SnippETS for 10 October 2019

Welcome to this week’s edition of SnippETS. We start with a look at the protest action around climate change inaction, in NZ, and around the world, with a call for governments and businesses to do more.

Our PM is trying new ways of encouraging climate friendly trade; the Pacific Islands are asking for help with decarbonisation of shipping; one huge international business is making their freight fleet more sustainable; and the UK is looking for new ways to reduce aviation emissions.

We finish with interesting information on various water requirements for food production (you may be surprised), an update on the cleaning of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, and a new (?) initiative in NZ around recycling drinks containers. We hope you enjoy this week's selection of articles.

Readers who were out marching at, or following, the Strike for Climate Action recently will know that it was a huge event. We at Energy TS were on the street too, and it was great to see people of all ages and all walks of life out there with us. This article offers a quick look at the event and gives an idea of the energy behind it. Read more.....

Among large corporate participants in the SDG goals, there is a growing movement for corporates to be leading the way in regard to climate change action. This is in response to lack of government action in many cases, as an exercise of “filling the void” so to speak. Read more.....

As the days pass by and the wheels of the climate change and SDG bus slowly turn, there are some who have had enough of inaction and who are pushing for real action. This may sound obvious, especially after the recent climate marches, but what if we told you that in some cases it is actually some corporate heads doing the pushing? Read more.....

If business leaders stay climate resisters despite these growing pressures, then maybe changing international trade agreements will force their hand. New Zealand is leading a new trade agreement which aims to remove tariffs on environmental goods in an effort to encourage climate-friendly trade. The agreement seeks to eliminate fossil fuel subsidies and introduce "voluntary guidelines for eco-labelling programmes and mechanisms". Read more.....

Another multi-lateral partnership is aiming to curb emissions from ocean shipping. The governments of Fiji, the Marshall Islands, Samoa, Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands and Tuvalu want to raise $780m to make all shipping in the Pacific Ocean zero carbon by the middle of the century. A bold move from island nations that, like us, rely heavily on ocean shipping. Read more.....

Now to land-based low emissions shipping. The American retail giant Amazon has announced its purchase of 100,000 electric trucks from US electric-vehicle start-up Rivian as part of its effort to eliminate the carbon footprint of the company by 2030. Promising news not just for Amazon customers, but for the world as it’s predicted that others will follow once Amazon has got their hands wet with this new technology. Read more.....

Trucking may be on the improve, but aircraft emissions are not. This UK based article discusses how 10% of people take more than half of all international flights, and long- distance travel is increasing. A proposal to progressively tax those flying frequently would likely be a policy the majority would accept and would help cut emissions without severely affecting most. This may be a good interim measure until non fossil fuelled long-distance flights are readily available. Read more....

Even wondered how much water it takes to produce a small chocolate bar? Well, wonder no more. Water is the life blood of the planet, and in this article water scarcity is highlighted along with some interesting facts around water use for various food types. Some of our favourites are very water intensive in their production - maybe we need to start thinking not just about what we eat but how much water goes into the growing and or production of various food types.Read more.....

In a previous SnippETS we featured Boyan Slat, the creator of the Ocean Cleanup project. In this update, after some setbacks the rubbish collection device has been successfully tested and the 600 metre-long free-floating boom had captured and retained debris from what is known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Great to see some progress here. With some more work, they are hoping to have these collection systems working full time in the near future.Read more.....

Finally this week, we look at some positive news on the recycling front, with the NZ government setting aside nearly $1 million to help design and develop a nationwide beverage container return scheme as part of ongoing efforts to improve New Zealand's recycling system. It’s a system we hope to see in place soon, being a good fund-raising tool and hopefully getting ‘rubbish’ off the street sooner rather than later. Read more.....