It's just the news this week...

.... and a good reason to boil drinking water.

Author

Tarryn Giebelmann
March 22, 2024

Hi friend,

I had a medical emergency this week that turned out not to be an emergency (mom, dad, if you’re reading this, I’m fine), but there’s nothing like a health scare to throw you completely off your game, which is why there’s no clever intro, no bitching about politicians and oil companies, but also no reason not to share the week’s news.

But that’s all I’ve got in me for this week.

I’ll try again next week.

— Tarryn ✌️

P.S. Did someone forward this to you? You can subscribe here and get it straight to your inbox.

The good news

🙌 Ten countries from the EU – Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands – representing over 60% of the bloc’s electricity generation capacity, have committed to exit fossil fuel generation by 2035 or sooner.

👏 New South Wales became the first state in Australia to ban seabed petroleum and mineral mining off its coast.

💰 In his 2025 fiscal budget, US President Joe Biden pledged US$500 million for the Green Climate Fund, with increases up to $1 billion by 2028.

🚗 The Biden administration wants to introduce regulations aimed at drastically cutting emissions from passenger cars and accelerating the shift to electric vehicles (EVs). This legislation will likely be targeted by Donald Trump if he becomes president again (*shudder*), after he recently criticised EVs, suggesting their promotion could lead to economic disaster, and proposed a 100% tariff on EVs manufactured in Mexico.

👗 France is cracking down on the fast fashion industry with new legislation aimed at curbing the industry's waste, penalties and advertising bans, and fines based on the environmental and carbon impacts of products.

🏋🏼‍♀️ The Paris Olympics plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions by half compared to past games by using existing city landmarks, promoting plant-based dining, and reducing reliance on fossil fuels.

🐚 A team of researchers exploring the Bounty Trough off the coast of New Zealand discovered roughly 100 new marine species. 

The bad news

🚨 The World Meteorological Organization has issued a “red alert” due to unprecedented increases in greenhouse gases, temperatures, and ice melts, all signs that climate change could be accelerating and pushing the world closer to exceeding the Paris Agreement's 1.5°C warming limit.

🤫 The oil and gas industry has been significantly underreporting methane emissions, with a new study revealing emissions approximately three times higher than Environmental Protection Agency figures, which are alarming on their own. An EPA report found that methane emissions hit record levels in 2023, and large methane plumes from leaky fossil fuel infrastructure jumped by 50% in 2023 compared with 2022.

😷 Only 10 countries and territories out of 134 met the World Health Organization’s guidelines for particulate matter pollution last year. Most of these are islands, as well as Australia, Finland, and Estonia. The four most polluted countries are Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, and Tajikistan.

🇬🇧 The UK's National Adaptation Programme – its strategy for adapting to climate change – lacks depth and urgency, says the Committee on Climate Change. It also fails to adequately prepare for extreme weather events and lacks integration with other priorities like net zero and nature restoration.

🛢️ The Export-Import Bank of the US has approved US$500 million for an oil project in Bahrain.

👩🏻‍⚖️ Sixteen Republican-led states sued the Biden administration over its decision to temporarily stop approving new permits for facilities that export liquefied natural gas. They want the court to rule that the pause was illegal and would hurt states’ economies.

♻️ Trackers placed in 93 bundles of Amazon packaging marked for "store drop-off" recycling showed many of them were buried or burned.

🔌 Electronic waste (including solar panels) increased 82% between 2010 and 2022 and could reach 82 million metric tonnes by 2030, the UN has warned. Most of this will end up in landfills.

🌀 Wild weather:

Business news

👩🏻‍⚖️ A US federal court temporarily halted new rules from the Securities Exchange Commission that require public companies to disclose their climate risk and how much greenhouse gas emissions they produce. Ten Republican-led states and numerous industry groups, including the US Chamber of Commerce, have filed numerous lawsuits challenging the regulation, which some say is unconstitutional.

🌎 Former UK politician Chris Skidmore has announced plans to launch Better Earth, an initiative that will help national and regional governments all over the world design and implement progressive legislation to accelerate the low-carbon transition. The initiative will be formed as a private company and will include professionals with expertise in policymaking, energy infrastructure delivery, and green finance.

🚗 Uber is adding a new in-app feature enabling riders to track the carbon emissions of their trips. The ‘Emissions Savings’ feature is available globally and shows users how much emissions they saved by selecting ‘Uber Green’ options.

😒 Shell has adjusted its carbon emissions reduction target to 15-20% by 2030, down from an initial 20%, while it focuses on expanding its gas and oil operations.

One small thing you can do

Boil your water.

Boiling drinking water can remove up to 90% of microplastics.

Microplastics have been found in 129 of 159 tap water samples from 14 countries worldwide, and while the health impact of consuming these tiny particles is not well understood, this seems to be an easy way to avoid that.

Because lots of little actions combined can add up to something remarkable.

I'll leave you on this happy note...

A train of beloved farm animals ❤️

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