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‘This Changes Everything’: Documentary on how Climate Crisis and Failed Capitalism are Inextricably Intertwined
Tags: Climate Change, Documentary, Things To Know, Climate, 2020

‘This Changes Everything’: Documentary on how Climate Crisis and Failed Capitalism are Inextricably Intertwined Lynxotic Follow Dec 25, 2020 · 2 min read

By Eric Cho

As massive political and economic crises come into focus a must-solve climate issue looms

After nearly four years of madness emanating from the White House, now, even as the world reels from a pandemic that has yet to show signs of abating, another issue is still to come back into the center of our consciousness, and soon. If and when the vaccines and immune system strengths among survivors increases, other serious issues will come to the forefront, if not sooner.

Along with another great recent documentary on how to solve the climate crisis, “ Kiss the Ground”, this documentary is inspired by the book by Naomi Klein and is called ‘This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate’. It is unique in that it exposes the deep and obvious ties between failed capitalist systems and the climate crisis. Since we are already facing, as 2021 rapidly approaches, a twin if not triple group of crises, with the economic devastation potentially even worse, in the coming years, than either the pandemic or the climate crisis, the message of this film is more urgent than ever.

Read More: “Kiss The Ground” Documentary Offers Hopeful Remedy to Climate Change by Focusing on Soil Regeneration

The premise that the climate crisis actually presents an opportunity to change the entire world economic system for the better has been made even more pertinent and cogent by the events of 2020, both by the political disaster brought about by Trump, particularly his anti-environmental crusades, and the pandemic, which brought economic hardship upon millions worldwide.

The future is, in some ways, clearer than ever before

The positive side of this debate, what ‘ could be ‘ rather than the devastating and depressing reality of what already is, has a great potential to become a growing and expanding movement in 2021 and beyond. Ultimately, the climate crisis, as an extinction level threat, is, without a doubt, a wake-up call for the entire human race and almost certainly the last one that will be coming.

In other words, we all need to wake up to what might be the only solutions to this threat, or else we simply won’t be around to try any alternative solutions.

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Satellite images show that effects of climate change are uneven
By: Amador Palacios
Tags: Climate Change, Climate

Researchers at the University of Copenhagen have carried out a very interesting study for 15 years observing through satellite images what was happening with vegetation in arid regions of various parts of the world. The information has been recorded between the years 2000 and 2015.

The data show that vegetation has decreased in the poorest areas of the world and increased in the richest areas.

Sparsely vegetated parts of Africa and Asia now have even less, and sparsely vegetated parts of Australia and South America now have slightly more.

During that period of time, temperatures have risen a bit and the rains have fallen unevenly, but the concrete fact is that in some areas of the Earth, people have less vegetation to grow food. And that happens precisely in the poorest areas.

Researchers have also been looking for explanations of the causes that have motivated these different behaviors, but the facts are what they are.

In parts of Africa, which is very close to Europe, there will be large areas where the difficulty of getting food will increase, and people will be forced to emigrate to get food.

If the migratory pressure that we now have in southern Europe seems high to us, it will be nothing compared to what we will have in a few dozen years. And we must think that under their conditions, we would do the same.

The only solution, apart from seeing if we are capable of doing something about the climate (which I doubt), is to help them “in situ” so that these people find opportunities in their places of origin.

We cannot allow Africa to become still poorer, and Europe has a responsibility to them. They are our neighbors and it would be stupid selfishness to allow them to be solemnly poor, because we too would lose with them.

Poverty, like great social differences, is a very bad counselor and only generates envy and hatred. Hatred towards the “different” who come to take away what is “ours”.

We’ve had enough of this in the past, but it seems we haven’t learned much.
Revelry — a working title, 2020
By: James Hunter
Tags: Bwphotography, Leica, Saltmarah, Climate, Ghostforest

Photo: James Hunter

You can walk your trail and tap your feet. Call the birds by name, even use their tongue as your tongue — their clicks and “coowiez” can be yours for an afternoon amongst the trees.

I sit sometimes on the porch at night, smoking into the speckled- starred sky, all out of focus. From there, I can use the ancient leaves, the fire, and the buds to see beyond my knees.

To listen, one must be quiet. To see, one must also be quiet.
Eartheum
Tags: Climete Change, Ethereum, Blockchain, Climate, Bitcoin

Eartheum

We are in an emergency, Carbon Dioxide emissions (the primary greenhouse gas emitted through human activities) are reaching a highest point in history. The clock is ticking, every efforts starting from now will make a difference, it is time for actions…and value those who commit to them.

How can we possibly act faster towards the Net Zero ? Eartheum answers to this questions by creating an environment to foster border-less group-wide emulation. What are the rules of the game ? What would be the requirements for such long-term carbon reduction competitions ?

Transparency

Border-less emulation is possible only if rules of the game are unconditionally transparent. That is where Blockchain comes in. The tech allows every participant to see what every other user is doing. It’s very difficult, if not impossible, for fraud or error to happen. That is the reason why Blockchain is the best pick-up for the core of the platform.

Fairness

Accepting or revoking a token, changing the value of CO2e credits are decided electronically without a middleman through the vote of a DAO, wait… What is that ? This acronym stands for Decentralised Autonomous Organisation, it is a type of organisation based on open-source code designed to be automated and decentralised. In Eartheum, the DAO acts as the rules maker…the referee

Unlike the protocol, the Climate DAO is not permission-less. Only universities acknowledged for their expertise in Climate Change can claim a membership. One voting token (EDM) is distributed to each university during the first phase of the project.

Persistence

How long this race against the clock will last ? My bet is, enough for me to feel like proving to my children that I fought hard enough against CO2 emissions. As it is technically impossible to erase data stored on the Blockchain, each CO2e token received from the platform will be immutable… here forever.

Permission-less

Any organisation around the world is invited to submit its ERC721 token to the Climate DAO. The only technical condition for certificates is that it has to represent a quantity of something (for example, one token could represent one mile driven with an electrical vehicle). If the quantity of the certificate is in the parameter then the smart contract must have a callable quantity function implemented :

function quantityOf(uint256 Id) public view returns (uint256)

return token(Id).quantity;

}

Once a token is accepted by Eartheum, owners are able to claim their CO2e tokens on the dApp. Once their first token received, they will instantly appear on the Eartheum Leaderboard :
Ολοταχώς για… κλιματική καταστροφή, της Μελίνας Μπελενιώτη.
By: Peter Apostolakis
Tags: Climate Change, Bolsonaro, Climate, Borris, Ελλαδα

Learn more. Medium is an open platform where 170 million readers come to find insightful and dynamic thinking. Here, expert and undiscovered voices alike dive into the heart of any topic and bring new ideas to the surface. Learn more

Make Medium yours. Follow the writers, publications, and topics that matter to you, and you’ll see them on your homepage and in your inbox. Explore
2021 would be a hot year. And why?
Tags: 2021, Environment, Weather, Climate

2021 is predicted to be among the seven hottest years on record despite La Niña.

The UK’s Met Office recently released that average global temperatures for 2021 are estimated to be 0.91 to 1.15 degrees Celsius higher than the pre-industrial period’s average. Despite it likely would not break any records, based on this forecast, the seven hottest years on record will be all from 2015 to 2021. This may reject the claim that global warming is a cyclical phenomenon.

2021 would be a hot but not the hottest year because of the La Niña effect. The cooling influence of La Niña partly offsets the global temperature rise caused by the climate crisis. However, studies have suggested that the circumstances are worrying. With La Niña as a backdrop, 2020 has been unusually hot. For comparison, the average global temperature for 2020 is around 1.2 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial level and 2020 is the third hottest year on record. 2021 would be slightly cooler than this year but is still among the hottest.

For those who are looking for more information, La Niña is the opposite of El Niño. While El Niño tends to result in fewer Atlantic Hurricanes but more in the Pacific, La Niña brings more to the Atlantic and fewer to the Pacific due to the rather low sea-surface temperatures in the central Pacific which cause a northward shift in storms.

However, in 2020, a La Niña year, countries like the Philippines also experienced several extreme typhoons, including Super Typhoon Goni which caused at least 10 deaths in November. Extreme weather conditions bring more frequent and severe impact to the low-lying countries’ population.

The Paris Agreement targets to control the average global temperature rise within 2 degrees Celsius (and ideally 1.5 degrees Celsius) higher than the pre-industrial level. It is challenging regarding the recent global temperature records. Last week, while December 12, 2020 marked the fifth anniversary of the Paris Agreement, climate activists in 41 countries organized a Fight for 1.5! campaign with over 180 actions during December 10 to December 12 to raise public awareness toward the pressing challenge.

Further reading

https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-18/weather-and-climate-change-met-office-sees-2021-temperatures-among-hottest-ever?srnd=green

https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/2021-global-temperatures-la-nina-met-office-b1776214.html

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/12/02/world/climate-change-effects-wmo-2020-intl/index.html

www.insideclimatenews.org/news/02052012/weather-insider-la-nina-el-nino-hurricanes-extreme-weather-climate-change/

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/11/01/asia/philippines-super-typhoon-goni-landfall-intl-hnk/index.html

https://fridaysforfuture.org/fightfor1point5/
Design and the Green New Deal
By: Chris Mcguire
Tags: Design, Climate, Landscape Architecture, Green New Deal

A brief manifesto

Proposals for deep decarbonization, ecological megaprojects, and really any project that attempts to address the crises we face at the scale necessary to make a difference are often met with criticisms of “financial realism” and “government overreach.” What are the assumptions that underpin such a confident dismissal of these proposals? The infallibility of the free market to correct itself? The free market is what got us to this point, and has proven itself largely incapable of addressing environmental externalities, dwindling resources, and staggering wealth inequality in any meaningful way. Unfettered capitalism is what created this mess- it will not get us out of it, at least not in time. These criticisms ignore historical precedent, and the rightful role of government to regulate commerce and make investments that protect the long term health and prosperity of its inhabitants- especially critical roles to play in an economic system that prioritizes short-term gains for wealthy shareholders.

What constitutes “realism?” We have been brought to this point by a global system that operates on economic abstractions and market manipulations to the point that it has become disconnected from the ecological reality of the closed, very much not abstract earth system that we live in. It is not “realistic” to ignore the symptoms of the climate crisis when we observe melting glaciers and ice caps and permafrost, megafires, biodiversity loss, and large swaths of the earth’s surface that will become too hot for human habitation.

If we continue to only propose, design, pay for and build small projects- these forms of “urban acupuncture”- we have no hope of integrating our built environment with the natural environment in a way that is mutually beneficial and sustainable. It’s time for a hefty dose of real, proven medicine for what ails us: massive spending on deep decarbonization and green infrastructure, investment in the circular economy, and putting an adequate price on carbon and pollution. And it’s time to do so in a way that addresses the deep economic and environmental inequities we have designed into our society and built environment.

As designers, we have a role to play in envisioning what such a world would look like, and selling people on that vision. Daylighted stream corridors, restored wetlands and grasslands, green streets with protected bike lanes and rapid public transit, ubiquitous electric vehicle charging stations in public parking spaces, community microgrids, urban farms, green infrastructure- the list goes on and on. These aren’t just buzzwords- they are proven ways to improve the urban environment and transition to a more sustainable future. Let’s stop being shy about asking for it. And let’s show the world what that future looks like.
a culture and climate in crisis
By: Woawomen Urra
Tags: Cukture, Climate, British Museum, Arctic Exhibit, Crisis

a culture and climate in crisis

Long ago people knew something was going to happen to this earth. How they knew it, I don’t know. An Elder mentioned in the 1940s that this climate is going to change. They meant climate change. — Martha Snowshoe, Teetl’it Gwich’in

illustrated catalogue of the British Museum exhibition Arctic: culture and climate

Home to rich cultures for nearly 30,000 years, the Arctic is far from the inhospitable hinterland it’s often imagined to be. If you haven’t yet, please carve out some time to watch the British Museum curators Amber Lincoln and Jago Cooper for a special online tour of the #ArcticExhibition.

They celebrate the resourcefulness of Arctic Peoples, explore 30,000 of creativity and ingenuity, and address the unprecedented pressure that dramatic loss of ice and erratic weather caused by climate change are putting on Indigenous Communities.

curators tour of #ArcticExhibit

What happens in the Arctic will affect us all and this exhibition is a timely reminder of what the world can learn from its people. The dramatic loss of ice and erratic weather caused by climate change are putting unprecedented pressure on Arctic Peoples, testing their adaptive capacities and threatening their way of life.

From ancient mammoth ivory sculpture to modern refitted snow mobiles, the objects in this immersive exhibition reveal the creativity and resourcefulness of Indigenous Peoples in the Arctic. Developed in collaboration with Arctic communities, the exhibition celebrates the ingenuity and resilience of Arctic Peoples throughout history.

Magnetic North: Voices from the Indigenous Arctic

It tells the powerful story of respectful relationships with icy worlds and how Arctic Peoples have harnessed the weather and climate to thrive.
Eating Octopuses
By: Matthew J Shribman
Tags: Ecology, Science Communication, Information Deficiency, Climate

(Drawing by Minty Sainsbury)

Have you seen the film My Octopus Teacher? It’s the first film from my friend Ellen’s new company Waterbear.

Ellen has always been really interested in the intelligence of animals other than us, and will enthusiastically tell anyone who asks great stories about the multiple different personalities of fish and other animals.

The reason I bring up the film is because almost everyone who watches it suddenly announces that they will never eat octopus again. This is good because octopuses are one of the most intelligent animals alive.

In some ways, they’re arguably more intelligent than we are. It’s a shame they only live such short lives.

Henry at AimHi and I were talking this morning about how humans can tell the difference between the sound of hot and cold water pouring, and wondering if other animals could do the same. I’m sure that they would be able to.

Anyway, back to My Octopus Teacher: this film represents something that some of the climate activism community is currently pushing against… the notion that you can change behaviour with information.

My Octopus Teacher delivers information accessibly, compellingly and effectively, and that’s why it brings about changes in behaviour.

These parts of the climate activism community are in the midst of repeatedly shooting themselves in the foot by de-prioritising projects that deliver information to the public effectively on the basis that the so called Information Deficit Model doesn’t work… at all.

The Cambridge Zero team and I am encountering so many bewildering barriers to our CO2 levels widget at the moment because of people in positions of influence claiming that giving people information won’t change their behaviour.

We will keep trying to get the widget in front of the public, so that CO2 levels and their rate of change can start to become household numbers.
An Inevitable Climb
By: Slaidey Valheim
Tags: Prose Poetry, Nature, Climate, Nature Writing, Poetry On Medium

An Inevitable Climb

Photo by Joshua Earle on Unsplash

Raised in one hundred percent humidity, the rest of the world will always seem dry.

I rarely have a day of rest from the scabs and blood on my shirt cuffs. The air of the mountains that sweep into the valley cut through me like a harsh mentor that doesn’t know my potential. The snow-peaked caps look down, and think me adolescent.

They do not know pure humidity. They sit on their high tops and feel untouchable.

They do not know what it feels like to nearly drown just to walk to the corner of the street; To sweat from the sun, accumulate moisture from the air on every inch of your skin, and chill to the bone from a gentle breeze.

They do not know what it’s like to drop feet of snow on green grass, nor climatize a body in a day from warm tides to frostbite freezing. They have their thin air and think that’s worse then swimming alive in it.

Dear Mountain Tops, I am coming for you, and I am more weathered than you think.
3 types of climate risk for companies in the COVID-19 era
By: Robin Lewis
Tags: Climate Change, Climate, Leadership, Business, Social Impact

Over the past few years, I’ve been researching climate and disaster risk as a consultant at an inter-governmental organisation. While I’ve been involved in this space for almost a decade, the things I’ve learnt have never felt so relevant than they do today.

The COVID-19 pandemic has not only turned society on its head, but it has also served as a strong reminder of the Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity (VUCA) of the modern world — characteristics that embody the exact opposite of an ideal operating environment for business.

While many companies — both big and small — will not have the means to weather the storm, many of those that survive are fundamentally re-thinking and re-designing the way they do business. From diversifying supply chains to reducing office space and taking massive strides in digitalization, many companies are already undergoing significant change in response to the pandemic.

But why stop there? This crisis presents a major opportunity for both major corporates and SMEs to not only mitigate the impacts of COVID-19, but to also ensure their long-term viability in the face of climate change and ultimately play a part in building a more resilient and regenerative economy.

To make this happen, business leaders must consider three types of climate-related risk.
Климат-дайджест Центра STS. Выпуск 2.6
By: Sts Center
Tags: Coca Cola, Climate Change, Digest, Ecology, Climate

Learn more. Medium is an open platform where 170 million readers come to find insightful and dynamic thinking. Here, expert and undiscovered voices alike dive into the heart of any topic and bring new ideas to the surface. Learn more

Make Medium yours. Follow the writers, publications, and topics that matter to you, and you’ll see them on your homepage and in your inbox. Explore
Reflections on the 5th Anniversary of the Paris Agreements on Climate
By: Tom Steyer
Tags: Climate, Paris Agreement, Biden, Climate Change

The first thing I remember when I got to Paris was just how many people were there. I was leading a delegation of California business leaders with Gov. Jerry Brown, and we joined an entire global community of environmental, political, justice, and business leaders — — all committed to the goal of climate action. Everyone acknowledged that climate action was a necessity and that collaboration was vital.

Paris in 2015 was a moment of global leadership with America at the helm of global collaboration. And being there, I felt hopeful that the world could come together and meet the challenge of our climate crisis. We had the momentum and the wind at our backs — it felt fantastic. And then Trump was elected.

2016. COP22 in Marrakesh was a bleak affair with many wondering if our global coalition would be able to survive. The subsequent conferences proved that, while the global community would continue acting on climate, Trump’s administration would not take part, and global momentum halted. The world was in a disastrous holding pattern.

2017. COP23 in Bonn was the first conference after Mr. Trump announced his intent to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement. We organized a delegation of sub-national leaders to show the world that a lot of climate action was still happening in the U.S., despite what was happening with our federal government. It was true, but everyone knew it wasn’t enough.

2018. At COP24 in Katowice, you could feel the impact of the void in American leadership really starting to settle in. The official U.S. presence in Poland was actively working to undermine global climate commitments, siding with Saudi Arabia, Russia, and Kuwait to block key climate reports, and even hosting a panel praising “clean coal” as a climate solution. Our partners felt abandoned and the climate community felt tremendous fear that the door the Paris Agreement opened was beginning to shut. Emblematic as the only official U.S. presence at COP24, was a closed door.

2019. COP25 fell in the middle of my presidential campaign, and I made sure representatives from my climate team participated. New reports were released that revealed we were on track for over 3 degrees of warming, even if every country met their emissions target from the Paris Agreement. Again, all eyes turned to the United States, hoping the 2020 election would mark a turning point when we would restart working with other countries and major emitters to take urgent climate action.
Are atolls really growing?
Tags: Climate Change, Science, Environment, Climate, Science Communication

A recent study suggests an atoll in the Marshall Islands has grown larger over the past few decades.

Last two weeks we talked about climate change and the Marshall Islands. This week an interest piece of news about atolls came out. A recent study suggests that an atoll of the Marshall Islands has grown larger over the past few decades. In other words, instead of shrinking in size due to the rising sea level, some low-lying atolls may increase their land surface.

The study was conducted by scholars from Auckland University and Simon Fraser University. By comparing the land size in aerial photos, the researchers discovered that Jeh Island, an atoll of the Marshall Islands, increased its land area by 13% since 1943.

It is explained that the growth in size is caused by coral reef sediment. While the sea level is rising, the atoll is building up. The offsetting effect sounds hopeful. Isn’t it? However, the researchers warned that no one knows the time scales of sediment. Meanwhile, don’t forget that global warming also raises sea water temperature which threatens the existence of many coral reefs.

Since continuous sediment is an unknown and scientists are uncertain about the consequences of climate engineering technologies like cloud whitening and stratospheric aerosol injection, mitigation remains a better option.

Further Reading

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/12/06/asia/pacific-islands-growing-intl-dst-hnk/index.html
Exhibit ? The Political Economy of Sidewalk Infrastructure Partners
By: Bianca Wylie
Tags: Pandemic, Climate, Smart Home, Political Economy, Democracy

A recent project announcement to consider. Read to the end.

This is the text from a recent LinkedIn post from Sidewalk Infrastructure Partners. Remember, the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan is part of a “partnership” with Sidewalk Infrastructure Partners.

“Today, Sidewalk Infrastructure Partners (SIP) announced a $100 million transaction to develop a transformative clean energy project in California: creating the world’s largest residential virtual power plant in partnership with OhmConnect. Clean energy leaders David Hochschild, chair of the California Energy Commission, Obama climate lead Carol Browner, and City of Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf joined the announcement with OhmConnect CEO Cisco DeVries and SIP Co-CEO Jonathan Winer.



SIP also led OhmConnect’s Series C, investing $20 million to support the growth of the company and its expansion into new markets. The project, called Resi-Station, and SIP’s backing of OhmConnect mark the first commitment from SIP’s Resilia platform aimed at making energy grids across the world bidirectional, transactive, and distributed.



To scale up Resi-Station and provide savings to California residents, SIP and OhmConnect are partnering with Google and leading manufacturers of connected home devices and plan to offer rebated smart thermostats to hundreds of thousands of customers.



To learn more and sign up, go to www.resi-station.com, and read more: https://lnkd.in/ezN45Bj”

There is a lot going on here. During a pandemic.
1.5
By: Strike For Climate
Tags: Climate Change, World, Climate, Earth, Action

🇬🇧 On Saturday, December 12th, people from around the world come together to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the Paris Agreement. But there is no reason for celebration. Every single government fails to contribute to a 1.5 degree pathway. ​

​We are already witnessing the consequences of this failure: more and more tragedies and injustices are taking place across the world, ranging from more intense and frequent extreme precipitation events to wildfires and food insecurity. The climate crisis is rampaging here and now. If the world leaders keep failing us, the climate crisis will become uncontrollable resulting in the degradation not only of our natural resources but also of human life. We cannot allow that to happen.​

So we will have to stand together and protest.

What Is Paris Agreement?

The Paris Agreement is a landmark environmental accord that was adopted by nearly every nation in 2015 to address climate change and its negative impacts, specifically striving to limit the global temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

However, it imposes no new legal obligations on individual countries and contains no enforcement mechanisms, but instead establishes a framework for international negotiations of future agreements, or protocols, to set binding emissions targets. Participating countries meet annually at a Conference of the Parties (COP) to assess their progress and continue talks on how to best tackle climate change. ​

The Paris Agreement was an essential step towards initiating mass climate action — but it was just the beginning and governments must now be help accountable to act on those targets!​

We need a Global Climate Uprising that will challenge the power of entrenched politics and industries to enable a just transition towards an economic system that respects the natural boundaries of the earth and puts social interests before profit of the rich. ​

In the time leading up to December 12th, we call all children, parents, employees, employers, activists, NGOs — all that have understood the urge to act — to stand against the deterioration of our planet and the violation of our right of a secure future. We are already acting/in action.

