Climate change is one of the few scientific theories that makes us examine the whole basis of modern society. It is a challenge that has politicians arguing, sets nations against each other, queries individual…
The IPCC’s latest report sets the record straight on science (again), but could be stronger on the economic case for climate action.
EPA/Niels Ahlmann Olesen/AAP
The headline statements of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s new Synthesis Report – unequivocal climate change, almost certainly driven largely by humans, and an urgent need to cut emissions…
Members of the public photograph an ice art installation outside the Copenhagen building where the IPCC met to finalise its latest report.
EPA/Soeren Bidstrup/AAP
Members of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) say they are confident their latest report, released in Copenhagen today, will help give politicians the impetus to commit to the deep emissions…
The IPCC is clear on the dangers of fossil fuels.
Pete Markham
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is set to publish the “synthesis report” of its fifth assessment period, drawing on three individual working group reports already published on: the…
Renewable energy is an excellent way to hedge against the impacts of climate policies.
Indigo Skies Photography/Flickr
The Australian government has just received a vitally important report to guide their decisions on the future of Australia’s Renewable Energy Target (RET). But it’s not the RET review report of the Coalition-appointed…
A new study finds overwhelming odds that humans have contributed to higher global temperatures – so how much are we willing to gamble that it’s wrong?
Kraevski Vitaly/Shutterstock
Society generally has a clear idea of what constitutes a crime, and those in positions of power are usually held to very high standards. Politicians charged with making decisions on the needs of society…
A record-breaking winter heatwave – which makes pretty nice weather for a dip.
Dan Himbrechts/AAP
If you’ve stepped outside at lunchtime in Sydney over the past few days, you’d be forgiven for thinking it was more like early summer than the beginning of winter. On each of the past 23 days, the temperature…
Even the Pentagon is issuing warnings about climate change.
Duffman/Wikimedia Commons
Warnings about the dangers of climate change are coming from some new and not so new places. Military, security and foreign policy advisors, financial marketeers, the White House – all have recently set…
Treasurer Joe Hockey didn’t even mention the word climate in his budget speech.
AAP Image/Lukas Coch
The word “climate” was conspicuously absent from Joe Hockey’s first budget speech as treasurer. It’s not hard to guess why – the full budget sets out major cuts to climate research, and strong moves against…
IPCC leaders release their climate mitigation report in Berlin - but governments already have one eye on next year’s UN climate summit.
EPA/Joerg Carstensen
In the wake of this month’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report on ways to cut global greenhouse gas emissions, accusations began to fly in the media that the report had been censored…
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) Fifth Assessment Report tells us that CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions are continuing to rise and that, unchecked, climate change will likely…
While green business is commendable, canola-fuelled elevators will not save us from climate change.
monique/Flickr
Without a functional international climate policy, and a set of Australian policies that look set to be repealed, it might seem that business offers the greatest hope for mitigating climate change. Business…
Gas-fired industry to reduce emissions in the short-term.
Jorge Franganillo
The International Panel on Climate Change’s Working Group 3 report is a welcome outline of how to stem the tide of climate change. It illustrates a significant change in strategy, from a complete switch…
Changing how we consume energy is the best way to mitigate climate change.
Adam Bowie/Flickr
While the latest IPCC report on mitigation doesn’t recommend any particular strategy for reducing carbon emissions, it suggests changing energy consumption is a key mitigation strategy. According to the…
Biomass energy plants, such as this one in the UK, could be crucial for a low-emission future.
Peter Robinson/Wikimedia Commons
The world may have to rely on “emissions-negative” energy technologies in the latter half of this century, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s new report on reducing the impacts…
For the first time the IPCC has addressed the ethical, as well as technical, issues of reducing greenhouse emissions.
EPA/How Hwee Young/AAP
Frank Jotzo, Australian National University and David Stern, Australian National University
The new report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change shows that global greenhouse gas emissions have grown faster than ever over the last decade. Taking action to achieve the world’s goal…
New research shows how a climate of uncertainty pushes us towards worse outcomes.
Lukiyanova Natalia/frenta/Shutterstock
If we’re not certain that the problem’s there, then … we shouldn’t take actions which have a high severity the other way. This was the response from David Murray – then chairman of Australia’s Future Fund…
No vote: despite activists’ urgings, the 2009 Copenhagen climate talks were stymied by the threat of veto.
EPA/HENNING BAGGER/AAP
Anyone who has watched in frustration as the United Nations repeatedly failed to secure a meaningful climate treaty could be forgiven for taking a rather glum view on this weekend’s report by the Intergovernmental…
Falling food supply sees lunch breaks replaced by lunch riots.
Jon Hrusa/EPA
The global growth in demand for food is outstripping supply and by the middle of the century there will be about a third more mouths on the planet to feed. The world’s middle class is expected to rise…