Reliable light matters in more places than ever. It matters on a back road after sunset, in a cabin with limited power, and at home during a storm outage. Research across sustainability guidance, preparedness resources, and off-grid living coverage points to one clear takeaway: people want lighting that works well, lasts longer, and creates less waste.
Reading nutrition advice from 50, 40, and even 20 years ago feels like stepping into an alternate universe. It’s hard to believe how close-minded and definitive those tips were when we look at them in relation to today’s actual scientific studies.
Before promoting sustainability progress, companies must ensure their initiatives are genuine and measurable. Today’s audiences are increasingly skeptical of vague environmental claims, particularly as awareness of “greenwashing” has grown.
Sydney is best known for the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. If you’re looking to enjoy dinner with views of these landmarks, here are some great options.
Reliable light matters in more places than ever. It matters on a back road after sunset, in a cabin with limited power, and at home during a storm outage. Research across sustainability guidance, preparedness resources, and off-grid living coverage points to one clear takeaway: people want lighting that works well, lasts longer, and creates less waste.
Reading nutrition advice from 50, 40, and even 20 years ago feels like stepping into an alternate universe. It’s hard to believe how close-minded and definitive those tips were when we look at them in relation to today’s actual scientific studies.
Before promoting sustainability progress, companies must ensure their initiatives are genuine and measurable. Today’s audiences are increasingly skeptical of vague environmental claims, particularly as awareness of “greenwashing” has grown.
Sydney is best known for the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. If you’re looking to enjoy dinner with views of these landmarks, here are some great options.
Reliable light matters in more places than ever. It matters on a back road after sunset, in a cabin with limited power, and at home during a storm outage. Research across sustainability guidance, preparedness resources, and off-grid living coverage points to one clear takeaway: people want lighting that works well, lasts longer, and creates less waste.
Reading nutrition advice from 50, 40, and even 20 years ago feels like stepping into an alternate universe. It’s hard to believe how close-minded and definitive those tips were when we look at them in relation to today’s actual scientific studies.
Before promoting sustainability progress, companies must ensure their initiatives are genuine and measurable. Today’s audiences are increasingly skeptical of vague environmental claims, particularly as awareness of “greenwashing” has grown.
Sydney is best known for the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. If you’re looking to enjoy dinner with views of these landmarks, here are some great options.
Reliable light matters in more places than ever. It matters on a back road after sunset, in a cabin with limited power, and at home during a storm outage. Research across sustainability guidance, preparedness resources, and off-grid living coverage points to one clear takeaway: people want lighting that works well, lasts longer, and creates less waste.
Reading nutrition advice from 50, 40, and even 20 years ago feels like stepping into an alternate universe. It’s hard to believe how close-minded and definitive those tips were when we look at them in relation to today’s actual scientific studies.
Before promoting sustainability progress, companies must ensure their initiatives are genuine and measurable. Today’s audiences are increasingly skeptical of vague environmental claims, particularly as awareness of “greenwashing” has grown.
Sydney is best known for the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. If you’re looking to enjoy dinner with views of these landmarks, here are some great options.
Reliable light matters in more places than ever. It matters on a back road after sunset, in a cabin with limited power, and at home during a storm outage. Research across sustainability guidance, preparedness resources, and off-grid living coverage points to one clear takeaway: people want lighting that works well, lasts longer, and creates less waste.
Reading nutrition advice from 50, 40, and even 20 years ago feels like stepping into an alternate universe. It’s hard to believe how close-minded and definitive those tips were when we look at them in relation to today’s actual scientific studies.
Before promoting sustainability progress, companies must ensure their initiatives are genuine and measurable. Today’s audiences are increasingly skeptical of vague environmental claims, particularly as awareness of “greenwashing” has grown.
Sydney is best known for the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. If you’re looking to enjoy dinner with views of these landmarks, here are some great options.
Reliable light matters in more places than ever. It matters on a back road after sunset, in a cabin with limited power, and at home during a storm outage. Research across sustainability guidance, preparedness resources, and off-grid living coverage points to one clear takeaway: people want lighting that works well, lasts longer, and creates less waste.
Reading nutrition advice from 50, 40, and even 20 years ago feels like stepping into an alternate universe. It’s hard to believe how close-minded and definitive those tips were when we look at them in relation to today’s actual scientific studies.
Before promoting sustainability progress, companies must ensure their initiatives are genuine and measurable. Today’s audiences are increasingly skeptical of vague environmental claims, particularly as awareness of “greenwashing” has grown.
Sydney is best known for the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. If you’re looking to enjoy dinner with views of these landmarks, here are some great options.
Reliable light matters in more places than ever. It matters on a back road after sunset, in a cabin with limited power, and at home during a storm outage. Research across sustainability guidance, preparedness resources, and off-grid living coverage points to one clear takeaway: people want lighting that works well, lasts longer, and creates less waste.
Reading nutrition advice from 50, 40, and even 20 years ago feels like stepping into an alternate universe. It’s hard to believe how close-minded and definitive those tips were when we look at them in relation to today’s actual scientific studies.
Before promoting sustainability progress, companies must ensure their initiatives are genuine and measurable. Today’s audiences are increasingly skeptical of vague environmental claims, particularly as awareness of “greenwashing” has grown.
Sydney is best known for the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. If you’re looking to enjoy dinner with views of these landmarks, here are some great options.
Reliable light matters in more places than ever. It matters on a back road after sunset, in a cabin with limited power, and at home during a storm outage. Research across sustainability guidance, preparedness resources, and off-grid living coverage points to one clear takeaway: people want lighting that works well, lasts longer, and creates less waste.
Reading nutrition advice from 50, 40, and even 20 years ago feels like stepping into an alternate universe. It’s hard to believe how close-minded and definitive those tips were when we look at them in relation to today’s actual scientific studies.
Before promoting sustainability progress, companies must ensure their initiatives are genuine and measurable. Today’s audiences are increasingly skeptical of vague environmental claims, particularly as awareness of “greenwashing” has grown.
Sydney is best known for the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. If you’re looking to enjoy dinner with views of these landmarks, here are some great options.
The International Birding & Research Center in Eilat built a community campaign to protect migrating birds from Africa to Europe. It was declared to be one of the most globally most important projects of conservation of bio-diversity by COP15, the Conference of the Parties (UN) on biodiversity. You know COP26 – that’s for the Climate. COP15, you could say, is for the birds. This year the group met in China.
The conference committee examined hundreds of projects and chose 100 “Global Outstanding Practices” among them. From these, the organizers chose the Eilat bird conservation project as one of the 19 most “outstanding” projects. The bird center has found a way to engage the public to protect a delicate land bridge that gives rest and refuge to migrating birds travelling from Africa to Europe and back again twice a year.
The group stopped wind turbines, decreased glass use in buildings, created watering holes and even make sure that “snacks” are available for the birds when they pass through the southern tip of Israel.
Birds aren’t loved in the Middle East and migrating birds face many challenges in areas like Jordan where the birds are shot for sport or killed because of superstitions.
“Our way to safeguard our skies and stopover sites as hazardless and nutritious for the migratory birds, pass through recruiting our communities and decision makers,” says Noam Weiss, the director of the International Birding & Research Center.