-Fridays For Future

Take action before it is too late. Strike with Fridays For Future.
Climate Change Is A Joke?
By: Travis Jepeway
Tags: News, Veganism, Get Informed, Climate, Environment

Animals are raised on farms and they consume a lot of food and water to get to a profitable slaughter size. A major issue with the number of animals being farmed is waste products. Cows and sheep produce a lot of methane gas and methane gas is one of the worst contributors to climate change. Time For Change reported “According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) agriculture is responsible for 18% of the total release of greenhouse gases world-wide (this is more than the whole transportation sector).” I’ve seen advertising urging people to carpool and try to use alternative means of transportation to help with climate change, but not nearly the same amount of advertising to reduce the amount of meat consumed.

Carbon dioxide contributes to climate change as well, although less than methane, but is also “breathed” in by plants as they then “exhale” oxygen for humans to breathe. The New York Times reported that, “Farming is responsible for the equivalent of 574 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions in the United States each year.” They also reported that, “Methane is increasingly drawing attention from researchers because its worldwide levels have doubled in less than 10 years after remaining flat since the 1990s.” Methane gas and other negative environmental impacts of factory farms are not new issues, but they are continuing to get worse.

Methane is only one of the many issues that factory farms produce for the environment. Footprint reported “In 2012, livestock and poultry on the largest concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) produced 369 million tons of manure: this was almost 13 times more waste than that of the entire US population of 312 million.” Since animal waste is not treated in the same way as human waste it stands to impact the surrounding community in ways like soaking into the ground and into the groundwater. This is an issue because as Footprint reported, the waste “consists not only of animal excrement but of bedding waste, antibiotic residues, cleaning solutions and other chemicals, and sometimes dead animals.” All things that should not be in local groundwater. Water is not the only issue, however, as these factory farms also increase risk of airborne diseases such as avian and swine flu.

Many factory farms are located in low-income communities which makes it difficult for families to move away from the smells and other issues they produce. The United Stated Government Accountability Office reported in 2005 that when it comes to factory farm employment, “ turnover rates of 100 percent a year or more are not uncommon.” It shows a complete disregard for the workers in this industry as it is easier for a new employee to get hurt or sick than a more experienced employee. This furthers the evidence that money means more than human or animal life to factory farm owners.
CEOs should know what their people are thinking about climate change.
By: Sophie Lambin
Tags: Corporate Innovation, Climate Change, Climate, Climate Action, Research

Photo by NOAA.

The race to zero is going to take everything we’ve got. When we were thinking of what that might actually entail, we realised something. Companies acting on climate change have yet to mobilise their greatest asset: their people.

Employees aren’t just people with jobs. They have families, communities and individual spheres of influence. They are citizens and consumers with the power not only to make informed choices, but to channel the values they hold into their work and communal lives.

So we asked ourselves — when these people go to the office on Monday, where does that energy go? What are their companies allowing them to do with it? If they happen to be someone who cares about climate change, is their passion being channelled into corporate climate action and innovation?

To help us answer some of these questions, we conducted research among 800 employees at different levels of seniority and generation at different types of businesses across the UK and France. Here are some of our more interesting results:

On the one hand…

80% of people believe that climate change is a fundamental or significant threat that demands immediate action.

or significant threat that demands immediate action. 76% are ready to act on climate change in the context of their work. The desire to act is widely shared across gender, function and seniority.

on climate change in the context of their work. The desire to act is widely shared across gender, function and seniority. 60% agree that having a positive impact on climate change requires a significant change in how the company operates.

On the other hand…

Only 41% of people understand how they can contribute to their organisation’s climate commitments. 72% were interested in receiving training to achieve that goal.

to their organisation’s climate commitments. 72% were interested in receiving training to achieve that goal. 12% are considering moving jobs so they can focus more on combating climate change in their work.

so they can focus more on combating climate change in their work. Think about it: If 1 in 10 people are considering leaving their jobs because their companies are failing to act on climate change, it’s time CEOs paid attention.

See more of the results from our research here.
CLIMATE CRISIS: Over 100 leading renewable energy players renew their call to action
Tags: Renewables, Climate, Irena, Latest News, Climate Crisis

Posted By PRChannel Team — City of London (Remote)

www.GEOPoliticallMatters.com

Leading Renewables Players Urge Governments to Align Recovery Measures with Paris Agreement

With the Paris Agreement celebrating its fifth anniversary this week, all eyes are on the world’s governments to urgently scale-up climate action. Six months after calling for action in response to COVID-19, the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) Coalition for Action urges governments worldwide to step-up their efforts towards a green recovery. In a renewed call to action, over 100 leading renewable energy players, as members of the IRENA Coalition for Action, urge governments to correct course and reset their recovery priorities through six concrete actions. By placing a renewables-based energy transition at the heart of an economic recovery from COVID-19, governments can bring economic resilience and secure a climate-safe future.

