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Tag: Climate

  • Heat pumps are an energy upgrade for homeowners that’s becoming a climate and financial winner

    Heat pumps are an energy upgrade for homeowners that’s becoming a climate and financial winner

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    Heat pumps are becoming more popular for residential housing with energy prices increasing and the need to reduce use of fossil fuel heating systems.

    Andrew Aitchison | In Pictures | Getty Images

    Thinking about a home heat pump? New and expanded government incentives, coupled with sharply rising utility costs, make it more compelling.

    Especially when used in connection with clean electricity sources like rooftop or community solar, a heat pump — a single electric appliance that can replace a homeowner’s traditional air conditioner and furnace system — can warm and cool a home with less planetary harm. 

    These investments are becoming more appealing to consumers, too, given inflation’s heavy hand. A whopping 87% of U.S. homeowners surveyed said they experienced higher prices in at least one household service or utility category over the summer, according to SaveOnEnergy.com. There’s another possible bonus: Incentives being offered through the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. 

    “These incentives are not only saving you money now and in the long run on your utility bills, but they are putting our economy on track to reduce consumption of fossil fuels that contribute to climate change,” said Miranda Leppla, director of the Environmental Law Clinic at Case Western Reserve University School of Law. “It’s a win-win.”

    The use of heat pumps will become more common as governments legislate their adoption. Washington State recently mandated that new homes and apartments be constructed with heat pumps. In July, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced a goal of 3 million climate-ready and climate-friendly homes by 2030 and 7 million by 2035, supplemented by 6 million heat pumps by 2030.

    Here are four important things to know about upgrading your home to a heat pump system.

    Heat pump cost, savings and efficiency considerations

    Heat pumps are appropriate for all climates and are three to five times more energy efficient than traditional heating systems, according to Rewiring America, a nonprofit focused on electrifying homes, businesses and communities.

    Rather than generating heat, these devices transfer heat from the cool outdoors into the warm indoors and vice versa during warm weather. Heat pumps rely on electricity instead of natural gas or propane, both of which have a higher carbon emission than renewable electricity such as wind or solar, said Jay S. Golden, director of the Dynamic Sustainability Lab at Syracuse University. 

    With installation, heat pumps can range from around $8,000 to $35,000, depending on factors such as the size of the home and heat pump type, according to Rewiring America, but it estimates the savings could amount to hundreds of dollars per year for an average household. What’s more, it’s a long-term play, since heat pumps that most people will consider installing have an average lifespan of 10 to 15 years, according to Rewiring America. 

    Electricity costs also tend to be more stable, insulating consumers against gas price volatility, said Joshua Skov, a business and government consultant on sustainability strategy who also serves as an industry mentor and instructor at the University of Oregon. 

    “While there’s an upfront cost, millions of homeowners would save money with a heat pump over the life of the device,” he said. “You’ll save even more with the federal government covering a chunk of the upfront cost.” 

    Inflation Reduction Act incentives

    The Inflation Reduction Act — an expansive climate-protection effort by the federal government — includes multiple incentives to lower the cost of energy-saving property improvements. These incentives significantly exceed what’s available to homeowners today, said Jono Anzalone, a lecturer at the University of Southern Maine and the executive director of The Climate Initiative, which empowers students to tackle climate change.

    For low-income households, the Inflation Reduction Act covers 100% of the cost of a heat pump, up to $8,000. For moderate-income households, it covers 50% of your heat pump costs, up to the same dollar limit. Homeowners can use a calculator — such as the one available from Rewiring America — to determine their eligibility. 

    If you’re considering multiple green home improvements, keep in mind that the law’s overall threshold for “qualified electrification projects” is up to $14,000 per household. 

    Federal tax credits for homeowners

    For those who exceed the income threshold for a rebate, there’s the option, starting Jan. 1, to take advantage of the nonbusiness energy property credit, commonly referred to as 25C, said Peter Downing, a principal with Marcum LLP who leads the accounting firm’s tax credits and incentives group.