Eilat and Southern Arava are located on the only land-bridge, connecting Eurasia and Africa and on the edge of the vast and hostile Sahara Desert. The region is a critical migration bottle-necks in the world, one that millions of birds use.
The conservation of the flyway involves keeping skies clear of hazards such as wind turbines, cable held antennas, problematic power lines and even window covered buildings, that birds collide into.
Furthermore, the birds that used to enjoy thriving natural habitats such as the Eilat Saltmarsh, that is now practically extinct, are pushed to manufactured habitats – gardens, fields, orchards, Sewage treatment works and saltpans.
“To improve these man-made stopover sites for the birds, we need public support and participation and creative collaborations,”explains Noam. “To convince a farmer that birds can do pest control just as good or even better than pesticides, and therefore birds should feel safe and invited to the farms, or to collaborate with the local water company.
“The wide window of our research station, where bird banding to examine the physical condition of the migrants and their ability to complete their epic journey takes place, faces the tens of thousands of visitors who come here every year and watch research being done, ask questions and even get to hold a tiny bird and release it to its challenging way,” he adds.
“It’s a life changing experience” says Iris Gorin of the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel, who runs the ringing station. “a kid or adult holding a warm and energetic bird and letting it go back to its migration challenges, wish from all their hearts that it will make it safely home. They are recruited to love and conserve birds, in their gardens or at work, now and forever”.
The success to recruit the community to the goals for the birding center translated instantly to achievements in conservation campaigns. Four wind farms located on the main flyway and stopover sites were stopped by the bird sanctuary’s volunteers and their communities.
The treated water reservoir is now undergoing a tremendous change for the sake of the birds, by the enthusiastic team of “En netafim” and the “Salt of the Earth” invested in the bio-diversity of its saltpans, now called the “Flamingo pools” by all.
Antennas lost their planned cables, regularization of building’s fronts (max. 50% glass) , all made for the safety of the birds, by good intentions and people.
Make it your business to know if your supply chain is in short supply
America ran out of steel when China built its world expo. The world ran out of wood during the pandemic, and so many other aspects of the supply chain has been disrupted. But what about the minerals that are essential for building electric cars or imaging equipment to diagnose disease? We don’t want to run out of those. While there is no worldwide list of essentials, the American Government has tasked a geological group to make a list of peak minerals – basics that industries could not live without.
The American group, the US Geological Survey (USGS) was charged by the Federal Government of the United States to devise a list of critical materials and minerals that help define the American economy. Some of these minerals are in short supply, some are expensive and some are simply toxic so need to be recycled or handled respectfully at the end of a product’s life.
If you are a corporate decision maker, environmentalist, banker or a CRO, browse this list to understand supply chains and greening every inch of our lives from the medical devices we use to the airplanes we fly in.
“The USGS’s critical minerals list provides vital information for industry, policymakers, economists and scientists on the most important minerals when it comes to US supply chains,” says Tanya Trujillo, Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Water and Science.
“The statistics and information are crucial to understanding America’s vulnerability to disruptions in the supply of critical minerals, including data on the worldwide supply and demand for minerals and materials essential to the U.S. economy and national security.”
Under the Energy Act of 2020, a “critical mineral” is defined as a non-fuel mineral or mineral material essential to the economic or national security of the US, as well as the supply chain, which is vulnerable to disruption.
Critical minerals are also characterized as serving an essential function in the manufacturing of a product, the absence of which would have significant consequences for the economic or national security.
In 2018, the Department of the Interior worked in consultation with other cabinet agencies to develop the nation’s first list of critical minerals in response to Executive Order 13817.
The 50 critical minerals running your life
Aluminum, used in almost all sectors of the economy
Antimony, used in lead-acid batteries and flame retardants
2021 is almost over, and the zero-waste movement is still going strong. Now more than ever, people are doing their best to keep the planet clean, green, and with no waste in between. In fact, some are going so far that they are making DIY all-natural shampoos (or going no poo) and solar panels.
Of course, you don’t have to go that far. In fact, as a newcomer to the zero-waste movement, you don’t really have to go all-out immediately. Going zero-waste ought to be a process where you grow, adapt, develop, and learn from trial and error. In other words, even the most zero-waste devotees had to start somewhere.
So, where can you start? Well, in this article, we will provide you with a simple 8-step guide to zero-waste living. Most of these steps don’t require a whole lot from you except for a simple lifestyle change or two. And more importantly, you don’t even have to do all of the 8 steps at once. Begin by implementing two or three and see how well you adjust.
Step 1: Consume Differently
Globally, we waste around 1.3 billion tons of food, an amount that can feed almost 700 million people. A huge percent of that food comes from our own kitchens. In other words, all of the food that you don’t finish in one sitting or that spoils from staying in the fridge too long ends up as waste.
So, in order to reduce your contribution to this huge number, try to consume differently. For example, only prepare the amount you expect to eat so that you don’t throw away anything. If you can’t finish your meal, put it in the fridge and eat it for your next meal instead of throwing it away. Also, when you shop, don’t buy a perishable item if you don’t plan on eating it.
Step 2: Buy in Bulk
Buy local and without plastic bags. Refill dried goods at co-ops or bulk shops.
Some items have a long shelf-life. Therefore, if it’s an item you use a lot, it makes sense to buy it in bulk. The biggest reason behind that is the need to reduce the amount of packaging waste.
For example, if you want to buy cereal, dried fruit, nuts, spices, beans, and so on, simply take a jar or a plastic container to a local food store and fill them up. You can do the same with soap, shampoo, and even certain toiletries like cotton swabs.
Step 3: No More Single-Use Items
Single-use items most often refer to plastic packaging and objects that you throw away immediately after you’re done with them. In other words, it refers to plastic bottles, plastic utensils, product packaging, etc. Most of these items are incredibly difficult to recycle and even harder to decompose, so they end up stacked at our landfills.
In order to combat this issue, you can approach it in two ways. The first way involves doing a trash audit. Once you figure out everything that you throw away, you can work on reducing it in one way or another. More importantly, you should focus on the second way, i.e. buying items that you can reuse. Those items include:
Washable and reusable food containers
Durable utensils
Canvas shopping bags
Metal or hard plastic water bottles
Step 4: Donate Old Stuff
This step is simple enough. Do you have a ton of old things that you simply do not need, like old clothes, tools, utensils, bicycles, toys, towels, bedding, etc.? Well, all you have to do is find your local Salvation Army or Goodwill and donate them. Really, any donation establishment will do, as long as it’s registered and has a good track record. That way, you will know that your items are going to the people in need. In fact, you can even go a step further and donate the stuff yourself to a person in your community who might need some help.
Step 5: Buy Second-Hand
When replenishing your wardrobe or getting a new accessory, don’t go to the clothing store and buy items made cheaply by third-world laborers. Instead, opt for buying clothes that somebody else already wore. The same goes with belts, bags, backpacks, caps, gloves, wallets, etc.
Buying second-hand items has more than one benefit. Not only will you reduce the amount of clothing waste by reclaiming an item, but you’ll also be getting a decent piece of clothing or accessory at a fraction of the price.
