International: Europe
Europe, too, likes the look of circular economy
13 Mar 2018
As the EU doubles down on its waste management efforts and sets its sights on tackling plastic waste, the idea of a circular economy and internal market for recycling is gathering momentum.
EC unveils new action plan on sustainable finance
13 Mar 2018
The European Commission has produced its strategy to make sustainability a key component of the financial sector within Europe for years to come.
Luxembourg home to half world’s green bonds
9 Mar 2018
Luxembourg and its very international stock exchange are well positioned to become the standard bearer that leads the green and sustainable finance industry of the future.
Spanish bank announces €100 billion climate plan
8 Mar 2018
The second-largest bank in Spain has launched a 100 billion euros initiative to support sustainable development and combat climate change.
Ban on bee-killer pesticide likely after new study
6 Mar 2018
A new study from the EU has found that the widespread use of a controversial pesticide on crops is harmful to the bee population.
Brussels eyes free transport on bad air days
1 Mar 2018
Brussels has moved to make the city’s public transport and bike share system free on the smoggiest days in a bid to drive down pollution levels.
German court rules cities can ban vehicles to tackle pollution
28 Feb 2018
Germany’s highest administrative court has ruled that diesel and other vehicles can be banned from some city streets as part of efforts to improve air quality,
China must sign up to climate rules, says EU
28 Feb 2018
EU foreign ministers have set a collision course with China in a statement calling for the same rules to bind all countries under the Paris climate deal.
German carmakers nervous on eve of court's diesel ban ruling
21 Feb 2018
A court will decide tomorrow whether German cities can ban heavily polluting cars, potentially wiping hundreds of millions of euros off the value of diesel cars on the country’s roads.
New apartment block will look like a forest
20 Feb 2018
Apartments to be built in the Dutch city of Eindhoven will be a 75m high skyscraper, which will include space for 125 trees, and 5200 plants.
Cow dung overload brings call for cut in dairy herd numbers
19 Feb 2018
Dairy farms in the Netherlands are producing so much dung they can’t get rid of it safely. Now the WWF is calling for a 40 per cent cut in herd numbers.
Nordic nations usher in new era of green finance
19 Feb 2018
New research has highlighted how the Nordic countries are leading by example in the green finance market.
Germany takes close look at free public transport
16 Feb 2018
Germany is thinking of making public transport free as it scrambles to meet EU air pollution targets and avoid big fines.
Germany’s energy and climate policy is taking shape
15 Feb 2018
The coalition agreement between the German Conservatives and the Social Democrats outlines a relatively ambitious energy policy.
Paris might take fuel companies to court
13 Feb 2018
Paris could become the first city in Europe to try to defray the cost of climate change by taking fossil fuel companies to court.
EU to define what exactly is green investment
8 Feb 2018
The European Commission will present legislation in May to define what represents "green" investment.
Europe’s biggest fossil fuel project gets public loan
8 Feb 2018
The European Investment Bank has approved a loan to the Southern Gas Corridor, in a move environmentalists described as a “historical mistake”.
EU says no trade deals with countries not in Paris pact
7 Feb 2018
The EU has backed French calls to make trade deals with the world’s second-biggest economy contingent on membership of the Paris climate agreement.
New index will track EU sustainable investment
2 Feb 2018
A sustainability index has been launched to track the performance of environmentally and socially responsible European companies.
EU renewables overtake coal for first time
1 Feb 2018
Renewable technologies - wind, solar and biomass - have beaten coal generation for the first time in the EU.
France to close coal plants two years early
31 Jan 2018
French President Emmanuel Macron has announced that all the country’s coal-fired plants will shut down by 2021- two years earlier than initially planned.
Gas field earthquakes put firms on notice
26 Jan 2018
Two hundred of the Netherlands’ biggest companies have been told by their government to stop sourcing fuel from a major Dutch gas field within four years following a series of increasingly significant earthquakes.
German emissions rise for second year in a row
26 Jan 2018
An increase in transport sector emissions drove up Germany’s total greenhouse gas emissions for the second time in a row in 2016.
The climate solution no-one in Davos will be talking about
25 Jan 2018
Economists say a global carbon tax would efficiently shift the world to safer energy production. So why is it barely mentioned?
Poland’s new leader eyes nuclear future
15 Dec 2017
Poland is in no hurry to ditch coal power any time soon but the new prime minister insists nuclear energy and renewable sources are a part of the country’s future energy mix.
Germany the champion nation for recycling
14 Dec 2017
Germany is the leading nation for recycling, followed closely by Wales and Singapore, according to new research.
