Edition #4 | Environment Forward
What’s happening at COP26, missing seafood, reducing our waste, and some good climate news.
Hi, y’all. Greetings from Austin, TX. My inbox has been flooded with information this week on all the happenings at COP26, which is the UN’s Climate Change Conference of the Parties happening in Glasgow from October 31 through November 12, 2021. Given the magnitude of an event like COP26, a lot of what I’m sharing in Edition 4 of Environment Forward is related to what’s going on in Glasgow, with some seafood and circular economy spliced in. Be sure to drop me a line to let me know your thoughts and what you’ve been reading (or watching) lately.
What’s happening in Glasgow at COP26?
If you’re trying to orient yourself to what is happening in Glasgow and why it’s important, Canary Media provides a good overview of what COP26 is and what to expect as world leaders convene with the ultimate goal of tackling climate change. If you’re looking for daily coverage of the action in Glasgow, Bloomberg Green has dedicated a page to COP26 coverage to help stay up to date on the excitement.
Image credit: Fredrika Carlsson
India's new climate committment - and why it matters.
India has announced a target of achieving net-zero emissions by 2070. While this commitment has received some criticism for falling 20 years later than the widely accepted target of 2050, the impact of India's new commitments will be significant. India will now aim to generate 50 percent of its power from renewables and reduce carbon emissions by 1 billion tonnes by 2030.
Image credit: Debashis RC Biswas
Why is seafood going to waste?
I love to fish. Here in Austin on Town Lake, I'm catching and releasing. I also try to be conscious of my seafood purchases - though as oceans are overfished and certain fish populations are dwindling, the choices beyond wild-caught versus farm-raised can feel daunting at the fish counter. WRI calls attention to the amount of seafood waste that occurs during fish processing (one-third of seafood is either lost or wasted) and calls attention to ways we can reduce waste and strive to use 100% of the seafood we harvest.
Image credit: Fishful Future
The Case for a Circular Economy
News around waste can feel grim - we are using Earth's resources faster than they can be regenerated annually, and in the process we are generating a lot of waste. The world currently produces 2 billion tonnes of solid waste, which is expected to increase to 3.4 billion tonnes by 2050. A circular economy business model can help solve our waste challenges by keeping materials in play, reusing and repurposing whenever feasible, and driving innovation along the way.
Image credit: Edward Howell
What's some good news coming out of COP26?
If you're finding all of the news coming out of COP26 to be overwhelming in volume, The Garbage Queen on TikTok has summed up some good climate news that has resulted from COP26 so far. She manages to pack in a lot of COP26 happenings in under a minute, including the promise made by Ecuador to protect the Galapagos Islands.
Image credit: Randall Ruiz
Nicole Sullivan is the Climate Services Manager at CarbonBetter. When she's not working on sustainability reports and helping clients to decarbonize, she's busy reading about the environment or is outdoors exploring it. Connect with her on LinkedIn and drop her a line to let her know what you thought about these stories and share what you're reading.