International: Europe
Switzerland backs net-zero climate law in referendum
20 Jun 2023
Almost 60% of Swiss voters have backed plans to severely cut emissions by 2050 despite opposition from the right-wing Swiss People's Party.
Europe's city schools, hospitals at risk from extreme heat, EU agency says
16 Jun 2023
Nearly half of schools and hospitals in European cities are located in urban "heat islands", exposing vulnerable populations to health-threatening temperatures as climate change impacts worsen, the European Union's environment agency has said.
France seeks to rally support for emissions levy on shipping
14 Jun 2023
France is drumming up support for a global levy on greenhouse gas emissions from the shipping industry ahead of a summit hosted by Emmanuel Macron this month.
Ireland proposes culling 200,000 cows, farmers push back
13 Jun 2023
Countries across Europe are working to fulfill their commitment to shift to a climate-neutral economy.
EU mayors list climate action as top priority
13 Jun 2023
Climate change is a key concern for Europe's local leaders, with a majority of mayors in 92 major cities across the bloc listing it as a top priority in a new survey published today.
Climate change is causing more turbulence on flights, say scientists
12 Jun 2023
Clear-air turbulence was long predicted to increase under climate change, but a new study from Reading University has painted the most detailed picture yet of the effects kicking in.
Wales falling behind on targets
7 Jun 2023
Wales is falling behind on actions needed to fight climate change, according to a major report.
Accounting for war - Ukraine's climate fallout
7 Jun 2023
The war in Ukraine is deepening the climate crisis at time when global greenhouse gas emissions are already running at a record high, according to report by carbon accounting experts who have tallied the overall impact of the conflict.
Germany: govt body warns of increased health threats from climate change
2 Jun 2023
Germany’s disease control agency warns that rising temperatures due to global warming will increase the likelihood of heat stroke, vector-borne illnesses and other health risks in the country.
EU doubles firefighting fleet in preparation for climate change impacts
31 May 2023
The EU said on Tuesday it is doubling its aerial firefighting fleet for the summer of 2023, citing challenges such as increasing forest fires due to the climate crisis.
More than 1,500 arrested during Netherlands climate protests
30 May 2023
Activists blocked a section of a motorway in the centre of the city during the afternoon, in protest against Dutch fossil fuel subsidies.
UN advises against offsets for carbon removal technologies
29 May 2023
Billions of dollars are pouring into tech-based solutions to suck carbon dioxide from the atmosphere but the UNFCCC says they are unproven and pose unknown risks.
Irish farmers convert ocean carbon to fertiliser via seaweed
26 May 2023
UK start-up Carbon Kapture has joined forces with Irish shellfish farmers to launch a seaweed farm, absorbing CO₂ and enriching soil with converted biochar.
France bans short-haul flights in effort to fight climate change
25 May 2023
France has formally banned domestic flights on short routes that can be covered by train in less than two-and-a-half hours in a move aimed at reducing airline emissions.
Climate change: Ministers lack urgency on flood risks, critics say
23 May 2023
Welsh ministers have been accused of lacking urgency on flood risks due to climate change, after postponing planning rule changes twice.
Italy's Deadly Floods: Climate Change's All-Or-Nothing Weather Extremes
23 May 2023
In a changing climate, more rain is coming, but it’s falling on fewer days in less useful and more dangerous downpours.
Norway under pressure to scale back fossil fuel expansion plans
19 May 2023
The Norwegian government is facing growing pressure to scale back its huge global fossil fuel expansion plans – including the development of a controversial new oilfield in the North Sea.
Meteorologists are the new targets in global social media misinformation
16 May 2023
Once trusted faces on the news, meteorologists now brave threats, insults and slander online from conspiracy theorists and climate change deniers who accuse them of faking or even fixing the weather.
Ukraine’s already planning its green rebuilding
16 May 2023
Ukrainian activists, scientists and architects are pushing for a postwar recovery unlike any in history, with a focus on climate resilience and clean energy.
Paris agreement’s police force begins with rebuke to Vatican
15 May 2023
A committee set up to pressure governments into complying with the Paris Agreement has issued its first warnings, rebuking the Vatican City for not submitting a climate plan.
EU Parliament advances methane reduction with Fit for 55 legislation
12 May 2023
The new initiative is designed to help the EU achieve its climate goals and improve air quality.
Sweden to pave world’s first permanent e-road for EV charging while driving
12 May 2023
As countries across Europe scale up efforts towards fossil fuel-free mobility, Sweden is working on the world’s first permanent electric road — allowing electric cars and trucks to charge while driving.
