Searching For Standouts In The IPCC Reports
Image Credit: bertknot, CC BY-SA 2.0, Image Cropped
Tag Archives: sustainability
What 18,000 Empty Flights Does To A Climate Optimist
I want to preface this article by saying I’m a believer that individual choices can make a significant difference in the fight to change the outcome of climate change. Up to 72% of greenhouse gas emissions can be attributed to household consumption. While a great deal of this could be reduced by local governments and industry offering leaner and cleaner options, I refuse to believe there’s nothing we can do as individuals to reduce our carbon emissions.
That could include living more sustainably, normalising greener behaviour, or putting pressure on governments and corporations to change their ways. The idea that our personal carbon footprint is meaningless has always struck me as defeatist. It robs us of agency, and only produces depression and apathy.
However, once in a while something comes along that really makes it hard to cling to my determined sense of optimism.
Read moreThe EU Taxonomy: What It Is And Why It Gives Me Hope For A Sustainable Future
Those of you not seeped in the work of sustainability reporting may have missed the recent introduction of the ‘EU Taxonomy’. While it may sound like yet another piece of overly bureaucratized legislation, it’s a new initiative meant to spur financing in sustainable activities. It’s also intended to hold large businesses responsible for their social and environmental footprint, an important goal in a world where our own quest for sustainable lifestyles often feel overshadowed by the greed of big business.
Read moreThe Recycling Crisis
Despite what the Magic School Bus, Captain Planet and other environmental icons from our childhood taught us, effectively recycling an object is not as simple as simply ensuring it goes in the right bin. This presents problems, as our ability to recycle effectively is currently being greatly diminished by a number of factors. Between “wish cycling” by consumers, poor infrastructure at the municipal level, and Asian countries refusing to take the mounting amount of single-use waste other countries are producing, the Global North’s recycling is facing a sharp drop in efficiency. So let’s look at some common recycling misconceptions.
Supermarket Science: How Consumer Choices Could Affect Ocean Biodiversity
Image Credit: AntTree, CC-BY-NC-ND 2.0
Can you help ease the global biodiversity crisis through the choices you make at your local fish market? A recent report by US-based nonprofit Eating with the Ecosystem suggests that the answer is a resounding “Yes!”
Read moreRasmus Hansson: The Intricacies of Environmental Politics
Rasmus Hansson, former leader of the Norwegian Green Party and the Norwegian WWF (Image Credit: Miljøpartiet de Grønne, CC BY-SA 2.0, Image Cropped)
Environmental politics is a tricky business. We live in a world where environmental crises are at the forefront of the news cycle, and in which science is simultaneously becoming the subject of distrust. So it makes sense that at this point, politics should be adapting and evolving as science does.
So when Rasmus Hansson stopped by NTNU last month, Sam Perrin and I took the chance to sit down with him and see whether this was the case. Rasmus studied polar bears at NTNU in the 70s, before later becoming the leader of the World Wildlife Fund in Norway and then of the Norwegian Green party. We spoke with Rasmus about the transition from conservation to politics, the clash of ideologies and the future of environmental politics.
Prue Addison: Integrating Sustainability Into Business
Prue Addison, who spoke at the recent Norwegian Ecological Society Conference, is attempting to bring conservation science to ‘the dark side’ – the world of business (Image Credit: Synchronicity Earth, CC BY 2.0, Image Cropped)
With the environmental movement having expanded so quickly over recent decades, it makes sense that many large corporations have started to incorporate sustainability and the environment into their business plans. But what are these business actions actually achieving? And who bridges the gap between the corporate world and the field of ecology?
At the recent Norwegian Ecological Society Conference, Tanja Petersen and I sat down with Doctor Prue Addison from the University of Oxford. Prue works with multinational corporations to aid them in integrating biodiversity considerations into their business operations. We asked her about the difference between business and academia, how she’s managed to transition between the two, and advice for others looking to make the same leap.
How to Ecology Your Dragon
Image Credit: DreamWorks Dragons, 2012
In our second week on the dragons of Dreamworks’ How to Train Your Dragon trilogy, we have a flamin’ good time discovering why those dragons are WAY too wacky, exactly how much intraspecies predation goes on in Berk and why you should really make up your mind about domestication.
03:49 – Vikings in Cinema
10:57 – Ecology of the Dragons
29:17 – Toothless vs. the Furious Five
You can also find us on iTunes and Google Play.
Eva Plaganyi: Understanding the Human Side of Ecology
CSIRO scientist Éva Plagányi, who has worked with researchers from social and economic backgrounds to better understand human impacts on ecology (Image Credit: CSIRO, CC BY-SA 2.0, Image Cropped)
At the end of the day, the aim of an ecologist is to generate a better understanding of the natural world around us. But that can amount to nothing if that understanding isn’t translated to the people who interact directly with the aspects of the natural world that we research. So whilst understanding an ecosystem should be our main priority, understanding the people who interact with an ecosystem is integral to making a difference.
This is where social sciences like anthropology can help. At the ASFB 2018 Conference, I spoke to plenary speaker CSIRO’s Dr. Éva Plagányi, who works on maintaining the sustainability of marine life. Éva’s work includes interaction with everyone from corporate businessmen to traditional fishers, and integrating social anthropology into her work has yielded great results. I spoke to Éva on the importance of incorporating social science into ecology.
Ecology for the Masses 