International: Europe
Swiss reject climate tax hike
14 Jun 2021
Exit polls on Sunday indicated that Swiss voters appear to have narrowly rejected a proposed “carbon dioxide law” that would have hiked fees and taxes on fuels that produce greenhouse gases.
Looming EU carbon tariffs
11 Jun 2021
Europe is preparing legislation that would jolt the rules of international trade by taxing imported goods based on the greenhouse gases emitted to make them.
Germany's citizens' assembly on climate
8 Jun 2021
A diverse group of 160 German citizens have until the end of June to present their recommendations for climate protection to the government. DW spoke to two participants.
World's first carbon-neutral cement plant to open in Sweden
3 Jun 2021
HeidelbergCement have announced its intention to upgrade its facility on the Swedish island of Gotland to become the world’s first carbon-neutral cement plant.
Finland aims to be carbon negative
1 Jun 2021
Prime Minister of Finland Sanna Marin outlines her country's ambitious plan to be climate neutral by 2035 and carbon negative - removing more carbon than it emits - soon after.
Doctors urge global action against climate-linked health risks
31 May 2021
Hundreds of health workers marched to the World Health Organisation on Saturday demanding that authorities in all countries recognise and act to counter the health risks of climate change.
Shell Oil ordered to limit emissions in historic court case
27 May 2021
Environmental campaigners in the Netherlands and around the world are celebrating today after a court in The Hague ordered oil firm Royal Dutch Shell to cut its carbon emissions, in a first-of-its-kind case that pitted climate activists against an oil giant.
EU attempt to set tougher climate change target stalls
26 May 2021
European Union leaders on Tuesday shelved an attempt to direct how the bloc will set new national targets for emissions cuts, weeks before Brussels is due to propose a huge package of tougher climate change policies.
Demand for "green aluminium" growing
25 May 2021
Russia’s Rusal ,the world’s largest aluminium producer outside China, announced last week it plans to spin off its higher-carbon production assets into a new company, leaving its low-carbon refineries and smelters in a rebranded “AL+” \
World's largest carbon market booming
20 May 2021
The cost of polluting in Europe is experiencing a meteoric rise unlike any period since its inception in 2005, driven higher by the region’s ambitious climate policy and increased financial investment in the market.
High carbon price hits coal
13 May 2021
Europe's record-high carbon prices are driving down coal use,
German constitutional court backs climate action
10 May 2021
A ruling last week by the German Constitutional Court in favour of ecological NGOs has major significance—and not just for Germany.
Climate change impacts price stability: ECB
10 May 2021
Climate change is already impacting price stability and it will have an effect on monetary policy, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said Friday.
Dutch banning fossil fuel advertising
7 May 2021
How do you wean the Dutch off fossil fuels? Well, you could always start by banning advertisements that promote them.
Expert calls for drastic cut to size of houses
4 May 2021
Energy efficient building renovation is not enough to lessen the climate impact of residential buildings, according to one sustainability expert who is calling for a limit on the living space allocated per person in residential homes.
The geopolitics of climate change
30 Apr 2021
The European Union is emerging as the world’s climate trailblazer - argue two top ranking European Union bureaucrats.
Online platform to sell forests
29 Apr 2021
RTE reports on a new online platform to sell off-setting forests.
EU carbon prices hit all-time high
23 Apr 2021
EU carbon allowance prices hit an all-time high of over Eur47/mt April 22 as bullish mood continued in the market in the wake of the EU's informal agreement on a revamped 2030 emissions reduction goal.
Europe to overhaul corporate climate disclosure
22 Apr 2021
The European Commission is proposing an overhaul of the union's corporate sustainability reporting and disclosure framework.
Dutch cities heading for zero emission deliveries
21 Apr 2021
Cities in the Netherlands want to make their air cleaner by banning fossil fuel delivery vehicles from urban areas from 2025.
Europe risks €87 billion in stranded fossil gas assets
15 Apr 2021
Europe is building or planning to build €87 billion worth of fossil gas infrastructure in a continued expansion of pipelines and LNG terminals, despite the need to halve emissions by 2030.
