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9 Mins Read After the daunting heatwaves and storms of this summer, our cheery visions of the season seem at odds with our climate-changed reality. By Michael Svoboda, Yale Climate Connections This story was originally published by Yale Climate Connections. Officially, the end of summer is marked by the autumnal equinox on September 23. Unofficially, summer ends some weeks […]
4 Mins Read The World Economic Forum (WEF) has launched the Global Collaboration Village, a metaverse hub to help craft solutions to the climate crisis. It brings together leaders from across the world virtually to address polar tipping points, which it says have the potential to disrupt the planet’s interconnected systems. Think of climate tipping points like the […]
4 Mins Read While a majority of the food and retail sector’s giants believe regenerative agriculture can be a solution to the climate crisis, 64% of them have not put targets in place to achieve these ambitions, according to a new study. Meanwhile, only 8% have committed to supporting farmers to incentivise the uptake of these regenerative practices. […]
5 Mins Read A high-school student has developed Beach Board Hong Kong, a Monopoly-style game that sheds light on the environmental issues faced by the island’s beaches. Featuring damning pollution facts, action prompts to tackle these challenges, it’s an innovative tool to help educate local schoolchildren about beach pollution, with all proceeds donated to charity. Last year, Carmel […]
5 Mins Read Last month, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) denied a 2017 petition calling for stricter water pollution regulations for factory farms. The agency formed a research committee to recommend solutions in a process that could last over a year and is now being sued for its decision. The petition urged the government to introduce tougher regulations […]
5 Mins Read Animal advocacy group Beyond Cruelty Foundation (BCF) is calling for the addition of SDG18 – Zero Animal Exploitation to the UN’s list of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The organisation argues that none of the current 17 targets is achievable without this animal welfare goal, and has had discussions with UN representatives across various departments. The […]
5 Mins Read By Pete Smith, Professor of Soils and Global Change, University of Aberdeen; Camille Parmesan, Professor of Climate Change Impacts, CNRS, University of Texas, University of Plymouth; Mark Maslin, Professor of Earth System Science, UCL A landmark report by the world’s most senior climate and biodiversity scientists argues that the world will have to tackle the climate crisis and the species extinction […]
4 Mins Read UK startup Saltyco has developed a BioPuff, a new bulrush-based fill material for puffer jackets that has a feather-like structure. A sustainable alternative to animal- and petroleum-based materials like duck or goose fibres and polyester or nylon, it’s designed to provide warm, lightweight and water-resistant insulation. A winner of the H&M Foundation‘s Global Change Award […]
4 Mins Read From improvements to yield, cost savings, and increasing climate resilience, there is much to change about the way we make food, especially given how much impact climate change will have on global supply chains, particularly in Southeast Asia. I found it fascinating to watch eight innovative agri-tech start-ups from the United Kingdom give their grand […]
4 Mins Read Meaningless buzzword or key survival concept? “Sustainability” is more important than ever before – but what does it even mean? Today, googling “sustainability” turns up over 1.65 billion results. We have become so obsessed with this concept that “sustainability” has quickly become a trendy, meaningless buzzword: businesses love to advertise their sustainable practices, while climate […]
3 Mins Read The E.U.’s decision to regulate deforestation-related commodities comes in response to the growing concern about its impact on climate change and biodiversity loss. And it could bring more focus to the U.S. Forest Act. The European Union has approved a landmark ban aimed at banning imports of foods linked to deforestation, including coffee, beef, cocoa, […]
5 Mins Read Farming with up to 90% less land? Precision fermentation is the climate solution to get behind to ‘Restore Our Earth’. A few weeks ago, I went to 7-Eleven in Hong Kong and got myself a single-size cup of velvety cookies and cream ice cream. It was yummy and crumbly and took me back to my […]
5 Mins Read Gray wolves, elephants, wildebeests, and sea otters are a few of the species that can help keep global warming below 1.5 degrees C. By Gabriela Aoun Angueira As the world increasingly turns toward natural climate solutions like reforestation and grassland restoration to sequester carbon, it may be overlooking a crucial ally: animals. Protecting existing populations […]
5 Mins Read By Alexandra Schnell, University of Cambridge, Heather Browning, London School of Economics and Political Science, Jonathan Birch, London School of Economics and Political Science When you imagine an octopus’s world, you might well see a curious creature in a complex undersea environment. Yet the reality of life for some octopuses is existence within a barren tank, inescapably surrounded by humans and other […]
7 Mins Read The latest IPCC report is out and the findings are distressing and we highlight the ten most important ones you need to know. It’s been a big week for the climate emergency. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the UN-founded body charged with “advancing scientific knowledge about anthropogenic climate change” released its latest report […]
3 Mins Read The jury’s still out on whether or not collagen supplements have any real benefits, but as an investigation links the industry to deforestation, an achievement from Jellatech may bring new opportunities to the booming category. In a post shared on LinkedIn, the North Carolina-based biotech startup Jellatech announced it has created a fully functional human […]
4 Mins Read While it’s true that forest destruction in Indonesia is at its lowest pace in twenty years, deforestation policies in Indonesia are anything but a model of success. I wrote this response to the Wall Street Journal article, “Indonesia Shows It’s Possible to Tame Rainforest Destruction.” With all due respect to Jon Emont and The Wall Street Journal, while […]
3 Mins Read A new report says that an inconsistent understanding of what regenerative agriculture entails and what it can achieve means an outcome-based framework for measuring and assessing regenerative agricultural practices is needed. The Food and Land Use Coalition (FOLU), a non-profit organization that describes itself as a coalition of ambassadors, donors, country platforms, and partners working […]
4 Mins Read Earlier this month, the European Union announced a new law that will prevent the sale of products including beef, soy, and coffee linked to deforestation. Under the new law, companies selling commodity items from regions where deforestation is rampant will be required to produce due diligence statements about their supply chains. Failure to comply will […]
4 Mins Read Some of the most exciting young “ocean innovators” accepted into UpLink, the open digital platform launched by the World Economic Forum (WEF), are working toward sustainable progress in ocean conservation. Life below water is a vital planetary resource that we depend on for everything from absorbing nearly a third of carbon dioxide produced by humans, […]
4 Mins Read New research finds between 90 to 99 percent of all tropical deforestation is related to agriculture, either directly or indirectly. The new research, published in the journal Science found only half to two-thirds of deforested land for agricultural purposes actually winds up seeing active agriculture. Much of the land lies razed and unused. The study […]