01/12/2022
International Mountain Day - 11 December
The United Nations General Assembly designated 11 December “International Mountain Day”.
As of 2003, it has been observed every year to create awareness about the importance of mountains to life, to highlight the opportunities and constraints in mountain development and to build alliances that will bring positive change to mountain peoples and environments around the world.
Sources/Links:
https://www.fao.org/international-mountain-day/en/
26/11/2022
'Secondhand Sunday'
'Secondhand Sunday' Encourages
People to Give Used Gifts
new campaign redirects holiday shoppers away
from mass consumption of new goods toward more ethical and sustainable choices.
You've heard of Black Friday, Small Business
Saturday, and Cyber Monday—all major shopping days that take place at the end
of the November. But now there's another day you can add to the list, and it's
one that gets a big thumbs up from Treehugger. The first annual Secondhand
Sunday will roll out this year. It is the brainchild of Poshmark, a social
commerce marketplace that enables users to buy and sell clothing online, mostly
used.
Secondhand Sunday, which takes place on
November 27 this year (and will always be on the Sunday following U.S.
Thanksgiving), comes at an especially good time. The organizers point to the
convergence of two key trends: first, ongoing inflation is prompting customers
to look for deals and ways to save money; and second, people are increasingly
open to receiving secondhand gifts.
Poshmark commissioned global research firm
Morning Consult to assess the secondhand market. It found that over 90% of
American adults say they would be willing to receive a secondhand or resold
gift this season, but only 34% are likely to buy them for others. This suggests
"massive opportunity to close the gap"—a task that Poshmark has
embraced with enthusiasm.
Amber McCasland, vice-president of Global Brand
and Communications, told Treehugger that consumers have become familiar with
dedicated shoppings days in the calendar.
"Our team saw an opportunity to hack
traditional holiday shopping patterns by shining a spotlight on the many
benefits of secondhand shopping and selling ... Secondhand Sunday aims to
redirect holiday shopping away from mass consumption of new goods toward
choices that support individual economic empowerment, social connection and
environmental sustainability. Secondhand Sunday encourages shoppers to think
about who they're buying from, and support secondhand sellers during the peak
holiday shopping season."
Poshmark is a platform from which individual sellers
run their own "closets" or shops, similar to Etsy, and make extra
cash. Some do it part-time, others full-time. While sellers have varying
motivations for doing business, many are driven by the belief that buying
secondhand is important for the environment.
One such seller is Ashley Wheeler from Oregon.
When she started selling on Poshmark, her husband worked as a truck driver at a
landfill site. They were both horrified at the amount of textile waste that was
getting dumped, just because it was deemed unsellable by a retailer. Even when
her husband asked to bring home items that still had value, he was told no,
because "companies had paid the landfill to dispose of their
garbage." She told Treehugger:
"For us, that was a wake up-call. We
realized it wasn't just about us bringing our pre-owned clothing back into the
market but finding other inventory that companies were ready to dispose of and
help recycle it back into use. That's when we started to learn about Goodwill
Outlets (aka the bins) and other similar stores—where we source a majority of
our inventory."
Wheeler now buys cast-off items by the pound
from Goodwill's "last chance" bins and resells them on Poshmark. She
said it's possible to find designer and high-end fashion brands, and that often
items are still in great or new condition.
When asked what she looks for, Wheeler said,
"We focus on brands and fabric materials when we are sourcing items. We
prefer natural materials like linen, silk, hemp, organic cotton, etc. We also
look at functionality: work boots, jeans, sweaters, puffer coats, windbreakers ...
Functionality typically lasts longer in someone's closet and they are more
likely to pick up over trends, from our experience."
While Poshmark has run smaller, more targeted
holiday campaigns in the past, McCasland said that Secondhand Sunday is
"our first concerted effort to change the cultural conversation around how
people shop and gift during the holidays." The hope is that, instead of
running out to buy new items as gifts, people will realize that it's acceptable
and even preferable to source used items instead. And they may discover
Poshmark for the first time—an easily accessible website and app that allows
you to search for specific styles, sizes, and brands.
