International: All stories
Super funds in dark over costs of climate change
24 Mar 2009
Australian super funds want to review their investments in light of climate change, but are in the dark when it comes to evaluation methods.
Aussies spend $20m on neighbourhood climate project
24 Mar 2009
Australian Climate Change Minister Penny Wong says a $A20 million science programme will help the country’s neighbours to understand the impacts of climate change on the region.
Carbon trading 'undermined by boom and bust’
24 Mar 2009
A shake-up in the way the "boom and bust" carbon markets are working in Europe is being urged ahead of tomorrow's auction of new emission certificates by the UK government.
NZ scientists warn of Antarctic meltdown
20 Mar 2009
New Zealand scientists have found conclusive evidence that global warming of the scale predicted this century will cause massive melting of the Antarctic ice sheet and potentially catastrophic sea level rises.
Backlash as Shell cuts renewables business
20 Mar 2009
Royal Dutch Shell has provoked a furious backlash from campaigners by announcing plans to scale back its renewable energy business and focus purely on oil, gas and biofuels.
China rejects US carbon-based import tariff idea
20 Mar 2009
China's top climate change official has rejected as protectionist a United States idea to put tariffs on some imports from countries that do not place a price on carbon, chiding the Americans to do more to cut their greenhouse gas emissions.
World Bank appeals for water investment
20 Mar 2009
The global economic crisis threatens to shrink investment in water infrastructure, an already underfunded sector vital to growth and public health, the World Bank says.
UN gives $18 million for countries to slash emissions
20 Mar 2009
Five pilot countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America are set to receive $18 million in funding from a United Nations programme aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions from forests while boosting local livelihoods.
World leaders to be given green new deal facts
20 Mar 2009
Investing 1 per cent of global GDP, or around $750 billion, into five key sectors could be the key to a Global Green New Deal.
Environmentalists praise new climate change film
20 Mar 2009
A film on climate change released in British cinemas this week is “one hundred times better” than previous productions, environmentalists have said.
Escape to New Zealand, Americans told
17 Mar 2009
The Washington Post has cited New Zealand as the destination of choice for those seeking to escape what it describes as the “fear of looming environmental disaster.”
Opposition ups ETS pressure on Rudd government
17 Mar 2009
The Australian Government yesterday faced mounting pressure to make radical changes to its carbon trading plans to get the scheme passed by parliament.
Scientists slam ‘weak, ineffective’ governments
17 Mar 2009
The world’s top scientists have urged “weak and ineffective” governments to stand up to big business and “vested interests” in order to address the alarming climate impact.
Gore optimistic for climate deal in December
17 Mar 2009
Former US vice-president Al Gore is optimistic that a global deal to combat climate change would be agreed at a summit in December.
Threatened Maldives now aims to be carbon-neutral
17 Mar 2009
The Maldives islands in the Indian Ocean, under threat from rising sea levels, will shift entirely to renewable energy over the next decade.
Opposition terriers get teeth into Rudd’s ETS
13 Mar 2009
The Australian Government’s massive draft emissions trading legislation could be torn apart before it is put to the Parliamentary vote, throwing into doubt Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's 2010 timetable for the introduction of emissions trading.
What the Australian ETS proposes …
13 Mar 2009
After months of criticism and heated debated from all corners, the draft legislation for Australia’s Emissions Trading Scheme has been released.
US senators attack Obama’s cap-and-trade proposal
13 Mar 2009
The United States should not impose a cap-and-trade system to battle climate change this year because it amounts to a painful tax during a deep recession, senators argued this week.
EPA proposes reporting on gas emissions
13 Mar 2009
The US Environmental Protection Agency has proposed the first comprehensive national system for reporting emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases produced by major sources in the United States.
Sea level could rise twice as fast, warn scientists
13 Mar 2009
By the end of the century, sea levels might rise twice as much as was predicted two years ago in the fourth assessment report by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Angry EU farmers oppose livestock-gas tax
13 Mar 2009
Proposals to tax the flatulence of cows and other livestock have been denounced by farming groups in the Irish Republic and Denmark.
Stern: Climate change deniers are 'flat-earthers'
13 Mar 2009
Climate change deniers are "ridiculous" and akin to "flat-earthers", according to Sir Nicholas Stern, who advised the British government about the economic threat posed by global warming.
Three make final of world green car award
13 Mar 2009
The Mitsubishi i-MiEV, the Honda FCX Clarity, and the Toyota iQ are the top contenders in the prestigious World Green Car of the Year competition.
Carbon sinks losing battle with rising emissions
13 Mar 2009
The stabilising influence that land and ocean carbon sinks have on rising carbon emissions is gradually weakening, say scientists at the international Copenhagen Climate Change Conference.
Senate to examine Rudd's emissions scheme
10 Mar 2009
A Senate inquiry into the Australian government's proposed emissions trading scheme will go ahead, after the Greens and the Opposition agreed on its terms of reference.
Bad news on way as scientists give climate update
10 Mar 2009
Climate scientists are preparing for bad news as they review the latest data on global warming at a conference beginning today in Copenhagen.
Low-carbon economy only way out, says Brown
10 Mar 2009
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has called for a national effort to create a low-carbon economy, stressing that green a recovery is the very option for the economy to beat the current recession.
Carbon trade wrong, says former BP chief
10 Mar 2009
Lord Browne, the former chief executive of BP and one of the earliest proponents of carbon trading to tackle climate change, has conceded his enthusiasm was misplaced.
