🌱 The Grumpy Optimists #20
👋 Happy Tuesday all and welcome back to another week and another episode. We’re a day late this week, unfortunately, but we still have the same insight, news, and some excellent content to check out. So please do enjoy, and share with a friend or colleague, it would mean a lot!
It's also another week where we can see how volatile the weather is both in the UK and around the world. Let's look at London. At the start of the week, it was 30 degrees, beautiful if not a bit warm, by the end of last night, torrential rain and flash flooding. While the weather is always incredibly temperamental it does highlight that extreme weather conditions are set to be a part of all of our lives from now on. The other problem? Our infrastructure is not set out for climate change, from our Victorian water systems pumping sewage water onto our streets or the heat causing delays with our rail system, we are not able to cope with the increasing pressure imposed by climate change.
But anyway, let's get on to the news, shall we?
Articles to read
🇨🇳 China marks 25% of its territory for environmental protection. China plans to mark off 25% of its territory from development and human activities. This comes at a time where flooding in the city of Zhengzhou has made over one million people displaced.
💷 Your pension matters for climate change. A new report from Make My Money Matter found that you can cut your carbon by 21X more than going veggie, giving up flying, and switching energy providers simply by making your pension green.
👗 Are clothing rentals greenwashing or just green? A recent study has suggested that renting clothing can be worse for the planet than buying new. The impact mainly comes from the transportation of individual clothing items. However, many within the clothing rental market have come out to defend the model, arguing that the study grossly misinterpreted the delivery and cleaning process.
Our thoughts? While the negative report was trying to highlight the opportunities for the rental market to improve as well as the need to reduce the amount of clothes we buy. However, the problem here is that authors of the negative review have created a barrier for clothing rentals uptake. They have also given another somewhat false fact that climate deniers can latch on to, much like the idea that going electric is worse for the planet because of the production of the car. It's not true and the negative PR is a problem.
🛢️ Italy faces multimillion-pound damages to a UK oil firm. Italy recently banned new oil drilling off its coast and it now may have to pay $275m to a UK oil company who are suing for lost revenues. In the Netherlands, RWE are suing the Netherlands for £1.2bn for their plans to phase out coal. Shocking.
🔥 The US is on fire, with covid, fires, and heatwaves. Temperatures are expected to reach 100F+ over the next week as wildfires already rage and the fires are up to 20X more intense than usual. The US is feeling the effects of climate change more than many. Is this a positive? You could say that this only empowers more action as people realise climate change is here to stay.
✈️ Airlines need to do more than plant trees for climate change. Chris Stark, head of the Climate Change Committee (not the radio presenter) has called for airlines to do more than simply offset their emissions by planting trees, instead calling for more permanent carbon capture through the likes of Climeworks as well as reducing their emissions. What does this tell us? planting trees is nothing more than a way to greenwash consumers. I could write about this all day. + when a company says they'll plant a tree for you, it normally only costs 0.7p!!!
Content to check out
⏳ With only 9 years left to halve global emissions, Jack Harries and Earthrise studio bring you their latest episode of why we need to reframe climate change as the crisis it is.
💰Crypto vs the climate? Axios energy reporter Ben Gemen and crypto investor Anthony Pompliano excellently break down the battles between Crypto and the climate. A worthy listen.
George and Will 💚