International: Europe
Russia suffering 'environmental catastrophe' after oil spill in Kerch Strait
27 Jan 2025
Satellite images reviewed by BBC Verify have shown a major oil slick spreading across the Kerch Strait that separates Russia from annexed Crimea, a month after two oil tankers were badly damaged in the Black Sea.
EU’s solar and wind growth pushes fossil-fuel power to lowest level in 40 years
24 Jan 2025
Over the past decade, coal power use in the European Union (EU) has fallen by 61%, according to new figures from energy analysts Ember.
Dutch court orders government to meet pollution reduction targets or face millions in fines
24 Jan 2025
A Dutch court on Wednesday ordered the country’s government to meet its own goals for reducing overall nitrogen emissions by 2030, a decision that could have major economic and political consequences.
European leaders at Davos vow to stick to Paris climate agreement despite Trump’s withdrawal
23 Jan 2025
Day two of the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland saw strong responses to US President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement, with European leaders stating in no uncertain terms that they will remain a part of the global climate pact.
Top advisers say EU should ban solar geoengineering … for now
16 Dec 2024
The bloc’s scientific advisers say the EU should push for an international treaty regulating the controversial technologies.
Greece faced 9,500 forest fires this year, says minister
13 Dec 2024
About 9,500 forest fires, including one on the outskirts of Athens, consumed nearly 44,500 hectares of land this year, Greece's hottest and driest on record, official said on Tuesday.
EU’s new energy chief vows to end Russian fuel ties for good
13 Dec 2024
Momentum for quitting Moscow’s revenue driver has stalled. “Something new needs to happen,” Dan Jørgensen told POLITICO.
Sails make a comeback to cut shipping’s huge carbon footprint
9 Dec 2024
The international merchant fleet of more than 100,000 ships transports more than 80% of global trade. But it’s also responsible for about 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
Europe’s cruise ships produce toxic sulphur emissions equivalent to 1 billion cars, study finds
5 Dec 2024
Cruise ships are producing higher levels of toxic air pollutants than they did before the pandemic, according to a new study by the European Federation for Transport and Environment (T&E).
Spain’s new ‘climate leave’ gives workers four days off during extreme weather
2 Dec 2024
The law on paid leave protects the rights of workers not to go to work in the event of catastrophes or climate-related weather alerts that could put them in danger.
France, Germany, Sweden urge EU battery sector push to avoid China reliance
2 Dec 2024
France, Germany, and Sweden have jointly urged the forthcoming European Commission (EU) to prioritise the autonomy of the EU's battery sector to avoid over-reliance on China amid the green transition.
Europe’s Azerbaijan gas gambit is good news for Russia
22 Nov 2024
Europe keeps striking deals with Azerbaijan, even at COP29. And while it might not be Russian gas, Moscow is still likely to benefit.
Billionaires, frequent flyers, oil and gas: Who could fund COP29’s $1tn finance target?
21 Nov 2024
“It makes common sense to tax mega polluters and the mega-rich to ensure that we have the money needed for climate action at home and globally” according to one campaigner.
EU all but guaranteed to miss global deadline for climate targets
14 Nov 2024
Europeans want other countries to promise ambitious action but are behind on their own plans.
Shell wins landmark climate case against green groups in Dutch appeal
14 Nov 2024
Oil giant Shell has won a landmark case in the Dutch courts, overturning an earlier ruling requiring it to cut its carbon emissions by 45%.
Want food security? Eat less meat, major report says
12 Nov 2024
Europe’s top farming university is calling for smaller livestock herds and a shift toward plant-based diets.
Prince William begins a visit to South Africa that focuses on climate and the environment
5 Nov 2024
Prince William will speak with young environmentalists and local fishermen during a visit to South Africa starting Monday that will see his annual Earthshot Prize award $1.2 million in grants to five organisations for innovative environmental ideas.
Austria's alpine refuges and trails crumble as climate warms
5 Nov 2024
Experts say warmer temperatures across the Alps are accelerating glacier melt and thawing permafrost, the year-round ice that binds together giant slabs of rock.
Spain’s apocalyptic floods show two undeniable truths: the climate crisis is getting worse and Big Oil is killing us
4 Nov 2024
COMMENT: If past experience is any guide, the world’s reaction to the floods in Spain last week will be similar to that of motorway drivers at a crash scene: slow down, take in the horror, outwardly express sympathy, inwardly give thanks that fate picked someone else – and foot on the accelerator.
Spain battles deadliest flood disaster in decades as death toll rises
31 Oct 2024
Spain is enduring its worst flooding disaster in decades, with at least 95 people dead and dozens more missing, after huge rains swept the eastern province of Valencia and beyond.