    Homeowners can receive a 30% tax credit for home energy efficiency projects such as heat pumps. In a given year, they can get a credit of up to $2,000 for installing certain equipment such as a heat pump. This credit will expire after 2032, according to the Congressional Research Service.

    There can be another tax credit to homeowners who purchase a geothermal heat pump, which is a more expensive, but longer-lasting option on average. Homeowners can receive an uncapped 30% tax credit for a geothermal heating installation, according to Rewiring America, which estimates an average geothermal installation costs about $24,000 and lasts twenty to fifty years. That means the average tax credit for this type of pump will be around $7,200, Rewiring America said. 

    The ventilation system of a geothermal heat pump located in front of a residential building.

    Picture Alliance | Picture Alliance | Getty Images

    Rulemaking is still underway for the Inflation Reduction Act. But it is possible eligible consumers will be allowed to receive both a rebate and a credit, Downing said. But the math is not likely to be as straightforward, based on previous IRS guidance on energy rebates backed by the federal government. Say a consumer is entitled to a 50% rebate for a heat pump that costs $6,000. For purposes of the tax credit, the remaining $3,000 could be eligible for a 30% tax credit, resulting in a possible credit of $900, he said.

    State and local financial support

    States, municipalities and local utility companies may provide rebates for certain efficient appliances, including heat pumps. “Check with all of them because there are so many different levels of programs, you really need to hunt around,” said Jon Huntley, a senior economist at the Penn Wharton Budget Model who co-authored an analysis of the Inflation Reduction Act’s potential impact on the economy.

    Also be sure to check back frequently to see what new state, local and utility-based incentives may be available because programs are often updated, Golden said. Reputable local contractors should also know about locally available rebates, he said.

    Many installers have aggressive financing packages to make heat pump installation more feasible, Anzalone said.

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  • Americans are flocking to wildfire country

    Americans are flocking to wildfire country

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    Over the last decade, there was an influx of Americans into regions where climate change is making wildfires and extreme heat more common, according to an analysis of multiple data sets done at the University of Vermont (UVM).

    Broadly speaking, Americans migrated to the cities and suburbs in the Pacific Northwest, parts of the Southwest (in Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, Utah), Texas, Florida, and parts of the Southeast (including Nashville, Atlanta and Washington, D.C.), according to the research.

    People moved away from the Midwest, the Great Plains, and from some of the counties that were hardest hit by hurricanes along the Mississippi River, according to the research.

    “Our main finding is that people seem to be moving to counties with the highest wildfire risks, and cities and suburbs with relatively hot summers. This is concerning because wildfire and heat are only expected to become more dangerous with climate change,” Mahalia Clark, the lead author of the study, told CNBC.

    Areas where more people moved into a region than out are red. Areas where more people moved out of a region than in are in blue.

    Chart courtesy University of Vermont

    “We hope our study will increase people’s awareness of wildfire and other climate risks when moving or buying a house, since many people might be unaware of these dangers,” Clark told CNBC. “People tend to think of wildfire as something that affects the West, but it also affects large areas of the South and even Midwest.”

    For the research, Clark used multiple data sets, including net migration estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, the gridded surface Meteorological (gridMET) dataset hosted on the Google Earth Engine Data Catalog, and cloud cover data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The study was published on Thursday in the journal Frontiers in Human Dynamics.

    Making decisions about where to live may be one of the first times that the ramifications of climate change impact people’s personal lives.

    “People also tend to think of climate change as something that will affect our grandchildren, but its effects are already being seen in the form of more frequent and severe heat waves, hurricanes, and wildfires, and it’s important to take these effects into account when we plan for the future, both as individuals and as a society,” Clark told CNBC.

    Deciding where to move and what home to buy is a complicated decision, and people have to weigh their own personal decisions based on job, family and culture, but Clark urges people to understand the trade-offs.

    “It could be that wildfire-prone areas happen to be very attractive for other reasons (strong economy, pleasant climate, dramatic scenery with opportunities for outdoor recreation), and the perceived risks of wildfire are not sufficient to outweigh these other benefits,” Clark told CNBC. “People moving in from out of state may also be unaware of the risks. On the other hand, sometimes high risk areas are more affordable, creating an unfortunate incentive for people to move there.”

