Our Scans · (LF.13) 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] A powerful climate pattern known as a Super El Nino may be developing as early as late 2026, and if it does, it could reshape travel plans worldwide. Yahoo
• [New] Experts warn there's a 61% chance of the El Nino climate phenomenon striking by mid-2026; historically for the Caribbean region, El Nino has brought heatwaves, drought and crop failure. UN News
• [New] Australia's climate targets will only be met by reducing emissions at source and scaling up renewable energy, not through temporary storage of carbon in land. The Guardian
• [New] Twenty years after the launch of the Living Building Challenge, architects, designers, and climate leaders will gather in Seattle for Living Future 2026 to confront a difficult question: despite decades of green building progress, emissions from the built environment remain dangerously high. PR.com
• [New] In 2026, climate-driven disruptions are no longer one-off events but structural pressures that have fundamentally altered the viability of conventional investment strategies. Families for a Livable Climate
• [New] The United States - already the only country to have withdrawn from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change - risks falling behind in the global clean energy transition. Harvard Magazine Inc.
• [New] Future historians will likely record that the most effective climate policy in human history was not a piece of legislation passed in Washington or Brussels, but the geopolitical shock that finally broke the world's psychological addiction to the internal combustion engine. Grafa
• [New] Non-native trees that are notably climate-resilient, such as Mediterranean stone pine, have been planted to protect habitats supported by native species such as Scots pine, which is threatened by global heating in the UK. The Guardian
• [New] If Africa's forests turn into a lasting carbon source, global climate goals will become much harder to achieve. ScienceDaily
• [New] If Africa's forests are no longer absorbing carbon, it means other regions and the world as a whole will need to cut greenhouse gas emissions even more deeply to stay within the 2 °C goal of the Paris Agreement and avoid catastrophic climate change. ScienceDaily
• [New] Future-climate BES shows that highly insulated buildings in Harbin will face rising cooling demand without improved shading and ventilation, while physics-guided ML enhances operational control under sparse data. Nature
• [New] In Geneva, calibrated urban building energy modelling simulations under four climate scenarios projected heating demand reductions of 22-31% and cooling demand increases of 95-173% by 2050. Nature
• [New] Global financial turbulence, climate shocks such as the recent Cyclone Ditwah in Sri Lanka, and the impact of AI adoption on service exports could pose further downside risks. World Bank
• [New] Climate change is expected to result in approximately 250,000 additional deaths per year between 2030 and 2050. M3 Global Research Blog
• [New] Projected mixing ratios are combined with compound-specific radiative forcings to estimate their effect on Earth's radiative balance and, by extension, their potential influence on climate. Nature
• [New] Australia and Canada have teamed up on climate action, signing a new Clean Energy Partnership that aims to maximise economic opportunities of 'clean energy' while addressing the significant challenge of climate change. Westpac IQ
• [New] A challenging business climate in California, combined with potentially burdensome regulations, will perhaps put a damper on potential growth in 2026. GAWDA Media
• [New] The European Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 emphasizes integrating nature restoration into climate action. Market Data Forecast
• [New] The EU's 2050 climate goals and policies like the Renewable Energy Directive are pushing investment in clean energy. www.hoganlovells.com
• [New] Groundwater across High Mountain Asia is rapidly declining due to combined climate and human pressures, with worsening risks ahead. SciTechDaily
• [New] Reductions in grazing livestock that promote plant growth could enable ecosystems to capture more atmospheric carbon dioxide, benefiting the global climate. EurekAlert!
• [New] The theme of Biosecurity and Emerging Infections in the HEAL network will help to develop a climate-informed early warning system based on One Health approach and provide more effective control strategies for climate-sensitive infectious diseases. PubMed Central (PMC)

Last updated: 20 April 2026