Britain is one of the most tree-depleted countries in Europe and tree-planting is one of the few environmental policies supported by all political parties. So how come we keep missing tree planting targets?
Indian NGO Down to Earth has a series of investigations into the ‘tanker economy’ in Indian cities, where the poorest get their water delivered by tanker. They explain how this subsidises water for the rich.
I’ve been writing about the Ashden Awards this week, but other awards announced include the Orwell Prize, always worth a look, and the inaugural Unlock Net Zero awards. Luton Council was nominated for the latter for its retrofit project, but alas, was not victorious on the night. There are lots of other good examples of retrofits in the list of winners.
What is the world’s most liveable city – any guesses? Having been there for the first time a couple of years ago, I’d have said Copenhagen, a place I would happily move to tomorrow. But here’s the City Liveability Index with the answer.
China has switched on the world’s largest solar farm, installed on a patch of desert around the same size as New York City.
This week’s articles
The problems are connected. So are the solutions
I first learned about sustainability because I am interested in poverty. I grew up in one of the world’s poorest countries and I wanted to understand it better. What keeps people in poverty? What are the proven ways to spring the trap? It was in exploring these questions at university that I began to see…
What would the end of animal farming look like?
A few weeks ago I wrote about cultured meat, and the potential for a dramatically reduced livestock sector in the future. As usual with this topic, it garnered a few disapproving comments. Some people don’t like the fakeness of it all. Some can’t get past the idea that it would be easier just to eat…
Book review: The Future of Geography, by Tim Marshall
Tim Marshall’s skill is to take the kind of background geography that we all get at school – things like maps, flags, mountains and rivers – and use them to explain the world. Why some countries are always fought over, or why some places struggle to integrate into the global economy. His books do the…
The Earthbound Report 
Hi, when you say Britain, you must mean England.
Here are some links to what is being done and has been done to reforest Scotland, except of course for our massive Peat bog, ‘The Flow Country’ up in Caithness, which has had to be deforested as it was decimated by draining it and planting acid causing pine trees as an EngGov tax avoidance scheme that some of the richest in England took part in. Sadly funding has all but dried up becaus eof Brexit being forced onto Scotland and there seem to be no plans to secure the peat (a massive carbon sink) bog via WHS, the EngGov seem in nop hurry to put that forward though it’s been on the tentative list for WHS protection since 2012. I think London bridge has WHS but it ain’t going to help save the planet is it.
https://www.forestry.gov.scot/news-releases/positive-progress-on-tree-planting
https://www.forestry.gov.scot/news-releases/on-track-to-meet-tree-planting-targets
https://www.gov.scot/publications/scotlands-forestry-strategy-20192029/
Thanks.
Ps.
https://www.theflowcountry.org.uk/
From the article I link to in the post: “In Scotland, tree-planting rates had been falling until last year – a trend that was attributed to cuts in its woodland creation budget, as well as labour and skills shortages. Scotland’s repeated failure to hit its afforestation targets was cited by the CCC in March as one of the reasons the Scottish National Party-led government’s climate plan was ‘no longer credible’.”