Hong Kong’s first blog for SDG education news and announcements
Image by D. from Pixabay I liked this piece in The Guardian by Jo Clay which brings a healthy dose of realism to the question of what we can and “should” do in terms of changing our individual behaviour as part of a multi-faceted strategy to mitigate climate change. The key point is that rather than go into an attempt to live a life of denial which (as every “dieter” knows is a road to failure), many simple, easy, barely noticeable changes can be made by people that drastically reduce their carbon footprint. We already know we cannot wait for government or business to change at any reasonable pace. So while we continue to force them down those paths we can get on with addressing our own actions over which we have plenty (if not 100%) of control. Jo found she was able to cut her emissions impact by 78%. Imagine the impact if millions of people in advanced economies did that! And while it took some effort at the beginning – to research, to evalu . . .
Image by jacqueline macou from Pixabay Filipino typhoon survivors join 'david and goliath' climate fight (Eco-business) ‘A treasure beneath our feet’: How the Dutch went down the toilet looking for heat (The Guardian) Notpla: Earthshot Prize Winner’s Seaweed Packaging Named ‘First and Only’ Plastic-Free Material Under EU Regulation (greenqueen) This year 'virtually certain' to be warmest in 125,000 years, EU scientists say (reuters) Food Systems: The Missing Piece of the Climate Puzzle at COP 28 (IISD) It’s time to limit how often we can travel abroad – ‘carbon passports’ may be the answer (The Conversation) 'Frugal innovation' and 'boring solutions' can best accelerate climate action, say experts (Eco-business) . . .
Summer attends CDNIS in Hong Kong, one of the strongest schools for sustainability efforts. She is executive Officer for the Habitat for Humanity organization outlet at her school. HfH is dedicated to ensure everyone gets a decent place to live and undertakes lots of learning and practical experiences for schools to be engaged in pushing their mission forward. Summer also volunteers as an English teacher for immigrant families who do not speak either of Hong Kong’s two languages and eed to be able to function in their new home. . . .
Have a look at this Guardian article about Culdesac near Phoenix, Arizona. It is a great example of how design thinking from the very start of a process can lead to much more sustainable outcomes. In this case a designed community with no cars or any of the pollution, danger and waste of space that comes with them. That it has happened in the US, the land of personal mobility as an enshrined right and the love of the large car that has dominated for so long, gives extra cause for hope. It may be wishful thinking, but the benefits are so much more obvious in more densely population places, like most of Europe and any global city, that we can hope this takes hold and we see an exponential impact. . . .
Image by Pete Linforth from Pixabay UN Report Offers Guidelines on Localizing SDGs in Europe and Central Asia (IISD) Carbon budget for 1.5°C will run out in six years at current emissions levels – new research (The Conversation) With no worldwide standards, are 'plastic credits' reducing waste or greenwashing? (Eco-business) Claimants take UK government to court over inadequate climate adaptation (The Guardian) Food Waste Needs a Rebrand: From Trash to Treasure, Overcoming The Issue’s Image Problem (greenqueen) Cop28 is a prime opportunity to enhance global cooperation on adaptation (CHN) Climate's 'Catch-22': Cutting pollution heats up the planet (reuters) The ‘Green’ Future of Furniture Is a Sofa Stuffed With Seaweed (Wired) . . .
Christy is in Year 11 at Victoria Shanghai Academy. She is the Founder and Leader of the Global Service Leaders group at VSA which advocates for and suggests pragmatic solutions to the school management about improvements that move the school towards a variety of the SDGs. Prior to be selected to the YAC, Christy was involved with the ITSF when she graduated our Youth Ambassador Asia-Pacific Programme 2022, winning the award for Inclusion. Outside of ITS and VSA, Christy also volunteers with HandsOn HK and sits on the Youth Empowered Student Advisory Council. Here she helps communicate with NGOs in Hong Kong to facilitate HK youth participating in volunteer activities tackling environmental, social and economic issues faced by a wide variety of community groups across the territory. . . .
Image by Vali Greceanu from Pixabay To any climate activist the answer to the headline is an obvious: Yes!! Aviation accounts for 1.9% of all greenhouse gas emissions; 2.5% of CO2 emissions; and 3.5% of all radiation forcing – the actual impact on global heating. Not only this but the emissions from aviation have grown exponentially since the mid-20th century. They have quadrupled in volume since 1966 and increased as a share of global emissions (Our world in data). Taking flights is one of the early uses of new discretionary income as people earn more, so there are billions of new airline passengers potentially waiting to start flying. And yet there is no tax on jet fuel. Petrol and diesel for road travel are taxed heavily, often over 50%. This raises much needed revenue for government (although we can argue that the cost of allowing ICEs far outweigh the amount gained). The reasons exit because of the international nature of so much air travel. As soon as agre . . .
Image by Stefan Schweihofer from Pixabay Conservation success lies with governments, not NGOs (Mongabay) India, Japan launch $600m fund for low carbon emission projects (Nikkei Asia) Tech Giants Team Up for Green Data Innovation Hub (GreenCitizen) The city that went green to keep cool (FuturePlanet) Gene editing offers chickens some protection against bird flu (reuters) UN puts climate ‘course correction’ on Cop28 negotiating table (CHN) Food Waste Needs a Rebrand: From Trash to Treasure, Overcoming The Issue’s Image Problem (greenqueen) Microplastics detected in clouds hanging atop two Japanese mountains (Guardian) What you should (and shouldn’t) do with all of your old phone chargers and other e-waste (The Conversation) . . .
