News & Comment

Decarbonizing global steel production requires a fundamental transformation. A sectoral climate club, which goes beyond tariffs and involves deep transnational cooperation, can facilitate this transformation by addressing technical, economic and political uncertainties.

Numerous examples highlight leadership and real climate action in the Global South. With financial support from and partnership with countries in the Global North, this leadership can be a cornerstone for getting on track to meeting the Paris Agreement.

Monitoring progress in the Glasgow ‘Declaration on Forests’ remains impossible without open sharing of data. Three actions are required if this declaration is to succeed.

Shifts in phenology can impact organism fitness, ecosystem function, and goods and services from nature. Climate change management must better integrate phenology to optimize conservation outcomes as these impacts increase.

Millions of people rely on potentially sustainable harvesting for their income and energy. Yet specious assumptions about deforestation continue to drive ineffective bans on these practices. This occurs at the peril of the climate and the poor.

Global CO₂ emissions in 2021 were only 1% less than the record levels of 2019, driven by increases in power- and industry-related emissions from China and India and a return of the carbon intensity of electricity to pre-pandemic levels. Is this resumed growth in fossil energy, or a final fleeting surge before a long decline?

Climate hazards can compound existing stresses on the revenues and expenditures of local governments, revealing potential risks to fiscal stability. Incorporating these risks into local budgeting and strategic planning would encourage a more complete accounting of the benefits of climate adaptation and risk reduction efforts.

Communities want to determine their own climate change adaptation strategies, and scientists and decision-makers should listen to them — both the equity and efficacy of climate change adaptation depend on it. We outline key lessons researchers and development actors can take to support communities and learn from them.

Climate change poses a threat to heritage globally. Decolonial approaches to climate change–heritage research and practice can begin to address systemic inequities, recognize the breadth of heritage and strengthen adaptation action globally.

In the context of rising climate uncertainties, there is an urgent need for greater convergence between water and climate change policies. To improve adaptation outcomes, a reorientation towards justice and rights-based frameworks is required.

To date, values are not widely acknowledged or discussed within physical climate science. Yet, effective management of values in physical climate science is required for the benefit of both science and society.