    Wildfire probability, heat wave frequency and hurricane frequency across the United States.

    Chart courtesy University of Vermont

    Local authorities can play a part, too, Clark said.

    “Development in wildfire prone areas can actually exacerbate risks, since increased human activity can spark more fires, so one implication of our work is that city planners may need to consider discouraging new development where fires are most likely or are difficult to fight,” Clark told CNBC. “At a minimum, policymakers should work to increase public awareness and preparedness and plan for sufficient fire prevention and response resources in high-risk areas with high population growth.”

    The findings out of University of Vermont are “pretty consistent with what we’ve seen for the past 20 years with the two cycles of the census in terms of population growth in the Pacific Northwest” Jesse M. Keenan, a professor of sustainable real estate at Tulane University, told CNBC.

    Climate change plays a role in the increased number of forest fires in the Pacific Northwest because the area is getting increasingly arid and dry.

    “Basically, when it heats up in the atmosphere, you pull moisture, water out of the atmosphere, and that pulls it out of the biomass. So things basically just get dry, and therefore you have more fuel,” Keenan said.

    Insurance companies are wising up to this and are pricing fire risk into the Pacific Northwest in ways that they hadn’t in the past, Keenan said.

    But homebuyers also need to be doing their due diligence on the climate risks associated with the location where they are considering buying a new home. Keenan is an advisor to a company called ClimateCheck that helps identify these kinds of risks, but real estate websites now include “climate risk” factors like flood factor, storm risk, drought risk, heat risk and fire risk on listing pages.

    These kinds of tools are helpful, but not perfect, Keenan said. Some of it comes down to common sense.

    “If you live where there’s a fair amount of tree canopy near you, anywhere in the Pacific Northwest, you are at risk for forest fire,” Keenan said.

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  • Swiss climate activists lament election of oil lobbyist

    Swiss climate activists lament election of oil lobbyist

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    BERLIN — Swiss environmentalists criticized the election Wednesday of a top car- and oil-industry lobbyist to the new government, calling it a “disaster for climate policy.”

    Lawmakers picked Albert Roesti of the nationalist Swiss People’s Party as one of two new members of the Cabinet, or Federal Council.

    The election was necessary following the retirement of two long-serving members in the seven-seat government, which traditionally includes politicians from all the country’s major parties.

    Roesti was until recently the president of Switzerland’s fuel importer association Swissoil. He remains the president of Auto Schweiz, the association of car importers in Switzerland. As part of his lobby work, Roesti successfully campaigned against a bill designed to reduce the Alpine nation’s greenhouse gas emissions.

    “In the middle of the climate crisis the Swiss Parliament has elected the top car and oil lobbyist to the Federal Council,” the group Climate Strike said in a statement. “This is a disaster not just for Switzerland, but our entire generation.”

    It called on other members of the government not to let Roesti head the Ministry for Environment, Energy and Transport. That post became vacant with the retirement of Simonetta Sommaruga, one of two departing ministers.

    Also elected to the council Wednesday was Elisabeth Baume-Schneider, a member of the left-leaning Social Democrats.

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  • Vietnamese EV maker VinFast files to go public in the U.S.

    Vietnamese EV maker VinFast files to go public in the U.S.

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    The VF-8 electric vehicle from VinFast, a Vietnamese automaker producing electric cars and SUV’s, is on display at their showroom in Santa Monica, California, on July 18, 2022.

    Frederic J. Brown | AFP | Getty Images

    Vietnamese EV maker VinFast is going public in the U.S.

    VinFast on Tuesday said it has filed a registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the first formal step toward a public offering next year. The company in March announced plans for a $2 billion factory in North Carolina and hopes to deliver its first vehicles to American customers by year-end.

    Citigroup Global Markets, Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse and J.P. Morgan Securities are the lead bankers on the offering. VinFast will trade on the Nasdaq under the symbol “VFS” once its offering is completed. The company didn’t say how much money it’s hoping to raise.

