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People wearing sun protection gear amid a heat wave walk on a street in Beijing in July.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Nov 3, 2023

Climate's 'Catch-22': Cutting pollution heats up the planet

The removal of air pollution may have had a greater effect on temperatures in some Chinese cities than the warming from greenhouse gases.
People walk past ginkgo trees in Tokyo's Meiji Jingu Gaien area in November 2022.
JAPAN / Explainer
Nov 6, 2023

What to know about the Meiji Jingu Gaien redevelopment plan

The project is controversial due to the potential felling of thousands of trees, loss of green space and threat to historic gingko trees.
The McKinsey & Company logo at the 54th International Paris Airshow on June 21
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 8, 2023

Top consultancy undermining climate change fight: whistleblowers

Privately, the U.S.-based firm offers energy scenarios at odds with its public climate goals to the summit's decision-makers.
According to new analysis, 99% of the world’s population experienced above-average warmth in the past 12 months, making the period the hottest 12 months on record.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Nov 10, 2023

‘No one is safe from climate change’ after hottest 12 months

Average temperatures between the start of November 2022 through October this year were 1.32 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
Wind turbines along the crest of a hill at the Martin de la Jara wind farm, operated by Iberdrola SA, in the Martin de la Jara district of Sevilla, Spain, in April 2023
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Nov 13, 2023

U.S. and EU lead push for COP28 to back tripling of renewables

More than 60 countries are said to be backing the targets to be included in the outcome of the U.N.’s forthcoming COP28 talks in Dubai.
Slum dwellers shout slogans as they carry empty containers during a protest over water scarcity in the northern Indian city of Chandigarh in 2009.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Nov 13, 2023

South Asia worst in world for water scarcity, says U.N.

"Climate change is disrupting weather patterns and rainfall, leading to unpredictable water availability," the U.N. said in a report.
A street thermometer marks 40 degrees Celsius in Sao Paulo, Brazil on Tuesday.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Nov 15, 2023

Heat projected to kill nearly five times more people by 2050

A team of international experts warned that without climate change action, the "health of humanity is at grave risk."
Cooling towers at a coal-fired power plant in Germany. While surface temperatures might stabilize quickly after reaching net-zero, other shifting parts of the climate are harder to slow once set in motion.
ENVIRONMENT / Earth science
Nov 17, 2023

Amid climate efforts, will net-zero emissions be enough?

A new study suggests uncertainty about how climate systems will respond after emissions stabilize is an argument for reducing them as quickly as possible.
Bifacial photovoltaic solar panels at a solar plant in Texas. According to a study, net zero pledges are often directly undermined by the lobbying activities of the companies making them.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Nov 17, 2023

Study finds ‘net zero greenwash’ is common in corporate world

A London-based nonprofit found that 58% of the companies it analyzed advocate on climate policy in a way that’s at odds with their stated net zero goals.
A study using a late 20th century baseline determined that glaciers in south Greenland shrank in length by 18% on average, while glaciers in other parts of Greenland retreated by up to 10%.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Nov 17, 2023

Greenland’s glaciers are shrinking at ‘unprecedented’ rate as Earth warms

Over 1,000 peripheral glaciers and ice caps are disappearing twice as fast as they did during the 20th century.
Overflowing trash next to a vending machine in the Asakusa district of Tokyo, which is popular with tourists, in March
JAPAN / Science & Health
Nov 18, 2023

Trash cans make techie comeback in Japan as tourists flood cities

This week, the tourist-heavy Dotonbori district in Osaka installed around 20 new technologically enabled garbage cans called SmaGO.
Petroleum pipelines and fuel storage tanks at a refinery near Manama, Bahrain, in 2017
ENVIRONMENT
Nov 18, 2023

To meet climate goals, Gulf countries will have to overhaul everything

The growing oil-rich region faces myriad challenges as the world pushes to decarbonize.
Visitors stroll through a tunnel of autumn maple leaves at Mount Koya in Wakayama Prefecture on Nov. 4.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change / OUR PLANET
Nov 19, 2023

Fall is the new summer: Warming threatens Japan’s cultural calendar

Climate change is disrupting Japan’s autumn and seasonal experiences, and with it the rhythm of people’s lives.
Stacks of trays holding treated limestone, used to absorb CO2 from the air in Tracy, California.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Nov 23, 2023

Why carbon capture is no easy solution to climate change

The technology — vital to the climate strategies of many world governments — is expensive, unproven at scale, and can be hard to sell to a nervous public.
COP28 President Sultan al-Jaber addresses delegates during the Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi on Sept. 5.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Nov 23, 2023

