VEN – Good News on Climate Action – Blog

From the Guardian newsletter by Patrick Barkham I can’t help but resort to competition cliches with our invertebrate of the year shortlist. Every one of these animals is a winner. So far, we’ve revealed two creatures that may cause some to recoil. The tongue-biting louse (Cymothoa exigua) finds a fish, burrows through the gills, devours…

Graph: Burke, M., Hsiang, S. & Miguel, E. Global non-linear effect of temperature on economic production. Nature 527, 235–239 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature15725 Tackling climate crisis will increase economic growth, OECD research finds Third of global GDP could be lost this century if climate crisis runs unchecked, says report Fiona Harvey Environment editor Guardian Wed 26 Mar 2025 …

IMage: Integrated fractionation and upgrading of WAS with simultaneous green hydrogen generation. Credit: Nature Water (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s44221-024-00329-z Scientists have developed a solar-powered method to convert solid waste into valuable green hydrogen and animal feed. By Anthropocene Team March 20, 2025 With a new solar-powered method that converts sewage sludge into green hydrogen fuel and…

Image: https://egin.org.uk/what-is-community-climate-action/ from Community Council for Australia 13 March 2025 Over the last week most us will have checked in with friends and family in South East Queensland and Northern NSW. With four million battening down, schools closed, evacuation centres open and the ADF on standby, most Australians knew someone in the uncertain path of…

Image: Cheng et al. (2024) Mechanically strong yet metabolizable multivalently form a cross-linked network structure by desalting upon phase separation. Science. doi: 10.1126/science.ado1782 Riken press  Researchers led by Takuzo Aida at the RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science (CEMS) have developed a durable plastic that won’t contribute to microplastic pollution in our oceans. The new…

By business reporter Gareth Hutchens in ABC news Topic:Economic Trends and Indicators Thursday 13 March Over the past 20 years, Australia’s population has grown by 35 per cent. The OECD average is 13 per cent. (ABC News: Mark Leonardi) In summary:  Researchers say the geopolitical landscape has shifted dramatically in the last three years. They…

Graph: https://www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org/topics/housing/ Peter Mares If we’re serious about tackling the housing crisis and boosting productivity in the home building industry, we need to rethink our planning rules Thu 13 Mar 2025 in The Guardian Walking past a building site in Sydney recently, I was struck by the pitch for the new homes under construction. “Outrageously…

Graph: https://www.transcend.org/tms/2019/10/at-716-billion-the-us-military-budget-is-bigger-than-those-of-144-countries-combined-and-largest-contributor-to-climate-change/ Countries ramping up military budgets must also strengthen climate efforts or risk more conflict in the future, warns Ana Toni, Brazil’s chief executive of the Cop30 summit. EHN news summary In short: Ana Toni argues that climate change fuels inequality and poverty, which can lead to future wars, making climate action a key…

Graph related to article below: Shorrocks, R. (2018). Cohort Change in Political Gender Gaps in Europe and Canada: The Role of Modernization. Politics & Society, 46(2), 135-175. https://doi.org/10.1177/0032329217751688 (Original work published 2018) Commentary from Guardian UK editor in chief Katharine Viner Since a majority of American men aged 18-30 voted for Donald Trump last November,…

Graph from ECIU report The future is green: The economic opportunities brought by the UK’s net zero economy Ed Miliband visits Beijing as part of plan to create global axis working in favour of climate action Ed Miliband: ‘The global battle against the climate crisis needs China’ Fiona Harvey Environment editor Fri 14 Mar 2025…

Figure 1. Breakdown of Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions. Deforestation accounts for about 11% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. This is a significant driver of climate change, accounting for more emissions than the entire United States economy. Climate change is more than smokestacks and tailpipes. While the use of polluting fossil fuels is the biggest…

Extended Data Fig. 2: Global distribution of CIM in 2050 under the best-case and worst-case scenarios under RCP 4.5. (a) best-case scenario estimated at the global scale, (b) worst-case scenario estimated at the global scale From: Strategic planning could reduce farm-scale mariculture impacts on marine biodiversity while expanding seafood production A new study says the answer…

Graph Source: GMU Center for Climate Change Communication Climate psychology has come a long way. And it has a long way to go By Mark Harris It happens every day. A friend or colleague talks enthusiastically about buying a new gas car, or shivers theatrically on a chilly day and says: “So much for global…

Image: government interactive map Australia’s oldest commercial wind farm to close as cost of repowering is too high Image: Pacific Blue Rachel Williamson Feb 10, 2025 RENEWABLES, WIND In a first clue as to what might be the future for some ageing wind farms sites, renewable energy company Pacific Blue says it will not repower…

Image: Fukushima nuclear plume mapped over Mt Piper with wind conditions carrying radiation all the way over Sydney Today is the 14th anniversary of the Fukushima disaster, and this morning Don’t Nuke the Climate released a huge research project that shows what a Fukushima-style nuclear disaster would look like if it happened at one of Dutton’s seven…

Health in National Tribune 3 Mar 2025 EnergyScience Coalition A new report by the EnergyScience Coalition corrects false claims by the federal Coalition and others that ‘the world is going nuclear’. Co-authors Assoc. Prof. Darrin Durant, Prof. Jim Falk and Dr. Jim Green note that: The number of operating power reactors worldwide has fallen to…