Climate change raising heat risks for workers: experts
11 May 2023
Rising global temperatures are increasing the risk of workers dying or becoming disabled from labouring in extreme heat, an international conference has been told.
New tech to turn hydrogen and CO2 into lower-carbon aviation fuel announced
11 May 2023
Honeywell International Inc (HON.O) has announced announced a new technology to produce lower-carbon aviation fuel from green hydrogen and carbon dioxide captured from industry, which can help cut greenhouse gas emissions from aviation, one of the hardest sectors to electrify and decarbonise.
Greenpeace sues Italian energy company ENI over climate change
11 May 2023
Greenpeace and an environmental coalition including 12 Italian citizens are suing Italian energy company ENI, accusing it of knowingly contributing to climate change.
Sweden lowers fossil fuel reduction targets, risks 2030 climate goals
9 May 2023
Sweden’s ruling coalition decided on Sunday to lower the minimum fossil fuel emission reduction targets, a move criticised by the opposition as Sweden risks its 2030 climate goals, while the influential right-wing populist Sweden Democrats claim “victory”.
Germany’s top Green slams radical climate protesters
8 May 2023
Germany's most senior Green politician, Robert Habeck, has slammed radical activists who glue themselves to the ground to highlight the climate emergency, saying such protests are "unhelpful" and "downright wrong."
April heat in western Med 'almost impossible without climate change'
8 May 2023
The extreme heat that engulfed the Iberian peninsula and parts of North Africa last week would have been "almost impossible without climate change", an international scientific study found on Friday.
Ireland commits €169 million for climate transition in peat-dependent "midlands"
4 May 2023
Ireland is committing €169 million to help the country’s so-called ‘midlands’ to transition away from the carbon-intensive fossil energy industry.
Climate group hails 'productive' meeting with minister
3 May 2023
Climate activists from the Last Generation group say a meeting with German Transport Minister Volker Wissing was productive. However, there appears to be no end in sight to protests that have blocked Berlin's roads.
Irish SUV sales 'cancelling out' emissions benefits of EVs
3 May 2023
Increased sales of electric vehicles (EVs) have “not made a dent” in transport emissions, a leading expert has said, as he called for SUVs “to be phased out of the market”.
Germany hopes to help climate with discount travel card
2 May 2023
Germany launches on Monday a new flat-rate public transport ticket valid across the country, but the €49 (NZ$87) price point has raised doubts about the pass's potential impact.
German climate activists disrupt traffic in central Berlin
28 Apr 2023
Climate activists continued their protests in Berlin on Thursday, blocking more than a dozen streets by gluing themselves to the ground.
Europe's ETS sets tougher target
27 Apr 2023
EU countries have given the green light to the biggest overhaul to date of the bloc’s carbon market, raising costs for polluting industries and increasing its emissions reduction target from 43% to 62% by 2030.
Germans willing to sacrifice for climate
27 Apr 2023
Two-thirds of people in Germany said they were willing to make personal sacrifices to fight climate change, according to a YouGov poll, further demonstrating the varied attitudes toward lifestyle changes for the environment among European Union countries.
Europe’s biggest petrochemical plant in 30 years a ‘carbon bomb’, court to hear
26 Apr 2023
Environment groups challenge the decision to approve a £3.5bn Ineos facility in Antwerp, saying it will make the climate crisis worse.
EU, Norway to bolster clean energy ties, with focus on carbon and hydrogen
26 Apr 2023
The EU and Norway have established a Green Alliance to strengthen their joint climate action, environmental protection efforts and cooperation on clean energy.
Border tax on carbon dioxide offers huge opportunity to fight climate change, say researchers
26 Apr 2023
A tax on CO2 emissions from products entering the EU offers unprecedented opportunities in the fight against global warming.
Record breaking heatwaves cause 15,000 deaths in Europe
24 Apr 2023
Record-breaking heatwaves over the last few years, affecting the Europen continent and parts of China during the summer, have caused nearly 15,700 deaths, an analysis published by the United Nations Agency for promoting international cooperation on atmospheric science, climatology, hydrology, and Geophysics, claimed.
Earth Day — climate, protest and policy in 2023
24 Apr 2023
As activists mark Earth Day this Saturday, it feels like the climate coverage in the first months of 2023 has been dominated by extreme weather events including droughts, fires and floods, and by images of angry protesters demanding action. But some initiatives offer a glimmer of hope and possible ways to tackle climate emergencies.
World’s first carbon import tax gets green light
21 Apr 2023
The European Parliament has approved the world’s first “carbon tax” for imported goods, imposing tariffs based on the amount of emissions generated in their production.