Sultan al-Jaber: the UAE oil boss steering COP28

Climate funding has caused divisions between developed countries held largely responsible for global warming and poorer countries most vulnerable to it.
People in New York watch drones creating a 3D display outside the United Nations Headquarters calling attention to the Amazon rainforest and climate change.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Nov 29, 2023

Amazon rainforest destruction slows sharply year to date, report says

Destruction across the Amazon rainforest so far this year has slowed dramatically, down 55.8% from the same period a year ago.
Dang Dinh Bach ran a law and sustainable development policy research center that provided legal aid before he was arrested for tax evasion in Vietnam in 2021. Bach refused to plead guilty and his wife says he has been assaulted in prison by police officers.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 29, 2023

Why Vietnam jailed the environmentalists it used to secure billions

The government has arrested several prominent environmentalists from organizations that shaped policies that helped secure funding.
A wind farm near near Golmud, Qinghai province, China
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 29, 2023

The promise of China’s sustainable-development path

As of this month, China has (since 2017) approved 572 “ecological civilization construction demonstration zones.”
Offshore wind turbines at the Scroby Sands Wind Farm, operated by E.ON SE, near Great Yarmouth, United Kingdom.  Foreign wind power companies say Japan's development process for offshore wind power takes much longer than in other countries, leading to more uncertainty and risks.
BUSINESS
Dec 1, 2023

Foreign wind power players urge Japan to scale up offshore auctions

"If you want to create appetite from investors you need to propose larger plants"
Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber speaks during day three of the COP28 climate conference in Dubai on Saturday.
WORLD / Science & Health
Dec 4, 2023

COP28 president’s fossil-fuel phaseout talk draws condemnation

The comments have raised questions over whether the conference will be able to unite behind a strong pledge targeting the elimination of fossil fuels.
Collected anti-tank mines and explosives are detonated by the Ukrainian national police emergency de-mining team in the Donetsk region on Oct. 6, 2022.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Dec 5, 2023

Ukraine war responsible for 150 million tons of CO2 emissions

The estimate comes from the Initiative on GHG Accounting of War, a group of experts studying the climate impact of the Ukraine war.
A field study by elementary school students takes place in the Izawa River basin in Shiso, Hyogo Prefecture.
LIFE / Travel
Dec 24, 2023

Unveiling Shiso, a hidden gem of nature and coexistence

With 90% of its area covered by forest, the Hyogo city boasts picturesque streams and a bounty of access points to refreshing natural spring water.
Workers organize used clothing for packaging at a warehouse near Barcelona on Aug. 1.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Dec 7, 2023

How to fix the carbon crisis in fast fashion

Positive partnerships between brands and manufacturers are crucial for the sector to achieve its net-zero goals.
Japanese Environment Minister Shintaro Ito speaks to reporters in Dubai on Saturday during COP28.
JAPAN
Dec 10, 2023

Japan to calculate 'blue carbon' amount in emissions cut

Japan aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 46% in fiscal 2030 from the fiscal 2013 level and reduce them to virtually zero by 2050.
The newly built city of Nusantara is scheduled to become the capital of Indonesia in 2024 and aims to achieve net zero emissions by 2045.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 11, 2023

Indonesia’s new capital aims to be a net zero model city

Nusantara, Indonesia's future capital, is being built with climate solutions at its core. The city hopes to inspire others to do the same.
COP28 President Sultan Al Jaber in Dubai on Monday
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Dec 12, 2023

COP28 summit goes into overtime with new draft deal in works

The UAE's Sultan Al Jaber has the task of getting almost 200 countries to agree to a text that will govern the global fight against climate change.
A pollution pod designed to mimic the air quality in New Delhi sits during the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai on Tuesday
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Dec 13, 2023

Without fairness, fossil fuel phase-out flounders at COP28

Developing countries emphasized that they could not embark on the journey toward renewables in the absence of clear guarantees of international support.
Climate activists protest against fossil fuels at the COP28 conference in Dubai on Tuesday.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Dec 14, 2023

'Many will die': Climate scientists slam COP28's limited ambition

Last-minute compromises on wording described as 'devastating' and a 'death knell' for averting the worst impacts of long term planetary heating.
A man walks past a pollution pod designed to mimic the air quality in New Delhi, during the COP28 summit in Dubai, on Dec 4.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Dec 15, 2023

How the world agreed to move away from fossil fuels at COP28

This year's climate conference marked the first time in history countries expressed a unified desire to end the oil age.
Researchers prepare to conduct a mapping survey of a reforested area on a hillside near Chiang Mai, Thailand.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Dec 18, 2023

In Thailand, drones help solve forest carbon capture riddle

Drones are part of an increasingly sophisticated arsenal used by scientists to understand forests and their role in the battle against climate change.

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?