Step 6: Repair What You Can
Recycle or upcycle phones
Sometimes, a smashed laptop or a busted phone is only good for the recycle bin. However, if your lamp isn’t working, or your toaster needs a once-over, why not try fixing them instead?
A lot of items, especially home electronics, end up in landfills. In order to avoid that, try to repair as much as you can yourself. Nowadays, you can find a tutorial online for fixing and restoring just about anything. A few channels even made entire successful careers doing it.
Step 7: Paperless Bills
Initiatives to shift from paper to digital billing aren’t new. And with the zero-waste movement gaining traction in Western countries, they are becoming even more popular than before. After all, paying without receiving paper notices is not only good for the environment, it is also incredibly easy and convenient, allowing you to pay anything from the comfort of your own home. So, if your city, county, or state supports paperless billing, don’t hesitate to try it.
This step might be the most complicated, but we’ve included it anyway as a sort-of end goal for any newcomer zero-waste adherent. When you have a lot of old items, instead of throwing them away, do a bit of DIY magic. You can create a whole range of different and exciting items from old door frames, tennis rackets, mirrors, picture frames, and even marbles. The possibilities are so numerous that you won’t even know where to begin. We suggest trying to upcycle one or two simple items and work your way up from there.
Also, try upcycling organic waste, which is a great way to reduce the amount of waste that ends up in landfills. One way to do this is by recycling food waste through composting. Composting involves breaking down organic materials like food scraps, yard waste, and other organic matter into nutrient-rich soil. By using compost bins, such as underground worm compost bins at subpod.com you can create nutrient-rich compost right in your own backyard. Worms break down organic matter such as food scraps and shredded leaves, and the resulting castings are a great fertilizer for your garden.
Conclusion
Zero-waste living is not really easy, but it’s also not particularly difficult. All you have to do is start small and the more you do it, the better you’ll become over time. Hopefully, these 8 steps will be a decent guide into your new and exciting world of saving the planet by simply living your life the best way possible.
If there were no one to design strategies for the conservation of resources, there would be even more waste on the planet.Sustainability issues span multiple business functions, making it difficult for organizations to create cohesive efforts.
For example, a company’s social license to operate is tied to numerous functions: a company’s health, safety, and environmental compliance; its way of operating, contributing to the communities, treatment of its employees, way of promoting itself, as well as its governance structure, ethics and others.
What does a chief sustainability officer (CSO) do?
Sustainability as a career has grown considerably over the last decade, withmany successful professionals who work in the field holding a degree, most notably holding a bachelors in sustainability. A Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO) has the primary responsibility of overseeing the entire sustainability strategy of a company, and solving all problems related to it.
The role of a sustainability director is evolving rapidly and is capable of helping companies gain a great competitive advantage. As companies have committed to more efforts around sustainability, the environment, and other issues, the goal of the Chief Sustainability Officer has been to promote and monitor these efforts.
Why your business needs a chief sustainability officer
Different governments have started mandating sustainability practices in business, while the Sustainable Development Goals, also known as the Global Goals, were adopted by all UN Member States in 2015, as a universal call to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity by 2030.The 17 SDGs are integrated, as they recognize that interventions in one area will affect outcomes in others, and development must balance environmental, economic and social sustainability.
Following the promise of leaving no one behind, countries have pledged to accelerate progress for those furthest behind. This is why the SDG´s have been designed to provide the world with several life-changing “zeros”, including zero poverty, zero hunger, zero AIDS, and zero discrimination against women and girls.
Many professionals around the world nowadays seem to prefer working for companies with strong environmental ethics. This is particularly common amongstmillennials, who make up around 50% of the workforce so companies have had to progressively evolve and adapt their structure to attract and retain this socially conscious group.
Millennials not only want to hear what their employers are doing to be more responsible, but they want to be co-creators of sustainability alternatives and help companies improve their responsible business practices by providing feedback, ideas and potential solutions. They want to be directly involved in the responsible efforts of a company, while they also expect their employers to provide effective activities related to environmental practices in the workplace. Even small businesses have realized the importance of this and are implementingsustainability as part of their core structure.
A study from IBM, focused on analyzing global consumer trends, reveals that currently the importance of the values associated with a brand outweighs other factors such as price or convenience for consumers. One of the conclusions drawn from the study is that a third of all consumers would stop buying their favorite products if they lost confidence in the brand and, in fact, another third of consumers affirm that during 2019 they had already stopped buying some products for that reason.
Consumers add that they give priority to those brands that are sustainable, transparent, and aligned with their values, when deciding to purchase. Therefore, they claim that they are willing to pay more, or even change their shopping habits, for those brands that fit their priorities.
Socially responsible or ethical investing is a combination of fundamental analysis active management and engagement, with an evaluation of environmental factors, in order to achieve a better long-term profitability for investors, benefiting society through the influence on the behavior of companies.
William McDonough is an architect who woke the profession up to the idea of designing with no waste. He coined the term Cradle to Cradle. It’s an important term for your business to know.
Ethical investing is in very good health and on the increase. Its growth in recent years has been very prominent at all levels: sectorial, geographical, by type, and more. Its implementation in some countries and in the institutional field is already very high and one of its main goals is to ensure that it extends more to the field of private. In addition, more and more environmentally aware investors are choosing to put their money into green companies.
How can employing a CSO benefit your business?
A corporate sustainability manager is responsible with social responsibility for everything that happens in the company that may have an environmental impact. Some of the manyways a company can benefit from what a CSO does are:
Encourages innovation: A CSO helps companies develop new processes and technologies to be more environmentally conscious.
Good Public Relations: Businesses that are seen as a responsible corporations tend to have more successful PR, which allows them to increase their credibility and support.
Attract top talent: Some of the best and most talented professionals seem to prefer companies that have CSO´s leading their sustainability initiatives.
Gain a new customer base: Changes brought by a CSO can make a business reach new audiences, which could eventually translate into more clients and profits.
Seasonal harvesters of red gold algae are underpaid and exploited.
One of Morocco’s most valuable exports is red gold algae, from which the gelling agent agar-agar is made. Agar-agar has multiple uses in health supplements, cosmetics, pharmacology, and other industries. We wrote about algae as treatment for inflammatory bowel disease here.
Morocco has imposed quotas, and set prices on the valuable seaweed, but until now the government hasn’t considered the looming consequence of over-harvesting it: extinction.
Harvesting red gold algae also involves the backbreaking labor of seasonal workers who are paid shockingly little.
Five UK and Moroccan artists have mounted an exhibition in London focused on red gold algae to illustrate human and ecology issues. Called Red Gold Reflections, it incorporates essay films, recorded performances, sound installation, and photography.
Exploited workers and endangered red gold algae are the focus of a UK-Moroccan collaborative art exhibition.
The National (UK) interviewed Sabrina Mumtaz Hasan, one of the artists involved in the collaboration. She is an associate lecturer on the MA Art and Science course at Central St Martins.
“Agar-Agar was promoted as a replacement for gelatin and as bioplastics in design, and was meant to be more sustainable, but it is also problematic because there isn’t really a ‘golden product’ that solves environmental problems,” she said.
