The carbon footprint of our emails

Luciano Rodrigues Viana, Doctorant en sciences de l'environnement, Département des sciences fondamentales, Université du Québec à Chicoutimi (UQAC); Jean-François Boucher, Professeur, Eco-consulting, Université du Québec à Chicoutimi (UQAC) ; and Mohamed Cheriet, Professor, Engineering Department, École de technologie supérieure (ÉTS) write on The Conversation website about the carbon footprint left by emails. They feel most … Continue reading The carbon footprint of our emails →

Our climate and energy transition: when people speak up and work together, they can spur powerful changes

Adam Aron, Professor of Psychology at the University of California, San Diego writes on The Conversation website about the results from his recent books that explains three reasons why local action addressing climate change is more powerful than many people realise. 3 reasons local climate activism is more powerful than people realize Global warming has … Continue reading Our climate and energy transition: when people speak up and work together, they can spur powerful changes →

The European Commission has outlined possible “transition pathways” to address the environmental impact of the construction sector

Europe’s construction ecosystem employs approximately 24.9 million people but it is also extremely fragmented with 99.9% of the companies being SMEs. Nikolaus J. Kurmayer discusses on the EURACTIV website the plans of the European Commission to transform the sector and that digitalisation could be the silver bullet to address all the problems – lack of … Continue reading The European Commission has outlined possible “transition pathways” to address the environmental impact of the construction sector →

New EEA briefing on impact of plastic packaging

Plastics are used across Europe in everything from construction materials to consumer products. Recent policy actions on plastic packaging at EU and national level have established collection schemes and introduced waste prevention measures. However, according to a European Environment Agency (EEA) briefing, published this week, a significant fraction of Europe’s total plastic consumption is outside … Continue reading New EEA briefing on impact of plastic packaging →

A two-hour streamed film pollutes as much as a 45-minute car drive

Stefano Bonetti, Professor of Experimental Condensed Matter Physics at Ca' Foscari University of Venice writes on The Conversation website about the carbon footprint of video streaming. What are your views? Could video streaming be as bad for the climate as driving a car? Calculating Internet’s hidden carbon footprint We are used to thinking that going … Continue reading A two-hour streamed film pollutes as much as a 45-minute car drive →

“…humanity needs to make peace with nature, because we are out of harmony with nature”

With those words, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres opened the UN Convention on Biological Diversity conference in Montreal this month. Alexandra Zimmermann, Senior Research Fellow at the University of Oxford writes on the Conversation website asking what living in harmony with nature looks like. UN biodiversity conference: what does living in harmony with nature … Continue reading “…humanity needs to make peace with nature, because we are out of harmony with nature” →

Blog from Jane Marsh: How to retrofit a building for climate change

Global warming is creating suitable conditions for climate change. In response, worldwide industries have sought ways to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and overall carbon footprint. Retrofitting buildings has proven effective in enhancing energy efficiency and reducing environmental impact. Across the board, green innovations have enabled the optimization of existing structures for the United States … Continue reading Blog from Jane Marsh: How to retrofit a building for climate change →

New financial support to address energy poverty in Ireland

Kira Taylor writes on the Euractiv website about new support for people at risk of energy debt and to retrofit low-income homes. Dublin approves plan to tackle energy poverty The government approved on Tuesday its plan to tackle energy poverty and to help the poorest households adequately heat their homes amid cold snaps and … Continue reading New financial support to address energy poverty in Ireland →

New report on saving energy for Europe – contrasting EU states’ measures

Research from the European Environmental Bureau (EEB) indicates that the measures to reduce gas and electricity consumption taken so far by EU states are insufficient to meet EU targets. EU targets may be reached if high prices lead to large consumers reducing their consumption. Measures to reduce energy usage also reduce the pressure on rising … Continue reading New report on saving energy for Europe – contrasting EU states’ measures →

New EEA report assesses the state of national adaptation actions in 2021

EU Member States recognise the importance of adapting to impacts of heatwaves, droughts, floods, heavy precipitation and changing temperatures and of mainstreaming climate change adaptation to a wide range of affected areas like agriculture, or water and disaster risk management. These are key findings of a European Environment Agency (EEA) report published this week which … Continue reading New EEA report assesses the state of national adaptation actions in 2021 →