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Interview with Floro, professor at the University of Huamanga

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Interview with Floro, professor at the University of Huamanga

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apitalist orthodoxies fail in the face of "a crisis that can only be endured and resolved by rediscovering the virtues of collectivism and solidarity", writes Andrew Rawnsley ( Comment). Precisely, and this is why a similar approach is needed to confront the climate emergency - and why rightwing governments will fail to do so unless they adopt a leftwing approach that does not prioritise market and profit and instead sees the merits of massive state intervention. And the coronavirus crisis rather pointedly undermines Philip Cerny's remark that the nation state cannot have a key role in this ("My solution to the climate crisis", Letters). What we are learning now is the importance, yes, of individual responsibility and local initiatives but also of decisive governmental action to enforce the suspension of business as usual, and of international cooperation. The only other essential element is a recognition that the climate emergency is just as pressing and very much more of a mortal threat than even the current pandemic.
Jem Whiteley
Oxford

I read with interest the interview with Professor Tim Lang with its important messages and mention of Covid-19 (" Why our food supply system doesn't work ", Focus). I too am concerned about the UK's food supply chains, given it imports at least half of its food. If imports of food, particularly fresh fruit and vegetables, decline because countries like Spain and Italy are going to struggle to feed themselves because of this pandemic, this would affect the diet of the UK's population, particularly the elderly, young and disadvantaged. It would be reassuring to know what the UK government's contingency plans are.

Furthermore, given the likely longer-term nature of the pandemic, we should also instigate the free distribution of these foods and vitamins for the elderly in our care homes and similar institutions throughout the UK, as a matter of urgency. Vulnerable elderly people have been told to self-isolate, possibly for many months, which will reduce their exposure to sunshine, which is essential for the biosynthesis of vitamin D.
Dr Laurence Harbige
London E4

Your Sport section detailed two sums of £50,000 being donated by each of Manchester's richest clubs, United and City, to their local food bank (" United and City donate combined £100,000 to Manchester food banks"). An act to be applauded. However, you omitted to mention that Stockport County, playing in the league's fifth tier, and with a somewhat lower financial income, has donated the sum of £75,000 to its local NHS foundation trust charitable fund to help support the staff looking after local people in these troubled times. Perhaps a mention of this fact might be worthy of consideration.
Dave Johnson
Hayfield, High Peak
Derbyshire

Good move, BBC

I gave up watching Question Time (" BBC's Question Time accused of giving platform to far right", last week) several years ago, when questions and comments from the audience persistently ran the full gamut from neo-Nazism to proactive idiocy, laced with an occasional smattering of common sense and decency. While audience applause would often imply a more balanced composition, spoken emphasis was consistently on the right, and had a nasty ring to it. Last week's QT was great - I found politicians I thought I loathed rather nuanced and interesting, the discussion became constructive and illuminating, and we could at last see why the BBC chose Fiona Bruce. Good move, BBC! Fiona, Keep it up!
Marcia Saunders
London N10

Keep challenging, Lucy

I'm writing with regard to the article about University Challenge by Lucy Clarke from Jesus College, Oxford (" I loved appearing on University Challenge. Then I went on Twitter...", Viewpoint). It saddens me greatly that, since her appearance, Lucy has received such vile and ignorant comments on social media. I would like to assure Lucy that there are many of us men out there who do not judge the contestants (of whatever gender) by their appearance, nor indeed by the sounds of their voices. I do take note of who is, and who is not, answering questions, but this is certainly not gender-related; it is simply a reflection of the comparative ability of contestants. I advise Lucy to ignore puerile and prejudicial comments, because they are just not worth your time and energy. They are written by people who probably can't even operate a Biro, never mind answer a question on University Challenge.
Jon Gruffydd
Crughywel
Powys

