The Mohn Prize for 2026 awarded to Canadian John Smol
Grant and Award Announcement
Updates every hour. Last Updated: 3-Dec-2025 13:11 ET (3-Dec-2025 18:11 GMT/UTC)
A recent study by the Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar and Northeastern University highlights how climate change impacts pollination systems in the tropics, Mediterranean, and temperate zones. Using climate projections and simulations across 11 ecological networks, the study indicates that tropical plant-pollinator systems exhibit the highest sensitivity to rising temperatures, while temperate species may cope better. Analysis of conservation strategies to support pollination systems across these regions indicates a failure of a one-size-fits-all template and suggests designing region-specific strategies to effectively protect biodiversity and pollination services in the face of future warming.
Avenas has won first place in the Rhodium Ventures 2025 startup competition, organized by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem School of Business and Rhodium Ventures, in partnership with Earth & Beyond Ventures, Kyocera and the MAAYAN Student Foundation. The startup secured an investment commitment of up to NIS 6.5 million from the Earth & Beyond Ventures fund, subject to a due diligence process.
A new study highlights how Indigenous leadership, science and business can unite to protect coastal ecosystems while building long-term environmental and cultural knowledge. Published in Ocean & Coastal Management, the study found the 300 hectares of mangrove forest on the Barron River estuary around Cairns Airport – on the doorstep of the Great Barrier Reef – stores more than 2,000 tonnes of carbon annually, making ongoing care and monitoring of these and other coastal wetlands important for slowing climate change.
New research finds that a combination of extreme climate events, sea-level rise and land subsidence could create larger and deeper floods in coastal cities in future.
The study focused on Shanghai in China, which is threatened with flooding by large and strong typhoons, or tropical storms, producing storm surges and waves. To avoid disaster a major adaptation effort is required - which will almost certainly include raising defences and constructing mobile flood barriers, like those seen at the Thames Barrier in London. However, the team warn there is also the risk of “catastrophic failure” of defences due to rising water levels, especially due to the combination of subsidence, sea-level rise and higher surges during typhoons, as occurred in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
A team of researchers from the University of East London (UEL) has found an unexpected solution to one of the construction industry’s biggest carbon problems - and it lies on the shoreline. New findings show that discarded seashells, typically treated as waste, can be transformed into a low-carbon concrete ingredient, potentially cutting significant amounts of CO₂ from one of the world’s most polluting materials and helping drive more sustainable construction.