Hong Kong’s first blog for SDG education news and announcements
Global seaweed industry could reduce land needed for farming by 110m hectares, study finds (The Guardian) Vertical farming promises a future in which our food is grown in pockets of spaces in our cities and beneath our feet. But how far can it really go? (Future Planet) Which Diet Creates The Least Amount Of Food Waste? (green queen) War and the environment: UN adopts new principles (Eco-business) Portugal agrees to swap Cape Verde’s debt for environmental investment (CHN) Turning abandoned mines into batteries (Science Daily) BSI unveils new standard for establishing corporate 'purpose beyond profit’ (Business Green) EU eyes more help for shrinking bee populations (cna) World’s Renewables Are Set to Grow Enough in 5 Years to Power China (Green Citizen) . . .
Yesterday was the UN observance for the International Day of Education. With an early Chinese New Year in 2023, our Youth Advisory Committee held their event on 14th Jan. In the style of a business networking event, a select group of 4 professionals participated in a fireside chat around the core them of Transforming Education as it relates to how education and educational experiences are relevant to the sustainability needs of jobs and work in the future. We also had three youth social entrepreneurs showcase their start up initiatives, linking sustainability ideas to action to business. It was great to see the attendees get the chance to participate in a boutique event with very personal interaction and in a real business environment – help at The Executive Centre. Very important to have this type of experiential learning on multiple levels – event organising & promotion, networking as well as the actual content. . . .
Pic above by Diego Delso, delso.photo License CC-BY-SA The Circularity Gap Report 2023 The Global Risks Report 2023 Desalination could give the Middle East water without damaging marine life (The Conversation) Single-use plastic bans: research shows three ways to make them effective (The Conversation) Why we need to wake up the snake (Eco-business) Revealed: more than 90% of rainforest carbon offsets by biggest provider are worthless, analysis shows (The Guardian) Sustainability Messaging on Menus Promote Plant-Based Food Choices, Multiple Studies Agree (green queen) Food Footprint: Is Eating Seafood Better for the Climate Than Meat? (green queen) Mexico plans to ban solar geoengineering after rogue experiment (CHN) In Davos, activists warn against climate inaction and greenwashing (CHN) Zambia received 'debt-for-nature' proposal from WWF for restructuring (Reuters) . . .
In contrast to most people’s banal and hyper-predictable NY resolutions, Extinction Rebellion (XR) announced “a controversial resolution to temporarily shift away from public disruption as a primary tactic”. Meanwhile, Insulate Britain and Just Stop Oil have explicitly vowed to continue disruptive practices and will continue to see members get sent to prison. This is an interesting case study in both the nature of protest and its cycles. Perhaps one of the most interesting considerations is the cultural milieu from which protest arises. This will determine how far people pushed before they protest, how widespread it will be, how much popular support it will have. There is something of a chicken and egg relationship between these elements and the nature of the protest itself – march, print, riot, damage, disruption and so on. Environmental activists have certainly gone through a variety of approaches over the years. Which then raises the question of whether the . . .
An interesting article by Drs. Hassan Aboelnga, Olcay Unver and Johannes Cullman in IISD, highlights the way in which till now those advocating for SDG6 have perhaps been too siloed. The solution they say is to highlight water more broadly in the wider climate agenda so that we retain the interconnective element that the SDG framework is supposed to promote and facilitate. One of the key components of climate change is the redistribution of water volume by changing precipitation patterns and the associated changes to evapo-transpiration by changed cloud cover patterns. Thus we see drought and flooding increasing in frequency and severity as places begin to see lower and higher rates of precipitation and at different times of year than was previously experienced. Thus any successful interventions that address SDG 6 must take climate change into account and strategies aimed at SDG13 should explicitly be considering SDG6 outcomes as well. . . .
Urban light pollution is a danger for marine ecosystems – new research (The Conversation) From smog to carbon: Chinese NGOs in transition (Eco-business) Governments urged to confront effects of climate crisis on migrants (The Guardian) What Is Molecular Farming? Plus 6 Companies to Watch (green queen) Thirteen critical questions for international climate action in 2023 (CHN) Climate benefits of killing gas stoves aren’t what you think, but the health benefits are (TC) Environment risks dominate in "polycrisis" world - WEF survey (Reuters) . . .
Highly recommended read in IISD by Maria Helena Semedo, Deputy Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) - Food System Transformation to Boost Biodiversity and Feed the Planet. She makes the point that agriculture needs to be considered as part of our ecosystems, not somehow magically separate from them and thus a holistic approach to biodiversity needs to embrace agriculture and other forms of human ecosystem interventions to truly deliver on its goals. “Unsustainable production and consumption patterns that contribute to biodiversity loss need to be reversed – including by addressing inefficient use of natural resources like water, soils and inputs for production, water scarcity, floods and pollution, land degradation and desertification, soil nutrient depletion, large-scale deforestation, overexploitation of fishery resources and pasture, and of course, climate change. If managed sustainably, agrifood systems contribute to the conservatio . . .
Every year on 18th December, the UN asks the world to mark International Migrants Day, a day set aside to recognize the important contribution of migrants while highlighting the challenges they face. This is something which has come to hold a near permanent place in the politics of many countries, especially those HICs which are often perceived as the main destination for international migrants. However, “85% of the world’s refugees live in low and middle-income countries (LICs and MICs). Nearly half of all migration flows are intra-regional, between LICs and MICs. Yet the disparity between data and analysis available on public attitudes towards refugees and other migrants in high-income countries (HICs) versus MICs, and LICs in particular, is stark.” (Leach & Hargrave, ODI) As an international migrant myself and as a child of migrants, I feel it is paramount that progressive attitudes to migration are pushed to overcome the narrow views that currently dominate, . . .
