International: United Nations
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.
Climate control could save millions of lives, says WHO
7 Dec 2018
Beating climate change would save at least a million lives a year, the World Health Organisation has told the UN climate summit in Poland, making it a moral imperative.
Indonesia manages to fly below the radar
7 Dec 2018
International leaders are in Katowice debating the world's warming climate - but seldom mentioned is Indonesia, one of the largest emitters of greenhouse gases.
Emissions jump to all-time high in 2018
6 Dec 2018
Global carbon emissions will jump to a record high in 2018, says a report released at the Katowice climate summit, dashing hopes a plateau of recent years would be maintained.
Why we can’t trust finance with the planet
6 Dec 2018
Private finance and large investors will play a central role at the COP24 in Katowice. But before we pin our hopes on finance to solve climate change, there are some things we need to ask ourselves.
Four things that must be done at Katowice
6 Dec 2018
The urgency for decisive action is the imperative for COP24. The UN must press on with four major strands for meeting the Paris 1.5deg target.
Macron move likely to be felt at Katowice
5 Dec 2018
French leader Emmanuel Macron’s defeat by the gilets jaunes movement over a proposed eco-tax rise is likely to come as a painful lesson for environmental policymakers at UN climate talks in Katowice.
Climate leader running short on power
5 Dec 2018
The coalition that built the Paris Agreement has broken down, leaving UN climate chief Patricia Espinosa with few powerful friends to call on to secure a deal in Katowice.
You're acting like children, child tells leaders
5 Dec 2018
Action to fight global warming is coming whether world leaders like it or not, school student Greta Thunberg, 15, has told the UN climate change summit, accusing them of behaving like irresponsible children.
NZ will take agriculture lead role at Katowice
4 Dec 2018
New Zealand will lead discussions at international climate talks in Poland on upping emissions reductions from farming.
Attenborough: Collapse of civilisation is on the horizon
4 Dec 2018
The collapse of civilisation and the natural world is on the horizon, Sir David Attenborough has told the UN climate change summit in Poland.
Kiwi sitting at the Katowice top table
4 Dec 2018
New Zealander Jo Tyndall is one of the most influential people at international climate talks in Poland.
Host calls for solidarity with coal workers
4 Dec 2018
Polish leaders have delivered a clear message that climate change must be tackled, but not at the expense of the coal workers who built the industrial city that is hosting this year’s Cop24 summit.
Climate watchdog calls on NZ to show the way
3 Dec 2018
New Zealand is on a list of countries being called on to cut emissions as an example to the world.
COP 24 OPENS: The world at a crossroads
3 Dec 2018
Four senior figures behind efforts to limit climate change have warned that the planet "is at a crossroads" as key talks opened a day early in Poland.
GOOD COP: You've got to know your NDCs from your LMDCs
3 Dec 2018
International climate talks are fiendishly complex and stacked with jargon. Here's a glossary of the key concepts, forums and alliances you need to navigate the UN negotiations which started today in Katowice and the diplomacy that surrounds them.
Brazil pulls offer to host COP 25 summit
29 Nov 2018
Brazil has withdrawn its offer to host the COP 25 UN climate summit next year, citing budgetary constraints and the transition to a new government.
Draft G20 statement waters down Paris stand
27 Nov 2018
A draft communique from the leaders of the G20 shows that resolve to stand up for the Paris climate agreement against critical voices, such as the US, might be weakening.
Polish government split over coal
23 Nov 2018
Poland’s energy ministry has come out fighting for the coal sector, ahead of UN climate talks in Katowice next month.
Attenborough to speak for the people at UN climate summit
22 Nov 2018
Sir David Attenborough will address the UN’s climate change summit in Poland next month, taking up a newly established “people’s seat” at the negotiations.
Trump plans coal sideshow at Katowice
19 Nov 2018
The Trump administration plans to set up a side-event promoting fossil fuels at the UN climate talks in Katowice, Poland, next month.
Only 16 countries meet their Paris commitment
1 Nov 2018
Only 16 countries out of the 197 that signed the Paris Agreement have defined national climate action plan ambitious enough to meet their pledges.
Catholic bishops call for faith in Paris target
30 Oct 2018
Catholic Church leaders have urged governments around the world to ramp up their climate action efforts, calling for “ambitious implementation” of the Paris Agreement.
IPCC report too soft, say some scientists
16 Oct 2018
The IPCC 1.5deg report wasn't strong enough and downplayed the full extent of the real climate threat, some scientists believe.
Trump says he'll have a look at IPCC report
11 Oct 2018
US President Donald Trump says he ‘will be looking at’ the UN report warning that unprecedented changes are needed to avoid extreme heat, floods and poverty.
TIMELINE: How the climate panel got to 1.5deg threshold
10 Oct 2018
Five reports and an agreement ... the IPCC has been raising the climate alarm for 30 years.
OPINION: We've all been set a very clear target
9 Oct 2018
By NICHOLAS STERN | The authoritative new report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change sets the world a clear target.
IPCC: Farming and tourism put on notice
8 Oct 2018
The International Panel on Climate Change’s 1.5deg report delivers a wake-up call for two of New Zealand’s biggest industries – agriculture and tourism.
IPCC: Reaching 1.5deg is no easy task
8 Oct 2018
Keeping global warming to no more than 1.5deg is possible and sensible, but it will not be easy, the International Panel on Climate Change says.
Poland will push forest agenda as climate host
1 Oct 2018
Poland will ask all nations to agree on forests’ central role in the fight to curb climate change when they host UN talks in December, a leaked document has revealed.
Poland plans to leave its mark on climate talks
13 Sep 2018
Declarations on forests, electric vehicles and the impact of climate action on coal workers will be a central legacy of this year’s talks in Katowice.
