Report The Panel agreed on the outline of the 2027 IPCC Methodology Report on Carbon Dioxide Removal Technologies, Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories (Additional guidance) at its 63rd Session held in Lima, Peru from 27-30 October 2025 (Decision IPCC-LXIII-6). The report will be a single Methodology Report comprising an Overview Chapter and six volumes consistent with the format of the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories. The structure of the Methodology Report is consistent with the 2006 IPCC Guidelines so as to make it easier for inventory compilers to use this Methodology Report with the 2006 IPCC Guidelines. Topics that will be addressed include: Transport, injection and sequestering of CO2 in relation to enhanced oil, gas, and coal-bed methane recovery Production of products containing or derived from captured and/or removed CO2 Carbonation of cement and lime-based structures Soil carbon sinks and related emissions enhanced through biochar and weathering and other elements Coastal wetlands carbon dioxide removal types not in previous IPCC Guidelines as well as additional information on mangroves, tidal marshes and seagrass in coastal waters Durable biomass products Carbon dioxide capture from combustion and process gases Direct air capture Carbon dioxide utilisation Carbon dioxide transport including cross border issues Carbon dioxide injection and storage CO2 removal through direct capture of CO2 from water already processed by inland and coastal facilities; and related elements across the range of categories of the IPCC Guidelines. The national greenhouse gas inventory includes sources and sinks occurring within the territory over which a country has jurisdiction. Over 150 experts are expected to participate in the writing process, which will be completed by 2027. The participants will be selected by the Task Force Bureau taking into account scientific and technical expertise, geographical and gender balance to the extent possible in line with Appendix A to the Principles Governing IPCC Work. The First Lead Authors’ meeting will be held in Rome, Italy, in April 2026. Preparatory Work The decision by the Panel to prepare this Methodology Report was informed by the work of experts at the scoping meeting held in Copenhagen, Denmark, from 14-16 October 2024. Prior to the scoping meeting, an expert meeting was held at Vienna, Austria 1-3 July 2024. These meetings considered Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) methods mentioned in the AR6 WGIII Report as a starting point for discussion and noted that several CDR activities have been already covered by the existing IPCC Guidelines. More Information The IPCC Secretary has written to national government focal points inviting nominations of authors by 12 December 2025.

Fast Facts Medicaid programs that cover prescription drugs are generally required to cover drugs that are (1) FDA approved and (2) made by a manufacturer that participates in the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program. 13 Medicaid programs didn’t cover Mifeprex and its generic equivalent, Mifepristone Tablets, 200 mg, when required. These drugs are used for medical abortion. We recommended the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services ensure Medicaid programs comply with federal requirements for covering Mifepristone Tablets, 200 mg. We also reiterated our 2019 recommendation on Mifeprex, which hasn’t been implemented. White pills spilling from a pill bottle. Skip to Highlights Highlights What GAO Found Medicaid programs that choose to cover outpatient prescription drugs are required to cover all Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved drugs for their medically accepted indications when those drugs are made by a manufacturer that participates in the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program (MDRP), except as outlined in federal law. The FDA has approved two drugs—Mifeprex in 2000 and its generic equivalent in 2019, referred to as Mifepristone Tablets, 200 mg—for the medical termination of an intrauterine pregnancy, known as a medical abortion. Danco Laboratories and GenBioPro are the exclusive manufacturers of Mifeprex and Mifepristone Tablets, 200 mg, respectively, and both manufacturers participate in the MDRP. Medicaid programs in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico cover prescription drugs and participate in the MDRP. According to officials from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)—the federal agency within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) responsible for ensuring Medicaid programs’ compliance—none of the MDRP’s statutory exceptions apply to Mifeprex or Mifepristone Tablets, 200 mg. Thus, these 52 Medicaid programs must cover these drugs when prescribed for medical abortion in circumstances eligible for federal funding, such as when the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest. GAO identified gaps in Medicaid programs’ coverage of Mifeprex and Mifepristone Tablets, 200 mg. Officials from 35 of the 49 programs who responded to GAO questions said their programs covered Mifeprex and Mifepristone Tablets, 200 mg for medical abortion, as of December 31, 2024. In contrast, officials from 13 programs told GAO their programs did not cover either drug for medical abortion. An official from the remaining program did not specify the medical indications for which its program covered the drugs. Medicaid Programs’ Coverage of Danco Laboratories’ Mifeprex and GenBioPro’s Mifepristone Tablets, 200 mg, as of December 31, 2024 Note: For more details, see fig. 1 in GAO-25-107911. State officials’ responses to GAO’s questions indicated that some states may not be complying with the MDRP requirements for covering Mifeprex and Mifepristone Tablets, 200 mg. However, CMS has not determined the extent to which states comply with the MDRP requirements for these drugs. CMS officials told GAO they were not aware of the following: Nine programs did not cover Mifeprex and Mifepristone Tablets, 200 mg for any medical indication, as of December 31, 2024; GAO reported four of these programs did not cover Mifeprex in 2019. Mifepristone Tablets, 200 mg was not available at the time of GAO’s 2019 report. Four additional Medicaid programs did not cover either drug when prescribed for medical abortion, as of December 31, 2024. CMS was not aware of these coverage gaps, in part, because it had not implemented GAO’s 2019 recommendation to take actions to ensure Medicaid programs comply with MDRP requirements to cover Mifeprex. CMS also has not taken actions related to the coverage of Mifepristone Tablets, 200 mg, as of August 2025. Without such actions, CMS lacks assurance that Medicaid programs comply with MDRP requirements and Medicaid beneficiaries may lack access to these drugs when appropriate. Why GAO Did This Study GAO was asked to describe Medicaid programs’ coverage of mifepristone. This report examines Medicaid programs’ coverage of Mifeprex and Mifepristone Tablets, 200 mg, among other things. GAO reviewed laws and CMS guidance on the MDRP, and coverage of Mifeprex and Mifepristone Tablets, 200 mg. GAO also sent written questions to officials from the 52 Medicaid programs that participate in the MDRP regarding their coverage of these drugs, and reviewed officials’ responses from the 49 programs that provided GAO information. Recommendations GAO reiterates its 2019 recommendation that CMS take actions to ensure states’ compliance with MDRP requirements to cover Mifeprex. GAO also recommends that CMS determine the extent to which states comply with federal Medicaid requirements regarding coverage of GenBioPro’s Mifepristone Tablets, 200 mg, and take actions, as appropriate, to ensure compliance. In response to the recommendation, HHS noted it is reviewing applicable law and will determine the best course of action to address it moving forward. Recommendations for Executive Action Agency Affected Recommendation Status Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services The Administrator of CMS should determine the extent to which states comply with federal Medicaid requirements regarding coverage of GenBioPro's Mifepristone Tablets, 200 mg, and take actions, as appropriate, to ensure compliance. (Recommendation 1) Open Actions to satisfy the intent of the recommendation have not been taken or are being planned. When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information. Full Report Full Report (11 pages)

