International: All stories
India, China step into leadership vacuum at climate meet as the West retreats
25 Nov 2025
With the US withdrawing from the Paris Agreement and Europe distracted by war-driven pressures, India and China have emerged as anchors at the Brazil climate summit by shaping climate finance and trade negotiations through coordinated positions.
The world lost the climate gamble. Now it faces a dangerous new reality
25 Nov 2025
Ten years ago the world’s leaders placed a historic bet. The 2015 Paris agreement aimed to put humanity on a path to avert dangerous climate change. A decade on, with the latest climate conference ending in Belém, Brazil, without decisive action, we can definitively say humanity has lost this bet.
G20 summit declaration stresses seriousness of climate change in snub to Trump
25 Nov 2025
The Leaders' Declaration from a Group of 20 summit in South Africa on Saturday stressed the seriousness of climate change, in a snub to U.S. President Donald Trump, who boycotted the gathering and doubts the scientific consensus that global warming is caused by human activities.
The strange and totally real plan to blot out the sun and reverse global warming
25 Nov 2025
A 25-person startup is developing technology to block the sun and turn down the planet’s thermostat. The stakes are huge – and the company and its critics say regulations need to catch up.
COP30 fails to land deal on fossil fuel transition but triples finance for climate adaptation
24 Nov 2025
Instead of a global agreement to create roadmaps to shift away from fossil fuels and end deforestation, Brazil announces voluntary initiatives.
Article 6 wraps up with progress in hand and challenges ahead
24 Nov 2025
At COP30 in Belém, negotiators made a delicate balancing act in the evolving world of global carbon markets. Amid the buzz of side meetings and plenary sessions, key decisions on Articles 6.2 and 6.4 revealed both progress and caution.
Five key takeaways from a deeply divisive climate summit
24 Nov 2025
In three decades of these meetings aimed at forging global consensus on how to prevent and deal with global warming, this will go down as among the most divisive.
Ukraine to claim $44bn in climate damages from Russia: Why war is so bad for emissions
24 Nov 2025
Ukraine plans to seek nearly $44 billion in damages from Russia for emissions caused by the ongoing war, marking the first time a country will claim damages for an increase in emissions caused by conflict.
Trump, war, absent media: five threats to climate progress that dogged COP30
24 Nov 2025
Did the talks succeed or fail? The verdict must take account of the geopolitical minefield they took place in.
Europe plans service to gauge climate change role in extreme weather
24 Nov 2025
The EU is launching a service to measure the role climate change is playing in extreme weather events like heatwaves and extreme rain, and experts say this could help governments set climate policy, improve financial risk assessments and provide evidence for use in lawsuits.
COP30 climate talks evacuated after fire breaks out
21 Nov 2025
The UN climate talks COP30 have been evacuated due to a fire breaking out inside the venue in Belém, Brazil.
Turkey set to host COP31 after reaching compromise with Australia
21 Nov 2025
The COP31 climate meeting is now expected to be held in Turkey after Australia dropped its bid to host the annual event.
Pacific Islands rue lost chance to host COP climate summit
21 Nov 2025
Pacific islanders decried on Thursday a wasted chance to draw eyes to their climate troubles, after their bid to co-host next year's COP climate summit was brushed aside.
Early COP30 climate deal eludes Brazil, but Lula remains upbeat
21 Nov 2025
Brazil failed to land an early COP30 climate deal on Wednesday, though President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva remained upbeat about the prospects of progress in the last two days of the summit despite differences between nations on key issues.
China’s diesel trucks are shifting to electric. That could change global LNG and diesel demand
21 Nov 2025
China is replacing its diesel trucks with electric models faster than expected, potentially reshaping global fuel demand and the future of heavy transport.
Trump’s anti-climate agenda could result in 1.3m more deaths globally, analysis finds
21 Nov 2025
Fallout from increased emissions linked to president’s ‘America First’ policies expected to most affect those in poor, hot countries.
COP-and-trade? Tariffs, carbon tax weigh on climate talks
20 Nov 2025
Trade-restrictive measures loom large over this year's UN climate summit, with China pushing for wider market access for its green technologies and major developing economies challenging Europe over its new carbon border tax.
At COP30, focus on wildfire prevention amid record destruction
20 Nov 2025
With wildfires causing unprecedented damage, countries and organisations at COP30 agree to boost community-based prevention.
Artificial intelligence sparks debate at COP30 climate talks in Brazil
20 Nov 2025
At the U.N. climate talks in Brazil, artificial intelligence is being cast as both a hero worthy of praise and a villain that needs policing.
A landmark court ruling looms over US absence at COP30
20 Nov 2025
The historic climate change advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice suggests the United States is violating international law on climate, legal experts say.
