2018: time to step up the climate game

2017: Devastating fires in Portugal, Hurricane Maria kicking Puerto Rico KO, record temperatures in Sydney, an iceberg as big as Delaware braking of the Antarctic Larsen-C ice-shelf, a wildfire season spanning 6 months in California, accelerated melting of Greenland’s glaciers, streets turned into rivers in… I could go on and on. As bloggers and journalists on climate change we used to write in the future tense to describe a warmer world. That has changed.

I have the feeling the last year gave us a look into the future. As you might know, it is difficult to prove the relationship between one particular extreme weather event and the rise of average global temperatures. Yet, we do know as a fact that the intensity and frequency of weather events like those  scourging the planet the previous 12 months will increase. What do I say, are increasing. You see, I haven’t got used to the change of tenses myself yet.

Wildfires caused billions in losses and claimed several lives in Portugal, Spain, California, and Australia

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Kipster: carbon-neutral eggs (not only for hipsters)

There once were 4 Dutchmen with a dream. Their dream was to revolutionize the poultry industry. They envisioned happy hens, healthy eggs, and a healthy planet. Keeping the conventional practices in mind – laying batteries with hens that produce eggs of doubtful quality and eating corn that could have been used to feed people – this dream could have been called as naive as believing you will understand the Belgian political system when asking me to explain it. Nonetheless, those 4 gentlemen took it upon themselves to figure out how to make their dream come true. And so they did.

The indoor garden has plenty of daylight and is a true playground for the chicken (photo: Kipster)

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greatgreenstuff.com : a hub for sustainable products

It’s holiday season! Thanks for taking a break from your hunt for presents and non-ending stream of Christmas markets, receptions, and dinners, to read what will be one of the last posts of the year. In this period, I can’t help but feeling I am spending a lot of money — too much money — on stuff that actually doesn’t really matter. We live in a society where we express our appreciation with things we buy. Weird. But okay, there are more weird things in our society. Nonetheless, if we could at least turn our gift into something that helps live a more sustainable lifestyle, wouldn’t that be amazing? What if I told you there are already a lot of products out there that can exactly do that?

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Plastics – our dirty addiction

Cofee, games, fitness, Netflix, or beer. It seems to be very human to have your own peculiar addiction. There is one product none of us can’t get enough of: plastic. Once hailed as a revolution, it is now quickly becoming one of mankind’s biggest health hazards. Last week I went to a screening of the documentary ‘A Plastic Ocean’ in Brussels. Preceded by a panel discussion between director Craig Leeson, marine biologist Richard Thompson, activists Hugo Tagholm and Maria Westerbos, and CEO of Klean Kanteen Jim Osgood. It was an eye-opening evening for me. This is what I take away.

The screening of the documentary was preceded by a panel discussion. From left to right: Leeson, Tagholm, Westerbos, Thompson, Oswood, Beck (own photo).

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5 megatrends that will beat global warming [infographic]

Let’s face it. The time window to avoid run-away climate change is getting smaller by the day. It is now generally recognized the world’s greenhouse gas emissions need to peak by 2020 if we want to have a reasonable chance of limiting global warming by 2 degrees Celsius at the end of this century (this is the promise of the Paris Agreement). For some, the urgency has not yet sunk in. To others, it seems we are already too late to avoid a global catastrophy. Although I think the scientific evidence is showing that we signed up for some pretty nasty stuff already, I remain hopeful that we can avert the worst. In the infographic below, I listed 5 megatrends that show we are moving in the right direction – we just should go even faster. It’s inspired by a great article that appeared in the Guardian at the start of COP23, you can find it here.

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COP23: what to expect

It’s again that time of the year when more than twenty thousand people ranging from singing activists to world leaders come together in one place on Earth: the yearly climate change summit, better known as ‘the COP’. Two years after the historical Paris Agreement was reached during COP21, you might wonder what negotiators have to talk about now that a global deal is reached. A lot, as it turns out. As policy issues are sometimes easier to explain face to face than in a dull article, I recorded a small video for you. Enjoy!

 

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