International: All stories
Climate foes push Great Reset conspiracy theory
7 Dec 2022
People being forced to eat bugs. Confiscated cars. Cities going dark as electric lights are turned off. Climate lockdowns. Welcome to the conspiratorial world of the “Great Reset” theory.
UAE plans to have it both ways as Cop28 climate summit host
7 Dec 2022
The Gulf oil and gas exporter is going big on renewable energy investment and food security, while expanding hydrocarbon production.
London exchange lists its first carbon fund
7 Dec 2022
The London Stock Exchange is launching its first fund on its Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM), which aims to channel funding to climate mitigation projects that generate carbon credits, it said in a statement Monday.
UN report urges countries to treble nature funding by 2030
6 Dec 2022
Global funding to combat biodiversity loss and climate change needs to treble by the end of the decade, a major UN report has found.
EU chief flags concerns about Biden’s ‘buy American’ climate plans
6 Dec 2022
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stressed the need to adjust EU state aid rules, argued for European funding for a European industrial policy, and insisted on upholding cordial relations with the US ahead of biannual consultations.
The UN says new biodiversity credits can succeed where carbon offsets have failed
6 Dec 2022
The United Nations supports biodiversity credits as a way to boost funding for conservation efforts, but critics warn that the new financial instrument could give companies another tool to burnish green credentials without changing the way they do it do business, change.
Half of Australia’s biggest companies have net-zero emissions plans, but climate action may come too late
6 Dec 2022
About half of Australia’s biggest listed companies have plans to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions, new analysis has found.
Earth’s lakes contributing disproportionately to greenhouse gas emissions
6 Dec 2022
A new study published in Nature Communications shows that over the last 40 years, the surface area of lakes worldwide has increased by more than 17,760 square miles, which is larger than the entire nation of Denmark.
COP15: Climate-style deal demanded to halt nature loss and avert survival crisis
5 Dec 2022
Nations around the world are being urged to agree a climate-style deal to halt and reverse nature loss, which is seen as vital to human survival.
Indonesia to build coal plants despite $20b deal on clean energy transition
5 Dec 2022
Indonesia will continue building new coal-fired power plants, despite a recent $20 billion deal with the G7 group of industrialized countries to help it transition to clean energy.
Parking lots are becoming as important as cars in climate change efforts
5 Dec 2022
It’s not just cars that will be going through energy transition in the years ahead. The parking lots where EVs recharge are a growing focus of construction efforts linked to climate change and carbon reduction.
Guyana sells $750 mn of carbon credit to US oil firm Hess
5 Dec 2022
U.S.-owned Hess Corporation, a consortium partner in Guyana’s offshore oil sector, has agreed to buy $750 million worth of carbon credits from the South American nation in the next decade as it works to ensure Guyana’s almost intact Amazonian rainforests remain standing for decades to come, officials said Saturday.
£35m carbon neutral high school opens in Cheltenham
5 Dec 2022
A £35m carbon neutral high school has opened its doors to pupils.
Bowen says Australia poised to beat 2030 climate target, as emissions plateau
2 Dec 2022
Australia expects to beat its national emissions of a 43% reduction by 2030, despite no decrease in emissions over the past year, according to climate and energy minister Chris Bowen
EU climate chief defends plans for 'carbon farming'
2 Dec 2022
The European Union's top climate official on Wednesday dismissed criticism from environmental groups over its proposal to incorporate carbon removal methods into its climate plans, insisting the plan won't undermine the bloc's efforts to tackle global warming.
Climate 'tragedy': Vanuatu to relocate 'dozens' of villages
2 Dec 2022
Vanuatu is drawing up plans to relocate "dozens" of villages within the next two years, as they come under threat from rising seas, the Pacific nation's climate chief told AFP Thursday.
Australian saltmarshes sequestered 10m tonnes of carbon in 2021
2 Dec 2022
Saltmarsh ecosystems are protecting more than 88,000 homes from storm surges and are sequestering carbon at a rapid rate, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Vanuatu publishes draft resolution seeking climate justice at UN court
1 Dec 2022
Vanuatu has published a draft UN resolution requesting an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on states’ legal obligation for climate action and the consequences of causing harm.
Young Swedes take their country to court over climate inaction
1 Dec 2022
The Swedish capital is the birthplace of the international movement Fridays for Future, which has galvanized thousands of youngsters to skip school and march in the streets in protest against a lack of political action to stop global warming and recognize the climate crisis.
How an early oil industry study became key in climate lawsuits
1 Dec 2022
For decades, 1960s research for the American Petroleum Institute warning of the risks of burning fossil fuels had been forgotten. But two papers discovered in libraries are now playing a key role in lawsuits aimed at holding oil companies accountable for climate change.
China, covid and climate
1 Dec 2022
The protests erupting across China deserve international solidarity. The future of the planet could be determined by their success - or failure.
