In 2016, nearly 200 countries signed up to the Paris climate accord, which set individual targets aimed at preventing global temperatures from rising above 2C this century – and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5C or less. Despite such promises, many countries are still not on track. Some of the globe’s biggest emitters – the US and Russia – have either left or not yet ratified the treaty. As mass strikes united the globe in its fight against our climate crisis, we look at what some of the countries with the largest stake in our environment are either doing – or not doing – to save our planet. The US Since Donald Trump’s administration took office, the US president – who famously called climate change a “hoax” – has done plenty to reverse his predecessor Barack Obama’s pro-environmental policies. Mr Trump has often pursued the interests of industries such as coal and car manufacturing at the expense of the environment in his pursuit of jobs gr...

  As it stands, the world’s cities account for roughly 70 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions. With urban populations expected to keep growing, cities’ exposure to climate change only looks likely to get worse — unless these population and business hubs can break away from a status quo defined by high greenhouse gas emissions. Fortunately, the emerging field of carbon dioxide removal offers hope. Carbon removal technologies, also known as "carbon negative" technologies, afford cities the opportunity to turn the current GHG emission paradigm on its head by enabling cities to subtract more GHGs from the atmosphere than they emit. Just imagine: the more that a carbon negative city emits, the greater positive environmental impact the city would have — assuming that its individual carbon removal systems can scale. In the process of becoming carbon “negative,” cities will gain opportunities to build sustainable foundations that enable continuous advances in health, prosperit...

  Healing the planet starts in your garage, in your kitchen, and at your dining-room table. Nations around the world are upping their game in the fight against climate change, even as President Trump recently announced the U.S.'s withdrawal from the Paris Agreement. And despite this reckless move, American mayors, state leaders, county officials, governors, major companies, and millions of citizens across our country have pledged that they're "still in" when it comes to the agreement, and supporting the goal of limiting future warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius. Even better, a new initiative by former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg gives the urban layer of this movement a boost. He’s asked mayors from the 100 most populous cities in the country to share their plans for making their buildings and transportation systems run cleaner and more efficiently. The 20 that show the greatest potential for cutting the dangerous carbon pollution that’s driving climate ...

  The urgency of actions to recover from the COVID-19 crisis must not deter long-term climate objectives. The recovery efforts must seize the opportunity to increase the resilience of our society, especially to climate impacts. Despite the ambition of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change to keep global warming well below 2°C compared to pre-industrial temperatures, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions worldwide are still growing. Global temperature is now over 1°C higher compared to the preindustrial era. If adequate mitigation strategies are not introduced, global warming could reach 3°C or more by the end of this century. The death toll from extreme heat could be 30 times higher and economic damages from flooding, drought and storms could be 15 times higher than today. The COVID-19 crisis will put a dent in the climate targets if the restoration efforts are focused on returning to a pre-crisis status quo. Now is the time to "rebuild better". This is the moment to introduce ambit...

THE POPULAR NOTION that the COVID-19 pandemic has been “good for the environment”—that nature is recovering while humanity stays at home— appeals to many people grasping for some upside to the global tragedy. Reality, though, may not cooperate with such hopes. The benefits many found heartening early on—from cleaner air to birdsong newly audible as cars and planes went quiet—were always likely to be temporary. And with lockdowns easing, they have already begun to dissipate. Now, some experts fear that the world risks a future with more traffic, more pollution, and climate change that worsens faster than ever. It’s too soon to know whether that gloomy scenario will play out, but concerning signs seem to be growing all around the world. In early April, with shutdowns widespread, daily global carbon emissions were down by 17 percent compared to last year. But as of June 11, new data show that they are only about 5 percent lower than at the same point in 2019, even though normal activity h...

Environmental disasters are by far the biggest risks facing the world over the next ten years, posing a significant threat to social and economic stability, according to a survey by the World Economic Forum (WEF). For the first time in the history of the survey, environmental catastrophes make up the top five risks that some of the world’s most influential people and companies believe are most likely to happen, the WEF’s annual Global Risk Report for 2020 said. The WEF survey, now in its 15th year, interviewed 750 global experts and decision-makers, who sounded the alarm on the devastating impacts of climate change. Most of the stakeholders interviewed for the survey said economic divisions and geopolitical disorder are their greatest concerns. But younger respondents said they were most concerned about environmental issues, both in the short and long terms. Extreme heatwaves, the destruction of ecosystems and deteriorating health due to pollution are the top short-term risks, accordin...

School pupils, youth activists and communities around the world have turned out for a day of climate strikes, intended to underscore the urgency of the climate crisis even in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. Social distancing and other Covid-19 control measures dampened the protests, but thousands of activists posted on social media and took to the streets to protest against the lack of climate action from world leaders. Strikes were scheduled in at least 3,500 locations around the globe. Friday’s strikes – some in the form of mostly socially distanced physical marches on the streets, and some purely online meetings – were on a smaller scale and far more subdued than last year’s September week of action, in which at least 6 million people around the world were estimated to have taken part. Greta Thunberg led a strike in Sweden, which was limited to 50 people by the country’s lockdown laws – “so we adapt”, she tweeted, with a picture showing strikers more than 2 metres apart. The ...

  Dr. Susan Pacheco is a pediatrician and Climate Reality Leader – and she’s made it her life’s work to raise awareness about the impact climate change has on public health, especially the health of children . Climate change is not something that will occur in the future – it’s happening right now. Millions of children are already affected by climate change, around the world and in the US. By virtue of its effect on sea levels, more frequent and severe hurricanes, heatwaves and droughts, air pollution, forest fires, and increases in infectious diseases, climate change is already affecting the way children live. The relentless destruction of ecosystems is depriving our children of experiencing nature’s beauty, clean air, safe drinking and recreational water, nutritious food supplies, and safe shelter. I see many patients whose lives have been affected by climate change. What I see most frequently are children whose asthma and/or nasal allergies are getting out of control during days...