International: Europe
Turkey’s climate plan points to 32% rise in emissions by 2030
17 Nov 2022
Turkey pledged to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 41% in 2030, compared with its business-as-usual scenario, according to a new climate plan submitted to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Environmental ruling hits Europe’s largest carbon sequestration scheme
4 Nov 2022
The Netherlands’ highest administrative court yesterday ruled that construction projects will in future have to take into account the amount of nitrogen they emit.
Temperatures in Europe have increased at more than twice the global average
3 Nov 2022
Temperatures in Europe have increased at more than twice the global average over the past 30 years – the highest of any continent in the world.
European parliament moves to mandate EVs by 2035
2 Nov 2022
The EU Parliament has agreed to a set of rules that will see an increase in the number of recharging and alternative refueling stations for cars, trucks, trains, and planes. This is part of the “Fit for 55 in 2030 package” which plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% come 2030.
Hungary closing public facilities due to soaring cost of energy
1 Nov 2022
Dozens of cities are closing venues across Hungary due to soaring energy costs. The most common public facilities affected are theatres, spas, pools, libraries, museums and sports venues.
Germany can and should lead the way on EU energy solidarity
31 Oct 2022
Winter is coming to Europe and with it, high energy prices, which could see many Europeans struggle to keep their homes warm. Yet, it seems Germany has its citizens covered. On September 29, Chancellor Olaf Scholz put forward a plan for a 200 billion euros ($197bn) energy package, which caused a stir across the European Union.
Carbon emissions from energy to peak in 2025 in ‘historic turning point’: IEA
28 Oct 2022
Global carbon emissions from energy will peak in 2025 thanks to massively increased government spending on clean fuels in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to analysis by the world’s leading energy organisation.
UK’s critical infrastructure deemed vulnerable to ‘cascading risks’ from climate change
28 Oct 2022
Urgent action is needed to mitigate the "cascading risks" facing the UK's critical national infrastructure (CNI), according to a new report.
EU countries agree to hike climate change target next year
26 Oct 2022
European Union countries agreed on Monday to raise their target to curb greenhouse gas emissions under the Paris climate agreement next year, as the bloc attempts to rally ambition among major emitters ahead of this year's U.N. climate talks.
Ukraine reconstruction must steer clear of energies that allowed Putin to thrive: opinion
26 Oct 2022
Fossil gas and nuclear energy projects should be excluded from talks about Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction opening tomorrow in Berlin, writes Svitlana Romanko.
Weekend of protests in Europe, from energy to Iran
25 Oct 2022
Thousands of protesters gathered across Europe over the weekend to protest over energy prices and climate — and also to show solidarity with antigovernment protesters in Iran.
Energy crisis sets Poland on rocky transition out of fossil fuels
25 Oct 2022
High coal prices, scarce fossil gas supplies and barriers to renewable energy projects are complicating Poland’s transition from fossil fuels amid the ongoing energy crisis.
In the Netherlands, balancing energy security against climate concern
20 Oct 2022
A central location and web of gas pipelines are helping boost gas imports in the country even as it tries to stick to its clean energy goals.
Young Germans take climate case against govt to European Court
19 Oct 2022
Climate activists who won a landmark case against the German government last year are now taking their case to the European Court of Human Rights, an organisation representing them said on Tuesday.
Pernod Ricard unveils €250m plan for carbon-neutral distillery in Ireland
19 Oct 2022
Whiskey company Irish Distillers, owned by Pernod Ricard, has announced a €250m investment to create a new distillery in East Cork that is carbon-neutral in its operations.
These 11 EU countries want climate to be at the heart of the bloc's foreign policy
18 Oct 2022
Eleven European Union countries on Monday launched a new group to bolster the bloc's climate diplomacy and place it at the heart of the EU's foreign and security policy.
The 'green' glen embracing hydro powered farming that could solve energy crisis
17 Oct 2022
While it may seem to be one of many traditional uphill farms in the area, Glensaugh in Aberdeenshire is set to become Scotland’s first truly ‘green glen’ with a hydro hamlet powered entirely by self-generated renewable power.
Climate change is testing resilience of UK wheat yields
14 Oct 2022
Wheat yields in the UK have largely been resilient to varying weather over the past 30 years. However, the future security of our most widely grown food crop is uncertain due to increasingly frequent extreme wet and dry conditions as a result of climate change, say scientists.
Farm soil carbon: Is the focus on sequestration right?
13 Oct 2022
Arable farmers must be realistic about the amount of carbon that can be locked up in soils and should be wary of exaggerated claims about sequestration, warns a leading soil scientist.
Expert commission proposes gas price relief of 90 billion euros by 2024 for German consumers
12 Oct 2022
A group of experts charged by the German government to come up with a plan on how to ease the impact of rising gas prices has proposed to support citizens and businesses with a total of about 90 billion euros by 2024.
