International: Europe
France moves into action with new climate plan, green industry makeover
13 Nov 2023
France has unveiled a new strategy for climate action with a view to slashing its carbon emissions by 55 percent compared to 1990 levels by the end of this decade.
Levy on aviation and maritime firms should be considered
3 Nov 2023
Ireland’s environment minister made the case for the World Bank to administer any agreed climate loss and damage funding.
Vivaldi's Four Seasons gets climate change makeover
26 Oct 2023
A Spanish music director has adapted Antonio Vivaldi's "The Four Seasons" to the grim reality of global warming.
EU to push for COP28 deal on phasing out fossil fuels
20 Oct 2023
EU countries' climate ministers approved the bloc's negotiating position for this year's U.N. COP28 climate summit, agreeing to push for a world-first deal to phase out CO2-emitting fossil fuels.
Dense micro-forests are thriving in France
12 Oct 2023
Developed by a Japanese botanist, the Miyawaki method of reforestation has taken root in a wide range of landscapes.
Pope Francis calls for rapid decarbonization, ‘abandonment of fossil fuels’
6 Oct 2023
The pontiff's latest decree urges Western countries to do more to avert climate disaster.
Broken zipper? France will pay to get it fixed.
5 Oct 2023
Cheap, disposable clothing is causing an environmental disaster. Now, the home of haute couture is chipping in for its citizens’ garment repairs.
Germany tops €6 bln climate finance target for poorer nations three years early
4 Oct 2023
Public climate financing from Germany for poorer countries reached a new record level last year, already surpassing the 6-billion euro target set for 2025, the government has said.
Europe takes climate fight global as carbon border tax goes live
3 Oct 2023
The EU's effort to become climate neutral is kicking into high gear — as of Sunday the bloc's carbon border tax enters a trial period, which is likely to raise tensions with key trading partners.
Sweden’s ‘off the rails’ climate policy
3 Oct 2023
A government beholden to the radical right is a warning that the green transition can go into reverse.
Swiss glaciers lose 10% of volume in worst two years on record
3 Oct 2023
Switzerland's glaciers suffered their second worst melt rate this year after record 2022 losses, shrinking their overall volume by 10% in the last two years.
Climate change: Six young people take 32 countries to court
29 Sep 2023
"What I felt was fear," says Claudia Duarte Agostinho as she remembers the extreme heatwave and fires that ripped through Portugal in 2017 and killed more than 100 people. "The wildfires made me really anxious about what sort of future I would have."
Europe’s banks helped fossil fuel firms raise more than €1tn from global bond markets
28 Sep 2023
Banks including some of Europe’s largest lenders have helped fossil fuel companies to raise more than €1tn from the global bond markets since the Paris climate agreement.
Paris is undergoing a water revolution
15 Sep 2023
From urban swimming to fixing leaks to public fountains, France’s capital is getting smart about its most precious resource.
Netherlands police use water cannon, detain 2,400 climate activists
12 Sep 2023
Police deployed water cannons to disperse thousands of climate activists protesting on a highway in the Netherlands to demand an end to government subsidies for the fossil fuel industry.
The world’s largest low-carbon steel plant moves closer to completion
12 Sep 2023
A new $1.6 billion investment puts a hydrogen-fueled plant on track to open in Sweden in 2025, in what would be a first for the hard-to-decarbonise industry.
School strikes led a third of Swiss citizens to change their habits
11 Sep 2023
Almost a third of Swiss people changed their daily habits as a result of Greta Thunberg’s Fridays for Future climate strikes, new research has found.
Bulgaria, Turkey and Greece streets turn to rivers in deadly floods
8 Sep 2023
Flooding caused by heavy rain has led to at least 10 deaths in Bulgaria, Turkey and Greece.
There’s a battle over carbon emerging from the war in Ukraine
5 Sep 2023
A new international effort is working to hold Russia accountable for the climate impact of its invasion.
Torrential rain in Spain causes major flooding
5 Sep 2023
Several weather warnings have been issued across Spain as heavy rain causes major flooding across parts of the country.
Climate change has Sweden growing its wine industry
1 Sep 2023
Climate change is making for warmer and longer growing seasons in Sweden and there are also new kinds of grapes created especially for the country’s environment.
Firefighters in Greece battling 'largest wildfire ever recorded in EU'
31 Aug 2023
A forest blaze in Greece is "the largest wildfire ever recorded in the EU" and the bloc is mobilising nearly half its firefighting air wing to tackle it, a European Commission spokesperson said.
Poland files lawsuit against key EU climate policies
30 Aug 2023
The EU’s recently adopted climate legislation was not properly assessed, exceeded Brussels’ authority and now threatens Poland’s economy as well as energy security.
Labelled climate culprits, European farmers rebel over new standards
30 Aug 2023
Asked to cut herds, move or even shut down to help meet E.U. environmental goals, agricultural workers say too much is demanded of them.
Anger is most powerful emotion by far for spurring climate action, study finds
25 Aug 2023
The link to climate activism is seven times stronger for anger than it is for hope, and the most powerful emotional predictor of whether somebody plans to take part in a climate protest, say Norwegian researchers.
Germany to fall significantly short of EU climate targets
25 Aug 2023
Germany will likely emit 150 million tonnes more of CO2-equivalent gases than EU rules created by the Effort Sharing Regulation permit, which is expected to result in a hefty penalty payment of up to €30 billion.
Thousands displaced as wildfire rages on Tenerife
21 Aug 2023
Firefighters battling a vast wildfire on Tenerife are facing another difficult night after severe weather conditions worsened the blaze, forcing thousands to flee their homes.
Climate change threatens Germany's fairy tale forests
8 Aug 2023
Andre Salamon wends his way through coniferous woodlands on a hillside in Germany's central Harz region.
