By Jeremy Williams On the off-chance that you’re in Helsinki some time soon, you’ll be able to drop in on what sounds like a very good exhibition. FIX: Care and Repair is being held jointly across the Museum of Finnish Architecture and the Design Museum, and it celebrates the idea of repair as part of Finnish culture. “The skills to fix and repair garments, houses and furniture have been passed down through the generations,” says co-curator Sara Martinsen. “The fact that woodwork and handicrafts are still part of our primary school curriculum has also helped a great deal to keep these skills ..read more

By Anders Lorenzen The European Parliament (EP), last month approved a bill that could be a key instrument in addressing climate change. The bill approved by the EP would, if passed by the European Union (EU), give consumers the right to have worn-out products like washing machines and smartphones repaired by producers, in order to cut waste and make goods last longer. What it does If adopted by the EU, it would oblige manufacturers by law to offer repairs for fridges, vacuum cleaners, televisions, washing machines and other goods that are sold within the bloc and deemed “repairable”. Consum ..read more

By Anders Lorenzen One of the highest courts in the UK has dealt the government an embarrassing blow to its climate strategy. In a case brought by organisations Friends of the Earth, Client Earth and the Good Law Project, the High Court ruled that the government had not done enough to cut emissions and ordered it to redraw the plans.  The ruling announced Friday (2nd of May) inflicted more bleeding to the ruling Conservative Party as they also suffered heavy losses to the opposition, the Labour Party in the May 2nd local elections. It is not the first time the coalition has defeated the g ..read more

By Jiang Mengnan China’s carbon price has topped RMB 100 (USD 13.80) for the first time. In July 2021, during the first month of the national carbon market, the price averaged about RMB 50 (USD 6.90). Back then some market analysts predicted that the price would approach RMB 100 only in 2030. The landmark was in fact reached on 24 April, just prior to the 1 May implementation of a new framework of regulations to standardise China’s emissions trading systems. The anticipation of these stricter regulations has prompted major emitters to increase their purchases of emissions allowances, driving u ..read more

Graphic credit: NOAA. By Anders Lorenzen The US government agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Coral Reef Watch is the world’s top coral reef monitoring body. NOAA says that at least 54 countries and territories have experienced mass bleaching among their reefs since February 2023, as climate change warms the ocean’s surface waters. Coastlines from Australia to Kenya to Mexico, and many other of the world’s colourful coral reefs, have turned a ghostly white. This has amounted to what scientists describe as the fourth global bleaching event in the last three dec ..read more

Sponsored Content Photo credit: depositphotos.com. By Antaris Consulting Energy audits have become essential for businesses looking to reduce costs and achieve operational sustainability. A partnership with a trusted energy auditor can reveal inefficiencies and offer a clear path towards greater savings and a reduced carbon footprint. Empowering sustainable practices There is an obvious need for greater sustainability in business energy use. This has benefits both for the planet and the bottom line. Energy audits can be instrumental in achieving this: Here are just a few solid reasons for impl ..read more

President Biden delivers his Earth Day address. Photo credit: Reuters / Kevin Lamarque. By Anders Lorenzen President Biden used Earth Day to ramp up his administrations commitment on tackling climate change, protecting the environment and investing in clean energy technologies. Most significantly the president who is well underway in his November presidential re-election campaign could announce a new programme ‘Solar for All’ which he announced $7 billion in grants for residential solar project that is estimated power nearly a million low-income households. Winning over voters Biden made the ..read more

By Anders Lorenzen Just months before the biggest sporting event of the 2024 calendar kicks off, the 2024 Olympic Games, held in Paris, the Japanese team has introduced a key sustainability element.  The team aims to shine a light on an often-forgotten element in the sports industry – the carbon footprint of sports clothing. Unveiling the Olympic kit that they would wear on the podium and at press conferences will have the amount of carbon dioxide emitted during production stamped on them, in a nod to the green goals put forth by the host city. The team’s warm-up suit jacket shows 8.8 kg ..read more

Photo credit: Keith Hunter / University of Edinburgh. By Jeremy Williams Did you know that Britain has a national supercomputer? It’s hosted at the Advanced Computing Facility at the University of Edinburgh and it’s used on our crunchiest problems, such as climate modelling or processing health data. It’s in the news this week because of a trial of a new heating idea – an idea that chimes nicely with the seasonal heat storage technologies I was writing about recently. Supercomputers generate an enormous amount of heat and need to be kept cool. This heat is often wasted, and in Edinburgh it is ..read more

By Anders Lorenzen Data from the European Union (EU) shows that the world has just experienced its warmest March on record, capping a 10-month period in which every month set a new temperature record. This is according to the EU’s climate change monitoring service. The data presents clear evidence about the warming trend. The EU`s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) announced that each of the last 10 months ranked as the world’s hottest on record, compared with the corresponding month in previous years.  In addition, the 12 months ending with March also ranked as the planet’s hottest ..read more