Decarbonise Now
The Mauna Loa observatory, in Hawaii, has found the average concentration of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, to be above 410 parts per million (ppm), the highest level seen in the last 800,...
The Future Demands Ambitious Goals
But, as the latest round of the UN climate change talks begin in Katowice, Poland, it is worth remembering that we have, in the 2015 Paris Agreement, the framework we need to build a common response...
We Are Still in Time
Photo Credit: MCC Thomas Koehler In October, the IPCC – that under the auspices of the United Nations studies the effects of climate change – published a s...
Towards a Sustainable and Prosperous Europe
2018 has been a turning point for the transformation of Europe into a more sustainable and circular society. The year started with good news for innovation frontrunners in the form of the ...
Circular Economy Academies
“We will all become ‘circular’ because it is the right thing to do, but I don’t think it is necessary for every person to know in detail what the circular economy i...
Are Universities Ready for the Circular Economy?
University of Bradford. ©Tim Green aka atouch/Wikimedia Commons/cc-by-2.0 Looking at the numbers and expectations regarding the development of a circular economy ...
Sustainable and Circular: This is How Brussels Envisions the Bioeconomy
Phil Hogan Carlos Moedas “A turning point, a milestone.” This is how Carlos Moedas and Phil Hogan – respectively Europ...
Regenerating Local Territories with the Bioeconomy
The new European Strategy for the bioeconomy places emphasis on the territorial dimension: rapidly developing local “bioeconomies” throughout the continent. The geographical focal points...
A Way Out of the Crisis
Greece’s rescue package amounts to €290 billion over the last eight years. However, for Athens it mainly boils down to blood and tears. According to the Organisation for Economic Cooperat...
The Chemical Industry Says Goodbye to Fossil Fuels
Michael Carus, in his latest paper on the process of industrial change from a fossil-fuel-based system to one founded on renewable energy, cites the concept of “creative destruction,” ta...
Keeping CO2 Underground. Naturally
Two pieces of news – and not just one as the media have chosen to focus on – emerged from the latest IPCC report published last October. Indeed, everybody concentrated on the 1.5 °C ...
Carbon Smart Circular Economy
A carbon-proof circular economy? For Dr. Jennifer Holmgren this is not an impossible task. LanzaTech is working to create a large scale industrial Carbon Capture and Usage project (CCU). With two go...
How to Redirect Capital Towards Circularity
The potential role of sustainable investments in the transition to a circular economy is the focus of a study undertaken in 2018 by the Italian Sustainable Investment Forum and CONAI, the Italian Na...
France Turns Towards the Circular Economy
Following an intense consultation phase with stakeholders (businesses, councils and citizens), in April 2018 the French government licenced the roadmap that will guide the country’s transition...
Occitania, a Positive Energy Region
Toulouse – the Occitania region’s capital – is a lively and historically rich city that has developed along the Garonne river. Known for being home to the Airbus headquarters and t...
The Life of Mines After Mining
Mining is an increasingly hot topic in the global community. Germany, a country traditionally considered to be a green leader, is just one example of the struggles faced when enacting a rapid and fa...
Being Sustainable in the Coloured Gemstone Business
The multibillion-dollar coloured gemstone industry is active in nearly 50 countries; contributing to the livelihoods of millions of people worldwide. Although it is difficult to obtain the exact num...
Cobalt Shortages Ahead
The rapid growth in electric vehicles is creating an enormous demand for cobalt, causing high prices and supply chain issues for this critical material. Cobalt is a ferromagnetic metal and one of t...
Solaris Tobacco Crop, a New Hope to Power Africa's Biofuel Jetliners
Solaris is a humble crop, largely ignored by farmers across Africa because it contains none of the lucrative nicotine found in other tobacco varieties. Solaris is a non-GMO rop that is harvested yea...
Fighting Cholera with Waste
Yemen is suffering from a devastating humanitarian crisis. In the midst of civil war, most people no longer have access to energy and organic waste piles up in the streets. This allows fatal disease...