International: All stories
No cap and no fixed price on carbon, investors say
4 Nov 2008
An international gathering of finance and carbon market experts has called on the Australian Government to avoid a price cap or fixed price for emissions permits.
Expert praises China's will to tackle climate change
4 Nov 2008
China's newly released white paper on climate change demonstrates that China has a strong "political will" to tackle global warming, says a German climate policy professor.
KPMG gets serious about climate change
4 Nov 2008
Professional services firm KPMG has launched a global initiative to combat climate change, which it describes as one of the biggest challenges facing the world today.
Households up for $1 a day under ETS, says Australian Treasury
31 Oct 2008
Emissions trading will cost Australian households a dollar a day when it starts in 2010, according to economic modeling released yesterday by the federal Treasury.
World business leaders back UN climate change deal
31 Oct 2008
The United Nations' drive to clinch a new global framework to curb climate change at its Copenhagen summit next year has been endorsed by global business leaders.
Goldman Sachs in pact with carbon-market firm Blue Source
31 Oct 2008
Goldman Sachs Group has signed a strategic alliance with Blue Source, a developer of projects to help companies to offset their greenhouse gas emissions.
Brits reluctant investors in climate change, says report
31 Oct 2008
British investors are still failing to grasp the significant opportunity offered by climate change, according to a report from wealth management specialist Holden & Partners.
China issues post-Kyoto plans on climate change
31 Oct 2008
The clean development mechanism (CDM) should continue to be implemented even after 2012, when the Kyoto Protocol expires, says a white paper on China's policies on climate change.
Cement giant attacks EU carbon trading plans
31 Oct 2008
European cement giant Heidelberg says the European Commission's planned extension of its emissions trading scheme in 2013 could threaten cement production in the EU.
Europe sees first carbon exchange traded commodity
31 Oct 2008
ETF Securities has announced the launch of Europe’s first carbon exchange traded commodity (ETC), to be listed on the London Stock Exchange.
Australian scientists to help wean chemicals industry off crude oil
31 Oct 2008
CSIRO scientists have joined one of the world’s largest biotechnology consortia to help to develop crops which produce oils to be used by the chemicals industry as sustainable alternatives to those derived from the world’s non-renewable stocks of crude oil.
Charles urges world to keep on green course
31 Oct 2008
Prince Charles has urged Japan and other major nations to take action in the global “battle for survival” against climate change and emphasised that the current financial crisis should not be made an excuse to abandon efforts on emission cuts and forest conservation.
Miliband bows to pressure on UK aviation and shipping emissions
28 Oct 2008
The UK government is to announce today that it will include rapidly growing aviation and shipping emissions in Britain's commitment to curb its carbon footprint by 80 per cent by 2050.
Angry airlines condemn EU emissions decision
28 Oct 2008
European Union governments have given formal approval to a potentially costly system of capping greenhouse gases from any airline flying into or out of the trade bloc.
Climate change: A safe haven for worried investors?
28 Oct 2008
Climate change might be the safe haven investors are looking for in a volatile world, suggests a just-released report by Deutsche Asset Management, the asset management arm of Deutsche Bank.
New climate deal possible in 2009, says EU chief
28 Oct 2008
A crucial global pact on climate change is possible by next year, European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso said in Beijing following two days of talks between Asian and European leaders.
Cities' leaders pledge action on climate change
28 Oct 2008
Leaders of 40 of the world's major cities have pledged action to fight climate change, taking measures ranging from promoting solar energy to tracking genetically modified food.
Brown faces defeat as Labour MPs revolt on climate change
24 Oct 2008
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown faces a defeat in the Commons next week over his climate change bill as a group of Labour MPs calls for emissions targets to include international flights and shipping.
Britain to auction first carbon allowances next month
24 Oct 2008
The British government has announced it will auction its first batch of carbon credits under the Emissions Trading Scheme next month.
Japan set to introduce voluntary carbon market
24 Oct 2008
Japan will introduce a voluntary carbon market based on companies' pledged emissions cuts and hopes that thousands of firms will sign up to what could become a forerunner of a mandatory cap-and-trade project.
Financial crisis blurs Australian Treasury's carbon view
24 Oct 2008
The Australian federal Treasury says its modelling that underpins the country’s imminent switch to carbon trading does not include analysis about the destructive impact of the global financial crisis.
Speed up ETS preparations, Australian businesses told
24 Oct 2008
Australian business leaders have been warned to speed up preparation for the incoming emissions trading scheme despite the credit crisis.
