Features

The heavy industry and long-distance transport sectors hold the key to avoiding the worst impacts of climate change. Show that we can decarbonize these, and we can decarbonize the whole global economy, argue Faustine Delasalle, Co-Executive Director, Mission Possible Partnership & Anthony Robert Hobley Co-Executive Director, Mission Possible Partnership.

It takes more than rain to create a flood, and more than a spark to start a wildfire. All of the elements of our climate system – and the hazards it produces – are connected in one way or another, explains Christopher J White, University of Strathclyde.

How communities develop infrastructure, social and economic systems, planning and preparedness can make them more resilient – or more vulnerable – to extreme events, explains Scott Denning, Professor of Atmospheric Science, Colorado State University.

“Climate change isn’t about countries: it’s about people. It’s about the world we want to live in for generations to come and the species we share it with. In other words, it’s far too important to leave just to world leaders – this crisis requires all of us to step up” – Governor of California, Gavin Newsom explains what’s at stake.

Mangrove forests cover just 0.5% of the world’s coasts but account for an estimated 10-15% of coastal carbon capture. As we try to stop CO₂ levels rising and put the brakes on climate change, protecting mangroves for their blue carbon value is key, argues Adam Moolna, Keele University.

Mangroves are a vital ecosystem that benefit our environment, economy, and communities. Yet they severely under threat. An estimated 67% of historical mangrove habitat has been lost or degraded worldwide, with 20% occurring since 1980. One of the biggest threats to mangroves is the tourism industry. Here’s how we can turn this ship around.

A sustainable, zero-carbon global economy will, literally and figuratively, rest on concrete. It is the world’s most-used building material. Here’s how to unlock a future built with sustainable, zero-carbon concrete.

Net zero is powerful as a rallying message but we must be more aware of who gets to make use of the ‘net’, argues Clare Wildfire, technical principal and global practice leader for cities, Mott MacDonald

“We have to address who is leading, and how we are leading, to usher in transformation more quickly and more fully than we’re seeing right now,” Dr Katharine Wilkinson on gender inequality, culture, imagination, and the good and the bad of net zero commitments.

A new study that mapped the “blue carbon” uptake from marine and coastal ecosystems around the world highlights how natural sinks and climate change redistribute wealth around the globe.

Abundance in a zero-emissions world means no longer exploiting and wasting finite resources, but rather valuing the nature that sustains and protects us, explain Michael R. Bloomberg , Saleemul Huq and Agnes Kalibata, Global Ambassadors for the Race to Zero and Race to Resilience.

When companies wake up to the dangers of being the last to leave the fossil fuel economy and instead see the competitive advantages of a quick transition, they will become accelerators for change, explains Svante Axelsson, national coordinator of Fossil Free Sweden.

New ways of innovating, operating and partnering will be needed to create a true shift to circular economy. And digital players, including telecommunications operators, have a key role to play, explains Allison Kirkby, President and CEO, Telia Company.

The sooner we begin retrofitting existing buildings and constructing new ones that can withstand climate change, the better, argues Ran Boydell, Visiting Lecturer in Sustainable Development, Heriot-Watt University.

Rich countries need to hear and react to the calls from developing countries to address loss and damage fairly, and most importantly with concrete ways to fund it, argues Colin McQuistan, Head of Climate and Resilience, Practical Action.

The heathcare sector has a responsibility to train, educate, advocate and influence decision and policy-makers, collaborate widely through its research work, and engage the youth in inclusive programmes, according to Dr Claire Bayntun, Vice President of the Royal Society of Medicine.

Dr Elizabeth Hausler, Founder and CEO of Build Change, an organization that prevents housing loss caused by disasters, explains why everyone, from state to non-state actors, must drive the demand for resilient housing.

In order to win the Race to Zero we also need a generation of thoughtful leaders who will make healthy decisions for us and our planet, argues Anu Ramamurty, founder of Kat Kid Adventure.

Amongst the UK Government’s Transport Decarbonisation Plan and the Heat & Buildings strategy, the Green Skills Taskforce is due to report this summer on how to deliver three million green jobs in the UK by 2030

In picking up from the wreckage wrought by Covid-19, the climate crisis and the devastatingly fast loss of nature and biodiversity, we find ourselves on the cusp of a great regeneration. It’s a regeneration of our health, of our planet, and of our economy. 

Argentina’s third largest city Rosario’s urban agriculture program has evolved from an approach to put food on the table, to a tool for job creation, and more recently to a strategy for tackling climate change.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) have worked together on a report which finds that we can either solve both nature and climate crises or solve neither.

To win the Race to Zero, all companies must put sustainability at the heart of their business model and undergo their own green transformation, argues Jakob Askou Bøss, Senior Vice President of Corporate Strategy & Stakeholder Relations at Ørsted.

All forms of ecosystem degradation have one thing in common: When people hurt ecosystems, they also hurt economies, biodiversity and the climate.

