Eighteen months ago, German ship captain Carola Rackete was hailed a hero by refugee campaigners after she defied the authorities by steering a migrant rescue vessel into the port of Lampedusa.

The United States presidential election will be "make or break" for the planet after four years during which Donald Trump frustrated global efforts to slash emissions, climate experts warn, fearing his re-election may imperil the world's chances of avoiding catastrophic warming.

Unilever, the maker of brands ranging from Ben & Jerry's ice cream to Dove soap, is trying to win over customers with a socially responsible makeover, but activists say that some of it is just cosmetic.

Eleven soldiers are dead and a frantic search is under way for 11 others after a huge landslide hit central Vietnam on Sunday, as the country battles its worst flooding in years.

Swiss glaciers have continued to shrink at an alarming rate this year, while snow accumulation on the largest glacier in the Alps reached a record low, a study showed Friday.

Although 2020 has not been a year of extremes, the glaciers in the Swiss Alps are still in steady decline, losing a full two percent of their volume this year alone, according to an annual study on the state of the glaciers published by the Swiss Academies of Science.

France will impose a new weight tax on heavy cars and sport utility vehicles as part of a plan to get automakers to reduce CO2 emissions, Environment Minister Barbara Pompili said Thursday.

In the wake of heat waves, global warming, forest fires, storms, droughts and a rising number of hurricanes, the U.N. weather agency is warning that the number of people who need international humanitarian help could rise 50% by 2030 compared to the 108 million who needed it worldwide in 2018.

In a new report released with partners on Tuesday, the World Meteorological Agency says more disasters attributed to weather are taking place each year. It said over 11,000 disasters have been attributed to weather, climate and phenomena like tsunamis that are related to water over the last 50 years — causing 2 million deaths and racking up $3.6 trillion worth of economic costs.

At least 18 people died and more than a dozen are missing after floods submerged homes in central Vietnam and rough seas capsized fishing boats, authorities said Monday, as another storm threatened fresh downpours.

Two moderate earthquakes of over 5.0 magnitude struck off the Greek island of Crete early Monday but there were no reports of casualties or damage.

Celebrities from filmmaker Ava DuVernay to Britain's Prince William to the Pope himself have issued powerful calls calling for people to mobilize and unify to confront the climate crisis.

Here are some quotes from the free, streamed TED event: