The dream of keeping climate change to within 1.5°C (2.7°F) has taken a major hit. The latest climate report by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) has confirmed that 2024 was likely the first calendar year to have a global temperature more t... [3842 chars]

“Honestly, what IS it going to take for the wake-up call to be taken seriously?,” said one climate scientist.

IFLScience

The World Smashed Past Over 1.5°C Global Warming In 2024, Says WMO Report

Fresh evidence today has set out how quickly the Earth's climate is changing - in some places so fast it has shocked scientists.
The new report arrives as the UK's long-standing political consensus on tackling climate change fractures - with Tory lea... [3989 chars]

Last year was the hottest on records going back 175 years, while recent warming seems to have been speeding up further, the World Meteorological Organisation found today.

Sky News

Fresh evidence of global warming - as politicians question climate action

It said that tropical cyclones, floods, droughts and other disasters in 2024 led to the highest number of new displacements recorded in the past 16 years. These events also worsened food crises and caused massive economic losses.
The report said long... [3095 chars]

The World Meteorological Organization's report said long-term global warming is currently estimated to be between 1.34 and 1.41 degrees Celsius compared to the 1850-1900 baseline.

ThePrint

Atmospheric CO2 levels touched 420 ppm in 2023, highest in 8 lakh yrs, says WMO report

In a recent, cross-institutional study partially funded by the National Institutes of Health, researchers report that healthy human airways are at higher risk for dehydration and inflammation when exposed to dry air, an occurrence expected to increas... [4352 chars]

In a recent, cross-institutional study partially funded by the National Institutes of Health, researchers report that healthy human airways are at higher risk for dehydration and inflammation when exposed to dry air, an occurrence expected to increase due to global warming.

News-Medical.net

Dry air exposure linked to dehydration and inflammation in human airways

HAMM, Germany (AP) — A German court on Monday started hearing a Peruvian farmer’s case against major energy company RWE, a lawsuit arguing that global warming fueled by the firm’s historical greenhouse gas emissions ultimately poses a risk to his hom... [2303 chars]

A German court has started hearing a Peruvian farmer’s case against major energy company RWE. His lawsuit argues that global warming fueled by the firm’s historical greenhouse gas emissions ultimately poses a risk to his home.

The Associated Press

A Peruvian farmer takes German energy giant RWE to court in a fight to hold polluters accountable

World Bank bureaucrats who jetted to the United Nations’ annual global warming conference spewed CO2 emissions equal to what’s produced by 200 US households in a year — sparking accusations of climate “hypocrisy,” The Post has learned.
A leaked guest... [6092 chars]

World Bank bureaucrats who jetted to the United Nations' annual global warming conference spewed CO2 emissions equal to what's produced by 200 US households in a year -- sparking accusations of climate 'hypocrisy,' The Post has learned.

New York Post

World Bank bureaucrats accused of 'hypocrisy' over jet flights to UN climate confab

Climate change is already causing all sorts of problems on Earth, but soon it will be making a mess in orbit around the planet too, a new study finds.
MIT researchers calculated that as global warming caused by burning of coal, oil, gas continues it ... [3023 chars]

A new study finds that as global warming continues it may reduce the available space for satellites in low Earth orbit by anywhere from one-third to 82% by...

The Dallas Morning News

Study says climate change will even make Earth's orbit a mess

U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on Monday that global warming is a side effect of building the modern world, and vowed to end former President Joe Biden's climate policies to promote growth of fossil fuels. Wright made the comments to kick of... [1359 chars]

U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on Monday that global warming is a side effect of building the modern world, and vowed to end former President Joe Biden's climate policies to promote growth of fossil fuels.

Devdiscourse

UPDATE 2-CERAWEEK-US energy secretary says global warming a side effect of modern economy

During the annual CERAWeek energy conference in Houston, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright took a strong stance against former President Joe Biden's climate policies, framing global warming as a consequence of modern development.
He argued that oil,... [418 chars]

U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright criticized former President Biden's climate policies at CERAWeek, calling global warming a side effect of modern development. He emphasized the necessity of fossil fuels for economic growth and deemed alternative energy measures ineffective.

Energy Secretary Challenges Climate Policies at CERAWeek

Last month saw the lowest global sea ice cover for any February on record in a stark reminder of how our planet is warming, new data reveal.
Sea ice is the frozen seawater that floats on the ocean's surface. As the planet warms, the amount of sea ice... [3232 chars]

Sea ice cover dropped to a record low across February 2025 as global warming continues to breach the 1.5 C Paris Agreement target, according to data from the Copernicus satellite.

Livescience.com

Global sea ice levels hit worrying new low

• Reuters Institute survey reveals public 'increasingly out of step with changing reality'
• In Pakistan, 61pc of participants exposed to floods, 54pc to heatwaves
ISLAMABAD: Even as extreme climate events become norm, public engagement with climate information has remained stagnant over the past three years despite the urgency of the crisis, with almost half of the respondents perceiving climate change as a distant threat.
A recent survey by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, the 'Climate Change and News Audiences Report 2024', refers to 'climate perception inertia' to explain the consumption of climate information across four continents. This inertia refers to a stagnation in public views on, attitudes to, and engagement with climate issues and information over time.
The report uses data collected from eight countries, including Pakistan, India, Brazil, France, Germany, Japan, the US, and the UK, to explore how people get news about climate change.
According to the study, the attitude and behaviours of the masses are becoming 'increasingly out of step with the changing reality' in light of its data on climate change news that has changed little from 2022.
In 2024, 50 per cent of the respondents across the eight countries said they 'saw, read, or heard any news or information about climate change in the last week'. The figure is slightly lower than the 55pc figure in 2023, but it is in line with the 2022 figure of 51pc, it said. In Pakistan, climate news consumption dropped from 56pc in 2022 to 46pc in 2023 but rebounded to 54pc in 2024. In 2022, the interest in climate coverage was higher because of the super floods which submerged large swathes of Pakistan.
This disinterest persists even though two-thirds of the respondents believe extreme climate events are increasing. In Pakistan, 61pc participants said they were exposed to floods while 54pc had experienced heatwaves. Similarly, Pakistan is among countries with a high level of concern with 89pc, consistently exceeding the average across all three years (2022-24) alongside Brazil and India. While within the country, the 25–34 age group has the highest levels of worry, exceeding 85pc across all three years.
Despite having a high level of climate concern, people in Pakistan perceive climate change as a distant threat. This 'psychological distance'—an extent to which people see 'climate impacts as immediate versus distant'—acts as a barrier to climate action by making climate events happening in the future. According to the study, 40 per cent think that extreme climate change is affecting the country at present. This decline from 48 per cent in 2023 to 40pc in 2024 is 'surprising' despite an increase in climate disasters, which the study attributes to 'psychological distance'.
One of the study's authors, Dr Waqas Ejaz, said there were several extreme events in 2022 and 2023, but despite the substantial sense of urgency, there was no uptick in climate-related information and news consumption.
According to him, in many contexts and countries, the coverage of climate change in mainstream media is shallow and this 'episodic coverage' is not unique to Pakistan, he said in response to a question about perception inertia.
With the media one of the major sources of information trusted by almost 50pc respondents, the onus is on the media to make climate change a 'household topic', he added.
Media usage
According to the survey, the news media is one of the major sources of climate information, with videos emerging as the preferred format. This number has hardly changed since 2022. In Pakistan, 25pc respondents use television and 29pc use websites for climate information besides 10pc respondents who rely on newspapers for climate information. With 55pc respondents preferred videos (including TV) to text, with 39pc. Around 31pc use social media for information about climate change, compared to 19pc of respondents on average across eight countries.
In 2022, 70pc respondents in Pakistan listed media as the most trusted source, and in 2024, 69pc said the same. However, not every story is a climate story as people are most interested in climate news that intersects with local news (52pc) and weather (54pc).
In Pakistan, 57pc respondents are interested in climate news that overlaps with weather, followed by local news (56pc). The survey said that the media is seen more critically by the people, indicating it needed to do more to disseminate climate information.
Speaking to Dawn, Dr Ejaz said there is a stagnation in climate coverage and the people might have hit the plateau on climate stories. According to him, the coverage of climate change in mainstream media is shallow and this 'episodic coverage' is not unique to Pakistan.
'The onus is on media to transition from episodic coverage of climate news to holistic coverage indicating the root causes of the issue, possible ways to mitigate, and policy actions being taken to tackle climate change.'
But in Pakistan, it usually gains traction in Nov-Feb due to smog and in summer due to monsoon-induced floods, but seldom explaining the underlying causes and solutions, he added.
Published in Dawn, March 17th, 2025

‘Perception inertia' mars consumption of climate information

In the bid to combat climate change, the signatory states to the Paris Agreement on Climate Change periodically submit voluntary targets specifying a percentage by which they pledge to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions (Percentage Reduction Pledges, PRPs).
In an empirical study, Prof. Dr. Heinz Welsch, an environmental economist at the University of Oldenburg, Germany, investigated the extent to which these "national climate targets" correspond to the willingness of the citizens of the respective countries to contribute to climate change mitigation (Willingness to Contribute, WTC) and published his findings in the journal Ecological Economics.
Welsch concludes that country-specific factors such as per-capita income, emissions levels and temperatures play a significant role in both variables (PRPs and WTC), but that whereas these factors were positively correlated to the percentage reduction pledges, they were negatively correlated to willingness to contribute—and that there is also a correlation with levels of satisfaction with democracy.
In his study, Welsch compares the national climate targets of 123 nations—last agreed in 2021—with globally representative data. Almost 130,000 people in 125 nations were surveyed in 2021 and 2022 for the Global Climate Change Survey, which was published last year.
One key finding of the survey was that a large majority of the world's population supports climate protection measures: 89% of the respondents would like to see more political action against climate change from their national governments, and 69% said they would be willing to contribute 1% of their income towards measures to combat climate change.
Welsch used these data to test a model he developed to analyze the interplay between cost-benefit considerations, ethical principles and citizens' preferences. His study focused on the question of which factors are relevant in determining the climate protection targets of national governments and the willingness of citizens to contribute to climate change mitigation. It showed that "per-capita income" and "per-capita emissions" were key factors for both variables and that the average temperatures of the past decade were also relevant.
Welsch found that the higher a country's income and emissions levels, the more ambitious its government's climate targets were, whereas the opposite was the case regarding people's willingness to contribute to climate change mitigation: the higher the income and emissions, the less willing the population was to contribute to fighting climate change. Diverging trends can also be observed regarding the temperature factor: the willingness to contribute to climate protection is greater in warmer countries than in colder ones, but countries with colder climates pursue more ambitious climate targets.
The figures for Germany align with these findings: Germany was among the most ambitious countries in the last round of pledges. With an emissions reduction target of 39.7% for the period between 2019 and 2030, it ranked 12th out of 123 on this score. However, according to the Climate Change Survey, although willingness among the German population to contribute to climate action was also high, it was lower than in most other countries.
With 67.9% of German respondents saying they would be willing to give up 1% of their income each month to contribute to climate action, Germany ranked 74th in the international comparison. Asked whether the government should do more to fight climate change, 86% of respondents said yes—leaving Germany in 89th place out of 123.
The study interprets these findings as indicative of a conflict between the United Nations' climate ethics principle of the "common but differentiated responsibilities" of states, which emphasizes fairness and equity, and the cost-benefit calculations that prevail among the populations included in the analysis. "People assume that the lower the temperatures in a country are, the less impact climate change will have there," explains Welsch.
At the same time, people in countries with high per-capita emissions fear that climate protection measures will have a negative impact on their economy, he adds. "Cost-benefit calculations therefore make it likely that in colder, richer and more carbon-intensive countries there will be less willingness to contribute to climate protection."
"In sum, there is a discrepancy between the relatively ambitious climate targets of rich and carbon-intensive countries in colder regions and the lower levels of willingness among their populations to contribute to combating climate change," explains Welsch.
The study also shows that there is a correlation between this discrepancy and lower levels of satisfaction with democracy: the more ambitious a government's climate targets compared to the population's willingness to contribute to climate protection, the lower the proportion of the population that is satisfied with the functioning of democracy in that country.
"This is not necessarily a causal relationship," the environmental economist hastens to emphasize. Nevertheless, pursuing a climate policy that involves sacrifices on the part of the population without promoting the advance of radical forces that exploit the climate issue for their own purposes poses a challenge for democratic societies, he notes.
According to Welsch, the dilemma posed by an ambitious climate policy could be addressed by introducing political instruments that mitigate the economic and social impact of climate protection measures. As one such potential instrument, he proposes a climate fund through which revenues from emissions taxes are distributed to the economically weaker sections of a population.

Discrepancies exist between national climate targets and citizens' willingness to contribute to climate action

US Joins Paris AgreementIn a significant move for global climate efforts, the United States rejoined the Paris Agreement in 2021. This agreement, initially established in 2015, aims to limit global warming to below 2 degrees Celsius.The US's return marked a renewed commitment to addressing climate change on an international platform. The rejoining was a moment celebrated by many world leaders, as it signaled a collective effort to combat global warming.The Paris Agreement is not just about reducing emissions; it also emphasizes adaptation and resilience in the face of climate impacts. With the US back in the fold, there is a stronger global coalition working towards a sustainable future.This step is seen as a pivotal moment in the fight against climate change, underscoring the importance of international collaboration.Greenhouse Gas EmissionsAs the second-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, the United States plays a crucial role in global climate dynamics. Greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide and methane, trap heat in the atmosphere, leading to a warming planet.The US's contribution to these emissions stems from various sectors, including transportation, industry, and agriculture. Reducing these emissions is essential for meeting global climate goals.The challenge is significant, but with concerted efforts, there is potential for meaningful change. The US's actions in reducing emissions can set a precedent for other nations.Addressing greenhouse gas emissions is a critical component of the broader climate strategy.Investing in Clean EnergyIn 2022, the United States took a bold step by passing the Inflation Reduction Act, which includes significant investments in clean energy. This act represents a commitment to transitioning from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources.Clean energy investments not only help reduce emissions but also create jobs and boost the economy. The focus is on expanding solar, wind, and other renewable energy technologies.By investing in clean energy, the US is positioning itself as a leader in the global renewable energy market. This move is crucial for achieving long-term climate goals and ensuring a sustainable future.Renewable Energy LeaderThe United States stands as a leader in solar and wind energy production, showcasing its commitment to renewable energy. Solar farms and wind turbines are becoming increasingly common across the nation.This leadership in renewable energy is vital for reducing reliance on fossil fuels. By harnessing the power of the sun and wind, the US is able to produce clean, sustainable energy.The growth of renewable energy also supports energy independence and security. As a renewable energy leader, the US is setting an example for other countries to follow.The continued expansion of solar and wind energy is a key component of the US's climate strategy.Funding for Developing CountriesRecognizing the global nature of climate change, the United States has pledged financial support to help developing countries fight climate change. This support is crucial, as many poorer nations lack the resources to implement effective climate strategies.By providing funding, the US is helping these countries transition to renewable energy and adapt to climate impacts. This financial assistance is part of a broader effort to ensure that all nations can contribute to global climate goals.Supporting developing countries is not just an act of goodwill; it's essential for global climate success. The US's commitment to funding is a testament to its leadership in global climate initiatives.California's Climate GoalsCalifornia is at the forefront of climate policy in the United States, with ambitious goals and strong policies. The state has implemented measures to reduce emissions and promote renewable energy.California's climate goals include achieving carbon neutrality and expanding renewable energy capacity. The state's efforts are a model for other regions looking to advance their climate agendas.By prioritizing climate action, California is demonstrating the power of state-level initiatives in addressing global challenges. The success of California's climate policies can inspire other states and countries to follow suit.California's leadership is a crucial component of the US's overall climate strategy.Military and Climate ChangeThe United States military recognizes climate change as a significant security risk, highlighting its importance in national defense strategies. Climate impacts, such as rising sea levels and extreme weather, pose challenges to military operations and infrastructure.The military is adapting to these challenges by incorporating climate considerations into planning and operations. By acknowledging climate change as a security threat, the military is taking proactive steps to mitigate its impacts.This recognition underscores the multifaceted nature of climate change and its implications for national security. The military's approach to climate change is an integral part of the US's broader climate strategy.Corporate Climate GoalsMany large US companies, including tech giant Microsoft, are setting ambitious climate goals, such as achieving net-zero emissions. These corporate climate pledges are essential for reducing the private sector's environmental impact.Companies are investing in renewable energy, improving energy efficiency, and exploring innovative solutions to reduce emissions. Corporate leadership in climate initiatives can drive significant change and influence industry standards.By setting ambitious goals, these companies are demonstrating the potential for business to contribute to global climate efforts. The role of corporations in addressing climate change is an important aspect of the US's climate strategy.
In a significant move for global climate efforts, the United States rejoined the Paris Agreement in 2021. This agreement, initially established in 2015, aims to limit global warming to below 2 degrees Celsius.
The US's return marked a renewed commitment to addressing climate change on an international platform. The rejoining was a moment celebrated by many world leaders, as it signaled a collective effort to combat global warming.
The Paris Agreement is not just about reducing emissions; it also emphasizes adaptation and resilience in the face of climate impacts. With the US back in the fold, there is a stronger global coalition working towards a sustainable future.
This step is seen as a pivotal moment in the fight against climate change, underscoring the importance of international collaboration.
As the second-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, the United States plays a crucial role in global climate dynamics. Greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide and methane, trap heat in the atmosphere, leading to a warming planet.
The US's contribution to these emissions stems from various sectors, including transportation, industry, and agriculture. Reducing these emissions is essential for meeting global climate goals.
The challenge is significant, but with concerted efforts, there is potential for meaningful change. The US's actions in reducing emissions can set a precedent for other nations.
Addressing greenhouse gas emissions is a critical component of the broader climate strategy.
In 2022, the United States took a bold step by passing the Inflation Reduction Act, which includes significant investments in clean energy. This act represents a commitment to transitioning from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources.
Clean energy investments not only help reduce emissions but also create jobs and boost the economy. The focus is on expanding solar, wind, and other renewable energy technologies.
By investing in clean energy, the US is positioning itself as a leader in the global renewable energy market. This move is crucial for achieving long-term climate goals and ensuring a sustainable future.
The United States stands as a leader in solar and wind energy production, showcasing its commitment to renewable energy. Solar farms and wind turbines are becoming increasingly common across the nation.
This leadership in renewable energy is vital for reducing reliance on fossil fuels. By harnessing the power of the sun and wind, the US is able to produce clean, sustainable energy.
The growth of renewable energy also supports energy independence and security. As a renewable energy leader, the US is setting an example for other countries to follow.
The continued expansion of solar and wind energy is a key component of the US's climate strategy.
Recognizing the global nature of climate change, the United States has pledged financial support to help developing countries fight climate change. This support is crucial, as many poorer nations lack the resources to implement effective climate strategies.
By providing funding, the US is helping these countries transition to renewable energy and adapt to climate impacts. This financial assistance is part of a broader effort to ensure that all nations can contribute to global climate goals.
Supporting developing countries is not just an act of goodwill; it's essential for global climate success. The US's commitment to funding is a testament to its leadership in global climate initiatives.
California is at the forefront of climate policy in the United States, with ambitious goals and strong policies. The state has implemented measures to reduce emissions and promote renewable energy.
California's climate goals include achieving carbon neutrality and expanding renewable energy capacity. The state's efforts are a model for other regions looking to advance their climate agendas.
By prioritizing climate action, California is demonstrating the power of state-level initiatives in addressing global challenges. The success of California's climate policies can inspire other states and countries to follow suit.
California's leadership is a crucial component of the US's overall climate strategy.
The United States military recognizes climate change as a significant security risk, highlighting its importance in national defense strategies. Climate impacts, such as rising sea levels and extreme weather, pose challenges to military operations and infrastructure.
The military is adapting to these challenges by incorporating climate considerations into planning and operations. By acknowledging climate change as a security threat, the military is taking proactive steps to mitigate its impacts.
This recognition underscores the multifaceted nature of climate change and its implications for national security. The military's approach to climate change is an integral part of the US's broader climate strategy.
Many large US companies, including tech giant Microsoft, are setting ambitious climate goals, such as achieving net-zero emissions. These corporate climate pledges are essential for reducing the private sector's environmental impact.
Companies are investing in renewable energy, improving energy efficiency, and exploring innovative solutions to reduce emissions. Corporate leadership in climate initiatives can drive significant change and influence industry standards.
By setting ambitious goals, these companies are demonstrating the potential for business to contribute to global climate efforts. The role of corporations in addressing climate change is an important aspect of the US's climate strategy.
What do you think about this topic? Share your thoughts in the comments below — we'd love to hear from you! Want more stories like this? Follow us and never miss out!