Manish Chandra, company founder and CEO, said
in a press release, "We want to promote and celebrate the idea that our
sellers' virtual closets are the new must-see holiday storefronts, and invite
consumers across the nation to choose secondhand, on Secondhand Sunday and all year
long."
Whether you visit a local thrift store or go
online to Poshmark, there's a world of used clothing out there that's just
waiting to be worn. To choose that over new is a small yet meaningful act of
environmental preservation. It says no to more production, more resource
extraction, more exploitative labor practices in distant countries. It extends
the lifespan of already created garments, reduces the number of clothes being
discarded, and cuts down on the methane emitted when textiles break down in
landfill.
So, really, you can't go wrong. Secondhand
Sunday is a great idea that gets people off conventional shopping websites and
out of malls while promoting circular fashion, waste reduction, and financial
savings. Poshmark encourages people to participate and spread the word by using
the #SecondhandSunday hashtag on social media.
Sources/Links:
https://www.treehugger.com/secondhand-sunday-poshmark-6831360
https://www.secondhandsunday.poshmark.com/
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24/11/2022
A Poison Like No Other
America Recycles Day is celebrated on November
15 every year and is a shadow of its former self. It used to be our favourite
day to question the recycling industry and the companies behind the event. In
my first post about it in 2008, I wrote:
"Let's call recycling what it is – a
fraud, a sham, a scam perpetrated by big business on the citizens and
municipalities of America. Look who sponsors the National Recycling Coalition,
behind America Recycles Day: Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Anheuser-Busch, Coors,
Owens-Illinois, International Bottled Water Association (IWBA), the same people
who brought you that other fraud, Keep America Beautiful. Recycling is simply
the transfer of producer responsibility for what they produce to the taxpayer
who has to pick it up and take it away."
Of all those fancy big sponsors, only the
International Bottled Water Association remains, joined by a Dutch beer
company, an insurance company, and a craft distiller I have never heard of.
This year they are pushing job creation.
“Educating and motivating Americans to recycle
is one of the most important aspects of our mission at Keep America Beautiful.
Today we celebrate those who passionately work to create programs and projects
to increase awareness and action for a circular economy. Thank you for being
stewards of sustainability,” said Jennifer Lawson, Keep America Beautiful's
president and CEO.
But as we have noted before, the purpose of
educating and motivating Americans to recycle is to make them feel good about
single-use products. The reason for talking about the circular economy is
because recycling is broken and circular sounds better. And while aluminum and
cardboard have value and are recycled, most single-use plastics are not worth
very much. That's why, as a Greenpeace report recently showed, less than 5% of
plastics in the U.S. are recycled, and the rest is being burned, landfilled, or
lost on land or in the oceans.
Sources/Links:
https://www.treehugger.com/a-poison-like-no-other-matt-simon-book-review-6828665
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17/11/2022
17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
THE 17 GOALS
17 Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs)
The 2030 Agenda for
Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015, provides a shared
blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the
future. At its heart are the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are
an urgent call for action by all countries - developed and developing - in a
global partnership. They recognize that ending poverty and other deprivations
must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health and education, reduce
inequality, and spur economic growth – all while tackling climate change and
working to preserve our oceans and forests.
Do you know all 17 SDGs?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XTBYMfZyrM
Understanding the Dimensions of Sustainable
Development
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgNLonYOc9s
Sources/Links:
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11/11/2022
8 Billion
The 8 Billion mark
Hello,
I found it curious because I could remember something
about the 7 Billion mark…
The population of humans on Earth is expected
to reach eight billion by November 15, according to the United Nations.
Indeed we are just 3 days away from :
https://www.un.org/en/dayof8billion
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05/11/2022
10 Deforestation Facts You Should Know About
Since 1990, 420 million hectares of forest have been lost as a result of human activity including land clearing for agricultural farming and logging. As of 2020, forest cover accounts for about 31% of the world’s total land area. Though the rate of deforestation has decreased over the past three decades, we’re losing thousands of hectares more with every passing day. September 2022 went down in history as a record-breaking month for deforestation in the Amazon, the world’s largest and most important rainforest. Here are 10 stunning deforestation facts you need to know and why we need to protect our forests more than ever.