Disastrous Lib Dems

Barbara Ellen defends the Liberals' claims during their disastrous 2019 election campaign as a tactic to "distance the Liberals from Labour" in Tory seats (" A shout-out to the Lib Dems, who at least were an option", Comment). What a pity that the rest of us can't distance ourselves from the consequences of the 2010-15 rundown of the NHS and social care which Liberals voted for under Nick Clegg, or the Liberals' 2015 endorsement of absurd Tory claims that it was Labour's investment in public services including the NHS - not the recklessness of the bankers - which was the cause of the global banking crisis, thereby legitimising the continued Tory rundown of the NHS in 2015-20.
Christopher Clayton
Waverton, Chester

Right trees in the right places

Your article, " Fewer oaks, more conifers: Britain's forests must change to meet climate targets " (News), is a prime example of not seeing the wood for the trees. Yes, there are trade-offs between the types of woodland we create: exotic conifers suck carbon out of the atmosphere faster, whilst native broadleaved species grow more slowly but tend to support more species of wildlife. But endless infighting between foresters and conservationists risks obscuring the bigger picture.

We face a dual ecological crisis - the climate emergency and the breakdown of nature. Friends of the Earth's analysis shows we easily have enough land to double UK tree cover. By growing the right trees in the right place, we can help lock up millions of tonnes of carbon and create much more space for wildlife. To achieve this we need a diverse group of approaches, including rewilded woods, sensitively planted commercial forests, bigger hedgerows, and agroforestry on farms. Rather than squabble over the details, let's collaborate to make this broader vision a reality.
Guy Shrubsole, Friends of the Earth
London SW9

What goes up...

David Head asserts that science and technology have made little impact on the metaphors that we use in everyday life ("Metaphorically speaking", Letters). Really? What about all those lightbulb moments and quantum leaps, the occasions when we are railroaded into a decision, things that disappear into black holes, governments that lack the bandwidth to deal with more than one issue? But perhaps scientific and technological metaphor is now so much part of our DNA that we are hardwired not to notice it.
Elizabeth Swinbank
York

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A collective solution to Covid-19 and climate change | Letters

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apitalist orthodoxies fail in the face of "a crisis that can only be endured and resolved by rediscovering the virtues of collectivism and solidarity", writes Andrew Rawnsley ( Comment).

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Theresa May's initiative to decarbonise the UK economy by 2050 has been estimated to cost £50bn per year (theguardian.com, 6 June). It is hoped that by taking leadership in this way, others will follow. However, the world's emissions are already changing the Earth's climate, and such changes will only get larger as emissions of greenhouse gases continue.

As an example, Namibia is being forced by one of its most intense droughts on record to raise $1m by auctioning off some of its wildlife. This shouldn't be necessary. If the UK were to give just 1% of this £50bn per year to help climate adaptation efforts in the developing world - for example, supporting investment in solar-powered desalination infrastructure in drought-prone countries - this would send a powerful signal that it is taking seriously not only its future emissions but also its responsibilities for past and ongoing emissions.
Tim Palmer
Royal Society research professor in climate physics, University of Oxford

* Did the story "Extreme weather triggers fastest carbon emissions rise in a decade" ( 12 June) make you wonder why? The UK emissions 2018 progress report to the Committee on Climate Change showed that after nearly a decade of falling emissions from buildings, they shot up in 2018. Proffered solutions focus on more technology. Nowhere is it mentioned that modern building design itself is deeply flawed and that regulations are resulting in ever more over-serviced, climate-vulnerable building types.

These are lightweight, unshaded, with overglazed walls, completely reliant on mechanical heating, cooling and ventilation life-support systems, with no internal thermal mass to absorb or release excess heat for night-time heating or cooling. Few have natural ventilation either. Two simple regulations would mean engineers, architects and planners would have to create climate-ready buildings. They could also ensure the lights stay for summer demand peaks, people do not roast in their new homes and workplaces and buildings don't need to be evacuated when the power fails during extreme peaks. Make it mandatory on new buildings to have solar hot water and photovoltaic panels, and at least 25% of windows to be opening. Simples.
Susan Roaf
Oxford
* Do you have a photo you'd like to share with Guardian readers? Click here to upload it and we'll publish the best submissions in the letters spread of our print edition Topics

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Building solutions to the climate crisis | Letters

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Theresa May's initiative to decarbonise the UK economy by 2050 has been estimated to cost £50bn per year (theguardian.com, 6 June). It is hoped that by taking leadership in this way, others will follow. However, the world's emissions are already changing the Earth's climate, and such changes will only get larger as emissions of greenhouse gases continue.

