UK's Burnham to maintain ban on North Sea exploration licences
Tue 21 Jul 2026
Andy Burnham will stick to Labour’s contentious ban on new exploration licences in the North Sea, dashing oil and gas industry hopes for a radical change in government policy towards fossil fuels.
Ontario seeks federal support for evacuations as wildfires devastate remote Canadian towns
Mon 20 Jul 2026
Ontario requested federal assistance to evacuate people from remote northern Canadian communities ravaged by wildfires on Thursday, as smoke brought poor air quality to Toronto and much of the Northeastern U.S.
India is adding biofuels to petrol – but many drivers are unhappy
16 Jul 2026
India's decision to increase the share of biofuels blended with petrol is facing ire from motorists who question its viability in a market where a majority of vehicles are not yet designed for it.
‘Those blocking climate science are not our friends': Pacific leaders warn at Bonn talks
23 Jun 2026
Pacific nations and civil society groups have united at UN climate talks, pushing back against efforts to weaken agreed language on global temperature limits as negotiations continue behind closed doors.
‘I can’t work in the farce of climate change cruise tourism anymore’: why Antarctic guides quit their dream jobs
Wed 22 Jul 2026
“You’d see massive glacier calvings, and you’d just want to cry. But all the guests would be cheering. And you’d be like … ‘can you not put two and two together?’”
West Africa signs off $25bn mega gas-pipeline plan
Wed 22 Jul 2026
One of Africa's most ambitious energy infrastructure projects has finally been signed off at the highest level, with West African leaders formally endorsing the long-awaited Nigeria-Morocco Atlantic Gas Pipeline.
Under Lula, Amazon deforestation falls to lowest level in a decade
14 Jul 2026
Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest has fallen to its lowest level in a decade during the first half of 2026, according to official government figures.
COP31 president says electrification is ‘surest way to protect citizens’
14 Jul 2026
Last month, COP31 president-designate Murat Kurum launched a target for 35% of the world’s final energy to come from electricity by 2035. In an interview with Carbon Brief, Kurum says that the target was not a political choice, but instead reflects the latest evidence on “what is needed to keep 1.5C within reach”.
