A framework agreement to protect open oceans is the first step toward enacting protections for ecosystems that take CO2 from the air and store it for millennia in sediments.
Source : Inside Climate News
March 14, 2023
A large new marine protected area could help some of the world’s most heat-tolerant corals survive the century, if the pressures from resorts, industry and other development ease.
Source : Inside Climate News
February 6, 2023
News coverage of the Amazon rainforest in the past few years has been grim. Deforestation rates in the Brazilian Amazon increased 15% during 2021, with 9,770 square kilometers of native vegetation lost, an area the size of Puerto Rico. If deforestation continues, a tipping point may be reached, where the Amazon rainforest becomes a net emitter of carbon rather than a carbon sink. Aside from fueling climate change, deforestation poses risks to biodiversity: the Amazon is home to one out of every 10 species known to science. The problem is that the current regional economic model in the Amazon is highly dependent on resource extraction and exploitation, pushing the rainforest closer to its tipping point. Changes in land use account for almost half of Brazil’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and of those emissions, approximately 80% are linked to deforestation in the Amazon. It’s clear that heavily forested nations like Brazil need a new economic model — one fit for a low-carbon, sustainable and prosperous future. Enter the “bioeconomy.”
Source : World Resources Institute
December 5, 2022
A New Yorker may not think about the forested Catskills Mountain Range upstate as she pours a glass of water. Londoners probably don’t consider the Amazon rainforest as they watch the rain falling on city parks. And folks in Addis Ababa are probably not thinking about the Congo Basin as they eat injera, an Ethiopian staple made from the grain teff. And yet, forests near and far affect these urbanites’ daily lives far more than most people realize.
Source : World Resources Institute
November 30, 2022
Back in the 1990s, researchers undertook the Human Genome Project, a 13-year journey designed to enable a new era of innovation in medicine. By assembling and sharing vast amounts of data to uncover the secrets behind the genetic determinants of disease, this project transformed the medical industry and led to innumerable breakthroughs. Now, researchers are extending that model of innovation to battery science with an eye on impact at a global scale.
Source : Argonne US National Laboratory
October 14, 2022
The three most prevalent myths about tackling climate change allege that transitioning to renewable energy jacks up household bills, requires massive amounts of government subsidy and creates mass unemployment. These concerns are all (thankfully) false.
Source : The Conversation
October 7, 2022
Two years into a reforestation campaign, the country has yet to meet 1 percent of its objective, sowing worry about the level of financial commitment from the government. And some fret that planting trees may not be an optimal strategy for countering climate change or fulfilling other environmental goals.
Source : Inside Climate News
October 3, 2022
Europe’s largest river restoration is making changes across the entire landscape, bringing benefits to wildlife and people
Source : The Guardian
September 22, 2022
Lithium mining is much cleaner than coal mining.
Source : Yale Climate Connections
September 19, 2022
Switching from fossil fuels to renewable energy could save the world as much as $12tn (£10.2tn) by 2050, an Oxford University study says.
Source : BBC
September 15, 2022
We know that deforestation is an ongoing, devastating problem — satellite data has been tracking it closely for years. But another question has remained more elusive: How much new forest is growing? Thanks to new data from researchers at the University of Maryland and WRI, we now have an answer: Tree cover — lots of it —is cropping up all over the globe. All told, 130.9 million hectares of land gained tree cover globally between 2000 and 2020, according to the study. Put together, that’s an area larger than Peru.
Source : World Resources Institute
August 23, 2022
Electric vehicles are far more energy-efficient than traditional internal combustion vehicles.
Source : Yale Climate Connections
August 15, 2022
When most people think of coastal ecosystems, they think of mighty mangrove forests and colorful coral reefs. But these ecosystems are only the tip of the iceberg — there’s more beneath the surface, specifically seagrass. Seagrasses provide humans with countless goods and services — everything from food security to shoreline protection to clean water. They are found in almost every sea around the world, with more than 1 billion people living within 100 kilometers of seagrass meadows. Yet most people are unfamiliar with the many benefits these plants provide to humans and animals alike. Here, we answer key questions about seagrasses: What are they, where are they and why are they important? Let’s dive in.
