What will the world look like if we are unable to stay below the 1.5°C threshold? And, assuming we are able to reverse temperature increases, will the world simply return to how it was before? Andy Reisinger’s CMCC Lecture outlines a series of possible future scenarios, highlighting how climate risks will differ between a world that remains above the 1.5°C threshold and one that chooses to bring temperatures back down.
Europe’s cities are heating up fast, with urban areas becoming risk hotspots as heatwaves grow more frequent and intense. Across Europe, exposure to heatwaves jumped by 57% in just one decade, and without urgent adaptation, annual fatalities could rise from today’s 2,700 to as many as 50,000 by 2050. Urban heat islands can make cities up to 9°C warmer than surrounding areas, disproportionately affecting the elderly, low-income, and marginalized communities. Without urgent adaptation, rising urban temperatures could take a heavy toll on labour, GDP, and human life.
As of July 2025, almost 300,000 hectares of forest – an area larger than Luxembourg – has gone up in flames in Europe. What is more, the number of wildfire events could increase by 50% globally by the end of the century due to a combination of changes in climate and land use and management. These threats will tend to concentrate in hotspots such as the Mediterranean, where over 80% of European wildfires occur and which experienced upwards of 2.5 billion euros in wildfire related damages in 2022 alone.
Cooling poverty is a growing challenge at the intersection of climate change, social equity, and energy access. As global temperatures continue to rise and extreme heat events become a common feature of everyday life, a new form of energy poverty is emerging – one that affects millions of people worldwide who cannot afford to stay cool during the hottest moments of the summer months.
Home to over 500 million people across 22 countries whose lives are closely shaped by its waters, the Mediterranean Sea is not only a vital marine ecosystem but also one of the world’s most vulnerable climate hotspots, currently warming 20% faster than the global average. July 8th marks the International Day of the Mediterranean Sea — a moment to reflect on its importance and the urgent challenges it faces.
Day three at ECCA 2025 was all about collaboration and coordinated effort among institutions, public authorities, and stakeholders at all levels, towards the common good of enhancing resilience in our communities and cities. Adapting to climate change means aligning scientific insight with governance, finance, urban planning, and community voices. It also requires collaboration among different disciplines, with climate scientists collaborating with designers, architects, health experts, biologists, and even artists to bridge the gap between science and communities.
The key takeaway from day two at ECCA2025 is simple: communities need to be involved in the entire adaptation process. Not just as recipients of information, but as active partners that help shape solutions. “This is all about people,” says Philippe Tulkens of the EU Mission on Adaptation to Climate Change. It’s not about top-down strategies, but about building trust, enabling dialogue, and overcoming barriers together. Engagement is a two-way process that involves listening, adapting, and co-creating. The second day of ECCA was rich with discussions on engagement, trust, and resilience.
Adaptation to climate change is not an issue of the future, it’s an imminent need that requires an effective action plan. Day one at ECCA2025 laid the groundwork for finding the most innovative solutions to tackle climate change – and how to implement them with effective policies. High-level representatives from European institutions, the business community, and the scientific world engaged in conversations on adaptation and plenary panels outlining the strategies, challenges and hopes for future adaptation before a crowd of 600+ people from all over the world.
What are the causes of drought in the American dust belt or the Sahelian savanna? Are local practices to blame or should we be looking at broader climatic factors? Through an exploration of the causes and consequences of the Sahelian drought of the late 20th-century, Professor Alessandra Giannini explores the interplay between local and global factors and how attribution studies can have profound implications for adaptation efforts in the Sahel and beyond.
The goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C has become a cornerstone of international climate policy. However, as greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise and the impacts of climate change intensify, surpassing this threshold is looking increasingly likely, if not inevitable. This scenario raises urgent questions about the risks involved, the feasibility of returning to safer temperature levels, and the social and economic trade-offs associated with such pathways. New tools and research, such as CMCC’s overshoot platform based on the work of an international team of scientists and design experts, can help answer these questions.
Resilience has shifted from being a matter of choice to an imperative. From climate disasters to failing infrastructure, the ability to withstand and recover from shocks is now at the heart of decision-making. Yet, despite its critical importance, there is still no universal definition for resilience and its relationship with risk. Dr Igor Linkov, a distinguished expert in risk prevention and management, walks us through methods for resilience quantification and how these can help transform fragmented approaches to risk management into coordinated strategies.
The COP16 on Biological Diversity reconvened at the headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations in Rome between 25 and 27 February, providing a critical juncture for global biodiversity conservation and the role of science in informing international negotiations. “Until we establish governance that treats climate and biodiversity as two sides of the same crisis, we will continue to fail in finding effective solutions,” says CMCC researcher Cristina Cipriano, who participated in the proceedings as coordinator of the European Regional Chapter and the Italian National Chapter of the Global Youth Biodiversity Network.