05.12.2025 – The European Scientific Advisory Board on Climate Change, established under the European Climate Law, will continue to be supported in its second term (2026-2030) by Ottmar Edenhofer. The Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) has now been appointed by the Management Board of the European Environment Agency in Copenhagen for another four-year term on the Advisory Board, beginning on 24 March 2026. Advising EU policymakers on the path to the declared goal of climate neutrality: PIK Director Ottmar Edenhofer. Photo: PIK/Karkow The Advisory Board gives independent advice and produces reports on EU policies, and their coherence with the Climate Law and the EU’s commitments under the Paris Agreement. It consists of 15 high-level scientific experts covering a wide range of relevant fields. Edenhofer is serving as the Advisory Board’s current Chair during its first term (2022-2026). Highlights during this period have included scientific recommendations for an ambitious EU climate target for 2040, an analysis of the action needed to achieve climate neutrality, and a study on scaling up atmospheric carbon removals. “I am very thankful for the great opportunity to continue supporting EU climate policy in this service role for the next four years,” says Edenhofer, who is also Professor for The Economics and Politics of Climate Change at the Technische Universität Berlin. “The European Union has taken some important steps in recent years towards its declared goal of climate neutrality by 2050. It remains important to make climate policy cost-effective, socially balanced and consistent with the requirements of an internationally competitive economy. As a member of the Advisory Board, I will do my best to provide scientific advice to policymakers on this task.” The composition of the Advisory Board for the next four-year term has now been decided through an open, fair and transparent selection process lasting several months. The decision on who will chair the body in future is not expected until beginning of the second term. The other members of the Advisory Board in the second term are: • Annela Anger-Kraavi – University of Cambridge • Constantinos Cartalis – National and Kapodistrian University of Athens • Suraje Dessai – University of Leeds’ School of Earth, Environment, and Sustainability • Laura Díaz Anadón – University of Cambridge • Vera Eory – Scotland’s Rural College • Lena Kitzing - Technical University of Denmark • Kati Kulovesi – University of Eastern Finland • Lars J. Nilsson – Lund University • Åsa Persson – KTH Royal Institute of Technology’s Climate Action Centre • Keywan Riahi – International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis • Jean-François Soussana – French National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and the Environment • Giorgio Vacchiano – University of Milan • Detlef van Vuuren – PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency • Zinta Zommers – University of Toronto

Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. forces carried out a military strike in Venezuela, capturing President Nicolás Maduro and his wife. In response, Neera Tanden, president and CEO of the Center for American Progress, issued the following statement: President Donald Trump’s coup in Venezuela is based on a lie. Venezuela does not pose a national security threat to the American people. The capture of Maduro is a blatant violation of international law. While he was clearly an authoritarian tyrant who held onto power through massive election fraud, he posed no military threat to the United States. President Trump is using Maduro’s indictment on drug charges as a rationale for this act of war, but Trump recently pardoned a former Honduran president who helped traffic massive quantities of cocaine into the United States. Trump promised Americans he would stay out of wars, but his irresponsible actions are only leading to more chaos that puts Americans in danger and makes the United States less trusted in the world. Our country has an infamous history of regime change that feels good in the moment but ages very badly. For more information or to speak with an expert, please contact Sam Hananel at shananel@americanprogress.org.