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He led the United Nations panel on global warming that won a Nobel Peace Prize; he died from complications of the coronavirus

Dr. John Houghton, right, the former director-general of the U.K.'s Meteorological Office, at a London weather center. He went on to become a key figure in the U.N.'s seminal studies on climate change. Credit... PA Images, via Getty Images

This obituary is part of a series about people who have died in the coronavirus pandemic. Read about others here.
John Houghton, a climate scientist and influential figure in the United Nations panel that brought the threat of climate change to the world's attention and received a Nobel Prize, died on April 15 in Dolgellau, Wales. He was 88.

The cause was complications of the novel coronavirus, according to his granddaughter Hannah Malcolm, who announced the death, at a hospital, on Twitter.

A key participant in the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Dr. Houghton was the lead editor of the organization's first three reports, issued in 1990, 1995 and 2001. With each report, the evidence underpinning global warming and the role humans play in causing it grew more ineluctable, and the calls for international action became more pressing. The group received the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize jointly with Al Gore, the former vice president and climate campaigner.

Speaking about climate change in 1994, Dr. Houghton said that delay served no one. "We should start to do what we can do now and also begin to plan to do more," he said, and "not wait 10 or 20 years till things are more clear."

Mr. Gore recalled Dr. Houghton in a statement as "a critical voice bringing the urgency of the climate crisis to the attention of policymakers."

"He took seriously the responsibility of scientists to not only produce research," Mr. Gore added, "but also to help ensure that the public world understood the implications of that research."

Peter Gleick, a climate scientist and member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, said in an email: "He understood earlier than most, and was willing to tell the politicians, that climate change was real and a threat not just to the richer countries, but especially to the poorer ones."

Religion was central to Dr. Houghton's life. In his autobiography " In the Eye of the Storm" (2013, with Gill Tavner), he said: "It was increasingly clear to me that the universe is God's creation. As science was the means by which I would be able to explore and describe God's creative work, I could not see how there could possibly be conflict between science and faith."

Dr. Houghton provided a spark that led to a climate movement within the evangelical community. In 2002, the Rev. Rich Cizik, an American evangelical leader, heard Dr. Houghton speak at the University of Oxford in England and had a "conversion on climate change so profound that he likened it to an 'altar call,' when nonbelievers accept Jesus as their savior," The New York Times wrote in 2005.

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Dr. Houghton in 2014. Al Gore remembered him as a "critical voice bringing the urgency of the climate crisis to the attention of policymakers." Credit... Ramon De La Rocha/EPA, via Shutterstock

John Theodore Houghton was born in Dyserth, Wales, on Dec. 30, 1931, to Sidney and Miriam (Yarwood) Houghton. His father was a history teacher, and his mother taught mathematics before becoming a homemaker. At 16, John received a scholarship to Jesus College, Oxford, in 1948.

"Not only was I 16," he wrote in the autobiography, "but I was a rather young 16 from a strict Christian background, with very little experience of anything other than home."

But he made his way, studying mathematics and physics. He graduated from Oxford with a bachelor's degree in 1951 and a doctorate in atmospheric, oceanic and planetary physics in 1955. He began to teach at Oxford in 1958.

In the 1970s, Dr. Houghton worked with NASA on the remote sensing instruments that allowed its Nimbus satellites to explore the earth's atmosphere; the instrumentation helped transform the study of weather systems and the environment. In 1972, he became a fellow of the Royal Society, the British scientific society.

Dr. Houghton was director general and chief executive of the United Kingdom's Meteorological Office from 1983 to 1991 and joined the effort to form the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or I.P.C.C. He served as a chairman of the panel's scientific assessment working group from 1988 to 2002. In 1990, he helped set up the Hadley Center for Climate Prediction and Research, a leading center of climate work in Britain. He was knighted in 1991.