    VinFast became Vietnam’s first domestic automaker when it began manufacturing internal combustion vehicles in 2019. It’s now focused entirely on electric vehicles – production of its last internal-combustion model ended in early November. The company is currently taking reservations for two electric SUVs, the midsize VF8 and larger VF9.

    The VF8 and VF9 start at $57,000 and $76,000, respectively – but both can be ordered without batteries, lowering the up-front cost significantly, if the buyer opts for a monthly battery subscription. Without batteries, the VF8 and VF9 start at just over $42,000 and $57,500; the battery subscriptions are priced at $169 per month for the VF8 and $219 per month for the larger VF9.

    As of the end of September, VinFast had about 58,000 worldwide reservations for the two models. For now, all VinFasts are made at the company’s factory in Haiphong; it hopes to have its U.S. factory, with a capacity of 150,000 vehicles per year, up and running by July 2024.

    While VinFast is new to the United States, it’s not a typical startup. Founded in 2017, VinFast is a unit of Vingroup, Vietnam’s largest conglomerate, which has interests in real estate development and education as well as a number of technology businesses.

    But while Vingroup is well established in its home country, VinFast itself isn’t yet profitable: It lost about $1.3 billion in 2021, and an additional $1.4 billion through the first three quarters of 2022.  

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  • Governments gather in Canada in bid to boost biodiversity

    Governments gather in Canada in bid to boost biodiversity

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    BOSTON — Amid warnings that biodiversity is in freefall, environmental leaders will gather in Montreal to hammer out measures aimed at shoring up the world’s land and marine ecosystems and coming up with tens of billions of dollars to fund these conservation efforts.

    Delegates from about 190 countries will assemble for nearly two weeks, starting Wednesday, at the United Nations Biodiversity Conference, or COP15, to finalize a framework for protecting 30% of global land and marine areas by 2030. Currently, 17% of terrestrial and 10% of marine areas are protected.

    The proposed framework also calls for reducing the rate of invasive species introduction and establishment by 50%, cutting pesticide use in half and eliminating the discharge of plastic waste.

    The goals — more ambitious than earlier ones that have mostly gone unmet — are expected to be at the heart of the meeting debate. But not far behind will be the issue of finance, with developing countries likely to push for significant monetary commitments before signing onto any deal.

    The draft framework calls for raising $200 billion or 1% of the world’s GDP for conservation by 2030. Another $500 billion annually would come from doing away with the politically-sensitive issue of subsidies that make food and fuel cheaper in many places.

    “The world is crying out for change, watching if governments seek to heal our relationship with the nature, with the planet,” Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, the executive secretary of the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity, said at a November news conference. “The current state of biodiversity is dire with the loss of biodiversity at unprecedented levels in our history.”

    The United Nations conference comes less than a month after countries gathered to tackle climate change, agreeing for the first time to pay poor countries for the damage being caused by a warming planet.

    Climate change coupled with habitat loss, pollution and development have hammered the world’s biodiversity, with one estimate in 2019 warning that a million plant and animal species face extinction within decades — a rate of loss 1,000 times greater than expected. Humans use about 50,000 wild species routinely, and 1 out of 5 people of the world’s 7.9 billion population depend on those species for food and income, the report said.

    “We’re clearly losing biodiversity all around the world. Our ecosystems — that’s our forests, our grasslands, our wetlands, our coral reefs — are all degrading,” said Robert Watson, who has chaired past U.N. science reports on climate change and biodiversity loss. “We’re losing species; some are going extinct and others where the population numbers have even halved. We’re losing genetic diversity within species. So we’re clearly affecting biodiversity badly.”

    Brian O’Donnell, the director of the conservation group Campaign for Nature, noted how he had lived during a time of “climate stability and natural abundance” but fears that won’t be the same for his daughter and her generation.

    “We have to ask, ‘Will they be able to have well-functioning natural areas to sustain them? Will they benefit from what nature has given us — storm protection, pollination, clean water, food, abundant wildlife? Or will they face the remnants of a once thriving natural system?’” O’Donnell said.