Mumtaz Hasan traveled to Morocco to view a company that cultivates microalgae destined to develop into macroalgae.
Susewi, with its partner Plymouth University, received funding from Innovat UK to develop technology and structure of a project where microalgae grow in a large pond donated by the Moroccan government near the town of Akhfennir. The artificial pond, set in non-arable land, occupies three hectares and is the largest algae pond in the world. Seeing the success of the experiment, the Moroccan has since allocated another 6000 hectares to build another plant.
“They’re working with single-cells to multiply them, which takes out the need to harvest from the sea,” says Mumtaz Hasan.
Susewi’s CEO Keith Coleman states that the company’s goal is to become “The world’s largest producer of algal biomass. Microalgae,” he continues, “are the “most successful organisms on the planet.” They grow ten times faster than land plants and absorb CO2 more efficiently than trees do. They don’t need soil, which allows use of non-arable land, while converting sunlight into food. Can algae be the new superfood?
The Algal Innovation Centre at the University of Cambridge is the second UK-based body cultivating algae, feeding the micro-plants nutrients extracted from fruit and vegetable waste.
Mumtaz Hasan said, “I was quite skeptical when I went to speak to both labs, but this process has been very enlightening.”
The Red Gold Reflections exhibition hopes to bring about discussion on climate change and sustainable practice. It ran at P21 Gallery, London ran until November 6, but a series of Red Gold Reflection online events may be viewed through Dardishi.
The collaboration was the fruit of a three-month research and artistic residency run by A.Mal, an artistic research collective funded by the British Council Morocco and Arts Council England.
How can anyone take Saudi Arabia seriously? They are developing 90 untouched islands on the Red Sea, one with Foster + Partners, are creating the world’s most nuts environmental nightmare “green” city called Neom, where they have evicted locals and even killed a Bedouin activist. It’s like a villain making promises while crossing his fingers behind his back.
Ahmad El Droubi from Greenpeace, who obviously sees the ongoing contractions Saudi Arabia spouts out into the world: “We question the seriousness of this announcement, as it comes in parallel with plans for the Kingdom to increase its oil production … and seems to simply be a strategic move to alleviate political pressure ahead of COP26.”
But the words are likely just a smokescreen, as Saudis plan on carbon capture and storage technologies (CCS), which have not been proven to scale and which may require more energy than the emissions they sequester. The use of CCS as a golden bullet idea summons the idea that Saudi Arabia can “buy” its way out of unrestrained use of fossil fuels. The usual old world approach.
“The stipulations of the announcement are of great concern as they focus on an array of false solutions, such as CCS whose viability at scale remains largely unproven and its potential to deliver significant emission reductions by the mid-century is currently limited,” says El Droubi.
“Safe, permanent, and verifiable storage of CO2 is difficult to guarantee and there are many hidden climate impacts of such technologies.
“We’ll be carbon neutral by 2060.”
“The proposition of increased dependence on natural gas and development of a hydrogen economy, based primarily on it, are also of great concern; blue hydrogen relies on CCS and also maintains the status quo of dependency on fossil fuels, according to a recent study the total carbon dioxide equivalent emissions are only 9%-12% less than for grey hydrogen.”
Greenpeace, a leader in environmental education and action warns that climate change is a global threat that requires a global reduction of carbon emissions and that fossil fuel exporting countries have a responsibility beyond their national borders.
“We urge Saudi Arabia to stop expanding their investment in oil and gas at home and abroad,” El Droubi says. “The region has an abundance of renewable energy potential. There are faster, cleaner, safer, more efficient, and cheaper means that exist to reduce CO2 emissions.”
Slow Food is an organization that promotes local food and traditional cooking. It was founded by Carlo Petrini in Italy in 1986 and has since spread worldwide.
Environmentalists caution that we need to slow carbon emissions quickly or risk a catastrophic change to our climate. With world leaders and non-profit organisations meeting this month at COP26 in Glasgow, one thing is certain, say representatives from the Slow Food movement, based in Italy:
The same old corporate solutions of a tech fix such as hydroponics and fake meat (see Leonardo Dicaprio and meatballs) will not save us from climate change.
This announcement was made by Slow Food after a two-day summit on nature and land use to slow carbon emissions was concluded.
Slow Food leaders say we are just about sustainable agriculture without considering the food system as a whole. The proposed solutions that emerged seemed to go in two different and separate directions, presented as complementary: reforestation on the one hand and technological innovation in agriculture on the other.
Le Colline del Prosecco di Conegliano e Valdobbiadene. Located in North-Eastern Italy, the property includes part of the winegrowing landscape of the Prosecco wine production area.
“The only approach that can effectively contribute to building a truly sustainable food system is that of agroecology,” Slow Food makes clear. “It should be recognized as a central tool to tackle the multiple crises we face, including the climate crisis: agroecology is rooted in rebuilding relationships between agriculture and the environment, and between food systems and society.
If not agroecology and regenerative agriculture we are witnessing the recycling of an old model, which keeps considering food as a series of commodities to be produced on a large scale, with monocultures assisted by futuristic technologies that will make farmers increasingly dependent on large multinational companies and their patents.
To shift our global economy to a low carbon model, authorities want to continue following the corporate narrative of high tech, centralised industrialised farming and fake meat, Slow Food criticises.
Tech fixes will not set us free from climate change: Slow Food
“One of the events at COP today was about ‘Accelerating a just rural transition to sustainable agriculture’. For us, a just transition must be based on biodiversity, agroecology and social justice – and not on techno-fixes,” says Marta Messa, Director of Slow Food Europe, comments:
She adds: “Agricultural ecosystems must be restored in harmony with the natural environment. Techno fixes are a false solution, they are not based on the real innovations that communities come up with to be resilient. We want to see by the end of COP26 binding commitments and no empty promises”.
Agroecology, or regenerative farming, is sustainable farming that works with nature. Ecology is the study of relationships between plants, animals, people, and their environment – and the balance between these relationships. Agroecology is the application of ecological concepts and principals in farming.
I think one of the problems about the climate change discussion at COP26 or in general is that we give too much power and credence to the United Nations, a highly politicised group that is slow to move and even slower to take action. But if not them, who else can influence large companies and governments to shift away from fossil fuels? How can we connect one-by-one, but as a whole, to make a shift? Do we keep screaming like Greta or do we start taking action in a new way – using old tools like agroecology?
You might find yourself starting a rest asana when your yoga teacher lights an incense stick. How do you feel about that? Anxious or calm? Connected to spiritual practices and worship from the east –– Jews used incense and (cannabis possibly) in the Holy Temple thousands of years ago to commune with God, and Muslims use it to get the Jinns out –– incense has become more and more part of our every day lives.
Easy to digest eastern philosophies pervade our workplace and community. Some people may smudge or use joss sticks to get out the bad spirits, or maybe you just like the smell of your incense sticks, but researchers from Taiwan say beware. Your incense is more likely harming you than helping you.
The large group of scientists from a number of Taiwan research organizations including the Taipei Medical University Hospital, found that incense use can cause cancer, breathing problems, heart disease and neurological disorders.
They reported their findings in the Journal of Inflammation Research (links to PDF here).
