15 Positive Climate News from Around The World- August Edition8 min read

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Sarah

Author at The Conscious Humans

I am a 19 YO Indian Climate Activist currently serving as the State Co-ordinator of Fridays For Future Uttar Pradesh, HOD of Swapna Foundation UP and the Head of Bhumitra Initiative. I have been actively advocating for climate change for 6+ years and a Youth Campaigner at Save The Children India.

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• 15 Positive Climate News From Around The World- September Edition - October 7, 2022
• 15 Positive Climate News from Around The World- August Edition - September 2, 2022

Bringing you all with the first edition of our monthly dose of positive climate news from around the globe.

Seeing all the bad news around floods, heatwave and the extreme effects of climate change being faced by people in different countries, it makes us feel as if there is no hope. We feel as if there is no way to tackle the crisis. No matter it gives us eco-anxiety as well but we’re here to give you some relief with the climate news, if not all!

From a clean and healthy environment being adopted as a Human Right to Biden government planning to plant 1 billion trees, let us have a look at some innovative and bold climate news from the month of August 2022!

1. HAWAII Gets its last shipment of coal ever

The largest power plant on Oahu and the biggest source of the island’s electricity is closing for good in September. The state is planning to go towards 100% renewable energy for electricity and is already seeing a shift due to solar panel installations.

2. SCIENTIST Discover new form of air conditioning

Scientists have invented a new form of air conditioning that could massively reduce the environmental harm caused by current AC units. The breakthrough involves replacing harmful hydrofluorocarbon refrigerants with solid-state materials, thus eliminating the need for potent greenhouse gases that are thousands of times more potent than carbon dioxide.

Source: playcrunchtime

3. THE Great Pacific patch is making progress

A project by The Ocean Cleanup has reached a milestone, with 100,000 kg of plastic removed so far. There is more work to be done: the floating mass of rubbish is twice the size of Texas – 1,000 times larger than what has been collected so far. But with new technologies,the project is hoping to soon capture plastic at a rate 10 times higher than before.

4. UN Recognises a clean and healthy environment as human right

UN recognises a clean and healthy environment as a human right. On July 28, member states of the UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to adopt a historic resolution that recognises a clean,healthy and sustainable environment as a human right. While the resolution itself is not legally binding, it can give rise to constitutional and legal changes benefiting the environment and human wellbeing.

5. USA Develops first utility scale wind farm

New massive offshore wind turbine can power a home for 2 days with a single spin. The development of the US’ first utility scale wind farm will be so powerful that one spin will power the average home for two full days. The turbine has a 13MW capacity, more than double that of other US turbines. Vineyard Wind 1 will be developed in Massachusetts, and should produce enough power for 400,000 homes as well as businesses in the area.

6. RESEARCHERS develop 3D-printed coral reefs to support regrowth

Scientists in Israel have invented an artificial ceramic reef which mimics the ecological complexity of coral reefs. The invention could aid reef restoration by attracting reef species and thereby supporting regrowth.

Source: Science Daily

7. BIDEN administration plans to plant 1 billion trees

Biden administration plans to plant 1 billion trees. The administration wants to plant a billion trees across millions of acres of burned and dead woodlands to counter the impact of climate change and wildfires on US forests.

Source: ABC News

8. LONDON becomes the biggest city to endorse the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty

London has become the biggest city so far to endorse the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, a global initiative campaigning for a rapid fossil fuel phase-out. If the City of London were a country, it would be one of the world’s biggest polluters as the London Stock Exchange holds 47 gigatonnes of embedded CO2 emissions in listed companies.

Source: The Energy Mix

9. KENYAN court rules to protect Indigenous land rights

The African Court of Human and People’s Rights has ruled that the Kenyan government must pay reparations to Indigenous Ogiek people for repeatedly evicting them from their ancestral lands in the Mau Forest of western Kenya – the largest remaining Indigenous forest in the country. After a 13-year legal battle, the state must now grant collective land titles to the Ogiek.

Source: Mongabay

10. FRANCE becomes first European country to ban fossil fuel advertising

Under a new climate law, adverts promoting fossil fuel products and services have been banned in France. Firms are no longer permitted to promote petroleum and coal products, as well as hydrogen containing carbons. Ads for gas are still allowed in certain circumstances, but a new set of rules is expected to be introduced next year.

Source: Euronews

11. SIERRA Leone passes world-leading climate legislation

Sierra Leone’s parliament has unanimously passed two bills which protect communities’ land rights and ban industrial development in ecologically sensitive areas. New local land use committees will decide how community lands are managed, and mandate that those committees are at least 30% female. Currently, at least 20% of Sierra Leone’s arable land is leased to foreign businesses.

Source: Namati

12. SUZUKI rolls out micro-plastic collecting devices

Suzuki has started rolling out a new micro-plastic collecting device as a standard part of its mid- range outboard boat motors. Micro-plastics near the water surface can be collected by simply running the engine.

Source: Circular

13. CALIFORNIA bans sale of new petrol cars

California bans sale of new petrol cars from 2035. New petrol-only vehicles will be banned from sale in the US’ most populous state. Under the plan, 35% of new vehicles sold must be electric, hybrid or hydrogen-powered by 2026.

Source: BBC

14. ENVIRONMENTAL activists in Scotland re-wild 5300 acres of moorland

Scotland’s “beacon of hope” environmental activists in Scotland fundraise millions to buy and re-wild 5300 acres of moorland from one of Scotland’s largest hereditary land owners. It is set to become a “beacon of hope for people and planet”.

15. SCIENTISTS invent plant-based, fully degradable plastic alternative

Researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne have developed a plant-based plastic alternative that dissolves into sugar. The material can be created by cooking non-edible plant materials, such as agricultural waste, in an organic compound. So far, the material has been used to make films for packaging, textile fibers and 3D printing filaments.

Source: EcoWatch