As the global climate crisis worsens, an increasing number of people are being forced to flee their homes due to natural disasters, droughts and other weather events. These people are sometimes called “climate refugees”. Who are these climate refugees? And how can the international community properly address this issue?

A growing, economy-wide momentum proves we are well on the way to creating a healthier and more resilient future. We have taken the decisive first step, setting the destination. Now we have to start moving — fast.

One of the world’s most carbon intensive industries, the fashion industry, is joining forces to drive faster, wider emissions reductions across the fashion value chain between now and 2050.

Here’s how we make the 2020s an era of recovery and regeneration and making sure that within the decade, nature is absorbing and storing carbon dioxide, supporting jobs and livelihoods, and allowing us to thrive in spite of climate shocks.

The zero carbon home is well within our grasp. The technologies we need already exist and are coming down in cost. Juliet Davenport OBE, Founder of Good Energy explains how we get there.

Data has shown that 40.5% of African youth respondents outlined digital inclusion as a particularly difficult challenge while 27.7% of respondents had challenges accessing reliable and affordable energy.

World leading shark expert Cristina Zenato explains that if we are to mend our broken relationship with the natural world then first we have to fix our disconnect with the ocean.

Adventurer, conservationist, writer and photographer Cristina Mittermeier discusses the role of storytelling in the protection of the ocean with COP25 High Level Champion for Chile, Gonzalo Muñoz.

Offshore wind will be an increasingly vital technology to deliver large-scale, reliable and affordable renewable energy, which can accelerate the global energy transition, argues Alastair Dutton, Chair of the Global Offshore Wind Task Force at the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC).

As we head towards COP26, governments need to recognize the importance of the ocean in delivering the Paris Agreement, argues Ørsted Chairman, Thomas Thune Andersen.

8 million tonnes of plastic ends up in our oceans every year, making up 80% of all marine debris from surface waters to deep-sea sediments. Chair of the Surfrider Foundation, Susie Crick explains why we must break our addiction to single use plastics.

We have to repair our connections with the ocean if we are to receive a wave of ocean benefits, argues eminent marine ecologist, Professor Carlos M Duarte.

We can transform fear into empowerment but we need tenacity, entrepreneurship, resources and appropriate tools – as well as a commitment from all  generations, argue marine ecologist Carlos M. Duarte and Russian model Ria Serebryakova.

Our parent’s generation put a man on the moon eight years after JFK’s commitment to do so in May 1961. In this decisive decade, when faced with the threat of a climate emergency, how can we do any less? In corporate boardrooms across the world, the challenge is increasingly being accepted: climate change poses an […]

With roughly half of Europe’s steel assets up for reinvestment this decade there is a unique opportunity to kick-start the transition by switching those production assets to zero-emission technologies.

“As the world around us is changing, both in terms of the green energy revolution and in terms of the climate conditions we will have to operate in, if we do not change, adapt and add our ability to reduce emissions, then we will be left behind technologically, operationally and socially,” Lieutenant-General Richard Nugee CB CVO CBE.

“In the last 12 years, nine of the 13 oldest and five of the six largest baobabs on continental Africa have died. And it looks like climate change is one of the reasons for this,” award winning filmmaker and naturalist Cyrille Cornu.

One third of invertebrate pollinators, such as bees, face extinction globally. Professor Lindsay Jaacks explains why we need to think very carefully about releasing chemicals specifically designed to kill into the environment.

The solutions to the great 21st century challenges of climate change and biodiversity loss become clearer if we view them through the ocean’s blue lens, argues Peter Thomson, UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the Ocean.

The Maldives is creating an innovative floating city that will help mitigate the effects of climate change and stay on top of rising sea levels.

An overgrown dumping ground is being transformed into a 224-acre solar farm of 70 megawatt solar panels which will eventually produce enough green electricity to power 1,200 homes.

With global temperatures only set to rise further, now more than ever it is essential that governments act to reduce the risks to vulnerable people and communities posed by inevitable, yet deadly heatwaves.

The challenges posed by manmade heat cannot be tackled by technology and design alone, argue Antonella Mazzone & Radhika Khosla from the Future of Cooling Programme, Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford.

Ensuring that these countries are empowered, mobilized and adequately supported is a matter of climate and economic justice.

The Better Business Act will ensure businesses are legally responsible for benefiting workers, customers, communities and the environment while delivering profit.

Race to Zero and art activism platform ReGenesis are inviting artists to submit works for a digital climate art exhibition

The global shift to a green economy could create 18 million jobs, with the potential to provide high-quality employment and livelihoods around the world. But what about the people and communities whose livelihoods, right now, depend on the fossil fuel or other high-carbon sectors?

As the UN Convention on Biological Diversity is implemented over the next decade, Razan Al Mubarak, Managing Director, Environment Agency Abu Dhabi (EAD) explains why we must prioritize enhancing the participation and engagement of women and girls.

“The world we live in today has been shaped by the breakthroughs of our past – from the Model T assembly line to the spread of mobile phones across previously unconnected rural areas. Such breakthroughs continue to propel us towards a safer future, as long as governments make sure the whole of society comes along for the ride.” – UN High Level Champion, Nigel Topping.

