@manfred_tambo
Manfred Tambo
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When we think about the problem of plastics in the environment, we often overlook one of the most aggressive polluters: cigarette butts. Yes, they’re small, but they are a big problem. Cigarette butts do not biodegrade and are almost impossible to recycle. The residues of tar and nicotine make them highly toxic. Research shows that in South Africa alone, 15bn butts make their way into the environment every year! This makes them the number one most collected item in cleanups. But no problem is too big for Santie Gouws and Ursula van Eck, the founders and directors of ocean-i. Their mission is to prevent plastic and butts from making their way into the oceans. While Ursula has a passion for scuba diving, Santie is an avid hiker. They experience the problem of environmental pollution on a daily basis. “On a hiking trip, I saw the enormous pollution in the Bluedowns Canal. That was the moment that I simply couldn’t take it anymore. I decided we must take action here and now”, says Santie. And she means it: she quit her job at an engineering firm to look for “circular solutions” for recycling waste materials. With her skills in cement technology, she now researches how plastics and cigarette butts can be used as a raw material to manufacture concrete prodcuts. Profit for Purpose “We decided to create a profitable company that produces high-end, funky outdoor furniture based on recycled materials” says Ursula. “With the profits we sponsor cleanups of the Bluedowns Canal. We collect our own raw material in the cleanups, and we fund the cleanups out of the sales of our furniture. This is our circular model” And they don’t compromise on quality and style either: they collaborate with big names such as Pieter Mathews for the design of their outdoor furniture. In their search to find ways to recycle cigarette butts, ocean-i collaborates with CRDC Global, who have developed a mixture that recycles plastic into an additive that is used in the concrete mix. Even plastic that is otherwise "unrecyclable". Together, they found a way to add cigarette butts to this mix. This is the first viable solution for recycling cigarette butts in South Africa – and it’s affordable. With this innovative concrete mix, ocean-i designed a concrete cigarette butt bin, where smokers can safely deposit their butts. These bins are not only made out of reused cigarette butts, but they also come with a service contract: the collected butts get recycled into new concrete products: circularity at its best! “The only way we will reach a #ZeroWaste world, is when consumers, NGOs, business and governments collaborate” says Ursula. Santie adds: “We are making a small contribution – but it is a step towards changing the way in which we produce and consume.”
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Manfred Tambo
54 w
How does climate change impact women and girls? The climate crisis is not “gender neutral”. Women and girls experience the greatest impacts of climate change, which amplifies existing gender inequalities and poses unique threats to their livelihoods, health, and safety. Across the world, women depend more on, yet have less access to, natural resources. In many regions, women bear a disproportionate responsibility for securing food, water, and fuel. Agriculture is the most important employment sector for women in low- and lower-middle income countries, during periods of drought and erratic rainfall, women, as agricultural workers and primary procurers, work harder to secure income and resources for their families. This puts added pressure on girls, who often have to leave school to help their mothers manage the increased burden. Image Nurun Nahar has two children and lives lives in a remote part of Islampur, Jamalpur. When floods destroyed her house in Bangladesh in 2019, she had to move to a shelter. Photo: UN Women/Mohammad Rakibul Hasan. Climate change is a “threat multiplier”, meaning it escalates social, political and economic tensions in fragile and conflict-affected settings. As climate change drives conflict across the world, women and girls face increased vulnerabilities to all forms of gender-based violence, including conflict-related sexual violence, human trafficking, child marriage, and other forms of violence. When disasters strike, women are less likely to survive and more likely to be injured due to long standing gender inequalities that have created disparities in information, mobility, decision-making, and access to resources and training. In the aftermath, women and girls are less able to access relief and assistance, further threatening their livelihoods, wellbeing and recovery, and creating a vicious cycle of vulnerability to future disasters. Women’s and girls’ health is endangered by climate change and disasters by limiting access to services and health care, as well as increasing risks related to maternal and child health. Research indicates that extreme heat increases incidence of stillbirth, and climate change is increasing the spread of vector-borne illnesses such as malaria, dengue fever, and Zika virus, which are linked to worse maternal and neonatal outcomes.
