International: Europe
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.
EU energy experts see hydrogen/CO2 e-fuels as the future
6 Apr 2023
While hopes remain high that the evolving hydrogen economy will eventually lead to a point at which hydrogen fuelled vehicles and aircraft will one day be common, there are those who believe it is more likely that hydrogen will be fuelling vehicles only when combined with CO2 to form e-fuels.
Germany’s greenhouse gas emissions and energy transition targets
5 Apr 2023
Germany aims to become greenhouse gas neutral by 2045. It has set the preliminary targets of cutting emissions by at least 65% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels, and 88% by 2040.
Climate activists turn landmark Rome fountain black
3 Apr 2023
Climate activists in Italy turned a Baroque-style fountain at the foot of Rome's Spanish Steps black on Saturday, in a protest they said evoked an "end of the world" scenario.
Private jet flights in Europe soar to record levels — and most were ultra-short journeys
31 Mar 2023
A private jet aviation boom shows no signs of slowing.
Swedish right-wing government puts country on ‘wrong’ climate path
31 Mar 2023
Sweden has increased its greenhouse gas emissions while other EU member states are reducing them since the new right-wing government, in office for five months, changed its tack on climate policy.
Swiss women launch landmark lawsuit in Europe claiming weak climate action breaches their human rights
30 Mar 2023
A group of older Swiss women are taking their government to Europe’s top human rights court, claiming its failure to act on the climate crisis is violating their human rights.
EU plans early carbon market auctions from July
29 Mar 2023
The European Union plans to conduct early carbon market auctions, starting from July, to raise extra funds to help countries quit Russian gas and cut emissions, the European Commission said on Monday evening.
Finnish startup raises €1.8 million to make manufacturing concrete carbon negative
29 Mar 2023
Joensuu-based Carbonaide, a VTT spin-out company, has raised €1.8 million in seed funding, which will be used to integrate their CO2 curing technology into an automated production line in Hollola, Finland.
What role can citizens’ assemblies play in solving the climate crisis?
29 Mar 2023
Political scientist Rikki Dean has done research on climate assemblies. In his opinion, democracies are struggling to cope with global warming with these citizen panels alone.
Scientists have found which gender is likely to have the biggest carbon footprint
28 Mar 2023
Gender differences exist in most areas of life. But it's now been proven that your carbon footprint is also influenced by your sex.
Berlin’s referendum on climate neutrality by 2030 fails
28 Mar 2023
A referendum in Berlin on making the German capital climate neutral by 2030 failed to garner sufficient support.
Berlin vote could turbocharge German capital’s climate plans
27 Mar 2023
A referendum on Sunday, which has attracted considerable financial support from U.S.-based philanthropists, calls for Berlin to become climate neutral by 2030.
EU governments sued for violating human rights through climate inaction
27 Mar 2023
Citizens affected by climate change are suing the governments of more than 30 European countries in three separate cases before the European Court of Human Rights, alleging that state inaction has violated their human rights.
ECB starts disclosing climate impact of portfolios on road to Paris-alignment
24 Mar 2023
The European Central Bank (ECB) has published its first climate-related financial disclosures, which provide information on its portfolios’ carbon footprint and exposure to climate risks, as well as on climate-related governance, strategy and risk management.
Greece must make up for lost time in climate adaptation
17 Mar 2023
A string of devastating wildfires and floods has forced Greece to step up its lagging climate adaptation efforts.
How to promote green industry beyond subsidies
17 Mar 2023
The leaked draft of the Net Zero Industry Act rightly highlights a need to plan better the necessary industrial transformation of the EU. It considers a host of measures aimed at promoting specific industries, including streamlined permits, access to public and private finance and priority for public procurement.
Older Swiss women take government to court over climate
16 Mar 2023
Elisabeth Stern was born in rural northeastern Switzerland in the 1940s in the shadow of huge glaciers.
Germany is failing to reach its climate goals
16 Mar 2023
In a press conference on 9 March the German Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, Robert Habeck, presented his plan for accelerating the shift away from fossil fuel energy in a so-called “workshop report”.
French TV transforms weather forecasts to include climate change context
15 Mar 2023
State TV channels France 2 and France 3 have changed their daily weather forecasts into "weather and climate bulletins" as pat of France Televisions’ efforts to raise awareness about climate change. Presenters are showing not only what weather to expect, but the reasons behind it.