Dr. Houghton's other books include " Global Warming: The Complete Briefing," first published in 1994, and "Does God Play Dice? A Look at the Story of the Universe" (1988).

He married Margaret Broughton in 1962; she died in 1986. In 1988, he married Sheila Thompson. In addition to his granddaughter Hannah, he is survived by his wife; two children from his first marriage, Peter Houghton and Janet Malcolm; a younger brother, Paul; and six other grandchildren. An older brother, David, died in 2015.

In recent years Dr. Houghton had retired to the Welsh seaside and was fading into dementia, Hannah Malcolm said, adding: "But the sea remained with him. A good life."

As a leader of the I.P.C.C., he had the skills of a statesman, said Jean-Pascal van Ypersele of the Université Catholique de Louvainin Belgium. He recalled watching Dr. Houghton co-chair a meeting in 1995 in Madrid that led to a statement that the smoking gun of climate change had been found: The influence of human activities on climate was becoming discernible in observations of the present, not just in projections of the future.

"Fossil fuel companies and oil-dependent countries were intensely lobbying at that I.P.C.C. meeting to try to dilute the message," Dr. van Ypersele said. But Dr. Houghton, he added, "had a deep understanding of the science," and "he was also a British gentleman, able to listen patiently to the views of vested interests, and manage the meeting so that scientists would have the last word, as it should be."

After a marathon session that was still going at 4 a.m., the tough language was approved.

Despite such efforts, however, effective global action to blunt the effects of a warming world has yet to happen. In a series of Twitter messages about her grandfather, Ms. Malcolm said: "When I was younger, my consistent memory of him was warnings over the devastation waiting us if we didn't act on climate change. And I remember thinking how glad I was that scientists like him were in charge. But of course it isn't the scientists in charge."

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John Houghton, Who Sounded Alarm on Climate Change, Dies at 88

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He led the United Nations panel on global warming that won a Nobel Peace Prize; he died from complications of the coronavirus This obituary is part of a series about people who have died in the coronavirus pandemic. Read about others here .

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Watch David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet | Netflix Official Site

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A broadcaster recounts his life, and the evolutionary history of life on Earth, to grieve the loss of wild places and offer a vision for the future. Watch trailers & learn more.

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Even as the coronavirus pandemic terrorizes the world, there's another global emergency the media can't afford to stop covering.

Fifty years ago this week, the environmental movement staged the first Earth Day demonstration to call attention to environmental degradation and demand reform. In the half century since, climate change has emerged as an existential global threat.

But there are still reasons to be hopeful - and this week, the Guardian is joining forces with hundreds of newsrooms around the world to focus attention on creative solutions to the climate emergency, from electric cars to fighting plastic waste to using psychedelic drugs. (Michael Pollan will weigh in.) We'll also explore lessons from the coronavirus pandemic - and whether the economic crash could create opportunities to rebuild a greener economy.

The Guardian is the lead partner in Covering Climate Now, an initiative founded last year by Columbia Journalism Review and the Nation to address the urgent need for stronger climate coverage. More than 400 newsrooms from around the world - with a combined audience nearing 2 billion people - have signed on.

In the coming days, the Covering Climate Now partners will collectively publish hundreds of stories on climate solutions to create a groundswell of hope at a moment when the world feels bleak. Throughout the week, we'll be sharing Guardian content with CCN partners for republishing, so that even outlets without dedicated environmental reporters can inform their audiences of the dangers of the climate crisis and opportunities for change. Covering Climate Now has provided financial support for some of our climate reporting this week.

The Covering Climate Now network represents every corner of the media, from wire services like Reuters and AFP to newspapers like the Times of India and the Christian Science Monitor, and dozens of local and special-interest outlets, across all mediums, from across the US and world.

The Guardian has long made climate coverage a top news priority, keeping the story on its front page daily. This year, the Guardian announced it would no longer accept advertising from oil and gas companies, becoming the first major global news organization to institute an outright ban on taking money from companies that extract fossil fuels. Last year, the Guardian updated its style guide to introduce new terms that more accurately describe the environmental crises facing the world. The Guardian now favors the terms "climate crisis" and "climate emergency" over "climate change".