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The escalating frequency of extreme climatic events, particularly torrential rainfall, has acquired enhanced importance in spatial risk zoning for power grid infrastructure. In the study, we employ the Bayesian Structural Equation Model (BSEM) to realize risk zoning for power grids vulnerable to rainstorm disasters. Within the BSEM framework, a three-tiered risk assessment index system is developed, integrating meteorological, environmental, and historical power outage data. In contrast to conventional risk zoning methodologies, the proposed framework can effectively capture intricate causal interdependencies between diverse risk factors. By leveraging the constructed BSEM framework, we evaluate power grid risk indices (η) at sampled locations across Anhui Province, China, under rainstorm disaster scenarios. Then, the risk distribution of power grid in Anhui Province is visualized using ordinary kriging interpolation. The results reveal that the high-risk and extremely high-risk zones collectively cover 38,925 km2, representing 27.31% of the provincial territory. The proposed BSEM framework offers an innovative methodology for assessing grid risks during rainstorm disasters, providing practical insights to enhance power sector resilience via improved early warning systems, resource optimization, and infrastructure planning.

Under future changing climate conditions, hydro-climate variability is poised to intensify with extreme events surpassing historical thresholds. While the influence of El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) on global and regional hydro-climates are well-documented, their specific effects at finer spatial scales remain less explored. This study significantly advances our understanding by establishing a teleconnection between these multifaceted climate oscillations and the Aghanashini River Basin (ARB), a Ramsar wetland site and a part of UNESCO biodiversity hotspot, identifying the vulnerability of this fragile ecosystem to the intensifying impacts of changing climate. Non-parametric biwavelet and multiwavelet analyses revealed significant shared power (95% significance level) between combined ENSO-IOD phases and hydro-climate variables (rainfall, temperature and streamflow) at periodicities exceeding 12 months, with an Average Wavelet Coherence Power exceeding 0.70, indicating a stronger combined influence compared to individual oscillations. Positive ENSO-IOD phases increased mean rainfall by 12.76%, leading to extreme wet conditions with water yield ranging from 2.75 × 109 to 0.2 × 109 m3 during monsoon months, while negative phases induced droughts. Using the enhanced Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT), the projected increase in the frequency and intensity of consecutive ENSO-IOD events (0–4/31 years) are expected to exacerbate hydrological extremes, causing more frequent and severe floods and droughts and significantly altering salinity levels (> 30 ppt) in the ARB river ecosystem. These changes threaten biodiversity and river health, calling for urgent global action through adaptive water management and community-led restoration to ensure long-term sustainability.

Oasis fires have become increasingly frequent due to climate change, threatening fragile ecosystems and agricultural livelihoods, particularly in the semi-arid region. This study develops a data-driven fire susceptibility mapping framework for Errachidia province, Morocco, integrating Sentinel-2 satellite imagery and machine learning (ML) models, including support vector machines (SVM), random forest (RF), and eXtreme gradient boosting (XGBoost). Unlike previous studies focusing on Mediterranean and arid landscapes, this research explicitly addresses wildfire susceptibility mapping in Moroccan oasis ecosystems, where limited scientific assessments exist. The study introduces an innovative ML-based fire susceptibility mapping framework for palm oasis ecosystems, which compiles multi-source geospatial datasets, including topographic, meteorological, and anthropogenic variables, to identify fire-prone areas from 2019 to 2024. Advanced feature selection and data preprocessing techniques were employed to enhance model efficiency. The dataset was split into 70% training and 30% testing, with model performance assessed using multiple metrics, including ROC-AUC, precision, recall, and F1-score. This work’s innovative hybrid SVM–XGBoost model demonstrated superior predictive accuracy, achieving an impressive 0.996 AUC, outperforming stand-alone models. The susceptibility maps identified high-risk hotspots near Oued Ziz, Ouled Chaker, and Aoufous Oases, where vegetated loss exceeded 30 hectares based on NDVI analysis. This study contributes to wildfire risk management by providing a robust, validated, and transferable methodology for fire prediction in arid and semi-arid ecosystems. The findings offer critical insights for targeted mitigation strategies, including optimized firebreak placement and community-driven fire awareness programs. Integrating remote sensing with ML, the proposed framework enhances early warning systems and adaptive wildfire resilience strategies, making it applicable to global fire-prone ecosystems facing similar climatic challenges.