The environmental pros and cons of Christmas trees go far beyond the climate impact of « real or plastic », scientists say. So what’s the best choice for a green Christmas?
Source: BBC
December 3, 2024
A new declaration aims to make the southernmost continent an autonomous legal entity, akin to a nation-state, with inherent rights to participate in decision making that affects it.
Source: Inside Climate News
October 28, 2024
Europe has been plowed, logged, paved and settled for more than a millennium, making it appear to be one of the least wild continents on the planet.
But look again. Nearly a quarter of this populous region is pristine enough to support key herbivores and carnivores, hallmarks of functional wild ecosystems, according to new research. From the Arctic tundra of Norway to the Sierra Nevada mountains of southern Spain, large tracts of land with minimal human presence offer the potential to meet biodiversity targets by restoring wildlife, a process sometimes referred to as “rewilding.”
Source: Anthropocene
August 23, 2024
Meat and dairy are major contributors to climate change. Animal agriculture is responsible for more than three-quarters of agricultural land use, 11%–20% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and more than 30% of global methane emissions. Meat production is also a leading driver of recent tropical deforestation.
The good news is that companies and consumers are increasingly looking for more sustainable animal products. But reducing emissions is just one piece of the puzzle. So are addressing water use, water pollution and biodiversity loss driven by animal agriculture; improving animal welfare; supporting local farmers and more.
The problem is that there’s no single solution to tackle all these priorities at once.
Source: World Resources Institute
July 18, 2024
What hasn’t been clear is how well mangroves planted by people store carbon compared to stands that developed naturally.
Now, decades of data reveal that, in 20 years of growth, successfully planted mangroves can reach up to 73 percent of the carbon stock levels found in naturally occurring mangrove stands. In a new study published in Science Advances, a group of international researchers looked at 684 planted mangrove stands to come to this conclusion.
Source: Inside Climate News
July 17, 2024
Although deforestation rates in the Brazilian Amazon have halved, it is still losing more than 5,000km² every year. That’s an area three times larger than Greater London.
By combining satellite imagery for the entire Amazon region with data from the Brazilian national census, a new study found that deforestation in areas protected by Indigenous communities was up to 83% lower compared to unprotected areas. These results show that Indigenous communities can play an important environmental stewardship role by helping to prevent deforestation by people encroaching on their lands
Source: The Conversation
July 16, 2024
The scrutiny of data centers has intensified because of tech company secrecy, energy consumption and societal impacts on customers, policymakers and communities.
Source: Green Biz
July 9, 2024
To avoid the Global South becoming a dumping ground for used ICE vehicles, part of the solution must be a normalization of scrapping them sustainably.
Source: Green Biz
June 28, 2024
An increasing number of people would describe their dietary habits as “flexitarian” or “reducitarian.” These are people who still eat meat and dairy but are trying to reduce their consumption, often for environmental or ethical reasons.
It’s tempting to assume that what’s good for the planet is also good for the animal, but unfortunately, this is not the case. These two goals are often in conflict. What’s better for animal welfare is often worse for the environment, and vice versa. This is true across different types of livestock (for example, beef versus chicken) and across different ways of raising a specific animal (caged versus free-range hens).
Source: Our World in Data
June 24, 2024
The ocean has long sustained coastal communities that rely on it for their food, livelihoods and wellbeing. But these benefits don’t stop at the shoreline. New research commissioned by the Ocean Panel shows that the health of the ocean is directly linked to the health of humans everywhere.
The extent to which ocean health impacts human health is relatively unexplored in science and academia to date. This new research illustrates that a healthy ocean and its biodiversity can offer critical benefits to all people — such as new medicines and technologies, nutritious and sustainable diets and opportunities to bolster physical and mental wellbeing.
Source: World Resources Institute
June 17, 2024
The bank has advised wealthy nations to cut subsidies for high-emissions foods but stopped far short of promoting veganism
Source: Climate Home News
May 10, 2024
Talk about astronomical costs of a sustainable economy is leaving out some of the savings of using fewer fossil fuels, according to a new analysis.
