Climate calling

Vanuatu’s Minister for Climate Change, Ralph Regenvanu, has emerged as one of the Pacific’s most influential and principled public figures, combining political leadership with cultural advocacy and a sustained commitment to climate justice. In an exclusive interview with SBS, he said that current issues with fuel security and supply wouldn’t influence the negotiations between Australia and Vanuatu to finalise the Nakamal agreement. The treaty, initialed in August last year but not finalised, aims to enhance economic, security and cultural cooperation between the two countries. He told SBS’s Rayane Tamer that the current fuel crisis presents Australia with a unique opportunity to become an alternative energy superpower

A remote Australian outpost more than 3,000 kilometres from Perth, the Cocos (Keeling) Islands are facing an uncertain future. Climate modelling predicts the low-lying atoll, home to around 600 residents, could become uninhabitable within 50 years. About 460 of those residents are Cocos Malays, whose ancestors were brought to the islands generations ago as indentured labourers by the Clunies-Ross family, paid in company-issued tokens. Despite that history, the community has preserved a distinct culture and way of life that endures today. Following a United Nations-supervised vote in the 1980s, the Cocos Malays chose to integrate with Australia. Since that time, it is the isolation that has helped preserve the islands unique cultural identity. In this extended edition of Weekend One on One, Federal Minister for Local Government and Territories Kristy McBain speaks with SBS’s Christopher Tan, following the release of the Government’s Coastal Hazard Risk Management and Adaptation Plan — the final report assessing the threats facing the Cocos Islands.

Leaders are gathering in Brazil for the UN COP30 Climate Summit as the United Nations declares the world will not meet the 1.5 degree warming limit set in 2015. With 2025 set to be one of the warmest years on record, the most vulnerable small island nations are pleading for stronger action.

This year's global climate summit - COP30 - is being hailed as the most significant in ten years, with experts describing it the "make or break decade" for action on global warming. But doubts are being raised about whether enough can be achieved.

Australians in three states are to be offered three hours of free electricity in the middle of the day, under a scheme to share abundant solar energy harvested in non-peak hours. The plan has been welcomed by environmental groups, but some in the Opposition are unimpressed.

The author of the review that triggered the government's environment reforms has fully endorsed Labor's nature legislation. Professor Graeme Samuel has told SBS the bill implements the 'totality' of the recommendations he made in his report, five years after it was delivered. The Greens and Coalition have objected to the bill, with Greens leader Larissa Waters describing it as 1400 pages gift-wrapped for big business. But Professor Samuel says environmental groups and business interests alike had substantial input into his report, and their desires were fully taken into account in the recommendations. He's been talking to SBS chief political correspondent Anna Henderson.

Australia's most significant environmental law reform in decades has been tabled in Parliament, but it faces immediate political deadlock with opponents in the Senate ready to delay the vote. As Minister Murray Watt pushes for a swift resolution, he must navigate an environment where both the Coalition and the Greens are demanding major concessions on accountability, climate, and industry protection.

A large white coral reef containing important species and fossil traces has been discovered at a depth of more than 500 metres in the Gulf of Naples, in a rare discovery for the Mediterranean. But a new report suggests reefs like this might already be in danger, with global warming crossing dangerous thresholds sooner than expected and the world's coral reefs now in an almost irreversible die-off. It marks what scientists are describing as the first tipping point in climate-driven ecosystem collapse.

South Australia's algal bloom continues to spread, leading to significant environmental, ecological and mental health harm. Those impacts have been heard at a Senate inquiry examining support arrangements for those affected, but also long-term prevention strategies.

Youth advocates from around the world have gathered at the UN headquarters in New York to participate in the high-level plenary meeting of the General Assembly. Their meeting marked the thirtieth anniversary of the World Programme of Action for Youth.

New research has found Australia's heat-stressed forests are rapidly thinning, and could even be producing carbon emissions. It comes as the government prepares to release its 2035 emissions targets and a climate risk report later this month. But local researchers, politicians and Traditional Owner land groups remain divided on how to protect the forest.

Climate advocates say the federal government's 2035 emissions reduction target falls "dangerously short", while the Coalition has said its plan is "grounded in fantasy land". Government ministers are now working to justify the target to the public and the community, as the Coalition is under pressure to outline their climate policy.

