International: All stories
Food disaster looms in Pacific, says UN report
5 Dec 2008
Disasters linked to climate change such as cyclones, flash floods and droughts are likely to have a serious impact on food production in Pacific island nations, a new United Nations report warns.
Hawaii signs up for electric car network
5 Dec 2008
Hawaii has become the first US state to confirm it will establish a network of electric car stations to wean the islands off oil.
10,000 turn up for crucial climate talks in Poland
2 Dec 2008
The latest round of United Nations-led negotiations aimed at reaching an ambitious global climate change deal next year began today in Poznan, Poland, drawing more than 10,000 participants from governments, business and industry, environmental groups and research institutions.
UK climate chief cracks down on coal-fired energy
2 Dec 2008
Britain’s chief climate change adviser has come down hard on coal, saying new coal-fired power stations should be built only on the understanding that they would be retro-fitted with carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology by the early 2020s.
Australia’s final carbon scheme out this month
2 Dec 2008
The final shape of Australia’s future emissions trading will be known on December 15 when Climate Change Minister Penny Wong releases the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme white paper.
Germany cuts gas emissions to below Kyoto marks
2 Dec 2008
Germany has cut its greenhouse gas emissions to below levels required under the Kyoto Protocol on climate change, the government in Berlin has announced on the eve of a crucial climate conference in Poland.
Religious leaders united in call for climate curbs
2 Dec 2008
Leaders of the world's major religions have called for "rapid and large emission cuts in the rich world".
Hot air: Poznan talks will create 13,000 tonnes of carbon
2 Dec 2008
Staging a global forum on climate change is a dilemma, for it adds to very problem it is trying to solve.
CO2 levels reach highest point … and still growing
28 Nov 2008
Levels of climate-warming greenhouse gases continue to increase in the atmosphere, the World Meteorological Organisation says in its latest report.
POZNAN 1: Where the big players stand
28 Nov 2008
After a year of debate on what a post-Kyoto climate deal should look like, the United Nations has published a report setting out its ideas in the hope that it will facilitate an agreement during negotiations in Poznan, Poland, next week.
POZNAN 2: We need a shared vision, says UN chief
28 Nov 2008
The need for a shared vision in long-term world collaboration on climate change will be stressed by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at the climate change talks in Poznan next week.
POZNAN 3: Our stand won’t change, vows India
28 Nov 2008
Emerging Asian powerhouse India has made it clear that the Poznan talks next week will not bring a change in its controversial stance on greenhouse gas emissions.
POZNAN 4: Maldives awaits dawn of doomsday
28 Nov 2008
The fate of the Maldives, South Asia's most expensive tourist destination, is set to be one of the features in discussions at the UN climate conference in Poznan next week
Shell signs for Australia’s carbon capture institute
28 Nov 2008
Royal Dutch Shell, Europe’s biggest oil company, will become a founding member of Australia’s $A100 million carbon capture and storage institute aimed at speeding low-emissions power output.
‘Green Pope’ switches Vatican on to solar energy
28 Nov 2008
Eco-friendly Pope Benedict will be warmed by solar heating in the Vatican hall where he holds his weekly general audience with the faithful.
British climate change bill shows how it can be done
25 Nov 2008
New Zealand lawmakers might be unable to agree on how to tackle climate change, but an extraordinary show of cross-party unity by their British counterparts is about to make that country the first in the world to have legally binding emissions reductions targets.
Key joins APEC leaders in call to fight climate change
25 Nov 2008
New Zealand Prime Minister John Key, whose new government has suspended the country’s emissions trading scheme, is among Asia-Pacific leaders who have collectively called for a comprehensive effort to address climate change through international cooperation.
Top entrepreneurs see climate change as growing strategic concern
25 Nov 2008
Leading entrepreneurs view climate change as a growing strategic concern, according to a survey conducted as part of Ernst & Young's second annual global cleantech insights and trends report.
Governors sign pact to work with Obama – and each other
25 Nov 2008
US state leaders are cheering President-elect Barack Obama's plans to make addressing climate change a national priority - but say they'll continue to move forward on their own.
New UN guide seeks to reduce computer waste
25 Nov 2008
The United Nations has launched a new guide on how to recycle computer equipment in a way that minimises the impact of waste on health and the environment, particularly in developing countries.
Obama vows ‘new chapter’ in US climate change policy
21 Nov 2008
President-elect Barack Obama has sent an explicit message to international negotiators of a new global warming treaty that, under his administration, the US will move to greatly reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by the middle of the century.