... and France is best at food sustainability
14 Dec 2017
A war on waste food in France has helped it secure the top spot in a ranking of countries by their food sustainability.
Europe utilities vow to be carbon neutral by 2050
14 Dec 2017
More than 3500 European utility companies have vowed to lead the low-carbon energy transition, calling on policymakers to accelerate electrification.
Macron pays US scientists to move to France
13 Dec 2017
Eighteen climate scientists from the US and elsewhere have hit the jackpot as France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, awarded them millions of euros in grants to relocate to France.
Europe's coal plants bleeding cash
11 Dec 2017
Almost all coal plants in the European Union will be outspending their income by the end of the next decade, relying on subsidies to stay open to back up wind and solar generation.
The most northerly town in the world is at risk of disappearing
11 Dec 2017
It’s freezing, snowing and so far north that the sun won’t rise again until March, but the 2000 residents of the world’s most northerly town wish it were much colder.
Farm grows food under streets of Paris
11 Dec 2017
La Caverne is an urban farm that grows mushrooms, herbs and greens beneath the streets of Paris.
Citizens fight EU weedkiller decision
8 Dec 2017
The public is fighting back against an EU decision to renew the licence of controversial pesticide Glyphosate.
Iceland's new PM vows carbon neutrality by 2040
7 Dec 2017
Iceland's new Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir, 41, says she wants her nation to be carbon neutral by 2040.
In Poland’s coal heartland, miners imagine a greener future
7 Dec 2017
While the Polish government champions coal, the area around Katowice, host of next year’s UN climate summit, is starting to diversify its economy.
Sacre bleu! It seems the French are world's smartest farmers
7 Dec 2017
France has topped the 2017 edition of the Food Sustainability Index exhibiting the best performance across food loss and waste, sustainable agriculture and nutritional challenges.
Can a massive barrier save Venice from drowning?
6 Dec 2017
The engineering limitations and cost overruns of a huge barrier designed to protect Venice from sea level rise are raising questions about the mega-projects that many coastal cities are hoping can save them.
How Airbus was allowed to write its own climate rules
4 Dec 2017
E-mails between the European Commission and Airbus show how the European aircraft manufacturer was offered privileged access to the EU decision-making process, allowing it to write its own environmental rules.
Southern Spain is getting that sinking feeling
1 Dec 2017
When the heat is on, ground shrinkage means subsiding soils. Sustained drought could cause structural problems in parts of Spain.
Swedish power plant burns clothes instead of fossil fuels
28 Nov 2017
A Swedish power plant is turning to recycled wood and trash for alternatives, including discarded clothing from a retail chain.
You're spies, Russia tells green campaigners
23 Nov 2017
The Russian government is using anti-spying legislation to silence environmental campaigners, a leading watchdog has warned.
Poland faces $170,000-a-day fines over illegal logging
23 Nov 2017
Poland has been given two weeks to stop illegal deforestation in a Unesco-protected forest or face fines of at least $NZ170,000 a day.
Meet the green gurus who use 1400 disposable cups a day
23 Nov 2017
More than 2.5 million disposable cups have been purchased by the UK’s environment department for use in its restaurants and cafes over the past five years – equivalent to nearly 1400 a day.
Electric highway will link Norway and Italy
21 Nov 2017
A German utility is planning a string of electric vehicle fast chargers every 120 to 180 kilometers along highways in seven European countries, from Italy to Norway.
Norway’s wealth fund eyes divesting from fossil fuels
20 Nov 2017
Norway’s $1 trillion fund is to consider divesting from oil and gas stocks to protect the country's economy from oil price risk.
Activists sue Norway over Arctic exploration plan
16 Nov 2017
The Norwegian government is being sued by climate activists over a decision to open up areas of the Arctic Ocean for oil exploration.
EU strikes deal on carbon market reform
13 Nov 2017
European Union negotiators have agreed to a compromise on carbon market reforms, with the bloc keen for a deal this week to show leadership at UN climate talks in Bonn.
Germany's dirty coalmines focus for direct action
10 Nov 2017
A giant black mark on Germany’s environmental record is scarred on the land an hour’s drive from the venue of this year’s UN climate talks in Bonn.
EU acts to clean up transport and boost e-vehicles
9 Nov 2017
The European Commission has a legislative package aimed at reducing CO2 emissions in road transport and encouraging the uptake of electric cars.
Europe still drilling for oil, despite Paris Agreement
3 Nov 2017
Just days before international climate talks start in Bonn, firms are lining up to drill for oil - at great expense - in northern European waters.
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.