Europe's alpine villages producing their own power
1 Dec 2022
Small hydropower plants have long sustained remote communities in the Alps – but there is a growing debate over their environmental impact.
EU climate plan sacrifices carbon storage and biodiversity for bioenergy
30 Nov 2022
Incoming policies will cause the European Union to harvest more wood, shift one-fifth of cropland to bioenergy and outsource deforestation, analysis shows.
South Africa turns to solar to help stop power cuts
30 Nov 2022
Young engineer Nolwazi Zulu says that when she was a teenager she decided that she would "go out and do something" about the regular power cuts that bedevil her community.
Australians shun climate-led diet changes
30 Nov 2022
Most Australians are refusing to say goodbye to meat despite a growing concern about climate change.
Should China be let off the hook for climate finance?
30 Nov 2022
The most important outcome of COP27, the climate summit in Egypt earlier this month, was the creation of a new UN-administered fund to compensate developing countries for the costs they incur from climate change-related disasters.
Locally grown school meals can help children, farmers and the climate
30 Nov 2022
According to UNICEF, school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic brought a decade's growth in school feeding programmes to a dramatic halt, leaving about 370 million school children without access to their one reliable meal a day.
Europe to rely on carbon sinks to boost climate ambition
29 Nov 2022
The EU will increase its 2030 greenhouse gas reduction target thanks to a new law aimed at boosting the amount of carbon held in Europe’s nature, according to the EU’s climate chief Frans Timmermans.
China petrochemicals sector likely to miss 2030 peak carbon target
29 Nov 2022
China’s petrochemical sector may reach peak carbon emissions only by 2035 – five years later than the national target – a Peking University report has found.
Victoria votes to end coal and make radical shift to renewables
29 Nov 2022
We are used to hearing crowds chant for their country, and for their heroes: “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie”, “U-S-A, U-S-A,” or “Me-ssi, Me-ssi,” But when was the last time you heard a group of adults chant for a now disbanded public utility?
Decarbonising real estate: How to price the net zero transition to avoid a 'carbon bubble'
29 Nov 2022
Real estate is the largest asset class in the world and it’s also one of the most significant contributors to global carbon emissions.
Energy crunch dims Christmas holiday glimmer in Europe
29 Nov 2022
From Paris to London, officials in cities across Europe are limiting hours of holiday illumination, and many have switched to more energy-efficient LED lights or renewable energy sources as high energy prices bite consumers in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
A treaty to end the age of plastic
28 Nov 2022
In March, there was a collective cheer when United Nations member states adopted a historic resolution to end plastic pollution during the UN Environment Assembly in Nairobi.
Climate change: Could centuries-old wheat help feed the planet?
28 Nov 2022
Could the key to feeding the world with a changing climate be hiding in a 300-year-old museum collection? That's one of the hopes of scientists combing through 12,000 specimens of wheat and its relatives held in the Natural History Museum's archives.
Rural Aussie properties going off-grid with renewables
28 Nov 2022
When Roxanne and Luke Hinton started planning their finger lime farm on the idyllic Capricorn Coast several years ago, they had little idea it would double as a highly successful off-grid wedding venue in just a few years. The entire operation is operated by solar, with self-sufficient watering systems, sewerage and power.
Civil disobedience only way to protest climate change: French activists
28 Nov 2022
While some climate activists have been throwing food at famous paintings, a French group has been shutting down roads. Their acts of civil disobedience have drawn anger and criticism, but they say it is the only way to get people to pay attention to what they see as an existential threat.
Sri Lanka university aims to be the country’s first to go carbon neutral
28 Nov 2022
The University of Sri Jayewardenepura (USJ) in Sri Lanka has assessed its carbon footprint under ISO standards and has now become the country’s first university to be carbon audited.
UK blue carbon venture plans to remove billions of tonnes of carbon off West Africa
25 Nov 2022
An aquaculture business aims to remove billions of tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere with a seaweed farm off West Africa. It has announced it will tokenise its annual goal of one billion carbon removal credits in a deal with a blockchain-based carbon marketplace.
Climate extremes hitting Australia, more intense weather to come
25 Nov 2022
Global warming is leading to more extreme weather in Australia, like the ongoing flooding in the southeast — and these extremes are happening at an increased pace across the country, per a new climate report.
Coal-driven climate change is becoming a big problem – for coal
25 Nov 2022
Wide-scale floods have plagued eastern Australia throughout 2022. As the climate continues to change – driven to a large extent by the burning of coal – such events can be expected to occur more frequently, significantly impacting unit costs for coal miners.
7 in 10 young people are worried about the climate crisis - but they also want to make a difference
25 Nov 2022
More than two thirds of children between the ages of seven and twelve are worried about climate change, a new survey reveals.
Switzerland passes law to require mandatory climate reporting
25 Nov 2022
Large Swiss companies and financial institutions will be required to disclose information on their climate-related risks, impacts and plans following new legislation passed.