Dutch farmers, climate activists hold protests in The Hague
13 Mar 2023
More than 10,000 Dutch farmers protested in The Hague on Saturday against the government's plans to limit nitrogen emissions.
Denmark injects carbon dioxide into undersea storage in world first
9 Mar 2023
European companies have injected carbon dioxide below Denmark’s seabed for the first time in an ambitious project that could become a key component in the fight against climate change.
Spanish wind giant commits to 4GW of new renewables a year, including in Asia Pacific
8 Mar 2023
Spain-based wind energy giant EDP Renewables has announced it will invest €20 billion over the next four years in an effort to add more than 4GW per year of new utility-scale solar and wind.
EU rewrites climate diplomacy deal to resolve nuclear sticking point
8 Mar 2023
European Union countries intend to push for a global phasing out of fossil fuels among their climate diplomacy priorities this year, which the bloc hopes to approve this week after rewriting a contentious section on nuclear energy.
Climate change to cost Germany up to €900 billion by 2050 - study
7 Mar 2023
Extreme weather caused by climate change could cost Germany up to 900 billion euros in cumulative economic damage by mid-century, a study showed on Monday, as Europe's biggest economy seeks climate adaptation measures to cut the damages bill.
World-first “energy island” takes shape in North Sea with contracts awarded
3 Mar 2023
A world first offshore wind “energy island” is one step closer to being realised, after a Belgian consortium known as TM Edison was tapped to build the ground-breaking project.
The climate and energy impacts of Putin’s war on Ukraine
2 Mar 2023
It’s been a year since Russian President Putin declared an unprovoked war on Ukraine. Much has changed since then — not just in Russia and Ukraine but worldwide.
Climate-resistant grapes? Spanish winemakers revive ancient varieties
1 Mar 2023
The ads – tucked in the corners of local newspapers and directed at winemakers – began turning up across Catalonia in the 1980s. “If you know where to find any uncommon grape varieties, please get in touch,” they read.
Less roast pork, more lentils needed to reach Denmark's climate targets - govt adviser
1 Mar 2023
Danes should replace two-thirds of their meat intake with vegetables and other plants as part of efforts to reach the country's ambitious climate targets by the end of the decade, the government's independent adviser said on Tuesday.
By adding timber to old buildings, Stockholm is expanding sustainably
28 Feb 2023
A three-storey red brick building has stood in Stockholm’s southern neighborhood of Hammarby Sjöstad since 1928. Once a hosiery factory, the Trikåfabriken building is the oldest remnant of the area’s industrial past.
German court rejects farmer's climate suit vs Volkswagen
27 Feb 2023
A German court on Friday rejected a farmer's bid to force automaker Volkswagen to end the sale of vehicles with combustion engines by 2030.
Austrian children take Government to court over climate change
23 Feb 2023
A dozen minors filed a lawsuit with Austria’s top court Tuesday seeking to force the government to ensure their constitutional rights are protected by taking tougher action against climate change.
EU carbon hits record 100 euros as cost of polluting soars
22 Feb 2023
The price of permits on the European Union’s carbon market hit 100 euros (NZ$171) per tonne for the first time on Tuesday, a milestone that reflects the increased costs that factories and power plants must pay when they pollute.
Heat from an Amazon data center is warming Dublin’s buildings
22 Feb 2023
Cities are capturing heat emitted by computer servers and using it to warm everything from government buildings to college dorms.
More than half of Finns ready to adjust standard of living for climate
22 Feb 2023
More than half of Finns are ready to compromise on their standard of living to tackle the climate crisis, reveals a survey conducted for Helsingin Sanomat by Kantar Public.
Taxing farming vital for Denmark's climate target: govt adviser
21 Feb 2023
Denmark should aim to reduce beef and dairy production by levying an emissions tax on farming of 750 Danish crowns (NZ$172) per tonne in order to reach its ambitious climate targets, the government's independent adviser says.
EC proposes additionality rules for renewable hydrogen
14 Feb 2023
The European Commission (EC) proposed on Monday detailed rules to define what constitutes renewable (green) hydrogen in the EU, underlining the necessity of connecting electrolysers to newly-added renewable power generation only.
EU organics organisation warns of 'greenwashing' of food products
14 Feb 2023
Greenwashing misleads and confuses consumers, misdirects investments and policy and undermines serious regenerative actors, the European umbrella organisation for organics said.
