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topic: environmentalist, the climate summit and the Paris Agreement

An environmentalist is a person who actively works to protect the natural environment and promote sustainability. Their efforts often focus on issues like:

Reducing pollution and waste

Conserving natural habitats and biodiversity

Combating climate change through advocacy and policy support

Furthermore, a climate summit is an international meeting where world leaders, policymakers, scientists, and activists gather to discuss strategies to combat climate change. Key purposes of these summits include:

Negotiating agreements on carbon emission reductions

Sharing scientific data and climate research

Coordinating global initiatives for renewable energy and sustainability

One of the most well-known climate summits is the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP)

An important legally binding international treaty is the Paris Agreement(adopted 2015, COP21) aiming to limit global temperature rises to well below 2∘C, preferably 1.5∘C, above pre-industrial levels. It requires countries to submit increasingly ambitious, voluntary emissions reduction plans (NDCs) every five years to achieve net-zero emissions by mid-century.

Environmentalists advocate at climate summits for strong global action, helping climate treaties like the Paris Agreement to combat climate change and save our planet.

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Migration: Climate Refugees

Climate refugees are people who are forced to leave their homes, either temporarily or permanently, due to sudden or slow-onset environmental changes.

Future projections estimate that between 25 million and 1 billion people could be displaced by 2050, and over 70% of displaced people already come from climate-vulnerable countries. Over the past ten years, weather-related disasters have caused around 220 million internal displacements. In addition, three out of four displaced people live in countries with high to extreme exposure to climate-related hazards.

There are several key factors driving this migration, including rising sea levels, desertification, and extreme weather events such as hurricanes and floods.

Climate migration can take different forms. Some people move internally, meaning within their own country. Others cross borders and migrate to other countries. In some cases, planned relocation takes place, where communities are proactively moved, for example in Alaska.

Certain regions are particularly affected, especially South Asia, Latin America, and Sub-Saharan Africa.

migration has impacts on both regions and populations where people are moving. Negative effects include unplanned urbanization & shortages in water, food, and energy, leading to increasing prices. However, there are also positive effects. migration can contribute to economic growth through labor filling and can lead to knowledge transfer.

In terms of solutions and responses organizations like the International organization for migration (IOM) are working on adaptation, resilience strategies, and safe migration pathways. Protection also plays a key role, with UNHCR working to strengthen resilience and protect those displaced by climate-related disasters.

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Greener schools: Building a Sustainable Future at Lessing Gymnasium

A greener school is more than just a place with plants and recycling bins. It is a learning institution that takes a whole-school approach to education for sustainable development, integrating climate change education, environmental responsibility, and sustainable practices into everyday school life.

Greener schools aim to promote knowledge, values, and skills that support the social, economic, cultural, and environmental aspects of sustainability. This includes building awareness about renewable energy, resource management, and sustainable transport.

At Lessing Gymnasium, there are several practical and effective solutions to become a greener school and actively fight climate change:

1. Integrating sustainability into lessons

Subjects like geography: focus on climate change and global sustainability

Chemistry: explore renewable energy and pollution

2. Reducing energy use in the school

Installing solar panels, using LED lighting, and turning off lights and computers when not needed

3. Creating a green campus

Planting trees, building school gardens, and adding insect hotels or birdhouses help protect biodiversity and improve the natural environment

4. Encouraging student involvement

Students can lead green projects, join an environmental club, or organize tree planting days. Active participation increases awareness and responsibility

5. Improving resource management

Focusing on waste reduction and recycling helps minimize environmental damage

These actions not only help protect the planet but also save money on energy bills, which can be reinvested into education and school improvements.

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The Great Bubble Barrier

is an innovative technology designed to stop plastic pollution in rivers before it reaches the oceans. Developed by “The Great Bubble Barrier”, it creates a diagonal curtain of air bubbles from the riverbed that pushes plastic waste to one side, where it can be collected. By capturing plastic early, it helps prevent large amounts of waste from entering marine ecosystems.

Advantages: eco-friendly, allows fish and ships to pass freely, captures a wide range of plastic sizes

Disadvantages: can be costly to install + maintain, requires energy to operate, may not catch all microplastics

Overall, the Great Bubble Barrier is a promising step toward reducing plastic pollution, but it works best when combined with other sustainable solutions and global efforts to reduce waste.

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Singapore is known as a “City in a Garden.” Even though it is very densely populated, the city focuses strongly on sustainability and green spaces.

Large parks, green roofs, and vertical gardens are integrated into the city to improve air quality and biodiversity. Projects like Gardens by the Bay show how nature and modern architecture can work together. A key strategy is the Singapore Green Plan 2030, which aims to make the city more sustainable. The plan includes planting 1 million more trees, expanding solar energy, reducing landfill waste by 30%, and ensuring every household is within a 10-minute walk of a park.

With strong environmental policies, efficient public transport, and innovative water recycling systems, Singapore is considered one of the world’s leading green cities.