    “Will the burden of climate breakdown and nature degradation be placed on the young people of the planet, the vulnerable, and the poor, those least responsible for creating the crises?” he asked.

    The challenge, though, will be convincing governments that they should do more to preserve and protect biodiversity and to follow through on their commitments. It will be especially challenging to make the case for cash-strapped developing countries who often need to spend money on more pressing concerns.

    “It would be a big deal if a lot of nations commit to 30%,” said Duke University ecologist Stuart Pimm, referring to the draft goal to protect 30% of the planet for conservation. President Joe Biden has already laid out a vision to conserve 30% of U.S. land and waters by 2030, and then-United Kingdom prime minister Boris Johnson pledged to protect 30% of its land by 2030.

    The track record of this convention is not great.

    Governments agreed to a set of targets back in 2010 but only six of the 20 were partially met by a 2020 deadline. Some experts argue delegates should be exploring why the world fell short on so many targets rather than setting even more ambitious ones.

    “You can agree inside your environmental bubble … and that’s probably what happened back in 2010,” U.N. Environment Program Executive Director Inger Andersen told The Associated Press. “But we actually need to have agriculture as part of the conversation. We need to have the financing system as part of the conversation.”

    Susan Lieberman, vice president of international policy at Wildlife Conservation Society, said part of the problem is that, so far, there hasn’t been “sufficient accountability and monitoring” of the goals.

    “It’s really important to put in place a monitoring framework,” she said. “Countries need to report. There needs to be accountability … and the targets need to be clear enough that governments can monitor and report on them.”

    Among the goals is to close the estimated $700 billion a year gap in what is spent on biodiversity. Part of the problem, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Monica Medina said, is that the world not putting a sufficient price on nature.

    “We’re desperately trying to change people’s mindset about nature, and the fact that the things that we take for granted really aren’t free and we need to start actually accounting for their value and for the loss of their value … when development happens,” said Medina, who is leading the U.S. delegation at the conference.

    The funding hopes hinge heavily on whether countries reform their subsidies for industries that pollute or otherwise damage the natural world. Delegates face stiff opposition from parties, such as the fossil fuel sector, that would lose out if the reforms were enacted. Environmental ministers also have little influence over whether their countries take this risky step — one that’s been known to spark unrest and bring down governments.

    Watson, who has chaired past U.N. science reports, said reform is needed. “We need to get rid of subsidies. We need to draw down the subsidies on agriculture, fisheries, mining, energy, transportation, and we need to use that money for sustainable activities,” he said. “There’s probably over a trillion dollars a year in what we call direct subsidy, direct subsidies on fossil fuel, on fisheries, agriculture, etc. There’s also about $4 trillion of indirect subsidies.”

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    Associated Press science writer Christina Larson contributed to this report from Washington, D.C.

    ———

    Follow Michael Casey in Twitter: @mcasey1

    ———

    Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about AP’s climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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  • Renewables to overtake coal and become world’s biggest source of electricity generation by 2025, IEA says

    Renewables to overtake coal and become world’s biggest source of electricity generation by 2025, IEA says

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    Wind turbines in the Netherlands. A report from the International Energy Agency “expects renewables to become the primary energy source for electricity generation globally in the next three years, overtaking coal.”

    Mischa Keijser | Image Source | Getty Images

    Renewables are on course to overtake coal and become the planet’s biggest source of electricity generation by the middle of this decade, according to the International Energy Agency.

    The IEA’s Renewables 2022 report, published Tuesday, predicts a major shift within the world’s electricity mix at a time of significant volatility and geopolitical tension.

    “The first truly global energy crisis, triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, has sparked unprecedented momentum for renewables,” it said.

    “Renewables [will] become the largest source of global electricity generation by early 2025, surpassing coal,” it added.

    According to its “main-case forecast,” the IEA expects renewables to account for nearly 40% of worldwide electricity output in 2027, coinciding with a fall in the share of coal, natural gas and nuclear generation.

    The analysis comes at a time of huge disruption within global energy markets following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February.