The Role of the US in Global Climate Initiatives

BATHINDA: Human-induced climate change, driven primarily by the burning of coal, oil, and methane gas, raised temperatures and increased extreme heat across the globe over the past three months, finds a new report by the science organisation
Climate Central
.
The report adds that billions faced temperatures intensified by fossil fuel emissions, with millions exposed to life-threatening heat. Using Climate Central's Climate Shift Index (
CSI
), the report quantifies the influence of climate change on global temperatures from December 2024 to February 2025.
The key findings underscore the impact of climate change on heat-related health risks worldwide. According to the findings, at least one in five people globally felt a strong climate change influence every day from December 2024 to February 2025. Nearly 394 million people were exposed to 30 or more days of
risky
heat added by climate change, 74% of whom live in
Africa
.
Risky heat days are defined as days with temperatures hotter than 90% of local temperatures recorded from 1991 to 2020. In half of the 220 countries analysed, the average person experienced temperatures strongly influenced by climate change for at least a month (30 days or more). In 287 cities worldwide, residents felt the influence of climate change on temperatures for at least a month (30 days or more).
'Climate change is not a distant threat but a present reality to millions,' said
Kristina Dahl
, VP of Science at Climate Central. 'The increasing frequency and severity of heat events around the world reveal a dangerous pattern of heat exposure that will only worsen if the burning of fossil fuel continues.'

1 in 5 people globally felt strong climate change influence every day from December 2024 to February 2025: Climate Central

In a rapidly warming world, climate data is not just numbers on a screen, it holds the key to survival. For decades, climate projections in India remained largely inaccessible or were too broad-scaled to drive real action at the local level.
This gap fueled our (School of Climate Change and Sustainability at Azim Premji University) determination to lead an effort that, for the first time, provides district-level climate projections for every region in India. As the data is publicly available through a web portal, we are starting to engage with journalists, students, and citizens to communicate about this dataset and how this could be useful in thinking about local action. We have a long journey ahead, but we're beginning to understand that this work is more than just climate science — it's our ikigai, our true purpose.
The climate crisis is local, but our data wasn't
India is a country of immense climatic diversity. From the snow-capped Himalayas to the drought-prone Deccan Plateau, from the floodplains of the Ganga to the cyclone-ravaged coasts of Odisha, no two districts experience climate change in the same way.
Every monsoon season brings uncertainty in terms of floods in some states or droughts in others. Farmers struggle to make planting decisions, urban planners lack reliable data to develop long-term strategies for extreme weather. Without granular data, decision-making is like navigating a storm with a broken compass.
By making district-level climate projections accessible, we are shifting from reactive disaster management to proactive resilience-building. A district in Maharashtra now has the same ability to plan for rising temperatures as a city in Europe.
This is no longer about abstract climate policies; it is about empowering every Indian district with the knowledge to prepare for the future. This approach embodies the principles of climate data democracy to ensure that every community, regardless of its resources, has equal access to scientific insights that affect their future.
Bridging the gap between Science and Policy
Science alone is insufficient unless it is effectively applied to benefit society, including the fight against climate change. If climate projection data is not effectively utilised, climate modeling efforts become meaningless and fail to benefit society.
To facilitate this, we identify four levers of change i.e. the government and policymakers, the journalists and media houses, teachers and students, and the activists and the civil society organisations to collaborate with to make our science effective in benefitting society.
Our advocacy is for the integration of climate projections into policymaking, fact-based reporting, teaching, and activism. The question now is no longer about the reality of climate change, but whether we have the resolve to act using the readily available climate projections before us.
The current gap between climate science and policy implementation is deeply concerning. There is a general agreement on the growing unpredictability of climate change and the increasing anomalies in monsoons and heatwaves. However proactive steps towards integrating the climate reality into policy remain severely lacking.
A major reason for this disconnect may be because of the limited access to accurate climate data in a usable form. Processing complex climate data into easily usable form at a high level of granularity is difficult and hence there is a general hurdle for the policymakers to interpret the projections and apply them effectively. Without the right tools and insights, even the best climate projections fail to inform decision-making. Bridging this gap is essential to transforming scientific knowledge into actionable, impactful policies.
This scenario made us firmly believe that climate data democratisation is essential for effective climate action for a resilient future. In a rapidly changing climate, planning is becoming increasingly challenging as officials contend with the growing unpredictability of climate change.
Our thought is that if the local governments have seamless access to granular, district-level climate projections and if they get educated about how to use this information for planning, increasing challenges from climate-driven disasters such as heat stress, irregular rainfall patterns, extreme hydrological events such as flooding and droughts could proactively be addressed.
With proper integration of this information, policies could be effective in addressing heat stress adaptation, integrating shifting rainfall patterns into agricultural policies, and designing infrastructure resilient to future climate shocks. Our effort is ensuring that the data is available, the real challenge now is turning it into a tool for action.
What is Ikigai?
Ikigai is a Japanese philosophy that describes the purpose of life at the intersection of what we like to do, what we are good at, what the world needs, and what sustains us in the long run. True ikigai lies at the center of these four elements, where passion, skill, impact, and sustainability overlap.
For us, climate science represents that intersection. We are driven by the pursuit of knowledge, we have honed the expertise to analyze and interpret climate data, the world urgently needs this information, and slowly policymakers and institutions recognize its value. The road ahead is not smooth due to resistance to change, bureaucratic hurdles, and a lack of urgency often slowing down discussions around climate action. But we understand that true ikigai is not about ease; it is about conviction and we understand that there is still a long way to go.
The roadblocks to climate action
Now that climate data is freely available and easy to access, will every district start using it right away? The answer is not so simple. A mix of low awareness, resistance to change, and slow policy action stands in the way. Climate change affects everything—agriculture, water, health, energy, and urban planning. But government departments often work in isolation, making it hard to use climate data in decision-making.
For instance, urban planners rarely consult climate scientists, leading to infrastructure projects that ignore future risks. Many policymakers still see climate change as a distant problem, not an urgent one. As a result, short-term political and economic priorities overshadow long-term planning.
Even when climate data is available, local officials may not know how to use it due to a lack of training. To overcome this, we need capacity-building programs that help officials turn climate data into action. Climate change is not just a topic for scientists and policymakers—it affects everyone. Making district-level climate data accessible to journalists, educators, and community leaders can help people understand the real impact and push for change.
How do we move forward?
The good news is that change is already underway. The School of Climate Change and Sustainability at Azim Premji University, Bengaluru, has recently released district-level climate projection data for the first time in India openly through a web portal. This is the first step towards climate data democratisation in India which can help easier integration of climate intelligence into decision-making at all levels.
One critical step is mandating climate risk assessments at the district level. Every district must conduct these assessments using localized projections, allowing state governments to incorporate climate adaptation into their annual budgets. Without such data-driven planning, adaptation efforts will remain reactive rather than proactive, leaving communities vulnerable to climate shocks.
Alongside this, training government officials in climate science must become a priority. Just as financial literacy is essential for policymakers, so too is climate literacy. Workshops, training programs, and climate fellowships should be designed to equip officials with the ability to interpret and apply climate data effectively. When those in charge of policy and infrastructure planning understand climate risks, they can implement strategies that safeguard people and economies in the long run.
Strengthening public-private partnerships is another crucial component of building climate resilience. The private sector—particularly insurance companies, real estate developers, and agribusinesses—has a vested interest in understanding climate risks, as these projections can help them de-risk investments and build long-term resilience.
Governments should facilitate collaboration with these industries, encouraging investments in climate adaptation measures that benefit both businesses and communities. Additionally, making climate data more accessible to the public is essential. Open-access platforms should allow farmers, city planners, and local businesses to explore climate projections in a user-friendly format, enabling them to make informed decisions about land use, infrastructure, and resource management. Climate intelligence must become mainstream, embedded in governance, business strategy, and everyday life to ensure a sustainable and resilient future.
A call for action
Climate science is not meant to sit in research papers—it must reach the people who need it most. If India is to become truly climate-resilient, district-level projections must be woven into education, governance, business strategies, and everyday decision-making. This is not just about adapting to climate change; it is about securing India's future.
My hope is that others—scientists, policymakers, and students — find their ikigai in this battle against climate change. The challenge before us is immense, but so is the opportunity to shape a future where data-driven climate action is the norm, not the exception. India's climate future is being written now. The question is: will we use the knowledge at our fingertips to shape it wisely?
(Santonu Goswami is a Climate Scientist and Senior Faculty at the School of Climate Change and Sustainability at Azim Premji University, Bangalore)
(Please email us your suggestions and feedback regarding education to education@thehindu.co.in)

Bridging Science and Policy: How localised climate data can shape India's resilient future

There have been some clear changes in the climate of Fiji over recent years, most notably temperature increases and an increase in the severity of storms; the climate is still expected to change in line with global projections.
The Government of Fiji has exemplified its commitment to climate adaptation through different policies and programs including launching its first NAP in 2018, passing the National Climate Change Act in 2021, and developing the Fiji National Climate Finance Strategy in 2022.
In Fiji, structural gender inequality is a driver of women's high degree of vulnerability to the impacts of climate change. Vulnerability within communities is not equally shared, with women and girls experiencing higher levels of vulnerability in terms of their livelihoods and well-being.
As Fiji continues to face the impacts of climate change, implementing effective adaptation strategies, including NbS for adaptation is essential. These initiatives should make a deliberate effort to adopt a gender-responsive and socially inclusive approach to their and implementation.
In Fiji, the number of cool nights has decreased, and the number of warm days has increased since 1942. There have been some clear changes in the climate of Fiji over recent years, most notably temperature increases and an increase in the severity of storms. More severe extreme weather events have also been observed in Fiji for decades, including more severe cyclones, droughts, and periods of excessive rainfall.
This climate risk profile has been developed as part of the Climate Adaptation and Protected Areas Initiative to illustrate the impacts of climate change, specifically within and around select protected areas in Fiji. The data in this report were derived from the climate risk assessments conducted in Fiji and rely on information collected from participatory engagement processes with communities, complemented by desk-based or secondary research.
This climate risk profile provides an overview of Fiji's climate context, observed and projected climate change impacts, and a set of recommended nature-based solutions for adaptation actions and measures to promote gender-responsive and socially inclusive climate adaptation.

Climate Risk Profile—Fiji

NAIROBI, March 19 (Xinhua) -- Climate change experts convened in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi on Wednesday to discuss ways to bridge the climate finance gap in Africa.
The second Climate Change Global Business Summit on Africa, held on Wednesday and Thursday, was attended by officials from African governments, the United Nations, multilateral financial institutions, and the private sector.
Aden Duale, Kenya's cabinet secretary in the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Forestry, said his country is seeking about 4 billion U.S. dollars annually for climate change adaptation and another 1.4 billion dollars annually for mitigation until 2030.
"This funding is essential to address the impacts of climate change and build a resilient, sustainable future for all Kenyans," Duale said.
He said Africa requires the financial support of international organizations, development partners, and the private sector to accelerate the pace of climate action.
Malawian Minister of Energy Ibrahim Imedi Matola said the private sector can help Africa bridge the climate finance gap through investments in clean energy and sustainable agriculture.
He revealed that climate change adaptation in sub-Saharan Africa is estimated to require 30 to 50 billion dollars annually over the next decade, underlining the need for immediate and sustainable financial strategies to mitigate climate risks.
Stefano Marguccio, deputy chief executive officer of Sustainable Energy for All, an international green lobby working in partnership with the United Nations, said unlocking Africa's climate investment potential requires innovative financing mechanisms such as debt-for-nature and debt-for-climate swaps.
Marguccio noted that Africa also needs transformative policies, including incentives for renewable energy, promotion of public-private partnerships, and regulatory reforms, to attract sustainable investments that will build the region's climate resilience. ■

Kenya hosts conference to mobilize climate finance for Africa

NAIROBI, March 19 (Xinhua) -- Climate change experts convened in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi on Wednesday to discuss ways to bridge the climate finance gap in Africa.
The second Climate Change Global Business Summit on Africa, held on Wednesday and Thursday, was attended by officials from African governments, the United Nations, multilateral financial institutions, and the private sector.
Aden Duale, Kenya's cabinet secretary in the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Forestry, said his country is seeking about 4 billion U.S. dollars annually for climate change adaptation and another 1.4 billion dollars annually for mitigation until 2030.
"This funding is essential to address the impacts of climate change and build a resilient, sustainable future for all Kenyans," Duale said.
He said Africa requires the financial support of international organizations, development partners, and the private sector to accelerate the pace of climate action.
Malawian Minister of Energy Ibrahim Imedi Matola said the private sector can help Africa bridge the climate finance gap through investments in clean energy and sustainable agriculture.
He revealed that climate change adaptation in sub-Saharan Africa is estimated to require 30 to 50 billion dollars annually over the next decade, underlining the need for immediate and sustainable financial strategies to mitigate climate risks.
Stefano Marguccio, deputy chief executive officer of Sustainable Energy for All, an international green lobby working in partnership with the United Nations, said unlocking Africa's climate investment potential requires innovative financing mechanisms such as debt-for-nature and debt-for-climate swaps.
Marguccio noted that Africa also needs transformative policies, including incentives for renewable energy, promotion of public-private partnerships, and regulatory reforms, to attract sustainable investments that will build the region's climate resilience.

Climate change is not just an environmental issue -- it's a mental health crisis impacting on adolescent wellbeing right now in areas most affected by climate change, according to new research from Trinity College Dublin.
The authors of the study published this week in the Journal of Climate Change and Health have called for mental health supports to be built into climate adaptation efforts to help young people facing an uncertain future.
We already know that climate change is threatening child and adolescent health worldwide, but there is limited research on its effects on mental health in the low- and middle-income countries that are most affected by climate crisis.
The study reveals that climate change is having a severe impact on adolescent mental health in southern Madagascar. The mixed-methods study gathered survey data from 83 adolescents and focus groups with 48 participants across six rural villages in March 2024.
Young people in the region report extremely high levels of anxiety, depression, and climate change worry, with many describing a sense of hopelessness about the future. Participants described feeling powerless, with one adolescent saying, "I have no idea what I can do to be happy" and another indicating "life is a misery."
"Young people in southern Madagascar are the unwilling pioneers of the impact of climate change. They can provide important insights into the way climate changes impact on adolescent mental health," explains lead author on the paper Dr Kristin Hadfield, Associate Professor in the School of Psychology and Trinity Centre for Global Health at Trinity College Dublin.
"This research makes it clear that climate change is not just an environmental issue -- it is a mental health issue as well. We found that chronic climate stressors -- not just extreme weather events -- are already shaping adolescent mental health. In higher-income countries, climate anxiety often focuses on future risks, but in Madagascar, young people are already living the reality."
The study, conducted led by researchers in Trinity's School of Psychology with colleagues in the Catholic University of Madagascar, Queen Mary University of London, University College London, and CBM Global, found that climate change affected adolescent mental health through three main pathways: loss of household resources, uncertainty about the future, and disruption of coping mechanisms.
Food insecurity is particularly severe -- 90% of households had run out of food in the past year, and 69% of adolescents had gone an entire day without eating. The mixed-methods study gathered survey data from 83 adolescents and focus groups with 48 participants across six rural villages in March 2024.
Many expressed deep distress over their families' struggles, and most had witnessed people in their communities starve to death. As one adolescent put it: "so many died … there were many elders, but they died because of the malnutrition." Another stated simply: "there is no water and when sunlight is burning, we are suffering."
Isabelle Mareschal, School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, said: "Young people in developing countries are particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. This research finds that we need to also consider how climate change impacts their mental health. We hope that these findings can help inform interventions to improve mental health outcomes, with a focus on young people in low and middle income countries."
Dr Nambinina Rasolomalala, Catholic University of Madagascar, said: "Adolescents in Androy, southern Madagascar, speak of famine, fear, and futures stolen by drought and sandstorms. With crops failing and water scarce, many adolescents are forced to leave their communities to survive, while those who stay face hunger, lost education, and deep despair."
Satry Ramaroson, Madagascar Country Director for CBM Global, added: "Climate change is causing suffering for children and adolescents in the South of Madagascar. Recurring droughts fuel food crises and loss of hope, with adolescents with disabilities among the most affected."

