International: Europe
Europe recorded 10,000 excess deaths during late-June heatwave, data shows
Tue 14 Jul 2026
European countries reported more than 10,000 excess deaths during the record-breaking heatwave that engulfed the west of the continent in late June, official data showed.
EU drafts 'electrification' plan to curb oil and gas use, after Iran war disruption
Mon 13 Jul 2026
The European Union plans to introduce a raft of policies and funding schemes to shift more of its economy to run on electricity, instead of oil and gas, a draft European Commission proposal seen by Reuters showed.
Don’t gut flagship green rules, Sweden tells EU
Mon 13 Jul 2026
Sweden has vowed to block any effort to dilute the EU's proposed decarbonization scheme ahead of a policy showdown next week that is pitting capitals against each other.
Europe may face 'more deadly weeks' as new heatwave builds, WHO warns
Thu 9 Jul 2026
The World Health Organization warned Europe could face “more deadly weeks” ahead, with another intense heatwave forming over the Atlantic.
European countries top ‘scorecard’ on climate progress while US slips to 27th
Thu 9 Jul 2026
Estonia, Luxembourg and UK are the top three in the biennial Yale University index in tackling pollution and other issues.
Tourist spots across Europe hit by wildfires as Greece warns of toxic smoke
8 Jul 2026
Wildfires are raging across holiday spots across Europe, with hundreds of firefighters battling blazes in Portugal, Greece, and Spain. International reinforcements have been sent to Portugal, where a massive fire has been burning for over three days.
‘We have nothing to cool off with’: French heatwave exposes inequalities
8 Jul 2026
As people living in low-income areas are unable to escape the heat, analysts say the government’s response is insufficient.
'Hotter and hotter and hotter': Europe's new climate in seven charts
7 Jul 2026
We might only be a few days into July, but two record-breaking summer heatwaves have already provided the UK and Europe with a snapshot of their new climate.
Berlin raids €5.4 billion cash pot ahead of EU carbon pricing reform
7 Jul 2026
The German government plans to divert €2.7 billion in revenues from CO2 permits for factories and power plants away from the green transition towards pensioners as part of budget negotiations on Monday, just days before a major overhaul of the original EU Emissions Trading System.
Wildfires scorch southern France as heat and drought fuel blazes
6 Jul 2026
French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said nearly 7,000 fires have broken out since the start of the summer season, with some 8,700 hectares already burned. “The situation is fairly tense.”
Amsterdam banned ads for burgers, flights, and SUVs. Here's why it matters.
3 Jul 2026
Amsterdam has banned ads for meat and fossil-fuel intensive products – like flights, cruises, burgers, and SUVs – from public spaces and city-owned properties.
Red alerts issued over heatwave in Italy and Balkans
2 Jul 2026
In Italy, 25 out of 27 cities from Bolzano in the north to Palermo on the island of Sicily are under a red heat warning.
UN plastics pact talks restart amid fears production curbs will be left out
2 Jul 2026
Diplomats reconvene a year after negotiations collapsed, but campaigners fear the agenda risks burying tricky discussions on key elements.
‘They want to destroy Corsia’: Brussels takes aim again at airline emissions
2 Jul 2026
The European Commission is planning to shoot down the International Civil Aviation Organisation’s (ICAO) largely voluntary decarbonisation scheme, CORSIA, when it presents plans to overhaul the EU’s carbon pricing system, sources suggest.
EU to extend deforestation law to palm-derived chemicals
1 Jul 2026
The European Commission is preparing to expand the scope of the EU’s deforestation law to cover a wider range of palm-derived chemicals, according to a draft delegated act and an accompanying annex obtained by Euractiv.
Europe's heatwave linked to 1,300 deaths, WHO says, as Germany hits record 41.7C
30 Jun 2026
Europe's unprecedented early summer heatwave may be responsible for hundreds of excess deaths, according to the head of the World Health Organization.
Big Oil’s campaign to stop EU methane restrictions is working
30 Jun 2026
The fossil fuel industry and the U.S. government are gaining ground in their fight to postpone EU rules designed to cut emissions of one of the most potent greenhouse gases, with at least 12 member countries already backing calls to delay the law.
'Spectacular' electric car sales weaken pressure to shelve combustion engine ban, EU climate chief says
30 Jun 2026
A "spectacular" rise in electric car sales is weakening political momentum to roll back the European Union's planned ban on combustion engine cars, the bloc's climate commissioner said on Thursday, as governments laid bare divisions over the policy.
From mobile jungles to shadow art: how Dutch people try to beat the heat
30 Jun 2026
Households in Amsterdam are being urged to hang their curtains outside their windows as health experts recommend simple hacks to moderate the heatwave rolling across the Netherlands, where homes were built for old-fashioned damp and coldish northern European weather.