Some findings: “Notably, exposure to incense burning during pregnancy may have profound neural effects in offspring,” the researchers write.
“According to a Chinese cohort study comprising nearly 43,000 participants, it was calculated that prenatal exposure to incense burning was significantly and positively associated with early-onset hyperactive behaviors in preschoolers. Similarly, by using nationwide data set from Taiwan Birth Cohort Study, delayed gross motor milestone achievement was found among infants born in homes with incense burning.”
Incense sticks which are also known as agarbatti (a popular brand from India is Sai Baba, Satya, Nag Champa, Agarbatti Incense Sticks) is an integral element of religious rituals and cultural heredity around the world.
Incense sticks burning holds an important place in Hinduism, Christianity, Buddhism, and Islam – and as we mentioned in early Judaism by the Temple Priests. Although the place of origin for incense may be widespread, incense probably started in China, India, or Egypt.
Like tobacco use or shisha in the Middle East, burning of materials in the home creates particulate matter that can build up and irritate the lungs and eyes – and cause dermatitis and eventually lung cancer.
“Through a case control study of children of ages 10 years and under in Los Angeles County, a significant increased risk of leukemia was found among children whose parents had burned incense more than once a week at home during pregnancy or nursing period, which still remained after adjusting for confounding variables such as parental occupational exposure, parent use of garden sprays, or parent use of household pesticides,” they report.
“Evidences suggest that incense burning might affect all stages of lives, from pre-conception to old age, with multiple health effects. Much work has been done in order to explore the toxicities status of burning incense in association with human health.
“Although underlying mechanisms remain still in the primary stages of study, oxidative stress and associated inflammatory responses seem to be the plausible pathophysiological pathways underlying the adverse effects of incense smoke,” they add.
Notably, the Taiwan researchers say collectively, “tobacco smoking has been also well recognized as an oxidative stressor that induces the accumulation of reactive oxygen species, which in turn leads to damages to the body.
“Since both incense smoke and tobacco smoke may affect the biological systems through the same pathway, it would not be surprising that the effects of incense smoke in ever or current smokers are different from those in never smokers, but in varying ways.”
Incense, depending on what it is made from can include metals and other compounds that can severely affect one’s health.
The Taiwanese researchers are aware that it will be difficult to intervene in Asian religious practice. They consider taxes on incense to encourage less use, but know that contraband and cheaper products will infiltrate the black market and cause more damage possibly.
They note: “Rather, the situation can be improved by establishing the guidelines for safer practice of incense burning. For instance, it was reported that the emission and health risk may differ among housing conditions.
“In cases where incense burning is unavoidable, every attempt must be made to improve the indoor air quality, such as reducing the amount of incense burned, enlarging the space, facilitating the ventilation, and selecting health-friendly incense products.”
With Covid probably here to stay we need to be extra careful about using incense. Alternatives suggested is vapor or smoke-like products that look like incense but which do not release particulate matter, along with essential oils or natural smells. These alternatives may provide comfort to those familiar with every day incense use. They also suggest using an app that creates a video to look like incense burning but are doubtful as to whether people would really use this option.
When people travel to Saudi Arabia, the Four Seasons Riyadh in the tower (below) built by Scott Berry is top of the list for Middle East luxury. The iconic ultra-luxury hotel might be a great idea for a business traveller stopover for a day or two, but luxury and sustainability aren’t usually friends in the Middle East.
If you can spare a few days, travel about 800 miles to the Sea instead and meet at the Red Sea. Saudi Arabia’s prince is planning a bombastic gothic city called Neom at the Red Sea, but there are also plans to create some more realistic sustainable destinations like the new Foster + Partner circular resort which lassos the Red Sea. It is being called Hotel 12, for European ears, and Ummahat AlShaykh in Arabic.
The hotel is being designed to be part of the Red Sea Project to bring tourism all along the coast of the Red Sea.
While the Red Sea coral reefs are dwindling and are more or less devastated from climate change, oil spills, tourism and heavy freighter traffic, the Red Sea is still home to magnificent sea life. And you shouldn’t miss it in this lifetime. The atmosphere of desert meets water, and the purple and maroon mountains in the landscape help you understand how the 10 commandments were received at God’s Mountain in Sinai across the channel.
Other well-known architects like Kengo Kuma will be designing luxurious projects for these relatively untouched islands between Umluj and Al Wajh in Saudi Arabia. That is an archipelago of 90 undeveloped islands. Developers say it is the “world’s most ambitious tourism development”.
Foster + Partners aims to design the new hotel with a “light touch, non-damaging approach.”
“How do you bring people to these places where nobody has been before?” said Gerard Evenden, head of studio at Foster + Partners. “And how do you bring people into those places without damaging anything?”
Foster will take a circular approach and use stilts so that suites do not damage the beach. Considerations like eliminating single use plastics will come into part of the design.
The Red Sea Project aspires to be “100 percent carbon neutral” and will power up using renewable energy, with no waste from the hotels going to landfill.
“What is very important about anything sustainable is two things: one is giving people choices,” said Evenden.
“And the second thing is looking at what the resultant reaction of what you do will be. So, when we looked at the islands our approach was to have a light touch. As light as we could possibly be.”
We have to say that until now we haven’t seen a successful eco idea invented in Europe with Middle Eastern oil money that really returned on its promise to the Middle East. Of course with endless payments and promises of building dreams, foreigners are happy to run in and fill the spots where many other true environmentalists would rather say no.
We’d rather have Middle Eastern world leaders stop wooing us with grandiose and stale ideas of the past future and paint us a picture of how Middle East dreamers like Hassan Fathy and Nader Khalili, the true futurists, envisioned homes for their own people in Egypt and Iran.
The projection represents the voices of around 70 thousand Muslims from around the world who signed a pledge to act responsibly towards the environment and become an ‘Ummah for Earth,’ with a simple message about the urgency for climate action: “To all leaders at COP26: Let’s work together for climate solutions now!”
Irfan Razzaq, General Secretary of Glasgow Central Mosque said: “As we welcome delegates coming to Glasgow to participate in the climate conference, we felt obliged to send a message from the Muslim Ummah to leaders, and help the global climate movement achieve its ultimate aim based on our shared values of protection, guardianship and stewardship of our planet.”
Throughout the course of the conference, the Ummah for Earth Alliance is calling for world leaders, especially those from Muslim majority countries to take more concrete actions and:
Make serious progress by issuing new commitments and moving faster to phase out of fossil fuels to keep the goal of limiting global heating warming below 1.5C within reach
Support the transition of developing economies, including supporting the most affected communities
Ensure that the $100bn annually for climate change financing is not only met but made more transparent for easier accountability
Guarantee that a fairer share of funds is set aside for global adaptation projects that helps communities prepare for the worst consequences of climate change
Ensure that loss and damage financing, which helps countries hardest hit by climate change rebuild, is urgently increased
3 Muslim-led action organisations to follow
About Islamic Relief Worldwide:
As an independent humanitarian and development organisation, Islamic Relief Worldwide has been serving humanity for 35 years. With an active presence in over 40 countries across the globe, IRW strives to make the world a better and fairer place for the three billion people still living in poverty.
