Climate calling

The World Meteorological Organisation and NASA have confirmed that 2024 was the hottest year on record, with temperatures spurred on by greenhouse gas driven climate change. And the Bureau of Meteorology says it was the second hottest year on record in Australia after 2019. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says people and organisations need to be prepared for more extreme weather events and natural...

A massive snowstorm is disrupting the U-S and Europe, with record snowfall, power outages, and widespread travel chaos. Nearly 70 million Americans face blizzard warnings, icy roads, and over 1,400 flight cancellations. In Europe, heavy snow and freezing rain hit the U-K, Ireland, and Germany, causing airport disruptions, power cuts, and flooding risks.

For more than 50 years, cities around the world have been safely drinking recycled wastewater, from Los Angeles to Barcelona and Cape Town. Yet few Australian cities have taken that plunge. But with climate change and population surges putting water supplies under pressure, experts say it could be a future solution.

The award winning SBS podcast series Change Agents has met some remarkable Australians over the last four years - individuals who are changing the society in which we all live. In this episode from 2022, series producer Peggy Giakoumelos introduces us to Greg Mullins, a high profile, former fire chief who is using his experience on the front line to advocate for more action on climate change

Climate change is forcing an increasing number of people to move from their homes, due to severe weather events and worsening environmental conditions. Some estimates forecast more than 1 billion people could be displaced globally by 2050. The Pacific Islands are among the world's most vulnerable, where relocation is the only option for some communities.

Climate whiplash is the term being used to describe the increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather events that have swept the globe in 2024. Scientists say global average temperatures across the year are on track to temporarily surpass 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, with human-caused climate change the key driver.

With the holiday season fast, approaching many people will be preparing to pack up and head out on holidays. But researchers are calling on people to consider the sustainability of their trips with carbon emissions from the tourism industry on the increase. A study published in Nature Communications indicates that greenhouse gas emissions from tourism are growing more than two times faster than th...

With the holiday season fast approaching, many people will be preparing to pack up and head out on holidays. But researchers are calling on people to consider the sustainability of their trips with carbon emissions from the tourism industry on the increase.

Five years on from the Black Summer bushfires, many people are still dealing with the loss and grief of what happened, and how they were left to pick up the pieces. This series focuses on one devastating summer, two communities, and the collective grief and determination they needed to get back up on their feet after disaster. This is Burnt, an SBS Podcast. In episode one, Sydney Lang revisits the...

As plastic pollution grows, there's more interest in sustainable alternatives like bioplastics. Global bio-based plastic production has more than doubled since 2010, but some have concerns about the right way to dispose of it.

The largest case to be held at the world's top court is underway with climate justice under the spotlight and significant implications for Australia's fossil fuel industry. Climate activists have condemned Australia's submission in the landmark case on climate responsibility as an attempt to dodge responsibility for the worsening climate crisis.

The Murray-Darling River Basin provides water to more than 3.6 million Australians and covers more than a million square kilometres. Despite 30 years and billions of dollars spent trying to protect it, researchers say the waterway is in declining health.

Australia has been hit with severe storms in the past few weeks. The increasingly common presence of floods has worried Australians that fear a future of extreme weather for the country.

The world’s nations will finish negotiating a treaty this weekend to address the global plastic pollution crisis. Led by Norway and Rwanda, 66 countries plus the European Union say they want to address the total amount of plastic on Earth by controlling its design, production, consumption and disposal.

The COP-29 summit has ended without clear climate finance targets, highlighting divisions over funding commitments to tackle global warming and support vulnerable nations. A last-minute agreement on funding increases has failed to satisfy developing and developed countries, leaving key issues unresolved and raising doubts about the global response to the climate crisis.

Substantial coral losses on the Great Barrier Reef of up to 72 per cent have been recorded following extensive bleaching and natural disasters last summer. The declines have been noted in new research - from the Australian Institute of Marine Science - for more than half of its reefs surveyed between Lizard Island and Cardwell.

The COP Climate Summit has been branded "no longer fit for purpose" in an open letter to the United Nations. The letter, signed by a series of former diplomats and leading climate experts, calls for urgent reforms to the annual summit as progress towards emission targets slow down.

Economists have told COP29 that developing countries need at least $1.5 trillion annually by the end of the decade to cope with climate change. The success of this year's UN climate summit therefore hinges on whether countries can agree on a new finance target for richer countries, development lenders and the private sector to deliver each year. But political tensions and disagreements are making...

A new report has calculated how much annual climate finance is needed to flow from rich nations to Pacific countries. The funds would help speed up the energy transition, address climate impacts, and deal with climate-related loss and damage. The report by Caritas Australia and the Jubilee Australia Research Centre finds that around US$1.5 billion is needed annually to meet the climate finance nee...

Argentina's government has ordered its negotiators to withdraw from the COP29 climate summit in Azerbaijan. The country's leader, Javier Milei, has described the climate crisis as a socialist lie, and has threatened to withdraw from the Paris agreement.

Pacific Island youth leaders say the stakes couldn't be higher at this year's United Nations climate summit. Even as Donald Trump threatens to pull out of the Paris climate agreement for a second time, world leaders meeting in Azerbaijan for COP29 have to decide on a new climate finance goal. Fifteen years after the last target was set, the new deal will involve determining how many hundreds of bi...

As world leaders debate ways to reduce carbon emissions at the COP29 climate conference in Azerbaijan ((Nov 11-22)), one Australian start-up believes fungi could be the key to mitigating climate change. The company has developed a product for farmers made from live fungi spores to help lock carbon in agricultural soils.

While many fear the re-election of Donald Trump as United States President will mean a major setback for climate action, experts say there is still hope. Ahead of the COP29 Summit in Azerbaijan, it's being argued the international community will keep pushing ahead without US leadership.

The 2024 State of the Climate Report has been released and warns that if action is delayed, the costs of adapting to an ever-changing climate will continue to increase. With Australia less than a decade away from an emissions tipping point, climate experts are urging leaders to step up actions to mitigate climate change.

A fluffy native mouse and five other Australian species have been added to the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List. According to the Australian Conservation Foundation, Australia’s escalating extinction crisis, is being fuelled by climate change, deforestation, and outdated conservation laws.