Austria's 'Climate Shakira' has come up with a novel way to try and escape deportation
21 Apr 2023
"It is sometimes quite painful. Especially when you have glued your hand already on several occasions as I did then the skin irritation gets greater each time."
The 'ninjas' fighting climate change denial on Twitter
20 Apr 2023
Secretive internet vigilantes have made it their mission to fight climate change denial on Twitter. But, as a vicious information war rages online, do they risk becoming the very trolls they claim to be targeting?
EU Parliament adopts 'holy trinity' of climate laws
19 Apr 2023
The European Parliament has approved three climate laws that form the heart of EU efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030.
Germany reaches 2022 CO2 targets, but not thanks to climate measures
19 Apr 2023
Germany met its emissions reduction targets for 2022, according to preliminary data from the country’s Climate Expert Council (Expertenrat fur Klimafragen).
Climate council warns Germany against 'pushing off' responsibility to Europe
18 Apr 2023
Germany must increase efforts to reduce emissions even as the European Union introduces stricter climate legislation, said Brigitte Knopf, deputy chairwoman of the country’s Council of Experts on Climate Change.
EU exit from climate-killing energy treaty looms
18 Apr 2023
Denmark joins a spate of EU nations including Germany, Spain, France and the Netherlands who are exiting the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT), an investment pact weaponised by big emitters to sue governments — most recently for phasing out fossil fuels.
Offshore wind giant Ørsted turns to liquid air energy storage
13 Apr 2023
Danish offshore wind energy giant Ørsted is planning to test the value of co-locating offshore wind farms with long-term liquid air energy storage systems.
Swedish climate minister dismisses far-right’s biofuel threats
13 Apr 2023
Climate and Environment Minister Romina Pourmokhtari dismissed threats of political crisis from the far-right Sweden Democrats, who want the currently undecided government to reduce the number of biofuels that must be blended into petrol and diesel from the current 30% mandate to virtually zero.
Amsterdam’s ‘smart’ blue-green roofs reduce urban flooding
12 Apr 2023
The city scaled up the planting of self-watering residential rooftop gardens that mitigate flooding and lower temperatures.
“Dirty and expensive:” City of Sydney bans gas as it votes to electrify all new big buildings
Today 12:00pm
The City of Sydney has followed the example of the ACT and Victoria governments and voted unanimously to require all newly built residential buildings, medium to large commercial buildings, hotels, and serviced apartment buildings, to be all-electric.
How the US could shape the COP30 climate summit without even being there
Today 12:00pm
The Trump administration has recently taken aggressive stances to try to influence other countries’ climate policies, mainly by threatening hostile trade measures.
Why climate change now threatens China’s future
Tue 4 Nov 2025
Extreme weather is hurting its economy and worrying its leaders.
How climate change worsens heatwaves, droughts, wildfires and floods
Today 12:00pm
Many extreme weather events are becoming more common and more intense around the world, fuelled by human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels.
Canada could eliminate oil and gas emissions cap, budget plan says
Today 12:00pm
Canada could scrap a cap on oil and gas emissions in favor of other measures like strengthened industrial carbon pricing and the deployment of carbon capture and storage technology, the government said in a budget plan unveiled on Tuesday.
From mapping high-risk areas to building ‘sponge cities’: How Vietnam is adapting to climate extremes
Today 12:00pm
Vietnam is rethinking how it copes with floods after a year of relentless storms has collapsed hillsides and turned streets into rivers.
Mystery heatwave warms Pacific Ocean to new record
21 Oct 2025
The waters of the north Pacific have had their warmest summer on record, according to BBC analysis of a mysterious marine heatwave that has confounded climate scientists.
Scientists discovered something alarming seeping out from beneath the ocean around Antarctica
13 Oct 2025
Planet-heating methane is escaping from cracks in the Antarctic seabed as the region warms, with new seeps being discovered at an “astonishing rate".
Nigerian billionaire plans expansion of Africa’s biggest oil refinery
Fri 31 Oct 2025
The billionaire owner of Africa’s largest refinery plans to expand its capacity to 1.4 million barrels per day to meet growing fuel needs in the continent and beyond.
Police raids in Brazil’s Rio kill 64 ahead of events related to COP30 climate summit
30 Oct 2025
At least 64 people died on Oct 28 in Rio de Janeiro’s most deadly police operation ever, which targeted a major gang days before the city hosts global events related to the United Nations climate summit known as COP30.
UNEP: New country climate plans ‘barely move needle’ on expected warming
Wed 5 Nov 2025
Executive director Inger Anderson made the comments as UNEP published its 16th annual assessment of the global “emissions gap”.
