International: All stories
What Brazil should have said at COP28 - but didn’t
5 Dec 2023
Brazil’s President Lula made important contributions to COP28 in demanding that the 1.5°C temperature increase limit be respected, in recognising the risk of Amazon forest collapse, and in promising to end Brazil’s Amazon deforestation by 2030.
What sea level rise will look like in cities that have hosted climate summits
5 Dec 2023
As global leaders and delegates gather in Dubai for the annual UN climate summit, a new analysis shows how the host cities of previous summits could be inundated — if not entirely submerged — by rising ocean waters.
New Zealand continues to punch above its weight in Fossil awards
4 Dec 2023
New Zealand has once again won itself the dubious honour of a Fossil of the Day Award at COP 28 in Dubai, the third time in as may years.
G7 countries agree to phase out coal by 2030, announces French President Emmanuel Macron
4 Dec 2023
Over $12 billion pledged for Green Climate Fund; 118 countries commit to tripling renewable and double energy efficiency by 2030.
Clashes over fossil fuels, Gaza war at COP28 climate summit
4 Dec 2023
Israel’s assault on Gaza resumes the day after the summit reaches an agreement over a long-sought rehabilitation fund.
US announces $3 billion pledge to green climate fund
4 Dec 2023
Vice President Kamala Harris announced COP28 that the US is pledging $3 billion to the Green Climate Fund — the world’s largest climate fund — created to help developing countries handle climate change.
COP28 president says there is ‘no science’ behind demands for phase-out of fossil fuels
4 Dec 2023
UAE’s Sultan Al Jaber says phase-out of coal, oil and gas would take world ‘back into caves’.
How the US, oil industry plans to drastically cut methane emissions at the forefront of COP28
4 Dec 2023
The US government and the oil industry have announced plans to drastically reduce emissions of methane, one of the most dangerous GHGs, due to its heightened ability to raise global temperatures.
Global hospitals may face imminent shutdowns due to extreme weather
4 Dec 2023
A report by XDI reveals that 1 in 12 hospitals worldwide could face shutdowns due to extreme weather events from climate change.
Climate aid fund established on first day of COP28 after 30-year controversy
1 Dec 2023
COP28 climate summit head Sultan Ahmed al-Jaber notched a win on the first official day of talks in Dubai, with the adoption of an agreement to set up a "loss and damage" fund to help developing nations.
Four questions for COP28 to settle about a global carbon market
1 Dec 2023
As carbon credits face intense scrutiny, negotiators will wrangle over how to ensure the integrity of a new global carbon market.
COP28: How seven policies could help save a billion lives by 2100
1 Dec 2023
In a recent review of more than 180 peer-reviewed articles — which I conducted with fellow researcher Richard Parncutt — we found that a scientific consensus has formed around the so-called 1,000-ton rule.
From tree planting to ‘sponge cities’: why nature-based solutions are crucial to fighting the climate crisis
1 Dec 2023
Nature could hold the key to protecting humanity as the planet heats, but scientists say it is still an underused option.
US expected to reach new record for fossil fuel production this year
1 Dec 2023
The year 2023 is already expected to be the hottest on record, following a record-hot summer. But despite this, the US is expected to reach record numbers in fossil fuel production for the year.
Climate change ambassador explains why Australia won't back Pacific's calls to urgently phase out fossil fuels
1 Dec 2023
Australia's climate change ambassador says the federal government cannot yet back the Pacific's call to rapidly phase out fossil fuels because it's grappling with "complex" and "difficult" issues thrown up by decarbonisation.
Big meat unveils battle plans for COP28
30 Nov 2023
Polluting livestock companies and lobby groups will target pavilions in a coordinated campaign at the UN climate summit, documents show.
Can a climate summit in an oil state change anything?
30 Nov 2023
The world's most important climate meeting, which starts today, is being hosted in Dubai by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) - one of the world's top ten oil producers.
Climate change is the biggest human health risk, says Africa's disease boss
30 Nov 2023
Climate change is the biggest threat to human health in Africa and the rest of the world, the head of the continent's public health agency said.
Has wind power blown it?
30 Nov 2023
Financial headwinds could be a passing storm or a long-term headache for the carbon-free energy source.
US moves to protect wolverines as climate change melts their mountain refuges
30 Nov 2023
The North American wolverine will receive long-delayed threatened species protections under a Biden administration proposal released in response to scientists warning that climate change will likely push them toward extinction.
