International: United Nations
Ardern has high climate hopes for Biden
9 Nov 2020
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern expects new United States President Joe Biden to act on climate change.
How well is Scotland tackling climate change?
5 Nov 2020
This time next year, Scotland will be hosting a major UN climate change conference.
Resolve carbon market dispute to step up ambition, says UK
2 Nov 2020
Countries have a collective responsibility to agree on common rules for a global carbon market, to drive greater climate ambition beyond 2021, says the United Kingdom's lead climate negotiator.
Which countries have a net-zero carbon target?
27 Oct 2020
Twenty-eight countries, one American state and the European Union says they are committed to being carbon-neutral by 2050.
First deal done under Paris Agreement to offset emissions
22 Oct 2020
Switzerland has struck a carbon offsetting agreement with Peru, in what the two nations say is the first deal of its kind under Article 6 of the Paris agreement.
How does the COP26 delay affect GHG emissions?
14 Oct 2020
Will delaying the COP26 UN climate negotiations impact international action to decarbonise? Would catch-up talks help? Could the talks collapse because countries stopped paying their dues?
Political 'retreat' on climate action harms all nations, says UN climate chief
7 Oct 2020
Rich nations are failing on promises to help poorer ones meet the goals of the Paris Agreement on climate change, even though such help would be “not charity but a global act of self-interest”, says United Nations climate chief Patricia Espinosa.
NZ joins pledge that includes increasing 2030 emissions target
29 Sep 2020
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is among 64 world leaders committing to “meaningful” action to halt global environmental destruction - including increasing 2030 emissions reduction targets.
Warming could pass 1.5deg before 2030, warns UN
14 Sep 2020
Global temperatures could exceed the 1.5deg limit set in the Paris Agreement in the next decade, according to a World Meteorological Society report for the United Nations.
IPCC: the dirty tricks faced by scientists over three decades
7 Sep 2020
Thirty years ago, in a small Swedish city called Sundsvall, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its first major report.
Only 80 countries likely to update national climate plans this year
4 Sep 2020
Most nations including top emitter China are likely to miss a 2020 deadline to upgrade national plans for fighting global warming, according to the UN’s climate chief.
Extra UN climate talks mooted to help negotiators catch up
27 Aug 2020
Additional climate talks could be held next year to help countries prepare for the critical Cop26 summit, making up for time lost due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Delays expected to bulk of UN climate report
17 Aug 2020
Most of a blockbuster United Nations scientific report on climate change is likely to be delayed beyond a UN climate summit due in Glasgow, Scotland, in November 2021 because of covid-19.
We might meet Paris, say officials
21 Jul 2020
New Zealand’s 2030 emissions reduction target might be consistent with the Paris Agreement – it all depends on how you look at it, officials have told the Government.
UN postpones COP26 climate talks in Glascow
3 Apr 2020
Green campaigners vowed to keep up the pressure on governments to make stringent new commitments on the climate crisis, as the COP26 climate summit was delayed until next year.
Johnson under pressure to stage UN climate talks
19 Mar 2020
Nicholas Stern, one of the most prominent global experts on the climate crisis, has urged UK leader Boris Johnson to resist calls to postpone vital UN climate talks this year, despite the coronavirus outbreak.
Coronavirus could derail COP 26 summit
4 Mar 2020
Concern is growing among campaigners that vital UN climate talks in Glasgow later this year will be derailed by the coronavirus outbreak.
Johnson names new COP26 president
18 Feb 2020
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has appointed Alok Sharma to preside over the COP26 UN climate talks in November.
Most nations ignore climate plans update
12 Feb 2020
The Marshall Islands, Suriname and Norway have submitted plans for tougher action to tackle climate change before a five-year milestone of the Paris Agreement in 2020 - but almost 200 others - including New Zealand - have ignored an informal February 9 deadline.
Does Britain know what it's doing with Glasgow?
5 Feb 2020
Developing countries and climate campaigners are growing increasingly concerned that the UK lacks a clear strategy for hosting vital UN talks in Glasgow this year.
Shaw criticises 'handful of countries'
17 Dec 2019
Climate minister James Shaw says a handful of countries are preventing the settling of rules governing global carbon markets.
Kyoto credits threaten Paris Agreement
13 Dec 2019
Allowing countries to carry Kyoto credits forward could effectively kill the Paris Agreement, negotiators are being told.
Shaw expects late move on carbon trading
12 Dec 2019
Any breakthrough in talks over rules governing international carbon trading is likely to come at the last minute, says climate minister James Shaw.
US seeks further block on climate compo
12 Dec 2019
The US government is pushing to ensure it can never be held accountable for the damage caused by climate change in vulnerable countries.
NZ might sit with 2030 emissions' cuts target
10 Dec 2019
New Zealand might not increase its 2030 emissions reduction target next year.
Chile delays emissions goal boost at its own talks
9 Dec 2019
Chile has walked back a plan to announce an enhanced climate target during the Cop25 climate talks it is leading.
Climate 'challenge of civilisation', says Pope
6 Dec 2019
Pope Francis has called on COP 25 leaders meeting in Madrid to show political will to safeguard healthy planet.
Why the rulebook matters for us at Madrid talks
3 Dec 2019
New Zealand’s plan to use carbon credits to meet part of its emissions reduction target means the country has a big stake in international climate negotiations now under way in Madrid.
MADRID MESSAGE: Forget Trump, we'll join climate fight
3 Dec 2019
The US will take action on greenhouse gases and engage with other countries on the climate emergency despite Donald Trump, a Congress delegation has told the UN climate conference in Madrid.