The Guardian last year also began putting global CO2 levels in the daily weather forecast in its print publication.

Covering Climate Now was launched to address a glaring failure by the media to meet the urgency of the climate emergency. Kyle Pope, CCN co-founder and publisher of the Columbia Journalism Review, writes that in 2018, "broadcast news outlets gave more airtime to the royal baby than to the warming earth".

In 2019, that started to change. "The climate story seemed to be moving from slow to fast, as the effects of the crisis were becoming impossible for even the most stubborn newsrooms to ignore," Pope writes. "Floods in Venice and droughts in India were ready-made for the evening news. Devastating fires in California and Australia led news broadcasts around the world. Mass protests and their student leaders adorned magazine covers."

While the project began in the US, Covering Climate Now has quickly gained traction globally and now includes dozens of international news organizations and coverage in multiple languages. If you represent a newsroom interested in joining the initiative, reach out to Covering Climate Now here.

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The Guardian joins forces with hundreds of newsrooms to promote climate solutions

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Even as the coronavirus pandemic terrorizes the world, there's another global emergency the media can't afford to stop covering. Fifty years ago this week, the environmental movement staged the first Earth Day demonstration to call attention to environmental degradation and demand reform. In the half century since, climate change has emerged as an existential global threat.

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The best way to tackle climate change may come naturally. For years, solutions have focused on clean energy technology, including electrifying transport and driving down the cost of wind and solar power.

But the conservation and sustainable management of nature are now recognised as the other critical pathway to a climate-positive future, which on balance, benefits rather than damages the climate and can also help us protect biodiversity and water.

It sounds simple. We know that trees absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it in their living biomass, releasing oxygen to the air. It has been said that when you scale the "technology" of a tree, you get a forest. So if it's so straightforward, why hasn't the power of the world's forests already been harnessed for natural climate solutions?

In fact forestry and sustainable land use have been a core part of the climate change debate for decades, but the subject has been plagued with concerns.

What if the carbon we store in forests doesn't stay there for ever? What would happen if we paid people not to deforest - would they just chop down a forest to create agricultural land somewhere else?

While governments and civil society have argued over the rules for carbon accounting, which would help answer these questions, the value of sequestering and storing carbon in the world's forests has gone largely unpriced, and deforestation has accelerated in many parts of the world, particularly in the tropics.

But some governments are successfully placing forests at the centre of climate solutions. In California, forest carbon projects are playing a critical role in meeting the state's emission reduction targets: forestry projects have so far generated 80pc of the offsets in its robust emissions trading scheme.

California has made it clear that forests can be part of a comprehensive climate solution - one that focuses on reducing industrial emissions, transitioning to clean energy and electric transport, and harnessing the power of nature for carbon removal.

Business is also stepping up for nature, with commitments to decarbonise supply chains through natural climate solutions - conserving forests, restoring ecosystems and sustainably managing agriculture and forestry.

Forestry is attracting increasing interest from investors and corporations seeking to reduce or even eliminate their greenhouse gas emissions. They are investing in projects to plant trees or buy and manage forests, counting the benefit to the climate of the carbon removed from the atmosphere against the emissions of greenhouse gases from their supply chains.

And forestry is already an established asset class for investors, with more than $100bn of institutional investment globally: estimates suggest it has about $300bn of investable assets. Our company, New Forests - which manages $3.65bn of assets across nearly a million hectares (almost 2.5 million acres) throughout Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Laos and the United States - forecasts that, if policies and market incentives align, global forestry investment could become a $1trn asset class and a cornerstone of the low-carbon economy.

This growth would partly come from expanding forestry resources, while taking into account social and environmental constraints such as the need for land for food security and protecting community land rights.

We expect that the next wave of investment will be into the emerging markets of South-east Asia and Africa, where there is tremendous opportunity both for commercial forestry plantations and for new community-centric investment models based on nature conservation.