TotalEnergies must address climate risks linked to its products, French court rules
29 Jun 2026
French oil major TotalEnergies must disclose the climate risks linked to emissions from its oil and gas products and set out plans to mitigate them, a Paris court ruled on Thursday.
European heatwave is worst ever and impossible without climate crisis, scientists say
29 Jun 2026
The heatwave scorching western Europe is the most severe and widespread ever and is only possible due to the climate crisis driven by fossil fuel burning, scientists have said.
It’s too hot in Europe – again
26 Jun 2026
Europeans are experiencing their second heat wave this summer. One climate scientist called the weather event a “sad inevitability.”
French farmers suffer arid crops, heat-stricken animals
26 Jun 2026
France's current heatwave is taking a toll on farmers, who are seeing livestock die and are racing against time to harvest cereals without sparking fires in the tinder-dry crops.
France records hottest day ever as 40 people drown across country
25 Jun 2026
France has registered its hottest day on record as 40 people across the country were confirmed to have drowned while swimming in unsupervised areas over the last few days.
Half of France under red heat alert as alcohol banned at street music festival
23 Jun 2026
France has issued red heatwave alerts for around half the country including Paris for Monday as a heatwave pushes temperatures towards record levels.
EU greenhouse gas emissions rose in 2025, data shows
19 Jun 2026
The European Union did not manage to reduce its planet-warming emissions last year, with preliminary data showing a slight increase in pollution levels compared to 2024.
Ukraine hopes renewables can Russia-proof power grid
19 Jun 2026
Quick to build and able to power a small city, the Oriv wind farm in western Ukraine is exactly the kind of project Kyiv hopes will backstop its power grid against routine Russian strikes.
Steel and chemicals giants demand freeze to EU’s flagship climate policy
17 Jun 2026
The attack on the Emissions Trading System is among industry's most direct calls yet for the EU to change course on climate.
Climate change reshapes Spain's rockfall risk as frost weathering moves uphill
16 Jun 2026
Climate change is altering where and when rocks are most likely to fracture across Spain, according to new research that suggests warming temperatures are redistributing a key process responsible for breaking down mountain landscapes.
EU agrees stronger price controls for new carbon market
12 Jun 2026
The European Union agreed stronger measures to control prices in its new carbon market early on Thursday, responding to governments' concerns that the emissions-cutting initiative could increase fuel bills.
Airline CEOs warn EU plan to expand carbon costs will raise fares
10 Jun 2026
Europe's biggest airlines have urged the European Union not to extend its Emissions Trading System to cover international flights, warning the move would raise ticket prices, a letter seen by Reuters showed.
EU sues Ireland over failure to protect carbon-rich bogs
8 Jun 2026
The European Commission is taking Ireland to court over its failure to protect environmentally crucial boglands from commercial turf-cutters.
How campaigners beat industrial farming in Denmark’s ‘pig election’
8 Jun 2026
Denmark Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen’s new government promises overhaul for people – and animals – in home of ultra-intensive farming.
EU wants households to cut peak time energy use as demand from industry and AI soars
5 Jun 2026
A new law will aim to use artificial intelligence to boost efficient use of power as electricity demand threatens to overwhelm Europe’s grids.
Europe's green jet fuels see upside in Iran war
3 Jun 2026
Interest in synthetic propellants is growing as the Iran war pushes Europe to reassess its dependencies, raising hopes of a turnaround for the struggling sector, according to industry experts.
Germany's €500 billion climate and infrastructure fund spending lagging behind
3 Jun 2026
Spending from Germany’s 500-billion-euro special fund for infrastructure and climate neutrality has remained behind government targets, according to a finance ministry report.
Climate summits are falling short of what the planet needs, EU climate chief says
3 Jun 2026
The outcomes of most of the United Nations' recent COP climate summits have fallen short of the more ambitious action scientists say is needed to address climate change, said EU climate commissioner Wopke Hoekstra on Monday.
Europe heatwave 'brutal reminder' of climate change: UN
28 May 2026
The UN climate chief said Wednesday that a record-breaking early heatwave scorching a swathe of western Europe was "a brutal reminder of the spiraling impacts of the climate crisis".
Recycling could meet half of Europe’s critical mineral needs by 2050
28 May 2026
A new report by an EU-funded research project says the bloc could harness its “urban mines” to reduce its dependence on China for energy transition minerals.
Why temperature records are being not only broken but smashed
27 May 2026
Scientists have little doubt that human-caused climate change – largely the result of the burning of coal, oil and gas – has supercharged the heat.
EU keeps carbon border tax unchanged despite fertiliser price crisis
21 May 2026
Fertiliser producers argue that the EU's carbon pricing rules at the border protect the European industry from cheaper imports produced under weaker environmental rules. But farmers fear they are indirectly paying the bill through higher fertiliser costs.