Since 1984, IRW has helped millions of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people. Inspired by the Islamic faith and guided by its values, IRW believes that people with wealth have a duty to those less fortunate regardless of race, political affiliation, gender or belief.
About Ummah for Earth:
The Ummah for Earth (U4E) project aims to contribute to the climate movement amongst Muslims worldwide by building on Islamic values to address the vulnerability of Muslims and climate impacts. The project seeks to show how Muslim culture and values are an important guiding light for a more sustainable future while amplifying the voices of Muslim youth in the global conversation around climate.
The U4E project serves as a platform for Muslims and Muslim youth in particular to become active citizens working for their communities and the good of the planet. U4E also seeks to work alongside key influencers, religious figures and thought leaders who can contribute to a mindset that prioritizes climate as a pressing global matter.
About Greenpeace MENA:
Greenpeace Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is the latest organisation in the Greenpeace network that now consists of 27 independent national/regional organisations in over 55 countries across Europe, the Americas, Africa, Asia and the Pacific, as well as a co-ordinating body, Greenpeace International.
Greenpeace MENA prioritises environmental problems from this important region, offering solutions for its people and working hand in hand with the local communities in order to push for a greener and more peaceful world.
We all want a better lifestyle and a smooth transition from our house to nature. How about an outdoor garden room? DIY
A small wooden structure in the garden is not just a part of landscape design, but a functional room that can be used for different purposes. Garden rooms will become a place for rest and relaxation, spending leisure time with family and friends, spending the night for guests and many other purposes.
What does the preparation phase include?
Despite the small dimensions of the building, the preparation of a plan, a design project and, of course, the site itself is required. When creating a general plan, it is necessary to indicate the following:
plan-diagram of the room with the overall dimensions;
wall thickness, foundation depth and roof type;
location of windows and doors;
layout of communications (light, water).
Often, a small terrace or a semi-open veranda attached to the building can be added to the garden room. The standard area of the room should be about 10 square meters, but it may be smaller if you don’t require that much space.
Space planning
Interior design and arrangement directly depend on the scope of the wooden house. Often, a one-story building includes a seating area (sofa or bed), a table with chairs or benches, a TV, and several storage cabinets.
If the garden room will be used as a place for guests to stay, a small bathroom with a shower (cabin or ladder) is made in a separate room, and a kitchen block with a mini-fridge and a microwave oven, a wardrobe with shelves and an area for hangers right in the room. With the correct development of a design project in a small space, you can arrange all functional areas without any difficulty.
Which wood to use?
Traditionally timber is used, but now preference is given to warm, durable and pre-fabricated wooden frames. It withstands winter temperatures, is lightweight, and all the necessary communications can be laid in the multi-layer walls.
The following types of wood are used:
Pine. It is highly durable and affordable. This type of wood is warm and reliable, but requires regular treatment to protect it from external factors.
Spruce. Warmer and more reliable than pine, but requires even more careful maintenance due to the loose and porous structure of coniferous wood.
Larch. Used for garden rooms in cold regions. Larch is resistant to moisture, does not freeze, and withstands extreme temperature.
Linden. Used only for warm climates. This wood is sensitive to insects and temperature extremes, but has a pleasant smell and even medicinal properties.
The best option for small frame buildings is oak. It has an aesthetic appearance, excellent performance, increased strength and durability. Oak will last 15 years minimum. The only drawback is the high price, but the finished result is worth it.
Stages of building a garden room
A room of one’s own, a little office, pottery studio, or granny flat. Building a tiny home in your garden might be a better eco investment that renting a whole new space.
For the correct construction of a garden room, it is necessary to follow the principle of implementing a full-fledged modular design, which will make the construction as simple, reliable and consistent as possible. The construction of a wooden building consists of several stages.
Foundation
You cannot calculate the area of the room and the size of the roof without knowing the size of the foundation. Its depth depends on the characteristics of the soil, the presence of groundwater, and the landscape. For wooden structures, preference should be given to the columnar type of foundation.
For its construction, rubble concrete, concrete or natural stone is used. The screed is made of cement and sand, and, if necessary, a protective waterproofing layer is laid.
Building walls
A rough layer is laid along the perimeter of the foundation, after which a frame with temporary wooden beams is set up. For securing the construction parts, special long nails are used. The rigid frame is gradually “built up”, which is then covered on the inside and outside.
The verticality of the walls is controlled using a plumb line. The corners are covered with linen tow and pieces of timber for strengthening and insulation. Along with the construction of walls, work is carried out to install window and door frames according to a pre-made plan.
Floor and slab construction
A rough floor is laid on top of the beams, after which a finishing floor is formed from a wooden slat on top. For the base, it is recommended to use clay with layers of roofing material and insulation. For the final layer, a mixture of sand and cement is used.
The floor must be sealed with a product to protect it from moisture, changes in temperature and other various factors. In the upper part, the ceiling beams are formed in the same way. Sometimes, even in garden rooms, small attics are made for storage space.
Roof construction
For this object, both pitch and gable roofs can be used. They consist of rafters, coverings, and a roof deck. The simplest type of roof to construct is one that has sloped rafters. The rafters are cut into the wall beams for better fixation, and the lathing is parallel or end-to-end.
For the top layer of the roof, corrugated slate sheets are used. The overlap should be at least one wavelength (about 10-15 cm). Screws or nails are used to secure the structure. For finishing the ridge piece, special fittings with matching color and style are used.
Final stages
Further, the final finishing, installation of doors and windows in the installed blocks, DIY solar panels?decoration of the porch, and landscape design is carried out. The most important thing is to complete the construction on time and install window and door elements to protect the room from the inside. And the rest can be done gradually and without haste.
Usage of garden rooms
A wooden garden room has nothing to do with a gazebo or an attic. The closed structure has a nice appearance and fits perfectly into the exterior of any home. Here are some possible purposes of garden rooms:
Place for playing games. The room will be a great place for children to spend time with friends. It can be turned into a full-fledged play area or into a small “headquarters” for teenagers.
Guest house. A garden room equipped with a toilet and shower is suitable for guests. They will have their place to stay that is separate from the owners’.
Working area. A small room can be equipped as an office by placing a computer desk in it and providing access to a Wi-Fi network.
A place for leisure. Music, painting, craft and other hobbies are best done in a separate room and for your pleasure.
Pastime with the family. The room can be turned into a complete relaxation area for the whole family and friends.
The building can be used both in summer and in winter (all year round). Seasonality of the garden room should be considered when planning and constructing the building to foresee the influence of temperature and precipitation, as well as to properly protect the room from the outside temperature fluctuations.
Mono Lake is three times as salty as the ocean with an alkaline pH of 10. Before this new study, only two other animal species were known to live in the lake: brine shrimp and diving flies.
In the new work, Caltech Professor Paul Sternberg, University of Haifa’s Dr. Amir Sapir and colleagues from the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom and Israel found eight more animal species, all belonging to a class of worms called nematodes. Only three of them are known to science.
All eight species are diverse, ranging from microbe-grazers to parasites and predators. Importantly, all are resilient to the arsenic-laden conditions in the lake and are thus considered extremophiles.
