Articles by Coco Liu and Olivia Rudgard

Trump’s Return Prompts Companies to Stifle Climate Talk With ‘Greenhushing’

As the chief executive officer of Caelux, Scott Graybeal runs a technology startup in Baldwin Park, California, that makes high-efficiency glass for solar panels. For years, climate change had been a crucial part of Graybeal’s business conversations — until Donald …

Artificial Intelligence Energy Demand Is Driving Climate Tech Investing

Energy startups have overtaken the makers of electric cars and batteries as the top global climate tech investment for the first time since 2020. They’ve done so as the growing demand for artificial intelligence has driven interest in technologies that …

Can China Shield the Biggest Uninsured Economy From Floods?

The rivers and canals that meander through Hemudu in southeastern China are a vital source of life and community — they provide income for fishermen, an after-school hangout spot for kids, and define the town’s landscape. But when it rains, …

Robots Are Starting (Good) Fires in California

Cody Chiverton has spent the past decade lighting fires. As a former firefighter with the U.S. Forest Service, he participated in dozens of prescribed burns across the American West, in which fire-prevention teams would carry drip torches to ignite dry …

Insurers Are Working to Shore Up the $2 Billion Carbon Offset Market

Data fraud, questionable accounting practices and intensified catastrophes are just some of the issues that have battered the voluntary carbon market. Those misfortunes have helped spur a new line of business: Insurance policies designed to de-risk credits that polluters buy …

Investors Are Increasingly Interested in a Novel Type of Weather Insurance

Interest in startups trying to shake up the insurance industry is on the rise as weather catastrophes worsen. The latest sign: New York-based Arbol has raised $60 million in a Series B funding round. Founded in 2018, Arbol specializes in …

Dubai Floods Expose Weaknesses to a Rapidly Changing Climate

The heavy rains that flooded Dubai last week halted air traffic, damaged buildings and streets — and left climate experts and common citizens asking whether one of the world’s hottest and driest cities should be better prepared for extreme storms. …

US Home Insurance Premiums May Hit a Record This Year, Report Warns

US home insurance rates are expected to reach a record high this year, with the biggest increases occurring in states prone to severe weather events, according to a new analysis. The average premium for homeowners insurance in the US is …

Bottled Water Contains More Plastic Particles Than Previously Thought

A typical one-liter (33-ounce) bottle of water contains some 240,000 plastic fragments on average, according to a new study. Many of those fragments have historically gone undetected, the researchers determined, suggesting that health concerns linked to plastic pollution may be …

Tech Startups in US, France, Germany Help in Fight Against Wildfires

This year has been a challenging one for Phil Schneider, who hasn’t seen wildfire behavior like this in his 47-year firefighting career. Blazes raged through more than 2,000 acres of wildland in recent months in his county deep in the …