Climate change isn’t gender-neutral. The effects are likely to hit the world’s poorest women hardest of all, because they are more likely to lack the resources to escape natural disasters or disease.
Australia’s failure to reassess its commitment to coal will have serious negative consequences, not only for Australia’s economy, but for the health and well being of millions of people and the global environment.
The stakes could scarcely be higher at December’s climate summit in Paris, described as the world’s best chance of averting climate catastrophe. The Conversation will be there to see if the talks can deliver.
The world’s rainforests are still being slashed and burned at a dizzying rate to make consumer products. But now there are signs of real political will, especially in Asia, to rein in the destruction.
India has pledged to ramp up renewable energy and make its economy more carbon-efficient. And while that will help cut emissions, the main motivation is to give power to the many who still lack access to electricity.
After years of squabbling over climate policy, do we now have a prime minister prepared to clean up the mess? Given a fair wind at the Paris summit and an election win, Turnbull might just pull it off.
When Australia’s government first pledged to set an emission-reduction target, Jon Bon Jovi was riding high in the charts. The progress made in the 25 years since has hardly been a blaze of glory.
China, the world’s biggest greenhouse emitter, will set up a national emissions trading scheme beginning in 2017. Our experts react to the announcement, made during President Xi Jinping’s US state visit.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has made a landmark commitment on climate change, pledging to launch what will become the world’s largest and most important emissions trading scheme when it begins in 2017.
A summit between officials from the US and China on climate change underscores the crucial role cities need to play in meeting national carbon-emission goals.
To make a meaningful difference to climate change, businesses will have to break out of a cycle of exploiting the earth’s resources in ever-more creative ways.
In backing Abbott’s existing climate policy, Malcolm Turnbull looks like appeasing his party. But his prospects would be better served by appealing to voters who are anxious for strong climate action.
From Hawke-Keating to Rudd-Gillard, climate policy has an uncanny ability to cost Australian political leaders their jobs. And it was a key element in the rivalry between Tony Abbott and Malcolm Turnbull.
58 countries have submitted their climate targets ahead of international talks in Paris. We know the numbers, but not all efforts to combat climate change are equal.
The pressure the Abbott government faced over the Syrian refugee crisis hints at a broader trend. Global political dynamics are now exposing a credibility deficit in Australian foreign policy.
Connie Hedegaard, who chaired the 2009 Copenhagen climate summit, says the stakes are high for this year’s crunch talks in Paris, and that without a solid result, the process could begin to fragment.
An edited transcript of a climate roundtable hosted by the Sydney Democracy Network and featuring former EU Climate Commissioner Connie, who chaired the 2009 Copenhagen climate summit.