We’ll have to wait and see carbon-effect of recession
10 Mar 2009
The financial crisis has slashed industrial output and trade but it will be months before there is an accurate picture of how much the downturn has curbed greenhouse gas emissions, according to two leading scientists.
Food fears prompt China to spend on agriculture
10 Mar 2009
China will increase spending on agricultural production by 20 per cent this year amid warnings that climate change could spark a future food crisis.
Indian firms drop carbon trading for renewable projects
10 Mar 2009
Indian companies are turning towards renewable energy projects for a better return on their investments.
Gas hotspot Nigeria on frontline for climate change
10 Mar 2009
Nigeria, tipped to be the world's next natural gas powerhouse, is on the frontline for climate change as it is ranked Africa's largest producer of greenhouse gases.
Scouts (all 28 million of them) to mobilise for Earth Hour
10 Mar 2009
The Scouts, the world's largest youth movement with more than 28 million members in 160 countries, lead thousands of community groups around the world mobilising their supporters for Earth Hour, the global expression of a desire for serious and sustained action on climate change.
Clean Energy Corps rides to the rescue of US homes
6 Mar 2009
More than 80 labour, environmental, civic, and policy organisations have endorsed a proposal to help America's economic recovery and environmental health by applying energy-efficient measures to more than 15 million existing buildings.
British PM urges US to lead on climate change
6 Mar 2009
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has urged the United States to harness historic global goodwill to pull the world out of its economic slump and lead the charge against climate change.
Airlines could have planes seized under emissions rules
6 Mar 2009
Britain’s Environment Agency is to be given powers to seize planes from airlines which break the rules of a new scheme to limit flights' carbon emissions.
UN drives roadmap for halving car emissions
6 Mar 2009
With the world's car fleet expected to triple by 2050, a roadmap to halve greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles by that date was laid out by United Nations at the Geneva Motor Show.
New report slams state of world’s fisheries
6 Mar 2009
The fishing industry must do more to confront the effects of climate change as well as get a grip on the perennial problem of overfishing, says a new UN report.
Australia votes $32 million for soil and emissions study
6 Mar 2009
The Australian Government will spend nearly $32 million to research soil carbon and nitrous oxide emissions in agriculture.
Consumers get paid in US ‘cap and dividend’ scheme
3 Mar 2009
US Congressman Chris van Hollen says he plans to introduce legislation soon that would cap carbon emissions, require all emission allowances to be sold at auction and distribute at least 90 per cent of the auction revenues to consumers in the form of monthly dividend checks.
Obama raises hopes for Copenhagen climate pact
3 Mar 2009
Until recently, the idea that the world’s most powerful nations might come together to tackle global warming seemed an environmentalist’s pipedream.
'Alive and well' AAUs surviving money crisis
3 Mar 2009
The market for government-level emissions rights under the Kyoto Protocol is alive and well, mostly unfazed by the global economic downturn, according to Reuters.
Planted forests critical to wood supplies, says UN
3 Mar 2009
Planted forests which provided wood that is renewable, energy efficient and environmentally friendly have become increasingly critical to future supplies, according to a new study by the United Nations.
Greenpeace targets US toilet paper
3 Mar 2009
Greenpeace is urging the United States to take a second look at its toilet paper manufacturing industry for its use of virgin material on something that is flushed after a few seconds of use.
Carbon price floor not the way to go, say experts
27 Feb 2009
Falling carbon prices should not be supported through artificial price floors or direct government intervention, as this may deter new players and stunt the still-nascent market's growth, carbon market experts believe.
Pressure builds on Rudd to delay emissions scheme
27 Feb 2009
The Rudd government yesterday came under renewed pressure to delay plans for carbon trading when Australia’s leading industry body claimed the global downturn made a 2010 start unrealistic.
Australia goes all-out to cut animal gas emissions
27 Feb 2009
Australia will invest in a major research effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from livestock – the nation’s third largest source of emissions, including methane.
Green activists change minds over nuclear power
27 Feb 2009
Britain’s green lobby for the first time has come out in support of nuclear power technology after years of opposition.
There’s money to be made in climate change
27 Feb 2009
The number of lobbyists seeking to influence United States federal policy on climate change has grown more than 300 per cent in five years, according to a new Center for Public Integrity report.
Consumers keen for energy answers, says report
27 Feb 2009
Consumers around the globe are willing to become more involved with managing their energy use, says a new report by US-based Global Business Services.
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 erratic weather persists
Today 12:00pm
Firefighters struggled on Tuesday to contain Spain's largest wildfire of the year, while two firefighters were killed battling a fire in southwestern France, as an extreme heatwave continued to fuel dangerous conditions across Europe, bringing drought and forecasts of severe hailstorms.
Millions face long-term coastal flooding risk in UK without climate action, scientists warn
Today 12:00pm
Up to 13 million people in the UK face the long-term risk of coastal flooding due to the climate crisis, scientists have warned, with a “reasonable worst-case scenario” suggesting the need for the large-scale movement of populations away from a dramatically reshaped coast.
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.
Extreme heat costing India’s poorest workers 2% of GDP, survey finds
Today 12:00pm
India’s informal workers are estimated to be losing $78 billion in wages per year because of productivity declines and illness caused by intensifying heat.
‘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”.