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Extreme weather events, such as heatwaves, droughts, floods, tropical cyclones, and wildfires, are severe, unusual, or unseasonal weather conditions at the extremes of historical distribution. Often driven by climate change, these events are increasing in frequency and intensity, causing significant damage to infrastructure, ecosystems, and human health. Some key types of extreme weather events are extremes in temperatures, precipitation or storms and wind. Important to consider are the causes and trends: rising global temperatures are leading to more intense and frequent extreme events. A warming Arctic, may be causing the jet stream to change its direction, leading to persistent, long-lasting weather phenomena like heatwaves or stagnant storms. Some examples on our planet are the California’s Record-Breaking Wildfires in 2017, the hurricanes in the U.S (Florida) often connected with floods and the extended periods of high temperatures and humidity in the Northern Hemisphere.

All of this has negative impact on our, habitat, which includes infrastructure and safety, habitat and ecosystems

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Deep-sea mining and overfishing

are two major threats to the high seas- that still can be stopped.

Firstly, the high seas are vast areas of the ocean beyond territorial jurisdiction of any nation, which are endangered by climate change, pollution, deep-sea mining and overfishing.

The latter being that vessels catch more fish than stocks can replenish, which is a significant driver in the decline of ocean wildlife populations. This is closely tied to bycatch, meaning the capture of unwanted sea life while fishing for different species.

Deep-sea mining refers to the demand for rare-earth elements such as cobalt, nickel or lithium (which are commonly found elsewhere) which get extracted from the ocean floor to supply materials for electronics. But this concept is incompatible with a sustainable future and can cause irreversible damage, unknown damages and disturbances of locked-away carbon. Because of this the UN has agreed on the High Seas Treaty for protecting ocean biodiversity.

All of this could be stopped by pressuring governments and the International Seabed Authority (ISA) to pause regulations and urging companies to commit to not relying on deep-sea minerals.

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Greenwashing is a marketing strategy that advertises products or services as a climate friendly and sustainable product even though it is not. The goal is to build a green image without improving the climate situation provable and to profit from the increasing demand of sustainable products.

When researching the product and company, there are multiple aspects and characteristics that might lead to a greenwashing company. Signals to look out for are :

1. missing proof-transparency and real data to follow is missing

2. vague choice of words like natural, climatefriendly, eco, ect without actual proof

3. misleading certificates f.e selfinvented, not recognized ones

4. irrelevant information/distraction

5. hidden compromises- a small sustainable detail is highlighter meanwhile the rest of the production is not sustainable

Steps for you:

—> ask critically

—> search for proof

—> search for transparency

—> pay attention to context and general concept of the company

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Plastic polluion is a global problem. Every year 19-23 million tonnes of plastic waste leaks into aquatic ecosystems, polluting lakes, rivers and seas.

Plastic pollution can alter habitats and natural processes, reducing ecosystems’ ability to adapt to climate change, directly affecting millions of people’s livelihoods, food production capabilities and social well-being.

But if we’re concerned about the environmental impacts of plastics in terms of their ability to escape into the natural environment, enter rivers or oceans, harm wildlife, or generate harmful air pollution through burning, then what matters is plastic pollution. That is mismanaged plastic waste at risk of leaking into the environment.

Plastic pollution takes many forms, stemming from

industrial, agricultural, and consumer waste that accumulates in ecosystemsbecause it does not biodegrade, but rather breaks down into smaller, toxic particles over hundreds of years. Approximately 80% of ocean plastic originates from land-based sources.

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Biodiversity is the variety of all living things on Earth, including plants, animals, and ecosystems. It is very important because it keeps ecosystems stable and healthy. Many plants and animals depend on each other to survive. Biodiversity also provides humans with food, medicine, clean water, and materials. For example, bees pollinate many crops, which helps produce fruits and vegetables. However, biodiversity is being threatened by pollution, deforestation, and climate change. The decline of bee populations shows how losing one species can affect ecosystems and food production. Protecting biodiversity is important for both nature and humans. 🌍🐝

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Fracking

... is a method used to extract oil and natural gas from deep underground. A mixture of water, sand, and chemicals is pumped into rock at high pressure to create cracks so gas can escape.

Advantages:

-Provides large amounts of energy

-Can reduce dependence on imported gas

-Creates jobs and economic growth

Problems:

-Can contaminate groundwater

-Uses huge amounts of water

-Can cause small earthquakes

Example:

In the USA, fracking greatly increased natural gas production, but it also led to environmental concerns in several regions.

Key fact:

One fracking well can use 10–20 million liters of water.

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DEFORESTATION:

is the large-scale removal of forested areas and poses significant ecological challenges. It impacts biodiversity devastating whole ecosystems. It also accelerates climate change by releasing stored carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The most prominant example might be the Amazon Rainforest. Despite global efforts, deforestation in the Amazon has continued, driven by activities such as cattle ranching, agriculture, and illegal logging. Urgent solutions such as reforestation, regulations, and sustainable land use are essential to mitigate this escalating crisis.