Climate change fuelling mental health crisis in areas most affected by climate crisis

PITMAN, N.J., March 19, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The Gerontological Advanced Practice Nurses Association (GAPNA) has released a position statement highlighting the critical role of Advanced Practice Nurses (APNs) in addressing the health impacts of global climate change on older adults. The statement aligns with the American Nurses Association (ANA)'s position on climate change, which recognizes climate change as a critical public health issue requiring urgent action. Like ANA, GAPNA emphasizes the responsibility of nurses to integrate climate science into education, research, and practice while working collaboratively with other health care professionals, community organizations, and policymakers to address climate-related health risks.
Dr. Valerie Sabol, PhD, MBA, ACNP-BC, GNP-BC, ANEF, FAANP, FAAN, the primary author of the position statement and a past president of GAPNA, said, "As APNs, we must integrate climate-informed care into every aspect of geriatric health. Older adults face heightened risks from extreme weather, air pollution, and natural disasters, making it essential that we approach their care through a climate-informed lens."
This position statement, backed by the latest data from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), emphasizes the necessity for APNs to integrate climate-informed care into their clinical practices, education, and advocacy efforts. With the aging global population expected to double by 2050, GAPNA recognizes that older adults are especially vulnerable to the direct and indirect effects of climate change, including extreme weather events, rising temperatures, air pollution, and threats to food and water security.
As health care providers, APNs play a crucial role in mitigating and adapting to the health risks posed by climate change, including exacerbated cardiovascular and respiratory conditions, heat-related illnesses, mental health challenges, and increased vulnerability to natural disasters. GAPNA's position statement calls for APNs to take proactive steps, such as advocating for climate policies, promoting resilience in aging populations, and integrating climate science into geriatric nursing education and practice.
GAPNA's position statement serves as a critical resource for clinicians, educators, and researchers dedicated to improving the health of older adults in a rapidly changing world. The organization calls for enhanced collaboration with other professional groups, such as the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments (ANHE), to provide education, advocacy, and strategies for addressing climate-related health issues.
Key Impacts of Climate Change on Older Adults
Heat-Related Illnesses: Older adults are susceptible to extreme heat, which can lead to heat stress, dehydration, and heat stroke. APNs must assess environmental risks when managing chronic conditions and prescribe medications carefully.
Cardiovascular and Respiratory Stress: Rising temperatures and poor air quality exacerbate existing heart and lung conditions, increasing the risk of hospitalization and mortality.
Natural Disasters: Older adults are more likely to suffer from the physical and emotional toll of natural disasters, such as hurricanes, wildfires, and floods. APNs must help patients prepare disaster plans and ensure access to health care during emergencies.
Mental Health Strain: Climate change-related events contribute to anxiety, PTSD, and depression in older adults, particularly those with preexisting mental health conditions.
In addition to direct health risks, GAPNA acknowledges the psychological toll of climate change, such as ecoanxiety and trauma associated with environmental events. The statement emphasizes the importance of trauma-informed care for older adults facing these unprecedented challenges.
GAPNA urges health care professionals, policymakers, and community leaders to join in addressing the health risks posed by climate change and to prioritize climate justice for aging populations.
Dr. Sabol said, "The impact of climate change on older adults is not a distant concern; it is a present and growing crisis. APNs must lead the charge in advocating for policies that protect aging populations, ensuring they have access to the care, resources, and preparedness needed to navigate environmental challenges with resilience."
About GAPNA
The Gerontological Advanced Practice Nurses Association (GAPNA) is the premier professional organization that represents the interests of advanced practice nurses, other clinicians, educators, and researchers involved in the practice or advancement of caring for older adults. https://www.gapna.org/

GAPNA Urges APN Action to Address Impacts of Climate Change on Older Adults

Thirteen-year-old climate activist Licypriya Kangujam from Manipur, winner of several awards and recognitions for her inspiring interventions, said in Kochi, on Saturday (March 15, 2025) that there is no climate solution without climate education.
A vociferous supporter of concerted action for a sustainable future, she said there should be mandatory education on climate change and resilience. Ms. Kangujam was in Kochi to attend the first student conference organised by the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) at the Cochin University of Science and Technology campus.
Also read: Indian 8-year-old challenges world leaders to act on climate change at COP25 in Madrid
She said her call for climate education has had good results with State Governments in the country responding positively. While several countries are teaching climate in schools, in India, her call has prompted the governments of Gujarat and Rajasthan to launch teaching climate in schools following her call.
To those who question her young age, she said that age did not matter when it came to making a change. She said that the two cyclones in 2018 and 2019 that hit the State of Odisha, where she was studying at that time, wreaked havoc and thousands of children and women were affected. 'I wanted to end this suffering,' she said pointing to the starting point as a climate activist fighting for climate action and climate justice.
She called for a climate change law in the country to contain carbon emission and more responsible climate behaviour on the part of the society.
Also read: Raising their little voices to fight for climate action
'The rich nations must provide climate funds for mitigation and there is no climate justice without climate finance. The rich countries cannot walk away from their responsibilities,' she said.
She said she helped plant 3.5 lakh trees across India through her programme in educational institutions and hoped to reach one million trees. She called on students at the Cochin University to join the tree planting campaign.
The climate activist also called for ban on production of single use plastic products. She said though plastic is a good contribution towards making our lives easier human behaviour has turned it into a bad product. Plastic is dumped everywhere and a permanent solution is to ban single use plastic at at the production level.
Ms. Kangujam said that the sufferings of millions of children and women, who are the most vulnerable in the face of climate change, cannot be accepted. Political leadership should be held accountable and responsible for their actions. 'My generation is already a victim of irresponsible actions in the past. But the next generation cannot be left to suffer. For this we have to change as individuals, as families, as communities and as a nation and the world,' she added.
Also read: Leaders don't believe climate change is real, says 8-year-old activist who turned down PM's initiative
She also said Kerala is a great example of trying to fight climate change as a State is facing several climate challenges and have faced disasters such as floods, landslides and heatwave. She recalled that she had made a contribution to the Kerala Chief Minister's relief fund in 2018 during the epic floods in the State.

No climate solution without climate education, says young climate activist Licypriya Kangujam of Manipur

Investment in climate-change mitigation and adaptation to limit global warming to 2°C by 2100 would greatly reduce economic damage, and the cost of inaction is equivalent to 11% to 27% of cumulative GDP, says a report issued on 12 March by Boston Consulting Group (BCG), Cambridge Judge Business School, and the University of Cambridge's climaTraces Lab.
The report outlines the strong economic case for investing to limit global warming, the consequences of failure to make such investments, and the fact that this compelling economic case for investment is not well known or understood.
Livelihoods of billions at risk without climate-change investment
"Governments, businesses, and people worldwide are paying the price for the storms, floods, heat waves, and droughts that are caused by climate change," says an Executive Summary of the report, which is entitled "Too hot to think straight, too cold to panic: landing the economic case for climate action with decision makers."
"Without investment to avoid future climate change, it's likely that the world's economic output will be severely diminished, threatening the livelihoods of billions of people. This report sets out the economic case for climate action—and how we can make it influence decisions today."
Investing 1% to 2% of GDP would greatly reduce economic damage
If global warming is allowed to reach 3°C by 2100 from pre-industrial levels, cumulative economic output could be reduced by 15% to 34%, the report says, while investing 1% to 2% of cumulative GDP in mitigation and adaptation to limit warming to 2°C from pre-industrial levels would reduce economic damage to just 2% to 4%.
"Rapid and sustained investments in mitigation and adaptation will minimize the economic damages and come with a high return," says the Executive Summary. "Mitigation slows global warming by cutting emissions; adaptation reduces vulnerability to the physical impacts of climate change. Investments in both must rise significantly by 2050—9-fold for mitigation and 13-fold for adaptation. We estimate that the total investment required equals 1% to 2% of cumulative economic output to 2100.
"The return on this investment is compelling. The net cost of inaction—that is, the cost of not addressing climate change after accounting for the investment required for mitigation and adaptation—equates to 11% to 27% of cumulative economic output. Taking the average of this range, the amount is equivalent to 3 times global health care spending until 2100 or 8 times the amount needed to lift the world above the global poverty line until 2100."
Climate change will impact all countries and all sectors
Kamiar Mohaddes, Associate Professor in Economics and Policy at Cambridge Judge Business School and Co-Director of the University of Cambridge climaTRACES Lab, and a co-author of the report, says, "Research on climate change impacts across all regions and sectors is expanding rapidly. What stands out is that productivity loss—not merely capital destruction—is the primary driver of economic damage.
"It is also clear that climate change will reduce income in all countries and across all sectors, affecting industries ranging from transport to manufacturing and retail, not only agriculture and other sectors commonly associated with nature."
Annika Zawadzki, BCG managing director and partner, and a co-author of the report, says, "The economic case for climate action is clear, yet not broadly known and understood. Investment in both mitigation and adaptation could bring a return of around tenfold by 2100."
Five key steps that can help address the world's climate-change challenges
Reframe the debate on the costs of climate change, such as putting the economic cost of climate action on the agenda of United Nations and other multilateral meetings.
Create transparency on the net cost of inaction, including robust climate risk reports by companies and routine macroeconomic assessments by central banks.
Strengthen national climate policies to accelerate mitigation and adaptation, such as prioritizing funding and policies to help communities cope with climate risks.
Reinvigorate international co-operation on climate change, including the submission of ambitious national climate plans ahead of the COP30 climate summit in Belém, Brazil in November 2025.
Advance our understanding of the net cost of inaction, including an understanding of the compounding impacts of climate change on the global economy this century.

A strong case for investing in climate mitigation and adaptation to avoid damage to the global economy

In the bid to combat climate change, the signatory states to the Paris Agreement on Climate Change periodically submit voluntary targets specifying a percentage by which they pledge to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions (Percentage Reduction Pledges, PRPs). In an empirical study, Prof. Dr. Heinz Welsch, an environmental economist at the University of Oldenburg, investigated the extent to which these "national climate targets" correspond to the willingness of the citizens of the respective countries to contribute to climate change mitigation (Willingness to Contribute, WTC) and published his findings in the journal Ecological Economics.
Welsch concludes that country-specific factors such as per-capita income, emissions levels and temperatures play a significant role for both variables (PRPs and WTC), but that whereas these factors were positively correlated to the percentage reduction pledges, they were negatively correlated to willingness to contribute – and that there is also a correlation with levels of satisfaction with democracy.
In his study Welsch compares the national climate targets of 123 nations – last agreed in 2021 – with globally representative data. Almost 130,000 people in 125 nations were surveyed in 2021 and 2022 for the Global Climate Change Survey, which was published last year. One key finding of the survey was that a large majority of the world's population supports climate protection measures: 89 percent of the respondents would like to see more political action against climate change from their national governments, and 69 percent said they would be willing to contribute one percent of their income towards measures to combat climate change.
Welsch used these data to test a model he developed to analyse the interplay between cost-benefit considerations, ethical principles and citizens' preferences. His study focused on the question of which factors are relevant in determining the climate protection targets of national governments and the willingness of citizens to contribute to climate change mitigation. It showed that "per-capita income" and "per-capita emissions" were key factors for both variables and that the average temperatures of the past decade were also relevant.
Welsch found that the higher a country's income and emissions levels, the more ambitious its government's climate targets were, whereas the opposite was the case regarding people's willingness to contribute to climate change mitigation: the higher the income and emissions, the less willing the population was to contribute to fighting climate change. Diverging trends can also be observed regarding the temperature factor: the willingness to contribute to climate protection is greater in warmer countries than in colder ones, but countries with colder climates pursue more ambitious climate targets.
The figures for Germany align with these findings: Germany was among the most ambitious countries in the last round of pledges. With an emissions reduction target of 39.7 percent for the period between 2019 and 2030, it ranked 12th out of 123 on this score. However, according to the Climate Change Survey, although willingness among the German population to contribute to climate action was also high, it was lower than in most other countries. With 67.9 percent of German respondents saying they would be willing to give up one percent of their income each month to contribute to climate action, Germany ranked 74th in the international comparison. Asked whether the government should do more to fight climate change, 86 percent of respondents said yes – leaving Germany in 89th place out of 123.
The study interprets these findings as indicative of a conflict between the United Nations' climate ethics principle of the "common but differentiated responsibilities" of states, which emphasises fairness and equity, and the cost-benefit calculations that prevail among the populations included in the analysis. "People assume that the lower the temperatures in a country are, the less impact climate change will have there," explains Welsch, At the same time people in countries with high per-capita emissions fear that climate protection measures will have a negative impact on their economy, he adds. "Cost-benefit calculations therefore make it likely that in colder, richer and more carbon-intensive countries there will be less willingness to contribute to climate protection."
"In sum, there is a discrepancy between the relatively ambitious climate targets of rich and carbon-intensive countries in colder regions and the lower levels of willingness among their populations to contribute to combating climate change," explains Welsch. The study also shows that there is a correlation between this discrepancy and lower levels of satisfaction with democracy: the more ambitious a government's climate targets compared to the population's willingness to contribute to climate protection, the lower the proportion of the population that is satisfied with the functioning of democracy in that country. "This is not necessarily a causal relationship," the environmental economist hastens to emphasise. Nevertheless, pursuing a climate policy that involves sacrifices on the part of the population without promoting the advance of radical forces that exploit the climate issue for their own purposes poses a challenge for democratic societies, he notes.
According to Welsch, the dilemma posed by an ambitious climate policy could be addressed by introducing political instruments that mitigate the economic and social impact of climate protection measures. As one such potential instrument he proposes a climate fund through which revenues from emissions taxes are distributed to the economically weaker sections of a population.

Discrepancies between national climate targets and citizens' willingness to contribute to climate action

In the bid to combat climate change, the signatory states to the Paris Agreement on Climate Change periodically submit voluntary targets specifying a percentage by which they pledge to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions (Percentage Reduction Pledges, PRPs). In an empirical study, Prof. Dr. Heinz Welsch, an environmental economist at the University of Oldenburg, Germany investigated the extent to which these "national climate targets" correspond to the willingness of the citizens of the respective countries to contribute to climate change mitigation (Willingness to Contribute, WTC) and published his findings in the journal Ecological Economics.
Welsch concludes that country-specific factors such as per-capita income, emissions levels and temperatures play a significant role for both variables (PRPs and WTC), but that whereas these factors were positively correlated to the percentage reduction pledges, they were negatively correlated to willingness to contribute – and that there is also a correlation with levels of satisfaction with democracy.
In his study Welsch compares the national climate targets of 123 nations – last agreed in 2021 – with globally representative data. Almost 130,000 people in 125 nations were surveyed in 2021 and 2022 for the Global Climate Change Survey, which was published last year. One key finding of the survey was that a large majority of the world's population supports climate protection measures: 89 percent of the respondents would like to see more political action against climate change from their national governments, and 69 percent said they would be willing to contribute one percent of their income towards measures to combat climate change.
Welsch used these data to test a model he developed to analyse the interplay between cost-benefit considerations, ethical principles and citizens' preferences. His study focused on the question of which factors are relevant in determining the climate protection targets of national governments and the willingness of citizens to contribute to climate change mitigation. It showed that "per-capita income" and "per-capita emissions" were key factors for both variables and that the average temperatures of the past decade were also relevant.
Welsch found that the higher a country's income and emissions levels, the more ambitious its government's climate targets were, whereas the opposite was the case regarding people's willingness to contribute to climate change mitigation: the higher the income and emissions, the less willing the population was to contribute to fighting climate change. Diverging trends can also be observed regarding the temperature factor: the willingness to contribute to climate protection is greater in warmer countries than in colder ones, but countries with colder climates pursue more ambitious climate targets.
The figures for Germany align with these findings: Germany was among the most ambitious countries in the last round of pledges. With an emissions reduction target of 39.7 percent for the period between 2019 and 2030, it ranked 12th out of 123 on this score. However, according to the Climate Change Survey, although willingness among the German population to contribute to climate action was also high, it was lower than in most other countries. With 67.9 percent of German respondents saying they would be willing to give up one percent of their income each month to contribute to climate action, Germany ranked 74th in the international comparison. Asked whether the government should do more to fight climate change, 86 percent of respondents said yes – leaving Germany in 89th place out of 123.
The study interprets these findings as indicative of a conflict between the United Nations' climate ethics principle of the "common but differentiated responsibilities" of states, which emphasises fairness and equity, and the cost-benefit calculations that prevail among the populations included in the analysis. "People assume that the lower the temperatures in a country are, the less impact climate change will have there," explains Welsch, At the same time people in countries with high per-capita emissions fear that climate protection measures will have a negative impact on their economy, he adds. "Cost-benefit calculations therefore make it likely that in colder, richer and more carbon-intensive countries there will be less willingness to contribute to climate protection."
"In sum, there is a discrepancy between the relatively ambitious climate targets of rich and carbon-intensive countries in colder regions and the lower levels of willingness among their populations to contribute to combating climate change," explains Welsch. The study also shows that there is a correlation between this discrepancy and lower levels of satisfaction with democracy: the more ambitious a government's climate targets compared to the population's willingness to contribute to climate protection, the lower the proportion of the population that is satisfied with the functioning of democracy in that country. "This is not necessarily a causal relationship," the environmental economist hastens to emphasise. Nevertheless, pursuing a climate policy that involves sacrifices on the part of the population without promoting the advance of radical forces that exploit the climate issue for their own purposes poses a challenge for democratic societies, he notes.
According to Welsch, the dilemma posed by an ambitious climate policy could be addressed by introducing political instruments that mitigate the economic and social impact of climate protection measures. As one such potential instrument he proposes a climate fund through which revenues from emissions taxes are distributed to the economically weaker sections of a population.

Climate Targets Clash with Public Willingness

The Reserve Bank of India will create an 'on Tap' cohort dedicated to climate change risks and sustainable finance under its Regulatory Sandbox initiative, said Governor Sanjay Malhotra. This aims to build capacity, develop ecosystems, and finance green transitions while managing financial risks. Additionally, a 'Greenathon' focused on climate change will be conducted to foster sustainable finance.
Tired of too many ads?
Remove Ads
Tired of too many ads?
Remove Ads
Tired of too many ads?
Remove Ads
The Reserve Bank will set up a dedicated 'on Tap' cohort on climate change risks and sustainable finance under its regulatory sandbox initiative, Governor Sanjay Malhotra said on Thursday. The Reserve Bank has been encouraging and facilitating innovations through its Regulatory Sandbox and Hackathon initiatives in the fintech space."We propose to set up a dedicated 'on Tap' cohort on climate change risks and sustainable finance under RBI 's Regulatory Sandbox initiative. We are also planning to conduct a special 'Greenathon' on climate change and related aspects," Malhotra said.He was speaking on the Policy Seminar on Climate Change Risks and Finance organised by the Reserve Bank of India here.The Governor said there are two dimensions to climate change-related risks that regulators, policymakers and practitioners have to be aware of - the first is facilitative involving capacity building, development of the ecosystem and financing of green and sustainable transition; and the second is the prudential aspect, which is related to risk management."While the role of the Central Banks in managing risks posed by climate change to the financial system is increasingly being recognised, their role in facilitating the financing of green and sustainable transition has been a matter of debate and has varying dimensions to it," he said.Central banks in advanced economies have traditionally followed an asset-neutral approach.Central banks in emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs), on the other hand, have adopted directed lending policies to channelise credit to certain sectors of their economies given their individual country circumstances and developmental objectives..In the Indian context, the priority sector lending guidelines facilitate credit to be channelled to specific sectors including renewable energy."On the prudential aspect, there are several channels through which climate change risks impact the financial system. All the major types of financial risks - be it credit, market, or operational risk - are influenced by climate change," Malhotra said.As a central bank, he said the RBI is mindful of its role in addressing and mitigating risks to the financial system from climate change."In this context, our endeavour has been to play the role of a facilitator - including supporting capacity building and fostering a conducive regulatory framework for promoting green and sustainable finance," he said.The Governor further said one important aspect of green financing/lending for sustainable finance is the higher credit risk due to borrowers' use of new and emerging green technologies, which have relatively limited track record in terms of reliability, efficiency, and effectiveness.Regulated entities, therefore, need to develop suitable capacity and technical know-how to better appraise risks in financing projects which use such green technologies, he said.He emphasised that the impact of climate change risks is not limited to the financial system alone but extends to the real economy."Be it the corporates or the MSMEs or the agricultural sector, climate change risks are ubiquitous. This calls for a cohesive co-ordination and harmonisation in approach, among not only the financial sector regulators and the regulated entities but also various government agencies," he added.The Reserve Bank remains committed to continue adopting a constructive and consultative approach towards supporting the various initiatives being undertaken towards management and mitigation of financial risks related to climate change, he said.

