International: China
What’s holding back China’s bamboo furniture makers?
24 Feb 2020
Wood consumption has jumped 173 per cent in China over the past decade, and restrictions on felling primary forest mean the country relies on wood imports for over half its demand.
Coronavirus cuts China’s CO2 emissions
21 Feb 2020
As China battles one of the most serious virus epidemics of the century, the impacts on the country’s energy demand and emissions are only beginning to be felt.
China’s top climate negotiator steps down
13 Dec 2019
What is the legacy of Xie Zhenhua, a key architect of the Paris Agreement and one of the world’s longest-serving climate diplomats?
China's energy-sector emissions still on the rise
15 Nov 2019
China’s energy-sector emissions are expected to increase this year and next, driven by rising oil and gas consumption instead of by coal.
How can China tame e-commerce emissions?
30 Oct 2019
China is ground zero of the e-commerce boom, which is creating a growing mountain of waste and fuelling carbon emissions worldwide.
China’s tree-planting drive could backfire
27 Sep 2019
China has been warned that its tree-planting drive to hold back deserts could strain water resources.
UN confident China will raise climate ambition
12 Sep 2019
China is expected to come to the UN climate action summit with a more ambitious climate plan, a top UN official believes.
ELECTROCULTURE: How China is trying to spark up crop yields
30 Aug 2019
Across China, scientists are exposing lettuces and cucumbers to powerful electric fields in an attempt to make them grow faster.
How is China faring at sustainability reporting?
28 Aug 2019
More of China’s vast corporations are opening up about their impact on the environment. But how real are their claims?
Warming worsens China's pollution problems
16 Aug 2019
Efforts to curb air pollution in China, a country already facing dire health impacts from high levels of soot and smog, will likely become increasingly difficult as the planet warms, a new study shows.
China makes way for even more coal mines
12 Aug 2019
Approvals for new coal mine construction in China have surged in 2019, with Beijing expecting consumption of the commodity to rise in the coming years.
China busily expanding its UN presence
8 Aug 2019
As the United States withdraws from the international arena, China is playing for dominance in United Nations spaces.
Can China electrify all new cars by 2030?
1 Aug 2019
Electric vehicles are taking off in China but a long road lies ahead before they displace conventional vehicles.
China likely to meet climate change goals early
31 Jul 2019
China appears to be on track to reach its carbon goals up to nine years earlier than planned under the Paris Agreement.
China succeeds in greening its economy
29 May 2019
From an appalling environmental scorecard 20 years ago, China has pioneered a “global green shift” towards renewable energy and recycling.
How China is redrawing the map of world science
7 May 2019
The Belt and Road Initiative, China’s mega-plan for global infrastructure, will transform the lives and work of tens of thousands of global researchers.
Coal deals go down at China’s ‘green’ summit
1 May 2019
Investment deals emerging from China’s belt and road summit show continued support for controversial coal projects, despite leaders’ green rhetoric.
China eyes nuclear fusion power by 2040
17 Apr 2019
China aims to complete and start generating power from an experimental nuclear fusion reactor by around 2040.
Chinese consumers ignore calls to eat less beef
5 Apr 2019
Despite increasing prices and evidence that too much beef is bad for health and the environment, the belief in China that eating red meat makes you strong persists and consumption is accelerating.
Can the world quench China’s thirst for milk?
1 Apr 2019
China’s leaders have championed milk as the emblem of a modern, affluent society – but their radical plan to triple the nation’s consumption will have a huge environmental cost.
China’s coal consumption on the rise
5 Mar 2019
China's use of coal increased again in 2018, raising questions about the Asian super power’s green energy transition.
China eyes solar power stations in space
25 Feb 2019
China wants to be the first country to launch power stations into space that capture the Sun’s energy and beam it back down to Earth.
Coal mining likely cause of China emissions rise
31 Jan 2019
Satellite data collected from 2010 to 2015 show that China's methane emissions increased unabated during that period and that the increase was most likely driven by coal mining.
China returns to Edison for power solution
29 Jan 2019
China’s response to the demand for electricity has been to use advanced transmission technology that can bridge vast distances – technology that, ironically, harks back to the earliest days of electric power.
There's no problem a billion cockroaches can't handle
18 Dec 2018
China is producing so much food waste it has had to come up with some out-of-the-box thinking — like using a billion cockroaches to take care of the problem.
SILENT REVOLUTION: It's all power to the e-bus in this city
14 Dec 2018
All 16,000 buses in the fast-growing Chinese megacity of Shenzhen are now electric, and soon all 22,000 taxis will be, too.
Pure electrics shine as China shows off cars of the future
6 Dec 2018
China has seen a bumper year for electric car sales, so it’s no surprise that a number “new energy vehicles”, as EVs are referred to in China, were the stars of the Guangzhou Auto Show.
China drags chain on emissions trading scheme
28 Nov 2018
China still needs to do a lot of work before it can fully launch its long-awaited nationwide carbon emissions trading scheme.
Mangroves are on the march
23 Nov 2018
Mangrove forests could be adapting to climate change by growing beyond their usual range, according to a recent study.
China faces pressure over illegal greenhouse gases
12 Nov 2018
China will be urged to crack down on illegal CFC-11 production under an international declaration set for adoption at a meeting in Ecuador this week.
Chinese city launching own moon to save on power bill
1 Nov 2018
A private aerospace institute in China plans to launch its own moon to save money on nightime lighting in a provincial city.
What the Chinese people think about climate change
28 Sep 2018
Ninety-four per cent of the public think China should be in the Paris climate deal, although many don’t know exactly what that means.