Source: Inside Climate News
January 19, 2024
Adopting a healthier diet will probably feature prominently in many of our new year’s resolutions. But it’s often challenging for people to live up to their intentions.
But there are good reasons to persist in making deliberate choices about what’s on your plate. These choices not only impact your own health, they affect the health of the planet too.
Source: The Conversation
January 18, 2024
Existing green growth policies are leading nowhere fast, so scientists say it’s worth exploring alternatives like degrowth to stay within planetary boundaries.
Source: Inside Climate News
January 17, 2024
New study estimates that natural forest recovery could capture approximately 226 Gigatonnes (Gt) of carbon, but only if we also reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Achieving these results requires community-driven efforts to conserve and restore biodiversity.
Source: Nature
December 01, 2023
Renewable energy has grown exponentially over the past two decades thanks to government policy and falling prices, far faster than many experts expected. Today, building new solar and onshore wind power on average costs around 40% less than coal or gas power. These cost declines have helped renewables reach a tipping point, meaning that the transition away from fossil fuels appears difficult to reverse
Source: World Resources Institute
November 22, 2023
The State of Climate Action 2023 provides the world’s most comprehensive roadmap of how to close the gap in climate action across sectors to limit global warming to 1.5°C. It finds that recent progress toward 1.5°C-aligned targets isn’t happening at the pace and scale necessary and highlights where action must urgently accelerate this decade to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, scale up carbon removal and increase climate finance.
Source: World Resources Institute
November 14, 2023
The COP28 summit is unique because it will feature the first-ever “Global Stocktake” of progress since the international Paris Agreement on climate change was adopted in 2015, creating a critical moment for stronger action. A Global Stocktake synthesis report published in September 2023 was a “truly damning report card” of current global efforts to confront climate change. But just as importantly, it offered a blueprint for how governments can and should move forward.
Source: World Resources Institute
November 9, 2023
There are different kinds of tipping points. Climate change has so-called “climate tipping points”, specific thresholds after which unstoppable changes occur, influencing the global climate. These tipping might be interconnected, but so are the solutions.
Source: UN University
October 29, 2023
As solar projects surge nationwide, the demand is increasing for recycling solutions that will keep photovoltaic panels out of landfills and their energy-producing elements in the sun.
Even for the most enthusiastic boosters of renewable energy, it’s hard to argue that solar panels provide truly clean electricity if, at the end of their lives, many of them end up in landfills.
Source: Insight Climate News
October 9, 2023
With climate extremes dominating the global news cycle in 2023, from record heat both on land and at sea to devastating wildfires and floods around the world, the need to address climate change is more apparent and urgent than ever.
But one of the most promising areas for climate action has been largely overlooked and underinvested to date: the ocean.
Source : World Resources Institute
October 6, 2023
Source : Inside Climate News
August 31, 2023
Source : World Resources Institute
June 23, 2023
One-third of all food produced globally by weight is lost or wasted between farm and fork — that’s more than 1 billion tonnes. Converted into calories, this equates to 24% of the world’s food supply going uneaten. At the same time, 1 in 10 people globally remain malnourished.This scale of food loss and waste harms not only human health and nutrition but also economies and the environment. Wasted food takes a major financial toll, costing the global economy more than $1 trillion every year. It also fuels climate change, accounting for approximately 8%-10% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
Source : World Resources Institute
June 23, 2023
Source : World Resources Institute
June 23, 2023
In 2022, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has achieved impressive results, ranking among the four organizations (seven per cent of the total) that met the environmental criteria. This is particularly noteworthy because, according to Greening the Blue Report 2021, UNESCO was among the group of entities that did not meet the criteria.
Source : UNESCO
April 10, 2023
Since the Industrial Revolution, humans have emitted more than 2,000 gigatons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. (A gigaton is one billion metric tons.)
This concentration of CO2 and other greenhouse gases in the air causes the climate change impacts we’re experiencing today, from forest fires to stifling heat waves and damaging sea level rise — and the global community is still emitting more each year. Unless we make serious changes, climate impacts will only continue to intensify.
Source : World Resources Institute
March 31, 2023
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
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