S20 in 2025 is hosted by the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf)
#S20SouthAfrica #ASSAf_Official
S20 in 2025 is hosted by the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf)
#S20SouthAfrica #ASSAf_Official
Source: https://www.cfr.org/article/our-approach-climate-policy-has-failed-its-time-climate-realism
U.S. policymakers need a new strategy to confront the risks of climate change, compete in the global energy transition, and stay the course regardless of which political party is in power. A doctrine of “climate realism” could earn bipartisan support by decisively pursuing American interests.
Recent weather patterns across India offer compelling evidence that climate change is no longer a looming threat, it is a lived reality. Rising urban temperatures, increased seismic activity and environmental degradation demand not just policy responses but urgent behavioural and structural reforms. At the core of this crisis lies an inescapable truth: climate change has become a public health emergency.
Aerosol pollution generated by humans cools the climate more than previously thought, new research has found.
The effect of fine particles on cloud properties may be masking the true extent of global warming, according to the study led by the University of Eastern Finland and the Finnish Meteorological Institute.
When most people think of dangerous infections, they picture bacteria or viruses. But for infectious disease specialists like Peter Chin-Hong, one of the most insidious threats lurking in hospitals and clinics today is fungal.
Chin-Hong’s case list is long: a healthy 29-year-old marathon runner from California’s Central Valley whose heart lining was invaded by coccidioides, a soil-dwelling fungus; a lung-transplant recipient coughing up mould nodules – fungal growths scattered throughout his lungs – after stopping antifungal medication; and a 45-year-old woman with poorly controlled diabetes, infected by a black fungus that destroyed part of her face and spread to her brain. Despite multiple operations and treatment, she died in hospital.
Climate change is a crisis that has been looming large over our civilisation for a long time and has now reached significant proportions. It impacts not just the human beings and other animals but can disrupt the whole ecological balance. It imposes risk, especially on the vulnerable population. The pregnant woman & newborns face challenges unique to them because of their different physiology and impaired adaptation. India has been struggling to bring down our maternal & neonatal mortality rates, and the climate risk threatens to jeopardise it further. The inequitable distribution of resources and infrastructure further affects the ability to withstand extreme weather events.
Source: https://futurism.com/global-warming-banks
If climate scientists, policy makers, and environmental activists haven’t made it clear that our planet is pretty much doomed, maybe Wall Street will: bank tycoons are the latest — and perhaps the most self-interested — to join the chorus sounding the alarm on the now grim prospect of avoiding a climate catastrophe.
Africa is on track to surpass the 1.5°C global warming threshold – the limit for the average temperature increase set by the Paris Agreement to contain global warming – in a mere 15 years, even under the most optimistic low-emission scenarios, new research published in the CABI Digital Library reveals.
The study, which emphasises the role of research and innovation in climate mitigation, conducted by scientists from the University of Zimbabwe and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) in Kenya, highlights the urgent need for just transition pathways to help Africa’s agricultural systems adapt to a warming planet – while also building resilience and reducing emissions.
South Africa marked the commencement of the country’s most comprehensive legislative framework for climate action to date, with President Cyril Ramaphosa officially proclaiming the Climate Change Act, 2024 (Act No 22 of 2024) in the Government Gazette on Monday.
The Act is a statutory framework for climate adaptation and mitigation, indicating how the country as a whole (across departments, municipalities, provinces and the private sector) will be moving to tackle climate change and transition towards a more sustainable, low-carbon economy.
This piece of legislation has been described as sorely needed as the country faces increasing weather and climate-related disasters.
Source: https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025-03-26-sa-g20-presidency-fast-track-climate-action/
Speaking on Tuesday at the first Environment and Climate Sustainability Working Group (ECSWG) meeting under South Africa’s G20 presidency, Forestry, Fisheries and Environment Minister Dion George set out the five major environmental and climate change priorities on the agenda for the G20.
These will be the pathways in which G20 nations are set to accelerate efforts if they hope to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. Despite efforts to date, poverty and hunger remain rife, with a long way to go to secure planetary protection, universal education and health coverage.
The IAP, in collaboration with the IPCC Focal Point for Italy, invites climate change experts, policymakers and representatives of science academies to join the webinar ‘Explaining the IPCC Calls for Nominations of Authors’ on 1 April 2025 at 11:00 UTC (13:00 CEST, 07:00 EST). This event marks the launch of a new IAP webinar series, Strengthening the Climate Change Science-Policy Interface, which aims to increase the participation of experts from the Global South in the IPCC process. National academies play a crucial role in identifying and encouraging climate change experts within their networks to apply. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn about the IPCC nomination process and how to get involved. Register now: https://tinyurl.com/4zs5mvzr