Just where on Earth is China's climate highway leading us?
20 Sep 2018
Triumph or catastrophe? Where will China’s climate path lead us all? So far there are both hopeful moves and warning signs, a new book says.
China cracks down on distant fishing fleets
11 Sep 2018
China’s fishery authorities have introduced hard-hitting punishments for overfishing and illegal fishing by the country’s distant fishing vessels.
Animal waste is turning China's lakes green
5 Sep 2018
Animal husbandry is contaminating China’s water and has been linked to turning lakes bright green, a phenomenon known as eutrophication.
China again starts building coal-fired plants
9 Aug 2018
Satellite imagery reveals that many coal-fired power projects that were halted by the Chinese government have quietly restarted.
New Chinese-led banks missing the point
2 Aug 2018
Both less than five years old, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and Brics Bank are failing to back sustainable development models.
Quite soon, this crowded part of China will be unsurvivable
2 Aug 2018
The deadliest place on the planet for extreme future heatwaves will be the north China plain, one of the most densely populated regions in the world and the most important food-producing area in the huge nation.
Why China must show stronger climate leadership
25 Jul 2018
A new report from Columbia University has provided a clear assessment of China’s role in responding to climate change.
Chinese lead green bonds charge
12 Jul 2018
China issued $30 billion in green bonds in 2017, remaining the world leader in the market.
China carbon emissions in retreat
5 Jul 2018
China’s carbon dioxide emissions fell from 2014 to 2016 and might already have peaked, according to a new study.
China's seafood boom will be felt globally
4 Jul 2018
Seafood consumption per capita in China has recently surpassed pork and that has repercussions for ocean ecosystems in the country and beyond.
China wants better clean-air standards
2 Jul 2018
China has signalled its intention to impose special emissions limits on some of most polluting and energy intensive sectors in the country.
China producing banned ozone-damaging chemicals
27 Jun 2018
China has been outed as the illegal producer of chemicals that damage the ozone layer and the climate.
China frets over 'blind' electric vehicle growth
20 Jun 2018
China will take action to curb the “blind” development of its rapidly growing electric vehicle sector, says a state planning spokeswoman.
China is the alternative universe of car industry
9 May 2018
A state-controlled economy is forcing the world's largest car market to embrace electric car solutions, and fast. Here's what China can tell us about the automotive future.
Coal pollution is poisoning China's rice
7 May 2018
Mercury pollution is a problem usually associated with fish consumption. But some people in China, the world’s largest mercury emitter, are exposed to more methylmercury from rice than they are from fish.
China's solar power boom can be seen from space
2 May 2018
China is the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, but it's also leading the world in clean energy investment and deployment.
Belt and Road will cost the environment
1 May 2018
China is aggressively trying to leverage on a trillion-dollar transportation and energy infrastructure construction programme that poses potential environmental impacts.
China builds a road so smart it will change the face of driving
16 Apr 2018
The road to China’s autonomous-driving future is paved with solar panels, mapping sensors and electric-battery rechargers as the nation tests an “intelligent highway” that could speed the transformation of the global transportation industry.
Climate risk suburbs: The shocking truth about Aussie house prices
Thu 18 Sep 2025
Australia’s property market is hurtling towards a climate reckoning, with billions of dollars in potential losses looming.
Al Gore on China’s climate rise: ‘I would not have seen this coming’
Thu 18 Sep 2025
Twenty-five years ago, Al Gore was in the final stretch of his U.S. presidential campaign, just weeks away from an election that would ultimately slip through his fingers despite winning the popular vote.
One city’s race to ‘solarise everything we possibly can’
Thu 18 Sep 2025
Bordeaux is quickly transforming itself into France’s top solar-powered city, banking on innovations like transparent panels that preserve its historic architecture.
Republican gala dinner in Windsor disrupted by climate protesters ahead of Trump’s UK visit
Thu 18 Sep 2025
Climate protesters have interrupted a gala dinner for Republicans in Windsor celebrating Donald Trump’s second state visit to the UK.
Carney government noncommittal about Canada meeting 2030 climate goals
9 Sep 2025
Prime Minister Mark Carney would not say Monday whether Canada will meet its climate goals under the Paris agreement by 2030, as his government faces criticism over his emission-reduction plans.
Tax rebalancing in Indian energy sector: Renewables cheaper, coal costlier
12 Sep 2025
Industry experts and developers have hail GST cuts on clean energy equipment, saying it will be a major enabler for India’s ambitious climate goals.
China, climate crisis and COP31: Five takeaways from the Pacific Islands Forum
Tue 16 Sep 2025
A key climate crisis funding treaty struck as Pacific leaders backed Australia’s bid for Cop31 despite some criticism of its environmental credentials.
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.
South African environmental groups push to block Shell’s new wells – how world court opinion might help
Wed 17 Sep 2025
The International Court of Justice’s landmark advisory opinion on climate change has come in handy for South African communities that are trying to stop global oil company Shell from drilling for oil and gas off the coast.
Brazil implores businesses to attend COP30 climate summit, despite 'second thoughts' amid Trump backlash
5 Sep 2025
November's COP30 summit comes at a precarious time for climate action, as companies back away from environmental initiatives, and attacks on green energy by President Trump.
UN pushes countries for new climate targets this month
9 Sep 2025
The United Nations urged countries on Wednesday to set more ambitious climate plans during this month, seeking to pressure major economies including the EU and China ahead of this year's U.N. climate summit.