RBI to set up 'on Tap' cohort on climate change risks: Guv Malhotra

In this blog post, we speak to Jason Evans and Olivia Romppainen-Martius, PLOS Climate Section Editors for Atmosphere & Oceans.
Could you tell us a bit about how you ended up in your area of study?
Olivia: I studied earth sciences with a specialization in climate and hydrology. During my PhD I focussed on weather system dynamics and I still enjoy working on research questions related to atmospheric dynamics tremendously. In the past decade, my research focus has shifted more towards application-oriented research, in particular, applications for the insurance sector, including risk assessments and risk modeling, but also forecasting of extreme weather events.
Jason: My first research was in solid state physics. It was interesting but not the right fit for me. I decided to try something more mathematical and did some research in general relativity. This was also interesting but again, not the right fit for me. I decided to do research into something that would help people, and climate change is the biggest problem facing humanity over the next century, so I looked for opportunities in this direction. I was lucky enough to be offered a PhD position doing research in hydrology and climate change, and this was just right for me. I have been doing research into the climate system ever since, with a particular interest in the water cycle.
What's the focus of your current work, and what questions or issues are you hoping to address?
Olivia: My current research is focused on extreme weather events and associated risks in the current and future climate with a strong focus on Central Europe. We aim to understand the relevant underlying processes, quantify and improve predictability, link extreme events to impacts, and communicate the results to users. We are currently focused mainly on two types of extremes: severe storms and floods. Severe storms regularly cause substantial damage in many areas around the world. However, due to the small spatial scale, very little is known about future changes in the frequency and intensity of severe storms. For floods, we are working towards impact-based warnings using user-specific visualizations in combination with process-based and data driven models.
Jason: My current research is focused on regional climate processes, climate change, and its impact on human and natural systems. I have a range of projects underway in these broad topics. In terms of climate processes I am working on short duration rainfall extremes to understand the causes of the trends we see in recent decades and how climate change will impact these extremes in the future. I also have projects investigating the urban landscapes influence on temperature and precipitation, how this has changed as the urban landscape has changed, and what this might mean for a cities climate under global warming. In another project I am investigating mechanisms that lead to the development of fire-generated thunderstorms (PyroCumulonimbus). These extreme fire events have been happening much more often in recent years and we don't yet fully understand their causes or what role climate change is playing in this increase. In terms of regional climate changes, I work with state and federal governments in Australia to help generate regional climate projections, and then use these projections to quantify future climate changes over Australia with a particular focus on climate hazards. I have also started a project to produce high resolution climate projections for Pacific islands which is an endorsed CORDEX Flagship Pilot Study. Some other examples of current research includes investigations of the climate change impact on renewable energy generation, coastal erosion, and dryland ecosystems.
Why do the principles of Open Access and Open Science matter to you?
Olivia: Climate adaptation is, in part, highly individual and/or local, and so are the data and information requirements of the local stakeholders and decision-makers. Open Access to the relevant knowledge, data, code, and analysis tools is therefore imperative for a successful adaptation process. Open Access is also an important step for science to become more just. Finally, Open Access and Open Science are also important to maintain public trust in science.
Jason: I think Open Access and Open Science are an ethical approach to science. Certainly with climate change, being transparent about our methods and outcomes is needed to build trust in the science. Sharing data, methods, even code, helps to accelerate our scientific advances. In addition, having the science openly available for all means that people outside climate science, including decision makers, can find and read the science for themselves. The openness increases the chance that our science will have an impact beyond our immediate scientific community.
What kind of papers would you be particularly excited to see submitted to your section of PLOS Climate ?
Olivia: I would love to see papers that address the potential and limitations of deep learning methods for climate science in general and for local climate risk assessment in particular. I would be further highly interested in papers focussing on observations, including new data sources but also much-needed information on land-atmosphere interactions. Finally, would highly appreciate papers proposing progress in theory and new conceptual models.
Jason: I'd love to see papers that address a broad range of regional climate issues. From process understanding, to regional climate modelling and projections, to climate change impacts on a wide variety of systems. The Coordinated Regional climate Downscaling Experiment (CORDEX) has been doing this kind of modelling for many years and the Global Energy and Water Exchanges (GEWEX) project has also been doing process level studies and observational analysis relevant to regional climates. It would be great to see some of this work published in PLOS Climate .
Ready to submit your work to PLOS Climate 's Atmosphere & Oceans section? Follow our step-by-step guide to the submission process!

Meet PLOS Climate Section Editors Jason Evans and Olivia Romppainen-Martius

Ireland must be better prepared to deal with the next major weather event as Storm Darragh and Eowyn exposed our 'inadequate' infrastructure, it's been claimed. Boffins from the Climate Change Advisory Council made the remarks after it published its 2025 Annual Review series.
The damming dossier revealed Ireland's changing climate, projected future changes and the critical need to adapt. They also stressed, Ireland must better monitor climate events while simultaneously radically improving preparedness to respond to rapidly emerging extreme weather.
The weather experts said a 'National Climate Damage Register' must also be established to monitor and record the economic, social and environmental impacts of extreme weather events. In addition, the report said Storm Darragh and Storm Éowyn laid bare Ireland's 'inadequate critical infrastructure'.
Storms Isha, Bert and Darragh brought particularly strong winds, high rainfall and significant flood damage in Counties Donegal, Kerry, Cork, Limerick and Galway.
But it said Storm Éowyn set an all-time record with sustained hurricane force winds of 142km per hour which saw 768,000 premises without power, over 200,000 without water, more than one million telecom customers without broadband or phone coverage, and widespread agricultural damage.
Boffins called on the government to ensure that the funding and necessary supports are in place to sustain and improve the national climate observing system. The body also stressed 'that the fingerprints of climate change are increasingly evident in the intensifying magnitude and frequency of certain extreme events, particularly heavy rainfall and heatwaves.'
They told how last year was the warmest ever year globally and the fourth warmest in Ireland with our spring being the sixth wettest.
Peter Thorne, Chair of the Climate Change Advisory Council's Adaptation Committee said: 'The time to act is now. Government cannot procrastinate any longer. Proactive action can and must improve our preparedness for and response to rapidly emerging climate risks, to protect and support people, and future proof our communities. This must be underpinned by robust climate data and services."
He added: 'The Council has highlighted the inadequacy of Ireland's approach to address our changing climate over many years, and we have consistently called for investment and legislation to address the vulnerability and lack of resilience within our critical infrastructure and services in coping with extreme climate events.
'If we do not put the structures and resources in place we will increasingly expose people and communities to the destructive effects of extreme weather events, magnifying future costs and risks to society.'
Meanwhile, a Trinity College study found climate change is not just an environmental issue - it's a mental health crisis impacting on adolescent wellbeing right now in areas most affected. The authors of the study which was published this week in the Journal of Climate Change and Health called for mental health supports to be built into climate adaptation efforts to help young people facing an uncertain future.
Researchers revealed climate change is having a severe impact on adolescent mental health in southern Madagascar. They gathered survey data from 83 adolescents and focus groups with 48 participants across six rural villages in March 2024.
Their results concluded that young people in the region report extremely high levels of anxiety, depression, and climate change worry, with many describing a sense of hopelessness about the future. Participants described feeling powerless, with one adolescent saying, 'I have no idea what I can do to be happy' and another indicating 'life is a misery'.
Trinity College's Dr Kristin Hadfield, who was a lead author, said: 'Young people in southern Madagascar are the unwilling pioneers of the impact of climate change. They can provide important insights into the way climate changes impact on adolescent mental health.
"This research makes it clear that climate change is not just an environmental issue — it is a mental health issue as well. We found that chronic climate stressors — not just extreme weather events — are already shaping adolescent mental health. In higher-income countries, climate anxiety often focuses on future risks, but in Madagascar, young people are already living the reality.'

Ireland weather emergency as storms expose our 'inadequate' infrastructure

Climate change is impacting adolescent wellbeing in areas most affected by climate change, according to a new study in Madagascar involving a UCL researcher.
The authors of the Journal of Climate Change and Health study have called for mental health supports to be built into climate adaptation efforts to help young people facing an uncertain future.
The threats to child and adolescent health posed by climate change are well-documented, but there is limited research into its effects on mental health in the low- and middle-income countries that are most affected by the climate crisis.
The study, conducted by researchers in Trinity College Dublin, UCL, Queen Mary University of London, the Catholic University of Madagascar, and CBM Global, reveals that climate change is having a severe impact on adolescent mental health in southern Madagascar. The mixed-methods study gathered survey data from 83 adolescents, alongside data from focus groups undertaken with 48 of those same adolescents, across six rural villages in March 2024.
Young people in the region report extremely high levels of anxiety, depression, and climate change worry, with many describing a sense of hopelessness about the future. Participants described feeling powerless, with one adolescent saying, "I have no idea what I can do to be happy" and another indicating "life is a misery".
Lead author Dr Kristin Hadfield (School of Psychology and Trinity Centre for Global Health at Trinity College Dublin) said: "Young people in southern Madagascar are the unwilling pioneers of the impact of climate change. They can provide important insights into the way climate changes impact on adolescent mental health.
"This research makes it clear that climate change is not just an environmental issue - it is a mental health issue as well. We found that chronic climate stressors - not just extreme weather events - are already shaping adolescent mental health. In higher-income countries, climate anxiety often focuses on future risks, but in Madagascar, young people are already living the reality."
The study found that climate change affected adolescent mental health through three main pathways: loss of household resources, uncertainty about the future, and disruption of coping mechanisms.
Food insecurity is particularly severe - 90% of households had run out of food in the past year, and 69% of adolescents had gone an entire day without eating.
Many of the survey respondents expressed deep distress over their families' struggles, and most had witnessed people in their communities starve to death. As one adolescent put it, "so many died … there were many elders, but they died because of the malnutrition". Another stated simply, "there is no water and when sunlight is burning, we are suffering".
Co-author Professor Samuel Solomon (UCL Psychology & Language Sciences) said: "While the resilience we found among young people in southern Madagascar was inspiring, their lives are tragically susceptible to the effects of climate change. We found that the food insecurity and uncertainty that accompanies climate change is severely impacting young people's mental health there, with implications for the future as well as the present."
Co-author Professor Isabelle Mareschal (School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences, Queen Mary University of London) said: "Young people in developing countries are particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. This research finds that we need to also consider how climate change impacts their mental health. We hope that these findings can help inform interventions to improve mental health outcomes, with a focus on young people in low- and middle-income countries."
The study was conducted in southern Madagascar's Grand Sud region, which is one of the most severely climate change affected areas in the world. A famine believed to be driven by climate change occurred in this region in 2021.
Co-author Dr Nambinina Rasolomalala (Catholic University of Madagascar) said: "Adolescents in Androy, southern Madagascar, speak of famine, fear, and futures stolen by drought and sandstorms. With crops failing and water scarce, many adolescents are forced to leave their communities to survive, while those who stay face hunger, lost education, and deep despair."
Co-author Satry Ramaroson, Madagascar Country Director for CBM Global, added: "Climate change is causing suffering for children and adolescents in the south of Madagascar. Recurring droughts fuel food crises and loss of hope, with adolescents with disabilities among the most affected."

Climate Change Sparks Mental Health Crisis in Hotspots

Climate change is affecting the environments in which we live more and more every year. Along with that, these drastic changes are starting to take a toll on our mental health, as well, especially for young adults.
An international research team has taken an interest in what kind of effects climate change is having on adolescent mental health, and the results they have uncovered are concerning. A Mental Health Crisis
In a study published in the Journal of Climate Change and Health , researchers assert that climate change is a mental health crisis. They are particularly concerned with how it is affecting adolescent well-being in the areas most severely experiencing climate crises in the present.
One of those areas is Madagascar, where the research for this study took place. The team collected survey data from 83 adolescents and also ran focus groups with 48 participants from six different rural villages.
The most common response across all the data was that young people suffered from extremely high levels of anxiety, depression, and worry about the current and future impacts of climate change. An overwhelming number of respondents described themselves as feeling hopeless about their future, with one participant going as far as saying that 'life is a misery.'
'This research makes it clear that climate change is not just an environmental issue – it is a mental health issue as well,' said Kristin Hadfield, associate professor in the School of Psychology and Trinity Centre for Global Health at Trinity College Dublin, in a press release. 'We found that chronic climate stressors – not just extreme weather events – are already shaping adolescent mental health.'
Read More : Disturbing New Details Emerge About the State of the Global Climate Chronic Climate Stressors
Hadfield and her team identified three main ways that climate change affected adolescent mental health. The first is a disruption of coping mechanisms. The second is the loss of household resources, with many respondents expressing deep distress over their families' struggles.
The third way climate change affects mental health is through uncertainty about the future. Food insecurity is a particularly strong factor in all of these areas, and the data collected on this issue is sobering.
Of those young people who participated in the survey, 90 percent said that their households had run out of food in the past year. Another 69 percent admitted that they had gone at least an entire day without food. Even more concerning is the fact that some adolescents witnessed people in their community starve to death. Madagascar as Ground Zero
Climate change is to blame for the scarcity of food and resources in Madagascar, which is causing a mental health crisis among adolescents.
Madagascar is an island nation located in the Indian Ocean and is one of the least developed countries in the world. The majority of the population is dependent on subsistence farming for their livelihoods, both personal and economic.
Southern Madagascar is one of the areas most severely affected by climate change in the world. It experienced its first climate-change-induced famine in 2021.
From water scarcity to heat waves to flooding, the effects of climate change for the Madagascan farming communities are extreme and are causing unprecedented levels of climate-related stress in children and young adults.
'Adolescents in Androy, Southern Madagascar, speak of famine, fear, and futures stolen by drought and sandstorms. With crops failing and water scarce, many adolescents are forced to leave their communities to survive, while those who stay face hunger, lost education, and deep despair,' said Nambinina Rasolomalala from the Catholic University of Madagascar in a press release.
The team hopes their study will shed light on the growing concern and connection between climate change and mental health and will increase future research in low- and middle-income countries.
Read More: The Domino Effects of a Global Food Shortage Article Sources
Our writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed studies and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for this article:
As the marketing coordinator at Discover Magazine, Stephanie Edwards interacts with readers across Discover's social media channels and writes digital content. Offline, she is a contract lecturer in English & Cultural Studies at Lakehead University, teaching courses on everything from professional communication to Taylor Swift, and received her graduate degrees in the same department from McMaster University. You can find more of her science writing in Lab Manager and her short fiction in anthologies and literary magazine across the horror genre.

Climate Change Is Fueling a Mental Health Crisis Among Adolescents

By Jenna Somers
South Asian university students who won Climate Champions Fellowships through the Student Society for Climate Change Awareness's Climate Tank Accelerator visited Vanderbilt University in February, supported by a U.S. State Department grant. The fellows were from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. They presented their winning research projects geared toward tackling problems of climate change in their respective countries and exchanged ideas and explored opportunities for collaboration with Vanderbilt faculty and students.
The Student Society for Climate Change Awareness is an accelerator program in South Asia that empowers university students with the knowledge and tools they need to educate others and to mitigate the effects of climate change. The program is implemented by two partner organizations:
Seeds of Peace: a non-profit organization based in the U.S. that supports youth from Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka to become peacebuilders and leaders
Beyond the Classroom Education: a social enterprise in Pakistan that empowers students through a leadership development program to engage in social and collective action
The 28 Climate Champions Fellows who visited Vanderbilt were members of the Climate Tank Accelerator's seven winning project teams. They competed with more than 2,000 student participants. Winning projects included a legal think tank to educate rural Nepalese communities on climate-related rights and governance, a recycling program in Bangladesh to convert old jeans into reusable tote bags, a floating wetland in Karachi, Pakistan, to promote climate adaptation, and sea grass ecosystem restoration for carbon sequestration along India's Visakhapatnam coast.
Qasim Aslam, project director of SSCCA and founder of Beyond the Classroom, and Shweta Patole, Seeds of Peace coordinator for India, led the students on their trip to Vanderbilt. Patole spoke about Seeds of Peace's mission over the past 30 years to develop leaders who build solidarity across differences to solve societal conflicts.
'When we talk about conflicts, we realize that climate change is increasingly core to societal conflict. South Asian countries are particularly susceptible to the effects of climate change, and so we seek to develop methods to have conversations across lines of differences,' Patole said. 'These fellows' projects are a way for students to share very localized climate related problems and solutions and to exchange ideas for confronting the effects of climate change across societies.'
Visiting Vanderbilt
The fellows visit to Vanderbilt builds on the work of Peabody Global Initiatives to establish international research and education collaborations. During their visit, the fellows presented their winning projects at Peabody, followed by a cultural exchange reception. They also met with students from Dialogue Vanderbilt who had previously attended the Seeds of Peace Camp.
Climate Champions Fellows dancing at the cultural exchange reception
Climate Champions Fellows dancing at the cultural exchange reception
'We were delighted to welcome the Climate Champions Fellows to Vanderbilt. Their visit offered a wonderful opportunity for faculty and students across the university to engage in meaningful dialogue and strengthen our relationships with global partners,' said Ellen Goldring, Patricia and Rodes Hart Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy and vice dean of Peabody College.
Throughout the week, the fellows toured the campus to learn about Vanderbilt's sustainability efforts, including the new Highland Energy Plant, a solar panel project, innovative energy investments, and the smart meadow behind the 6 Magnolia Building. They also toured the Vanderbilt Museum of Art and exchanged ideas about climate solutions with faculty and students from the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences and the Vanderbilt Center for Sustainability, Energy and Climate.
Additionally, the fellows met with Angela Eeds, executive director of the Collaborative for STEM Education and Outreach, to learn about the CSEO's programs for Metropolitan Nashville Public School students, including the School for Science and Math at Vanderbilt. In the Magnolia Makerspace, they developed branding for their climate projects.
'It was an honor to spend some time with these visiting scholars and encourage their creative talents despite a snow day cancelling our planned project exchange with SSMV students. Their entrepreneurial spirit was inspiring,' Eeds said.
The fellows concluded their visit with a tour of the Wond'ry, where they observed the Green-a-thon, Vanderbilt Green Fund's annual pitch competition to fund students' proposals for projects that make campus more sustainable.
Winners of the Student Society for Climate Change Awareness competition tour
Winners of the Student Society for Climate Change Awareness competition tour Vanderbilt. Photo: Harrison McClary/Vanderbilt University
Winners of the Student Society for Climate Change Awareness competition tour Vanderbilt. Photo: Harrison McClary/Vanderbilt University
The fellows took an off-campus excursion to Caney Fork Farms—a research facility and family farm—where they learned about regenerative agriculture and responsible land stewardship alongside Vanderbilt students in a paleoclimates class taught by Jessica Oster, associate professor of earth and environmental sciences.
'My students and I had a wonderful day visiting Caney Fork Farm with these visiting scholars. We had informal and relationship-building discussions with them, and they asked insightful questions and offered ideas for the farm manager and outreach coordinator based on their experiences back home.' Oster said.
Climate Champions Fellows visit Caney Fork Farms
Climate Champions Fellows visit Caney Fork Farms
Climate Champions Fellows visit Caney Fork Farms
Climate Champions Fellows visit Caney Fork Farms
Chris Vanags, director of the Peabody Research Office and research assistant professor of earth and environmental sciences with the Fellows at Caney Fork Farms
Chris Vanags, director of the Peabody Research Office and research assistant professor of earth and environmental sciences with the Fellows at Caney Fork Farms
Jonathan Rattner, associate professor of cinema and media arts, is planning to make a film of the fellows' visit. 'Meeting these students and learning about their projects was incredibly inspiring,' Rattner said. 'I wanted to make this short film to help share their story with the hope of encouraging others to think broadly about creative solutions to combat climate change.'
Tackling the climate crisis in South Asia
Asia experiences some of the most acute effects of climate change around the globe. While the Climate Champions Fellows seek to tackle localized climate-related challenges in South Asia, their work reveals problems that may span the globe as climate change worsens. With this understanding, the world has much to learn from impacted South Asian communities and the fellows who are forging solutions.
Aashika Ojha and Garima Bista, two of the fellows on the legal think tank project team, explained the mission of their work. 'Nepal is a developing country with minimal industry, so we don't really contribute to climate change, but we are one of the countries most affected by it. That motivates us to educate Nepal's indigenous and remote communities who are affected but don't know their rights,' said Ojha.
The think tank produces white papers for leaders and advocates familiar with climate change as well as educational materials and programs to raise climate change awareness among the public.
'As law students, we are working to let remote communities know their rights in terms of climate justice so that they can protect themselves from climate injustice,' added Bista. 'We hope this trip allows us to teach people about our perceptions of climate change and to learn other people's perceptions that could possibly support our work back in Nepal.'
Likewise, Emon Kazi, hopes that his team's project will educate people on the environmental and social impacts of the textile industry in Bangladesh and the need to empower women in rural communities.
Bangladesh is a garment industry hub and a primary supplier of jeans to the U.S. The country's production of jeans uses substantial amounts of water, reducing water levels and harming the agriculture industry.
'I am from a remote community that has felt these impacts in addition to losing everything to flooding, salinity, and the revolution, so I'm very personally motivated by our work,' said Kazi. 'Coastal women are especially affected by climate change and lack opportunities to make a living wage. We are training these women to transform old jeans into reusable totes that they can sell to make an income while contributing to sustainability.'
The Climate Champion Fellows' visit to Vanderbilt reflects the university's commitment to building international collaborations to address the world's most pressing problems. By touring Vanderbilt's green initiatives and learning about the sustainable farming techniques at Caney Fork Farms, the fellows were able to contemplate how climate solutions in urban and rural Tennessee might apply to very local concerns across disparate South Asian communities and landscapes—a reminder that climate change knows no boundaries and requires global cooperation.

