Maximpact Blog

Biochar: ‘Black Gold’ With a Hundred Uses

Biochar can help address many environmental challenges, as people in Norway are just now discovering. This form of carbon dioxide (CO2) capture and storage reduces the need for fertilizers, may lead to better crop yields and can remove heavy metals from the soil.

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EU Pours Millions Into Circular, Low-carbon Economy

Integrating solar panels into the glass facades of buildings could improve their energy performance to meet EU targets, as the buildings become a whole new source of renewable energy. This is just one of 139 projects soon to be funded by the European Commission.

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High-Powered California Governor Leads on Climate

As President Donald Trump has abdicated his leadership on climate change by denying the legitimacy of the results produced by 99 percent of the world’s climate scientists, by defunding low-carbon efforts and embracing fossil fuels, and by declaring he will pull the United States out of the Paris Agreement, someone else has stepped in to lead on this crucial issue – California Governor Jerry Brown.

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Is Climate Change to Blame?

Contemplating the destruction and suffering that four ferocious hurricanes have brought to the Caribbean over the past four weeks, UN Secretary-General António Guterres blames it on climate change.

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Conflict-Free Diamonds May Still Be Flawed

In its latest annual Sustainability Report, the world-famous 180-year-old New York luxury jeweler Tiffany & Co. details its progress towards environmental and social responsibility, even as evidence surfaces that the conflict diamond trade still exists.

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Drier Than Dry, Dry to the Bone

Conflict, drought, displacement and disease are driving vast humanitarian crises in dryland areas of Africa and the Middle East, just as governments that are Parties to the UN Conference to Combat Desertification meet this week and next in Ordos, Inner Mongolia, China.

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The Cancer Risk of Carbon Capture

China has decided to develop and implement carbon capture and storage (CCS) on a massive scale. But there is a problem. The process of capturing carbon can lead to the formation of carcinogenic chemicals.

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Brutal Weather Hits Extremes

France today activated the EU’s Civil Protection Mechanism as forest fires ravage southern regions of the country, threatening the resort of St. Tropez and the island of Corsica. French authorities have requested firefighting aircraft, and EU support is already on its way.

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Mimicking Nature to Defeat Climate Change

Five teams of entrepreneurs from around the world have been chosen to participate in the newest cohort of the world’s only business accelerator program dedicated to bringing nature-inspired solutions to market.

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First Mover Banks Come Clean on Climate Risk

Eleven of the world’s most influential banks have committed to work with the UN Environment Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) to promote climate transparency in financial markets. The banks will develop analytical tools to strengthen their assessment and disclosure of climate-related risks and opportunities.

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G20: Isolated on Climate, U.S. Empowers Women

Leaders of the G20 countries came to Hamburg July 7-8 and after a tense meeting during which the United States stood alone in its rejection of the Paris Agreement on climate, Chancellor Angela Merkel said the G20 nations would not attempt to conceal the dissent in their ranks.

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Oceans Inspire Global Call to Action

Ending the United Nations’ inaugural Ocean Conference on a wave of enthusiastic determination, the 193 UN Member States Friday agreed on a Call to Action listing specific measures to restore health to Earth’s degraded oceans by 2030.

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China Leads the New Clean Energy Reality

Now that President Donald Trump has announced that he will exit the Paris Agreement on climate, the world’s major emerging economies, including China and India, are replacing the United States at the center stage of the clean energy transition.

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