miscellaneous

What we learned this week

Featuring China's climate targets, a marine treaty, a bonus book review, and solar panels from Aldi.

A few years ago I wrote about the giant plastic tap that was unveiled at UNEP talks in Nairobi. The same artist, Benjamin Von Wong, is behind the biodiversity jenga tower that graces the latest biodiversity COP in Colombia. Lots more about it here.

New economy folks might want to plan some events in January and February as part of Reclaim the Economy Week, a focused week of action from the Wellbeing Economy Alliance and partners.

From the end of November, all car parks in Korea with more than 80 spaces will have solar canopies fitted over the top. This doubles up on land use and is a great alternative to putting solar panels in fields – if that’s something that concerns you, write to your MP and tell them about this.

I regularly talk to my children about the difference between danger and risk, and how culture and media shape what we fear. There’s a good study on this from Our World in Data, looking at causes of death in the US and the media coverage that they get.

Luton Town and Forest Green Rovers met this weekend in the FA Cup, a match I would have attended myself if I wasn’t supervising trick or treating. As these are the only two teams wearing sustainable kit from Reflo, the circular economy sportswear company said it would plant a thousand trees for every goal scored. Luton thought of the trees and let FGR come back from 3-0 down before winning it in the last few minutes. Well done everybody.

More posts this week potentially, after a few days off for me.

Latest articles

The changing colours of the energy transition

Here’s a map that I enjoyed from the latest Our World in Data newsletter. It shows the leading source of electricity in each country. It’s a fascinating geopolitical snapshot, telling us a lot about who has access to cheap coal, gas or oil. There are lots of little stories here, adding up to one big…

Book review: Beliefism, by Paul Dolan

With so many to be getting on with, does the world need another ‘ism’ to fret about? It’s a question I asked myself on first encountering Paul Dolan’s book, but the definition won me over. Beliefism is prejudice against people you disagree with, and if you live in the same world that I do, that…

Climate action for the working class

I was travelling out to a school last week in Essex, East of London. My train had been delayed and I jumped in a taxi to get me there on time. The driver was a white man in his sixties, wearing a West Ham football shirt. In the course of conversation, and in-between some choice…

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