Dutch going with the flow
15 Apr 2021
In Amsterdam, a group of forward-thinking people decided to go with the flow. Schoonschip, a self-sustaining floating community of more than 100 residents, boasts innovative technology like 500 solar panels and a green roof on every house.
France's e-bikes for clunkers scheme
13 Apr 2021
France is offering the owners of old, exhaust-belching cars the opportunity to hand over their vehicles for scrap in return for a 2,500 euro grant to buy an electric bicycle.
Greenlanders vote for the environment
12 Apr 2021
A fight over Greenland's rich oil, gas and mineral deposits is raging, as global warming melts ice and exposes rich reserves. Now Greenlanders are struggling to balance economic growth and environmental protection.
A French route to EV future
8 Apr 2021
The latest vehicle sales data for France tell an interesting story about the future of the auto sector in Europe.
EU at loggerheads over 2030 target
31 Mar 2021
The fifth round of negotiations between the European Union Council and members of parliament achieved little progress on agreeing a climate law.
EU experts to say nuclear power is a green investment
31 Mar 2021
Experts tasked with assessing whether the European Union should label nuclear power as a green investment will say that the fuel qualifies as sustainable, according to a leaked document.
Sweden to increase airport fees for high-polluting planes
24 Mar 2021
Sweden plans to charge airlines more at takeoff and landing if their aircrafts are more polluting, the government has said.
Industry calls for hydrogen blending into gas
22 Mar 2021
More than 90 energy companies, equipment manufacturers and gas network operators have called on the European Commission to consider hydrogen blending into natural gas for parts of Europe that cannot yet afford a dedicated hydrogen network.
Carbon pricing driving home renovation
18 Mar 2021
Like other European countries, the Czech Republic’s buildings are in need of renovation. Unlike others, it partly funds renovation programmes with revenues generated from the emission trading scheme, an experiment that could be replicated across the European Union..
France makes constitutional move on climate
17 Mar 2021
France's National Assembly has voted to enshrine the fight against climate change and the protection of biodiversity in the constitution, the first step towards a national referendum on the matter.
Droughts worst in 200 years
16 Mar 2021
The series of severe droughts and heatwaves in Europe since 2014 is the most extreme for more than 2000 years, research suggests.
EU keeps free credits for industry
15 Mar 2021
The European Parliament has rejected proposals to phase out free carbon dioxide pollution credits for industries covered by the EU’s Emissions Trading System, even as the bloc plans to gradually replace the scheme with a carbon levy at its border.
EU border carbon levy could help poor countries
10 Mar 2021
Europe's future carbon border adjustment mechanism is part of the “new own resources” for the EU budget and must be used to combat global warming across the world, says MEP leading the project.
EU clashes over ‘net’ 2030 climate target
8 Mar 2021
Lawmakers have denounced a “loophole” in the European Commission’s proposed climate target for 2030 and pointed the finger at the EU executive for its hard negotiation style over the EU climate law.
Banks should publish green yardstick, says authority
2 Mar 2021
European banks should publish a “green-asset ratio” as a core measure of their climate-friendly business activities, says the European Union's banking watchdog.
Serville oranges being turned into energy
24 Feb 2021
A pilot scheme will use methane from fermenting fruit to create clean power for Serville's city water plant
Russian region launches carbon trading plan
22 Feb 2021
In Russia's remote far east, authorities have launched an unexpected experiment: an effort to try out carbon trading and reach net-zero planet-heating emissions by 2025.
Green reforms of energy treaty divide EU
18 Feb 2021
The European Union has renewed its push for greening a major international treaty protecting energy investments, after last-minute wrangling and divisions between member states.
Overhaul of Europe's farming system on the table
17 Feb 2021
The Farm to Fork Strategy is at the heart of the European Green Deal, aiming to make food systems fair, healthy and environmentally-friendly.
Let's think big, Germany tells US and China
16 Feb 2021
Germany wants Europe and the United States to strengthen transatlantic ties with a trade deal to abolish industrial tariffs, a WTO reform to increase pressure on China and a joint carbon-emission trading system to protect the climate.