Rich countries out to weaken Paris rules, say critics
11 Sep 2018
Complaints are growing that the United States and other wealthy countries are trying to manipulate the Paris Agreement rules to protect polluters and weaken their own commitments.
Countries inch forward on Paris Agreement
10 Sep 2018
The Bangkok climate change talks have closed with uneven progress on the guidelines that will tell the world how to implement the Paris Agreement.
Bangkok negotiators racing the clock
6 Sep 2018
Climate change negotiators who began an important meeting in Bangkok yesterday are under the gun.
Polish climate chief phones a friend (or two)
5 Sep 2018
Polish deputy energy minister Michaù Kurtyka, who will lead the most important climate talks since the Paris Agreement, though he'd better phone a few friends.
All Paris pact counties now have climate policies
2 May 2018
All 197 countries which signed the Paris Agreement now have at least one law in place to limit global temperatures.
Bonn meeting to sort out Paris pact
30 Apr 2018
A meeting to hammer out the “operating manual” for the Paris Agreement starts in Bonn today.
OPINION: The Paris Agreement is deeply flawed
21 Mar 2018
THE PARIS accord is built on speculative tech fantasies. It can not save us from climate catastrophe, says Dr JASON HICKEL of the University of London.
Poland urges ‘common sense’ over climate ambition
5 Feb 2018
Poland’s special climate envoy has called for the world to put “common sense” above climate ambition at this year’s COP24 summit.
After Bonn, five things to watch for in the coming year
30 Nov 2017
Unusually for a large UN climate conference, the recent Bonn talks didn’t finish with any late-night haggling. Progress, in the form of various commitments and pledges, is best described as slow and steady.
Bonn talks bring a poison pill for Poland
24 Nov 2017
If anything came out of the COP23 climate conference in Bonn, it’s a poison pill for Poland.
Bonn summit slow and steady but King Coal looms
20 Nov 2017
The climate talks in Bonn saw little drama other than some star turns and a pantomime villain. All eyes are now on Poland, the next summit host.
Shaw commits NZ to leading on climate challenge
17 Nov 2017
New Zealand has just committed itself on the world stage to being carbon-neutral by 2050 and being a Pacific leader on climate change.
NZ signs up to cut methane and black carbon
17 Nov 2017
New Zealand has signed up to a plan to cut methane and black carbon emissions from agriculture and waste.
Global pledge to phase out coal gets full backing of NZ
17 Nov 2017
New Zealand is part of a new alliance launched at the Bonn climate talks that hopes to signal the end of coal.
Carbon markets back in vogue at Bonn
17 Nov 2017
Carbon markets have become a vital piece of common ground for defenders of the climate. The tool is gradually extending around the world, bringing with it higher revenues.
Indigenous groups win greater climate recognition
17 Nov 2017
Indigenous groups claimed a victory at the Bonn climate talks in Bonn as governments acknowledged for the first time that they can play a leadership role in protecting forests and keeping global temperatures at a safe level.
Australia's Liberals elect net zero opponent as new leader
Mon 16 Feb 2026
Australia's opposition Liberal Party elected as leader on Friday a conservative who lobbied to drop its commitment to net zero emissions, as it seeks to counter an insurgent populist right and rebuild support after a disastrous election loss last year.
EPA boss offers forceful defence for scrapping landmark Obama climate policy
Tue 17 Feb 2026
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin is just following the law, he said Saturday in Munich, where he defended the Trump administration’s move this week to disengage the United States from decades of efforts to regulate climate change.
China starts sea trials for largest electric-powered container ship
Tue 17 Feb 2026
China’s first 10,000-ton electric containership is beginning sea trials. The shipyard is billing the ship as the largest of its kind and a further breakthrough in short-sea shipping.
France bets on nuclear in new plan to cut fossil fuel imports
Mon 16 Feb 2026
The French government unveiled a 10-year energy strategy that leans heavily on nuclear power and offshore wind farms to curb fossil fuel dependence. Environmental groups criticised a 'stubborn insistence on believing in the nuclear myth'.
A UK climate security report backed by the intelligence services was quietly buried – a pattern we’ve seen many times before
5 Feb 2026
Last autumn, a UK government report warned that climate-driven ecosystem collapse could lead to food shortages, mass migration, political extremism and even nuclear conflict. The report was never officially launched.
Mark Carney just picked his lane on climate change
Tue 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.
Singapore sets first ever sustainable aviation fuel levy, as Southeast Asia’s fuel industry grows
Tue 17 Feb 2026
Flying in and out of Singapore, home to Southeast Asia’s busiest airport, will get slightly more expensive this year as the city state begins imposing a levy of between 75 cents to $32 per ticket to fund sustainable aviation fuel.
Pacific fisheries summit gives a boost to albacore and seabirds
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.
Warming climate threatens Greenland's ancestral way of life
Thu 12 Feb 2026
The Arctic region is on the frontline of global warming, heating up four times faster than the rest of the planet since 1979, according to a 2022 study in scientific journal Nature, causing the sea ice to retreat.
Africa leads growth in solar energy as demand spreads beyond traditional markets, report says
Mon 16 Feb 2026
A report shows that Africa has emerged as the world's fastest-growing solar market even as global growth slowed last year, driven by a 60% surge in imports of solar panels from China.
Argentina fires ravage pristine Patagonia forests, fueling criticism of Milei’s austerity
4 Feb 2026
The wildfires, among the worst to hit the drought-stricken Patagonia region in decades, have devastated more than 45,000 hectares (174 square miles) of Argentina’s forests in the last month and a half, forcing the evacuation of thousands of residents and tourists.