10 Deforestation Facts
1. We Lose Around 10 Million
Hectares of Forest Every Single Year
The world has been chopping down 10 million
hectares of trees every year to make space to grow crops and livestock, and to
produce materials such as paper. This accounts for about 16% of total tree loss
cover. 96% of deforestation takes place in tropical forests.
2. Deforestation Contributes
about 4.8 Billion Tonnes of Carbon Dioxide A Year
One of the most stunning deforestation facts is
that forest loss contributes nearly 5 billion tons of carbon dioxide into the
atmosphere every year, which is equivalent to nearly 10% of annual human
emissions. NASA researchers found that accelerated slashing and burning methods
of land clearing in Borneo, the third-largest island in the world and home to
one of the oldest rainforests in the world, contributed to the largest
single-year global increase in carbon emissions in two millenniums, driving
Indonesia up towards a leading source of carbon emissions.
3.75 million hectares of tropical primary
rainforests were lost in 2021 alone. This resulted in 2.5 billion tonnes of
carbon dioxide emissions, equivalent to the annual fossil fuel emissions of
India and nearly 10 soccer pitches a minute.
The farming industry needs to clear substantial
pasture lands for cattle (and livestock) in order to keep up with global demand
for beef. An estimated 81,081 square miles of forest land is lost every year
for meat production, 80% of which occurs in the Amazon. Developed countries
such as the US and China, the latter happens to be the world’s biggest beef
consumer, devouring almost one-third of the world’s meat, are some of the
biggest culprits of deforestation. But developing countries are catching up and
are on track to rise by four times as much as in the developed world by 2028.
Many are calling for people to adopt a plant-based diet as a method of combat
deforestation, which will also help slash greenhouse gas emissions from the
agricultural industry and slow down global warming.
4. Chocolate and Biscuits are
Major Contributors to Deforestation
Aside from beef production, the palm oil
industry is also responsible for a significant amount of deforestation around
the world. Palm oil is used in over two thirds of the food products that we
consume everyday, from vegetable oil to chocolate to biscuits, as well as in
other household products like soap and shampoo. To keep up with the demand,
forest land equivalent to 300 football fields is being cleared every hour to
make room for palm plantations, destroying important habitats of critically
endangered species such as the orangutan and Sumatran tiger.
Many forests have also been converted into
monoculture plantations, meaning planting the same single plant species across
the land, which not only threatens biodiversity of the ecosystem, but increases
the risks of soil erosion while reducing nutrient content.
5. Brazil and Indonesia
Account for Almost Half of Tropical Deforestation
And one-third of tropical deforestation happens
in Brazil alone. That amounts to approximately 1.7 million hectares each year.
Both Brazil and Indonesia are home to some of the world’s largest and
biodiverse tropical forests in the world. As the agricultural industry continues
to practice land clearing for crop and livestock farming, the threat to
biodiversity only worsens. Studies say observed animal populations have
experienced an average 68% decline in population numbers. In Borneo, Indonesia,
the critically endangered orangutan lost nearly 80% of its population within
the last 50 years.
6. Soy Plays a Big Role in Deforestation
While most think of soy in the form of soy
milk, tofu and other soybean products that make up a plant-based diet, soy in
fact has been mostly used as animal feed and to support the massive demand of
meat production. Animal feed makes up 77% of soy production, while only 19.2%
goes directly into human food products. Globally, soy is responsible for about
12% of deforestation. Due to the fact that soy only offers one yield per life
cycle, soy cultivation requires a lot more land use, where the total area of
land used to cultivate soy takes up the combined area of the Netherlands,
Belgium, France and Germany. Seeking an alternative source of animal feed and
reducing global meat consumption could both significantly drive down the rate
of deforestation.
7. Deforestation Has Turned
the Amazon Rainforest into a Carbon Source
One of the most shocking deforestation facts in
recent years is that the Amazon, the world’s most biologically diverse
ecosystems and important carbon sinks, is found to emit a greater amount of
carbon dioxide than it is absorbing as a result of deforestation, wildfires and
climate change. According to a study between 2010 and 2018, deforestation in
eastern Amazonia has led to greater warming and moisture stress to the forest
especially during dry seasons, making it more susceptible to wildfires. Forest
fires, in turn, produce three times more carbon than the forests can absorb,
creating a negative loop. The study also revealed that the forest emitted about
a billion tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, equal to the annual emissions
released in Japan, the world’s fifth-biggest polluter.
