Inequality is part of the answer as to why there is little action on climate change

Murray Leibbrandt, University of Cape Town and Anda David, Agence française de développement (AFD) argue in an article on The Conversation website that inequality is part of the answer as to why there is little action. Furthermore, reducing inequalities allows us to shift from the gridlock of only talking to the established elite. In turn, … Continue reading Inequality is part of the answer as to why there is little action on climate change →

Understanding our real water use

Water is a precious resource that we need to preserve, even in countries that they think they have an abundance of it. But cutting down on how much we consume has more to do with the food we eat than the length of our showers. Natalie Muller and Neil King discuss "hidden" or "virtual" water in an … Continue reading Understanding our real water use →

Maintaining liveability in future cities will depend on institutions that are able to recognise the needs and capacities of informal settlement dwellers

With a billion of the world’s most climate-vulnerable people living in informal settlements, we need to find ways to help them because the scale of the climate change challenge is such that communities can no longer deliver adaptation alone. Vanesa Castán Broto, Professor of Climate Urbanism at the University of Sheffield; Emmanuel Osuteye, Lecturer in … Continue reading Maintaining liveability in future cities will depend on institutions that are able to recognise the needs and capacities of informal settlement dwellers →

As governments redirect emergency aid to Ukraine, they need to find additional funds for climate finance and not pitch the two crises against each other

Mattias Söderberg, chief advisor at humanitarian NGO DanChurchAid, provides his views on the need to keep financing climate change in an article on the Climate Change News website. Climate finance should not be made to compete with aid to Ukraine A little over four months ago, ministers from developed countries attending the Cop26 UN … Continue reading As governments redirect emergency aid to Ukraine, they need to find additional funds for climate finance and not pitch the two crises against each other →

The Australian government has won an appeal against a ruling that it has a duty of care to protect children from harm caused by climate change

Last year, eight teenagers and an 87-year-old nun convinced a court that the government had a legal duty to children when assessing fossil fuel projects. The decision was hailed as a world first, but it has been successfully challenged by the environment minister. The situation is discussed in a news item on the BBC News … Continue reading The Australian government has won an appeal against a ruling that it has a duty of care to protect children from harm caused by climate change →

Sustainability reporting is useful to employees, customers, citizens and governments to assess the impact and sustainability of an organisation’s activities

Sustainability reporting — sometimes also referred to as environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting — requires organisations to publicly report on a wide range of performance goals, not just profits. In an article on The Conversation website, David Cooper, Emeritus Professor of Accounting at the University of Alberta; Daniela Senkl, Assistant Professor in Accounting at … Continue reading Sustainability reporting is useful to employees, customers, citizens and governments to assess the impact and sustainability of an organisation’s activities →

The new IPCC report gives the clearest indication to date of how a warmer world is affecting all living things on Earth

This sixth series of IPCC reports don’t leave any room for complacency to address climate change. The current context is having to contend with a terrible war in Europe but we certainly have to keep focus on addressing climate change. Matt McGrath writes on the BBC news website about the five main lessons from the … Continue reading The new IPCC report gives the clearest indication to date of how a warmer world is affecting all living things on Earth →

New IPCC report shows we now have hard choices to make

The IPCC assessment offers a stark choice: Does humanity accept this disastrous status quo and the uncertain, unpleasant future it is leading toward, or does it grab the reins and choose a better future? One of the authors of the report, Edward R. Carr, Professor and Director, International Development, Community, and Environment at Clark University … Continue reading New IPCC report shows we now have hard choices to make →

IPCC: New climate change report to sound warning on impacts

This coming week, the IPCC will be publishing its second of three major reports. The study will focus heavily on regional impacts as well as on cities and coastal communities. Matt McGrath previews the findings in an article on the BBC News website. A new report on the impacts of climate change will likely … Continue reading IPCC: New climate change report to sound warning on impacts →

New EEA analysis of economic losses and fatalities from weather and climate-related events

Extreme weather events like storms, heatwaves and flooding accounted for economic losses of around half a trillion euros over the past 40 years and led to between 85 000 and 145 000 human fatalities across Europe. Less than one-third of these losses were insured, according to a European Environment Agency (EEA) analysis of economic losses … Continue reading New EEA analysis of economic losses and fatalities from weather and climate-related events →