Settle it, and quickly, Ban tells Europe’s leaders
24 Oct 2008
United Nations’ Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has stressed to leaders of the European Union the need to wrap up the bloc’s energy and climate package by the end of the year.
Nasdaq buy-out leads it into emissions trading market
24 Oct 2008
Exchange operator Nasdaq OMX Group has announced that it will use assets from a recent acquisition to move into energy and carbon derivatives.
Climate change needs a Roosevelt ‘New Deal,’ says UN
24 Oct 2008
The world should take a leaf from former US president Franklin Roosevelt's songbook for tackling the Great Depression and fund a "Green New Deal" to fight climate change, a United Nations agency says.
EC eyes market solution to deforestation
24 Oct 2008
The European Commission has called for a target to halt global deforestation by 2030, to be delivered partially through a Global Forest Carbon Mechanism (GFCM), under a post-2012 climate agreement.
Our poisoned world - the top 10 worst pollution problems
24 Oct 2008
The "I Trust My Legs" gold mine in Ghana is a local affair, where miners shift silt from rudimentary pits and then combine it with mercury.
Worst polluters pick up $3b under Australian ETS, says report
21 Oct 2008
Free carbon permits for big polluters will cost Australian taxpayers $3 billion in the first year of the Rudd Government's carbon trading scheme, a new report says.
Use ETS money to fund green projects, says Britain
21 Oct 2008
Money raised from Europe’s Emissions Trading Scheme should be used to fund plans for carbon capture and storage demonstration projects, the British government will stress at an EU energy summit today.
EU’s climate actions could be economic boon, says Ban
21 Oct 2008
European Union proposals on tackling climate change could also be a boon for the economy, generating millions of new jobs at a time when the world is suffering from the financial crisis, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said.
Environment will wither whoever wins US election
21 Oct 2008
Eager anticipation of a new American president offering a dramatic departure on issues such as climate change is rapidly being tempered by the financial crisis that threatens to blight the next administration's agenda, says the Times Online.
New-man Miliband has blueprint for greener UK homes
21 Oct 2008
Britain’s new Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Ed Miliband, is drawing up plans for a "big shift" in the way Britons heat and power their homes, the Independent on Sunday has revealed.
We’re facing climate change havoc, warns new report
21 Oct 2008
Climate change is occurring much faster than predicted by the scientific fraternity, and will wreak havoc unless action is taken on a global scale, says a new report by the World Wildlife Fund.
ASX to introduce emission futures next year
21 Oct 2008
The ASX plans to introduce futures contracts for coal, natural gas and renewable energy certificates.
Rudd firm: Financial crisis won't delay Australian carbon trade
17 Oct 2008
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has confirmed that plans to introduce a carbon emissions trading scheme by 2010 will not be delayed by the global financial crisis.
Troubled EU pledges to stick with climate change plans
17 Oct 2008
European Union leaders have reasserted their ambition to lead the world in fighting climate change despite the growing economic recession and mounting rifts among its 27 governments.
Finally, EU-Kyoto carbon trading link up and running
17 Oct 2008
Carbon emissions trading schemes in the European Union and under the Kyoto Protocol were connected yesterday after months of technical delays.
Forests back in fashion as weapon to combat climate change
17 Oct 2008
Perhaps one of the greatest natural defences against climate change, the Earth's forests, got a boost this week with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and a host of environmental lawyers throwing their support behind plans to protect them and eventually include the forestry sector in carbon markets.
Climate change targets could cripple UK agriculture, say farmers
17 Oct 2008
New targets to cut Britain’s greenhouse emissions by at least 80 per cent will cripple agriculture, according to farmers.
It’s full speed ahead for America’s new energy economy
17 Oct 2008
As fossil fuel prices rise, as oil insecurity deepens, and as concerns about climate change cast a shadow over the future of coal, a new energy economy is emerging in the United States, says sustainability expert Lester Brown.
US dairy industry slashes carbon footprint
17 Oct 2008
Improved efficiency in the production of milk has resulted in a huge reduction in the dairy industry's carbon footprint, making it very "green," said a University of Illinois Extension dairy specialist.
Experts warn Arab states of climate catastrophe
17 Oct 2008
Arab states must find a common position on tackling climate change or face "catastrophic" consequences, a gathering of global warming experts in Beirut has been told.
Greece again fails to meet emissions test standards
17 Oct 2008
A United Nations committee in Athens said Greece has failed to demonstrate its ability to adequately measure carbon dioxide emissions, endangering its chances of participating in Kyoto Protocol emissions trading programme.