Further growth would be supported by global pricing of the value of forest carbon. And still further capital and value will be driven into the forestry sector by growth in the demand, already taking place, for sustainable wood products and fibre.

Indeed forestry is already being reinvented as a solutions-based industry. Single-use plastics are being replaced by advanced wood-fibre-based packaging, while polyester fabrics are passed over in favour of Tencel, rayon and other fabrics made from wood pulp. Skyscrapers once made of steel and concrete now feature advanced mass-timber products made of engineered wood.

Forest products are increasingly a part of our everyday lives, storing carbon in our homes and offices and displacing the need for ones derived from fossil fuels. This rising new eco-economy and bioeconomy are increasing asset prices in forestry, supporting stronger returns and creating new option value in forestry assets.

As soon as 2030, the $1trn forestry asset class may well offer more than just another trillion trees, providing goods and services and benefits for climate resilience and the global commons, and for investor returns.

What is now needed is to merge the experience of the established investment managers, who can provide long-term, stable returns and production yields from certified sustainable forest management, with the ambition of a global community that is waking up to the reality that nature is one of our best climate solutions.
For more information, visit thegef.org

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Nature: one of the best solutions to climate change

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The best way to tackle climate change may come naturally. For years, solutions have focused on clean energy technology, including electrifying transport and driving down the cost of wind and solar power.

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We must reject this trick. We cannot let ourselves be dragged into framing our aspirations for a better world in the language of growth, for it immediately traps us within the logic of capital; and on that terrain we will lose. We need to be smarter than that.

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Global crises require exceptional leadership to shift old systems into new ones

Even before Covid-19 struck, we were entering the most important decade yet for humankind. Now, eight months into it, business and government leaders stand at a crossroads, as they choose how to rebuild economies and societies impacted by the pandemic. We must work together with a common purpose to accelerate action to create a greener, cleaner and more resilient future.

Already life looks very different to what many of us imagined a few months ago. The pandemic impacts everyone in different ways: as individuals, communities, family members and businesses. From human loss to economic hardship, nothing could have fully prepared us for the present reality.

Just a few short months ago, climate change topped the global agenda. I was relieved and excited to see leaders across society working together to address it, the biggest threat to our shared future. Then the coronavirus crisis hit. The pandemic respects no borders and now calls for exceptional leadership across society, governments and businesses. Everyone has needed to contribute in the initial phase to save as many lives and livelihoods as possible and restart the economy.

But addressing the immediate crisis must not now be at the expense of other pressing global priorities. If history has taught us anything, it is that the most dangerous thing we could do is to think short term: it is critical that we now create the future we want to be a part of, by building back better.

Credit: Getty

Climate change will not wait for Covid-19. We must not lose sight of the fact that it remains a looming crisis threatening our way of life, our resilience and our safety. Nor must we forget about our commitments and actions to tackle it. Indeed, the next hot summer - with wildfires and heatwaves, flooding and drought - will painfully remind us that we are continuing to heat up our one planet.

We have it in our own hands to use the post-pandemic recovery to tackle two crises at once and change the direction of global warming. The time for talk is over. We need to act, and we need to act now. Trillions of dollars are being poured into the global economy, and it is important that this flow of money is directed into creating jobs and systems that will help us recover in a way that will benefit the next generations and the global commons.

There have been some positive signs. A majority of people across 14 countries in the G20 agree that the economic recovery should "prioritise climate change ". In a significant step, the European Commission has made its pandemic recovery package conditional on efforts to tackle it, setting a high standard that others must follow.

No conflict exists between boosting employment, reviving the economy, building long-term resilience and tackling the climate crisis by accelerating the transition towards a net-zero-carbon and just economy. This will create jobs today that will be relevant for generations to come. The New Climate Economy report shows that shifting to a low-carbon economy could create a $26 trillion growth opportunity - and 65 million new jobs - by 2030.

Sustainability also makes business sense. Companies who built environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards into their business models are managing better through the crisis. They have become more resilient as a result of better financial management, better relationships with co-workers and customers, and better control of their supply chains.

