Prime Minister Bob Hawke opening the General Assembly of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, Perth, November 1990.
National Archives of Australia
The National Archives of Australia today released selected federal cabinet records for 1990 and 1991. They reveal intense battles over Australia’s domestic climate targets and, above all, a palpable determination that Australia not damage its coal revenue.
Health issues from extreme heat are a reality for many in Africa.
Shutterstock
Forest conservation has been a contentious issue in international climate change discussions for years, but now developing countries are embracing the need to protect their forests.
The pressure to pledge for 1.5°C grew throughout the Paris summit.
Reuters/Jacky Naegelen
Bill Hare, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research
The inclusion of a 1.5°C goal in the Paris climate deal might have surprised some observers. But in reality, the diplomatic groundwork was laid years before.
Public interest and peer pressure among countries are integral to enforcement of the Paris Agreement.
Mal Langsdon/Reuters
The Paris Agreement recognizes the reality of global environmental pacts: the private sector must lead transition to low-carbon technology and civil society must keep up the pressure to act.
A Greenpeace undercover investigation revealed that academics agreed to receive payments from fossil fuel companies – without disclosing the funding.
Aly Song/Reuters
Faith Kearns, University of California, Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources
Scientists need to be comfortable dealing with subjective views, rather than empirical data, and people’s feelings to make progress in addressing climate change.
Love between countries is more important than strong legal agreements.
Ryan Rodrick Beiler / Shutterstock.com
The Paris climate deal has been criticised for not being strong enough. But behavioural economics studies show weak deals can work out better in the long run.
Locked down? Obama, with Secretary of State John Kerry, committed to further cuts in emissions from the US at Paris climate summit.
Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
The Paris climate summit was historic as a political achievement but it’s not clear how and when the hard problems of emission cuts and climate finance get tackled.
Leaders celebrate the adoption of the Paris Agreement on Saturday.
Stephane Mahe/Reuters
How should we react to the likely outcome of the Paris climate conference? Unless something dramatic happens overnight it is very likely that the news media on Sunday morning will hail the Paris agreement…