Buffett millions back first Chinese green car
14 Oct 2008
American billionaire investor Warren Buffett has bought a $232 million stake in China's BYD Co which plans to unveil its first green cars by the end of the year.
Financial crisis clouds EU's climate change plans
14 Oct 2008
The international financial crisis and slumping economic activity are threatening Europe's ambitious plans to slash greenhouse gas emissions, with governments eager to avoid saddling companies with additional burdens.
EC set to grant industry relief on carbon trading
14 Oct 2008
Energy-intensive industries are set to receive a huge cash boost from the European Commission as part of a controversial move to protect Europe's industrial sector from world recession.
Markets turmoil could usher in new green era, says UN
14 Oct 2008
The global market crisis could provide an opportunity for the world financial system to reconstruct itself to promote “green” growth, the top United Nations climate change official said yesterday in New York.
Lab-grown meat, licences to have children … welcome to 2030
14 Oct 2008
A CHILLING world where licences are required for having children and questioning global warming is a crime could be ushered in by climate change, a report out yesterday predicts.
Don’t blame cities for climate change troubles, says report
14 Oct 2008
Cities are being unfairly blamed for most of humanity’s greenhouse gas emissions and this threatens efforts to tackle climate change, warns a new report.
EU nods to credit crisis but remains tough on emissions
10 Oct 2008
A powerful European Union committee on Wednesday handed some concessions to industries in an economic downturn but maintained a tough line on curbing carbon emissions in the fight against climate change.
Australia-US minerals deal underpinned decision to allow mining company to clear threatened indigenous forest
23 Feb 2026
The Australian government’s decision to allow the US mining giant Alcoa to continue clearing swathes of Western Australian jarrah forest despite past illegal clearing practices was made in part due to a critical minerals deal reached between Australia and the Trump administration last year, a new document shows.
Repeal of endangerment finding is part of a systematic effort by US to dismantle climate policy
Today 12:30pm
COMMENT: Climate policy expert and founder of the NewClimate Institute in Cologne, Germany, explains what the step means for the US and for global climate diplomacy.
3,600 times faster: China is shaking up the steel industry
Wed 25 Feb 2026
For over a century, making steel meant coal, heat, and hours of waiting. A Chinese research team now reports collapsing that process into just three to six seconds; no coal, near zero emissions, and a vortex lance already moving toward commercial production. The technology is called flash ironmaking, and in February 2026, its implications are still unfolding.
Spain defends EU’s flagship climate law against attacks from other capitals
Today 12:30pm
Spain has come to the defense of the European Union's bedrock climate law, with Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez warning fellow European leaders against dismantling the embattled Emissions Trading System.
UK Greens win by-election as anti-data centre protests mount
Today 12:30pm
The Green Party's Hannah Spencer won the contest for the vacant parliamentary seat of Gorton and Denton, with Nigel Farage's populist Reform UK party coming second, and Labour pushed into third place.
Mark Carney just picked his lane on climate change
17 Feb 2026
COMMENT: Mark Carney's time as prime minister has been defined in part by his decision to roll back Trudeau-era climate policies.
South Korean farmers sue utility giant KEPCO over climate damage to crops
Wed 25 Feb 2026
As harvest season approached last November, farmer Ma Yong-un walked through his apple orchard in southern South Korea with a growing sense of dread.
World leaders invited to see Pacific climate destruction before COP31
Today 12:30pm
The leaders and climate ministers of governments around the world will be invited to meetings on the Pacific islands of Fiji, Palau and Tuvalu in the months leading up to the COP31 climate summit in November.
Limiting warming to 2C is ‘crucial’ to protect pristine Antarctic Peninsula
24 Feb 2026
Keeping global warming to less than 2C above pre-industrial temperatures is “crucial” for limiting damage to the Antarctic Peninsula’s unique ecosystems, according to a new study.
Africa primed for solar breakthrough after record capacity growth
Today 12:30pm
The continent of Africa looks set to emerge as a key driver of global solar power production over the rest of the 2020s thanks to a potent mix of policy support, rapid economic growth and declining component costs.
Floods and landslides in Brazil kill at least 30 after record rainfall
Thu 26 Feb 2026
Three firefighters pulled a man’s body from the mud amid the rubble of houses swept away in a landslide in south-eastern Brazil, where 30 people died and 39 were still missing on Tuesday after torrential rains.
UN approves first carbon credits under Paris Agreement market mechanism
Fri 27 Feb 2026
The United Nations has approved the first credits to be issued under a carbon market established by the Paris climate accord, aimed at reducing emissions – a mechanism that has faced scrutiny over greenwashing concerns.