The health sector makes a massive contribution to the climate crisis and therefore has a vital role in resolving it.

As we celebrate Earth Day and inch closer to COP26, 17 of the world’s greatest environmentalists – scientists, guardians of the planet, leaders, pioneers, activists, adventurers and ambassadors – reflect on their hopes for its outcome.

Cities in the Netherlands want to make their air cleaner by banning fossil fuel delivery vehicles from urban areas from 2025.

“The chances of stopping warming at 1.5°C increase the faster the global community cuts greenhouse gas emissions to zero. And how fast we do that depends on the interrelated actions of a huge mix of people – government ministers most importantly, but also business chiefs, investors, banks, religious leaders, activists and citizens,” Richard Black, Imperial College London & Catherine Happer, University of Glasgow.

Royal Society of Medicine Trustee Professor Linda Luxon examines the role health professionals are playing in tackling the defining public health challenge of the 21st century: climate change.

“Unless we begin to seriously address the effects of land degradation in [the Sahel], we will only be scratching the surface of the deep challenges that the whole world faces from the environmental impacts of climate change and its related socio-economic consequences, including drought, famine, conflict over scarce resources and migration.”

The need to cut emissions from cooling whilst meeting increasing demand sustainably has never been greater. Fortunately, solutions to this challenge do exist.

Rebuilding the diversity of wild pollinators offers insurance against future changes in the environment, argues Deepa Senapathi, Senior Research Fellow in Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, University of Reading.

“Luxury consumption by the rich concentrates economic activity and delivers negligible extra wellbeing, yet sucks up vast amounts of resources.” Phd candidate Yannick Oswald examines how to redress this imbalance.

Increasing appetite for EVs represents an unprecedented opportunity to not only lower emissions but reinvent the industry and create jobs for a new climate economy.

While national targets are important, of equal or greater importance will be the non state actions triggered by China’s 5YP, argues Hu Min, Co-Founder, Innovative Green Development Program.

As energy markets the world over grapple with making the clean energy transition, South Australia proves it can be done.

The EU Green Deal is an unprecedented package of legislative measures aimed at making the EU climate neutral by 2050. But as is often the case, how seismic policy changes are implemented across 27 countries in a way that is practical, feasible and achievable, is where the real challenge lies. Nature-based solutions are becoming an […]

India will need to spend $1.4 trillion over the next 20 years to make its energy supply sustainable – IEA

Rapid breakthroughs are pushing eight key sectors closer to the tipping points necessary to reach zero emissions by 2050 and avert the worst impacts of climate change, according to the Climate Action Pathways.

Cities around the world are looking to innovative solutions to combat rising temperatures in urban centres, as a way to improve health, save lives and reduce dependence on electrified air conditioning.

We need to build our way out of the social and financial crisis provoked by COVID-19, without losing sight of our net-zero targets.

At this critical juncture, we must speed up collaboration and accelerate the transition towards a responsible, net zero steel industry.

The science is clear – in order to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement, we must halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Business of every size, sector and geography has a role to play if we are to achieve our collective goals. 

What we do today will impact the type of world that future generations inherit. We have the power to create a world that is healthier and more resilient.

If there’s one thing that the brutality of the COVID pandemic has taught us, it’s the importance of shared endeavour in the face of a disruptive shock.

Covid-19 and climate emergencies demand huge political leadership, massive investment and clear corporate strategy. But we are beginning to see real evidence of a mutually sustaining loop of pressure between politicians, CEOs and the world of finance.

More and more companies are starting to become power generators by installing their own renewable energy systems on-site.

Companies with large agricultural supply chains can do something about the water crisis by joining the Ceres-WWF AgWater Challenge.

A growing number of companies from the harder-to-abate industrial sectors are demonstrating that the transition to a zero-carbon economy is building momentum.  

Innovative alternatives to meat products are springing up and being welcomed by consumers, while helping to cut emissions from the food sector.

The electric fleet market is rapidly moving into the fast lane, as the environmental and running cost benefits of EVs become obvious and concerns over range and reliability start to recede.

Seaborne freight is one of the more challenging sectors to decarbonize, but ambition is accelerating in the race to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.

The number of net-zero pledges has roughly doubled in less than a year, reveals new report from Data-Driven EnviroLab & NewClimate Institute. 

An increasing number of consumer brands are responding to the challenge of decarbonizing plastics and packaging.

In the wake of recent protests against racism globally, now more than ever, citizens’ concern for social and climate justice is burgeoning.

Nearly five years after the Paris Agreement, and amidst the major disruptions and urgent challenges of COVID-19, we’ve welcomed the 1,000th company to the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).

Germany’s BMW Group is one of the latest global car maker to commit to setting a science-based target, through the Science Based Target initiative.

By choosing renewable energy, companies can curb their greenhouse gas emissions and help tackle the climate emergency.

Businesses and local and state governments are developing new policies to help businesses switch and meet their EV goals.