We can’t address the climate crisis without nature
30 Nov 2023
At a climate summit, Bill Gates sparked controversy by dismissing tree planting as a climate crisis solution, calling it “complete nonsense.”
Saudi Arabia’s grand plan to ‘hook’ poor countries on oil
29 Nov 2023
Climate scientists say fossil fuel use needs to fall rapidly – but oil-rich kingdom is working to drive up demand.
Biden not scheduled to attend COP 28 climate summit
29 Nov 2023
US President Biden is not expected to attend the opening of COP 28 this week but will send top US officials to the UN climate summit in Dubai, the White House confirmed.
Who wants what at COP28?
29 Nov 2023
As a year of record-breaking temperatures and climate change-fuelled disasters draws to a close, nations are once again preparing to gather for another round of UN climate talks.
World's biggest iceberg three times the size of New York City is escaping Antarctica after almost 40 years
29 Nov 2023
The gigantic iceberg A23a, which broke off from Antarctica in 1986, is finally moving away from the icy continent after being stuck on the seafloor for decades.
Leaks reveal how McKinsey drives African climate agenda
29 Nov 2023
Whistleblowers raise alarm over American consultancy’s growing influence in pushing carbon markets and developing energy transition plans.
No easy way to communicate the impacts of climate change, says study
29 Nov 2023
A new study outlines how researchers sought to reduce the psychological distance of climate change by showing a 3D virtual simulation of a storm surge to see if it would change their behaviours and attitudes regarding climate change.
COP28: UAE planned to use climate talks to make oil deals
28 Nov 2023
The United Arab Emirates planned to use its role as the host of UN climate talks as an opportunity to strike oil and gas deals, the BBC has learned.
The green battery of the future is right under your feet
28 Nov 2023
As the world transitions to renewable energy, some researchers are looking for a more Earth-friendly alternative to lithium ion batteries.
Portugal just ran on 100 percent renewables for six days in a row
28 Nov 2023
For nearly a week, the country of 10 million met customer needs with wind, hydro and solar — a test run for operating the grid without fossil fuels.
Heat, disease, air pollution: how climate change impacts health
28 Nov 2023
Growing calls for the world to come to grips with the many ways that global warming affects human health have prompted the first day dedicated to the issue at crunch UN climate talks.
Most people don’t realise how much progress we’ve made on climate change
28 Nov 2023
The rapid rise of renewables and EVs has already put us on a safer path.
Indigenous peoples and local communities can make the voluntary carbon market work for them
28 Nov 2023
The voluntary carbon market has the potential to address $4.1 trillion in nature financing gap by 2050 and support Indigenous peoples and local communities — when done right.
Oil and gas industry needs to let go of carbon capture as solution to climate change, IEA says
27 Nov 2023
The oil and gas industry faces a reckoning over its role in the clean energy transition, according to an International Energy Agency report.
Australia climate change activists disrupt shipping at coal port
27 Nov 2023
A climate change protest off Australia's east coast disrupted operations at the country's biggest coal export port on Saturday.
Green growth or degrowth: what is the right way to tackle climate change?
27 Nov 2023
Nearly all the world’s governments and vast numbers of its people are convinced that addressing human-induced climate change is essential if healthy societies are to survive.
Brazil to propose mega fund to conserve forests at COP28 climate summit
27 Nov 2023
Brazil plans to propose a “huge” fund to pay for the conservation of tropical forests at the United Nations COP28 climate change summit, the country’s top climate negotiator said.
Devastating flooding in East Africa
27 Nov 2023
Heavy rainfall led to extensive flooding in Somalia, Ethiopia, and Kenya in October and November.
China engineers complete largest solar farm on Earth in UAE ahead of Cop28
27 Nov 2023
The 4 million panels in the desert outside Abu Dhabi will reduce carbon emissions by 2.4 million tonnes per year and power 200,000 households.
Thousands of fossil fuel lobbyists attend COP meetings: NGOs
24 Nov 2023
Delegates openly affiliated with oil, gas and coal firms have attended the UN climate talks to address the escalating global impacts of human-induced climate change at least 7,200 times over the last 20 years.
In numbers: The state of the climate ahead of COP28
24 Nov 2023
Annual emissions may have just peaked but the world’s temperature will keep rising until we reach net zero.
Pacific women are among the most vulnerable to extreme weather
24 Nov 2023
Roughly 90 kilometres from northern Bougainville, the Carteret Islands were the first place in the world to move people due to climate change-related sea level rise.