South Asian Climate Champions Fellows visit Vanderbilt University

The study, published in The Journal of Climate Change and Health, reveals alarmingly high levels of anxiety, depression, and hopelessness among adolescents in one of the world's most climate-vulnerable regions.
While climate change is often framed as an environmental issue, this research highlights its profound toll on mental health, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. The study, conducted in collaboration with Trinity College Dublin, the Catholic University of Madagascar, University College London, and CBM Global, underscores the urgent need for mental health support to be integrated into climate adaptation efforts.
The research team, including Isabelle Mareschal from Queen Mary University of London's School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences, found that climate change is affecting adolescent mental health through three key pathways: loss of household resources, uncertainty about the future, and the breakdown of traditional coping mechanisms.
In southern Madagascar, where droughts and sandstorms have become the norm, young people are living through a daily struggle for survival. The study surveyed 83 adolescents and held focus groups with 48 participants across six rural villages in March 2024. The findings paint a stark picture: 90% of households had run out of food in the past year, and 69% of adolescents had gone an entire day without eating.
Many participants expressed deep distress over their families' struggles, with some witnessing community members starve to death. One adolescent shared, "so many died … there were many elders, but they died because of the malnutrition." Another simply stated, "There is no water and when sunlight is burning, we are suffering."
Isabelle Mareschal from Queen Mary University of London emphasized the vulnerability of young people in developing countries, stating, "Young people in developing countries are particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. This research finds that we need to also consider how climate change impacts their mental health. We hope that these findings can help inform interventions to improve mental health outcomes, with a focus on young people in low- and middle-income countries."
The study's lead author, Dr. Kristin Hadfield of Trinity College Dublin, added, "Young people in southern Madagascar are the unwilling pioneers of the impact of climate change. They can provide important insights into the way climate changes impact on adolescent mental health. This research makes it clear that climate change is not just an environmental issue—it is a mental health issue as well."
The research also highlights the ripple effects of climate change on education and community stability. With crops failing and water sources drying up, many adolescents are forced to leave their homes to survive, while those who remain face hunger, interrupted education, and a profound sense of despair.
Dr. Nambinina Rasolomalala from the Catholic University of Madagascar described the situation starkly, "Adolescents in Androy, southern Madagascar, speak of famine, fear, and futures stolen by drought and sandstorms."
Satry Ramaroson, Madagascar Country Director for CBM Global, echoed these concerns, noting, "Climate change is causing suffering for children and adolescents in the South of Madagascar. Recurring droughts fuel food crises and loss of hope, with adolescents with disabilities among the most affected."

Climate change fueling mental health crisis in areas most affected by climate crisis

Ever wonder how many glaciers human-driven climate change has eliminated over the decades? Well, you can take a depressing trip through history by visiting the glacier casualty list—a website dedicated to remembering all the glaciers climate change has caused to melt.
But the website covers more than just those that have melted—like the Okjökull glacier (also known as the Ok glacier). It also highlights all the glaciers currently melting due to human-driven climate change. It's a stark wakeup call that despite how much some people claim it isn't real, human-driven climate change is a threat to our world.
The glacier casualty list is an especially useful resource, considering we have folks from the Trump administration currently asking whether or not greenhouse gases are actually bad for the environment. Despite the years of evidence that support the current EPA climate change laws in place, we could very well see them dismantled soon—which would only drive climate change to worse levels.
Of course, that's a problem we'll have to figure out, especially if we ever have any real hope of reversing climate change and the damage that it has caused to our planet. And we aren't doing so hot right now, as the UN says we're failing miserably at our attempts to control climate change.
Tech. Entertainment. Science. Your inbox.
Sign up for the most interesting tech & entertainment news out there.
Email:
SIGN UP
By signing up, I agree to the Terms of Use and have reviewed the Privacy Notice.
Currently, the glacier casualty list includes over 20 glaciers that have been marked as 'disappeared,' 'almost disappeared,' or 'critically endangered.' Despite all the changes we've made to our industries around the world to try to slow down climate change, the latest glaciers marked as disappearing vanished as recently as 2023.
Unfortunately, it seems unlikely that this list will ever stop being expanded. We already know the Greenland ice sheet is in critical condition and melting far faster than scientists previously estimated. If the EPA laws in America are reversed, this melting will likely only increase as global temperatures continue to rise.

This website shows all the glaciers that have melted due to human-driven climate change

The Enugu State Government under the leadership of Governor Peter Mbah has launched a climate policy and action plan to address the threats posed by climate change in the state.
The initiative, unveiled on Monday in Enugu, is titled 'Enugu State Climate Policy, Climate Action Plan, and Climate Education Manual for Schools. '
It aims to provide a comprehensive framework for integrating climate action across various sectors in the state.
The governor reaffirmed his administration's commitment to enforcing environmental best practices to tackle climate change in Enugu State.
Mbah—who was represented by his Deputy, Ifeanyi Ossai—stressed the urgency of developing a comprehensive solution, given the pressing realities of climate change.
He commended development partners for their role in actualizing the state's climate action plan and policy.
Mbah also stated the importance of the climate education manual for students, emphasizing the need to raise awareness about climate change and environmental protection.
'For us to channel their intellectual capacity toward productivity and growth, we must provide an enabling environment and basic infrastructure to drive that development.
'We must do this in a responsible and environmentally friendly way, which is why this manual is critically important to us as a government, ' he said. Government to enact law against illegal tree felling
The governor further emphasized the need for an attitudinal shift from deforestation to forestation to mitigate the effects of climate change.
He stated that the state government and lawmakers would collaborate to enact a law prohibiting illegal tree felling.
The governor also expressed gratitude to the Africa Climate Foundation (ACF) and the University of Bristol for their support.
Prof. Sam Ugwu, the State Commissioner for Environment and Climate Change, described the event as a bold step toward securing a sustainable and climate-resilient future for the state.
He noted that climate change had become a global challenge with consequential impacts on livelihoods and ecosystems.
'It distorts national and sub-national socio-economic values and activities,' Ugwu said.
He explained that the state's new climate policy provides a comprehensive roadmap for integrating sustainability into every sector of the economy.
'It is a strategic framework designed to drive green investments, create thousands of jobs, and position Enugu as a leader in Nigeria's low-carbon transition,' he added. Experts and stakeholders weigh in
The Special Adviser to the Governor on Climate Policy and Sustainable Development, Prof. Chukwumerije Okereke, stated that Climate Smart Agriculture remains one of the key strategies to mitigate the devastating effects of climate change. The Secretary to the Enugu State Government, Prof. Chidiebere Onyia, added that the government will inaugurate an implementation committee to oversee the execution of climate-related actions.
Also speaking, Mrs. Juliet Chiluwe, the Chief Field Officer of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Enugu, commended the state for its Smart Green School initiative and commitment to climate action and policy.
She emphasized UNICEF's role in ensuring the protection of child rights in the context of climate change, adding that the organization remains a critical stakeholder in advancing social protection measures. Follow us for Breaking News and Market Intelligence.
Tags: climate policyEnugu

Enugu Govt unveils climate policy, action plan to tackle environmental threats

A "mental health crisis" is happening among young people living in countries being most acutely affected by droughts, food insecurity, extreme weather events, and other impacts of climate change, according to a Trinity College Dublin-led study.
The report, published this week in the Journal of Climate Change and Health, outlines how climate change is not just an environmental issue, but also something which is having a 'severe' impact on the mental health of adolescents facing an uncertain future.
For their mixed-methods study, the research team gathered survey data from 83 adolescents and focus groups, with 48 participants across six rural villages of southern Madagascar in March 2024.
According to the UN, the Indian Ocean island nation is the fourth most climate change-affected country on earth.
The UN says Madagascar's 32 million inhabitants are 'highly vulnerable' to climate change due to severe impacts on water and subsistence agriculture, and food security.
Some 90% of Malagasy households were reportedly out of food in the past year, with 69% of adolescents going an entire day without eating.
With a gross national income of $487 per capita, Madagascar is also among the world's least developed nations.
The research team says young people living in its southernmost region — one of the most severely climate change-affected areas in the world — report 'extremely high' levels of anxiety, depression, and climate change worry, with many describing a sense of hopelessness about the future.
One adolescent told researchers: 'I have no idea what I can do to be happy,' while another simply stated their life is "a misery'.
Overall, the study, led by researchers in TCD's School of Psychology together with colleagues in the Catholic University of Madagascar, Queen Mary University of London, University College London, and CBM Global, found climate change affected adolescent mental health in three main ways: loss of household resources, uncertainty about the future, and disruption of coping mechanisms.
Many participants expressed deep distress over the struggles of their families and communities; most had witnessed people in their communities starve to death.
'Adolescents in Androy, southern Madagascar, speak of famine, fear, and futures stolen by drought and sandstorms,' said Dr Nambinina Rasolomalala of the Catholic University of Madagascar.
'With crops failing and water scarce, many adolescents are forced to leave their communities to survive, while those who stay face hunger, lost education, and deep despair."
The paper's lead author, TCD's Dr Kristin Hadfield, described young people in southern Madagascar as 'unwilling pioneers of the impact of climate change' and said the study could provide "important insights into the way climate changes impact on adolescent mental health".
Read More
Study says climate change will affect Earth's orbit

'Mental health crisis' among young people living in countries worst affected by climate change

New Delhi: India's capacity to generate solar power could fall by 600-800 gigawatt-hour before mid-century due to air pollution and climate change, a study has projected. The researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi, found that northern, western and southern power grids -- where most solar parks are currently located -- will experience significant challenges in maintaining performance due to climate change.
Pollutants in the air can absorb and scatter sunlight, thereby lowering the intensity of the sun's radiation reaching the earth's surface.
Further, generating solar power relies heavily on weather and climate, and is, therefore, vulnerable to the effects of climate change.
The findings, published in the journal Environmental Research Letters, "highlight the need for combined climate and pollution mitigation efforts to boost India's photovoltaic potential and secure a sustainable, resilient energy future".
Despite being endowed with abundant solar resources -- India receives nearly 300 clear-sky days every year -- the country has seen a persistent decline in incoming solar radiation, a phenomenon known as 'dimming', the authors said.
Using global climate models, the team projected the country's solar power potential by mid-century (2041-2050) under two scenarios -- one with moderate air pollution and climate change, and the other in which climate change is weakly tackled and air pollution strongly controlled.
The results of the analysis suggested that the national average potential for generating solar power could fall by two to nearly four per cent, compared to that during 1985-2014, mainly due to a reduced radiation and increased temperatures.
Further, temperatures of solar cells could be expected to rise by 1.5-2 degrees Celsius, resulting in efficiency losses and an additional of about 18 days of efficiency de-rating, especially in solar-rich regions.
Based on data of solar power generated during 2023-24, loss in generation capacity was projected to range from 600 gigawatt-hours, under moderately controlled air pollution and climate change, to up to 840 gigawatt-hours, under a weak climate action with strong air pollution control, according to the study.
Solar cells -- used in making solar panels and for converting sunlight into electricity -- would need to be innovated for future assessments looking into India's solar power potential, the team said.
They called for robust measures for controlling air pollution and urgent climate action to mitigate losses in generating solar power.
Further, rapidly transitioning to renewable energy is crucial to mitigating both air pollution and climate change, the authors said.>

Study projects losses in India's solar power potential due to air pollution, climate change

From December 2024 to February 2025, the effects of human-induced climate change were evident in nearly all regions of the world, new analysis from Climate Central has found.
The report, which examined how climate change influenced temperatures around the world over the past three months, found that about one in five people globally—or 1.8 billion people—experienced temperatures that were strongly influenced by climate change every single day. And in half of the analyzed countries, and 287 cities around the world, the average person experienced temperatures strongly influenced by climate change for at least one-third of the three-months. The findings come as the planet breached 1.5°C of warming above pre-industrial temperatures last year—a critical threshold that nations were striving to avoid under the Paris Agreement.
'We found that there were warmer than normal temperatures caused by climate change almost everywhere around the planet,' says Kristina Dahl, vice president for science at Climate Central. This January ranked as the warmest in the 176-year global climate record, according to data from the U.S. National Oceanic and and Atmospheric Administration's National Centers for Environmental Information. Temperatures in Europe, Canada, South America, Africa, and much of Australia and Antarctica were above average, according to data from Europe's Copernicus Climate Change Service.
Within the same three-month period analyzed, about 394 million people experienced 30 or more 'risky heat days.' These are defined as days where the local temperature was hotter than 90% of daily temperatures observed between 1991-2020.
Risky heat days are 'associated with a temperature threshold that carries additional risks for human health,' says Dahl. 'Above that temperature, you start to see increased heat related mortality.' In February, parts of Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan, and the United Republic of Tanzania all saw temperatures soar during a heat wave. Hospitals in Uganda reported an increase in heat-related illnesses, including dehydration and heat stroke, according to local news sources.
The research showed that a high number of risky heat days is far more common in the Global South: 74% of people who experienced 30 or more days of risky heat lived in Africa, while those living in Brazil, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea also saw 30 or more risky heat days.
'[It] really reinforces something that we see consistently with climate change, [which] is that the people who have contributed the least to the problem are often disproportionately exposed and impacted,' says Dahl.
In the U.S., around 45% of cities analyzed experienced average temperatures that were normal or warmer-than-normal, while 14 cities, mostly in the west, experienced at least three weeks' worth of days where average temperatures were twice as likely to be impacted by climate change.
'These [findings] are just the latest reminders that climate change is happening here and now it's not something of the future,' says Dahl. 'People are experiencing it every day in their lives around the world.'

1 in 5 People Say Climate Change Has Had a Big Impact on Their Daily Lives

Indirect links between climate change and tuberculosis, both of which impact developing countries most, are beginning to gain attention.
Modelling studies and reviews are pointing to tuberculosis as a climate-sensitive infection.
Experts say people at risk due to climate change and tuberculosis are among the most vulnerable sections of society in both the Global South and North.
A hitherto underestimated and, therefore, understudied, aspect of global warming is its indirect impact on tuberculosis incidence and the potential of a double whammy to some of the poorest sections of society, say scientists.
With increasing pointers from tuberculosis experts towards the indirect links between climate change and tuberculosis (TB), the World Health Organization (WHO) in October 2024 held a two-day consultation to draw up a research framework on climate change and TB. According to Matteo Zignol, unit head at WHO's global tuberculosis programme, climate change and health has emerged as 'one of the hottest topics in global health'.
'TB is off the radar in climate change debates,' he stated at an annual Union World Conference on Lung Health in Bali in end-2024.
WHO is now working on a framework that will address three large research domains: migration and displacement; food and water insecurity; and health systems disruptions that are being increasingly seen during recent flooding events, and was evident during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Zignol told the 2024 Bali conference that the link between climate change and TB becomes more clear when one considers TB determinants, especially under-nutrition. He cited a 2024 Cochrane Review published in 2024, which shows that undernutrition increases the risk of TB two-fold in the short term or less than 10 years; and may also increases the risk of TB in the long term, or more than 10 years. Zignol said that 'there have been projections showing that a two-degrees Celsius increase in the world temperature could translate into 189 million people who go to bed hungry. In a four-degrees Celsius warmer world, this could reach a staggering 1.8 billion people.' Currently, there are no ongoing to planned studies on global warming and TB incidence, in India.
However, the impacts of climate change on food security may be more important in the medium to long term, says Soumya Swaminathan, chairperson of the M S Swaminathan Research Foundation and former chief scientist at the WHO. 'Already, the number of food-insecure people has increased, especially in Africa, and this is likely to increase further,' she says. If under nutrition increases, definitely TB will go up because it is the top risk factor for TB globally and accounts for 40% to 50% of cases, she says.
The other link is air pollution and TB, adds Swaminathan. High PM 2.5 (particulate matter that is fine, inhalable and less than 2.5 micrometres in diameter, for example, soot) in many developing countries is also a risk factor for TB. 'Actions to reduce air pollution will also help mitigate climate change as sources are the same,' she says.
Modelling studies using different emission levels of greenhouse gases and shared socio-economic pathways (SSP) offer some valuable insights, according to Rebecca Clark, research fellow at the department of infectious diseases and epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LHSTM). These scenarios used in modelling studies in climate research explore how global society, demographics, and economics might evolve over the 21st century, affecting greenhouse gas emissions and climate change determinants. Clark's team's modelling studies show that climate change can impact a major determinant, undernutrition, which in turn 'will likely have a significant impact on the TB burden.'
Extreme weather and climate change are driving food prices up, says Clark. 'Modelling can estimate the impact of undernutrition due to climate change on TB burden,' she said, while speaking at the Union World Conference on Lung Health in 2024.
Uzma Khan, medical director at the Singapore-based Interactive Research and Development (IRD) Global, tells Mongabay India that people at risk due to climate change and TB are among the most vulnerable sections of society. Both problems are linked to social inequity issues, both in the Global South, for example the 2023 devastating floods in Pakistan, and in the Global North, for example, higher incidence of TB in indigenous communities in Canada. 'The problem is not restricted to the global South or LMICs (low and middle income countries).'
Khan says that there is a need to break down silos to address climate and TB injustices. One should not view them just through biomedical or academic lens which limits 'our understanding and hinders solutions,' she says. 'It requires a shift in mindset,' she adds.
'Addressing these complicated issues requires new ideas and investments collaborative action across sectors,' says Khan. 'TB activism could learn from climate activism.'
How climate factors increase tuberculosis risk
These recent warnings add to recent research reports on the links between climate and TB. In 2022, researchers from the University of Adelaide reported that climate change is 'likely to affect the susceptibility of individuals to TB by increasing the prevalence of its underlying risk factors, which include undernutrition, poverty, overcrowding, indoor air pollution, and HIV infection, diabetes. Their report in Environmental Research says that 'developing countries are vulnerable to the impacts of climate change on health' and that 'tuberculosis should be recognised as a climate-sensitive disease'.
'This is an evolving field of research that requires further attention in the scientific community,' the researchers noted.
'Based on our findings, it is likely that climate change will exacerbate food insecurity and subsequently increase the risk of TB transmission in vulnerable communities,' Sahil Kharwadkar, one of the authors of the Environmental Research paper, who is currently junior medical officer at the Wagga Wagga Base Hospital in Australia, tells Mongabay India.
'In our review, we identified that extremes of weather, notably floods and droughts, were strongly associated with undernutrition – an important risk factor for TB,' says Kharwadkar, The greatest evidence for this association was in children, who are even more susceptible to TB infection, he says.
The likely mechanism is through the impact of temperature and precipitation extremes on crop production and subsequent food availability. 'Our sample included four studies with data from India and the remaining 13 studies examining undernutrition were based in developing countries across Asia and Africa,' adds Kharwadkar.
Despite the extensive progress made towards TB eradication, there remains a significant number of deaths attributed to TB in vulnerable populations, points out Kharwadkar. India continues to suffer from a high TB burden and is estimated to account for a quarter of global TB cases. 'Moving forward, it is essential for national health policy in India to acknowledge the role of climate change in TB prevalence and focus on mitigating its effect on food security.'
Another review from 2021, by researchers at the Japan-Nepal Health and Tuberculosis Research Association reported in the International Journal of Biometeorology that climate change affects tuberculosis through diverse pathways: changes in climatic factors like temperature, humidity, and precipitation influence host response through alterations in vitamin D distribution, ultraviolet radiation, malnutrition, and other risk factors.
The rise in extreme climatic events induces population displacement resulting in a greater number of vulnerable and risk populations of tuberculosis, the Japan-Nepal report says. It creates a conducive environment of tuberculosis transmission and development of active tuberculosis and disrupts tuberculosis diagnosis and treatment services.
The report adds that, further studies and novel methodologies are required to address such a complex relationship and better understand the occurrence of tuberculosis attributable to climate change.
A separate report, also in 2021, based on a scoping review by researchers in Indonesia, reported that climate change creates new transmission opportunities for airborne infections in warm temperature.
Meanwhile, Stephan Schwander and colleagues at the department of urban-global public health at the Rutgers School of Public Health, Newark in the U.S., are conducting a meta analysis and systematic review on air pollution and tuberculosis. According to their preliminary analysis, which was presented at the 2024 Union World Conference on Lung Health, children are at higher risk to the impacts of indoor air pollution and an increase of 10 microgram per cubic metre of ambient fine polluting particles, such as particulate matter (PM 2.5) or soot, increases TB risk by nine percent.
Schwander says that climate change is affecting air quality, resulting in changes in air pollution meteorology, such as ventilation, dilution, precipitation and other removal processes for circulating polluting particles. Higher ambient temperatures also increase ozone formation and fine particulate matter PM 2.5, as well as the frequency of sand and dust storms in arid regions; and wildfires.

