From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
This week, as world leaders gather in Belém, Brazil, for the 30th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30), once again it seems that there will be more rhetoric than real solutions for the countries that are most vulnerable to the effects of a changing climate. My native Belize - with its tropical rainforests, coastal wetlands and coral reefs - is one such country. Warming seas are killing our reefs. Hurricanes and wildfires are increasing in frequency and intensity.
Berlin plans to plant hundreds of thousands of additional trees in the next 15 years to be better prepared for climate change. This comes as the result of the capital's new Climate Adaptation Act ( Klimaanpassungsgesetz), which was approved with a broad majority this week by the Berlin House of Representatives. According to a report by Taz, in doing so Berlin has become the first German state with a climate adaptation law.
The East Bay Regional Park District applauds Gov. Gavin Newsom's recent signing into law of Senate Bill 392, landmark legislation that strengthens conservation efforts and enhances climate resilience across the East Bay, as well as other areas throughout the state. SB 392, authored by state Sen. Tim Grayson, D-Concord, and passed unanimously by the state Legislature, establishes the East Bay Hills Conservation Program, empowering the East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD) to better protect the ecological integrity of the East Bay hills while improving wildfire
Aiming for architecture that harmoniously coexists with nature ZED Ishikari is located in a 100% renewable energy area in the industrial zone extending along Ishikari Bay in Hokkaido. This is a region where people have been exploring ways to adapt to the vagaries of nature, such as inclement climate and the flooding of the Ishikari River.
Britain must prepare for global heating far in excess of the level scientists have pegged as the limit of safety, the government's climate advisers have warned, as current plans to protect against extreme weather are inadequate. Heatwaves will occur in at least four of every five years in England by 2050, and time spent in drought will double. The number of days of peak wildfire conditions in July will nearly treble for the UK,
A new study calculates that heat mortality could rise more than fiftyfold in 50 years due to climate heating, projecting over 30,000 heat-related deaths annually by the 2070s.
What we see is not a linear story of progress but a complex mosaic of strategies that helped people stay resilient. That has real lessons for food systems today.
