Adaptation
Devastating Beijing floods test China’s ‘sponge cities’
Despite Beijing’s sponge city project, the capital was overwhelmed by recent floods with dozens dying and a new “sponge airport” shut down
Morocco’s centuries-old irrigation system under threat from climate change
As Morocco faces increasingly extreme temperatures, indigenous communities in the country’s southeast suffer the brunt of the climate crisis
Last-minute compromise avoids break down on adaptation goals
In fraught nations, developing countries wanted to focus on specific targets, while developed nations only wanted to talk about structure
Bonn talks offer opportunity to bridge the adaptation gap
With climate devastation growing, we can’t keep sidelining climate adaptation at governments’ climate talks
Reporting on climate adaptation is a mess – here’s how to fix it
Information about projects to help adapt to climate change is scattered, hard-to-find and incomplete, making keeping track of them impossible
“Life or death”: Weather-watchers warn against Elon Musk’s Twitter changes
Elon Musk is charging for automated tweets, making it harder for authorities to warn of extreme weather events
India’s sugarcane farmers struggle to cope with droughts and floods
In India more intense droughts and floods are destroying sugarcane crops and plunging millions of farmers and their families into debt
Five burning climate issues for the 2022 UN general assembly
Pakistan’s catastrophic flooding and soaring energy bills are shaping the UN agenda – for those leaders who show up
African leaders blast European no-shows at climate adaptation summit
Presidents of Senegal, DRC and Ghana travelled to Rotterdam to talk about adapting to climate change. Only one European leader was there to meet them
Seen from space: Extreme drought dries up rivers across the globe
In China, Lake Poyang is just a quarter of its normal size, while in Germany, the Rhine is running at 45% of its average levels for August
Pakistan struggles to rebuild after deadly flash floods
At least 550 people died as the wettest month in three decades washed away mud houses in rural Balochistan – and international aid is not forthcoming
UN targets early warning systems for all in five years
Building the capacity to alert everyone in time to prepare for droughts, storms and flooding can prevent damage and save lives, at an estimated cost of $1.5 billion
Mapping vulnerability: why the IPCC’s geography of climate risk is contentious
The UN’s climate science panel labelled 3.3-3.6bn people as highly vulnerable to climate disaster – but the definition is disputed
Scientists warn seawalls can make rising waters worse in the long run
Green buffers like mangroves are generally better for protecting coastal communities than concrete defences, although they are not always an option
Under attack: the Ukrainian climate scientist fighting for survival
Svitlana Krakovska had to withdraw from the approval session of the IPCC report as bombs hit Kyiv. She fears for the future of climate science in Ukraine
Revealed: How rich and at-risk nations fought over science of climate impacts
Adaptation finance, nature-based solutions and solar geoengineering were among the contentious topics that sent IPCC talks into overtime
Germany must bring African nations into its G7 ‘climate club’
The new German government must prioritise the climate crisis in its Africa policy, and make climate diplomacy with Africa a core component of its G7 presidency
African nations settled for ‘moral pact’ with US on adaptation finance at Cop26
With the US refusing to budge on the text of the Glasgow agreement, African nations reluctantly accepted a promise of stronger voluntary support
Support for vulnerable nations could ‘make or break’ Cop26 talks
As ministers arrive in Glasgow to broker a political deal, a lack of aid for those on the front lines of climate impacts is a sore point
What is Cop26 and why does it matter? Your guide to the Glasgow climate summit
Following a two-year gap, countries are due to meet in the UK for UN climate talks in November. Here’s what is at stake