The need for green spaces in urban areas increases as climate change continues to warm our planet and extreme weather events become more frequent. Human-made structures like dark asphalt roadways, cement sidewalks, and brick buildings absorb heat, contributing to the heat island effect. Trees and plants provide much-needed shade and cool the air through a process called evapotranspiration, which helps […]
In Odessa, Texas, workers at a startup called SolarCycle unload trucks carrying end-of-life photovoltaic panels freshly picked from commercial solar farms across the United States. They separate the panels from the aluminum frames and electrical boxes, then feed them into machines that detach their glass from the laminated materials that have helped generate electricity from sunlight for about a quarter […]
By The Third Pole The creation of Urban Low Emissions Development Strategies in cities in Bangladesh and India shows the value of sharing knowledge and insights at the local level. A cyclist walks by a lake in the city of Nagpur, Maharashtra. The city government has sought funding to buy bicycles that citizens can hire at bus stops and railway […]
For most of human history, natural burial was the only option. Then, in the 20th century, toxin-laden embalming practices and air-polluting cremation methods became mainstream. Today, no matter how sustainably you have lived your life, modern funeral practices ensure that you make one last giant carbon footprint when you die. In many places, regulations require the use of toxic, persistent […]
If environmentally responsible, sustainable business were baseball, my guest Gil Friend would be as familiar a name as Babe Ruth. In 2011, Gil was named to the first class of the International Society of Sustainability Professionals (ISSP) Sustainability Hall of Fame. He is the founder and CEO of Natural Logic, a sustainable business strategy consultancy, and Critical Path Capital, a […]
Reducing travel for business and family visits is one of the most impactful choices we can make to reduce our climate impact. When we travel, we should make it count, but we can’t do that unless we understand the consequences for the environment. In this installment of our Carbon Calculating series, discover how to calculate your carbon emissions for air […]
The CEO of BP Bernard Looney. Photo credit: BP / Graham Trott. By Anders Lorenzen When Bernard Looney took over the helm of oil and gas giant BP (British Petroleum) in 2020 it was with the objective to, once and for all, change its image to one without hydrocarbons. The net-zero strategy unveiled under the leadership of Looney was largely […]
Sea level rise due to melting glaciers on Greenland and in the Arctic and Antarctic could force the relocation of 267 million people and entire cities located less than 2 meters — 6.5 feet — from today’s waterline by 2100. Oceanographer John Englander has raised the alarm about sea level rise in his books, High Tide on Main Street and […]