Veille 2.1

The “degrowth” movement to fight the climate crisis offers a romantic, utopian vision. But it’s not a policy agenda.

The European Commission just released on Friday 16 July its new EU Forest Strategy. This Strategy supplements the Fit for 55 Package (published on 14 of July) and will contribute to achieve the EU’s target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions from 55% by 2030, as set out in the European legislation on Climate. This new ambitious strategy “recognises the central and multi-functional role of forests, and the contribution of foresters and the entire forest-based value chain for achieving by 2050 a sustainable and climate-neutral economy

Herrington, a Dutch sustainability researcher and adviser to the Club of Rome, has made headlines in recent days after she authored a report that appeared to show a controversial 1970s study predicting the collapse of civilization was – apparently – right on time. Coming amid a cascade of alarming environmental events, Herrington’s work predicted the collapse could come around 2040 if current trends held.

The politics of this new, extreme individualism will make collective responses to social crises impossible

In 2018, a climate paper by Jem Bendell went viral, being downloaded over a million times. It helped to launch a worldwide movement of people seeking to reduce harm in the face of societal disruption and collapse. In this interview for Facing Future TV, Jem explains the concept of Deep Adaptation, how he developed the idea, what it means in practice, what he says to critics, and what his new book on the topic is about.

Fossil fuel companies lied for decades about climate change, and humanity is paying the price. Shouldn’t those lies be central to the public narrative?

There's likely to be a significant increase in the number of lawsuits brought against fossil fuel companies in the coming years, say researchers. Their new study finds that to date, lawyers have failed to use the most up-to-date scientific evidence on the cause of rising temperatures. As a result, there have been few successful claims for compensation. That could change, as evidence linking specific weather events to carbon emissions increases.

Every new climate pledge is an attempt to distract people from the failed ones it replaces. Apparently, all seven governments have committed “to conserve or protect at least 30 per cent of the world’s land and at least 30 per cent of the world’s ocean by 2030”. But what does it mean?

InfluenceMap, a think tank that monitors corporate lobbying around climate change, reveals: while the 10 European airlines looked at for this report have received around €30 billion in bailouts during the pandemic – some of which came with conditions attached to encourage climate-friendly actions – most have simultaneously lobbied to delay new proposals to cut aviation emissions.

Meurtri par la pandémie de coronavirus, le Brésil vit un drame sans fin, avec la menace d'une troisième vague dévastatrice en raison de la lenteur de la vaccination, du relâchement précoce des restrictions et de la circulation effrénée des variants.

The root cause of pandemics – the destruction of nature – is being ignored, scientists have warned. The focus of world leaders on responding to future outbreaks overlooks the far cheaper and more effective strategy of stopping the spillover of disease from animals to humans in the first place, they have said. The razing of forests and hunting of wildlife is increasingly bringing animals and the microbes they harbour into contact with people and livestock. About 70% of new infectious diseases have come from animals, including Covid-19, Sars, bird flu, Ebola and HIV.

La Chine a rapporté ce mardi un premier cas mondial chez l’être humain de grippe aviaire H10N3, un virus de la famille influenza frappant les oiseaux sauvages. Les autorités chinoises assurent que le risque d’une épidémie est "extrêmement faible".

Les tout premiers résultats de la Campagne Glyphosate sont alarmants : près de 7 000 personnes ont participé à l’action débutée en 2018 en urinant dans un bocal. Et 99,7 % d’entre eux présentent des traces importantes de cet herbicide dangereux.

Le géant dans le domaine de l’alimentation Nestlé admet dans une publication interne que plus de 60% des produits qu’il vend ne sont "pas conformes à la définition de la santé", selon le Financial Times, qui a consulté cette publication. De plus, Nestlé y admet que, quels que soient les efforts qui seront faits à l’avenir, certaines catégories de ses produits ne pourront jamais être considérées comme 'sains'.

When we hike through the woods, drive by a cornfield, or mow our lawns, we tend to focus on the plants: the blooming flowers, the tassel-topped stalks, and the green grass borders. But what about the dirt? It seems soil is one of the planet’s most underappreciated natural resources. Yet healthy soil is the foundation for agriculture; it also plays a vital role in protecting the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat—and even our climate.