The Rest is Climate Podcast

This episode discusses how climate change mitigation and adaptation policies implemented by individual nations generate significant cross-border effects that affect other countries. Nine policy domains are mapped out to illustrate these dynamics including energy, trade, and finance, that alter five types of transnational flows, including trade, technology, and people. These alterations are transmitted internationally through four core mechanisms: prices, production factors, social norms, and security considerations. While these measures can create valuable opportunities by reducing global technology costs, they frequently pose severe risks for vulnerable developing economies with limited fiscal buffers. Enhanced policy coherence and international cooperation is needed to better anticipate these transboundary risks and safeguard global sustainable development. The podcast draws on a new article from the Climate Risk Lab recently published in the prestigious journal Global Environmental Change: Cross border consequences of responses to climate change: Risks and opportunities, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2026.103245 

This Rest is Climate Podcast highlights a newly published systematic review examines the implementation, effectiveness, and feasibility of nature-based solutions and ecosystem-based adaptation across one hundred and twelve studies in African cities. The research demonstrates that while these green initiatives are widely deployed to mitigate urban heat and reduce flood risks, documented evidence remains heavily concentrated in a small number of large metropolitan areas. Beyond their environmental benefits, these interventions frequently improve livelihood security and biodiversity, highlighting their crucial role in addressing socioeconomic vulnerabilities alongside climate hazards. However, project success is frequently hindered by a lack of long-term funding for maintenance, land-use competition, and institutional challenges. Ultimately, the findings emphasize that multi-stakeholder collaboration and meaningful community participation—particularly within informal settlements—are essential for ensuring that urban nature-based strategies deliver equitable and lasting resilience. To read the article for your self: Rule et al 2026. A systematic review of nature-based solutions for climate action in African cities, Environmental Research Letters. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aeb0ba

This Rest is Climate podcast presents a framework for attributing systemic risk in urban environments to specific drivers like climate hazards, exposure, vulnerability, and societal responses. It argues that urban crises, such as the Cape Town "Day Zero" drought, are shaped not only by extreme weather but also by governance delays, unequal household capacities, and infrastructure design. By calculating a proportional "risk budget", the framework helps decision-makers identify which factors most influence a crisis and where adaptation investments should be prioritised. The author emphasises that human responses and socio-economic inequalities often contribute as much to systemic failure as the physical hazard itself. Ultimately, the research supports a more strategic and equitable approach to urban risk management by making complex interdependencies governable. This methodology encourages shifting focus from retrospective disaster analysis toward proactive, evidence-based policy interventions.   This Rest is Climate podcast draws on recently published research from the Climate Risk Lab: Simpson, NP., 2026.Attributing proportionality to climatic impact-drivers of systemic risk, IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, [Systemic Risk Conference 24/09/2025 - 26/09/2025, Hamburg, Germany] https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1755-1315/1668/1/012001 

This episode outlines the development of a crowd-sourced global directory designed to identify grey literature for systematic reviews of climate solutions. Recognizing that critical evaluation evidence is often produced by governments, NGOs, and private organisations outside traditional academic channels, the researchers propose a living database to address the limitations of existing, static search guides. The project employs a community-contribution model to aggregate local knowledge from a diverse network of international experts, aiming to capture insights from the Global South and Indigenous-led initiatives that are frequently underrepresented. By combining targeted market research with public submissions, the directory seeks to improve the comprehensiveness and equity of evidence identification in climate policy research. Ultimately, this open-access resource will provide a structured framework for categorising literature sources, ensuring that researchers can more effectively locate the real-world data necessary to address global climate risks. It is based on a recent paper from the Climate Risk Lab: Fenton Villar, P., & Simpson, N. P. (2026). Protocol for a Crowd-Sourced Living Global Directory of Grey Literature Sources for Systematic Reviews of Evaluations of Climate Solutions. Campbell Systematic Reviews: Better Evidence for a Better World, 22(3). https://doi.org/10.1177/18911803261486366

This podcast highlights urban areas are essential hubs for integrating environmental policy with public health, potentially preventing millions of deaths by addressing the intersection of climate change and human well-being. This research identifies eight action domains, including sustainable food systems and nature-based solutions, that provide immediate, local advantages alongside long-term global cooling. By focusing on synergistic interventions, such as active travel and energy-efficient housing, cities can achieve significant improvements in air quality and physical health while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This approach transforms health benefits from a secondary consideration into a primary motivation for climate investment, offering a practical framework for meeting international sustainability targets. Ultimately, the authors advocate for integrated research and policy to capitalise on these near-term gains, ensuring that urban development prioritises both a stable climate and a thriving population. It draws on recently published paper from the Climate Risk Lab: Eight urban action domains for improved climate-health outcomes. Nature Health (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44360-026-00198-8