Across the board, CEOs and other business leaders have been reinforcing their social and environmental responsibilities, and investors are warning companies not to retreat from their commitments. As business leaders, we need to make sure that we follow through on our ambitions, and that others follow with action that delivers a transition to a net-zero economy.

IKEA remains committed to become climate positive and circular in its use of resources by 2030, and to contribute to limiting the global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees centigrade above pre industrial levels, as envisaged in the Paris Agreement. Two years ago, we set Science Based Targets and are taking actions to reduce our climate footprint - for example, by consuming 100 per cent renewable energy, offering zero-emissions home deliveries, and enabling more than a billion people to live in sustainable and healthy ways.

Governments should implement policies that make such measures essential. I am aware that this is a huge ask on leaders who are already overstretched. But Covid-19 and the reaction to it have illustrated the importance of interconnectedness and urgent global cooperation. When the crisis tempts us to turn inwards, we must turn outwards. In a time of isolation, reaching out and connecting is more important than ever. Business and political leaders must find new paths to walk together.

Together, we must shift old systems into new, while investing in green technologies and solutions that are clean. Together, we must rethink existing subsidies schemes and find ways to put a price on pollution. Together, we must step up our climate ambition and deliver on our promise - the Paris Agreement. Together, we must transform business models, set ambitious climate targets and sign up to the 1.5°C target.

Together, we can choose a new path to a brighter, greener, more resilient future. And we must choose it now.
For more information, visit thegef.org

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From the pandemic to a zero-carbon economy

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Global crises require exceptional leadership to shift old systems into new ones Even before Covid-19 struck, we were entering the most important decade yet for humankind. Now, eight months into it, business and government leaders stand at a crossroads, as they choose how to rebuild economies and societies impacted by the pandemic.

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Quantifying national responsibility for climate breakdown: an equality-based attribution approach for carbon dioxide emissions in excess of the planetary boundary

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These figures indicate that high-income countries have a greater degree of responsibility for climate damages than previous methods have implied. These results offer a just framework for attributing national responsibility for excess emissions, and a guide for determining national liability for damages related to climate change, consistent with the principles of planetary boundaries and equal access to atmospheric commons.

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Covid-19 gave the world a chance to fix the climate crisis. We’re about to waste it.

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The pandemic could have been the decisive moment in the fight against climate change. Instead, some of the biggest fossil fuel-producing countries are injecting taxpayer money into propping up polluting industries.

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how 'moonshot' thinking could save the world - cnn video

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Economist Mariana Mazzucato talks about her new book "Mission Economy" and how the public and private sectors must collaborate to tackle the world's big problems.

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climate change is a "global emergency" for two-thirds of people

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Almost two-thirds of people believe climate change is a global emergency, UN poll finds

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Nearly two-thirds of respondents believe that climate change is a "global emergency," according to a survey of 1.2 million people in dozens of countries around the globe -- and many want urgent action to tackle the problem.

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low-emission innovations could be the future of transport

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These high-tech, low-emission innovations could be the future of transport

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The pressure is on to find sustainable solutions in everyday life to combat climate change. These low or zero-emission transport technologies could revolutionize the future of travel.

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opinion: the most dangerous situation humanity has ever faced - cnn

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Opinion by Edmund G. Brown Jr. and Robert Rosner

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Opinion: The most dangerous situation humanity has ever faced

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Edmund G. Brown Jr. and Robert Rosner write that nuclear weapons and climate change pose fundamentally greater threats to humanity than the Covid-19 pandemic. While there are some positive developments -- such as the election of a US President who respects science -- It remains 100 seconds to midnight on the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists' Doomsday Clock.

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Public Trust Official Trailer | The Fight for America’s Public Lands

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Gardening is having a real renaissance.

Sure, people have been growing their own since the dawn of time but us time and space-poor millenials never really stood a chance in our rented rooms.

Lockdown, however, has seen more of us reach out to community gardens, permaculture groups and houseplant husbandry. It seems like everyone's been propagating spider plants like there's no tomorrow.

