Committee on Climate Change

Mountain forests provide essential ecosystem services, including protection against natural hazards. However, climate change and the predominance of structurally homogeneous Norway spruce stands increase their predisposition to disturbances such as windthrow, bark beetle infestation, and snow breakage. Given limited resources for proactive and reactive forest management, prioritizing silvicultural interventions is crucial. We present a framework for the spatially explicit assessment of forest predisposition to snow breakage, windthrow, and bark beetle infestation at 10 m resolution across regional scales. The approach integrates high-resolution forest structural and site factor attributes primarily derived from nationally available airborne laser scanning (ALS) data. These attributes are weighted using an expert-based model according to their influence on disturbance predisposition. Weighted values are aggregated and classified into four predisposition classes, from low (< 50th) to extreme (> 95th percentile). Validation of local foresters at 142 reference sites showed significant correlations between forester-rated and modeled predisposition for windthrow and bark beetle, but not for snow breakage. New bark beetle infestations were strongly associated with increasing predisposition classes. Forest structural parameters such as forest mixture and spruce share, development stage, and canopy layering were key predictors and could be determined with high accuracy, enabling detailed and accurate predisposition mapping even in steep terrain. Assessing predisposition to snow breakage remains challenging due to the high stochastic variability in the location, characteristics, and amount of snow fall. As the main predictors are derived from nationwide ALS data, the methodology is transferable to other mountain regions. Developed in close collaboration with practitioners, the framework supports operational forest management by improving prioritization of interventions. • Framework for spatially explicit predisposition mapping in mountain forests. • Use of detailed forest structure parameters based on nationwide airborne laser scanning. • High correlation between predisposition mapping and on-site forester assessment. • Increase of detected bark beetle nests with increasing predisposition class. • Support of spatial prioritization of forest management interventions.

Abstract The climate crisis is increasingly contributing to a mental health crisis. Policy and practice inadequately account for the mental health costs of climate change and the mental health benefits of climate action. The climate and mental health field is expanding rapidly but unevenly. Connecting Climate Minds (CCM), a global initiative, aimed to develop a guiding vision to ensure investment in and implementation of future research aligns with lived experience needs and appropriately informs policies. CCM convened 1184 contributors with diverse expertise across 126 countries, through 21 online and in-person dialogues. Their insights produced a Global Research and Action Agenda for climate change and mental health. This paper outlines the 53 research priorities structured into four high-level themes (impacts, risks and vulnerable groups; pathways and mechanisms; mental health benefits and risks of climate action; mental health interventions). It also outlines how to implement research and translate evidence to action.

Climate change has emerged as one of the most crucial challenges of the twenty-first century, with far-reaching consequences for ecosystems, economies, and societies worldwide. In tropical countries such as India, the agricultural activities of working labour which involves higher levels of physical exertion had been badly affected by the summer time heat stress in recent years. For example, February 2025 was India’s hottest in 125 years, with many states breaching 40°C. The unusual warming at several locations in India is expected to increase faster in coming decades and could become vulnerable to physiological acclimatization among the city dwellers as well as farmers in rural areas carrying out activities in outdoor and indoor work places. Other extreme weather events like floods and droughts are also becoming more frequent and intense, disrupting communities and the infrastructure they rely on. Worsening storms and floods have continued to inundate entire cities; crippling droughts parch farmland; and intensifying climate risks threaten water supplies. India seems to be on track for a 3°C rise in temperature or higher over the pre-industrial average by 2100. In addition to preventing further climate change through appropriate mitigation measures such as phasing out use of fossil fuels, and renewable energy and bioenergy generation, it is of fundamental interest to analyse the existing impacts and implement appropriate adaptation measures and strengthen our early warning systems. Managing water sustainably together with building more efficient irrigation systems and better drainage, restoration of forest ecosystems in degraded areas and improve land and forest management through nature-based solutions for increasing food production, seems fundamental to climate resilience in India. A clear and consistent Sector-Specific Policies and Regulations to support NDC Implementation in India with a tailored intervention for high emission sectors is needed.

The Albertine Rift, located in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), constitutes a significant ecosystem, characterised by an exceptional diversity of aquatic environments, including lakes, rivers, wetlands, and peat lands. These ecosystems play a fundamental role in the socio-economic livelihoods of riparian communities. This study adopts a multidisciplinary approach, drawing on the concepts of ecosystem services, socio-ecological systems, and political ecology. It highlights the multiple functions of these aquatic environments, namely fisheries, irrigated agriculture, domestic water supply, artisanal activities, ecotourism, spirituality, and cultural cohesion. Aquatic ecosystems are central to food security, rural economic development, and the preservation of cultural identities. In addition, they provide essential regulating services, such as water resource management, water purification, and carbon sequestration. Collectively, these services enhance the resilience of local communities in the face of climatic variability and socio-political crises. Despite their importance, these ecosystems are increasingly threatened by pollution, uncontrolled urban expansion, overexploitation of resources, climate change, and institutional lacunas. Their degradation is driven by multiple interacting factors, including population pressure and conflicts over natural resource use. In response, this study advocates for an integrated and participatory governance framework that emphasises the valorisation of local knowledge. It calls for ecological restoration initiatives, the promotion of a sustainable local economy, capacity building within communities, and increased investment in environmental education. Under such strategic orientations, the aquatic ecosystems of the Albertine Rift could serve as key pillars for sustainable development, peacebuilding, and socio-ecological resilience in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Intensifying tropical cyclones threaten linked socio-ecological systems. The Philippine abaca (Musa textilis), comprising >85% of global supply, is concentrated in the world's most typhoon-prone landscapes, yet its coupled vulnerability with endemic forest biodiversity remains unquantified. We develop a novel framework to map where climate hazard, livelihood dependence, and conservation priority intersect. Using 45 years of typhoon data (1980-2025), we integrate metrics for abaca cultivation and forest biodiversity to create the first high-resolution Co-Vulnerability Index for any Philippine island. We reveal that the highest-risk zones are concentrated within protected area networks. Here, typhoon exposure drives 48% of the risk, followed by biodiversity value (33%) and abaca livelihoods (20%). This critical finding, that formal protection coincides with peak vulnerability, challenges the view of protected areas as passive refuges. It instead underscores their necessary role as active platforms for integrated climate adaptation, providing a scalable targeting tool for cyclone-prone regions worldwide.

Many species are composed of two or more genetically distinct clades, indicating ongoing or past evolutionary divergence. Often however, there are no obvious morphological differences between clades, making it difficult to accurately assess specific aspects of biodiversity or to enact targeted conservation efforts. New advancements in artificial intelligence tools can be used to categorise individuals into their respective genetic clades and to highlight their distinguishing morphological characters that would otherwise be hidden from human observers. Here, we applied computer vision and explainable artificial intelligence techniques to four limpet species that display well-defined phylogeographic breaks along the Baja California and California coasts. A fine-tuned convolutional network, trained and evaluated over 100 resampling iterations, classified individuals into their genetic clades with median F1-scores of up to 0.96. F1-score performance was markedly higher for true clade groups than the controlled mixed-groups, confirming the presence of features specific to the clades. Saliency maps consistently emphasised structures such as the keyhole in Fissurella volcano and the ridge tips in Lottia conus as distinguishing features, and subsequent shape analyses confirmed significant divergence between clades. These results demonstrate the power of computer vision and explainable artificial intelligence to expose otherwise cryptic morphological diversity and provide a scalable, reproducible workflow that can broaden the biodiversity toolkit and refine eco-evolutionary research across taxa.