Photo: Ann Danilina/Unsplash (CC0)
We’re wrapping up the week at Squirrel News talking about South Korea’s pledge to end coal power by 2040, Colombia’s halt on the authorisation of new oil developments and mining operations in its portion of the Amazon rainforest, and the world-first social media ban for children in Australia.
South Korea has announced Monday that it has joined the Powering Past Coal Alliance, pledging to retire 40 coal-fired power plants by 2040. The pledge, unveiled at the COP30 climate summit in Brazil, makes Korea the second Asian nation after Singapore to join the coalition.
Source: Korea Times
Colombia’s environment ministry announced that the country will stop authorising new oil developments and large-scale mining operations in its Amazon biome, a region that spans roughly 42% of its national territory.
Source: Mongabay
Starting 10th December, social media platforms in Australia will be required to take reasonable steps to prevent anyone under 16 from creating an account and to deactivate or remove existing accounts belonging to minors. The government says the measure, touted as a world-first and widely supported by parents, is intended to reduce the pressures and risks children face online.
Source: BBC News
Defra’s Beach Litter Monitoring Data from 2015-2020 found an average of 20 wipes scattered across every 100 metres of UK coastline, with the plastics they contain breaking down into microplastics that threaten wildlife and enter the food chain. The planned ban is intended to reduce this microplastic pollution and help tackle the buildup of stubborn “fatbergs”.
Source: Positive News
Architect Kamal Sagar, founder of Total Environment, is best known for designing single-family houses and apartments in India. But after years of visiting the United States, he chose Frisco, Texas, as the site of his first American project: a 121-home neighbourhood called Tapestry, with all buildings featuring a grass-topped roof.
Source: Good Good Good
“Atmospheric water generation” is moving from science fiction to practical solution as startups are bringing the technology to communities without reliable access to clean water. Brian Sheng, co-founder of Aquaria Technologies, is among those working to convert atmospheric vapour into potable water.
Source: Reasons To Be Cheerful
The scheme gives direct mobile app payments to communities and individuals, especially farmers, who adopt sustainable land-use methods. Participants qualify by completing verified activities in six areas: agroforestry, reforestation, deforestation-free agriculture, forest regeneration, sustainable forest management, and conservation.
Source: Mongabay
Confronted with escalating violence, Indigenous communities have created their own unarmed protection force. Though they face immense danger, they carry no weapons, and today these patrols defend rare wildlife and even uncontacted peoples, with more than 50,000 Indigenous guards now operating across Colombia.
Source: BBC News
What began as an effort to heal trauma while removing firearms from circulation has evolved into a country-wide movement: over the past 14 years, RAWtools has dismantled and repurposed over 6,000 guns, turning them into garden tools and works of art.
Source: Reasons To Be Cheerful
In the latest episode of Judy Woodruff’s America at the Crossroads series on PBS, coal country Americans of different political persuasions discover that they have more in common than they thought and agree that groups like this coming together is a better solution than relying on Washington politicians to heal divisions.
Source: PBS
