The global stocktake (GST) could both enable and hamper the inclusion of equity. This Comment outlines why equity is central to the GST and the challenges faced in addressing it, as well as the utility of needs-based assessments for advancing equity within the GST and the climate action generally.

The recent creation of a loss and damage fund under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change was heralded as a major breakthrough for Global South negotiators. As details of the fund are currently being negotiated, some analysts are calling for ‘objective’ means through which funding would be allocated to ‘particularly vulnerable’ developing countries. On the basis of a review of past

Oxygen concentrations are a key aspect of water quality, with low levels linked to ecosystem stress. Research indicates that oxygen levels will decrease in hundreds of rivers across the USA and Central Europe under climate change.

The global stocktake seeks to enhance climate ambition through assessment and review of collective efforts every five years. A recent breakthrough in finance for addressing loss and damage is an opportunity to strengthen the finance agenda and rebuild much needed trust in the multilateral system.

Life-cycle assessment (LCA) is used extensively to assess the environmental impacts of various products and services, and increasingly to inform consumer decision-making. However, there are emerging discussions on whether LCA modelling exercises mislead consumers and policymakers, owing to modelling inconsistencies and a focus on single impact categories. For example, most LCA analyses on agri-food

Broad predictions of species loss under climate change may overestimate the impacts of change, by failing to incorporate species’ ability to behaviourally or physiologically adapt at various scales. Despite recent increases in research in this field, few studies so far have investigated both how different adaptation forms may arise in the context of natural landscapes, and the costs and benefits associated

Sally Wang and colleagues from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, USA, used a neural network together with CMIP6 projections of the coming decades to assess changes in wildfire emissions in the contiguous United States under high emissions. They find that compared with today’s conditions, fire PM2.5 emissions (particulates with a diameter of 2.5 μm or less) increase by 4–75% until mid-century

The impacts of climate change are becoming difficult to ignore with more frequent climate extreme events across the globe. Yet, whether these events may influence individuals and society to engage in climate discussion and action is currently unclear.

Minghao Qiu of Stanford University, USA, and colleagues examined the impact of extreme droughts on the fossil fuel power plants in the western United States, an interconnected electricity system that is heavily hydropower-dependent. Using detailed empirical data, they estimate that extreme drought could increase the electricity production of individual fossil fuel plants by 65%, often in distant regions

Climate change research and assessments, including the most recent IPCC report, paint an increasingly dire picture of the future. However, the assumption that the future will be worse than the present may be wrong for many aspects of human well-being.

The IPCC has been successful at building its scientific authority, but it will require institutional reform for staying relevant to new and changing political contexts. Exploring a range of alternative future pathways for the IPCC can help guide crucial decisions about redefining its purpose.

The release of the IPCC Synthesis Report concludes the sixth assessment cycle (AR6). Nature Climate Change speaks to outgoing IPCC Chair Hoesung Lee about the reports, and the lessons that may inform the seventh assessment cycle.

Declining snow cover poses a substantial risk for many ski resorts that often counter this trend with snowmaking, leading to increasing emissions caused by ski tourism. Research now quantifies the risks of rising temperatures to the skiing industry at the pan-European level, together with the potential and emissions of snowmaking.

Atmospheric observations can quantify anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions, but variability in net land carbon exchange delays the detection of changes. Now, research improves understanding of this variability and allows earlier detection of emissions changes.

Climate change has been identified as a driver of instability and conflict around the world. However, how climate change and the transition to a net-zero world might alter the character of military operations is often overlooked.

Microbial organisms play key roles in the cycling of nutrients and carbon through ecosystems. Mixotrophic microbes, defined as organisms that can use two or more modes of resource acquisition, are widely found and integral parts of microbial ecosystems. Many mixotrophs may shift their mode of resource acquisition — for example, between carbon-fixing autotrophy and consumption-based heterotrophy — in

In their study, Chuyin Tian and colleagues from the University of Regina in Canada and Beijing Normal University in China used climate models in combination with Bayesian discriminant analysis to assess how the Sahara changes under different scenarios together with the associated uncertainties. They find that the Sahara expands in the Maghreb region and over Senegal and Mauritania under both medium-

Agricultural production is threatened by climate change and requires adaptation, possibly through the adoption of technology, and innovation, to improve resilience. Understanding the economic value of these decisions is important for uptake and reducing risk to farmer welfare.

With climate change impacts increasingly being felt by more of the world’s population, adaptation efforts are urgently needed. However, similar to the unequal distribution of climate change impacts, the ability of societies to adapt is also heterogeneous.