?? The Grumpy Optimists #112

Happy Monday. ??

Welcome back to another episode the Grumpy Optimists, your weekly climate recap from the last week. This week we’re covering:

??Food labelling and declining meat consumption.

???Which countries and businesses are working together to limit deforestation and keep products going for longer?

?Transitioning to a clean energy future. We’re making progress, but is it enough?

Dig in and enjoy folks. Do leave a comment with anything you’d like me to cover too, I’m keen to hear your thoughts!

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?? Articles to read

???Oatly calls for more food climate labelling. With agriculture accounting for 1/3 of all greenhouse gas emissions, Oatly has called to get more food and drink brands to label their products with climate data. The move is intended to help consumers make better choices for the planet. With 55% of consumers in favour of climate labelling and 48% likely to reduce their consumption of high-emitting products, I love that Oatly is calling for this to happen.

???UK meat consumption at lowest levels since records began. Meat consumption fell to its lowest level since records began in the 1970s in the year to March 2022. The average person in the UK ate 854g of meat per week in the year to March 2022,?down from 976g the previous year. The likely cause of the decline is the cost of living crisis and broader lifestyle changes (aka, being vegetarian is cool now). With a 14% decline in meat consumption per person since 2012, it’s a clear indication that people are looking to cut down on their meat consumption.

???Countries home to major rainforests come together to save them. Countries that are home to the Amazon, Congo basin and forests across Southeast Asia have agreed to cooperate to overcome deforestation and protect biodiversity.

???eBay and WRAP launch circular change council to tackle furniture waste. In an effort to increase the reuse and circularity of the furniture industry, eBay and WRAP have partnered with retailers like IKEA to reduce the 22 million pieces of furniture thrown out in the UK each year. With over 1.1 million dining tables thrown away each year, this is a great example of how businesses can come together to tackle a shared problem.

???Florida’s Kissimmee River gets the rewilding treatment. I came across this via an Instagram post from the cool down and thought it was too cool not to share. After being turned into a 30-foot-deep canal in the 1960s creating an ecological disaster, the Kissimmee River is now a triumph of rewilding. Fish, birds and all the animals that support complex ecosystems like wetlands have returned and most importantly, the wetlands are helping complete the job the US government tried to do in the first place, protect the surrounding areas from flooding.

???Badvertising campaign to stop ads and sponsorships from fuelling the climate emergency. The campaign aims to limit ads and sponsorships for high-carbon products and services, such as fossil fuels, SUVs, fossil-powered cars, air travel, fast fashion and climate-damaging foods. Research suggests that there is a clear link between advertising and higher levels of consumption, and therefore rising emissions from stuff we often don’t need. Just as we can’t see ads from cigarette companies, we probably shouldn’t be able to see ads from companies helping to destroy the planet. France was the first country to prohibit some adverts for fossil fuels, so it is possible. Cool campaign and very much something I agree with.

???Husk Power gets $103m to power mini-grids and solar in Africa. Husk Power, a clean energy company, has raised $103 million in Series D funding to expand its mini-grids in Africa and India. The company plans to deploy 1,500 mini-grids in the next five years, serving over 10,000 micro, small and medium enterprises while helping to address the unequal access to energy across India and Africa.

???Fossil fuels peak is in sight, and sooner than expected. The?International Energy Agency?has recently made large cuts to their future global gas estimates. The good news is that we’re making a lot of progress. The bad news? We’re not making improvements fast enough. With COP28 only a matter of weeks away, ensuring we can wean ourselves away from fossil fuels and rapidly increase renewables is crucial to keeping 1.5°C alive.

???Electric plane travels over 2,000 miles. US-based electric aviation company Beta Technologies’ E ALIA eVTOL aircraft flew over 2,000 miles last week with stops to recharge along the way. Why is it important? With aviation accounting for 2% of global greenhouse gas emissions, electrifying air transport is crucial to reducing the impact of how we move cargo and people through the sky.

???DHL agrees to a 7-year deal to use Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). As well as electrification, another way to decarbonise the aviation industry is through the fuel it uses. DHL are one of several companies that are signing long-term agreements for SAF, this time for 668 million litres in one of the largest and longest agreements to date. The agreement is expected to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 1.7 million tonnes, which is equivalent to handling all of DHL Express' Americas aviation movements carbon neutrally for one year.

???? Climate X Communication

I saw this video on LinkedIn and thought I’d share it as a great example of how brands can communicate their climate impact with humour.

That’s all for this week folks. This week’s episode was written after the first roast dinner of the season and some country music, wholesome af. Once again, if you fancy sharing this with a friend, that would be very much appreciated, you will be rewarded by knowing I get a dopamine hit when I get a new subscriber email. If that won’t do it for you, you may as well unsubscribe now.

George, the Grumpy Optimist ??