Invisible solar panels "finally allow cultural heritage to access solar energy"
13 Feb 2023
Italian company Dyaqua, which has developed a way to produce solar panels so that they resemble the barrel clay tiles common on the roofs of buildings in Italy, has said the technology is important for the sustainable redevelopment of historical sites.
Denmark awards first-ever contracts for carbon storage offshore
7 Feb 2023
The Danish government said Monday it awarded contracts for carbon capture and storage to three major energy companies in its first-ever pursuit of the sequestration technology.
Europe steps up climate change adaptation in wake of floods and heatwaves
3 Feb 2023
Europe's recent extreme weather events, such as heatwaves, droughts and floods, have underlined the urgent need to prepare the continent for the worsening effects of climate change.
Dutch flood memories unleash new climate fears
31 Jan 2023
Seventy years after the worst natural disaster to strike the Netherlands, Chiem de Vos, seven at the time, still hears his neighbour's desperate cries of "My children are drowning!" ringing in his ears.
EU plans restrictions on climate-wrecking fishing method
31 Jan 2023
EU countries will be required to reduce the harmful impacts of fishing on sensitive species and their habitats, under a draft EU biodiversity plan seen by Euractiv.
Climate activists block main road into The Hague
30 Jan 2023
Hundreds of climate activists blocked one of the main roads into The Hague on Saturday, defying attempts to prevent their protest that have sparked concerns about restrictions on the right to demonstrate in the Netherlands.
NGO sues German government for failing climate targets in transport and buildings sectors
25 Jan 2023
Environmental lobby group Friends of the Earth Germany is suing the German government for missing its emission reduction targets in the buildings and transport sectors.
German transport minister rejects autobahn speed
24 Jan 2023
German transport minister Volker Wissing has renewed his rejection of a general speed limit on the country’s autobahns after a report found that the measure could save almost three times more emissions than previously thought
‘World first’ carbon capture plant for smelters opens in Norway
24 Jan 2023
A carbon capture pilot for smelters – billed as a ‘world first’ – has been officially inaugurated in Rana, Norway.
Swiss Microlino reboots bubble car with electric model
23 Dec 2022
Two Swiss brothers are seeking to put their country back on the carmaking map by reviving a 1950s motoring classic with an electric twist.
NSW to ban new coalmines in major shake-up for $23bn industry
Today 11:15am
A major shake-up is on the way for one Australian state’s single biggest export, which powers homes here and abroad.
Thousands remain under evacuation orders in Hawaii flooding
Today 11:15am
Flooding across Oahu is now the worst Hawaii has seen in over 20 years. More than 230 people have been rescued so far. Some 5,500 people remain under evacuation orders in part because of rising water levels at the Wahiawa dam.
China tells oil refiners to suspend exports
Fri 20 Mar 2026
China has told its largest oil refiners to suspend exports of diesel and gasoline, Bloomberg News reported Thursday, citing unidentified sources, as the war in the Middle East risks an energy supply crunch.
UK climate aid cuts ‘short-sighted’ and leave ‘fossil fuel profits untouched’, campaigners say
Today 11:15am
Campaigners have condemned the UK government's decision to cut its international climate finance as "extremely short-sighted" and a "moral abdication," warning the move threatens national security, abandons communities on the frontlines of climate change, and leaves "windfall profits from fossil fuels untouched".
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.
Asia pivots to coal as Middle East conflict chokes LNG supply
Thu 19 Mar 2026
Asian utilities are boosting coal-fired power generation to cut costs and safeguard energy supply, industry officials say, as the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran chokes liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments and soaring prices threaten to suppress LNG demand.
Pacific Nations fear fuel shortages as Middle East war sends oil prices soaring
Fri 20 Mar 2026
Leaders of Samoa and Tonga appealed for help this week as the import-reliant Pacific nations raised fears over possible fuel shortages and escalating costs caused by war in the Middle East.
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.
'Blackwater' lakes and rivers in the Congo Basin are now emitting ancient carbon into the atmosphere
16 Mar 2026
Carbon that has been buried in the Congo Basin's peatlands for millennia is seeping into lakes and rivers. Why this is happening remains unclear, but researchers warn that tropical peatlands could be nearing a tipping point.
Surfing’s big break: how climate crisis insurance may save El Salvador’s waves
Thu 19 Mar 2026
Fearing that extreme weather threatened its epic breaks, Oriente Salvaje is piloting the first surf insurance policy to protect livelihoods and ecosystems.
Iran war should trigger faster exit from fossil fuel dependence, UN climate chief says
Wed 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.