About IRENA Coalition for Action

In January 2014, the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and 35 players in renewable energy from around the world jointly established a Coalition for Action to promote the wider and faster uptake of renewable energy technologies.

The IRENA Coalition for Action forms a key international network to discuss industry trends, determine actions, share knowledge and exchange best practices with the vision to drive the global energy transition in line with the Sustainable Development Goal on energy. Its mission is to convene a global dialogue amongst non-governmental and governmental stakeholders to develop actions to increasing the share of renewables in the global energy mix.

Today, the Coalition brings together over 100 leading renewable energy players including private sector companies, industry associations, civil society, research institutes and intergovernmental organisations.

IRENA acts as the Secretariat of the Coalition.

Copyright © 2020 International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), All rights reserved.
The Joe Biden transitional runner bean linguine
By: Elizabeth Rust
Tags: Joe Biden, Inseasonnow, Climate, Green, Pasta

The Joe Biden presidential transition has finally started.

Last week Donald Trump gave in; he’s no longer blocking Biden’s incoming administration.

Within hours Joe Biden took to the stage and declared, “America is back, ready to lead the world, not retreat from it,” he said.

But because of Covid-19, this year’s presidential transition will be so much bleaker than in previous years. December’s annual sparkle will be a little less effervescent, and all those Christmas parties, bar those on zoom, are cancelled. This year we’ll no longer have to embarrassingly awkward drunk office parties, and inevitably our family turkeys will be much smaller — my turkey which will feed six to eight has already sold out on preorders.

As we transition into these colder months, so too will in-season food, with root vegetables taking centre stage.

My weekly fruit and vegetable box will no longer be green, save green topped carrots, and now is the time for me to flick through all my favourite soup recipes.

But for whatever reason, I’m still getting long, thick, stringy runner beans in my box. I’ve frozen some — they do freeze very well — and I love that they can be used to brighten up comforting pastas and risottos throughout the winter.

So as we transition to a new presidential administration, here’s a hint of green inspired by Joe Biden green credentials and the US transitioning back to a country respected by its world peers.

This pasta dish is fast, easy and even my picky eater son loves it.
The climate is changing but not all changes are for good.
By: Daud Alishaw
Tags: Climate Change, Environment, Climate

Photo by USGS on Unsplash

Ask not what your planet can do for you; ask what you can do for your planet.

Every day we come to know about a new disaster in the world. Why is all this happening, we all must think about it sitting in our coziest places under the blue sky.

We all want a pleasant and peaceful environment but with all these industries and pollution we are powerless to achieve that position. We all are bound to such conditions because if we try to lessen the number of industries, we would be facing the dilemma of unemployment.

All around the world, we can see that climate changes are occurring. The main reason for this change is global warming. It has affected the climate greatly. We are facing hurricanes, floods, storms, tornados, bushfires, earthquakes, an increase in temperature, changing of seasons at different timings, lava eruptions. All of these things are the results of global warming.

A few months back Australian bushfire scientists were calling to set up a national fire management agency. By every six seconds, a football pitch-sized area of the tropical rainforest was getting lost. More than a third of the rainforest had been hit by the Australian bushfire.

We need to think about what steps are necessary to bring things back to normal. Climate change is growing rapidly.

We should change our lifestyles and at least think about nature as well. We are so focused on urbanization and forgetting that it is nature that provides us oxygen. We are cutting trees to make new houses but would the houses be able to make oxygen and absorb the excess carbon dioxide?

Now is the time to bring change. 2020 has been a year of immense changes but a lot is yet to be done.
Youth Climate Action Day
By: Lotti Morton
Tags: Climate Change, Sustainability, Climate

Youth Climate Action Day is taking place internationally on Saturday 5th December. To celebrate youth climate action, LUU’s Community Reps are writing a blog series on the topic of climate and sustainable choices. You can find each of their posts here (links updated as blogs are published):

Sustainable products that don’t cost the Earth by Ellie Shipp

Looking Towards the Future: Sustainable living post-covid by Lucia Eales

Delicious, Budget-Friendly Winter Meals that won’t hurt the Planet by Emma Fradgley

How to Shop Sustainably in Leeds by Rosa Hibbert

5 Ways to Reduce your Wardrobe’s Environmental Footprint by Chloe Byrne

Fast Fashion… What does it actually mean for our planet? by Noor Tansvi

Sustainability and Community Building Apps by Emily Austin-Howell

The 7 Community Reps champion students on environmental and housing issues, running projects and events as well as working on policy in these areas to influence change. You can read their introductions and get to know them here.