Mercedes-Benz opens Europe’s first battery recycling plant
31 Oct 2024
Mercedes-Benz has opened Europe’s first battery recycling plant with an integrated mechanical-hydrometallurgical process, making it the first car manufacturer to close the battery recycling loop with an in-house facility.
Greek PM deplores worst climate conditions in four decades
24 Oct 2024
Wildfire-plagued Greece has suffered its worst year in terms of climate conditions in four decades in 2024, its prime minister told parliament on Wednesday.
Germany earmarks $3 billion for decarbonisation subsidies
23 Oct 2024
The German government has earmarked up to 2.8 billion euros to support 15 industrial companies in their bid to decarbonise under its first round of "climate protection contracts".
The EU’s (vague) climate aid stance: Want more money? Get more donors
14 Oct 2024
The bloc won’t say how much money it’s willing to put up before other details are firmed up.
EU Court rules plant-based burger labeling lawful
11 Oct 2024
The European Court of Justice ruled that plant-based foods such as burgers and sausages can continue to be labelled with names mimicking their meaty counterpart in a dispute that has lasted over three years.
Barcelona is turning subway trains into power stations
4 Oct 2024
Barcelona is using its subways’ regenerative braking to power trains, stations and neighbourhood EV chargers. Could other cities do this?
Major gaps between EU farming incentives and Green Deal goals: report
2 Oct 2024
The European Court of Auditors reviewed the EU's reform of agriculture subsidies and found a "noticeable gap" between farming incentives and the EU's overall green targets, the ECA said in a report on Monday.
Germany to struggle reaching international climate finance target – govt officials
1 Oct 2024
It will be very difficult for Germany to reach its target of providing developing countries with at least six billion euros in climate finance from its federal budget by 2025, said government officials in Berlin.
Inside Ireland’s powerful farming lobby
27 Sep 2024
The dense network illustrates a “well oiled machine” of intersecting influence that is preventing Ireland from addressing its poor air and water quality and meeting its climate targets, campaigners say.
How Italy’s largest fossil fuel company uses ‘green’ bonds as a loophole to keep financing hydrocarbons
23 Sep 2024
Both private and institutional investors have poured billions into Eni’s “green-labelled” bonds, under terms and conditions that enable it to continue to fund carbon-emitting activities.
Norway sees electric cars outnumber petrol models
20 Sep 2024
Norway, one of the world's largest exporters of oil, now has more electric cars on its roads than petrol-driven vehicles.
World Bank boosts climate financing by 10 percent
20 Sep 2024
The World Bank announced that it delivered a record $42.6 billion in climate change financing in the last financial year, up 10 percent from a year earlier.
Climate scientists troubled by damage from floods ravaging central Europe
18 Sep 2024
Experts say they are unsurprised at the intensity of extreme weather but say the damage wreaked shows how unprepared the world is.
'Catastrophe' as deadly floods hit Central and Eastern Europe
17 Sep 2024
The Austrian province surrounding Vienna has been declared a disaster area, as torrential rain caused by Storm Boris continues to wreak havoc across Central and Eastern Europe.
Von der Leyen moots nature credits market to avert ecosystem collapse
17 Sep 2024
The European Commission is considering a market-based system to encourage farmers and industry to conserve nature and restore lost biodiversity by putting a price on ecosystems.
The Hague to ban fossil fuel ads from January
17 Sep 2024
Other cities have moved against fossil fuel advertising, but The Hague is the first to enact binding legislation, as a number of jurisdictions worldwide crack down on publicity for fossil fuels and high-emissions sectors.
Germany’s ongoing €4.5 billion carbon offset fraud: “It is possible that we are dealing with a case of serious environmental crime here”
11 Sep 2024
German authorities’ action is “too little, too late” says whistleblower.
Italy’s Southern Islands drought made 50% more likely by climate change, study finds
10 Sep 2024
Sardinia and Sicily have been experiencing “exceptional” drought conditions intensified by climate change, leading to water shortages and severely compromising agriculture.
Former VW chief goes on trial nine years after 'dieselgate'
6 Sep 2024
Former Volkswagen Chief Executive Martin Winterkorn appeared in court on fraud charges over the so-called dieselgate scandal.
EU faces lawsuits over emissions rules, 'green' label for planes
29 Aug 2024
Environmental campaigners have taken the European Commission to court, seeking to force Brussels to upgrade its emissions rules for 2030 and, in a second case, scrap rules that label some planes as climate-friendly investments.
