Global Scans · Climate Action · Weekly Summary

In September 2015, 193 world leaders agreed to 17 Global Goals for Sustainable Development. If these Goals are completed, it would mean an end to extreme poverty, inequality and climate change by 2030.
Goal 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.

• [New] Belem could be a turning point for making sustainable cooling one of this decade's highest-impact climate solutions. UNEP - UN Environment Programme
• [New] At COP 30 in Belem, governments have taken a major step forward in confronting one of the world's fastest-growing climate risks: extreme heat. UNEP - UN Environment Programme
• [New] Italy highlighted its increased climate finance and commitment to scaling 3DEN globally, while UNEP stressed that digitalization could save $1.2 trillion in grid efficiency by 2050. UNEP - UN Environment Programme
• [New] Under CORSIA's First Phase (2024-26), airlines are expected to purchase more than 200 million credits-equivalent to USD 4-5 billion in climate finance - with demand projected to rise sharply through 2035 as nearly 2 billion credits are expected to be offset. ESG Post
• [New] To achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, governments must reaffirm ICAO's role as the single global authority, fully implement CORSIA, and operationalise Article 6 to unlock climate finance for developing nations. ESG Post
• [New] Failure to act means hundreds of thousands, or even millions more Australians will be left to deal with the stress and dangers of an unstable and unprecedented climate without adequate support. Mirage News
• [New] Scientists warn climate change making Southeast Asia's rainy season increasingly hazardous. Al Jazeera
• [New] The world's climate leaders are conceding that Earth's warming will shoot past a hard limit they set a decade ago in hopes of keeping the planet out of a danger zone. Yahoo News Singapore
• [New] Sustainable school meals could lead $70 billion in climate-related savings and $200 billion in diet-related healthcare savings. The Rockefeller Foundation
• [New] The potential to feed nearly 8 million more children is a reminder that regenerative school meals are an extraordinary opportunity to help vulnerable people in a world beset by climate change. The Rockefeller Foundation
• [New] Climate Resilient School Meals is the first systematic empirical study to assess climate risks to school feeding programs globally. The Rockefeller Foundation
• [New] The new Belem Health Action Plan, led by Brazil's government and the World Health Organization, will help countries with surveillance, best practices and capacity building to help them deal with climate-fueled health issues. The Guardian
• [New] Surging cases of yellow fever and dengue in South America highlight the growing assault on people's health from the climate crisis, with infectious diseases spread by mosquitoes and deadly heat also now pushing into temperate regions such as Europe, experts have warned at the Cop 30 climate summit. The Guardian
• [New] Nations worldwide must finance and implement climate adaptation measures for health systems or risk losing millions of lives as extreme weather, rising temperatures, and intensifying heat threaten healthcare access for nearly half the global population. Health Policy Watch
• [New] At COP 30 in Brazil, discussions are expected put special focus on forest protection, climate finance and support for climate-vulnerable regions in addition to advancing global efforts to cut emissions and strengthen resilience. Climate Action
• [New] To help curb deforestation, Brazil, host of 2025's U.N. climate negotiations, has announced a plan that will provide $4 billion yearly to countries that protect their forests. Yahoo News
• [New] Under national climate plans, countries would still see roughly 10 million acres of forest destroyed yearly at the end of this decade and another 40 million acres degraded by logging, grazing, fires, or other threats. Yahoo News
• [New] Unless trends shift sharply, the global community will miss both the Glasgow Climate Pact target to double adaptation finance and the New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Finance - leaving billions of people exposed. Climate Impacts Tracker Asia
• [New] The next decade will determine whether small modular reactor technology can transition from promising concept to transformative energy solution, with implications extending far beyond the nuclear industry into global climate action and energy security strategies. Discovery Alert
• [New] More than seven in 10 Chinese respondents said they expected AI to play a role in solving a range of societal issues, including climate change, mental illness, poverty and polarization. Al Jazeera
• [New] Solar and wind are now the fastest-growing electricity sources in history, and according to a new United Nations report, announced solar and battery projects will be more than sufficient to hit the 2030 climate goal of tripling renewable capacity. The Cool Down
• [New] Buildings generate one-third of global energy use and emissions while being increasingly impacted by climate hazards. UNEP - UN Environment Programme
• [New] Climate adaptation and resilience represent one of the world's largest untapped investment opportunities - an estimated USD 1 trillion today. Global Center on Adaptation

Last updated: 23 November 2025