Source : World Resources Institute
August 10, 2022
Researchers and startups are moving forward with plans for windows that generate electricity.
Source : Inside Climate News
August 10, 2022
These ocean giants store planet-warming carbon in their bodies – 33 tons in fact! That’s equivalent to thousands of trees. They also play an important role in the overall health of the marine environment by boosting phytoplankton – microscopic plants that produce more than half the world’s oxygen. Without whales, we won’t have a healthy ocean, let alone a healthy planet
Source : WWF International
July 1, 2022
The success of the green transition depends less on the development of new technologies, but rather on the creation of favourable conditions to increase the adoption of current solutions and benefit from their widespread implementation.
Source : Solar Impulse Foundation
July 1, 2022
A webinar on 20 May underscored the importance of the recently released landmark joint appeal, “Climate Responsible Finance—A Moral Imperative Towards Children,” signed by the World Council of Churches (WCC), United Nations Environment Programme, Muslim Council of Elders, and New York Board of Rabbis.
Source : World Council of Churches – 2050Today member
June 22, 2022
British academic Jem Bendell’s paper is a “Map for Navigating Climate Tragedy.” But many of its proponents embrace its precepts out of a “deep love for this planet.”
Source : Inside Climate News
June 18, 2022
A battery project uses a technology that could be vital for meeting the need for long-duration energy storage.
Source : Inside Climate News
May 20, 2022
While efforts to reduce GHG emissions should always take priority, meeting climate goals will also require carbon dioxide removal (CDR) — systems that remove carbon directly from the air — likely at the billion-tonne scale by mid-century. Carbon removal is needed not only to balance out residual emissions that cannot be or are not eliminated by 2050, but also to reduce the high concentration of carbon dioxide in the air, which is triggering increasingly devastating climate change impacts.
Source : World Resources Institute
May 11, 2022
While glass bottles have been part of the wine-drinking tradition for centuries, making the material requires huge amounts of energy at a time when companies are looking for ways to reduce the carbon footprint of their products. Recycling rates for glass are also poor.
Source : The Guardian
May 5, 2022
The world loses 3-4 million hectares of primary tropical forest every year. When they disappear, so do the benefits they provide — everything from carbon storage to biodiversity protection. But there are solutions. Forest expert Frances Seymour lays out four ways to end deforestation in the next decade.
Source : World Resources Institute
April 21, 2022
Solutions that work in concert with nature could help address climate risks, experts say, but barriers remain to widespread adoption by the railroad industry.
Source : Inside Climate News
April 9, 2022
Decades of as-yet unrealized optimism for the safe and effective application of fusion power keep us waiting, but the climate clock keeps ticking in search of a fusion ‘solution.’
Source : Yale Climate Connection
March 22, 2022
The court’s ruling cheered environmentalists and sent shock waves through the mining industry, which now must prove that projects don’t harm ecosystems or endanger species.
Source : Inside Climate News
February 21, 2022
« Using very conservative estimates, we found that reuse can save at least 50 percent of climate emissions, » Juska wrote via email following an interview for this story. « But, if standards are in place so that cities and companies can align and create more efficiencies, reuse can save up to 80 percent of climate emissions compared to single-use. » (For comparison, increasing recycled content only saves 15 percent or less, Juska noted.)
Source : GreenBiz
January 28, 2022
A short video from Local Motives shows how the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana is revitalizing coastal ecosystems
Source : Yale Climate Connections
January 28, 2022
Research shows a big improvement in generating capacity per acre of solar panels, with implications for how much land is needed for an energy transition.
Source : Inside Climate News
January 27, 2022
Proponents say the ‘regenerative farming’ eating challenge encourages consumption of more sustainable animal products – but is it just greenwash?
Source : The Guardian
January 20, 2022
Tiny proportion of world’s land surface hosts carbon-rich forests and peatlands that would not recover before 2050 if lost
Source : Inside Climate News
December 10, 2021
Thomas Büchi a créé Charpente Concept en 1991, premier bureau spécialisé en ingénierie du bois à Genève. Il est à l’origine de nombreux bâtiments emblématiques en bois (la Halle 7 de Palexpo, le Palais de l’équilibre, le refuge du Goûter, la « broken chair », etc.) et plaide pour une meilleure utilisation de celui-ci dans la construction. D’un seul employé il y a trente ans, sa société en compte aujourd’hui 33 et possède six agences réparties entre la Suisse et la France.