“Extremophiles can teach us so much about innovative strategies for dealing with stress,” said Caltech Dr. Pei-Yin Shih, first author of the study.
“Our study shows we still have much to learn about how these 1,000-celled animals have mastered survival in extreme environments.”
One of the new species, Auanema sp., exists in three different sexes: hermaphrodites, females, and males.
The hermaphrodites can produce offspring by themselves, but the females and males need to mate in order to produce their young. The females and males are often produced early in the reproductive cycle of the mother, followed by the hermaphrodites.
“One potential explanation for this three-sex life cycle in Auanema sp. is that the females and males could help maintain genetic diversity through sexual recombination, while the hermaphrodites could disperse into new environments and establish new populations there — since they can grow a population by themselves,” said Caltech Dr. James Siho Lee, co-author of the study.
When comparing Auanema sp. to sister species in the same genus, the researchers found that the similar species also demonstrated high arsenic resistance, even though they do not live in environments with high arsenic levels.
In another surprising discovery, Auanema sp. itself was found to be able to thrive in the laboratory under normal, non-extreme conditions. Only a few known extremophiles in the world can be studied in a laboratory setting.
“Our findings expand Mono Lake’s ecosystem from two known animal species to ten, and they provide a new system for studying arsenic resistance,” the scientists said.
“The dominance of nematodes in Mono Lake and other extreme environments and our findings of preadaptation to arsenic raise the intriguing possibility that nematodes are widely pre-adapted to be extremophiles.”
The research was published in the journal Current Biology.
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Pei-Yin Shih et al. Newly Identified Nematodes from Mono Lake Exhibit Extreme Arsenic Resistance. Current Biology, published online September 26, 2019; doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2019.08.024
Animals are losing sight of the Milky Way… crickets don’t know when to chirp. For the love of god, turn out your lights
Sleeping with the lights on? A new study has found that artificial lights at night caused crickets to chirp in the daytime in cities. So what’s artificial light doing to us and other animals? We’ve talked about the way light disrupts our hormones. But it’s not just hurting us. We are freaking out the entire animal kingdom. Crickets don’t know when to chirp. Beetles can’t see the Milky Way; hatched turtles can’t find the sea.
Researchers from Tel Aviv University found that exposing male crickets to artificial light at night can mess up their biological rhythms. Nocturnal chirping is the male’s way of calling females to come and mate with him, and its disruption can interfere with reproduction processes and even endanger the entire species.
Previous studies worldwide have shown that light pollution is harmful to many species of animals and plants. The researchers call for reducing night light pollution as possible to enable coexistence of animals and us.
The bigger finding might be that artificial lights are also hurting us. But let’s start with the crickets.
Keren Levy, one of the researchers explains that the distinction between day and night, light and darkness, is a major foundation of life on earth. But humans, as creatures of the day who fear the dark, disrupt this natural order: they produce artificial light that drives away the darkness and allows them to continue their activities at night.
Animals led astray by night pollution
She explains: Today more than 80% of the world’s population lives under light pollution, and the overall extent rises by 5% every year.
For example, dung beetles, that navigate using the Milky Way, lose their way when light pollution increases; sea turtles hatchlings seek the brightest surface in sight – supposedly the sea, and reach the nearby promenade instead.
The researchers monitored dozens of crickets exposed lifelong (from egg to adult stage), to four types of light conditions. They found that crickets exposed to 12 hours of light followed by 12 hours of darkness exhibited cyclic activity rhythms of 24h: they began to chirp when the lights went out and stopped when the lights were turned on again.
Crickets that experienced partial lighting in the dark periods lost their natural rhythms and their synchronization with their environment: 80% followed an individual inner cycle, and 5% lost all rhythm.
Crickets exposed to constant light 24/7 developed their own cycles (71%) or lost all rhythm (29%). The findings indicated that increase of artificial light at night – also known as ALAN- in the laboratory induces loss of rhythmicity at both the individual and population levels.
Keren Levy: “Our study demonstrates that crickets whose light-dark cycle is disrupted behave like teenagers on vacation: active or asleep according to their own inner clock or lacking any rhythm whatsoever.
In fact, light pollution induced by humankind impacts the field cricket and evokes loss of synchronization within the individual, on the population level, and between the population and the environment.
Our findings on ALAN-induced changes in calling song patterns may possibly impair female attraction and reproduction in this species. Our results are in accord with many other studies demonstrating the severe impacts of low levels of ALAN on nature.
“We ask, you, therefore, to help protect our environment and surroundings by turning off the lights in your backyards, on the terrace, in parking lots, and wherever possible. Help us bring the night and the milky way back into our lives and enable nightly coexistence with the creatures around us.”
Most eco-conscious women and men know that diamonds and luxury goods are passe. They waste resources, cost money and create heartache for those that don’t have.
Some companies say they mine for metals and diamonds that are conflict free. Brilliant Earth, for instance, says it mines eco-friendly precious metals and diamonds without hurting people, but mines are a known blight on the earth in any shape and form. Mining leaves lingering pollution in waterways, maybe forever.
But we have another idea. Take all the bits of your gold metal and smith into an engagement ring you can wear with pride. This one was recently found in Yavne, Israel, inside an archaeological site that included an ancient wine press. It is at least 1300 years old.
We love the ancient look and feel of this ring which is set with a semi-precious stone called amethyst. Amethysts are mentioned in Bible as one of the 12 precious stones worn by the high priest of the Temple on his ceremonial breastplate.
Many virtues have been attached to this gem, including the prevention of the side effect of drinking, the hangover. You can set yours with a lab-created diamond or hunt for a stone in grandma’s jewellery box.
“Did the person who wore the ring want to avoid intoxication due to drinking a lot of wine? We probably will never know,” says Dr. Elie Haddad, the director of the excavation that found the ring in the Holy Land: “the ring was found just 100 yards from the remains of a long warehouse, which was used to store wine jars. Some of the jars were found upside down on their mouths and it may have been a warehouse full of empty jars before they were taken to the winepresses, to fill with wine.
“It is possible that the splendid ring belonged to the owner of the magnificent warehouse, to a foreman, or simply to an unlucky visitor, who dropped and lost their precious ring, until it was finally discovered by us.”
Researchers are debating the date of the ring. It was found in a fill dated to the end of the Byzantine period and the beginning of the Early Islamic period – the 7th century CE, but it is possible that the ring, due to its beauty and prestige, was transmitted from generation to generation over the centuries.
Gold rings inlaid with amethyst stone are known in the Roman world, and it is possible that the ring’s find belongs to the elites who lived in the city as early as the 3rd century CE.
Climate change terminology so you can fight global warming with words used at UN COP26 in Glasgow
So you’ve heard the news. Something about Glasgow, the UN, a Paris Agreement, COP-something and climate change. World leaders are meeting in Glasgow, Scotland to set climate change goals and agree to emissions, and commitments to renewable energy. Some are saying 100% by 2030, but for most that’s too ambitious, especially in the United States where home owners are trying to DIY install solar energy and find themselves unable to connect to an ageing grid.
To make it easier on you, we’ve supplied you below with the climate change terminology for the year. Know these terms used by the United Nations and you will be able to educate your class, colleagues and household.