China’s top envoy blasts EU climate goals and Trump’s ‘bad example’
20 Nov 2025
The European Union’s new pollution-cutting targets are insufficient, China’s climate envoy told POLITICO on the sidelines of this year’s COP30 conference while also condemning the “bad example” set by the absent United States.
It’s crunch time for the Forest COP – will we let them burn?
20 Nov 2025
We must sustain the momentum on forest finance and a roadmap to secure their future at COP30.
Brazil releases draft text and letter to accelerate COP30 climate negotiations
19 Nov 2025
With a direct letter sent to nations and a draft text released Tuesday, host country Brazil is shifting the U.N. climate conference into a higher gear.
Clamour for change inside the world's COP30 climate negotiations
19 Nov 2025
An existential question hangs over this year's COP30 summit in Brazil: what are the annual U.N. climate negotiations really for?
China’s carbon plateau: A turning point or a temporary pause?
19 Nov 2025
For a quarter century, China has been the dominant driver of rising global carbon emissions. Its rapid industrialisation, swelling electricity demand, and unprecedented construction boom have shaped the world’s carbon trajectory more than any other country.
Ecuador’s voters protect rights of nature, reject proposal to rewrite constitution
19 Nov 2025
Ecuadorians handed their Trump-allied president a resounding defeat, choosing to maintain their “ecological constitution” and rejecting an attempt to allow foreign military bases in the country.
South Korean decision to close all coal-fired power plants by 2040 sounds alarm for Australian exports
19 Nov 2025
Decision announced at Cop30 climate conference signposts risks for Australia’s reliance on fossil fuel exports, analysts say.
The fast-fix for global warming that the UN climate summit can’t ignore
19 Nov 2025
Despite rapid progress in clean energy and electric vehicles, the world is still warming faster than ever. The good news is that we already have powerful ways to reduce the warming rate – if governments look beyond carbon dioxide and focus on a broader set of pollutants.
Nations hit by natural disasters tell ministers at climate talks to act
18 Nov 2025
Battered by last month’s ferocious climate-fueled hurricane, Jamaica joined other small island nations and impoverished countries at Monday’s United Nations climate talks to implore the rest of the world to stop talking and start acting. Their message: Our lives are on the line.
Thousands march outside COP30 summit in call for action
18 Nov 2025
Marching to the beat of pounding sound systems, thousands of climate protesters have been bringing their message to the gates of the COP30 climate talks in Brazil.
Australia rejects offer to co-host UN climate summit with Turkey
18 Nov 2025
Australia rejected on Monday Turkey's offer to co-host next year's UN climate summit, which Canberra is pushing to take place in the city of Adelaide.
Brazilian lawmakers seek to decimate green laws one week after hosting climate summit
18 Nov 2025
Changes would damage President Lula’s efforts to cast Brazil as an environmental leader.
The hidden dangers in Canada’s oil and gas ambitions
18 Nov 2025
Premier of Alberta Danielle Smith thinks global demand for oil will grow to 2050, perhaps beyond, and the Alberta industry will be viable for a hundred years.
Can methane cuts pull us back from the brink of climate breakdown?
18 Nov 2025
With temperatures breaching the Paris limit, experts say tackling the powerful gas could buy crucial time as the clean-energy shift stalls.
Fossil fuel lobbyists outnumber all COP30 delegations except Brazil, report says
17 Nov 2025
One in every 25 participants at 2025 UN climate summit is a fossil fuel lobbyist, according to Kick Big Polluters Out.
A crucial system of ocean currents may be on course to collapse. This country just declared it a national security threat
17 Nov 2025
As evidence mounts these currents could be on course for collapse, Iceland’s government has made the unusual move of designating the risk a national security threat.
A fossil fuel fight brews at COP30 as delegates draft road map
17 Nov 2025
Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva surprised many at the opening ceremony of the COP30 leaders summit in Belém last week when he called for world leaders to prepare a road map to “overcome dependence on fossil fuels.”
South Korean growers sue state power utility, blaming climate change for crop damage
17 Nov 2025
Five South Korean farmers recently sued the state utility Korea Electric Power Corporation and its power-generating subsidiaries, alleging that their reliance on coal and other fossil fuels has accelerated climate change and damaged their crops.
World oil market faces even larger 2026 surplus, IEA says
17 Nov 2025
The global oil market faces an even bigger surplus next year of as much as 4.09 million barrels per day as OPEC+ producers and rivals lift output and demand growth slows, the International Energy Agency said on Thursday.
Despite record turnout, only 14% of Indigenous Brazilians are expected to access decision-making spaces at Cop30
17 Nov 2025
The Coalition of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB) estimates 2,500 Indigenous people from across Brazil have gathered in Belém. Leaders are demanding a bigger role in the negotiations and the inclusion of land demarcation as climate policy.
Australia's green energy push, Pacific ties face setback from COP31 impasse
14 Nov 2025
Australia risks undermining efforts to establish itself as a leader in the green energy transition and letting down its vulnerable Pacific island neighbours if its bid to host next year's biggest climate summit fails, diplomats and analysts say.
