This weekly round-up brings you key climate news from the past seven days, including New Zealand’s proposal to ban lawsuits against polluting companies and how heat risks threatening players at the upcoming FIFA World Cup.
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1. Report Calling For Overhaul of US Disaster Response Agency Only Mentions ‘Climate’ Once
As the climate crisis fuels a new era of extreme weather, a new report is calling for a total overhaul of the federal agency tasked with America’s disaster response.
The report, compiled by a Review Council appointed by President Donald Trump and published last week, proposes sweeping changes to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) that experts warn could erode the country’s capacity to handle disasters, which are increasing as climate change worsens.
2025 was the third-highest year for billion-dollar disasters in the US, behind 2023 and 2024. A total of 23 weather and climate disasters racked up damages of at least $1 billion, claimed an estimated 276 lives and cost the country some $115 billion. And yet the 74-page report, which calls for major changes to the nation’s disaster programs, only includes one mention of the word “climate” and fails to address how these changes would meet the increasing need for rapid and efficient emergency disaster response systems.
Full story here.
2. Extreme Heat Now a ‘Regular Reality’ in India, Pakistan: Study
Heat on the scale of a recent heatwave in South Asia is now likely to occur once every five years owing to human-induced warming, according to a new study.
A group of researchers with World Weather Attribution analyzed the effect of human-caused warming on a heatwave that swept across India and Pakistan in late April and early May. The event brought temperatures exceeding 46C to several cities, killing at least 37 people in India and 10 in Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city.
Such extreme heat, researchers say, is three times as likely to occur on a warming planet compared to pre-industrial climate – now expected once every five years. This makes it no longer an extreme event, but rather a “regular reality,” said Mariam Zachariah, Research Associate in Extreme Weather and Climate Change at Imperial College London and one of the researchers involved in the study.
Full story here.
3. 1 in 4 Matches World Cup Could Take Place in Dangerous Heat Conditions, Analysis Finds
Players and fans are likely to face dangerous levels of heat and humidity throughout much of the upcoming World Cup tournament.
A team of 15 researchers with the World Weather Attribution group calculated the likelihood of all FIFA 2026 World Cup matches taking place when heat is in excess of what the global players’ union FIFPRO deems safe. 104 games are scheduled from June 12 across 16 host cities in Canada, Mexico and the US.
The analysis, which took account of actual game times, revealed that grueling heat and humidity are much more likely to affect this years’s tournament compared to the 1994 event on the same continent because of climate change. A large number of matches are scheduled at the hottest time of day – mid-day or afternoon – where high WBGT is most likely, contrary to FIFPRO recommendations.
Full story here.
4. New Zealand Mulls Law Prohibiting Civil Lawsuits Against Polluting Companies
Polluting companies may soon be shielded from civil lawsuits in New Zealand, where the government is planning legislation to retrospectively ban private citizens and organizations from suing businesses for their climate-damaging emissions.
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith announced the plan on Tuesday, citing ongoing civil cliams brought by climate campaigner Mike Smith against seven high-emitting New Zealand agriculture and energy companies. Smith’s case, which is due to be heard in the High Court next year, alleges that the companies’ emissions contribute to climate change and create a public nuisance for him and others.
Goldsmith said the case “is creating uncertainty in business confidence and investment that the Government must address,” as he proposed a plan to amend the 2002 Climate Change Reponse Act. The amendment, he continued, would “prevent filings of liability for tort for climate change damage, or harm caused by greenhouse gas emissions, in both current and future proceedings before the court,” ensuring that the response to climate change is managed solely by the government and allowing businesses to continue attracting overseas investment and stimulating economic growth.
Greenpeace slammed the proposal as a “shocking abuse of executive power to help corporate polluters.” In a statement, Greenpeace spokesperson Gen Toop said the law would have a “chilling effect on democracy” and “set a dangerous precedent.”
Full story here.