What is the UN’s COP26?
Let’s start with the name of the event itself, COP26. In layman’s terms, this is the 26th UN climate change conference, but officially it is the 26th Conference of the Parties (or COP) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). So let’s break that down a bit…
The UNFCCC was established following the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development in Rio (often referred to as the Earth Summit). The stated aim of the UNFCCC was to reduce greenhouse gases in order to prevent dangerous climate change caused by human activity.
Conferences of the Parties to the convention, or COPs, are the formal meetings that have taken place every year since 1995, apart from 2020: the COVID-19 pandemic meant that COP26 was delayed by a year.
What are SDG goals?
There are 17 inter-linked Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs, which focus on challenges ranging from clean energy access, to poverty reduction and responsible consumption.
Climate Change is one of the Goals (SDG 13), but t’s becoming increasingly clear that climate change plays a role in many, if not all of the SDGs, and that achieving the 2030 Agenda will be impossible without making serious inroads into tackling the problem.
The NDC plan
This stands for Nationally Determined Contribution, the detailed plan that individual countries are required to make, under the Paris Agreement, to show how they will cut the amount of harmful greenhouse gases they emit. All countries are expected to revise their NDC to reflect greater ambition.
Presently, these plans are not sufficient to keep global warming to 1.5° Celsius above pre-industrial levels, so this year, there is increased pressure on countries to sharply increase their level of ambition.
What does Net Zero mean?
Put simply, net zero means cutting emissions to as close to zero as possible, such as by moving toward a green economy and clean renewable energy, with any remaining emissions reabsorbed, including oceans and forests.
Practically every country has joined the Paris Agreement on climate change, which calls for keeping the global temperature to 1.5°C above pre-industrial era levels.
If we continue to pump out the emissions that cause climate change, however, temperatures will continue to rise well beyond 1.5, to levels that threaten the lives and livelihoods of people everywhere.
This is why a growing number of countries are making commitments to achieve “net zero” emissions by 2050. It’s a big task, requiring ambitious actions starting right now.
When you hear 1.5°C
You’ll be hearing “the goal of 1.5 degrees Celsius” a lot during COP. In a 2018, an IPCC report, reviewed by thousands of scientists and governments, found that limiting global temperature rise to no more than 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels (in the mid-18th century), would help us avoid the worst climate impacts and maintain a liveable climate.
According to the latest data, our world has already warmed between 1.06 to 1.26 above pre-industrial levels, and even if current promises are met, we would still be on a course to reach 2.7°C this century. This would mean a “climate catastrophe” as highlighted by the UN Secretary-General, with a possible collapse of ecosystems, and life as we know it.
What is the IPCC?
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the UN body for assessing the science related to climate change.
Created in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the objective of the IPCC is to provide governments at all levels with scientific information that they can use to develop climate policies.
IPCC reports are also a key input into the international climate change negotiations that will be happening during COP26. A major report released in August showed that unless there are rapid, sustained and large-scale reductions of greenhouse gas emissions, including CO2, methane and others, the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5C will be beyond reach.
What are SIDS nations?
Small Island Developing States are a distinct group of 58 low-lying island nations that are highly vulnerable and often affected by weather extremes and climate change, including the increased severity of cyclones, storm surges, heavy rains, droughts, sea-level rise and ocean acidification.
During the latest high-level week of the General Assembly, SIDS leaders from Fiji, Tuvalu and the Maldives took centre stage saying their nations are facing an existential threat if rich countries fail to make good on their promises to turn the tide on global warming.
Define Climate Finance
Broadly speaking, climate finance relates to the money which needs to be spent on a whole range of activities to reduce the emissions that are causing climate change, and to help people adapt to and build resilience for the impacts of climate change that are already occurring.
It can involve local, national, or transnational financing, which may be drawn from public, private and alternative sources of financing. Climate finance is critical to addressing climate change, because large-scale investments are required to significantly reduce emissions, notably in sectors that emit large quantities of greenhouse gases, and to help adaptation efforts.
In 2009, during the COP15 in Copenhagen rich nations promised to channel $100 billion a year to less-wealthy nations by 2020, to help them adapt to climate change and mitigate further rises in temperature.
The promise still hasn’t been delivered—climate finance to developing countries presently amounts to about $80 billion–, and therefore climate finance will be one of the biggest issues of discussion during COP26.
What is the SBTi?
This stands for the UN-backed Science Based Target initiative. Companies which sign up to the initiative set science-based emission reduction targets, which leave them better equipped to tackle climate change, and making them more competitive, in the transition to a net-zero economy.
Science-based target setting has become a standard business practice, and corporations are playing a major role in driving down global greenhouse gas emissions and in supporting the implementation of country commitments.
What are Nature-based Solutions?
Saudi Arabian mangrove forests can help mitigate climate change
Nature-based Solutions are actions to protect, sustainably manage, and restore natural and modified ecosystems that address societal challenges effectively and adaptively, simultaneously providing human well-being and biodiversity benefits.
Nature-Based Solutions are an essential part of the overall global effort to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change: they are a vital complement to decarbonisation, reducing climate change risks like carbon farming in Saudi Arabia, regenerative agriculture in the US, and establishing climate resilient societies in general.
We interview mayors from Houston and Portugal on what makes cities resilient to climate change:
Examples include massive tree planting programmes, which absorb carbon and provide protection from intense rainfall, and rebuilding mangroves, which provide effective and cheap natural barriers against coastal floods and shoreline erosion.
Who are the G20?
The Group of 20 (G20) is an intergovernmental forum comprising most of the world’s largest economies: 19 nations and the European Union. They work to address major issues related to the global economy, such as international financial stability, climate change mitigation, and sustainable development.
The G20 members are:
Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan, India, Indonesia, Italy, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union. Spain is also invited as a permanent guest.
The UN Secretary-General has made clear that climate action must be led by G20 nations, which collectively account for around 90 per cent of gross world product, 75 to 80 per cent of international trade and two thirds or the world’s population.
Their commitment during COP26 is crucial for curbing greenhouse gases and stop fuelling climate change.
What is the AGN?
The African Group of Negotiators on Climate Change (AGN) was established at COP1 in Berlin, Germany in 1995 as an alliance of African member states that represents the interests of the region in the international climate change negotiations, with a common and unified voice.
What is the GCAA?
Outside the formal intergovernmental negotiations, countries, cities and regions, businesses and civil society members across the world are already taking action for the climate.
The Global Climate Action Agenda (GCAA), initiated under the Lima Paris Action Agenda, was launched to spur rapid climate action, boost cooperation between governments, local authorities, the business community, investors, and civil society, and to support the adoption and the implementation of the Paris Agreement.
The International Birding & Research Center in Eilat built a community campaign to protect migrating birds from Africa to Europe. It was declared to be one of the most globally most important projects of conservation of bio-diversity by COP15, the Conference of the Parties (UN) on biodiversity. You know COP26 – that’s for the Climate. COP15, you could say, is for the birds. This year the group met in China.
You might find yourself starting a rest asana when your yoga teacher lights an incense stick. How do you feel about that? Anxious or calm? Connected to spiritual practices and worship from the east –– 