8. No Company in the World
Achieved Its Net Zero Deforestation Commitment
A 2020 analysis found that more than half of
the 100 most significant tropical timber and pulp companies have failed to
commit to protecting biodiversity and 44% have yet to publicly commit to net
zero deforestation (meaning the rate of land clearing is equal to the rate of
reforestation or replanting). Out of the companies that have pledged to reach
net zero deforestation by 2020, only eight companies were found to have
deployed comprehensive forest and land-use management practices but none were
able to successfully achieve net zero.
9. Leading Banks Financed $119
Billion to Companies Linked to Deforestation
One of the most shocking facts about
deforestation is that the world’s top global banks and lenders have extended a
total of USD$119 billion of financing to 20 major agricultural companies linked
to deforestation in just the span of five years. Banks such as JPMorgan, HSBC,
and Bank of America were among the biggest investors, backing projects and
businesses including Brazilian meat producer JBS to support its cattle and
poultry farms. Each of the banks have reportedly struck dozens of funding deals
between 2016 and 2020 despite a number of firms having adopted
‘no-deforestation’ policies. There is a glaring lack of monitoring and
enforcing mechanisms in the financial sector, allowing widespread land
degradation to persist.
10. More Than 100 Countries
Have Pledged to End Deforestation by 2030
Despite the current state of deforestation,
there is good news. At last year’s COP26 climate conference, a UN summit for
world leaders to conduct and negotiate policy agreements on emissions reduction
and climate change mitigation, more than 100 countries have joined a pledge to
stop and reverse deforestation by the end of the decade. Combined, these 100+
countries make up 85% of the world’s forests. Some of the most notable signatories
include Brazil, Russia, Colombia, Indonesia and the Democratic Republic of the
Congo. The pact will see US$19.2 billion of private and public funds to help
combat this global environmental problem, from restoring degraded land and
supporting indigenous communities to mitigating wildfire damage.
About the Author
Olivia is a journalist and
editor based in Hong Kong with previous experience covering politics, art and
culture. She is passionate about wildlife and ocean conservation, with a keen
interest in climate diplomacy. She’s also a graduate of University of Edinburgh
in International Relations with a Master’s degree from The University of Hong
Kong in Journalism. Olivia was the former Managing Editor at Earth.Org.
Fontes/Links:
https://earth.org/deforestation-facts/
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27/10/2022
Serial arsonist sentenced to 25 years in prison
The Castelo Branco Court has handed down the maximum sentence of 25 years in prison to an electrical engineer accused of 16 crimes of forest fire, one of which was aggravated, which occurred between 2017 and 2020 in the Centre region.
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21/10/2022
500+ experts call on world’s nations to not burn forests to make energy
- Last week, more than 500 top scientists and economists issued a letter
to leaders in the US, EU, Japan, South Korea, and the UK, urging them to stop
harvesting and burning forests as a means of making energy in converted coal
burning power plants.
- The burning of forest biomass to produce electricity has boomed due to
this power source having been tolerated as carbon neutral by the United
Nations, which enables nations to burn forest biomass instead of coal and not
count the emissions in helping them meet their Paris Climate Agreement carbon
reduction targets.
- However, current science says that burning forest biomass is dirtier
than burning coal, and that one of the best ways to curb climate change and
sequester carbon is to allow forests to keep growing. The EU and UK carbon
neutrality designations for forest biomass are erroneous, say the 500 experts
who urge a shift in global policy:
- “Governments must end subsidies… for the burning of wood…. The
European Union needs to stop treating the burning of biomass as carbon
neutral…. Japan needs to stop subsidizing power plants to burn wood. And the
United States needs to avoid treating biomass as carbon neutral or low carbon,”
says the letter.
More than 500 scientists and economists implored world leaders last week
to stop treating as emissions-free the burning of wood from forests to make
energy and heat, and to end subsidies now driving the explosive demand for wood
pellets. Both actions, they write, are causing escalating deforestation in the
Southeast US, Western Canada and Eastern Europe.