Hong Kong exchange carries out first carbon credit trades
25 Nov 2022
The Hong Kong stock exchange has carried out the first batch of carbon credit trades on its new voluntary carbon market, joining a handful of Asian exchanges in tapping opportunities resulting from governments' push to achieve climate goals.
The world could be entering a new era of climate war
24 Nov 2022
By Robinson Meyer - The Atlantic | Back in 2015, when I started covering climate change, climate war meant one thing. At the time, if someone said that climate change posed a threat to the world order, you would assume they were talking about the direct impacts of warming, or its second-order consequences.
The World Cup in Qatar is a climate catastrophe
24 Nov 2022
When the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA), the world’s governing body for soccer, proclaimed that the 2022 World Cup in Qatar would be “a fully carbon-neutral event,” the collective chortle that emerged from environmentalists could have powered a wind farm.
New York cracks down on carbon fuel-based crypto-mining operations
24 Nov 2022
New York State has banned a practice becoming more common in the crypto-mining industry – the rescuing and repurposing of mothballed fossil fuel plants to exclusively provide energy for mining digital currency.
The climate case against Elon Musk
24 Nov 2022
This newsletter has written a lot about so-called “climate billionaires”—billionaires who claim to be doing a lot for the climate. But we’ve never said much about Elon Musk.
EU’s carbon removal certification could be global trend setter after COP delay: expert
24 Nov 2022
If done well, the EU’s new certification for carbon removals, due on 30 November, could provide vital clarity for international discussions following a failure to agree on a key text for removals at the COP27 climate conference, according to Kathy Fallon, director of land and climate at the Clean Air Task Force.
Aussie Greens rule out hybrids in clean car discount scheme
23 Nov 2022
Australian federal government legislation proposing to exempt a range of low emissions vehicles from the fringe benefits tax looks set to prioritise battery electric vehicles, after a deal was struck between Labor, the Greens and independent senator David Pocock.
World’s largest soil carbon removal project enlists Kenyan pastoralists
23 Nov 2022
When Andrew Dokhole, a community leader in Isiolo, northern Kenya, took on the task of explaining a proposed soil carbon removal project a decade ago, he had to convince largely illiterate people about the benefits of a “foreign” concept.
Datacentres should be forced to invest in wind and solar energy, all states agree – except Queensland
Wed 13 May 2026
Power hungry datacentres that are growing to meet the demands of artificial intelligence could be forced to invest in enough new solar and wind generation to completely cover their electricity needs.
Some inconvenient truths in bringing climate science to the judiciary
Thu 14 May 2026
OPINION: Climate science had been knocking on the courthouse doors for quite some time when the Supreme Court of the United States finally invited it into the realm of legal action in 2007.
China’s leadership calls for ‘strict control’ of fossil fuels
28 Apr 2026
Chinese government leaders published a policy document on 22 April – Earth Day – calling for stricter controls on fossil-fuel consumption and greater oversight of heavy emitters.
Inequality causing 100,000 extra deaths a year from heat and cold in Europe
Tue 12 May 2026
Economic inequality adds more than 100,000 deaths to the vast toll from heat and cold in Europe each year, research has found.
Risk of drought in UK grows after unusually dry start to spring
Thu 14 May 2026
The risk of drought is rising after an unusually dry start to spring has pushed river flow, groundwater and reservoir stores below normal levels across much of the country, especially in central and southern England.
Carbon capture ‘doesn’t work’: Former British Columbia premier
8 May 2026
Former British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell warned the costly, troubled technology has failed to deliver, undercutting a central justification for billions in public subsidies and new oil infrastructure.
While the world hesitates, India must continue leading on climate
Thu 14 May 2026
India’s updated climate targets must translate into systems that secure growth, resilience, and autonomy.
How climate change threatens the economic backbone of the Pacific
4 May 2026
The vast Pacific Ocean and the islands dotted within it produce more than half of the world's tuna.
‘Triple whammy of climate chaos’: Why Antarctica's sea ice collapse is no longer a mystery
Mon 11 May 2026
Scientists have finally identified the ‘triple whammy’ behind Antarctica’s dramatic collapse, shedding new light on the chain reaction that has pushed its sea ice to record lows.
With its first marine reserve, Ghana protects its ocean to secure its future
5 May 2026
Comment: Last month, Ghana made news when it declared its first marine reserve and sited it in one of the nation’s most ecologically and biologically significant marine environments.
The country where lethal hantavirus cases are on the rise. Experts blame climate change
Wed 13 May 2026
Experts believe environmental degradation caused by climate change and human activity is contributing to its spread by allowing the rodents that transmit the virus to thrive in new areas.
UN methane alert system expanded to coal and waste sectors after Indian landfill named among world’s top emitters
6 May 2026
The United Nations is expanding its methane monitoring system to cover coal mines and waste facilities, after satellite analysis identified a landfill in India among the world’s three largest methane-emitting sites.
