Water: The key to unlocking synergies between the Rio Conventions
The management of water resources is intrinsically linked to challenges like climate change, biodiversity loss, and desertification. However, global efforts to address these issues remain fragmented, carried out through the separate frameworks of the three Rio Conventions. Each convention approaches water management from distinct perspectives—land degradation, climate resilience, and biodiversity conservation. The interconnected nature of these issues points to the critical need for a more coordinated strategy. Strengthened policy alignment, shared financing, and unified frameworks provide an opportunity to harmonize water management across these conventions.
The Worst Flood in 100 Years Just Hit South America
South America has a long history of floods, but it is rare to see a flood of this magnitude. The continent’s diverse geography, from the mighty Amazon River to the Andes mountains, has been both a blessing and a curse. Historically, floods have been part of the natural cycle, feeding the lush rainforests and supporting biodiversity. However, they can also bring devastation to human settlements. The recent flood, however, surpasses any in living memory, marking a significant deviation from the norm. In comparison to past floods, this event stands out not just in scale but also in its impact on the population and infrastructure.
South Korea wildfires ‘largest on record’: disaster chief
Wildfires in South Korea are now the largest and deadliest on record, having burned more forest and killed more people than any previous blaze, officials said Thursday, as the death toll hit 27.
More than a dozen fires broke out over the weekend, scorching wide swathes of the southeast and forcing around 37,000 people to flee, with the fire cutting off roads and downing communications lines as residents escaped in panic.
South Korea’s Ministry of Interior and Safety said that 27 people had been killed and dozens more injured, with the toll likely to rise. It is the highest number of deaths since the Korea Forest Service started records for wildfires in 1987.
Few could have predicted the following cascade of consequences when a fire broke out at an electrical substation in Hayes, west London, on the evening of March 21, 2025. By morning, Europe’s busiest airport—London Heathrow—had been completely shut down, with more than 1,300 flights canceled, affecting up to 200,000 passengers worldwide. What began as a localized incident quickly became an international transportation crisis that would take days to resolve.
The Heathrow shutdown represents a stark reminder of how vulnerable our modern society has become to critical infrastructure failures, whether caused by accidents, natural disasters, or deliberate attacks.
Coastal communities in Tonga live with the ongoing psychological scars of the 2022 volcanic eruption and tsunami. Tonga Broadcasting Commission explains how communities have responded to recent earthquake activity in the country. The weather and how it affects you is already part of your life, so let’s keep talking about being prepared.
Africa is proof that investing in climate resilience works – and that it makes good business sense
Investment is pouring into renewable energy, green transport and smart agriculture in an effort to both slow down the accumulation of heat-trapping emissions and adapt to our warming planet. The benefits of taking early action are well understood, even if the needs outpace the funding for it. Africa was an early champion of climate adaptation. That is because 17 of the 20 countries most vulnerable to climate change are on our continent.
Preparing for extreme weather scenarios in Cambodia
For decades, weather extremes have disrupted lives and livelihoods in Cambodia. Yet, despite the increasing frequency and severity of floods, storms, and droughts, the models used to estimate their economic impacts remain underdeveloped. While we can estimate long-term warming trends, the exact impacts of acute disasters remain uncertain. This uncertainty makes it crucial to prepare not just for what is expected, but for what might happen.
Occupational heat safety standards in the United States
Extreme heat poses a range of potentially debilitating or deadly threats to workers. Although experts have been recommending commonsense criteria for a standard to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for most of its 50-year history, many millions of workers in America lack adequate protection from heat.
Next generation city climate services using advanced weather models and emerging data sources
Record-breaking temperatures are becoming ever more frequent and intense. Over 1.7 billion people around the world are at risk, says the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC). They add that around half of the world’s cities have faced increased heat exposure over the last four decades. This has an impact on public health, labour productivity and infrastructure.
The ocean economy has long been a powerful driver of global growth, creating jobs, fuelling development, and ensuring food security for millions worldwide. If the ocean economy were a country, it would be the fifth largest economy in the world. However, climate change, environmental degradation, lagging productivity, and slow digital transformation are intensifying pressures on marine ecosystems and economic potential. Tackling these challenges requires bold, co-ordinated action, not only to safeguard marine ecosystems but to sustain the ocean economy as a source of prosperity for future generations.
This study introduces a novel framework that uses active learning to enhance the efficiency and accuracy of compound flood risk assessments. Focused on Charleston County, South Carolina, it addresses limitations in traditional stochastic modeling that arise due to the computational burden of simulating numerous flood scenarios involving multiple drivers like storm surge, tides, and precipitation. By employing a Treed Gaussian Process (TGP) model, the framework selects the most informative flood events to simulate, reducing redundancy and allowing more complex variables (such as driver duration and time lags) to be considered without overwhelming computational costs.
Nature-based Solutions (NbS) are increasingly recognized as effective measures for mitigating flood risks and enhancing climate change adaptation. However, evaluating their efficacy in delivering flood risk reduction ecosystem service (FRR-ESS) is usually limited by reliance on qualitative, expert-based “quick-scan” scoring methods. The present study introduces a model-based framework to quantify FRR-ESS provided by coastal NbS, which integrates expert-based assessments with quantitative results from an eco-hydro-morphodynamic numerical model. The model enables a comparative evaluation of individual and combined effects of NbS following a Building Blocks approach. By integrating habitat map change prediction in the evaluation, NbS flood reduction response to present and future storm scenarios are investigated.
Interconnected disaster risks: Turning over a new leaf (2025 report)
The 2025 Interconnected Disaster Risks report shifts focus from diagnosing problems to mapping out solutions. It establishes that many of today’s solutions are surface-level fixes, and that to create lasting change, we need to question the societal structures and mindsets that perpetuate these challenges. The report offers a more holistic analysis of what lies at the heart of human actions, and how true change can be achieved, and it also gives real-world examples of positive changes that have been made around the world and can serve as a model and source of inspiration.
Healthcare in a changing climate: Investing in resilient solutions
The report analyses preventable human and economic impacts of climate change across 11 diseases and conditions: malaria, dengue fever, cholera, generalized anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, stunting, hypertension, ischemic heart disease, fatalities and injuries, heat-related diseases and asthma. Climate change will have a profound impact on people and economies – causing an estimated additional 14.5 million deaths and $12.5 trillion in economic costs between today and 2050.
WRRC Webinar: Paving the Way: Optimizing Governance Mechanisms for Resilient Recovery
The discussion will draw on lessons from past disaster recoveries, showcasing how different governance models have shaped recovery outcomes. Key themes include cross-sectoral coordination, institutional capacity, financing mechanisms, and strategies for ensuring inclusive decision-making. Insights from global case studies will inform practical approaches to strengthening governance for resilient recovery, aligning with Sendai Framework Priority 4 and the Global Call to Action for Investing in Readiness for Resilient Recovery.
Change now – The world expo of solutions for the planet
At the midway point of the 2020-2030 decade for decisive climate action, and echoing the 10th anniversary of the Paris Agreement, ChangeNOW 2025 gathers 1,000 groundbreaking solutions and visionary leaders in a spectacular showcase to accelerate the transition towards a sustainable world.
The 10th Our Ocean Conference has chosen the theme ‘Our Ocean, Our Action’ to promote global actions for a sustainable ocean. In particular, this 10th conference will discuss ‘Digital Oceans’ as a special agenda, focusing on means to drive action. Ocean Digital is a concept that combines the ocean industry and digital technology, serving as an implementation tool to achieve a sustainable ocean swiftly and systematically.