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True
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Women and girls are most vulnerable to the impact of climate change, immediate response should be taken to rescue them
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Mostly they are more endangered in case of any calamity
Manfred Tambo
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After the ban on new coal-fired power projects, Chinese banks committed to not investing in new overseas coal projects. “We haven’t seen any new coal projects after September 2021, so the data also supports the progress we’ve seen on overseas coal investment,” Shuang Liu, a senior associate at the World Resources Institute recently told the Asia Society. China has also launched major efforts on improving its climate adaption and resilience, including a national strategy increasing protections of wetlands and animal species, and growing the proportion of grasslands and forested areas. The government has invested heavily in electric vehicles. By June, China had nearly 10m new-energy vehicles, including battery electric, plug-in hybrid, and fuel cell vehicles – more than half the world’s estimated total, according to the London School of Economics. Combs says China is “remarkably ambitious” on its renewable energy goals, and is on track to hit 1200GW in renewables by the end of the decade. There has been a huge buildup in onshore wind and solar, more recently in offshore wind. In 2021, new projects in China contributed 80% of global additions to wind power. Timelines are “uncertain” but China is also advancing in research and development of nuclear energy. But there’s a problem. Essentially, China’s renewables are advancing faster than the electricity grids, markets, and transmission technology can keep up, creating a “huge roadblock”. “In the last year we’ve seen at least five provinces have to scale back approvals of distributed renewable energy resources because they were building up too much capacity,” Combs said.
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The adoption of climate adaptation plans can also help communities better prepare for extreme weather events and other challenges associated with climate change.
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We have made huge steps in climate change and we still have a long way to go
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Great steps indeed and still much more to tackle.
Manfred Tambo
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While it appears committed to renewable energy goals, China’s international commitments fall short of what experts say is needed Cop27 live – latest news updates After decades of fossil fuel-driven economic growth and industrialisation, China is now the world’s biggest carbon emitter, contributing almost a third of the world’s greenhouse gases in 2020. It is also the most exposed to the impact of the climate crisis, in terms of its population size and number of environmental disasters, according to UN figures. Average temperatures and sea levels have risen faster than global averages, and in just one year since Cop26, China has experienced record-breaking floods and heatwaves, bringing with them severe energy crises. China’s government has signed up to global climate pledges and is a big driver of renewable energy, but like with many countries, experts have raised concerns over the scale of the cuts. “It is complicated,” said the Trivium analyst Cory Combs. “The general summary is: they are genuinely ambitious but also probably not enough.”
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We must come together to make change
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Let's join forces
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Together we can
Manfred Tambo
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SeaTrees has recently partnered with Stella McCartney, an international luxury fashion brand whos vision is that all materials will be created using regenerative systems designed to restore our planet or use close-the-loop circular materials – crafted from waste and designed to never become waste again. It is their hope that all materials can one day either biodegrade harmlessly or be captured and recycled infinitely. The brand acknowledges that its responsibility for the materials that it puts out into the world does not end at the point of sale – committing to keeping those fabrics in circulation through repair services. When products do reach their end of life, Stella McCartney is now piloting close-the-loop takeback schemes to recycle them into new materials, of which this parka is the first example. In line with this perspective, for every Stella McCartney Close-the-Loop parka sold, they are planting a mangrove tree in support of SeaTrees! With their support, we will plant and protect mangrove forest ecosystems in the Biak Island Region of West Papua Indonesia, contributing to the restoration of this vital ecosystem – one of the most biodiverse on Earth. It was previously highly degraded by human activities, with 75% of the island’s estuaries deforested.
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Conservative of water bodies is key
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It's tym to act and react on protecting our water bodies
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protecting our water bodies means we will have food security
Manfred Tambo
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Sustainability systems are market-based tools designed to address the most pressing social and environmental challenges of our time. They give people power to make an impact. By defining responsible practices, assessing the implementation of these practices and measuring impacts over time, sustainability systems are used in many sectors worldwide to successfully improve social and environmental performance. Market transformation drives progress on a range of global priorities like the UN sustainable development goals. Multi-stakeholder sustainability systems provide concrete guidelines and metrics to help address the environmental and social issues captured in global goals. And in doing so, they provide platforms for collective action across sectors and supply chains. We provide a range of resources to support the development and use of credible and effective sustainability systems. Our Credibility Principles provide the foundation, while our Codes of Good Practice define the technical requirements to develop and improve systems. We offer guidance materials to support credible claims management, and resources such as our Sustainability Benchmarking Good Practice Guide for organisations that are evaluating sustainability initiatives. We also support the continued improvement of sustainability systems through our membership activities. ISEAL Community Members are part of a learning community, which enables them to become more effective at achieving positive impacts. And our Code Compliant members demonstrate a rigorous approach to improvement through independent evaluation to our Codes of Good Practice.
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Definitely worth some more research
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Good and positive thoughts
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An idea worth looking into
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This is Not a climate warning! Give them climate 💚
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@gorffly_mokua I agree, this is a climate love