    The Kremlin was the biggest supplier of both natural gas and petroleum oils to the EU in 2021, according to Eurostat. However, gas exports from Russia to the European Union have slid this year, as member states sought to drain the Kremlin’s war chest.

    Read more about energy from CNBC Pro

    As such, major European economies have been attempting to shore up supplies from alternative sources for the colder months ahead — and beyond.

    In a statement issued alongside its report, the IEA highlighted the consequences of the current geopolitical situation.

    “The global energy crisis is driving a sharp acceleration in installations of renewable power, with total capacity growth worldwide set to almost double in the next five years,” it said.

    “Energy security concerns caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have motivated countries to increasingly turn to renewables such as solar and wind to reduce reliance on imported fossil fuels, whose prices have spiked dramatically,” it added.

    In its largest-ever upward revision to its renewable power forecast, the IEA now expects the world’s renewable capacity to surge by nearly 2,400 gigawatts between 2022 and 2027 — the same amount as the “entire installed power capacity of China today.”

    Wind and solar surge ahead

    The IEA expects electricity stemming from wind and solar photovoltaic (which converts sunlight directly into electricity) to supply nearly 20% of the planet’s power generation in 2027.

    “These variable technologies account for 80% of global renewable generation increase over the forecast period, which will require additional sources of power system flexibility,” it added.

    However, the IEA expects growth in geothermal, bioenergy, hydropower and concentrated solar power to stay “limited despite their critical role in integrating wind and solar PV into global electricity systems.”

    Read more about electric vehicles from CNBC Pro

    Fatih Birol, the IEA’s executive director, said the global energy crisis had kicked renewables “into an extraordinary new phase of even faster growth as countries seek to capitalise on their energy security benefits.”

    “The world is set to add as much renewable power in the next 5 years as it did in the previous 20 years,” Birol said.

    The IEA chief added that the continued acceleration of renewables was “critical” to keeping “the door open to limiting global warming to 1.5 °C.”

    The 1.5 degree target is a reference to 2015′s Paris Agreement, a landmark accord that aims to “limit global warming to well below 2, preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels.”

    Cutting human-made carbon dioxide emissions to net-zero by 2050 is seen as crucial when it comes to meeting the 1.5 degrees Celsius target.

    Earlier this year, a report from the International Energy Agency said clean energy investment could be on course to exceed $2 trillion per year by 2030, an increase of over 50% compared to today.

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  • Airplane crash in Gulf of Mexico leaves 2 dead, 1 missing

    Airplane crash in Gulf of Mexico leaves 2 dead, 1 missing

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    VENICE, Fla. — A private airplane crashed into the Gulf of Mexico off the Florida coast Saturday night, with two people confirmed dead as authorities searched for a third person believed to have been on the flight, police said.

    Authorities in Venice, Florida, initiated a search Sunday after 10 a.m. following a Federal Aviation Administration inquiry to the Venice Municipal Airport about an overdue single-engine Piper Cherokee that had not returned to its origin airport in St. Petersburg, Florida.

    Around the same time, recreational boaters found the body of a woman floating about 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) west of the Venice shore, city of Venice spokesperson Lorraine Anderson said in a statement.

    Divers from the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office located the wreckage of the rented airplane around 2 p.m. about a third of a mile offshore, directly west of the Venice airport, Anderson said.

    Rescuers found a deceased girl in the plane’s passenger area. A third person, believed to be a male who was the pilot or a passenger, remained missing Sunday, Anderson said.

    The county sheriff’s office, the U.S. Coast Guard, the Sarasota Police Department, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the District 12 Medical Examiner’s Office and the National Transportation Safety Board were involved in the investigation, Anderson said.

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  • Parking lots are becoming as important as cars in climate change efforts

    Parking lots are becoming as important as cars in climate change efforts

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    Vcg | Visual China Group | Getty Images

    It’s not just cars that will be going through energy transition in the years ahead. The parking lots where EVs recharge are a growing focus of construction efforts linked to climate change and carbon reduction.

