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In a major step towards climate resilience and national safety, the New Zealand Government has unveiled a five-year emergency management roadmap aimed at overhauling the country’s disaster preparedness and response systems. Announced by Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell, the roadmap responds directly to findings from the Government Inquiry into the North Island Severe Weather Events, including the devastation caused by Cyclone Gabrielle. It sets the stage for transformative reforms as New Zealand faces more frequent and severe climate-related disasters. “New Zealand is facing more frequent and severe weather events, and we need to ensure our emergency management system is fit for purpose,” Minister Mitchell said. “This roadmap sets out the initiatives needed in...

In our daily lives we may not always articulate them, but many of us operate with an internal compass a set of values like empathy, fairness, respect for life or the pursuit of truth. Now, as humanity stares down escalating systemic risks from pandemics and climate change to technological disruptions, democratic erosion and geopolitical tensions our survival depends on whether we can apply those same values on a global scale. This was the challenge taken up by the Accelerator for Systemic Risk Assessment (ASRA). As outlined in our report, Facing Global Risks with Honest Hope, we confront a stark truth: our current tools and methods to assess and respond to risk are no longer enough. Systemic risks are not only more complex they are more interconnected, more unpredictable, and more likel...

In a startling revelation a new report by the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems (IPES-Food) has uncovered how fossil fuels are silently powering our food systems, from farm to fork. Titled “Fuel to Fork: What Will it Take to Get Fossil Fuels Out of Our Food Systems?”, the report released on June 25, 2025, finds that food production now accounts for as much as 40% of global petrochemical use, making it one of the most fossil-fuel dependent industries worldwide. From synthetic fertilisers and pesticides to plastic packaging and cooking fuels, oil and gas are embedded at every stage of the food chain. The report paints a grim picture: our global dinner plates are now firmly tethered to oil rigs and conflict zones, with dire consequences for the climate and global f...

In a pivotal move signaling continued global unity on climate action, nearly 200 countries have agreed to boost the United Nations climate body’s budget by 10% for the 2026–2027 cycle, despite widespread financial pressures on international institutions. The decision was finalized during the UN climate negotiations in Bonn, reaffirming support for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) at a time when many other UN agencies are facing deep funding cuts and operational constraints. A key feature of the new budget is the rise in China’s financial contribution, now making up 20% of the total—second only to the United States. This shift reflects China’s growing economic status and evolving responsibility in global climate leadership. Meanwhile, Bloomberg Philan...

A breakthrough set of experiments led by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) has provided compelling proof that improving weather observations in low-income countries leads to significantly better global weather forecasts. Commissioned by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the study marks a major milestone in forecasting science and could reshape climate resilience planning worldwide. The experiments were conducted under the Systematic Observations Financing Facility (SOFF), a UN-backed initiative aimed at closing major data gaps in weather monitoring, particularly in Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS) regions that face some of the highest climate risks but have the weakest observational infrastructure. Desp...

After multiple missed forecasts and rising anticipation, the monsoon is now expected to arrive in Delhi within the next 24 hours, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD). A yellow alert has been issued for Thursday, with predictions of light to moderate rainfall, thunderstorms, and gusty winds across various parts of the capital. The arrival of the monsoon has been delayed twice first forecasted for June 24, then expected on Wednesday both of which didn’t materialise. However, the IMD now says that conditions are finally favourable for the southwest monsoon to advance over Delhi, along with the remaining parts of western Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and Rajasthan. In its latest statement, the IMD confirmed that the monsoon has already progressed into several parts of these ...

Once a vital waterway weaving through Chennai with clean, flowing water, the Buckingham Canal now lies stagnant and choked with pollutants, revealing the dire state of urban water management. Recent water samples from the canal show dangerously high levels of fecal contamination and toxic pollutants, yet a full-scale cleanup effort is still pending. Water analysis conducted by social activist O Unnikrishnan revealed that fecal coliform levels in the canal have soared to 1,600 MPN/100 ml, nearly seven times the permissible limit of 230 MPN/100 ml as set by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in 2019. Other parameters reflect an equally grim picture: biological oxygen demand (BOD) is at 123 mg/l (standard: 10 mg/l), chemical oxygen demand (COD) at 516 mg/l (standard: 50 mg/l), and total sus...

A major new study has revealed that wildfires continue to pollute rivers and streams across the western United States for up to eight years after they occur far longer than previously believed. The research, published in Nature Communications Earth & Environment analyzed over 100,000 water samples from more than 500 watersheds and provides the first large-scale assessment of post-wildfire water quality in the region. The study found that key contaminants such as organic carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment remain elevated in rivers long after the fires are extinguished. In many areas, these pollutants significantly worsen water quality for several years, particularly in heavily forested regions where the impact is most severe. The research team compared data from burned wate...

At any given time nearly two-thirds of Earth surface is blanketed by clouds. These clouds play a critical role in moderating the planet’s temperature by reflecting sunlight away before it reaches the ground. But as global temperatures rise driven by the continued buildup of greenhouse gases from human activities cloud patterns are shifting in a way that is amplifying the warming trend. A recent NASA-led study from the Goddard Institute for Space Studies has found that this change in cloud behavior may be contributing significantly to the planet’s faster-than-expected temperature rise in recent years. The researchers discovered that the most reflective cloud zones are shrinking, while areas covered by less reflective, broken cloud types are expanding. This shift is allowing more sunlight...

The latest climate update paints a stark picture of a planet heating faster than previously projected with cloud feedbacks, declining aerosol pollution and persistent greenhouse gas emissions driving an accelerating imbalance in Earth climate system. This update, which builds on the findings of the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report (AR6), reveals that radiative forcing the measure of human-driven heat trapped in Earth’s atmosphere has risen by 9% since 2019, reaching 2.97 W/m² in 2024. This surge in radiative forcing is contributing to a rapid drawdown of the remaining carbon budget the limit of how much CO₂ can be emitted while still having a chance to stay below 1.5°C of global warming. As of early 2025, only around 130 billion tonnes of CO₂ remain in this budget. At the current pace of em...