Climate

• Climate experts are urging the United Nations General Assembly and COP31 to establish trackable commitments following a deadly glacier collapse in Nepal and a global energy crisis. • The current crisis is driven by the Iran war, which has triggered what is described as the worst energy crisis in history. • These events highlight the urgent need to link energy security and electrification with loss and damage finance, which provides funds to countries suffering from climate-driven disasters.

• European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is preparing a climate strategy focused on modest measures such as a new Water Act and a climate-risk plan. • The commission is currently facing strong pressure to loosen existing regulations regarding water pollution. • These limited proposals may fail to adequately address the immediate threats of summer droughts, wildfires, and rising food insecurity across Europe.

• European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed a new security forum for the EU and like-minded leaders during her 2026 State of the Union address. • The forum would include Canada, Ukraine, Norway, and the U.K. to counter escalating Russian hybrid attacks, which are coordinated non-military threats like cyberattacks or disinformation. • This initiative aims to stabilize fraying transatlantic relations and strengthen defense ties between the EU and its key global partners.

• Scientists have discovered that the long-standing climatic link between the Indian and Pacific oceans is breaking down due to human-caused global warming. • Ancient climate records indicate that while volcanic eruptions disrupted this relationship in the past, the current shift is exceptional and driven by rising temperatures. • This breakdown alters how heat and moisture move between the two largest oceans, potentially destabilizing global weather patterns and regional climates.

Climate Change Committee says government cannot expand airport without requiring aviation industry to clean up its emissions Heathrow airport should be allowed to expand only if airlines pay for the removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, the government’s climate advisers have said.Building a third runway and new terminals, as some in government want to do, would breach the UK’s carbon budgets and make reaching net zero by 2050 impossible, on current policies, according to the Climate Change Committee. Continue reading...

• Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged BRICS leaders to address geopolitical tensions, supply chain disruptions, and climate crises during a summit in New Delhi on Saturday. • The meeting focused on trade, investment, and global conflicts as the bloc seeks a larger role in shaping the global agenda for developing nations. • These instabilities threaten global stability and directly affect the daily lives of people worldwide.

As trust in institutions wavers, experts say local, collective action is more effective in driving changeWildfires, excess deaths, hosepipe bans, school closures: this summer many British people have experienced the often devastating effects of the climate crisis in ways they had not before. In that sense, policymakers and climate experts have a unique opportunity to engage with the public about what needs to happen to better prepare the country for the years ahead. But as trust in institutions wavers – and yellowed, drought-stricken grass begins to recover – can the messaging cut through?This week, reflecting on a summer as “hot as hell”, the UN’s head of climate, Simon Stiell, said: “Climate is sometimes seen as a partisan issue, as territory in the culture wars. That is palpably false.” Continue reading...