Essay: Health crisis – up to a billion tonnes of waste potentially burned in the open every year
In an article first published on The Conversation, COSTAS VELIS and ED COOK, of the University of Leeds, write about why burning waste is such a health hazard around the world…
New Year’s resolution? Slim your carbon footprint by a tonne in 2021
Thomson Reuters Foundation Get fit, quit smoking, eat healthily. Most years begin with good intentions that often fall by the wayside as life gets busier again. But how about trying a different challenge for 2021 which goes beyond personal improvement and benefits the planet too? Wind turbines are seen on the carbon-negative island of Samso […]
Wow!: Polyester from pollution? Fashion’s next generation goes green
THIN LEI WIN, writing for Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports on how European start-ups are working to transform the fashion industry…
Climate primer: Why is everyone talking about ‘net zero’?
A UN-backed global campaign to slash climate-changing emissions has added new high-profile members to its ranks, including social media giant Facebook and Ford, the first US car company to join. The “Race to Zero”, launched in June, brings together businesses, cities and other organisations that aim by around mid-century to cut their planet-heating emissions to […]
In SUVs and on planes, richest one per cent drive climate-heating emissions
London, UKThomson Reuters Foundation Prone to frequent flying, a passion for SUVs and big spending, the richest one per cent of the world’s population produced twice as many planet-heating emissions as the poorest half of humanity over the last quarter-century, researchers said on Monday. That excessive consumption has left little room in the world’s “carbon […]
Multi-national companies account for nearly a fifth of global CO2 emissions, researchers say
Rome, ItalyThomson Reuters Foundation The global supply chains of multi-national companies such as BP, Coca-Cola and Walmart are responsible for nearly a fifth of climate-changing carbon dioxide emissions, according to a new study. But the businesses outsource many of these emissions to poorer parts of the world by investing in production in developing countries, said […]
London bus garage turns “virtual power station” in world’s largest trial
London, UKThomson Reuters Foundation A London bus garage is set to become a “virtual power station” in the world’s largest trial of a new technology to help Britain meet its 2050 net-zero climate change target. From November, the government-funded vehicle-to-grid project will take energy from 28 parked zero-emission electric buses and feed it into the […]
Shorter hours, cleaner air? Egypt may extend its COVID-19 evening curfew
Cairo, EgyptThomson Reuters Foundation As coronavirus restrictions ease, business is rebounding in Cairo’s cafes, restaurants and shops. In the evenings, the sounds of street vendors plying their wares blends with the honking of horns, as the city gets back to normal. But the evening revival may not last long. Two men sit at a coffee […]
Better food for world’s poor could hike climate-changing emissions
Rome, ItalyThomson Reuters Foundation To feed their people a healthy diet, countries from Ethiopia to India may need to hike their climate-changing emissions – a shift only possible if richer nations simultaneously curb theirs, a United Nations flagship report on hunger said Monday. Increasing emissions to provide poor children, in particular, with more protein or […]
Meaningless or sensible? Net zero by 2050 divides climate community
Barcelona, SpainThomson Reuters Foundation When the European Commission unveiled a draft law this week that would make binding a target to cut the bloc’s planet-warming emissions to “net zero” by 2050, it exposed a sharp divide among supporters of climate action. While that increasingly popular goal might sound ambitious, young activists, including Greta Thunberg, have […]