Liberal senator Jonathan Duniam has warned the Coalition will face a "mass exodus" from its frontbench if it adopts a net zero policy without caveats, handing Opposition leader Sussan Ley a fresh test over the party's stance on climate action. The warning comes a day after Liberal MP Andrew Hastie threatened to quit the party if it pursued a policy of net zero emissions by 2050.

As the Coalition remains divided over net zero emission targets, former security leaders are warning the government that climate change poses an immediate national security threat.In the Senate, the Greens are pushing for the release of the National Climate Risk Assessment Report while Nationals Senator Matt Canavan is pushing ahead with a bill to repeal net zero.

After a summer in which much of western and southern Europe were impacted by catastrophic fires and searing heat, Spain now forming a plan to prepare for future disasters.Scientists say action is needed to reduce emissions and increase resilience, in the face of inevitable worsening conditions.

Environment Minister Murray Watt has announced an accelerated timeframe to improve Australia's 'broken' biodiversity and conservation laws. It comes after broad consensus emerged on the urgent need for reform at the government's economic roundtable. Labor is promising stronger environmental protections and faster project approvals - but it's not the first time.

Last summer's marine heat wave was the largest and most intense on record in Western Australia, says a new report from the Australian Institute of Marine Science. The sustained heat has caused unprecedented bleaching across Western Australia's reefs, with experts saying it could take months to uncover the full extent of the damage.

The government is under pressure from the United Nations and the crossbench to set an ambitious climate target. It comes as some coalition backbenchers are pushing for net zero to be scrapped all together.

The UN's top climate diplomat is in Australia, and is urging Australia to aim high when it reveals its carbon emissions reduction target later this year. But it's an issue heavily coated in politics.... and not the only climate change related issue Australia is dealing with right now..

The International Court of Justice has delivered a historic ruling on international climate obligations, opening the door for possible reparations. After a lengthy campaign led by law students in Pacific Island nations, the world's top court has declared individual states have a legal duty to tackle climate change.

Hungary's oldest library is fighting a beetle infestation. The creatures have been found in a section of the 1,000 year-old Pannonhalma Archabbey library, housing around a quarter of the abbey's 400,000 volumes. It's prompted workers to pull tens of thousands of centuries-old books from the shelves of the mediaeval abbey in an effort to save them.

280 Tuvalu citizens will be granted permanent residency each year as part of a landmark pact with Australia. But for some, the offer is bitter-sweet, as their island-home disappears.

The Federal Court has dismissed a landmark case which argued the federal government breached its duty of care to protect the Torres Strait Islands from climate change. The case, brought by Traditional Owners Uncle Pabai Pabai and Uncle Paul Kabai in 2021, argued the government held a duty of care to the Indigenous peoples and alleged that its failure to adequately reduce emissions has contributed to harm of their island communities. Justice Michael Wigney delivered the Federal Court's ruling, says the government had no such duty in this case.

Environmental researchers are calling for greater attention and potential regulation of artificial sweeteners, as they are building up in the environment and waterways around the world. A new study out of the University of Technology, Sydney [[UTS]] has found widely-used sugar substitutes are not decomposing and are turning into 'forever chemicals' that are comparable to P-FAS in the potential harm to animals and the ecosystem. P-FAS is a commonly used acronym for poly fluoro-alkyl substances - a group of man-made chemicals commonly used in water-resistant and non-stick items. P-FAS has been identified in a growing body of research as a toxin and carcinogen with proven negative impacts on the environment and human health.

Toxic algae is taking over the waters off South Australia, with devastating consequences for marine life. It's also impacting the state's fisheries, and prompting fears of serious long-term effects.

A landmark study from Imperial College London has attributed 1,500 deaths during last week’s European heatwave directly to human-induced climate change. It's the first rapid attribution study to go beyond linking climate change to weather events, and instead ties it directly to human deaths.

More than one-third of the people in the tiny Pacific nation of Tuvalu, which scientists predict will be submerged by rising seas, have applied for a landmark climate visa to migrate to Australia. The visa is the result of a treaty between the two countries that seeks to support the island nation through climate change.

The Leadbeater's Possum can fit in the palm of your hand, and it has been presumed extinct twice. Now a new population has been discovered in New South Wales, and the race is on to protect it.

Extreme weather events in our region are causing communities and countries to reassess how to respond to these events. The World Meteorological Organisation has mapped these changes in our region, highlighting the effects they are having not just on land but also in our region's oceans.