Increasing pointers to climate change indirectly impacting tuberculosis rise

This event marks the launch of the Grantham Research Institute's (GRI) Global Trends in Climate Change Litigation 2025 Snapshot report, an annual report now in its seventh year.
This influential report presents an overview of the global field of climate litigation. The report explains developments in legal cases that seek to advance climate action, holding governments and companies to account for their failure to adequately mitigate or adapt to climate change. The report also explains how the courts are being used in the backlash against climate action from vested interests in the US and elsewhere. This year marks the tenth anniversary of the Paris Agreement and of the delivery of judgments in three major climate change cases in the Netherlands, Pakistan and the US, all of which contributed to a 'rights-turn' in climate litigation (Peel and Osofsky, 2018). This year's report reflects on the impact that these cases have had over the past decade, considering both their influence on the development of global climate change law and their influence outside the courtroom.
Meet our speakers and chair
Danielle de Andrade Moreira is an adjunct professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro where she works with the Postgraduate Program in Law and the Interdisciplinary Center for the Environment (NIMA/PUC-Rio). She coordinates the Law, Environment, and Justice in the Anthropocene (JUMA) research group at NIMA/PUC-Rio. Dr Moreira leads a research project tracking developments in climate litigation across Brazil.
Joana Setzer is Associate Professorial Research Fellow at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, at LSE. Dr Setzer is also the Co-lead of the Mobilizing political, legal and governance systems theme of LSE's new Global School of Sustainability and the lead author of the Global Trends in Climate Litigation Snapshot Report series.
Margaretha Werewinke-Singh is Associate Professor of Sustainability Law at the University of Amsterdam and co-founder of SEVEN, the university's climate institute. She is also Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Fiji and a member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague.
Giles Atkinson is Professor of Environmental Policy in the Department of Geography and Environment. He is also the interim Director of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and Environment at LSE.
More about this event
Join us on campus or register to watch the event online at LSE Live. LSE Live is the home for our live streams, allowing you to tune in and join the global debate at LSE, wherever you are in the world. If you can't attend live, a video will be made available shortly afterwards on LSE's YouTube channel.
The Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment (@GRI_LSE) was established by the London School of Economics and Political Science in 2008 to create a world-leading multidisciplinary centre for policy-relevant research and training on climate change and the environment, bringing together international expertise from across LSE and beyond, including on economics, finance, geography, the environment, science, law, international relations, development and political science.
Hashtag for this event: #LSEEvents
Join our mailing list
Sign up to receive email updates from LSE Events including the latest news and event announcements.

Global trends in climate litigation 2025: report launch

GATINEAU, QC, March 12, 2025 /CNW/ - Media representatives are advised that the Honourable Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, will make an announcement in support of active transportation in Quebec. Following the announcement, Minister Guilbeault will hold a media availability.
Media representatives are asked to register for this in-person event by contacting Environment and Climate Change Canada's Media Relations at [email protected] to be made aware of any changes. The specific address will be provided upon registration.
Follow Environment and Climate Change Canada on social media.
SOURCE Environment and Climate Change Canada
Contacts: Hermine Landry, Press Secretary, Office of the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, 873-455-3714, [email protected]; Media Relations, Environment and Climate Change Canada, 819-938-3338 or 1-844-836-7799 (toll-free), [email protected]

/R E P E A T -- Media advisory - Minister Guilbeault to make an announcement in support of active transportation/ Français

Anticipated changes in soybean drought stress and yield stability under future climates in Northeast China

Often referred to as the "lungs of the Earth," tropical forests play a critical role in regulating our global climate. But as our planet warms, these crucial tropical forests aren't adapting quickly enough to keep pace with climate change.
Scientists from Wake Forest University and the University of Oxford's Environmental Change Institute have published a groundbreaking study in the journal Science that highlights the vulnerability these forests are facing.
The health of our tropical forests is directly linked to the health of our planet. While they cover less than 6% of the Earth's land surface, they contain more than half of the world's animal species. These forests absorb vast amounts of carbon dioxide, acting as a natural buffer against climate change.
(For even more granular weather data tracking in your area, view your 15-minute details forecast in our Premium Pro experience.)
Scientists believe that by 2100, temperatures in the region could rise by up to 7.2 degrees Fahrenheit, with rainfall decreasing by as much as 20%. This could push tropical forests further out of balance, increasing their vulnerability to extreme climate events.
The study focused on trees in both mountainous and lowland regions, revealing that the trees in the mountainous regions adapted better to climate change, most likely due to the bigger climate swings at higher elevations.
In lowland forests, changes in plant traits, such as leaf thickness and drought resistance, indicate some adaptation. However, these shifts are happening at less than 8% of the speed required to keep up with climate change.
This lag increases vulnerability, making forests more susceptible to extreme weather, drought and biodiversity loss.
"The superpower of tropical forests is that for the past 60 million years, trees could rely on animals to pollinate them and move their seeds," said Miles Silman, co-author of the study. "We are rapidly removing the animals that disperse the plants and make all the other ecological interactions happen. The loss of fauna and the loss of large tracts of habitat are kryptonite for tropical forests."
If tropical forests fail to adapt quickly enough, their ability to store carbon and regulate climate will weaken. This could lead to increased carbon emissions, accelerating climate change.
Also, species unable to cope with the changing climate may decline or disappear, leading to a loss of biodiversity that could have cascading effects on ecosystems.
"If we know what species of trees are doing better or worse, and what set of traits they have, then we know what they can withstand," lead author Jesús Aguirre-Gutiérrez explained. "It will help inform what conservation actions should be encouraged and where funding should be allocated."
To protect these vital forests, conservation efforts must focus on reducing deforestation, promoting biodiversity and restoring degraded areas. While trees may not be able to move fast enough on their own, strategic human intervention, such as assisted migration and reforestation, could provide the lifeline these forests need.
Jennifer Gray is a weather and climate writer for weather.com. She has been covering some of the world's biggest weather and climate stories for the last two decades.

Tropical Forests Are Struggling To Keep Up With Climate Change, Study Reveals

Climate misinformation refers to the spread of inaccurate information about climate change that can arise from human error, while climate disinformation is driven by a deliberate intent to spread knowingly false information. Either intent can have negative implications for both climate policy and action. Various factors seem to come into play to deny public facts and causes of extreme weather events pummeling many a region around the world, leaving scientists and weather analysts flummoxed.
It is not that there is no information on worsening of global warming. Plenty of it exists, and several international bodies like the UN and World Meteorological Organization (WMO) are crying hoarse for a decisive climate action, inaction on which front is afflicting the governments around the world. One can say the lack of decisive climate action among governments can be put down to economic priorities, political amnesia and powerful lobbies in industry. Short-termism is plaguing governments as they madly prefer short-term economic growth over long-term environmental goals. Populist promises and policies are a factor, too, in harnessing fossil fuels at the cost of the environment. They cannot tolerate any slowdown in economy. As for industries, those that depend on fossil fuels are wary of green switchover costs. What aids their perceptions or interests is public ignorance and inaction itself. We do not see much public anger, or anger, about the climate change in temperatures or in incidence of heavy or no rains at all. Public concern about climate change is pitifully not strong enough to pressure governments into action.
Political leaders may only act when there's widespread demand from their citizens. Though grassroots movements, youth activism, and growing scientists' calls for action are gathering steam, the change is not happening as public demand and political will are yet to align.
Calls for growing for global attention that Earth is frighteningly closing in on the 1.5 degree C threshold of global warming. Opponents of climate science like no less than the President of US are sowing doubts among the people the gravity of climate change. Forget about the pace of action, we are not even moving in the right direction. To counter this climate disinformation, the United Nations, together with the education and science agency, UNESCO and the Brazilian government, launched the Global Initiative for Information Integrity on Climate Change at the G20 Leaders' Summit in Brazil. UN Secretary-General António Guterres gave a clarion call that 'We must fight the coordinated disinformation campaigns impeding global progress on climate change, ranging from outright denial to greenwashing to harassment of climate scientists'. Countries can no longer take on climate change denialism as well as disinformation individually.
As of the 2025 deadline for updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), only 13 out of the 195 Parties to the Paris Agreement communicated their NDC 3.0. to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) secretariat. This abysmally low compliance of voluntary commitments from governments amps up concerns about forming an international political will to address the climate changes effectively. Record-breaking disasters or phenomena are being driven by increasing greenhouse gas emissions, amplified by the transition from La Niña to El Niño. Tropical cyclones, floods, droughts, and other hazards were at record levels in 2024. Scientists are drawing attention to irreversible changes, including the rate of sea level rise, but their voices are getting drowned in the melee of announcements to exploit nature's resources for short-term growth. That we are not taking remedial measures in right earnest would only mean we are heading in the wrong direction.

Heed scientists' calls, not climate change denials

On the second Friday of every month, a small group gathers.
In February, it was in front of the industry ministry's annex building, just a stone's throw away from the plum blossoms unfurling in pink and white at Tokyo's Hibiya Park. A small but passionate group of three dozen people — young and old alike — lifted a vibrant banner that read in Japanese: 'The Climate Crisis is a matter of life and death!' The group is Fridays for Future, a climate activist organization originally inspired by Greta Thunberg's 2018 school strike. They have branches in 20 regions across Japan, with the shared mission of raising Japanese voices in favor of tackling climate change.
'Delaying climate action is not a course of action available to us,' says Ayako Kawasaki, a recent college graduate and activist with Fridays for Future. 'We need to figure out a way to get more youth involved.'
But by at least one key measure, Fridays for Future and groups like it are struggling to make their voices heard: last month, the government approved twin energy and emissions plans that experts say are insufficient to meet the globally agreed goal of trying to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
Such struggles highlight the difficulty these groups have had in boosting climate education and localizing their messaging. They also raise the question of what exactly they can do to have a greater impact.
Nonetheless, climate change has already arrived, impacting Japan in the form of record-breaking temperatures, more powerful typhoons and more besides. A survey published last year found that young people in Japan are worried: 87% believe that it is either 'very' or 'somewhat' important to respond to climate change.
Ayako Kawasaki, an activist with Fridays for Future, speaks at a climate protest. |
Boushu Tatsuya
Despite those concerns, apathy is apparent. While similar youth-led climate protests around the world have seen thousands and even tens of thousands of marchers, climate demonstrations in Japan rarely break the 100-person barrier. Japan was the only country in that survey where over 10% of youth indicated that they didn't care about responding to climate change; in another, more than a third of 17- to 19-year-olds either didn't know or did not believe that greenhouse gas emissions caused climate change.
'The level of understanding of climate change among Japanese youth is generally limited,' says University of Tokyo researcher Kelvin Tang. 'Relatively few young people expressed a willingness to engage in political or activist-related climate actions.'
Hard at work
Kawasaki first became involved with Fridays for Future four years ago. A college course had reintroduced her to the climate crisis, and she realized the problem she had read about in her middle school textbooks wasn't anywhere near solved. In addition to Fridays for Future, she works with a number of other nongovernmental organizations and community initiatives, including the activist group Watashi no Mirai. She's also part of a youth-led climate lawsuit filed against thermal power companies for failing to stop greenhouse gas emissions.
'Our government is still trying to promote nuclear energy as a solution to climate change, which is very slow and very expensive. I feel that our government pretends to listen to youth, but really has no intention of addressing our concerns,' Kawasaki says, recalling how public comments on the 7th Strategic Energy Plan were largely ignored.
People raise placards and hold a banner as they take part in a global climate protest, next to the United Nations University in Tokyo in September 2022. |
Reuters
Through Watashi no Mirai, which translates as "My Future," Kawasaki works to connect a wide variety of environmental NGOs to young people in order to spark youth involvement in a number of fields. While she feels that her own activism has a long way to go, Kawasaki noted several recent successes. These include an energetic protest in Tokyo's Shinjuku district organized in collaboration with pro-Palestinian activists last March, and an upcoming symposium in the city of Kyoto that will bring together activists from Taiwan and South Korea who successfully launched similar climate lawsuits in their own countries.
Climate Youth Japan (CYJ) is another prominent organization led by young people. They focus on participating in policy sessions with government bodies, amplifying young people's voices on climate change and sending a youth delegation to the annual United Nations climate change conference.
'The presence of 'youth' is not a strong one in Japanese society,' says Yuki Wada from CYJ's youth empowerment division. 'In Europe, youth are recognized as stakeholders in society, and therefore have both influence and opportunities. But in Japan and Asia, there is a tendency for both adults and youth to overlook the importance of young people as a group.' Japan is far from lacking in smart thinkers on environmental issues in its next generation.
Young activists include Mutsumi Kurobe, who works on innovative art projects, and leaders originally from abroad who have founded their own organizations to take environmental action, like Katrin Miyazawa in Nagoya. But complex factors converge to discourage mass participation in climate action and prevent these voices from being heard by the powers-that-be.
What's stopping a genuine movement?
The last time a youth-led activist movement effectively mobilized thousands and left its mark on the nation was about a decade ago. In 2015, angered by national security legislation that would allow Japanese forces to engage in acts of self-defense on behalf of allies, tens of thousands of young people protested across the country. The group SEALDs (Students Emergency Action for Liberal Democracy) spearheaded some of the largest popular protests in Japan since the student-led movements of the 1960s and 1970s.
Shunichiro Kobayashi, who was involved with SEALDs as a translator for the group, explains that SEALDs made use of strong media relations and tapped into rhetorical tools like philosophy and pop music to energize the movement.
'SEALD's media effort as a whole palatably represented young people's increasing interest in politics,' explains Kobayashi, who is currently a Ph.D. student at the University of California, Riverside.
Members of Climate Youth Japan take part in a discussion during an overnight retreat. |
Climate Youth Japan
'People in advanced capitalist countries like Japan and the United States live in a profound apathy,' Kobayashi says. 'In these countries, almost no movement has succeeded in winning transformative social change in the past few decades.' General apathy is compounded by issues of education and the challenges of building a movement. Tang has conducted research on junior high school student's awareness and understanding of climate change, identifying a wide variety of misconceptions and knowledge gaps — for example, that the depletion of the ozone layer is the primary cause of climate change.
'One of the primary reasons for these gaps is the lack of comprehensive climate change education in schools,' Tang says. 'The most critical step is to formally integrate climate education into Japan's national curriculum.' Unlike SEALDs, which energized a movement in response to the 2015 security bill, most climate groups in Japan lack a strong local angle. Instead, they tend to rely on the messaging of foreign activists like Thunberg or international frameworks like the U.N.'s Sustainable Development Goals.
'When people demonstrate or march, a lot of the chants and signs are written in English, which sometimes leaves me feeling uncomfortable,' Kawasaki reflects. 'There hasn't been an existing narrative of the climate crisis as a distinctly Japanese problem.'
Kawasaki explains that most of the messaging heard in Japan about climate change is that it's a global problem, rather than a local one, and a problem solved not by political action but by personal action, such as by reducing water or electricity use.
'We need to emphasize the Japanese victims of climate change and the distinct local issues climate change poses to us here,' Kawasaki says.
Opportunities to grow
Reflecting on the legacy of SEALDs, Kobayashi says that beyond generating a sense of hope, it didn't manage to achieve many concrete goals.
'My fundamental critique of SEALDs is that it did not build an organization. It was meant to be a moment, not a movement,' he says.
'SEALDs was part of the landscape in which mere participation and sloganeering street protests are significantly appreciated even when the actions aren't leading to any palpable changes,' he says. '(This attitude) is harmful insofar as it reduces the motivation to discuss fundamental strategic matters.'
School students march during a protest in Tokyo in March 2019. In a recent survey, more than a third of 17- to 19-year-olds said they either didn't know or did not believe that greenhouse gas emissions caused climate change. |
Reuters
Kobayashi thinks that in order for climate activists to win better climate policies, they need to focus on achieving specific policy goals, and come up with strategies aligned with them.
Forging stronger partnerships with other groups is another path forward. Kawasaki notes that joint events she has participated in, such as those with anti-nuclear activists and pro-Palestinian activists, have been some of the most energizing. Anti-nuclear activists tend to be from an older generation, which can allow younger climate activists to learn from the successes and failures of the past.
Next month, Kawasaki will start working at an anti-nuclear nonprofit organization, giving her a new vantage point from which to identify fresh collaborations.
CYJ, meanwhile, sees the potential to grow through education.
'Some of the most impactful events I've seen are local ones that offer climate change workshops for children, such as Happy Earth Day in Osaka,' Wada says. 'Approaching the crisis through education is incredibly important.' As an organization, CYJ is focused less on mass demonstrations and more on what they call 'inside approaches,' working directly with government officials on climate policy solutions.
'We believe that small-scale group discussions and activities — not just on climate change, but on issues ranging from biodiversity to plastic pollution — can become a Japanese-style climate movement,' Wada says.
CYJ, along with other groups like Fridays for Future and the Japan Youth Council, participated in subcommittee sessions for the 7th Strategic Energy Plan. But unlike their counterparts, CYJ feels that its participation was worthwhile, despite their proposals not ultimately making it into the plan. 'It was an experience where we really felt the importance of being able to engage in dialogue, in addition to having high-quality proposals,' Wada reflects.
The fight against the climate crisis is a long and arduous one. Activists such as Kurobe have been open about the burnout they've experienced.
'There wasn't much evidence that (our activism) was generating interest or leading to action, much less changing society as a whole,' she told the Asahi Shimbun last summer. 'By the time I was in my second year of college, I was troubled and tired.' As a result, youth activists are still in search of some transformational spark — something to light a flame under the movement. As official policy advances at a slow pace, genuine change may have to come from someone and somewhere else.
'It's not just advancing climate measures,' Kawasaki says. 'We also have to take back democracy — to change our system to one where our voices are actually heard.'

