Tackling “planned obsolescence” of electric goods

Britain is considering how it can tackle the number of products that end up in landfill. Ministers are also looking at laws to force manufacturers to make spare parts available for at least seven years and encourage repairs rather than replacement of broken products. Andrew Ellson discusses latest developments in an article on The Times … Continue reading Tackling “planned obsolescence” of electric goods →

New EEA briefing explores alternative ways of thinking about economic growth and progress

How can societies and people prosper and grow without harming the environment and climate? Is it possible to implement the European Green Deal through social innovations that have little or no environmental impact? To broaden the sustainability debate, a European Environment Agency (EEA) briefing, published this week, explores alternative ways of thinking about growth and … Continue reading New EEA briefing explores alternative ways of thinking about economic growth and progress →

Our laptops and smart phones have a terrible ecological footprint

Charli Shield discusses the environmental impact of our electronic equipment in an article on the Deutsche Welle website. Currently only 17.4 % of our electronic equipment is formally collected and recycled. Any good suggestions how we change this? The invisible waste behind our laptops and smartphones We tend to focus on household garbage as … Continue reading Our laptops and smart phones have a terrible ecological footprint →

Addressing the challenge to re-establish our economies while cutting GHG emissions

Green growth, based on technological change, is necessary but not sufficient for effective, timely, climate mitigation. It must be supplemented by reducing the material consumption of the rich countries. Mark Diesendorf, an Australian renewable energy researcher, provides his views in an article on the Pearls and Irritations website. Economic Recovery from Covid-19 while mitigating … Continue reading Addressing the challenge to re-establish our economies while cutting GHG emissions →

New EEA analysis on Europe’s actions on the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals

A vast majority of the European Environment Agency’s (EEA) 39 member and cooperating countries are putting in action United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including those focused on climate action, water and sanitation, and affordable and clean energy, according to a pan-European assessment, published recently, of how the SDGs are being implemented. European countries … Continue reading New EEA analysis on Europe’s actions on the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals →

Blog from John A. “Skip” Laitner – As the Climate Warms, the Economy Cools—Both Driven by the Same Scale of Resource Inefficiencies

I call it the Blue-Green-Red Resource Squeeze on the American economy. It is neither a perfect nor a straightforward comparison, but it does result in what I think is a rather eerie warning. It is the kind of warning we typically do not read in any number of the emerging climate strategies which we are … Continue reading Blog from John A. “Skip” Laitner – As the Climate Warms, the Economy Cools—Both Driven by the Same Scale of Resource Inefficiencies →

Glass bottles are more than four times as damaging to the planet as plastic ones

A recent study that shows how damaging glass bottles are. The total environmental impact for glass bottles is much higher when factors such as their contribution to climate change through energy use and damage from mining for key ingredients is factored in, finds the study. Tom Bawden explains in an article on the inews website. … Continue reading Glass bottles are more than four times as damaging to the planet as plastic ones →

World’s publicly financed development banks pledge to use their financial muscle to rescue the global economy from the Covid-19 crisis and the climate emergency

The goal must be to build economies that are sustainable, resilient and inclusive says one head of a development bank. Encouragingly, we are seeing development banks take a more co-ordinated, integrated approach to address recovery plans and the need to ensure the Paris climate objectives are met. Fiona Harvey explains in an article on The … Continue reading World’s publicly financed development banks pledge to use their financial muscle to rescue the global economy from the Covid-19 crisis and the climate emergency →

Shift to construction with wood could lead to a cleaner, greener future

Harry Cockburn writes on The Independent website that there are many environmental benefits from using wood as the construction material of choice, according to researchers at Aalto University in Finland, and the Finnish Environment Institute. Cities made of wood 'could store huge amounts of carbon and cut construction emissions' The construction material of choice … Continue reading Shift to construction with wood could lead to a cleaner, greener future →

The European Academies Science Advisory Council Perspective on Transformative Change

This pandemic reminds us how vulnerable this planet, and in particular humanity, really are. Another striking reminder is the latest publication of the European Academies Science Advisory Council (EASAC) available on its website. For more on the report see also: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q90lDeis7-o and https://youtu.be/5Gk9prsjmEg. Resistance and Challenges to Green Deals should not be underestimated “Scientific knowledge of climate … Continue reading The European Academies Science Advisory Council Perspective on Transformative Change →