Source : Genie.ch
Tiny proportion of world’s land surface hosts carbon-rich forests and peatlands that would not recover before 2050 if lost
Source : The Guardian
November 29, 2021
Researchers argue that the shift to carbon-free energy is gaining momentum, largely because of economic benefits.
Source : Inside Climate News
November 25, 2021
Climate intervention is laden with risk, but researchers are gingerly exploring the options.
Source : Yale Climate Connections
October 8, 2021
Even a planned facility 10 times larger would have almost no impact on the 33 billion tons of carbon to be emitted this year.
Source : Inside Climate News
September 9, 2021
Hybrit sends steel made with hydrogen production process to Volvo, which plans to use it in prototype vehicles and components
Source : The Guardian
August 23, 2021
and this can have implications for health and the environment. As a result, there is a need to make better use of the wide variety of crops available to us, some of which have been cultivated and consumed by communities for centuries, and explore how they can be incorporated into modern diets worldwide in an equitable and sustainable way.
Source : The Economist Intelligence Unit
July 2, 2021
Roads in which waste plastic is melted down and mixed with paving materials are becoming more common around the world. Although for now they remain a niche technology, experts say the roads could become one of a diverse array of uses for discarded plastic.
Source : TED – Explore ideas worth spreading
June 21, 2021
It’s a promising technology still in its infancy. When people think of wind power, most imagine rows of giant turbines stretching across wide expanses of land. David Yáñez envisions something else entirely.
Source : Yale Climate Connections
May 25, 2021
Nearly 59 million hectares of forests – an area larger than mainland France– has regrown since 2000, according to new analysis from Trillion Trees. This area of forest has the potential to store the equivalent of 5.9 Gt of CO2e – more than the annual emissions of the United States
Source : Trilliontrees
May 12, 2021
No matter how many solar panels, wind turbines and electric cars are built between now and 2030, the world won’t meet its increasingly ambitious climate targets without a lot of help from forests, fields and oceans.
Source : Inside Climate News
May 5, 2021
The artificial island would receive electricity from surrounding offshore wind farms, store some of it in batteries, and send most of it to population centers in Denmark and other countries through undersea power lines.
Source : Inside Climate News
April 30, 2021
At the turn of the 20th Century, Thomas Edison invented a battery with the unusual quirk of producing hydrogen. Now, 120 years later, the battery is coming into its own.
Source : BBC Future Planet
April 1, 2021
Indigenous and tribal peoples play a critical role as guardians of forest ecosystems, a United Nations report finds.
Source : Inside Climate News
How national governments can recover from COVID-19, secure shared prosperity, and tackle the climate crisis through cities.
Source : Coalition for Urban Transitions
March 17, 2021
Swiss Re has announced new measures to support the transition to a net-zero economy, encompassing both asset management and underwriting as well as its own operations.
Source : Climate action
March 16, 2021
When ocean heat waves and a sea star disease devastated kelp forests that are critical to sea life and the California urchin fishing industry, sea otters came to the rescue.
Source : Inside Climate News
March 16, 2021
Low costs of wind and solar power helped renewables pass coal in electricity generation; gas remains the leader.
Source : Inside Climate News
Not all of the water from the planet’s melting glaciers is pouring into rivers and oceans. A surprising amount is building up behind unstable piles of rubble left behind by the retreating ice. As the Earth continues to warm, the swelling lakes threaten to burst through the glacial moraines holding them back and wash away the forests, towns and farms below.
Source : Inside Climate News
Les panneaux photovoltaïques cohabitent avec la végétalisation afin de produire de l’énergie verte tout en protégeant les bâtiments. Le Grand JD nous emmène sur les toitures de l’HEPIA – Haute École du paysage, d’ingénierie et d’architecture de Genève – où cette aventure commence. Ce projet est financé grâce au Fonds Vitale Environnement, alimenté par les Genevois·es ayant choisi Electricité Vitale Vert.
Source : SIG
Want to capture the attention of millions of young people and raise awareness about the climate emergency? Then talk to the video gaming industry.