Big-emitting businesses could face costly EU carbon levy
11 Feb 2021
Big-emitting Australian businesses that export to Europe could soon face steep carbon levies of more than $70 a tonne unless the federal government imposes emissions reduction policies, according to a new analysis.
Court condemns French government over climate inaction
4 Feb 2021
A Paris court has found the French government responsible for failing to cut emissions in line with its own target, in the country’s first major climate lawsuit.
Ireland uses peat to combat climate change
3 Feb 2021
Ireland’s peat is offering the country a novel way to back the global effort to save the planet from overheating dangerously. It is helping to lock up the carbon emissions which are feeding the steady rise in the Earth’s temperature.
More consultation needed on EU carbon border levy, says China
2 Feb 2021
The European Commission needs to have further discussions with Beijing and other trading partners about its upcoming carbon border levy, a senior Chinese diplomat says.
Salla - 'The heat is coming'
29 Jan 2021
Salla, the coldest place in Finland, is making a tongue-in-check bid for the 2032 Summer Olympics, saying thanks to climate change, it expects that by then it will have sand for beach volleyball, lakes for swimming and snow-free hills for downhill bike-riding.
'Gas is over,' says EU bank chief
26 Jan 2021
The European Investment Bank says it will end all funding for fossil fuels before the end of the year.
Bank links bosses' pay to sustainability performance
8 Dec 2020
Deutsche Bank says it will join a small number of financial institutions that link management pay to environmental, social and governance-related criteria.
The Danish climate minister closing down the oil industry for good
7 Dec 2020
Denmark’s climate minister is fairly certain that the deal to close down the nation’s oil industry by 2050, announced on Friday morning, marks the biggest moment in his career.
EU countries face off over hydrogen
2 Dec 2020
EUROPEAN Union member states are fighting over which type of hydrogen to support, with two opposing camps facing off: those backing green hydrogen produced exclusively from renewable electricity, and those in favour of a broader “low-carbon” definition, which also includes nuclear power and decarbonised gases.
Australia opens first carbon refinery, making new products from captured CO2
Wed 24 Jun 2026
Australia’s first carbon refinery opened in New South Wales, capturing carbon dioxide from explosives giant Orica's ammonia-making operations on Kooragang Island and turning it into products such as concrete, paper and glass.
I cold-called President Trump. Here's what he told me about an oil tycoon and major donor.
Mon 29 Jun 2026
I was hoping the president would give me some color about his relationship with billionaire Jeffery Hildebrand. I walked away with a clearer picture of what matters in Washington right now.
China's coal power on the rise again in 2026, reversing first-in-a-decade decline
Thu 25 Jun 2026
China's coal-fired power generation is set to rebound this year from its first fall in a decade, analysts said, due to the impact of El Nino and the Iran war and as renewable sources of energy have failed to keep pace with demand.
Wales' emissions fall significantly after steelworks changes
Mon 29 Jun 2026
There has been a "significant" cut to Wales' greenhouse gas emissions, mainly due to the closure of the blast furnaces at Port Talbot steelworks, according to a new report.
Canada signs landmark LNG energy deal with Germany
29 May 2026
Canada has announced a landmark energy agreement with Germany that will see the first-ever long-term shipments of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Canada to Europe in the coming years.
Asia warming nearly twice as fast as before
19 Jun 2026
A new report from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) highlights record ocean heat, accelerating glacier loss and a series of extreme weather events causing significant human and economic losses across Asia.
‘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’.
Verra reinstates Kenya carbon project despite ongoing court case
Thu 25 Jun 2026
The Northern Kenya Grassland Carbon project is “the world’s largest soil carbon removal project” according the organisation running the project. It is also one of the most controversial carbon projects anywhere in the world.
Colombia’s climate crossroads: Trumpism casts shadow over presidential battle
26 May 2026
Colombia is a global leader in climate activism. Could US influence drag country to a future of mining and fracking?
UN chief says fossil fuel industry must cut methane for warming “relief”
Thu 25 Jun 2026
UN chief António Guterres called for stronger action to cut emissions of planet-heating methane, taking aim at the fossil fuel industry’s practices and profits, and pointing to coal, oil and gas as the root of today’s climate and energy crises.