Protests follow UK’s first carbon permits auction
21 Nov 2008
The UK government is facing protests from various quarters after it said that the proceeds of the sale of carbon permits would not necessarily be used to tackle climate change issues.
British MPs pass landmark climate change bill
21 Nov 2008
MPs have given final approval to a bill committing Britain to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 80 per cent by 2050 - the first country to have such a legally binding framework on climate change.
Climate change momentum fading, says survey
21 Nov 2008
Climate change is fading as a priority in the Pacific Rim as the gloomy state of the global economy takes precedence, a survey of opinion leaders showed this week.
Europe's $14 billion clean-coal plan running out of backers
21 Nov 2008
A European proposal to spend $US14 billion testing how to pump greenhouse gases underground is itself getting buried.
Voluntary carbon market first to embrace REDD
21 Nov 2008
The Voluntary Carbon Standard (VCS) has become the first global carbon accounting standard to introduce robust rules designed to unlock vital funding for credible agriculture, forestry and other land use (AFOLU) projects.
Climate change goes to Hollywood
21 Nov 2008
Climate change is going to the movies. Maybe not, but screen writers gathered in Los Angeles anyway to discuss how incorporating the growing threat of climate change into primetime storylines could inspire viewers to live green.
China outlines plans for domestic carbon trading
18 Nov 2008
Chinese officials claim their government will establish a nationwide carbon trading scheme.
Beware the brown peril – the abc of ABCs
18 Nov 2008
A three kilometre-thick "brown cloud" of man-made pollution, which stretches from the Arabian Peninsula to China to the western Pacific Ocean, is making Asian cities darker, speeding up the melting of Himalayan glaciers and affecting human health, according to a new United Nations Environment Programme report.
Aussies march to back climate change action
18 Nov 2008
Tens of thousands of Australians took part in mass protests at the weekend to call for tough government action on controlling climate change.
Arnie orders full steam ahead on climate strategy
18 Nov 2008
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has ordered state agencies to begin preparing for the projected impacts of global warming on the economy, people and natural resources.
Shopping centre forms America’s first carbon neutral zone
18 Nov 2008
The green movement in the United State has taken a significant step forward with the launch in Atlanta of the country’s first "carbon neutral zone.”
Carbon-sniffing satellite sleuth readies for launch
18 Nov 2008
NASA's first spacecraft dedicated to studying carbon dioxide, the leading human-produced greenhouse gas driving changes in Earth's climate, has arrived at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, to begin final launch preparations.
Exxon Mobil chief slams Australian ETS modelling
14 Nov 2008
Oil giant Exxon Mobil has taken a potshot at the Australian Treasury's view of the likely economic effects of emissions trading, saying it wanted no part of the carbon reduction scheme.
Ban calls on economic summit to tackle global warming
14 Nov 2008
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called for this weekend’s Washington summit on the global financial crisis to seize the opportunity to tackle global warming as well, stressing that such action would create jobs and boost the world’s economies.
World-wide investment in clean energy falls sharply
14 Nov 2008
Investment in low-carbon technologies is suffering its first reversal after several years of record growth, as the financial crisis dims the sector's prospects.
1972 book right on target with predicted global collapse
14 Nov 2008
Forecasts of global ecological and economic collapse by mid-century contained in the controversial 1972 book The Limits to Growth are still on-track, according to new CSIRO research.
Australian car makers to get $6 billion green boost
14 Nov 2008
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has announced a $6.2 billion plan to make the automotive industry more economically and environmentally sustainable by 2020.
UN sees need for global body to tackle biodiversity
14 Nov 2008
The possibility of establishing a United Nations-supported scientific intergovernmental body to address biodiversity loss and protect ecosystems is being discussed at a global conference in Malaysia.
Clever climate change thinking could win you $75,000
14 Nov 2008
London’s Financial Times is launching a $75,000 competition to find the world’s most creative ideas for tackling the threat of climate change.
Carbon dioxide levels already in danger zone, says new study
11 Nov 2008
If climate disasters are to be averted, atmospheric carbon dioxide must be reduced below the levels that already exist today, according to a study by a group of 10 scientists from the United States, the United Kingdom and France.
BP decisions big blow to Britain’s energy hopes
11 Nov 2008
International oil giant BP has dealt a double blow to Britain’s energy plans by pulling out of involvement in designing Britain’s first carbon capture and storage project and by announcing it will concentrate its wind-power investments in the United States.