Levelling up, going faster, scoring higher and taking on the impossible is not just what it takes to achieve gaming stardom. They are exactly what it will take to confront urgent global challenges.
A recent report by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and partners analyses the impact of the Playing for the Planet Alliance, an initiative that taps the power of the gaming industry to encourage action on climate change. Supported by UNEP, GRID-Arendal and Playmob, the alliance brings together 29 major gaming companies, which can reach over 1.2 billion players.
Source : UNEP
As offshore oil and gas platforms come to the end of their working lives, the remarkable ecosystems beneath the waves come into their own.
Source : BBC Future Planet
“The survey brings the voice of the people to the forefront of the climate debate. It signals ways in which countries can move forward with public support as we work together to tackle this enormous challenge.” Achim Steiner, Administrator, United Nations Development Programme
With 1.2 million respondents, the Peoples’ Climate Vote is the largest survey of public opinion on climate change ever conducted. Using a new and unconventional approach to polling, results span 50 countries1 covering 56% of the world’s population
Source : UNDP
The future of electric vehicles is batteries, batteries, batteries. That means a lot of mining for nickel, lithium, cobalt, and other minerals. Indeed, with the enormous growth in demand expected in the electric vehicle industry in the coming years, there’s concern about securing enough battery supplies to meet demand. One solution that will increase as the industry grows and EVs on the road get older is battery recycling.
Source : Clean Technica
As the renewable energy sector grows, high-capacity long-life battery storage is fundamental to its success. How these batteries are designed and made will define their environmental impact for generations to come. Creating a circular economy for batteries is crucial to prevent one of the solutions to the current environmental crisis becoming the cause of another.
Source : Ellen MacArthur Foundation
As more companies set aggressive decarbonization and net-zero goals, the role of technologies and processes that draw down excess levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide and help sequester those emissions by using it as a feedstock for another product is in the spotlight.
Source : GreenBiz
As the renewable energy sector grows, high-capacity long-life battery storage is fundamental to its success. How these batteries are designed and made will define their environmental impact for generations to come. Creating a circular economy for batteries is crucial to prevent one of the solutions to the current environmental crisis becoming the cause of another.
Source : Ellen MacArthur Foundation
Comment: The EU’s enthusiastic embrace of hydrogen risks undermining the clean energy transition and its newly-minted 2030 greenhouse gas target
Source : Climate Home News
Fashion is one of the most polluting industries in the world. But a small town in Italy called Prato has built its fortune on transforming old scraps into new clothes, particularly knitwear and wool…
Source : BBC
The Greening the Blue Report 2020: The UN System’s environmental footprint and efforts to reduce it, was officially launched on Thursday 10 December. This year’s report includes 2019 data on greenhouse gas emissions, waste, water, and environmental management from nearly 60 entities across the UN System, representing approximately 310,000 personnel.
The shipping industry’s climate impact is large and growing, but a team in Costa Rica is making way for a clean shipping revolution with a cargo ship made of wood.
Source : BBC Future Planet
Banking giant announces commitment to providing financing, expertise and leadership to support the transition to a low-carbon world.
Source : Climate Action
The world must get to net-zero carbon emissions by mid-century, and can make it happen at a price that is relatively small in global terms—$1 trillion to $2 trillion per year—according to a new report from a think tank that includes BP, Shell and other big businesses. While researchers have long called for net-zero emissions by mid-century, the message could be better received coming from oil majors.
Source : insideclimatenews
12 cities have made a pledge to divest from fossil fuel companies as part of their commitment to accelerating a green and just recovery from COVID-19.
Source : Climate Action
A Chinese industrial gas company is working to reduce its emissions of nitrous oxide—a climate super-pollutant far more powerful at warming the climate than carbon dioxide—by capturing and reusing waste gas from its chemical plants. It’s a significant step for an industry that emits climate-warming emissions equal to 20 million cars every year.
Source : InsideClimate News
The company says it is studying three designs for commercial air travel, but a host of complex problems remain related to producing “clean” hydrogen fuel.
Source : Insideclimate News
Comment: The EU’s enthusiastic embrace of hydrogen risks undermining the clean energy transition and its newly-minted 2030 greenhouse gas target
Source : Climate Home News