Heat deaths in Europe may triple by end of the century, study finds
26 Aug 2024
Countries in south most at risk, with rise likely to outstrip fall in cold-related deaths if global heating hits 3C or 4C.
Von der Leyen threads the climate needle to keep her job
23 Jul 2024
The German politician has secured a second term as European Commission president with a political program carefully designed to woo both conservatives and environmentalists.
Greece shuts Acropolis, two firefighters killed in Italy as southern Europe swelters in a heat wave
19 Jul 2024
A heat wave across southern Europe forced authorities in Greece to close the Acropolis for several hours and two firefighters died while putting out a fire in the Basilicata region in southern Italy.
The story of a heat death
18 Jul 2024
David went to work in his new job on a French building site. By the end of the day he was dead. What can David Azevedo’s story tell us about the threat increasingly extreme weather poses to human health?
How Denmark plans to tax agriculture emissions to meet climate goals
12 Jul 2024
Denmark is on its way to introducing a world-first tax on greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture in 2030.
Ireland's greenhouse emissions lowest in 30 years
12 Jul 2024
Greenhouse gas emissions in the Republic of Ireland are at their lowest level in 30 years, according to the latest figures.
Using Toyota's hydrogen car as the Paris Olympics official vehicle 'will damage reputation of 2024 Games'
12 Jul 2024
More than 120 scientists, academics and engineers call for switch to battery electric vehicles, arguing that fuel-cell cars are ‘not a viable net zero solution’.
New EU Parliament less supportive of green agenda, documents show
11 Jul 2024
The next European Commission will no longer be able to rely on a broad consensus among lawmakers in support of ambitious climate change policies, draft documents showed.
French election sparks relief for scientists, hope on climate change reform
10 Jul 2024
Following a second round of voting in a snap election, France's left-wing New Popular Front has secured a leading plurality of seats in parliament.
How Europe’s conspiracy influencers went from COVID-19 to the climate
8 Jul 2024
Conspiratorial narratives about climate action have entered the mainstream all over Europe.
Australia eyes new fuel supply from US, Mexico and Asia as diesel prices spike to record high
Mon 13 Apr 2026
Australia could get more fuel from the US, Mexico or its Asian neighbours, with a new government policy helping refineries bid for oil shipments as diesel prices spike to new record highs.
Is the Keystone XL pipeline back?
Today 11:15am
A company has proposed to build a crude oil pipeline crossing the Canadian border near where the long-contested project would have entered the United States.
China's Xi urges faster development of new energy system as Middle East war continues
Wed 8 Apr 2026
Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for accelerated planning and construction of a new energy system to safeguard the country's energy security, weeks into the Iran war that has triggered global energy shocks.
UK ‘green’ jet fuel imports linked to illegal Amazon deforestation
Today 11:15am
A major supplier of ‘green’ airline fuel to the UK has sourced beef fat linked to illegal Amazon deforestation, court documents and shipping data show.
Mark Carney just picked his lane on climate change
17 Feb 2026
COMMENT: Mark Carney's time as prime minister has been defined in part by his decision to roll back Trudeau-era climate policies.
Ocean protections clash with mining pressure in Indonesia’s most diverse marine ecosystem
Mon 13 Apr 2026
Long regarded as a global model for ocean conservation, Raja Ampat ecosystems are now under pressure, as concerns grow over the expansion of nickel mining alongside a surge of international tourism.
Vanuatu Indigenous leaders raise concerns over plans to build resort for cruise tourists
1 Apr 2026
Indigenous community leaders in Vanuatu have raised concerns over plans by the cruise operator Royal Caribbean to build a private beach club on the island of Lelepa, arguing environmental impact assessments by the company are “incomplete” and “misleading”.
Drowned chicks and food scarcity: Emperor penguin and Antarctic fur seal now endangered
Mon 13 Apr 2026
The primary drivers are shrinking sea ice and warming oceans driven by climate change.
Rationing power and diluting petrol – how African countries are coping with effects of Iran war
30 Mar 2026
Countries across Africa have taken measures such as diluting petrol and restricting electricity consumption to cope with the fuel crisis triggered by the US and Israel's war in Iran.
Beef production drives 40% of agriculture-linked forest destruction, Brazil leads
26 Mar 2026
Beef production is the leading driver of agriculture-linked deforestation, accounting for 40% of all forest clearing done to open space for food production, according to details of a study released on Tuesday.
Iran war should trigger faster exit from fossil fuel dependence, UN climate chief says
18 Mar 2026
The disruption to energy markets caused by the Iran war is a lesson on the risks of relying on fossil fuels which should drive governments to wean their economies off oil and gas faster, the U.N. climate secretary told Reuters on Monday.