London stock exchange launches its voluntary carbon market rules
12 Oct 2022
After nearly a year since first announcing that it would be developing a new market solution to accelerate the availability of financing for projects that will support a just transition to a low-carbon economy, the London Stock Exchange has launched its public market framework.
Europeans are hoarding wood, cleaning chimneys, and mulling horse dung as winter looms in an energy crisis
10 Oct 2022
As much as 70% of European heating comes from natural gas and electricity, and with Russian deliveries drastically reduced, wood — already used by some 40 million people for heating — has become a sought-after commodity.
French Nobel Winner urges inflation, climate protest against Macron
10 Oct 2022
French author Annie Ernaux, who was awarded the Nobel Literature Prize this week, signed an open letter on Sunday supporting a mass protest against President Emmanuel Macron called by the country's left-wing opposition.
Countries back rewritten EU plan to raise carbon market cash
7 Oct 2022
European Union countries on Tuesday agreed an alternative to an EU plan to use a carbon market reserve to help finance their exit from Russian gas, after fears the original proposal would undermine the bloc’s main climate change policy.
E-fuels will undermine Europe’s clean car race, if we let them
7 Oct 2022
To decarbonise Europe’s car fleet, internal combustion engines (ICEs) running on synthetic fuels are not a viable alternative to electric cars.
Wind, solar investors threaten to leave Europe because of revenue cap
5 Oct 2022
European wind and solar power industries associations warned that investments could go elsewhere after EU energy ministers voted to introduce revenue caps for wind, solar, nuclear and coal power generation.
Nord Stream pipeline leaks are ‘catastrophic for the climate’
30 Sep 2022
Methane leaking from yet-to-be explained damage on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines is likely to be the biggest burst of the potent greenhouse gas on record, raising new fears of the effect on the climate emergency.
Cars are vanishing from Paris
29 Sep 2022
Bright parasols, wooden sun loungers and expanses of golden sand suddenly appear every summer on what was once a traffic-clogged, 3.3 kilometer road along the banks of the River Seine in the heart of Paris
Countries try to dodge EU's carbon market fundraising plan
27 Sep 2022
European Union countries are hunting for alternatives to an EU plan to use a carbon market reserve to help finance their exit from Russian gas, as some fear the proposal would undermine the bloc’s main climate change policy.
What if carbon border taxes applied to all carbon – fossil fuels, too?
23 Sep 2022
The European Union is embarking on an experiment that will expand its climate policies to imports for the first time.
EU governments carving out €20 bn in carbon market exemptions for shipping
22 Sep 2022
Government ministers are in the process of carving out €20 billion worth of exemptions for the shipping industry in the new maritime carbon market (ETS), according to a new analysis.
As UN climate summit looms, Denmark becomes first country to pay for ‘loss and damage
22 Sep 2022
Denmark is directing more than $13 million to aid countries hard hit by climate change, becoming the first wealthy nation to pay for “loss and damage” from increasingly extreme weather.
Squaring off between carbon taxes and renewable energy incentives
21 Sep 2022
Some European renewable energy producers are concerned that the EU may lose green energy investments to the United States in the wake of recently enacted U.S. legislation.
Europe records hottest summer ever in 2022, says climate monitor
9 Sep 2022
The summer of 2022 was the hottest in Europe's recorded history, the European Commission's climate monitor said on Thursday. It is the second summer in a row of record-breaking temperatures in Europe.
'Climate neutral' products are counterproductive greenwashing bluff - NGO
9 Sep 2022
Products labelled as “climate neutral” deceive consumers and undermine progress in reducing emissions, argues Environmental Action Germany, an NGO specialising in fighting environmental cases in court.
Netherlands warns against EU carbon market fundraising plan
8 Sep 2022
The Netherlands has warned other European Union countries that an EU plan to use a carbon market reserve to finance their exit from Russian gas would undermine the bloc's climate change policy, and put forward alternative plans.
Berlin freezes carbon price in the name of crisis relief
6 Sep 2022
The German government will suspend the price increase of its domestic carbon price for one year as part of a €65 billion relief package meant to alleviate the strain of record-breaking energy prices.
Europe is bracing for a brutal, cold winter
6 Sep 2022
European governments are scrambling to avert a full-scale energy crisis after Russia’s last-minute decision to halt gas deliveries through the key Nord Stream pipeline indefinitely.
Municipalities can overcome Europe’s fossil-fuel addiction
5 Sep 2022
Europe’s fossil-fuel addiction is painfully clear amid the global energy crisis and the unfolding horrors in Ukraine.
Nearly 150 Spanish cities rolling out low-emission zones in 2023
5 Sep 2022
Spain is getting serious about cleaning up its air, and that’s the case in cities across the country. Due to the Climate Change and Energy Transition Law, most Spanish cities will be implementing low-emission zones within their borders in 2023.
