“God will ask us if we have cultivated and cared for the world that he created, for the benefit of all and for future generations, and if we have taken care of our brothers and sisters. What will be our answer?” Pope Leo has given his first speech on the climate. He also “noted that some have chosen to deride the increasingly evident signs of climate change, to ridicule those who speak of global warming.”
Meanwhile, the US Energy Department sent an email instructing staff to avoid “terminology that you know to be misaligned with the Administration’s perspectives and priorities”, with a list of banned words that includes climate change, green, carbon and sustainability.
Britain has a target to run on 100% clean energy by 2030, and the grid continues to set new records on the way to that. So far clean energy supply has exceeded demand for 87 hours this year.
Hannah Ritchie points out some positive news that hasn’t made any headlines: record breaking harvests are expected in most parts of the world this year.
Some book news: my online bookshop, Earthbound Books, now has ebooks. I’ve been waiting for this for a while. Fill your eboots.
Latest articles
Your role in climate finance
When I hear the term ‘climate finance’, I think of banks, governments and and big institutional funders. I think about the UN, the IMF, and international conferences where multi-billion dollar funding streams are negotiated. It turns out I might have had it upside down. Out of curiosity, I downloaded the latest Global Landscape of Climate…
What we learned this week
There is growing concern over the the El Nino cycle and the possibility of record heat next year. Here’s Bill McKibben on the topic, and David Wallace Wells. Less gloomy voices are also available, but now is a good time to be talking about summer heat and how we prepare for it. 11,103 new cars…
How South Korea cut food waste
My new food waste bin went out to the curb this morning. Like most of us in Luton, my family was given two blue plastic caddies last month for the start of food waste collection in the town. We’re one of the regions of the UK that hasn’t had food waste collected until now, and…
The Earthbound Report 
Am looking at data for Virginia’s crops. We had, between 2023 and 2024, 40 and 47% declines for corn and winter wheat yields, respectively. 12% decrease for tobacco. Increases for soybean yields by 22% and cotton, too. Need references for the past 60 months in order to see a pattern.