So it was only a matter of time before some bright young thing came up with a business aimed directly at those of us urban greenies without outdoor space. Pot Gang is a London-based monthly delivery box of grow-your-own materials, from seeds to growing advice.

Founder Sam, tells us that during lockdown, he realised that loads of his mates had started growing herbs and veg on their windowsills, patios and balconies - but no one really knew what they were doing.

'There were questions flying about my group chats about what to grow and how to keep things alive. People were getting a bit stuck and it seemed like any support out there was for proper serious gardeners, which is all a bit stuffy and serious.'

In response, he set up Pot Gang to help young urbanites who haven't really gardened before but who want to grow fruit, veg and herbs at home.

So, why are so many of us turning back to such a fundamental activity when we're surrounded by supermarkets and food outlets?

Sam believes there are a few reasons.

'We're becoming increasingly aware of food miles, packaging and the gone-off food that we're chucking away,' he tells us. 'Then, particularly during lockdown, more of us placed value on our homes as spaces that we get joy out of. It's therapeutic growing stuff around you - you feel like your plants are your little babies (I do, at least!).

'And then I also think people are realising that what's in supermarkets is pretty limited. You usually only get one or two types of each fruit or veg, when there are loads of different strains and flavours out there.

'Growing-your-own is a solution to all of these things. It's less wasteful, more varied, and is a really rewarding focus to have at home.'

But what if, like me, you don't even have a balcony? What can you possibly grow indoors?

'There's loads you can do on sunny windowsills,' Sam explains, with herbs like marjoram, chives, rosemary, basil, oregano, coriander thriving, as well as and tomatoes and chillies.

If you do have a balcony, invest in some big pots and watch how chard, spinach, oriental greens, radishes, spring onions and beans thrive.

The pandemic has undeniably changed the way we live and operate. The Great Pasta and Toilet Roll Shortage of March 2020 was just one strange issue amid a roster of odd and scary happenings, but it did show just how reliant we are on supermarkets and how terrified we are of going without.

With that in mind, it seems rational to predict that more and more of us might try to move towards greater self-sufficiency in the future.

Sam agrees - but not because people are scared that they won't be able to get hold of stuff.

'It'll be more because lockdown has got more people invested in their homes and cooking more of their own food,' he says. 'Plus, once you grow-your-own for the first time, you realise it always tastes way better when you've put your love into it.'

One burning question that I'm sure we've all been dying to know the answer to is: why does shop-bought basil refuse to grow back once you've picked it?

Herb expert Sam says that it's because supermarkets cram too many plants into one pot so that they look 'nice and full on the shelf', but that then creates too much competition for the nutrients they need to grow big and strong.

'That, or they get scared of being put on top of takeaway pizzas.'

Sam's advice for keeping plants alive indoors

Pot Gang is a monthly delivery with all you need to grow-your-own. Each box contains three types of seasonal seeds, pots, compost and loads of super simple guidance. It works out cheaper than buying the components yourself.

At the moment, it only delivers within London but it's looking to expand soon.
Check the Pot Gang out on Instagram and its website. Do you have a story to share? Get in touch by emailing MetroLifestyleTeam@Metro.co.uk.
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No garden of your own? Join the Pot Gang and get growing veg on balconies

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Gardening is having a real renaissance. Sure, people have been growing their own since the dawn of time but us time and space-poor millenials never really stood a chance in our rented rooms. Lockdown, however, has seen more of us reach out to community gardens, permaculture groups and houseplant husbandry.

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ISSUE
- Natural resources are expected to be over by 2050
-Ice melting, deforestation, coral reefs dying.
-Less forests + cities = more animals in the city. More risk of coming pandemics.
SOLUTIONS
-solutions need to come from the state, but what we CAN do:
- as scholars and humans, reconsider our daily practices
but also
-Reconfigure our relationship with nature - therefore, get planting! (Pot Gang and maybe other entrepreneurial solution)

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Interview Floro - biologist and professor at the University in Ayacucho, Peru.

Interview Sam Smith - Pot Gang creator

Who else can I interview? Who else is doing something different as a result of the pandemic?