World still on track for catastrophic 2.6C temperature rise, report finds
14 Nov 2025
Fossil fuel emissions have hit a record high while many nations have done too little to avert deadly global heating.
COP30: Brazil tries to find a home for tricky issues
14 Nov 2025
Brazil is trying to craft a compromise package on several contentious issues and has dismissed the idea of a roadmap away from fossil fuels.
Fossil fuel emissions rise again – but renewables boom offers hope for climate
14 Nov 2025
The world's burning of fossil fuels is set to release more planet-warming carbon dioxide than ever before this year, new figures show.
Liberal Party formally abandons net zero by 2050 climate target
14 Nov 2025
The Liberal Party has agreed to scrap its commitment to reach net zero emissions by 2050, which was first set under the Morrison government.
Trump is said to propose opening California coast to oil drilling
14 Nov 2025
Gov. Gavin Newsom, a chief critic of the president and an opponent of oil exploration in the Pacific, called the proposal “dead on arrival.”
IEA: Fossil-fuel use will peak before 2030 – unless ‘stated policies’ are abandoned
13 Nov 2025
The world’s fossil-fuel use is still on track to peak before 2030, despite a surge in political support for coal, oil and gas, according to data from the International Energy Agency (IEA).
Ethiopia set to host UN's 2027 climate summit, 2026 undecided
13 Nov 2025
Uncertainty still surrounds which country will host next year's UN climate conference: Australia or Turkey. But for 2027, there's little mystery: it will almost certainly be Ethiopia, an African diplomatic powerhouse.
Protesters and UN security clash at climate summit in Brazil
13 Nov 2025
Activist groups and United Nations security clashed in chaotic scenes late Tuesday after protesters appeared to force their way into the COP30 climate conference venue, in the most serious act of unrest seen in years inside one of the annual gatherings.
Carbon market supporters risk cheating the nature they wish to protect
13 Nov 2025
COMMENT: Efforts to dilute Article 6 rules risk turning the new UN carbon market mechanism into a false climate solution that harms both nature and global climate action.
NSW to ban new coalmines in major shake-up for $23bn industry
Mon 23 Mar 2026
A major shake-up is on the way for one Australian state’s single biggest export, which powers homes here and abroad.
US to pay almost $1bn to French energy company to kill wind project plan
Today 11:45am
As a fuel crisis triggered by the war in Iran drives up global fossil fuel prices, the Trump administration has announced it will pay French energy major TotalEnergies $1bn to kill plans to construct wind farms off the US east coast.
China tells oil refiners to suspend exports
Fri 20 Mar 2026
China has told its largest oil refiners to suspend exports of diesel and gasoline, Bloomberg News reported Thursday, citing unidentified sources, as the war in the Middle East risks an energy supply crunch.
Spain’s Sánchez attacks other EU leaders for exploiting energy prices to gut climate policies
Mon 23 Mar 2026
Spain’s prime minister Pedro Sánchez said his country was on “the right side of history” when it comes to how it has handled the economic and social costs of previous energy crises.
Analysis: CO2 from UK data centres could be ‘hundreds of times’ higher than thought
Today 11:45am
Emissions from the new data centres set to drive the UK’s AI “revolution” could be hundreds of times higher than government estimates, according to analysis by Carbon Brief.
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.
Asia pivots to coal as Middle East conflict chokes LNG supply
Thu 19 Mar 2026
Asian utilities are boosting coal-fired power generation to cut costs and safeguard energy supply, industry officials say, as the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran chokes liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments and soaring prices threaten to suppress LNG demand.
Pacific Nations fear fuel shortages as Middle East war sends oil prices soaring
Fri 20 Mar 2026
Leaders of Samoa and Tonga appealed for help this week as the import-reliant Pacific nations raised fears over possible fuel shortages and escalating costs caused by war in the Middle East.
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.
'Blackwater' lakes and rivers in the Congo Basin are now emitting ancient carbon into the atmosphere
16 Mar 2026
Carbon that has been buried in the Congo Basin's peatlands for millennia is seeping into lakes and rivers. Why this is happening remains unclear, but researchers warn that tropical peatlands could be nearing a tipping point.
Surfing’s big break: how climate crisis insurance may save El Salvador’s waves
Thu 19 Mar 2026
Fearing that extreme weather threatened its epic breaks, Oriente Salvaje is piloting the first surf insurance policy to protect livelihoods and ecosystems.
Iran war should trigger faster exit from fossil fuel dependence, UN climate chief says
Wed 18 Mar 2026
The disruption to energy markets caused by the Iran war is a lesson on the risks of relying on fossil fuels which should drive governments to wean their economies off oil and gas faster, the U.N. climate secretary told Reuters on Monday.
