Looking to recap everything green and good that happened this past month? Don’t worry, we’ve got you! From genetically engineering cows to honouring an £11.6bn pledge, we’re giving you the scoop on 10 of the weird and wonderful things that happened around the world in August or so.
- Scientists are genetically engineering cows to reduce greenhouse emissions
Cattle, one of the most-consumed creatures on the planet, produce enormous amounts of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas that is responsible for 30 percent of global warming. Using tools that snip and transfer DNA, researchers plan to genetically engineer microbes in the cow stomach to eliminate those emissions.
Using tools that snip and transfer DNA, researchers plan to genetically engineer microbes in the cow stomach to eliminate those emissions. If they succeed, they could wipe out the world’s largest human-made source of methane and help change the trajectory of planetary warming.
- Paris 2024 greenhouse gas emissions are less than half of those from London 2012
The Paris 2024 Olympics have wrapped up, likely marking the hottest Games on record so far, with organisers working hard to counter the expected heatwaves. According to Carbon Brief’s analysis, the greenhouse gas emissions from these Games are projected to be less than half of those from London 2012. The Paris organisers set a strict carbon budget of 1.75 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent—half the average of London 2012 and Rio 2016—and their latest estimates suggest they’ll meet this target, with total emissions expected to reach 1.58 million tonnes. They achieved these reductions by using temporary and low-carbon construction materials and promoting sustainable travel.
The Paris total is anticipated to be even lower than that of the Tokyo 2020 Games, held in 2021, where emissions were significantly reduced due to the absence of spectators amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Notably, these emissions figures exclude any carbon offsets and, for Rio 2016, do not include emissions from legacy construction.
- Here’s how employers and employees can make their 401(k) plans climate-friendly
If you’re concerned that your retirement plan might include investments in fossil fuels, here’s what you can do. Start by researching the contents of your 401(k). Find out which stocks and bonds are included in the mutual funds in your plan and explore other available options through your employer.
One helpful tool is FossilFreeFunds.org’s “Invest Your Values.” This tool lets you enter a fund’s name to see the percentage of its investments in fossil fuels, deforestation, gun manufacturers, and similar sectors. By clicking on the grade the tool assigns—such as a “D” for fossil fuels—you can view detailed information about the percentage invested in fossil fuels and the specific companies involved.
The “Invest Your Values” tool also shows how much the average employee at any given company is invested in fossil fuels. Additionally, Sphere’s tool “Atmosphere” allows you to look up over 100 companies to see how much the average 401(k) participant at that company is investing in fossil fuels. You can even share your findings with coworkers who share your concerns about the climate crisis.
- South Africa Passes Its First Climate Change Act
South Africa has enacted its first Climate Change Act, a comprehensive law that imposes limits on major greenhouse gas emitters and mandates that every town and city develop an adaptation plan to meet the country’s carbon reduction goals in line with the Paris Agreement.
As a member of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, South Africa is among the 190-plus countries that are parties to the 2016 Paris Agreement.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has signed the Climate Change Bill into law. This new legislation outlines a national strategy for addressing climate change, including both mitigation and adaptation efforts, which South Africa considers its “fair contribution to the global climate change response,” according to a government press release.
- The US’ EPA issues emergency order to halt use of dangerous pesticide, its first such action in nearly four decades
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced earlier this month that it has issued an emergency order to remove a pesticide linked to foetal harm from the market—marking the agency’s first such action in nearly 40 years.
In a statement, the EPA explained that exposure to the pesticide dimethyl tetrachloroterephthalate, commonly known as DCPA or dacthal, can disrupt foetal thyroid hormone levels. This disruption is associated with lower birth weights, as well as impairments in brain development and motor skills.
According to the EPA’s risk assessment released in May 2023, handling DCPA products during pregnancy could expose foetuses to chemical levels four to twenty times higher than what is considered safe. Similar risks may exist in environments where the pesticide has already been applied, especially for agricultural workers involved in tasks like weeding or harvesting in treated areas.
DCPA is primarily used for weed control in crops such as cabbage, onions, and broccoli. The EPA’s decision comes as DCPA undergoes its registration review, a process required every 15 years under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act.
- The Guardian fact-checked Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s climate conversation
Donald Trump and Elon Musk both made discursive, often fact-free assertions about global heating, including that rising sea levels would create “more oceanfront property” and that there was no urgent need to cut carbon emissions, during an event labelled “the dumbest climate conversation of all time” by one prominent activist.
- Brazil proposes to tax the super rich to tackle the climate crisis
For the first time, finance leaders from G20 nations have reached a consensus on implementing a wealth tax targeting the world’s ultra-rich, a move that could generate approximately €230 billion to address global challenges like climate change and poverty.
The proposal was tabled during a meeting of treasury ministers and central bankers from the leading developed and emerging economies, held in Rio de Janeiro. A joint statement released last month confirmed that all participating countries had agreed to “collaborate to ensure that ultra-high-net-worth individuals are effectively taxed.”
- South Korea recycles 98% of its food waste
Starting at 5 a.m. each day, dozens of trucks deliver more than 400 tons of pungent, sticky food waste from restaurants and homes to a facility the size of two football fields. Here, the waste is transformed into enough green energy to power around 20,000 households.
The Daejeon Bioenergy Center is one of roughly 300 facilities that enable South Korea to recycle nearly all of its 15,000 tons of daily food waste. This waste can be composted into fertiliser, used as livestock feed, or converted into biogas, a form of renewable energy. Without such efforts, most of the food scraps would have ended up in landfills, polluting the soil and releasing methane—a greenhouse gas far more potent than carbon dioxide in the short term.
Two decades ago, South Korea was discarding 98 percent of its food waste. Today, thanks to measures like banning food scraps from landfills and requiring residents to separate and pay for food waste disposal, 98 percent of it is repurposed as feed, compost, or energy, according to the South Korean Ministry of Environment.
- There’s a new tech that could lower the energy used for air conditioning
Cooling accounts for 10% of the world’s energy consumption and 20% of the energy used in buildings. This figure is expected to surge by 2050 due to increasing temperatures. AirJoule is addressing this challenge with innovative technology that employs a unique desiccant and harvested water from the air. Their approach can cut electricity use by about 75% while also reducing emissions.
- The UK will honour pledge of £11.6bn in overseas climate aid
Labour will honour a pledge of £11.6bn in overseas aid for the climate crisis, the energy secretary, Ed Miliband, told an unusual meeting of Cop presidents past and present, as he sought to re-establish the UK at the heart of international climate discussions.
The pledge was made by Boris Johnson before COP26 in Glasgow, but he and his successors as prime minister were slow to disburse the promised funds, and in February the government’s aid watchdog found that 55% of the pledge remained to be spent, making the target “challenging” to meet.
We do this every month 😉
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FEATURED IMAGE: Dairy cows at the University of California at Davis. The university and the Innovative Genomics Institute are seeking to modify the inner workings of the cow stomach to reduce methane. By Helynn Ospina for The Washington Post