Japan's youth climate activists still searching for a breakthrough

A two-year analysis and field research project will be conducted to develop solutions for the yield loss affecting Malatya apricots due to climate change in Malatya, eastern Türkiye.
Malatya apricots, one of Türkiye's geographically certified products in the European Union, provide a livelihood for 50,000 families in the province.
Harvested every summer and exported to more than 100 countries, apricot production has been impacted by climate change and ecological factors, leading to declining yields.
To assess these effects and find solutions, the Malatya Commodity Exchange and the Fırat Development Agency have signed a protocol for a project titled Ecological and Climate Change Impacts on Malatya Apricot Production.
Through this project, apricots grown in different regions of Malatya will be monitored for two years at various altitudes and locations.
Ramazan Özcan, president of the Malatya Commodity Exchange, stated that climate change has affected agricultural production worldwide, and Malatya apricots are no exception.
'We are launching a project to examine the ecological conditions of Malatya apricots and the impact of climate change on their production. In collaboration with the Fırat Development Agency, this initiative will focus on identifying how climate-related factors contribute to declining yields,' he said.
Özcan explained that the research will involve scientific studies conducted over two years. 'We will analyze the negative effects caused by climate change and ecological imbalances. Our goal is to determine the main causes of yield loss and develop solutions,' he noted.
The study will be conducted with the involvement of experts from Turgut Özal University's Faculty of Agriculture. Associate professor Bayram Murat Asma and professor Ibrahim Atalay will lead the research, examining how different climate conditions and altitudes influence apricot production.
Özcan emphasized that Malatya's economy is heavily dependent on apricot production, making it essential to address the challenges of climate change.
"If we can identify and resolve these climate-related issues, we can ensure a sustainable future for Malatya apricot production. This will not only benefit local farmers but also support the regional economy,' he said.
He highlighted the importance of focusing on production as much as marketing and export. 'If we cannot produce, we cannot sell. That's why it is critical to understand the factors affecting productivity,' he added.
Malatya apricots are a key export product for Türkiye, reaching over 100 countries as a dried fruit. Özcan underlined that ensuring stable production is vital for maintaining Türkiye's position in the global agricultural market.
'We must document and address the problems faced in production. This research will help us understand whether climate change or ecological degradation is the primary factor behind declining yields,' he said.
By the end of the study, researchers aim to provide a clearer picture of how climate change affects apricot production and offer practical solutions to mitigate its impact.

Türkiye's Malatya studies climate issues affecting apricot harvest

Duke Energy filed a motion Monday to dismiss a lawsuit that alleges the utility contributed to and lied about climate change for decades.
The lawsuit, filed by the town of Carrboro in December, alleges Duke Energy funded and participated in a public relations campaign to downplay and spread disinformation about climate change and the role of fossil fuels. The suit alleges this in turn led to increased carbon emissions and fossil fuel reliance in North Carolina and beyond and that communities like Carrboro are suffering the damage as they must respond to and prepare for more severe weather events.
Town of Carrboro sues Duke Energy for contributing to and lying about climate change
In its motion, Duke Energy argues Carrboro has no standing to file such a suit and that the town is unable to trace the global phenomenon of climate change back to Duke Energy alone. Therefore, the utility argues, Duke Energy cannot be held accountable for the alleged damages in this suit.
'Carrboro seeks to use North Carolina common tort law to hold Defendant Duke Energy Corporation ('Duke Energy'), alone, liable for the alleged past and future effects of global climate change on Carrboro,' the motion reads.
Furthermore, the utility argues it's not up to the court to litigate its emissions. The General Assembly and state regulators including the North Carolina Utilities Commission and the Department of Environmental Quality already have laws and frameworks in place to address pollution and emissions. All of Duke Energy's power plants and planned buildouts have been regulated and approved through these agencies.
'Carrboro's claims would require the Court to usurp other political branches' power to set energy and climate policy,' the motion said.
In response to the motion to dismiss, NC WARN, a nonprofit which is helping to fund Carrboro's lawsuit sent a release saying in part, Duke Energy is the third largest polluting corporation in the United States and that its top executives have worked among the ringleaders of the scheme to deceive the public about the science of climate change.
NC WARN goes on to say, though this is the first time a municipality has attempted to sue a fossil fuel company for its role in causing climate change, motions to dismiss in other similar cases have been rejected.
Carrboro's attorney plans to file a response to Duke Energy's motion by May 1.
VIDEO: Town of Carrboro sues Duke Energy for contributing to and lying about climate change

Duke Energy files to dismiss climate change lawsuit

The Reserve Bank will set up a dedicated 'on Tap' cohort on climate change risks and sustainable finance under its regulatory sandbox initiative, Governor Sanjay Malhotra said on Thursday.
The Reserve Bank has been encouraging and facilitating innovations through its Regulatory Sandbox and Hackathon initiatives in the fintech space.
"We propose to set up a dedicated 'on Tap' cohort on climate change risks and sustainable finance under RBI's Regulatory Sandbox initiative. We are also planning to conduct a special 'Greenathon' on climate change and related aspects," Malhotra said.
He was speaking on the Policy Seminar on Climate Change Risks and Finance organised by the Reserve Bank of India here.
The Governor said there are two dimensions to climate change-related risks that regulators, policymakers and practitioners have to be aware of – the first is facilitative involving capacity building, development of the ecosystem and financing of green and sustainable transition; and the second is the prudential aspect, which is related to risk management.
"While the role of the Central Banks in managing risks posed by climate change to the financial system is increasingly being recognised, their role in facilitating the financing of green and sustainable transition has been a matter of debate and has varying dimensions to it," he said.
Central banks in advanced economies have traditionally followed an asset-neutral approach. Central banks in emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs), on the other hand, have adopted directed lending policies to channelise credit to certain sectors of their economies given their individual country circumstances and developmental objectives.
In the Indian context, the priority sector lending guidelines facilitate credit to be channelled to specific sectors including renewable energy. "On the prudential aspect, there are several channels through which climate change risks impact the financial system. All the major types of financial risks - be it credit, market, or operational risk - are influenced by climate change," Malhotra said.
"In this context, our endeavour has been to play the role of a facilitator – including supporting capacity building and fostering a conducive regulatory framework for promoting green and sustainable finance," he said.
The Governor further said one important aspect of green financing/lending for sustainable finance is the higher credit risk due to borrowers' use of new and emerging green technologies, which have relatively limited track record in terms of reliability, efficiency, and effectiveness.
Regulated entities, therefore, need to develop suitable capacity and technical know-how to better appraise risks in financing projects which use such green technologies, he said.
He emphasised that the impact of climate change risks is not limited to the financial system alone but extends to the real economy. "Be it the corporates or the MSMEs or the agricultural sector, climate change risks are ubiquitous. This calls for a cohesive co-ordination and harmonisation in approach, among not only the financial sector regulators and the regulated entities but also various government agencies," he added.
The Reserve Bank remains committed to continue adopting a constructive and consultative approach towards supporting the various initiatives being undertaken towards management and mitigation of financial risks related to climate change, he said.

RBI to set up 'On Tap' cohort on climate change risks: Guv Malhotra

India's capacity to generate solar power could fall by 600-800 gigawatt-hour before mid-century due to air pollution and climate change, a study has projected.
The researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi, found that northern, western and southern power grids -- where most solar parks are currently located -- will experience significant challenges in maintaining performance due to climate change.
Pollutants in the air can absorb and scatter sunlight, thereby lowering the intensity of the sun's radiation reaching the earth's surface.
Further, generating solar power relies heavily on weather and climate, and is, therefore, vulnerable to the effects of climate change.
The findings, published in the journal Environmental Research Letters, "highlight the need for combined climate and pollution mitigation efforts to boost India's photovoltaic potential and secure a sustainable, resilient energy future".
Despite being endowed with abundant solar resources -- India receives nearly 300 clear-sky days every year -- the country has seen a persistent decline in incoming solar radiation, a phenomenon known as 'dimming', the authors said.
Using global climate models, the team projected the country's solar power potential by mid-century (2041-2050) under two scenarios -- one with moderate air pollution and climate change, and the other in which climate change is weakly tackled and air pollution strongly controlled.
The results of the analysis suggested that the national average potential for generating solar power could fall by two to nearly four per cent, compared to that during 1985-2014, mainly due to a reduced radiation and increased temperatures.
Further, temperatures of solar cells could be expected to rise by 1.5-2 degrees Celsius, resulting in efficiency losses and an additional of about 18 days of efficiency de-rating, especially in solar-rich regions.
Based on data of solar power generated during 2023-24, loss in generation capacity was projected to range from 600 gigawatt-hours, under moderately controlled air pollution and climate change, to up to 840 gigawatt-hours, under a weak climate action with strong air pollution control, according to the study.
Solar cells -- used in making solar panels and for converting sunlight into electricity -- would need to be innovated for future assessments looking into India's solar power potential, the team said.
They called for robust measures for controlling air pollution and urgent climate action to mitigate losses in generating solar power.
Further, rapidly transitioning to renewable energy is crucial to mitigating both air pollution and climate change, the authors said.

Study projects loss in India's solar power potential due to air pollution

A boy cools off with a hose on the street amid a heat wave in the Guaratiba neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Feb. 17, 2025. Credit - ERCIO TEIXEIRA/AFP—Getty Images
From December 2024 to February 2025, the effects of human-induced climate change were evident in nearly all regions of the world, new analysis from Climate Central has found.
The report, which examined how climate change influenced temperatures around the world over the past three months, found that about one in five people globally—or 1.8 billion people—experienced temperatures that were strongly influenced by climate change every single day. And in half of the analyzed countries, and 287 cities around the world, the average person experienced temperatures strongly influenced by climate change for at least one-third of the three-months. The findings come as the planet breached 1.5°C of warming above pre-industrial temperatures last year—a critical threshold that nations were striving to avoid under the Paris Agreement.
'We found that there were warmer than normal temperatures caused by climate change almost everywhere around the planet,' says Kristina Dahl, vice president for science at Climate Central. This January ranked as the warmest in the 176-year global climate record, according to data from the U.S. National Oceanic and and Atmospheric Administration's National Centers for Environmental Information. Temperatures in Europe, Canada, South America, Africa, and much of Australia and Antarctica were above average, according to data from Europe's Copernicus Climate Change Service.
Within the same three-month period analyzed, about 394 million people experienced 30 or more 'risky heat days.' These are defined as days where the local temperature was hotter than 90% of daily temperatures observed between 1991-2020.
Read more: Why Extreme Heat Is So Bad for the Human Body
Risky heat days are 'associated with a temperature threshold that carries additional risks for human health,' says Dahl. 'Above that temperature, you start to see increased heat related mortality.' In February, parts of Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan, and the United Republic of Tanzania all saw temperatures soar during a heat wave. Hospitals in Uganda reported an increase in heat-related illnesses, including dehydration and heat stroke, according to local news sources.
The research showed that a high number of risky heat days is far more common in the Global South: 74% of people who experienced 30 or more days of risky heat lived in Africa, while those living in Brazil, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea also saw 30 or more risky heat days.
'[It] really reinforces something that we see consistently with climate change, [which] is that the people who have contributed the least to the problem are often disproportionately exposed and impacted,' says Dahl.
In the U.S., around 45% of cities analyzed experienced average temperatures that were normal or warmer-than-normal, while 14 cities, mostly in the west, experienced at least three weeks' worth of days where average temperatures were twice as likely to be impacted by climate change.
'These [findings] are just the latest reminders that climate change is happening here and now it's not something of the future,' says Dahl. 'People are experiencing it every day in their lives around the world.'
Write to Simmone Shah at simmone.shah@time.com.

1 in 5 People Say Climate Change Has Impacted Daily Life

The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) welcomes President Cyril Ramaphosa's promulgation into law the badly needed Climate Change Act.
Climate change is a real threat to workers, their families, communities and the economy. Its effects are being felt with the pollution that claims the lives of thousands of workers annually, increasing occurrences of devastating floods whilst some regions experience dwindling supplies of drinkable water, rising temperatures and arable land being lost to desertification. The key causes of climate change result from the unsustainable behaviour of humanity and capital's thirst for profits at the expense of workers and society's needs.
The Climate Change Act is a welcome and long overdue intervention that seeks to provide a balanced approach for South Africa to try to manage the many crises of climate change and to ensure that the transitions which are taking place, will be just and protect workers, their jobs and communities. It is a welcome assertion by government led by the African National Congress that we will move collectively to manage climate change and do so in a manner that takes all of society with and leaves no person or community behind.
COSATU engaged extensively on the Act at Nedlac and is pleased that its concerns and proposals were accommodated in the Act. These include the need for South Africa's climate change responses to tackle not only the climate change crises, but also our employment and economic development needs simultaneously. These cannot be tackled separately if we are to ensure a sustainable approach to these challenges.
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy.
Almost finished...
We need to confirm your email address.
To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you.
There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later.
COSATU looks forward to government, at all levels, moving with speed to implement this important Act, including drafting its regulations and the promulgation of the Act's remaining clauses. Whilst the Act lays a progressive foundation for the nation's response to climate change, it can only achieve its objectives if government resources its organs to implement it. The private sector too must play its role, adopt less pollution intensive behaviour and invest in reskilling and not retrenching workers' whose jobs are at risk.
Such coordinated forward planning by government is all the more critical in a world sorely lacking sober leadership and increasingly marked by political vandalism and flat earth climate change denialism.

South Africa: Cosatu Welcomes President Cyril Ramaphosa's Signing Into Law the Climate Change Act

In 1957, Hollywood released " The Deadly Mantis," a B-grade monster movie starring a praying mantis of nightmare proportions. Its premise: Melting Arctic ice has released a very hungry, million-year-old megabug, and scientists and the U.S. military will have to stop it.
The rampaging insect menaces America's Arctic military outposts, part of a critical line of national defense, before heading south and meeting its end in New York City.
Yes, it's over-the-top fiction, but the movie holds some truth about the U.S. military's concerns then and now about the Arctic's stability and its role in national security.
In the late 1940s, Arctic temperatures were warming and the Cold War was heating up. The U.S. military had grown increasingly nervous about a Soviet invasion across the Arctic. It built bases and a line of radar stations. The movie used actual military footage of these polar outposts.
But officials wondered: What if sodden snow and vanishing ice stalled American men and machines and weakened these northern defenses?
In response to those concerns, the military created the Snow, Ice and Permafrost Research Establishment, a research center dedicated to the science and engineering of all things frozen: glacier runways, the behavior of ice, the physics of snow and the climates of the past.
It was the beginning of the military's understanding that climate change couldn't be ignored.
As I was writing " When the Ice is Gone," my recent book about Greenland, climate science and the U.S. military, I read government documents from the 1950s and 1960s showing how the Pentagon poured support into climate and cold-region research to boost the national defense.
Initially, military planners recognized threats to their own ability to protect the nation. Over time, the U.S. military would come to see climate change as both a threat in itself and a threat multiplier for national security.
Ice roads, ice cores and bases inside the ice sheet
The military's snow and ice engineering in the 1950s made it possible for convoys of tracked vehicles to routinely cross Greenland's ice sheet, while planes landed and took off from ice and snow runways.
In 1953, the Army even built a pair of secret surveillance sites inside the ice sheet, both equipped with Air Force radar units looking 24/7 for Soviet missiles and aircraft, but also with weather stations to understand the Arctic climate system.
The Army drilled the world's first deep ice core from a base it built within the Greenland ice sheet, Camp Century. Its goal: to understand how climate had changed in the past so they would know how it might change in the future.
The military wasn't shy about its climate change research successes. The Army's chief ice scientist, Dr. Henri Bader, spoke on the Voice of America. He promoted ice coring as a way to investigate climates of the past, provide a new understanding of weather, and understand past climatic patterns to gauge and predict the one we are living in today—all strategically important.
In the 1970s, painstaking laboratory work on the Camp Century ice core extracted minuscule amounts of ancient air trapped in tiny bubbles in the ice. Analyses of that gas revealed that levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere were lower for tens of thousands of years before the industrial revolution. After 1850, carbon dioxide levels crept up slowly at first and then rapidly accelerated. It was direct evidence that people's actions, including burning coal and oil, were changing the composition of the atmosphere.
Since 1850, carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere have spiked and global temperatures have warmed by more than 2.5 degrees Fahrenheit (1.3 Celsius). The past 10 years have been the hottest since recordkeeping began, with 2024 now holding the record. Climate change is now affecting the entire Earth—but most especially the Arctic, which is warming several times faster than the rest of the planet.
Seeing climate change as a threat multiplier
For decades, military leaders have been discussing climate change as a threat and a threat multiplier that could worsen instability and mass migration in already fragile regions of the world.
Climate change can fuel storms, wildfires and rising seas that threaten important military bases. It puts personnel at risk in rising heat and melts sea ice, creating new national security concerns in the Arctic. Climate change can also contribute to instability and conflict when water and food shortages trigger increasing competition for resources, internal and cross-border tensions, or mass migrations.
The military understands that these threats can't be ignored. As Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro told a conference in September 2024: "Climate resilience is force resilience."
Consider Naval Station Norfolk. It's the largest military port facility in the world and sits just above sea level on Virginia's Atlantic coast. Sea level there rose more than 1.5 feet in the last century, and it's on track to rise that much again by 2050 as glaciers around the world melt and warming ocean water expands.
High tides already cause delays in repair work, and major storms and their storm surges have damaged expensive equipment. The Navy has built sea walls and worked to restore coastal dunes and marshlands to protect its Virginia properties, but the risks continue to increase.
Planning for the future, the Navy incorporates scientists' projections of sea level rise and increasing hurricane strength to design more resilient facilities. By adapting to climate change, the U.S. Navy will avoid the fate of another famous marine power: the Norse, forced to abandon their flooded Greenland settlements when sea level there rose about 600 years ago.
Climate change is costly to ignore
As the impacts of climate change grow in both frequency and magnitude, the costs of inaction are increasing. Most economists agree that it's cheaper to act now than deal with the consequences. Yet, in the past 20 years, the political discourse around addressing the cause and effects of climate change has become increasingly politicized and partisan, stymieing effective action.
In my view, the military's approach to problem-solving and threat reduction provides a model for civil society to address climate change in two ways: reducing carbon emissions and adapting to inevitable climate change impacts.
The U.S. military emits more planet-warming carbon than Sweden and spent more than US$2 billion on energy in 2021. It accounts for more than 70% of energy used by the federal government.
In that context, its embrace of alternative energy, including solar generation, microgrids and wind power, makes economic and environmental sense. The U.S. military is moving away from fossil fuels, not because of any political agenda, but because of the cost-savings, increased reliability and energy independence the alternatives provide.
As sea ice melts and Arctic temperatures rise, the polar region has again become a strategic priority. Russia and China are expanding Arctic shipping routes and eyeing critical mineral deposits as they become accessible. The military knows climate change affects national security, which is why it continues to take steps to address the threats a changing climate presents.