The letter was received Feb. 11 by US President Joseph Biden and
European Union President Ursula Von der Leyen, as well as Charles Michel,
president of the European Council, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, and
South Korean President Moon Jae-in. The document is expected to soon be sent to
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
“We the undersigned scientists and economists commend each of you for
the ambitious goals you have announced… to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050,”
the two-page letter begins. “Forest preservation and restoration should be key
tools for achieving this goal and simultaneously helping to address our global
biodiversity crisis.
However, “We urge you not to undermine both climate goals and the
world’s biodiversity by shifting from burning fossil fuels to burning trees to
generate energy.”
In the EU alone, nearly 60% of renewable energy already comes from
forest biomass, amounting to millions of metric tons of wood pellets burned
annually. The United Kingdom, The Netherlands and Denmark are among the leading
consumers of biomass for energy and heat, while Japan and South Korea are now
converting coal-fired power plants to burn wood pellets.
Under the EU’s second Renewable Energy Directive (REDII) — tolerated by
the United Nations under the Paris Climate Agreement — emissions from burning
forest biomass are not counted at all. This significant carbon accounting
loophole underreports emissions data at a time when global temperatures are
rising fast, causing accelerating drought, devastating storms, destructive
wildfires and sea-level rise nearly everywhere on earth.
Rather than being a carbon neutral climate solution, the scientists
write, cutting forests and burning wood pellets is more polluting than coal,
and “emits more carbon up smokestacks than using fossil fuels,” while
sacrificing the carbon-sequestration capacity of growing trees which is lost to
produce wood pellets.
“Overall, for each kilowatt hour of heat or electricity produced,
[burning] wood initially is likely to add two to three times as much carbon to
the air as using fossil fuels,” says the letter, refuting the policy and
industry claims of biomass zero emissions.
For its part, the biomass industry claims it uses forest management to
selectively log trees from forests and tree plantations, avoiding clearcutting
and preserving carbon stocks. It also claims that replanted trees quickly
reabsorb the carbon released from burned wood pellets. Both assertions are
undermined by NGO-observed clearcutting and accumulating science showing mature
forests absorb and hold far more carbon than seedlings and young trees.
In 2017 demand for industrial wood pellets exceeded 14 million tons. By
2027, demand is expected to more than double to over 36 million tons. The
biggest increases in biomass burning by 2027 are expected in Europe, Japan and
South Korea, with newly targeted source forests in Brazil, Mozambique and
Australia. Image courtesy of Environmental Paper Network.
The scientists offered four mandates: end subsidies and other incentives
that promote biomass for energy and heat; in the EU, stop treating biomass as
carbon neutral under REDII, which falsely overstates emission reductions; in
Japan, stop subsidizing power plants to burn wood; and in the US, stop treating
biomass as carbon neutral as the Biden administration establishes new climate rules
and incentives to curb global warming.
“Government subsidies for burning wood create a double climate problem
because this false solution is replacing real carbon reductions,” says the
letter. “Companies are shifting fossil energy use to wood, which increases
warming, as a substitute for shifting to solar and wind, which would truly
decrease warming.”
Last week’s lobbying effort is the latest on behalf of US, European and
Canadian scientists and economists to highlight robust science demonstrating
the negative environmental impacts of biomass-for-energy to world leaders,
whose national bioenergy policies have helped create a multibillion industry
in wood-pellet production.
A similar letter signed by nearly 800 scientists in 2018 lobbied the EU
to alter its biomass policies, to no avail.
Published: 15 February 2021
Link:
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Solstício de Inverno
Fontes/Links: https://g1.globo.com/mundo/noticia/2024/12/21/milhares-de-pessoas-celebram-o-solsticio-de-inverno-em-stonehenge.ghtml ΦΦΦ
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The Castelo Branco Court has handed down the maximum sentence of 25 years in prison to an electrical engineer accused of 16 crimes of fore... -
Since 1990, 420 million hectares of forest have been lost as a result of human activity including land clearing for agricultural farmi... -
500+ experts call on world’s nations to not burn forests to make energy - Last week, more than 500 top scientists and economists issue...