This episode focuses on a review that examines the evolution of traditional, indigenous, and local knowledge as vital evidence for climate change adaptation between 2000 and 2025. The research identifies a significant surge in academic interest after 2015, highlighting a transition from merely observing environmental shifts to actively implementing governance and resilience strategies. By categorising 1,693 articles into five thematic clusters, the authors explore how these unique knowledge systems support food security, biodiversity, and disaster management. The study emphasises that while these categories overlap, Indigenous Knowledge carries specific rights-bearing implications that require distinct ethical safeguards and sovereignty protections. Ultimately, the source advocates for a plural-evidence approach that connects community-based insights with scientific modeling to create more legitimate and effective climate responses. The episode is based on a recently published paper in the journal Advances in Climate Change Research entitled Traditional, indigenous and local knowledge for climate adaptation: trends, themes and governance implications (2000–2025), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.accre.2026.07.019 

The Glo-CoH dataset is a comprehensive new digital resource designed to map the precise boundaries of UNESCO World Heritage Sites located in vulnerable low-lying coastal regions. Developed by a multidisciplinary team, the project digitised 1,250 individual areas across the globe that sit less than 20 metres above sea level to better assess risks from climate-driven sea-level rise. Researchers used high-resolution satellite imagery and official site plans to create these detailed spatial records, addressing a previous lack of accessible, high-quality data. A rigorous validation process confirmed the high accuracy of the mapping, ensuring it is a reliable tool for future environmental planning and preservation efforts. This open-access dataset allows for sophisticated geo-spatial analysis to protect cultural, natural, and mixed heritage locations from increasing threats like erosion and flooding. The authors intend to update the collection annually to reflect new inscriptions and evolving environmental conditions. This Rest is Climate Podcast draws on the recently published paper from the Climate Risk Lab: Mapping the global distribution of coastal World Heritage Sites: Glo-CoH, a new Global Coastal Heritage dataset. Scientific Data. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-026-07758-3. 

This Rest is Climate podcast introduces the concept of adaptation literacy as a vital evolution beyond basic climate awareness, focusing on the practical ability to navigate and respond to localized environmental risks. It presents a five-pillar framework that encompasses understanding impacts, risk perception, adaptation skills, reflexive capabilities, and ethical engagement to bridge the gap between knowledge and action. By distinguishing this from traditional climate literacy, adaptation literacy emphasizes transformative capabilities such as systems thinking, participatory governance, and the integration of Indigenous knowledge. The research identifies significant global and regional disparities in literacy rates, particularly noting how gender and socio-economic status limit adaptive agency in vulnerable populations. Ultimately, the source advocates for place-based, justice-oriented strategies that empower communities to implement effective, long-term solutions to climate change. Such a shift is presented as essential for moving from reactive coping to proactive resilience and informed decision-making across all sectors of society. It draws on recent research from the Climate Risk Lab and a global team of collaborators involved in the the implementation, policy and research on adaptation and public understanding of adaptation response options: Simpson, N.P., Sabour, S., Andrews, T.M. et al., 2026. Climate change adaptation literacy. npj Climate Action, https://doi.org/10.1038/s44168-026-00403-0

This podcast examines the devastating global impacts of compound climate events throughout 2025, categorising them into specific typologies such as spatial, temporal, and preconditioned interactions. We highlight how overlapping hazards, such as wildfires in Canada and catastrophic flooding in Mexico, resulted in damage that far exceeded the effects of isolated weather incidents. Key case studies illustrate how pre-existing environmental conditions, like extreme droughts or saturated soils, significantly amplified the lethality of subsequent storms and heatwaves. Beyond terrestrial disasters, the text notes severe ecological disruptions, including record-breaking coral bleaching in Australia and agricultural failures in Türkiye. Ultimately, the research advocates for integrated adaptation strategies that account for the increasingly complex and nonlinear nature of modern climate risks. These findings suggest that traditional disaster modelling must evolve to address the cascading vulnerabilities created by multiple concurrent hazards. The podcast draws on research from the Climate Risk Lab: Raymond et al. Compound weather and climate events in 2025. Nature Reviews Earth & Environment (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43017-026-00797-9 

This Rest is Climate Podcast discusses the formal adoption of the Belém Adaptation Indicators at COP30, which establish a framework for protecting global cultural heritage from climate change. This initiative aims to operationalise the Global Goal on Adaptation by creating measurable targets for preserving both physical sites and intangible traditions. The authors advocate for an ambitious approach that integrates Indigenous and local knowledge while avoiding excessive administrative burdens by aligning with existing UNESCO inventories. They highlight critical gaps, such as the need for better climate-resilient infrastructure reporting and improved access to adaptation finance for heritage custodians. Ultimately, the sources reposition heritage not just as a vulnerable asset, but as a dynamic driver of social resilience and sustainable development. Progress is measured through a mix of quantitative metrics and narrative-based assessments to capture the complex, relational value of cultural continuity. The podcast is based on the recent article from the Climate Risk Lab published in npj Climate Action, 'An Ambitious Global Goal on Adaptation for Heritage', https://doi.org/10.1038/s44168-026-00379-x