International: 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.
China says it's open to ‘uniform’ climate rules
14 Dec 2018
China has signalled it is open to following “uniform” global climate change rules, shifting from its usual push for a clear division of responsibilities for rich and poor countries.
UN chief in bid to revive flagging talks
13 Dec 2018
UN Secretary-General António Guterres has made a dramatic intervention to revive flagging climate talks in Poland by flying back to the conference and preparing a personal call to Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Saudi falls foul of developing countries
13 Dec 2018
Competing visions of climate justice have alienated Saudi Arabia from other developing countries at UN climate talks in Poland.
We're making progress - towards 3deg warming
12 Dec 2018
If all governments achieve their largely insufficient climate targets, the world will see 3deg of warming by 2100, twice the 1.5deg limit they agreed in Paris three years ago, says the Climate Action Tracker’s annual update, delivered today at the climate talks in Katowice.
Indigenous peoples clinch climate deal
12 Dec 2018
Indigenous peoples clinched a deal in Poland that will give them a voice in global climate change negotiations, but only after conceding to a push to put national sovereignty above their rights.
Australia's silence shocks delegates
11 Dec 2018
Australia has been accused of tacitly supporting oil allies’ rejection of the UN's latest science report at the climate summit in Katowice.
US is still very much in the game
11 Dec 2018
Forget Donald Trump’s rejection of the Paris Agreement. The US is still very much in and zealously setting the tone of international climate change negotiations.
Global investors call for more action
10 Dec 2018
The largest-ever group of institutional investors has called on governments around the world to urgently increase their efforts to meet the Paris climate change agreement goals.
Oil producerrs scrap over UN climate report
10 Dec 2018
Four big oil and gas producers blocked UN climate talks from welcoming the most influential climate science report in years, as a meeting in Poland descended into acrimony.
Battery subsidy scheme set for 'urgent' overhaul as costs run out of control
16 Dec 2025
Australian Energy Minister Chris Bowen has announced big changes to the government's battery subsidy scheme amid claims most of its $2.3 billion budget has been spent in just six months.
EPA erases references to human-caused climate change from websites
Fri 19 Dec 2025
EPA has scrubbed references to people’s contribution to rising temperatures from some of its climate change webpages.
Verra cancels four tree planting projects in China. And starts reviews of 45 more projects
16 Dec 2025
“Multiple carbon projects in China are facing serious allegations regarding the authenticity of government approval documents."
France updates its 2050 carbon neutrality roadmap
17 Dec 2025
To mark the 10th anniversary of the Paris Agreement, France released a revamped climate plan promising to phase out oil and gas and sharply increase electricity use.
Net-zero scenario is ‘cheapest option’ for UK, says energy system operator
15 Dec 2025
A scenario that meets the “net-zero by 2050” goal would be the “cheapest” option for the UK, according to modelling by the National Energy System Operator (NESO).
The ecological havens flourishing beneath power lines
Fri 19 Dec 2025
Initiatives to foster native wildflowers, grasses and shrubs are turning utility corridors into wildlife corridors.
‘Not normal’: Climate crisis supercharged deadly monsoon floods in Asia
12 Dec 2025
Cyclones like those in Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Malaysia that killed 1,750 are ‘alarming new reality’.
Pacific fisheries summit gives a boost to albacore and seabirds
Fri 19 Dec 2025
Much of the world’s albacore tuna catch, which usually ends up in a can, comes from the southwestern Pacific Ocean, where fishery managers just passed a new set of conservation rules.
Arctic endured year of record heat as climate scientists warn of ‘winter being redefined’
Thu 18 Dec 2025
Region known as ‘world’s refrigerator’ is heating up as much as four times as quickly as global average, Noaa experts say.
Are rainforests now a cause of, rather than the answer to, climate change?
15 Dec 2025
A new study finds that Africa’s forests, responsible for one-fifth of global carbon removal, are beginning to generate carbon as the result of human activity.
Thousands of climate disasters are not included in official reports from Amazonian countries
12 Dec 2025
More than 12,500 extreme weather events impacted the Amazon and its population in 10 years, but countries have not generated enough information about it, according to a new scientific study.