New Treasury analysis shows the cost of Cyclone Alfred and other floods across New South Wales and Queensland has reached around $2.2 billion dollars. Community leaders, economists and climate researchers want Australia to do more to address the costs.

Researchers are warning extreme heat is a threat to mental health. Doctors have long warned of the dangers of heat related stress and now a study suggests rising temperatures could increase the burden of mental and behavioural disorders by almost 50 per cent by 2050.

More than 150,000 livestock are dead or lost following widespread flooding in northeastern Australia. But researchers say the floods will provide a lifeline for some species, reviving bird populations who will breed and feed in new wetlands across Australia.

Climate adaptation refers to the process of adjusting to the actual or projected effects of climate change and ensuring vulnerable communities are well-equipped for disaster. But some experts say the term has been reduced to nothing more than a political talking point. A new report by researchers at Monash University shows little action has been taken to prepare at-risk communities over the past decade, despite disaster events occurring more frequently and at a higher intensity.

Plastic pollution along Australia’s coastline has dropped by more than a third over the last decade. That’s according to new research from Australia’s national science agency CSIRO, published in the Marine Pollution Bulletin. The CSIRO has found a 39 per cent decrease in coastal debris density compared to ten years ago with just over 8000 debris items recorded across almost 2000 surveys.

New experiments suggest that the ocean could hold the key to slowing down climate change. Marine carbon dioxide removal has been tested in waters from North America to New Zealand, but as Veronica Lenard reports, the full potential of the technology is not yet clear.

Greens senator Peter Whish-Wilson has confronted Anthony Albanese as the Prime Minister basked in the afterglow of his government's budget during the morning TV rounds. He's one of a number of people upset by the federal government's introduction of a bill aimed at preserving the Tasmanian salmon industry. The senator is convinced it could lead to the extinction of a key species.

Donald Trump's 90 day pause on all USAID funding threw the sector into chaos. As the administration assesses which programs are considered suitable use of funds, it's clear one area doesn't fit that brief: climate change. It's also the biggest issue in the Pacific.

Climate Action Week in Sydney has seen more than 230 events bringing the community and businesses together to work towards a sustainable future. But a growing body of research suggests that women may be disproportionately impacted by the environment and extreme weather events as Yasmine Alwakel reports.

The Climate Council is warning that Australia's biggest cities could face dangerously hot temperatures, unless action is taken to slow down climate change. The Council has released a 'heat map' which also shows that continuing to cut climate pollution can safeguard Australians from the worst impacts of soaring heat.

Top environmental delegates have resumed talks for the United Nations' COP-16 biodiversity summit in Rome. They are set to negotiate a way to pay for $200 billion dollars a year of biodiversity protection by 2030. Previous COP-16 talks in Colombia ended abruptly last year, as the negotiations ran into overtime and reached a deadlock.

Alexander Sangerlaub leads the think and do tank Futur Eins in Germany, which looks at the future of digital public spheres. I recently caught up with him in Berlin, after an event he was part of to raise awareness among young people about the impacts of disinformation on society and democracy.

The spread of false information is one of the biggest global risks, according to the World Economic Forum. Experts say climate denialism content, spread on digital platforms, could stall urgent action. While European nations focus on social media accountability and regulation, some Pacific islands are taking a localised approach to dispelling myths.

Australia ranks among the best in the world for air quality, but with worsening climate change and an ever extending bushfire season, some experts warn even low levels of air pollution are impacting our health. As more and more evidence links air pollution to both long and short term cognitive issues, medical experts say the government can do more to protect Australians in the long term

A stove powered by recycled car oil is providing a cleaner and more affordable cooking option for households in Cameroon. The innovation, designed by a local engineer, is also helping to reduce environmental pollution and health risks associated with traditional coal powered cooking methods.

The world's largest and oldest iceberg is on a collision course with a remote island... potentially putting wildlife in danger. Known as 'megaberg' the colossal slab of ice is drifting towards South Georgia - a British overseas territory - north of Antarctica. The iceberg first broke away from the Antarctic shelf in the 1980s. So how has it survived so long, and what could happen if it does reach the island?

The Denman glacier in East Antarctica is one of the largest and fastest melting glaciers on the continent, and yet little is known about what’s causing the accelerated retreat. But over the past three years Australian scientists have collected tonnes of rock and ice-core samples from the largely untouched region. It's hoped their research will contribute to much greater understanding of what's taking place.

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 disasters due to the climate crisis.

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