Unesco recommends adding Venice to endangered list
3 Aug 2023
The iconic Italian city is at risk of "irreversible" damage from overwhelming tourism, overdevelopment and rising sea levels due to climate change, according to a report from Unesco.
Europe’s most important trade route is at risk due to climate change
2 Aug 2023
The Rhine River has been a reliable shipping lane for centuries, helping spawn industrial giants along its banks.
Emissions from Greek wildfires equivalent of 2.3m barrels of oil, data shows
28 Jul 2023
Emissions from the wildfires that have ravaged parts of Greece in recent weeks are the highest in two decades — similar to more than 220,000 petrol cars driven for a year.
‘Like a blowtorch’: Mediterranean on fire as blazes spread across nine countries
27 Jul 2023
Wildfires were burning in at least nine countries across the Mediterranean, with thousands of firefighters in Europe and north Africa working to contain flames stoked by high temperatures, dry conditions and strong winds.
Rhodes wildfire forces thousands of evacuations, tourists flee
25 Jul 2023
Thousands of tourists and residents fleeing wildfires on the Greek island of Rhodes took refuge in schools and shelters, with many evacuated on private boats as flames threatened resorts and coastal villages.
Europe’s heat wave: Greek wildfires force hundreds to flee as temperatures rise
21 Jul 2023
Hundreds of people have been evacuated as wildfires rage in Greece, and Southern Europe faces another week of sweltering, above-40C temperatures in a heat wave that experts say is linked to climate change.
Europe should cap ‘luxury’ energy use to meet emissions targets
20 Jul 2023
Research finds that limiting the demand of top 20% saves seven times the greenhouse gases required to meet the needs of the bottom 20%.
Northern Europe faces biggest relative increase in uncomfortable heat and is dangerously unprepared
19 Jul 2023
A recent UN report even stated that there is now “no credible pathway” to achieve 1.5℃.
Summer 2022 heatwaves killed 61,000 people in Europe
12 Jul 2023
Last year's summer was the hottest season ever recorded in Europe, and a new estimate shows there were over 61,000 heat-related excess deaths during this period.
Drop carbon offsetting-based environmental claims, companies urged
11 Jul 2023
Companies should drop offsetting-based environmental claims and adopt a “climate contribution” model instead, according to a new quality standard.
Climate change challenges hydropower-dependent Austria
11 Jul 2023
In Austria's Alps, construction workers toil in a huge underground project aimed at storing hydropower as climate change has reduced the country's water-dependent electricity production.
Germany must consider climate risks during LNG buildout – govt advisors
3 Jul 2023
Germany’s quest for liquefied natural gas as a substitute for halted Russian pipeline supplies entails significant risks regarding climate change mitigation, as the country’s demand could lead to new extraction projects and lock-in effects abroad.
"World's largest wooden city" set to be built in Stockholm
30 Jun 2023
A Scandinavian architecture studio is designing Stockholm Wood City, which will become the world's largest mass-timber development and have the "serenity of a forest".
Big herbivores could help save the tundra from rising heat and shrinking ice—if they can survive themselves
29 Jun 2023
Scientists in Greenland found that tundra vegetation fares better when caribou and muskoxen are around to dine on encroaching, heat-loving shrubs.
Ukraine targets initial $40 billion for 'Green Marshall Plan'
21 Jun 2023
Ukraine is seeking up to $40 billion to fund the first part of a "Green Marshall Plan" to rebuild its economy, including developing a coal-free steel industry, a senior Ukrainian official said ahead of an international summit.
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.
Why your next car is a matter of national security
Mon 9 Mar 2026
COMMENT: Aussie motorists can take action to limit theirs and Australia’s exposure to the Middle East conflict.
As Russia bombs Ukraine’s power plants, Gulf Coast LNG companies win big
Today 11:30am
Record LNG exports to Europe are pushing up prices for US consumers even more than forecast.
What does China’s 15th ‘five-year plan’ mean for climate change?
Tue 10 Mar 2026
China’s leadership has published a draft of its 15th five-year plan setting the strategic direction for the nation out to 2030, including support for clean energy and energy security.
UK emissions fall 2.4% in 2025 as coal hits 400-year low
Mon 9 Mar 2026
The UK’s greenhouse gas emissions fell by 2.4% in 2025 to their lowest level in more than 150 years, according to new analysis.
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.
Gaps in adaptation taxonomies hinder climate finance in Asia: report
Thu 5 Mar 2026
Without clearer criteria and metrics in adaptation taxonomies, Asia risks widening its climate financing gap, warns a new report by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA).
Vanuatu moves forward with UN climate resolution despite Trump opposition
Mon 9 Mar 2026
The Trump administration’s attempt to sink a UN resolution demanding countries act on the climate crisis has caused cuts to the proposal but hasn’t entirely killed it, according to the tiny Pacific island country spearheading the effort.
Limiting warming to 2C is ‘crucial’ to protect pristine Antarctic Peninsula
24 Feb 2026
Keeping global warming to less than 2C above pre-industrial temperatures is “crucial” for limiting damage to the Antarctic Peninsula’s unique ecosystems, according to a new study.
Kenya’s latest carbon credit crackdown reveals questionable practices
Today 11:30am
Some players use sophisticated tactics to inflate the value of credits that may not represent genuine, permanent emissions reductions.
Floods and landslides in Brazil kill at least 30 after record rainfall
26 Feb 2026
Three firefighters pulled a man’s body from the mud amid the rubble of houses swept away in a landslide in south-eastern Brazil, where 30 people died and 39 were still missing on Tuesday after torrential rains.
Summit aims to revive stalled UN talks on phasing out fossil fuels
Today 11:30am
Colombia and the Netherlands have set out three priorities for a conference on phasing out fossil fuels they will co-host in Colombia in April.