Germany set to miss 2030 climate goals, independent body warns
20 May 2026
Germany is expected to miss its 2030 climate goals and likely emit more carbon dioxide than previously thought, an independent advisory body said on Monday, contradicting the findings of the government's main climate authority.
Iran war pushes Portugal to halve fossil fuel use over next 10 years
20 May 2026
Lisbon fast-tracks plans after the Iran war caused oil and gas costs to soar, Energy Minister Maria da Graça Carvalho tells POLITICO.
Inequality causing 100,000 extra deaths a year from heat and cold in Europe
12 May 2026
Economic inequality adds more than 100,000 deaths to the vast toll from heat and cold in Europe each year, research has found.
EU floats making it easy for oil companies to break methane rules
8 May 2026
Countries would be able to exempt companies from the rules on energy security grounds, even before major disruption occurs, under draft guidelines seen by POLITICO.
Germany allocates 5 billion euros to push heavy industry to cut CO2
7 May 2026
Germany will provide up to 5 billion euros ($5.85 billion) this year to help major factories reduce carbon emissions by switching to cleaner technology, the economy ministry said on Tuesday.
EU to give industries more free CO2 permits, document shows
6 May 2026
The European Commission has drafted plans to give more free emissions permits to industries over the next few years, a move that could save companies 4 billion euros in CO2 costs.
Amsterdam bans public adverts for meat and fossil fuels
5 May 2026
Amsterdam has become the world's first capital city to ban public advertisements for both meat and fossil fuel products.
Analysts cut EU carbon price forecasts on policy reforms
4 May 2026
Analysts have significantly cut their forecasts for prices in the European Union's carbon market for the next couple of years, due to uncertainty over proposed policy changes and future supply levels.
EU faces ‘China shock’ as EV imports drive Beijing’s record surplus with bloc
1 May 2026
The EU is experiencing a prolonged “China shock” as a flood of Chinese EVs into Europe helped push Beijing to a record surplus with the bloc.
Coal is back in Australian Super’s portfolio. What happened to that net zero pledge?
Mon 13 Jul 2026
In 2020 Australia’s biggest super fund dumped its Whitehaven shares. Fast forward to 2026 and it is now the coalminer’s single biggest investor.
Trump administration opens endangered species’ habitats to development, reversing 50 years of environmental law
Tue 14 Jul 2026
The Trump administration reversed decades of longstanding environmental law protecting endangered species on Friday, opening up sensitive habitats of those protected species to drilling, mining, farming and real estate development.
China warming faster than global average as extreme weather intensifies, report says
6 Jul 2026
China is warming faster than the global average, while extreme heat, heavy rainfall and other severe weather events are becoming more frequent and intense as climate change accelerates worldwide.
Low-cost loans for solar panels could save households hundreds on bills – thinktanks
Thu 9 Jul 2026
Millions of UK households could save hundreds of pounds a year on their energy bills if the government were to approve low-cost loans for solar panel installation, research has found.
Canada advances Alberta pipeline to Pacific Coast to expand oil exports beyond the US
6 Jul 2026
Canada took a step toward opening a new route for its vast oil reserves to Asian markets as Prime Minister Mark Carney advanced a Pacific Coast pipeline from Alberta, seeking to reduce the country’s dependence on the U.S. while easing separatist tensions and preserving environmental protections.
Climate change becoming a major driver of child marriage across Asia and the Pacific
Tue 14 Jul 2026
The growing intensity of natural disasters across Asia is leading to increasing numbers of child marriages of girls, according to aid organisations.
‘Those blocking climate science are not our friends': Pacific leaders warn at Bonn talks
23 Jun 2026
Pacific nations and civil society groups have united at UN climate talks, pushing back against efforts to weaken agreed language on global temperature limits as negotiations continue behind closed doors.
Antarctica’s west coast missing an area of sea ice the size of France as temperatures peak 20C above average
16 Jun 2026
A vast area of the Bellingshausen Sea should be covered by sea ice by now, with one expert calling the loss of ice ‘depressing’.
Africa secures $900 million in new clean cooking commitments
Mon 13 Jul 2026
African countries have secured $900 million in new financial commitments to expand access to clean cooking technologies, which replace polluting fuels with cleaner alternatives, said the International Energy Agency.
Under Lula, Amazon deforestation falls to lowest level in a decade
Tue 14 Jul 2026
Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest has fallen to its lowest level in a decade during the first half of 2026, according to official government figures.
COP31 president says electrification is ‘surest way to protect citizens’
Tue 14 Jul 2026
Last month, COP31 president-designate Murat Kurum launched a target for 35% of the world’s final energy to come from electricity by 2035. In an interview with Carbon Brief, Kurum says that the target was not a political choice, but instead reflects the latest evidence on “what is needed to keep 1.5C within reach”.
