VEN – Good News on Climate Action – Blog
Seven quiet breakthroughs for climate and nature in 2024 you might have missed
16 December 2024 Isabelle Gerretsen, Martha Henriques, Katherine Latham, Lucy Sherriff and Jocelyn Timperley in BBC.com Global temperatures rose and extreme weather ramped up, but there were also some significant breakthroughs for the climate this year. Here are seven quiet wins that may have gone under your radar in 2024. It’s been another tough year…
Read MoreCost-of-living crisis meets new era of electric cars
Image: Global EV outlook 2024 with EV sales set to reach 17 million from International Energy Agency report in evboosters. Australia still an outlier but new legislation and available new models will see a rapid uptake in 2025 [Ed]. By Mike Foley in the Brisbane Times January 6, 2025 The cost-of-living crisis rear-ended new car…
Read MoreElectric wallpaper and carbon-sequestering cows: Positive environmental stories from 2024
By Angela Symons & Euronews Green Published on 30/12/2024 Climate anxiety is very real, but these good news stories from 2024 prove there is hope for our planet. Eco-anxiety, climate doom, environmental existential dread – as green journalists, we see these terms used a lot – and often feel them ourselves. While there’s a lot to…
Read MoreUniversities ending links with environmentally destructive industries
Image: UK how sustainable is your university rankings from people and planet.org survey University bans on big oil firms at recruitment fairs rise by 30% Survey finds post-1992 universities leading the way on sustainability and ethics Matthew Taylor Fri 20 Dec 2024 The Guardian More universities are banning fossil fuel companies from recruitment fairs in…
Read MoreClimate change news from around the world in 2024
Nine of our best climate change stories from 2024 Published on 23/12/2024, in Climate Home News This year we investigated governments, corporations and NGOs in the climate space, and brought you on-the-ground reporting from Africa, Asia and the Middle East see original article for images Pilgrims receive a spray of water from volunteers in Mecca…
Read MoreAgency in the Anthropocene: How to teach climate change so 15-year-olds can act
OECD’s Pisa program will measure the ability of students to take action in response to climate anxiety and ‘take their position and role in the global world’ Petra Stock Tue 24 Dec 2024 in The Guardian “It’s going to get hot and everything’s going to be on fire and the oceans will rise,” says a…
Read More“Fossil fuels have no interest in stable democracies”: how to fight climate change with democracy
YOUTUBE LECTURE
Read MoreCan insurance as we know it survive climate change?
Graphic: Increasing insurance (un)natural disaster events, Source: Gallagher Re Let’s hope so. Shrinking coverage and rising temperatures are a risky combination. By Mark Harris A Financial Storm Is Brewing 1. A growing protection gap. Adding up losses from Nat Cats and subtracting the amount that was insured gives your “protection gap.” This intuitive interactive tool…
Read MoreGeothermal energy: potential game-changer
Article from We Don’t Have Time – Paid partnership with AgniTerra Accelerating the energy transition: Why next-generation geothermal is essential for a sustainable future The next generation of geothermal energy is cheap, clean, and effective – and can be implemented almost anywhere on earth. The problem? It’s not scaling nearly as quickly as needed. AgniTerra,…
Read MoreThe social cost of carbon, a crucial tool for setting climate policy, omits key effects
Image: the cost to society from a ton of CO2—termed the social cost of carbon (SCC) – measures the economic and social effects of a change in climate. (from below article from UHN – University Health Network – Toronto, Canada. 2019) Date: December 17, 2024 Source: University of California – Davis Summary: The social cost…
Read MoreIf you think the world is going to hell and the deal between citizen and government is collapsing: read a book
Australians are gripped by feelings of doom about the state of the world. It’s time to throw the phone away Peter Lewis To be active citizens worthy of our mandate, we need to not just react to the things in front of us but to find the time to reflect and question our own place…
Read MoreNew research: High heat is preferentially killing the young
From: Andrew J. Wilson, R. Daniel Bressler, Catherine Ivanovich, Cascade Tuholske, Colin Raymond, Radley M. Horton, Adam Sobel, Patrick Kinney, Tereza Cavazos, Jeffrey G. Shrader. Heat disproportionately kills young people: Evidence from wet-bulb temperature in Mexico. Science Advances, 2024; 10 (49) High heat is preferentially killing the young, not the old, new research finds In…
Read MoreLeaftronics!
Image from Rakesh R. Nair et al. Leaftronics: Natural lignocellulose scaffolds for sustainable electronics. Sci. Adv. 2024. Fig. 1. Lignocellulose quasi-fractals and their coating. (A) Magnolia LS quasi-fractal structure at different magnifications. Scale bars from left to right: 20 mm, 5 mm, 1 mm, and 200 μm [scanning electron microscopy (SEM) image]. (B) Fabrication process…
Read MoreShould the polluter always pay?
Image: Developing countries now account for about 75% of emissions, and an overwhelming 95% of global emissions increases, according to the Climate Leadership Council. The answer isn’t as obvious as you might think. It depends on whether your priority is climate justice or cutting carbon. By Mark Harris December 8, 2024 in Anthropocene c It’s…
Read MoreAustralia’s climate action charted – slow..
Image: Why did our emissions stop dropping in 2020? … its because the only really big cuts so far have happened in the land sector — by felling fewer trees, and planting more. These six charts tell the story of Australia’s (slow) progress on climate change By national science and environment reporter Michael Slezak in…
Read MoreFrom the US to Uganda, how climate activism has been criminalised in 2024
Image: US States making laws against peaceful protest by climate activists Nina Lakhani 12 dec 2024 in Guardian Down to Earth Newsletter Back in early August, I reported on the arrest of two climate activists outside the New York headquarters of Citibank, one of the world’s largest fossil fuel financiers and target of a campaign…
Read MoreAustralia isn’t immune to disaster disinformation
Disinformation can make it hard for people to distinguish and act on accurate advice. And this can mean life or death when it comes to natural disasters like bushfires By Ika Trijsburg, University of Melbourne and John Richardson, Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience 11 December 2024 Australia isn’t immune to disaster disinformation The 21st…
Read MoreReport: AGL and Origin price gouging with households paying double the price of businesses
“Ripping off customers:” Energy utilities force households to pay more than double than business Sophie Vorrath Dec 12, 2024 in Renew Economy POLICY & PLANNING New research based on the annual reports of AGL and Origin Energy claims to reveal a “clear case of price gouging” by Australia’s two biggest energy retailers, where households pay…
Read MoreWorld leading Building Electrification Regulatory Impact Statement (RIS) released in Victoria
MEDIA RELEASE James Norman, Environment Victoria j.norman@environmentvictoria.org.au Friday, December 13, 2024 Building Electrification RIS a commonsense approach to energy and emissions challenge Environment Victoria welcomes the proposals contained in the Building Electrification Regulatory Impact Statement (RIS) released today. “The Allan government is taking an eminently sensible approach to securing the future energy needs of…
Read MoreExperts scorn Dutton nuclear ‘plan’: too expensive, too little energy, too late.
The Coalition’s numbers are not a comparison of the cost of nuclear versus the cost of firmed renewables, economist Stephen Hamilton says. “They are the difference in cost between renewables and doing nothing for the next 15 years,” he said. From Climate Council CEO Amanda MacKenzie: Renewable power is reliable, clean, safe, and already provides…
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