Cities and businesses have the power to play a crucial role and become the “stewards” of critical Earth systems by demonstrating how they can reduce their environmental impact on the planet, scientists say in a new report.

We are all about wicked problems.

To any informed reader, the idea of farming cold-ocean seabirds in the Australian desert is mind-numbingly silly. But this hypothetical idea helps us better understand how environmental governance in Australia has gone badly wrong.

Experts say city’s expansion has put more people at risk because homes are being built on flood-prone land.

We’ve known about the risk of floods to the Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley for a long time. Yet successive state governments have failed to properly mitigate its impact. Indeed, recent urban development policies by the current NSW government will multiply the risk.

The Mekong River is the lifeblood of countries in the Mekong region, but the past few years have seen water flows recurringly decline and processes of saltwater intrusion accelerating in the Vietnamese Mekong delta. These transboundary hydrological challenges have detrimental effects on millions of people.