Sustainability is a key focus at LUU and one of the Student Exec’s priorities this year. Both Izzy Walter, your Union Affairs Officer, and I are working on the joint objective of prioritising environmental action at LUU and the University. We have set up the union’s first Student Sustainability Advisory Board to guide the development of LUU’s new Sustainability Strategy. There is also a new sustainability project fund, open to students who want to run their own initiatives.

LUU will also be hosting a Climate Week in March, investigating and exploring Climate Justice worldwide as well as within our own institution here in Leeds. We welcome hearing from any students who would like to contribute or get involved.
Zero Emission Investing + COVID
By: Ryan Panchadsaram
Tags: Startup, Climate, Business, Investing, Venture Capital

Zero Emission Investing + COVID

This is an adapted transcript of a talk from the Environmental Defense Fund’s Climate Tech Series. A recording can be found here.

We’ve got half an hour together and a lot of ground to cover.

Back in January, I gave a presentation on the arc of climate investing. It was a look back on the pace, the hard lessons learned, and the road ahead.

Things felt really great in at the start of 2020.

In January, EDF got a hundred of us together — investors, company builders, researchers, policymakers, and advocates — focused on how we advance climate investing, especially on early stage technologies.

At the same time, if you turned on the news, you saw that Davos became a climate change conference. With the largest banks and companies of the world trying to out climate each other on the air.

Then, COVID happened. And the world’s attention rightfully shifted. So what has happened since then? What was COVID’s impact on emissions? What was COVID’s impact on clean technology investing? At the earliest stage? At the latest stage?

We’ll dig into that right now.
Климат-дайджест Центра STS. Выпуск 2.5
By: Sts Center
Tags: Climate Change, Greta Thunberg, Digest, Ecology, Climate

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Who is the Biggest Carbon Emission Contributor in Southeast Asia?
By: Adi Reza
Tags: Southeast Asia, Country, Climate, Indonesia, Carbon Emissions

CEO and Co-founder of MYCL. In this blog I post statistics and facts about climate, environment, culture, tech and innovation.
NYC, Thanks for the Inspiration
Tags: Thanksgiving, 15 Minute City, Climate, Open Streets, NYC

Coming into the last chapter of a sometimes crushing year, we’re remembering the bright spots and giving thanks to them for sustaining us through the worst of it.

The 15 minute city. This idea — in which every resident can work, shop, socialize, learn, exercise, and get care within a 15-minute walk or bike ride from their home — was a revelation to us for its simplicity, human-centricity, and relevance for modern cities. It’s been the organizing principle for everything we’ve been thinking and writing about since the onset of the pandemic, as a solution to public health, inequality, and climate change. Next step: the new mayor should adopt an explicit goal to make NYC the best 15-minute city in the US. Open Streets. In any other year, we would be complaining about how great it would be *if only* we could find the political will to use our public streets for something other than private cars. We still gripe like that, because we’ve got a long way to go to reach street nirvana, but now we have 87 blocks of wildly successful examples to demonstrate the pure joy of being able to walk, bike, shop, and dine safely in NYC streets, car-free during certain hours. Next step: this program needs to be codified, built upon, expanded to all commercial corridors in every neighborhood in the city, and made 24x7.

3. Nature. There was a moment — a few weeks this Spring — when the sounds and smells of the earth took over the city. The acrid smell of car exhaust resolved into fresh-leaf and sweet rain. The grinding gears and honking horns of trucks quieted and birdsong accompanied our walks. Our lungs and our heads felt clearer. There was hope in the air, in spite of the sirens and fear. Next step: we must now retain the memory of that moment and craft aggressive anti-pollution policies to get back to it.

4. Civic engagement. Thanks to our City agencies, community boards, and legislative bodies who leapt into uncharted waters and held public hearings via video conference. This kept government moving while lowering barriers to access for often-unheard segments of the population. Multi-stakeholder organizations and individual activists also sprang into action. The RPA put out a plan for recovery called New York’s Next Comeback. The Partnership for NYC wrote its own Call for Action and Collaboration. Local BIDs stepped up and created programs to help their business thrive. Mutual Aid Societies awakened so residents could bring groceries and other supplies to their sick, elderly, and food-insecure neighbors. We are hopeful that this resurgence of citizen engagement becomes a permanent feature of NYC. Next step: everyone should make it a priority to get involved in at least one organization — a neighborhood or community board, a BID, an activist group, a charity group — and use it to make our city a better place to live.