Around the world: amping up emission pledges and hopeful Netflix watches
Climate change has been on everyone’s minds in the last few weeks with COP26 coming to an end. If you’re wondering how we can pivot our mindsets for 2022 or you’re feeling the weight of climate anxiety, scroll to the bottom of our summary for an introduction to WaterBear and the three series we count as ‘must watches’ this season.
Here’s what has caught our eyes this week.
Healthcare that’ll make a difference
On November 8th, 50 countries committed to developing low-carbon health care systems. The pledge, a partnership between the World Health Organisation (WHO), UNFCCC Climate Champions, the UK Government and other health groups was raised as a result of the health sector being found to account for 4.6% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Not only would the pledge aim to lower emissions, but to also strengthen responses to climate-related health issues in vulnerable countries.
Read the full article here
Amping up the emissions pledges
A COP26 draft, released early on the 10th November calls for countries to have an accelerated approach to cutting their greenhouse gas emissions. This comes after a projection by the Climate Action Tracker found that global heating was likely to rise to 2.4C above pre-industrial levels. The draft is likely to form the basis of the main outcome at the summit. It calls for countries to phase out subsidies for coal and other fossil fuels and for all developed countries to at least double their climate finance commitments to help those worst affected across the globe. However the draft has been criticised by individuals such as Jennifer Morgan, ED at Greenpeace International, who said it was little more than an agreement to “cross our fingers and hope for the best”.
Read the full article here
Words by Fiona Harvey,Adam Morton, Damian Carrington and Peter Walker.
The power of the Youth
Youth activists have taken centre stage at COP26. They have united their voices to call for politicians and business leaders to do all they can to meet the crucial goal of capping global heating to 1.5 degrees Celsius. They have led some of the most urgent calls to action and last week organised one of the largest climate demonstrations in Glasgow. Over 100,000 protestors marched through the city. The protest hit headlines not only for it’s scale, but also for Greta Thunberg’s public criticism of COP26, calling it a ‘failure’ a ‘PR exercise’ and a ‘greenwash festival’.
The connectivity, ambition and drive for action youth activists have demonstrated is what is needed by all to solve the climate crisis. Afterall, they are the ones who will inherit the planet and as such deserve to have a seat at the table.
As Clover Hogan said “it is a farce to think that we will solve this problem with the same thinking and the same people who created it. We need in these rooms young people who are not willing to abide by the status quo and we need in these rooms people for whom the climate crisis is already their lived experience and their present day reality.”
Get to know the new faces of climate activism here or follow them on Instagram:
• Clover Hogan
• Xiye Bastida
• Mikaela Loach
• Elizabeth Wathuti
Read the full article here
Words by Andrew Testa
‘Netflix for Nature’ and WaterBear
If you haven’t discovered WaterBear yet, you have to. It markets itself as the world’s first streaming platform dedicated to the future of our planet and houses some of the most informative, educational and hard-hitting documentaries that have ever been produced. It's free to sign up, and for the duration of COP26 has bite-sized interview content from the summit hosted by their Head of Strategy, Sam Sutaria.
Find out more about their involvement with COP26 and their partnership with the New York Times here.