Latest Climate Change Headlines
All the headlines from our Climate Change Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Greenhouse Gas Emissions Must Be Halved by 2030 to Avoid 3C Warming: Scientists
Jun 19 2019 // Emissions need to be halved by 2030 to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius but temperatures are on track to reach double that by the end of the century even if countries’ current plans are fully implemented,...
Stringent Climate Policy Poised to Pass in Oregon
Jun 18 2019 // Oregon is on the precipice of becoming the second state after California to adopt a cap-and-trade program, a market-based approach to lowering the greenhouse gas emissions behind global warming. Supporters call it the...
Climate Change and the Reinsurance Implications
Jun 13 2019 // Climate change presents “high exposure risk” to insurers and their policyholders on many fronts: General liability claims for third-party bodily injury and property damage, directors and officers claims for a...
Talk of Managing Earth as an Asset Wins Over Congressional Climate Change Skeptic
Jun 13 2019 // In a break from years of acrimony over basic science, House Budget Committee members on Tuesday tripped over each other to agree that climate change is not only real but caused by humans. “The last decade has seen...
Companies Failing to Disclose Exposure to Risks of Climate Change: Global Task Force
Jun 6 2019 // Companies are failing to disclose sufficient detail about how exposed they are to the potential risks of climate change, a global task force said in a report on Wednesday. Many investors have called on companies to provide...
U.S. Judges Grapple with Youths’ Constitutional Challenge to U.S. Climate Policy
Jun 6 2019 // In a courtroom packed with environmental activists, federal judges wrestled Tuesday with whether climate change violates the constitutional rights of young people who have sued the U.S. government over the use of fossil...
World’s Largest Companies Forecast Climate Change Could Cost Them $1 Trillion
Jun 4 2019 // An analysis of thousands of corporate disclosures on climate-change risks suggests that companies stand to gain more than they lose, mostly within the next five years. Some $2.1 trillion worth of potential good news is...
IBHS Chief Wright Urges Congress to Consider Tax Credits for Climate Resilience
May 30 2019 // Roy E. Wright, CEO and president of the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety, wants Congress to consider financing resilience. The IBHS chief testified during a recent appearance before the House Ways and...
European Central Bank Calls for ‘Deeper Understanding’ of Climate Risks
May 29 2019 // Climate change could hit bank balance sheets with a knock-on effect on financial stability, the European Central Bank warned on Wednesday. In a special feature for its semi-annual Financial Stability Review on Wednesday,...
Is Sea Rise Wrecking Coastal Home Values? The Answer: Maybe
May 20 2019 // For sale: waterfront property with sweeping views of the Atlantic Ocean. Waves erode beach regularly. Flooding gets worse every year. Saltwater damage to lawn. Asking price: anyone’s guess. Some research suggests...
Bills Proposing Climate Change Studies Stall in Texas Legislature
May 17 2019 // A few months before this year’s biennial legislative session, a report commissioned by Gov. Greg Abbott on lessons learned from Hurricane Harvey declared a dire need to “future-proof” the state. Some...
California’s New Climate and Sustainability Chief in Talks with Insurers
May 16 2019 // Powered by InsuranceJournal.tv Michael Peterson has had about five months to come in and tackle what promises to be unique job. Peterson is California’s deputy commissioner for climate and sustainability. After...
Lenders Scolded for Climate Ignorance in ‘Insane’ Florida Deals
May 14 2019 // Hurricane Michael killed seven people and caused more than $6 billion in damage in Florida in October, a toll compounded by warmer, higher seas and wetter air, the signs of climate change scientists have long warned...
Climate Change Threatens One Million Species with Extinction: Scientists
May 6 2019 // Relentless pursuit of economic growth, twinned with the impact of climate change, has put an “unprecedented” one million species at risk of extinction, scientists said on Monday in a landmark report on the...
House Passes Climate Now Act, But What’s The Next Step?
May 2 2019 // The U.S. must take an active role in mitigating climate change on the global stage. So says the U.S. House of Representatives, which voted today on H.R. 9, the Climate Action Now Act. The bill, which passed 231-190,...
UK Climate Change Adviser to Recommend Target of Zero Emissions by 2050: Sources
Apr 30 2019 // The U.K. government’s official adviser on climate change is set to recommend the country adopt a target to drive net fossil fuel emissions to zero by 2050, according to people familiar with the plan. If adopted, the...
Washington D.C. Plans to Confront Climate Change by Retrofitting Flood-Prone Buildings
Apr 29 2019 // Washington is announcing a goal of retrofitting or removing all of its flood-prone buildings by 2050, the first major U.S. city to set such a policy. The proposal is part of a broader plan to protect Washington, which is...
California Insurance Commissioner Rejects Petition to Require Fossil Fuel Underwriting Disclosure
Apr 23 2019 // California’s new insurance commissioner wasn’t getting along so well on Earth Day with groups of climate change and consumer activists. California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara, who put battling climate...
Municipalities Try to Reassure Investors on Climate Risks in Bond Offerings
Apr 23 2019 // When Miami Beach borrowed $162 million from Wall Street this week, it wanted investors to know rising seas and extreme weather are a real risk to the city and that it’s doing something about it. An increasing number...
S&P Will Issue ‘Environmental, Social and Governance’ Evaluations Including on Insurance Sector
Apr 18 2019 // If you’re among those who regard “environmental, social and governance” as just another in a long line of trendy buzz-phrases, then you may want to rethink. ESG standards, which companies use to highlight...
