Blogs and Opinions
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Black communities in the US will be hardest hit by floods caused by climate change, say scientists
Monday 4th of July 2022
Black communities in the United States will see the flood risk in their neighbourhoods climb at least 20% over the next 30 years, experts are predicting.
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Australia battles flooding – and other environment stories you need to read this week
Monday 4th of July 2022
The US Supreme Court on 30 June constrained the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from existing coal- and gas-fired power plants under the landmark Clean Air Act anti-pollution law. The ruling may impact a Securities and Exchange Commission bid to force companies to disclose their emissions.
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How can wearable technology increase our lifespans?
Monday 4th of July 2022
Scientists predict that humans can live up to 150 years without significant medical intervention. The key to achieving this long life isn’t a well-kept secret: Eat better and exercise more. But this is easier said than done.
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Countries set to join carbon markets as the world demands a green economic transition
Monday 4th of July 2022
For decades, carbon markets have been seen as part of the solution to climate change. They have mostly been dominated by the private sector, but this will soon change. More than two thirds of countries are planning to use carbon markets to meet their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCS) to the Paris Agreement. Countries such as Chile, Ghana, Jordan, Singapore and Vanuatu are already building end-to-end, state-of-the-art digital infrastructure to support their participation in international carbon markets.
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Tapping into the million-year energy source below our feet
Monday 4th of July 2022
There’s an abandoned coal power plant in upstate New York that most people regard as a useless relic. But MIT’s Paul Woskov sees things differently.
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Here’s how the fuel we cook with can affect our mental health
Monday 4th of July 2022
About 2.6 billion people – nearly half of the global population, most of them in Africa, Asia and central and south America – rely on biomass fuels, like wood and charcoal, or kerosene to cook meals, heat and light their homes.
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These developing countries are leading the way on renewable energy
Monday 4th of July 2022
Renewable sources of energy can help countries mitigate climate change, build resilience to volatile prices, and lower energy costs. This is especially critical now as spiking fossil fuel costs, triggered by the war in Ukraine, are debilitating poor energy importing countries.
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Interest rate hikes vs inflation: How are different countries doing it?
Monday 4th of July 2022
Imagine today’s high inflation like a car speeding down a hill. In order to slow it down, you need to hit the brakes. In this case, the “brakes” are interest rate hikes intended to slow spending. However, some central banks are hitting the brakes faster than others.
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Exploring and piloting digital currencies is becoming more popular amongst African central banks, but why?
Monday 4th of July 2022
Several sub-Saharan African central banks are exploring or in the pilot phase of a digital currency, following Nigeria’s October introduction of e-Naira. Nigeria was the second country after the Bahamas to roll out a CBDC.
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COVID-19: What you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic this week
Monday 4th of July 2022
Confirmed cases of COVID-19 have passed 549.1 million globally, according to Johns Hopkins University. The number of confirmed deaths has now passed 6.33 million. More than 12.09 billion vaccination doses have been administered globally, according to Our World in Data.
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Explained: How engineered crops can fight climate change
Monday 4th of July 2022
Food systems account for over one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions. Any successful strategy for reaching the ambitious — and critical — emissions targets outlined in the Paris Agreement must involve changes to how we grow, process and distribute food.
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Is fungi the most underused resource in the fight against climate change?
Monday 4th of July 2022
Picture a group of “climate change warriors”, massing together in a battle to save the planet. Did you imagine a line of mushrooms? Well, maybe you should have, according to scientists at Boston University in the United States.
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Space: How advances up there can help life down here
Friday 1st of July 2022
What are humans doing in space and why are we talking about bases on the Moon or missions to Mars when there is so much here on Earth that requires our immediate attention?
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How to protect your company from cyber attack – the Global Cybersecurity Outlook at Davos 2022
Friday 1st of July 2022
The World Economic Forum’s Global Cybersecurity Outlook report indicates that cyberattacks increased 125% globally in 2021, with evidence suggesting a continued uptick through 2022. In this fast-changing landscape it is vital for leaders to take a strategic approach to cyber risks.
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What is NATO and what happened at the NATO summit?
Friday 1st of July 2022
In the end, it took a well-timed coffee break to smooth the way for Finland and Sweden to join NATO.
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G7 commits $5 billion to tackling global food insecurity
Friday 1st of July 2022
The Group of Seven rich democracies will commit up to $5 billion to improve global food security, a senior U.S. official said, as the group responds to worries in developing nations about the threat of hunger triggered by war in Ukraine.
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New EU climate change deals: Banning fossil fuel cars by 2035, and what else?
Friday 1st of July 2022
EU countries have clinched deals on proposed laws to combat climate change, backing a 2035 phase-out of new fossil fuel car sales and a multibillion-euro fund to shield poorer citizens from CO2 costs.
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The 7 ways to successfully communicate sustainability
Friday 1st of July 2022
In order to communicate sustainability, you must do sustainability first. It sounds obvious but in these greenwashing times, it needs to be said. Wondering how to talk about environmental or social sustainability should only come after you have done something about it – and it’s okay if that something is in progress. Anybody who has been trying to make or do things right knows that to “do” sustainability is a process and a long one at that.
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Why some nations are wealthier than others – and what it means for future prosperity
Friday 1st of July 2022
Why are some nations rich and others poor? Can the governments of poor nations do something to ensure that their nations become rich? These sorts of questions have long fascinated public officials and economists, at least since Adam Smith, the prominent Scottish economist whose famous 1776 book was titled “An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.”
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Here’s how passive cooling can help us to survive extreme indoor heat
Friday 1st of July 2022
Passive cooling strategies can reduce the load on air conditioning by as much as 80%, report researchers.
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Human activity is disrupting the freshwater cycle, here’s how to change that
Friday 1st of July 2022
Green water – the rainwater available to plants in the soil – is indispensable for life on and below the land. But in a new study, we found that widespread pressure on this resource has crossed a critical limit.
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How autonomous mobile clinics can transform healthcare in least developed countries
Friday 1st of July 2022
The United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goal 3, or SDG 3, declared a universal health goal to “ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages” by 2030. The way to its realization is through “universal health coverage (UHC) and access to quality health care, (and ensure) no one must be left behind”.
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4 award-winning young inventors who are changing the world
Friday 1st of July 2022
Inventors and their inventions have constantly changed the way we live. An inventor in China gave us the compass for navigation, another in Germany invented the printing press and several creative minds were involved in coming up with the electric light bulb. The course of history is shaped by such inventions and the future will continue to be shaped by them, too.
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Going green could save Europe €1 trillion in fossil fuel costs
Friday 1st of July 2022
By upgrading its power system and quadrupling growth in wind and solar capacity, Europe could save an estimated €1 trillion by 2035.
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How to make clean, affordable energy available to everyone
Friday 1st of July 2022
Hot on the heels of COVID-19, the world faces more turmoil. This year, Davos 2022 aptly focused on the tragic war in Ukraine and its ripple effect on global finance, food, and energy systems. The current state of the world reminds us to what degree energy underpins our aspirations for a more sustainable future for all – and how broken the global energy system is.