China rolls out product carbon footprint directive in bid to meet global standards
24 Nov 2023
State planner NDRC sets new policy to calculate, label carbon footprints for ‘key products’ as EU moves toward carbon border tax.
Shell to face human rights claims in UK over chronic oil pollution in Niger delta
24 Nov 2023
More than 13,000 Nigerian villagers can bring legal claims against oil firm, rules high court.
The case for climate neuroscience
24 Nov 2023
In a new paper, brain scientists lay out how their field could probe the reciprocal relationships between the changing climate and the brain.
Is it too late to keep global warming below 1.5C? The challenge in seven charts
23 Nov 2023
Chances are rapidly disappearing to limit Earth’s temperature rise to the globally agreed mark, but researchers say there are some positive signs of progress.
US carbon emissions set to fall again, a key sign of progress
23 Nov 2023
A projected drop in US greenhouse gas emissions—one of the largest of the past decade—is still not enough to meet the country’s commitments under the Paris climate accord.
Why deals at COP28 to ‘triple renewables’ and ‘double efficiency’ are crucial for 1.5C
23 Nov 2023
COP28 president Sultan Al Jaber has urged governments to agree on global goals to triple renewables capacity and double the rate of energy efficiency improvements by 2030.
Iraqis displaced by climate change fall into poverty
23 Nov 2023
In a country of 43 million people, nearly one Iraqi in five lives in an area suffering from water shortages.
Ban private jets to address climate crisis, says Thomas Piketty
23 Nov 2023
French economist says class inequality must be at centre of climate response and calls for progressive carbon taxes.
No room for the timid: setting Australia’s 2035 emissions target is a daring tightrope act
Tue 26 Aug 2025
Any week now, Australia will set its 2035 emissions target. It must signal the nation’s strong ambition on climate action, to drive policy and investment. And it must avoid being seen as either unrealistic or too costly.
California is backsliding on climate progress. It’s (mostly) Gavin Newsom’s fault
Tue 26 Aug 2025
The California Supreme Court just gave state officials a golden opportunity to revitalize the rooftop solar industry, helping millions of homes and businesses lower their electric bills and fight the climate crisis.
Is historically arid Beijing ready for a wetter future?
Mon 25 Aug 2025
Beijing's mountainous northern Huairou district and neighbouring Miyun district received a year's worth of rain in a single week, triggering flash floods that devastated entire villages and killed 44 people in the deadliest flood since 2012.
EU wildfires hit new record as flames scorch area larger than Cyprus
Mon 25 Aug 2025
The area burned this year has exceeded the 1 million hectare mark for the first time since records started in 2006.
What happens to net zero if the trees don’t survive?
20 Aug 2025
When climate change undermines the climate plan.
Challenges persist in bid to mine the deep sea, even after boost from Trump
29 Jul 2025
After years of delay, the deep-sea mining plans of Canadian firm The Metals Company (TMC) now appear to be progressing as it pursues a controversial new path to securing a license to mine in international waters under U.S. jurisdiction.
India needs $467 billion climate finance by 2030 to decarbonise 4 key sectors
Mon 25 Aug 2025
India will need to mobilise USD $467 billion in climate finance by 2030 to put four of its most carbon-intensive sectors – power, steel, cement and transport – on a low-carbon pathway.
Rise in dengue fever outbreaks across the Pacific driven by the climate crisis, experts say
13 Aug 2025
Samoa, Fiji and Tonga among the worst affected amid warning the disease and others will become ‘more common and more serious’ as the planet warms.
Iconic Antarctic species at risk amid 'regime shift', with 'rapid and self-perpetuating changes'
Fri 22 Aug 2025
Scientists say there is emerging evidence of abrupt and potentially unstoppable changes in the Antarctic environment.
Africa’s top climate change challenges: a fairer deal on phasing out fossil fuels and mobilising funds
Fri 22 Aug 2025
African countries have made binding commitments to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. To do this, they will need to shift to renewable energy and stop mining and using fossil fuels like oil and coal.
Bolivia will choose a new president but environmental activists see little hope of progress
Fri 22 Aug 2025
Many Indigenous and environmental leaders doubt the election will bring progress in stopping deforestation, wildfires or pollution in the Amazon.
Brazil issues last-ditch plea for countries to submit climate plans ahead of COP30
20 Aug 2025
Only 28 countries have submitted carbon-cutting proposals to the UN, with some of the biggest emitters yet to produce plans.