The US military has cared about climate change since the dawn of the Cold War, for good reason

) The study, published in the Journal of Climate Change and Health, reveals alarmingly high levels of anxiety, depression, and hopelessness among adolescents in one of the world's most climate-vulnerable regions. While climate change is often framed as an environmental issue, this research highlights its

Climate change fuelling mental health crisis in areas most affected by climate crisis (Queen Mary, University of London)

Climate change doubled the likelihood of elevated temperatures in B.C. over 25 days this winter, finds U.S. group.
Climate change doubled the likelihood of warm temperatures in British Columbia for 25 days this winter — a spell of warming that lasted longer than anywhere else in Canada, a new study has found.
On Tuesday, scientists from the U.S. research group Climate Central released a three-month analysis of global temperatures spanning from December 2024 to February 2025.
Globally, at least one in five people felt a 'strong' influence from climate change. Of those, nearly 394 million people were exposed to 30 or more days of 'risky heat.' And while two-thirds of those lived in Africa, Canada's winter was not immune to climate's influence.
Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut all saw more than 20 days of temperatures made at least twice as likely by climate change.
Whitehorse's more than 28,000 residents saw one of the biggest temperature anomalies in Canada, with an average of 2.5 degrees Celsius above the previous 30-year average.
And while a smaller 0.2 C temperature anomaly was recorded in Vancouver, climate change made it more than twice as likely for 29 days — longer than most other cities in the country. In the province's capital, Victoria, a similar climate-driven shift to warmer temperatures lasted 21 days.
Hossein Bonakdari, an associate professor of civil engineering at the University of Ottawa who was not involved in the report, said the results painted a surprising almost real-time portrait of how Canada's winter is being impacted by climate change.
'This impact is clear. This is something that comes to daily life for all Canadians,' he said.
Federal scientists have found that between 1948 and 2023, human-caused climate change has raised Canada's annual average temperatures 2 C. Climate Central's latest analysis attempts to understand how that average warming breaks down over a single season.
The researchers did that by taking real historical temperature data and running it against models that show how hot it would have been in a counterfactual world where climate change never existed. The result is a five-tier Climate Shift Index, with +2 representing a strong effect from climate change making a certain daily temperature twice as likely.
Joseph Giguere, a data analyst at Climate Central who helped compile the report, said that this year there appears to have been a perception across the U.S. and Canada that it has been a pretty cold winter.
But when you compare this season's temperatures with the kind of winters that would have occurred in a world without climate change, things change.
'It wasn't cold at all,' said Giguere.
Warmer winter temperatures could have consequences on everything from the ski industry, access to water, and agriculture, as well as early outbreaks of pollen, ticks and wildfires. Communicating that idea ahead of time can be difficult, said the data analyst.
'People adjust pretty quickly to what they feel. They don't think on a timeline of 30 years, 100 years,' Giguere said.
Bonakdari, who studies artificial intelligence and climate change, said that while the temperature increases might seem like small numbers, the change represents a dramatic departure from what would have occurred if nature had run its course.
'Many decision-makers don't believe in climate change,' said Bonakdari. 'We should be clear with the public. We need to wake them up.'

B.C. saw most climate-influenced heat days in Canada this winter, says report

Under its regulatory sandbox initiative, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will set up a dedicated 'on Tap' cohort on climate change risks and sustainable finance.
Speaking at the Policy Seminar on Climate Change Risks and Finance organised by the RBI in New Delhi, on Thursday, the RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra said the Bank has been encouraging and facilitating innovations through its Regulatory Sandbox and Hackathon initiatives in the fintech space.
He said the RBI has proposed to set up a dedicated 'on Tap' cohort on climate change risks and sustainable finance under RBI's Regulatory Sandbox initiative. 'We are also planning to conduct a special 'Greenathon' on climate change and related aspects,' Malhotra said.
He said there are two dimensions to climate change-related risks that regulators, policymakers and practitioners have to be aware of — the first is facilitative involving capacity building, development of the ecosystem and financing of green and sustainable transition; and the second is the prudential aspect, which is related to risk management.
Malhotra said the role of the Central Banks in managing risks posed by climate change to the financial system is increasingly being recognised, their role in facilitating the financing of green transition has been a matter of debate.

RBI plans drive to address climate change risks

The Andean forest, located in the Andes Mountains in South America, where scientists study ecosystem function, forest diversity, composition and responses to global change.
(William Farfan-Rios)
Often referred to as the "lungs of the Earth," tropical forests play a critical role in regulating our global climate. But as our planet warms, these crucial tropical forests aren't adapting quickly enough to keep pace with climate change.
Scientists from Wake Forest University and the University of Oxford's Environmental Change Institute have published a groundbreaking study in the journal Science that highlights the vulnerability these forests are facing.
The health of our tropical forests is directly linked to the health of our planet. While they cover less than 6% of the Earth's land surface, they contain more than half of the world's animal species. These forests absorb vast amounts of carbon dioxide, acting as a natural buffer against climate change.
(For even more granular weather data tracking in your area, view your 15-minute details forecast in our Premium Pro experience.)
| Weather in your inbox
Email
Forecast Location
Info
Sign Up
By signing up you agree to the Terms & Privacy Policy. Unsubscribe at any time.
A closer view of the Andean forest, located in the Andes Mountains in South America, where scientists study ecosystem function, forest diversity, composition and responses to global change.
(William Farfan-Rios)
Scientists believe that by 2100, temperatures in the region could rise by up to 7.2 degrees Fahrenheit, with rainfall decreasing by as much as 20%. This could push tropical forests further out of balance, increasing their vulnerability to extreme climate events.
The study focused on trees in both mountainous and lowland regions, revealing that the trees in the mountainous regions adapted better to climate change, most likely due to the bigger climate swings at higher elevations.
This image shows tree species tagged in a 2.5-acre plot in the Amazon.
(William Farfan-Rios)
In lowland forests, changes in plant traits, such as leaf thickness and drought resistance, indicate some adaptation. However, these shifts are happening at less than 8% of the speed required to keep up with climate change.
Advertisement
This lag increases vulnerability, making forests more susceptible to extreme weather, drought and biodiversity loss.
"The superpower of tropical forests is that for the past 60 million years, trees could rely on animals to pollinate them and move their seeds," said Miles Silman, co-author of the study. "We are rapidly removing the animals that disperse the plants and make all the other ecological interactions happen. The loss of fauna and the loss of large tracts of habitat are kryptonite for tropical forests."
The Andes Mountains are one location where scientists are studying tropical forests and their adaptability to climate change.
(William Farfan-Rios)
If tropical forests fail to adapt quickly enough, their ability to store carbon and regulate climate will weaken. This could lead to increased carbon emissions, accelerating climate change.
Also, species unable to cope with the changing climate may decline or disappear, leading to a loss of biodiversity that could have cascading effects on ecosystems.
"If we know what species of trees are doing better or worse, and what set of traits they have, then we know what they can withstand," lead author Jesús Aguirre-Gutiérrez explained. "It will help inform what conservation actions should be encouraged and where funding should be allocated."
To protect these vital forests, conservation efforts must focus on reducing deforestation, promoting biodiversity and restoring degraded areas. While trees may not be able to move fast enough on their own, strategic human intervention, such as assisted migration and reforestation, could provide the lifeline these forests need.
Jennifer Gray is a weather and climate writer for weather.com. She has been covering some of the world's biggest weather and climate stories for the last two decades.

Tropical Forests Are Struggling To Keep Up With Climate Change

A leading expert on maternal & infant health, Professor Zulfiqar Bhutta, on Saturday talked about the destructive effects of climate change on children's health, citing exacerbated malnutrition, stunted growth and shorter heights due to prolonged exposure to high temperatures.
He said we must take immediate action to mitigate the effects of climate change on child development. This requires a multi-faceted approach that involves policymakers, healthcare professionals and communities working together to address the root causes of climate change and support the most vulnerable among us, our children.
Speaking to the media, Professor Bhutta explained that the impact of climate change on child development is a pressing concern that cannot be ignored.
Rising temperatures, changing precipitation patterns and increased frequency of extreme weather events are all taking a devastating toll on the health and well-being of children worldwide. "I am particularly alarmed by the effects of climate change on child growth and development," he said, adding that malnutrition, stunted growth and shorter heights are just a few of the alarming consequences we are witnessing, particularly in vulnerable communities.
He pointed out that children in low-income and marginalised communities are disproportionately affected, with limited access to healthcare, nutrition and other essential resources.
"Pregnant women are particularly vulnerable to the harsh effects of climate change. Exposure to extreme heat, poor air quality and limited access to nutritious food and clean water can have severe consequences for both mother and child, including low birth weight, preterm birth and impaired foetal development," he responded when asked a question about the most vulnerable groups.
Regarding recommended solutions, Professor Bhutta said that governments must invest in climate-resilient healthcare systems, improve access to nutritious food and clean water and provide education and support to pregnant women and new mothers.
He also emphasised the need for community-based initiatives that promote climate-resilient agriculture, improve air and water quality, and provide safe and healthy environments for children to grow and develop.
International cooperation and funding were also deemed essential for the support of countries that are trying to address climate change's impacts on maternal and child health.

Climate change hits women, children hardest

South Asian university students who won Climate Champions Fellowships through the Student Society for Climate Change Awareness's Climate Tank Accelerator visited Vanderbilt University in February, supported by a U.S. State Department grant. The fellows were from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. They presented their winning research projects geared toward tackling problems of climate change in their respective countries and exchanged ideas and explored opportunities for collaboration with Vanderbilt faculty and students.
The Student Society for Climate Change Awareness is an accelerator program in South Asia that empowers university students with the knowledge and tools they need to educate others and to mitigate the effects of climate change. The program is implemented by two partner organizations: Seeds of Peace: a non-profit organization based in the U.S. that supports youth from Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka to become peacebuilders and leaders
Beyond the Classroom Education: a social enterprise in Pakistan that empowers students through a leadership development program to engage in social and collective action
The 28 Climate Champions Fellows who visited Vanderbilt were members of the Climate Tank Accelerator's seven winning project teams. They competed with more than 2,000 student participants. Winning projects included a legal think tank to educate rural Nepalese communities on climate-related rights and governance, a recycling program in Bangladesh to convert old jeans into reusable tote bags, a floating wetland in Karachi, Pakistan, to promote climate adaptation, and sea grass ecosystem restoration for carbon sequestration along India's Visakhapatnam coast.
Qasim Aslam, project director of SSCCA and founder of Beyond the Classroom, and Shweta Patole, Seeds of Peace coordinator for India, led the students on their trip to Vanderbilt. Patole spoke about Seeds of Peace's mission over the past 30 years to develop leaders who build solidarity across differences to solve societal conflicts.
"When we talk about conflicts, we realize that climate change is increasingly core to societal conflict. South Asian countries are particularly susceptible to the effects of climate change, and so we seek to develop methods to have conversations across lines of differences," Patole said. "These fellows' projects are a way for students to share very localized climate related problems and solutions and to exchange ideas for confronting the effects of climate change across societies." Visiting Vanderbilt
The fellows visit to Vanderbilt builds on the work of Peabody Global Initiatives to establish international research and education collaborations. During their visit, the fellows presented their winning projects at Peabody, followed by a cultural exchange reception. They also met with students from Dialogue Vanderbilt who had previously attended the Seeds of Peace Camp. Climate Champions Fellows dancing at the cultural exchange reception Climate Champions Fellows dancing at the cultural exchange reception
"We were delighted to welcome the Climate Champions Fellows to Vanderbilt. Their visit offered a wonderful opportunity for faculty and students across the university to engage in meaningful dialogue and strengthen our relationships with global partners," said Ellen Goldring, Patricia and Rodes Hart Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy and vice dean of Peabody College.
Throughout the week, the fellows toured the campus to learn about Vanderbilt's sustainability efforts, including the new Highland Energy Plant, a solar panel project, innovative energy investments, and the smart meadow behind the 6 Magnolia Building. They also toured the Vanderbilt Museum of Art and exchanged ideas about climate solutions with faculty and students from the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences and the Vanderbilt Center for Sustainability, Energy and Climate.
Additionally, the fellows met with Angela Eeds, executive director of the Collaborative for STEM Education and Outreach, to learn about the CSEO's programs for Metropolitan Nashville Public School students, including the School for Science and Math at Vanderbilt. In the Magnolia Makerspace, they developed branding for their climate projects.
"It was an honor to spend some time with these visiting scholars and encourage their creative talents despite a snow day cancelling our planned project exchange with SSMV students. Their entrepreneurial spirit was inspiring," Eeds said.
The fellows concluded their visit with a tour of the Wond'ry, where they observed the Green-a-thon, Vanderbilt Green Fund's annual pitch competition to fund students' proposals for projects that make campus more sustainable. Winners of the Student Society for Climate Change Awareness competition tour Winners of the Student Society for Climate Change Awareness competition tour Vanderbilt. Photo: Harrison McClary/Vanderbilt University Winners of the Student Society for Climate Change Awareness competition tour Vanderbilt. Photo: Harrison McClary/Vanderbilt University
The fellows took an off-campus excursion to Caney Fork Farms-a research facility and family farm-where they learned about regenerative agriculture and responsible land stewardship alongside Vanderbilt students in a paleoclimates class taught by Jessica Oster, associate professor of earth and environmental sciences.
"My students and I had a wonderful day visiting Caney Fork Farm with these visiting scholars. We had informal and relationship-building discussions with them, and they asked insightful questions and offered ideas for the farm manager and outreach coordinator based on their experiences back home." Oster said. Climate Champions Fellows visit Caney Fork Farms Climate Champions Fellows visit Caney Fork Farms Climate Champions Fellows visit Caney Fork Farms Climate Champions Fellows visit Caney Fork Farms
Jonathan Rattner, associate professor of cinema and media arts, is planning to make a film of the fellows' visit. "Meeting these students and learning about their projects was incredibly inspiring," Rattner said. "I wanted to make this short film to help share their story with the hope of encouraging others to think broadly about creative solutions to combat climate change." Tackling the climate crisis in South Asia
Asia experiences some of the most acute effects of climate change around the globe. While the Climate Champions Fellows seek to tackle localized climate-related challenges in South Asia, what their work reveals may indicate problems that will span the globe as climate change worsens. With this understanding, the world has much to learn from impacted South Asian communities and the fellows who are forging solutions.
Aashika Ojha and Garima Bista, two of the fellows on the legal think tank project team, explained the mission of their work. "Nepal is a developing country with minimal industry, so we don't really contribute to climate change, but we are one of the countries most affected by it. That motivates us to educate Nepal's indigenous and remote communities who are affected but don't know their rights," said Ojha.
The think tank produces white papers for leaders and advocates familiar with climate change as well as educational materials and programs to raise climate change awareness among the public.
"As law students, we are working to let remote communities know their rights in terms of climate justice so that they can protect themselves from climate injustice," added Bista. "We hope this trip allows us to teach people about our perceptions of climate change and to learn other people's perceptions that could possibly support our work back in Nepal."
Likewise, Emon Kazi, hopes that his team's project will educate people on the environmental and social impacts of the textile industry in Bangladesh and the need to empower women in rural communities.
Bangladesh is a garment industry hub and a primary supplier of jeans to the U.S. The country's production of jeans uses substantial amounts of water, reducing water levels and harming the agriculture industry.
"I am from a remote community that has felt these impacts in addition to losing everything to flooding, salinity, and the revolution, so I'm very personally motivated by our work," said Kazi. "Coastal women are especially affected by climate change and lack opportunities to make a living wage. We are training these women to transform old jeans into reusable totes that they can sell to make an income while contributing to sustainability."
The Climate Champion Fellows' visit to Vanderbilt reflects the university's commitment to building international collaborations to address the world's most pressing problems. By touring Vanderbilt's green initiatives and learning about the sustainable farming techniques at Caney Fork Farms, the fellows were able to contemplate how climate solutions in urban and rural Tennessee might apply to very local concerns across disparate South Asian communities and landscapes-a reminder that climate change knows no boundaries and requires global cooperation.

South Asian Climate Fellows Visit Vanderbilt

In this Comment, Emily Jones discusses what we can learn from archaeology about climate change resilience. The effects of climate change are complex, and successful adaptations in the past responded to local conditions. This suggests that collaborative, place-based research is key to resilience to future climate change.

Climate resilience in the past was local

FCA welcomes the NFF's leadership on a joint statement, backed by more than 30 rural and healthcare organisations, urging immediate action on mental health crisis in agriculture
Excluding climate change from a mental health discussion about farming ignores scientific reality
Extensive peer-reviewed and published studies show climate change and extreme weather events hurt farmers' mental health
Farmers for Climate Action (FCA) welcomes the joint statement from the National Farmers Federation (NFF) urging immediate action on mental health in rural communities. The statement highlights the devastating impact of poor mental health, including its effects on workplace safety, productivity, and the profitability of agricultural businesses.
"We welcome the NFF bringing focus to rural mental health, however, excluding climate change from a mental health discussion about farming ignores the scientific reality," FCA CEO Natalie Collard said.
Peer-reviewed and published studies which show climate change is a key factor in poor farmer mental health include:
"Climate change and repeated droughts, floods and fires are hurting farmers' mental health," Ms Collard said.
"Our own farmer survey (on the net zero sector plan) backed up the countless peer-reviewed scientific studies, revealing 92% of over 500 farmers surveyed experienced climate-related on-farm impacts in the past three years.
"Climate change needs to be an integral part of the mental health conversation."
Recent analysis by Griffith University regarding suicide rates in Australia's farming community shows that farmers have a suicide rate 59% higher than the general population, and this is linked to extreme weather and climate change.
Harden farmer Peter Holding said "Climate change, increasing drought, flood, fire and insurance cost, is absolutely hurting farmers' mental health".
"The joint statement calls for an immediate investment of $50 million over five years, and FCA urges the government to also consider how these funds can be used to support farmers facing climate-related mental health challenges, including better access to mental health services tailored to rural and regional areas.
"It's time for governments to make the connection between mental health, climate change, and the long-term sustainability of Australian agriculture."
FCA encourages farmers, their families, and rural communities to access available mental health resources, including:

Global Warming & Climate Change World News

Up to date worldwide news about global warming and climate change.

News List