French fossil fuel ad ban: what it means and the opportunity for agencies
2 Sep 2022
France is the first European country to ban fossil fuel advertising. The ban, which comes into effect next year, could see companies fined up to €100,000 for breaching the rules.
Inside the ‘energy villages’ powering Germany’s green transition
1 Sep 2022
Neighbours in the Black Forest region of Germany have come together to create a community power plant, in a quest to achieve energy sovereignty.
Drought threatening Dutch dikes
31 Aug 2022
Authorities in the Netherlands are on high alert as drought conditions could threaten the stability of the country's network of 19th century peat dikes.
The six reckonings of Europe’s energy crisis: gas, nuclear, war and inflation
30 Aug 2022
With European wholesale natural gas, coal, and electricity as well as CO2 prices near to all-time highs, Europeans are facing a winter of discontent, one which may in fact last for many years.
Macron warns of ‘end of abundance’
30 Aug 2022
France is headed toward the “end of abundance” and “sacrifices” have to be made during what is a time of great upheaval, President Emmanuel Macron told his cabinet on Wednesday upon returning from summer break.
France offers €4,000 e-bike subsidy but there’s a catch
29 Aug 2022
The cities of France are building safe cycling infrastructure as fast as any in the world, including a massive move by Paris. And now the federal government is ensuring those new bike lanes will fill up with clean, green e-bikes after announcing a €4,000 subsidy. But there is a catch.
Can Denmark save every smørrebrød?
25 Aug 2022
As the country that wastes the most food in Europe, Denmark is turning to apps that help shoppers grab groceries just before they end up in the trash.
Europe hit by worst drought in at least 500 years as climate change fears grow
24 Aug 2022
Europe is in the grip of its worst drought in at least 500 years, experts warned on Tuesday as fears grew over climate change.
Spain PM warns of climate emergency as country records hottest summer ever
23 Aug 2022
Spain is facing a climate emergency as it experiences the hottest summer ever recorded, prime minister Pedro Sanchez warned yesterday.
EU carbon price hits record
22 Aug 2022
The price of carbon in the EU’s emissions trading system hit a new all-time high on Friday, August 19, as traders warned coal was becoming “re-embedded” in Europe’s electricity generation because of tight supplies of gas.
Datacentres should be forced to invest in wind and solar energy, all states agree – except Queensland
Wed 13 May 2026
Power hungry datacentres that are growing to meet the demands of artificial intelligence could be forced to invest in enough new solar and wind generation to completely cover their electricity needs.
US EPA moves to speed clean air permits for power plants, industry
Wed 13 May 2026
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said it would speed up the process for large polluters to obtain clean air permits, the latest move by the Trump administration to ease regulatory burdens on American power plants and industry.
China’s leadership calls for ‘strict control’ of fossil fuels
28 Apr 2026
Chinese government leaders published a policy document on 22 April – Earth Day – calling for stricter controls on fossil-fuel consumption and greater oversight of heavy emitters.
Nature recovery zones inspired by Attenborough
Tue 12 May 2026
A wildlife trust has been inspired by Sir David Attenborough's climate change mantra to designate 11 nature recovery zones in honour of the broadcaster's 100th birthday.
Carbon capture ‘doesn’t work’: Former British Columbia premier
Fri 8 May 2026
Former British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell warned the costly, troubled technology has failed to deliver, undercutting a central justification for billions in public subsidies and new oil infrastructure.
Climate change, socioeconomic shifts threaten Nepal’s yak herding traditions
7 May 2026
According to the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), warming temperatures are fundamentally altering Himalayan high-altitude ecosystems.
How climate change threatens the economic backbone of the Pacific
4 May 2026
The vast Pacific Ocean and the islands dotted within it produce more than half of the world's tuna.
‘Triple whammy of climate chaos’: Why Antarctica's sea ice collapse is no longer a mystery
Mon 11 May 2026
Scientists have finally identified the ‘triple whammy’ behind Antarctica’s dramatic collapse, shedding new light on the chain reaction that has pushed its sea ice to record lows.
With its first marine reserve, Ghana protects its ocean to secure its future
5 May 2026
Comment: Last month, Ghana made news when it declared its first marine reserve and sited it in one of the nation’s most ecologically and biologically significant marine environments.
The country where lethal hantavirus cases are on the rise. Experts blame climate change
Wed 13 May 2026
Experts believe environmental degradation caused by climate change and human activity is contributing to its spread by allowing the rodents that transmit the virus to thrive in new areas.
UN methane alert system expanded to coal and waste sectors after Indian landfill named among world’s top emitters
6 May 2026
The United Nations is expanding its methane monitoring system to cover coal mines and waste facilities, after satellite analysis identified a landfill in India among the world’s three largest methane-emitting sites.
