International: All stories
Climate risks dwarf Europe's energy crisis, space chief warns
12 Aug 2022
The head of the European Space Agency (ESA) has warned economic damage from heatwaves and drought could dwarf Europe's energy crisis as he called for urgent action to tackle climate change.
Over 200 major glaciers disappear in Italy due to climate change: Research
12 Aug 2022
More than 200 major Alpine glaciers have disappeared in Italy since record-keeping began in 1895, the country's environmental lobby group Legambiente said in a report.
What is the Kigali Amendment? The Senate’s next big climate win is within its grasp
12 Aug 2022
The Senate just took its biggest climate action ever with passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, but there’s another major climate win lurking on its to-do list.
After deluge, climate change fears make S.Korea prioritise Seoul flood defences
12 Aug 2022
The heaviest rain in Seoul in 115 years has spurred the South Korean capital to revive a $1.15 billion plan to improve drainage after floods exposed how even the affluent Gangnam district is vulnerable to climate change-driven extreme weather.
Africa getting just 12% of financing needed to adapt to climate change -report
12 Aug 2022
Africa is getting just 12% of the finance it needs to manage the impact of climate change, a report on Thursday said, raising pressure on rich nations to do more in the run up to global climate talks in November.
Bushmaster goes electric: Australia unveils silent, electrified personnel vehicle
12 Aug 2022
The Australian defence force is going green – and we’re not talking about a new shade of camouflage paint. We’re talking about the electrification of its famous Bushmaster protected military vehicle.
Warning that labour shortages could harm Australia’s green energy transition
12 Aug 2022
Australia’s Clean Energy Council has warned that the country runs the risk of throttling the success of its clean energy transition unless the current and growing labour shortages and skills gaps across the clean energy industry are filled.
Last month was one of the warmest Julys on record, says UN
11 Aug 2022
Last month marked one of the three hottest Julys ever recorded, with global temperatures measuring nearly half a degree Celsius above average, the United Nations’ weather agency has said
'The Sacrifice Zone': Myanmar bears cost of green energy
11 Aug 2022
The birds no longer sing, and the herbs no longer grow. The fish no longer swim in rivers that have turned a murky brown. The animals do not roam, and the cows are sometimes found dead.
Gravity storage start-up says it has “multi gigawatt hour” plans for Australian zinc refiner
11 Aug 2022
Gravity storage start-up Energy Vault says it has begun site planning for what it now describes as a “multi-gigawatt hour” project for long and short term storage to support the green energy plans for Australian zinc refiner Sun Metals.
Europe’s new trams are reviving a golden age of transit
11 Aug 2022
At the heart of Strasbourg, France stands a 466-foot tall, 588-year-old Rayonnant Gothic cathedral that draws tourists from over the world to gaze at its intricate carvings, ornate stained glass and massive astrological clock.
Experts say the net zero concept is often used to delay taking action against emissions
11 Aug 2022
As large parts of Europe and North America swelter and then ignite, a future of endless climate destruction seems inevitable.
Canada’s carbon tax is hurting working people: opinion
11 Aug 2022
In 1912, the fact that excess carbon released into the atmosphere could warm up the earth was first made public knowledge. Here we are, one hundred ten years later, still wondering what to do about the problem.
5 ways the Inflation Reduction Act will fight climate change
10 Aug 2022
More clean energy, less dirty energy, new punishments for methane leaks and billions of dollars for communities most in need of climate-related help — those are the provisions that have environmentalists celebrating what they see as a monumental step for U.S. climate action.
In Guatemala, Indigenous is ingenious when it comes to climate change
10 Aug 2022
On International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, World Food Programme agronomist Deborah Suc tells Simona Beltrami she’s lost her shyness for sticking up for others – and the environment.
‘Heatflation’ warning as 2022 EU crop harvests affected by climate change
10 Aug 2022
As much of Europe bakes in the latest heatwave, fears are growing about what’s being dubbed ‘heatflation’ – climate change-driven staple crop losses that could see already inflated food prices reach new highs this autumn, deepening the cost-of-living crisis.
IMF calls for global guidelines on climate reporting
10 Aug 2022
Global guidelines on corporate climate reporting must fall in line with those in Europe and the US or investors could be hit by fragmented and inconsistent information, the European Central Bank and IMF have warned.
