Net Zero: principles for successful behaviour change initiatives. Key principles from past government-led behaviour change and public engagement initiatives, BEIS Research Paper Number 2021/063 October 2021. “The Behavioural Insights Team (BIT) was commissioned by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) to undertake a rapid review and synthesis of successful (and to a… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: Environmental Law
Department of Defense Climate Risk Analysis October 2021
“Climate change is reshaping the geostrategic, operational, and tactical environments with significant implications for U.S. national security and defense. Increasing temperatures; changing precipitation patterns; and more frequent, intense, and unpredictable extreme weather conditions caused by climate change are exacerbating existing risks and creating new security challenges for U.S. interests. The risks of climate change to… Continue Reading
Financial Stability Oversight Council Identifies Climate Change as an Emerging and Increasing Threat to Financial Stability
Treasury Press Release: “The Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) has released a new report in response to President Biden’s Executive Order 14030, Climate-related Financial Risk. For the first time, FSOC has identified climate change as an emerging and increasing threat to U.S. financial stability. The report and accompanying recommendations demonstrate FSOC’s commitment to building on… Continue Reading
How Old are the Oldest Trees?
In Defense of Plants – Podcast, October 10, 2121 – “How long can a tree live? How old are the oldest trees? The answers to questions like these are more nuanced that some might think. We sit down with curator of The Gymnosperm Database, Dr. Chris Earle, for some insights on tree longevity.” [h/t Barclay… Continue Reading
Report – Plastics To Outpace Coal In Driving Climate Change
Beyond Plastics – Plastics are the New Coal: “Plastics are on track to contribute more climate change emissions than coal plants by 2030, a new report finds. As fossil fuel companies seek to recoup falling profits, they are increasing plastics production and cancelling out greenhouse gas reductions gained from the recent closures of 65 percent… Continue Reading
Director of National Intelligence Inaugural Estimate on Climate Change
National Intelligence Estimate – Climate Change and International Responses Increasing Challenges to US National Security Through 2040. October 21, 2021. “We assess that climate change will increasingly exacerbate risks to US national security interests as the physical impacts increase and geopolitical tensions mount about how to respond to the challenge. Global momentum is growing for more… Continue Reading
Governments’ planned fossil fuel production remains dangerously out of sync with Paris Agreement limits
UN – The Production Gap:”Governments still plan to produce more than double the amount of fossil fuels in 2030 than what would be consistent with limiting global warming to 1.5°C, in stark contrast to increased climate ambitions and net-zero commitments. This report first introduced and quantified the “production gap” in 2019, finding that the world’s governments planned to… Continue Reading
Rising Arctic Temperatures Mean Migrating North No Longer Worth It for Many Species
Yale Environment 360: “As temperatures rise in northern regions, migrating species are seeing less benefit from migrating north for the summer months, according to scientists who reviewed 25 recent studies. In the warm months, birds, mammals, and insects head north to access food, escape predators, and avoid diseases made worse by summer heat. But with… Continue Reading
What’s the best way to get plastic out of the ocean?
Fast Company: “…Solving the plastic problem will require rethinking how the material is used in the beginning, so it isn’t landing in the ocean in the first place. That means a long list of changes, from consumers and companies moving away from single-use plastic and governments making brands responsible for the trash they create to… Continue Reading
People in the Eastern U.S. might be nearly as susceptible to the dangers of wildfire smoke as those in the Western U.S.
Estimated Mortality and Morbidity Attributable to Smoke Plumes in the United States: Not Just a Western US Problem, First published: 21 August 2021, GeoHealth, https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GH000457 – “The pollutants from landscape (wild, prescribed, and agricultural) fires are expected to have an increasing impact on air quality and health in the United States (US) across the current… Continue Reading
A People’s Archive of Sinking and Melting
“A PEOPLE’S ARCHIVE OF SINKING AND MELTING is a growing collection of items contributed from places that may disappear owing to the combined physical, political, and economic impacts of climate change, including glacial melting, sea level rise, coastal erosion, and desertification. THE CONTRIBUTED MATERIALS together form an archive of the future anterior; what will have… Continue Reading
Birdability Map
“The Birdability Map is a crowdsourced map that describes in detail the accessibility features of birding locations all over the world. It is a work-in-progress, and anyone can contribute to it by submitting a Birdability Site Review. Lack of accessibility information should not be a barrier to those who want to get outside. But information… Continue Reading