ARTICLE 6: The issue that will keep them exercised in Madrid
3 Dec 2019
It has proven the hardest part of the Paris Agreement to create rules for, with warnings a weak decision could undermine the accord. Now it will dominate UN talks in Madrid.
Madrid climate talks to split nations
2 Dec 2019
The Chilean and Spanish governments hope to use UN climate talks, which begin in Madrid today, to assemble an alliance of countries that will pledge to curtail carbon emissions and pile pressure on laggards.
Paris targets need to be five times stronger
29 Nov 2019
In almost exactly a year’s time, nearly 200 countries will have the chance to go back to the drawing board and make revisions to their Paris Agreement commitments.
Madrid steps up to host COP25 talks
4 Nov 2019
Madrid will host the Cop25 UN climate talks, stepping in after Chile withdrew amid social unrest.
Chile pulls out of hosting COP25
31 Oct 2019
Chile, wracked by civil unrest for a fortnight, has withdrawn from hosting the 2019 UN climate talks.
Unhappy investors criticise firms over Paris pact
3 Oct 2019
Investors representing more than $55 trillion say just a fraction of companies are doing their part in meeting the Paris Agreement.
Major economies fail to answer New York call
25 Sep 2019
Delivering on a goal of net zero emissions is a ‘daunting’, ‘civilisational’ task, which the UN climate summit in New York showed leaders do not have plans to meet.
Russia formally signs up to Paris Agreement
25 Sep 2019
The world’s fourth-largest emitter, Russia, has formally adopted the Paris Agreement, drawing an end to months of national tensions on the subject.
Ardern in star turn at UN climate summit
23 Sep 2019
New Zealand will again take centre stage at international climate talks in New York, with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern giving a keynote speech in the early hours of tomorrow morning.
Why the New York climate summit matters
17 Sep 2019
As world leaders converge on New York City for the United Nations Climate Action Summit on September 23, they enter what may be the most consequential week in climate politics since Donald Trump’s surprise election as president of the United States in 2016.
Global report hurts farmers' emissions case
9 Aug 2019
Farmers fighting a push for substantial cuts in methane emissions have been dealt a blow by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Putin has doubts but Russia will sign Paris pact
11 Jul 2019
The Russian government will submit legislation to ratify the Paris climate agreement by September, but president Vladimir Putin warned against the perils of “absolutist” renewable energy.
Chile to host next climate summit
8 Mar 2019
The next UN climate summit, COP 25, will take place in December in Santiago, Chile, officials have announced.
Russia takes new look at Paris Agreement
7 Feb 2019
Russia, one of the world’s highest-polluting hold-outs, has taken steps that could lead to ratification of the Paris Agreement.
Stage set for humanity’s two most crucial years
19 Dec 2018
Decisions made from now to 2020 will determine to what extent Earth remains habitable.
NZ and Europe to strengthen market cooperation
18 Dec 2018
New Zealand is to strengthen its carbon market ties with Europe.
Anti-climate change strongmen still on the outer
18 Dec 2018
The COP24 talks just ended in Poland have shown that global warming treaties can survive the era of the anti-climate strongman.
Protesters to up pressure on governments
18 Dec 2018
Civil society groups have pledged growing international protests to drive rapid action on global warming after the UN climate summit in Poland.
Shaw hopes for carbon market rules next year
17 Dec 2018
Climate minister James Shaw is optimistic that rules governing carbon markets will be settled next year.
What was agreed and why did it take so long?
17 Dec 2018
Fractious UN climate change talks in Poland ended with a deal on putting the Paris agreement into practice – but much else left unresolved
Shaw has high hopes for Katowice success
14 Dec 2018
Climate minister James Shaw is confident a Paris Agreement rule book and agreement about limiting warming to 1.5deg will come out of bogged-down talks in Poland.
Darwin methane leak ‘covered up’ by gas companies and regulators
Tue 2 Sep 2025
At the heart of the project that heralded northern Australia’s gas boom — Darwin’s first liquefied natural gas plant — was a storage tank that operators hailed as a major feat of engineering.
The merchants of doubt are back
Wed 3 Sep 2025
OPINION: If you don’t follow climate policy closely, you might not know that the Trump administration is launching an effort to overturn one of the most fundamental pillars of American climate policy.
China's carbon market to introduce absolute emissions caps from 2027
27 Aug 2025
China will tighten its carbon trading market by introducing absolute emissions caps in some industries for the first time starting by 2027.
Welcome to Europe’s future Carbon Valley
Today 11:00am
Industrial clusters in Europe’s heartland look to carbon capture and storage to turn CO2 from climate liability into a commercial resource.
UK Conservatives pledge to get all oil and gas out of North Sea
Tue 2 Sep 2025
Opposition leader Kemi Badenoch has said her party will remove all net zero requirements on oil and gas companies drilling in the North Sea if elected.
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-Japan joint credit mechanism clears way for Paris goals amid North-South climate gridlocks
Today 11:00am
It offers strong bilateral model to scale climate finance, localise low-carbon technologies.
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'
22 Aug 2025
Scientists say there is emerging evidence of abrupt and potentially unstoppable changes in the Antarctic environment.
Liberia has a new plan to protect its rainforests. Can it work?
Tue 2 Sep 2025
Half of West Africa’s remaining rainforests are in Liberia, but in 2024, it lost more than 38,000 hectares (94,000 acres) of humid primary forest, according to Global Forest Watch.
Lessons from the Incas: How llamas, terraces and trees could help the Andes survive climate change
28 Aug 2025
New research suggests solutions may lie in environmental knowledge that the Incas and their predecessors developed centuries ago.