Scientists urge global action after ‘historic’ US climate bill
9 Aug 2022
Scientists welcomed the passing of US President Joe Biden’s “historic” climate bill while calling for other major emitters – namely the European Union – to follow suit and implement ambitious plans to slash emissions.
Climate change compensation fight brews ahead of COP27 summit
9 Aug 2022
Tensions are mounting ahead of this year’s U.N. climate summit as vulnerable countries ramp up demands for rich countries to pay compensation for losses inflicted on the world’s poorest people by climate change.
Green hydrogen has a leakage problem that may cancel out some of its climate gains
9 Aug 2022
Hydrogen has emerged as the great white (or green) hope of the clean energy transition due to its potential use in decarbonising hard-to-abate industries like shipping, steel production, and even transport.
Chinese companies seek global carbon market for green hydrogen
9 Aug 2022
Three Chinese organisations are leading the charge to create an international carbon market for green hydrogen.
Meet the pilot who quit flying because of the climate crisis
9 Aug 2022
Not many pilots climbing steadily up the ranks retire their wings in the name of environmental activism. But Todd Smith did just that at great expense. He spoke with DW about this life transition.
What does the US-China disagreement mean for climate change?
8 Aug 2022
Concern has been raised by China's decision to stop working with the US on the climate catastrophe, and seasoned climate diplomats are calling for a quick restart of negotiations to help prevent worsening global warming.
Don’t listen to the climate doomists
8 Aug 2022
On 25 April 2022 Australia’s public radio station replayed an interview with Jonathan Franzen in which the American author suggested we should resign ourselves to the climate crisis. “We literally are living in end times for civilisation as we know it… We are long past the point of averting climate catastrophe,” he intoned ominously.
Fijians forced from their ancestral lands by climate change want polluters to pay
8 Aug 2022
Boats moor next to living rooms on Fiji’s Serua Island, where high tide breaches the seawall and floods the village.
Why does Canada keep propping up Big Oil amid climate crisis?
8 Aug 2022
Legislators on Capitol Hill will soon vote on the biggest climate crisis bill in U.S. history. It's sparked a lively debate in its northern neighour where Canadians are questioning whether the time has come to tackle big oil.
Good news on climate change? Australia's Great Barrier Reef has healthiest coral in 36 years
8 Aug 2022
Australian Institute of Marine Science says results in north and central regions are a sign the reef could still recover, but loss elsewhere highlights risks
Tata Steel faces crunch-time, professor warns
8 Aug 2022
The UK's largest steelworks is facing "crunch time" over reducing carbon emissions, a professor has warned.
African climate diplomats reject African Union’s pro-gas stance for Cop27
5 Aug 2022
African climate negotiators have quashed a proposal by the African Union to promote gas as a bridge fuel for the continent at UN talks.
The end of snow threatens to upend 76 million American lives
5 Aug 2022
The Western US is an empire built on snow. And that snow is vanishing.
India developing a carbon market
5 Aug 2022
India is developing its carbon market by undergoing several climate action plans in just a matter of days. The world’s 3rd-biggest emitter planned to set up a carbon credit market for the hard-to-abate sectors. These would initially include energy, steel, and cement industries.
Twelve angry children: young jurors call adults to account for climate crisis in The Trials
5 Aug 2022
In 2019, the playwright Dawn King was booking flights to New York for a writing residency. It was the day of the UK’s first large-scale School Strikes for Climate, a movement launched by Greta Thunberg in Sweden. Checking her news feeds, King – who had meant to join the protests – realised she had clean forgotten. She winces at the memory.
Global renewables investment hits record high, boosted by solar and offshore wind
4 Aug 2022
Global renewable energy investment reached a record $US226 billion across the first six months of 2022, an 11% year-on-year increase which defied supply chain challenges and cost inflation to highlight growing demand for clean energy.
Cycling surges 47% in England as fuel price hikes bite
4 Aug 2022
Compared to 2021, cycling levels in England rose by 47% on weekdays and 27% on weekends in the five months to the end of July, according to the latest statistics from the U.K.’s Department for Transport.
How the climate deal would help farmers aid the environment
4 Aug 2022
The climate deal reached last week by Senate Democrats could reduce the amount of greenhouse gases that American farmers produce by expanding programs that help accumulate carbon in soil, fund climate-focused research and lower the abundant methane emissions that come from cows.
