A Dose of Climate Optimism

Sit back, take a deep, deep breath and soak up your weekly dose of Climate Optimism.

Hold extractive industries accountable now ^[1]In the Philippines, a Landmark Finding Moves Fossil Fuel Companies’ Climate Liability into the Realm of Human Rights (Inside Climate News, 2022)

A report by the Philippines’ Commission on Human Rights could pave the way for serious legal action against fossil fuel companies. The findings declare that the industry is “accountable for either impairing, infringing, abusing or violating human rights” because of their contribution to the climate crisis.

Shifting solar to the water ^[2]Portugal set to start up Europe’s largest floating solar park (Reuters, 2022)

Solar panels the size of four football pitches have been set afloat on Portugal’s Alqueva reservoir in preparation to start up Europe’s largest floating solar farm in July. This means double the renewable energy for Alqueva and fingers crossed a success story for the world.

Algae powered batteries ^[3]Scientists Create Algae-Powered AA Battery That Powers a Microprocessor (Vice, 2022)

Scientists in the UK have successfully powered a computer processor for a whole year using only blue-green algae, light, and water. Equivalent to the size of an AA battery, this solar converting cell is made using recyclable, sustainable materials and doesn’t require rare earth elements such as lithium.

A win for whales ^[4]Rejection of Arctic mine expansion bid offers hope for narwhal population (The Guardian, 2022)

Conservationists and the Inuit community are celebrating the rejection of iron ore mining expansion in the Arctic. The expansion would have seriously affected the home to the densest narwhal population in the world and the lives of the Inuit people.

Respyre inspire the Netherlands to go green(er) ^[5]This company is helping cities breathe by covering walls with moss (Positive News, 2022)

A Dutch company, Respyre, is using moss to help green urban areas. Moss helps CO2 absorption, air and water purifying, and boosts biodiversity…and it happens to look pretty cool too.

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