US must take leading role in climate change, says UN official
11 Nov 2008
The head of the United Nations climate change body has said he hopes the United States will take a more active role in fighting global warming once Barack Obama becomes president.
Rudd under pressure to water down emissions scheme
11 Nov 2008
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is under pressure to water down his government’s plans to tackle climate change as the global financial crisis threatens jobs and economic growth, experts say.
Don’t sit around and wait, Aussie farmers told
11 Nov 2008
Australian agriculture can’t afford to sit around and wait until 2013 for government to decide how it fits into the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme, a global expert in carbon trading says.
Shell chief urges Canadian governments to take control
11 Nov 2008
One of Canada’s top oil men says voluntary efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions have failed and should be replaced by coherent and consistent government-mandated rules.
Meeting hears why Africa left behind in carbon offset trade
11 Nov 2008
Administrative and technical problems mean that Africa cannot profit from schemes to tackle climate change through projects to cut carbon emissions in developing countries, climate specialists meeting in Dakar said.
Obama 1: Dark days ahead for fossil fuels
7 Nov 2008
The election of Barack Obama as US President signals a tectonic shift in the nation’s attitudes to future energy sources and to the environment.
Obama 2: Climate plan must have priority, says Pachauri
7 Nov 2008
President-elect Barack Obama should put global warming ahead of a domestic plan to cut carbon emissions, says Rajendra Pachauri, head of a Nobel Prize-winning United Nations panel of climate-change scientists.
Obama 3: Canada quick to seek climate deal
7 Nov 2008
Canada has its eyes on a North American-wide climate change deal with president-elect Barack Obama, the country's Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon said yesterday.
Australia opens first carbon refinery, making new products from captured CO2
Wed 24 Jun 2026
Australia’s first carbon refinery opened in New South Wales, capturing carbon dioxide from explosives giant Orica's ammonia-making operations on Kooragang Island and turning it into products such as concrete, paper and glass.
US defence spending on critical minerals surges in the last decade
Mon 22 Jun 2026
Members of communities affected by some of these projects said that U.S. state backing has meant projects are being fast-tracked without the necessary social and environmental checks or meaningful consultation.
China's coal power on the rise again in 2026, reversing first-in-a-decade decline
Thu 25 Jun 2026
China's coal-fired power generation is set to rebound this year from its first fall in a decade, analysts said, due to the impact of El Nino and the Iran war and as renewable sources of energy have failed to keep pace with demand.
France records hottest day ever as 40 people drown across country
Thu 25 Jun 2026
France has registered its hottest day on record as 40 people across the country were confirmed to have drowned while swimming in unsupervised areas over the last few days.
London event on extreme heat adaptation cancelled as heatwave grips
Thu 25 Jun 2026
An event due to be held in central London about how the world can adapt to extreme heat has been cancelled due to soaring temperatures.
Canada signs landmark LNG energy deal with Germany
29 May 2026
Canada has announced a landmark energy agreement with Germany that will see the first-ever long-term shipments of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Canada to Europe in the coming years.
Asia warming nearly twice as fast as before
19 Jun 2026
A new report from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) highlights record ocean heat, accelerating glacier loss and a series of extreme weather events causing significant human and economic losses across Asia.
‘Those blocking climate science are not our friends': Pacific leaders warn at Bonn talks
Tue 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.
Antarctica’s west coast missing an area of sea ice the size of France as temperatures peak 20C above average
16 Jun 2026
A vast area of the Bellingshausen Sea should be covered by sea ice by now, with one expert calling the loss of ice ‘depressing’.
Verra reinstates Kenya carbon project despite ongoing court case
Thu 25 Jun 2026
The Northern Kenya Grassland Carbon project is “the world’s largest soil carbon removal project” according the organisation running the project. It is also one of the most controversial carbon projects anywhere in the world.
Colombia’s climate crossroads: Trumpism casts shadow over presidential battle
26 May 2026
Colombia is a global leader in climate activism. Could US influence drag country to a future of mining and fracking?
UN chief says fossil fuel industry must cut methane for warming “relief”
Thu 25 Jun 2026
UN chief António Guterres called for stronger action to cut emissions of planet-heating methane, taking aim at the fossil fuel industry’s practices and profits, and pointing to coal, oil and gas as the root of today’s climate and energy crises.
