Episodes

  • New report notes further decline in Great Barrier Reef coral cover

    New report notes further decline in Great Barrier Reef coral cover
    Nov 19 2024
    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.
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    3 mins
  • COP summit 'no longer fit for purpose' say leading climate experts

    COP summit 'no longer fit for purpose' say leading climate experts
    Nov 16 2024
    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.
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    6 mins
  • "We are talking about talking": frustrations rise at COP29 over climate finance goals

    "We are talking about talking": frustrations rise at COP29 over climate finance goals
    Nov 15 2024
    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 progress a challenge.
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    7 mins
  • INTERVIEW: Climate finance gap for Pacific nations revealed in new report

    INTERVIEW: Climate finance gap for Pacific nations revealed in new report
    Nov 14 2024
    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 needs for Pacific nations. The current gap or shortfall is calculated to be two-thirds of that amount. Report co-author Damian Spruce from Caritas Australia spoke to Biwa Kwan about the report's findings as world leaders at COP29 negotiate a deal for a new climate finance target.
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    12 mins
  • 'You caused the problem. You solve it': Bangladeshi leader tells rich nations to pay for climate commitments

    'You caused the problem. You solve it': Bangladeshi leader tells rich nations to pay for climate commitments
    Nov 14 2024
    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.
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    5 mins
  • What these Pacific youth leaders want to see come out of COP29

    What these Pacific youth leaders want to see come out of COP29
    Nov 12 2024
    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 billions - or even trillions - of dollars a year will flow from rich nations to poor nations to help them reduce emissions and adapt to climate impacts.
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    9 mins
  • Are fungi a weapon to fight climate change?

    Are fungi a weapon to fight climate change?
    Nov 10 2024
    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.
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    6 mins
  • Experts brace for Trump's 'disastrous' climate agenda but say the global fight will continue

    Experts brace for Trump's 'disastrous' climate agenda but say the global fight will continue
    Nov 10 2024
    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.
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    8 mins