India approves climate plan with increased ambition, clarifying energy goals
4 Aug 2022
India’s cabinet has approved an updated national climate plan, cementing targets pledged by Narendra Modi in November, including a 2070 net zero goal and 45% reduction in emissions intensity by 2030.
A $7.3B pot of money to prepare US infrastructure for climate change
3 Aug 2022
The Biden administration is providing states with more detail about how they can use money from the federal infrastructure law to protect people and structures from the perils of climate change, a move that’s drawing cheers from both political parties.
China releases plan to guide carbon-intensive industries to reach peak emissions by 2030
3 Aug 2022
Seven industrial sectors in China have been assigned targets to reduce energy consumption and boost recycling to reach peak carbon dioxide emissions by 2030.
Chile’s lithium provides profit to the billionaires but exhausts the land and the people
3 Aug 2022
The Atacama salt flat in northern Chile, which stretches 1,200 square miles, is the largest source of lithium in the world. We are standing on a bluff, looking over la gran fosa, the great pit that sits at the southern end of the flat, which is shielded from public view.
Amazon strayed further from its climate pledge in 2021
3 Aug 2022
Since Seattle-based Amazon pledged to cut its carbon output in 2018, the company has strayed further from its climate pledge. Amazon's companywide emissions increased by 18% in 2021 alone, according to its own sustainability report.
Climate action calendar for COP27 published
3 Aug 2022
The incoming Presidency of COP27, together with the High-Level Champions and Marrakech Partnership for Global Climate Action, have published the calendar of the thematic programme of the UN Climate Change Conference COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, in November.
Hawaii gets its last shipment of coal, ever
2 Aug 2022
It’s the end of a dirty era in Hawaii. The state’s last-ever coal shipment arrived in Oahu on Wednesday, bound for the last remaining coal-fired power plant, which is due to shut down in September.
What we learned about coal phaseout by studying 15 countries
2 Aug 2022
Carbon Brief | Despite the widely recognised need to quickly move away from fossil fuels, particularly coal, many countries continue to invest in this highly polluting source of energy.
Offshore wind’s turbulent future
2 Aug 2022
When it’s completed, Norway’s Hywind Tampen will be the world’s largest floating offshore wind farm. Compared with most wind farms—even other offshore wind farms—the Hywind Tampen is unusual: the 88-megawatt operation is located farther out to sea than almost any other wind farm to date. Floating 140 kilometers offshore, the turbines will sit in water between 260 and 300 meters deep.
Data centres are facing a climate crisis
2 Aug 2022
When record temperatures wracked the UK in late July, Google Cloud’s data centres in London went offline for a day, due to cooling failures. The impact wasn’t limited to those near the center: That particular location services customers in the US and Pacific region, with outages limiting their access to key Google services for hours. Oracle’s cloud-based data centre in the capital was also struck down by the heat, causing outages for US customers. Oracle blamed “unseasonal temperatures” for...
Youth climate activists are planning the ‘climate strike 2.0’
2 Aug 2022
Last week, a legion of young climate activists announced their intention to occupy schools around the world later this year, in a bid to pressure policymakers into doing more to combat the climate crisis.
Vermont moves to become first state to phase out linear fluorescent lights
2 Aug 2022
Aiming to reduce mercury hazards and boost energy efficiency, Vermont will prohibit the sale of the long, tube-shaped fluorescent lamps that light up supermarkets, office buildings and classrooms as of Jan. 1, 2024.
The Biden-Manchin Climate Bill isn’t very good, but It’s all we’ve got
1 Aug 2022
Biden’s climate bill is better than nothing — but just barely. “It’s a renewable energy revolution on top of a fossil fuel build-out,” says one climate advocate: in other words, a historic clean energy investment chained to a fossil fuel giveaway.
Rich nations still failing to honor $100B climate funding pledge: OECD
1 Aug 2022
Rich countries are still failing to fulfill their pledge to provide $100 billion for climate action in poorer nations, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said on Friday.
Greece is scorching in a heat wave and wildfires, yet it's returning to planet-baking coal
1 Aug 2022
Dimitris Mitsaris opens his garage door and the smell of fermenting grapes emerges, as the first morning light bounces off dozens of steel tanks. Mitsaris and his family live here, in Agios Panteleimonas, a mountainous village of just 800 residents in northern Greece, and have made their home into a small winery. "I don't even have electricity here yet," Mitsaris says with a laugh.