When it comes to the climate crisis we seem to be bombarded with news on just how bad things are. Whether it’s in a national news programme or all over Twitter it seems almost inescapable and can lead to eco-anxiety and the feeling that there’s nothing we can do. But there are good news stories that are easily missed, and here are 3 just from the last week!
Decoupling Emissions and GDP
The archaic idea that fossil fuel usage is intrinsically tied to GDP growth has recently taken another hit with data showing that there was a 4% drop in emissions across EU nations during the last quarter of 2022 whilst many European Union continued their recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, recording 1.5% growth over the same period. As countries continue transitioning away from fossil fuels and build greener, more sustainable economies, the further the decoupling of fossil fuel usage and GDP will go.
Two New Major Conservation Projects!
The WWF have partnered with Velux and agreed to a 20-year partnership that will see two major reforestation and conservation projects take place in both Vietnam and Madagascar! These projects will be just 2 of an anticipated 5 with others taking place in Myanmar and Uganda. The aim of the partnership is to not only help Velux offset their current greenhouse gas emissions but offset their lifetime emissions, estimated to be around 5.6 million tonnes over the countries history.
The Vietnam project will aim to halt deforestation in the country that has seen around 20% of tree cover lost in the last 20 years and replace them with new, native trees that will not only deliver two million tonnes of removed/avoided emissions, but also encourage local ecology to thrive.
The aim of the project based in Madagascar is to restore and conserve mangrove forests in the island nation’s coast. In a country that is often affected by significant tropical storms, mangrove forests can be vitally important in providing protection from storm surges and flooding, so would provide a huge benefit to the country. Also serving as a very important carbon sink, this would see a removal/avoidance of half a million tonnes of carbon.
Glastonbury get a Wind Turbine
With less than a week to go until the start of one of the biggest festivals in the world, a new wind turbine was completed and will help power the festival alongside the already-existing solar array nearby. There will also be a number of batteries that will store the 300kWh of electricity produced by the wind turbine as organisers look to continue lowering the carbon footprint of the festival.
Glastonbury has a long history of supporting charities and allowing spaces for environmental activists and campaigners, now the festival is going even further to do what they can to help everyone else be that little more environmentally friendly!