    A law approved in France last month requires that parking lots with 80 or more spaces be covered by solar panels within the next five years. For the biggest parking lots, those with more than 400 spaces, three years has been granted to have at least half of the parking lot’s surface area covered by solar.  

    Similar renewable energy design ideas are expected to gain more market share in the U.S. if not necessarily through a federal mandate.

    “You’ll see a lot of the same stuff that you’re seeing in France and other countries, but it probably won’t necessarily play out the same way, in terms of federal action versus state action,” said Bill Abolt, vice president and lead of energy business for infrastructure consulting firm AECOM.

    As local and state governments create mandates for renewable energy deployment, and the federal government takes an incentive-based approach to encourage climate technology through measures like the Inflation Reduction Act, major corporations are making their own commitments to solar power.

    Target, Home Depot, Walmart and renewable energy

    Target revamped one of its California stores with solar panel carports this spring. Home Depot is making efforts to have all of its stores use only renewable energy by 2030, while Walmart hopes to achieve this by 2040. These efforts won’t only come through producing renewable power on-site —  procurement of renewable energy from utility-scale projects is among strategic options to meet these goals — but investing in solar power for store locations will become more prevalent.

    “You have a lot of significant companies that have stepped up and made commitments to renewable energy and similar things with local governments and institutions. So, there’s no doubt that that level of investment has accelerated the development of technology, the deployment of more cost effective solar,” Abolt said.

    The cost to install solar has dropped by more than 60% over the past decade, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association.

    “There’s no doubt that the cost curve of solar gets better and better all the time and will continue to do so. Private business has done a lot, and we’re seeing even more private investment likely to happen as a result,” Abolt said.

    Global commercial real estate company CBRE is partnering with renewable energy company Altus Power to work with clients including many Fortune 500 companies on solar projects.

    “The topics that are top of mind for these corporations right now are decarbonization and energy efficiency and energy resiliency,” said Lars Norell, co-founder and co-CEO of Altus Power. “The No. 1 answer is building-sited clean energy,” he said.

    Norell said it has now become possible for businesses of all sizes to consider renewable energy projects.

    “Something that Walmart or IKEA or Amazon does, smaller family-owned businesses come to us and say ‘Should we do the same thing? Could our roof hold solar?’ The answer in almost all those cases is absolutely yes,” he said.

    Public expectations and pressure from boards are key factors in why major corporations tend to act quicker than smaller companies when it comes to renewable energy. “In many cases, smaller companies don’t have quite such an audience that is expecting them to act, but many of them are acting sort of out of self-interest or because they would like to save money,” Norell said.

    Solar power and commercial real estate

    Solar carports and rooftop solar are the primary solar designs being adopted in the world of commercial real estate.

    “We find that there is almost no debate around the wisdom of putting solar in a parking lot,” Norell said. “We believe that rooftop solar and carport solar are going to be easier for most communities to not only accept but embrace as a way to make clean energy.”

    In recent years, an increasing number of solar projects have been built over commercial parking lots, and state governments have created incentives specifically for solar carports, including the 2018 Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target, and the Maryland Energy Administration Solar Canopy Grant Program, which provides funding to incentivize the use of solar carports and parking garages, with EV chargers included on site. It has provided up to $250,000 per solar carport project, creating an incentive for commercial businesses to invest in the projects.

    “Increasing power prices and more government support, like in France where they mandated it, we think will mean that more parking lots are going to have carports,” Norell said.

    Commercial retail centers and logistics buildings are prime targets for solar. Commercial retail centers, like grocery stores, consume higher levels of energy and often feature big parking lots. Logistics buildings like warehouses feature large rooftops that are optimal places to implement rooftop solar energy.

    Altus Power forecasts that most buildings will have a solar power system over the next decade.

    With the growing production and consumption of EVs — the International Energy Agency reported that U.S. electric car sales doubled in market share to 4.5% in 2021, reaching 630,000 EVs sold — solar-powered commercial businesses become more beneficial to consumers requiring EV chargers in parking lots.  

    The same will be the case for warehouses and distribution centers.

    “Once we start getting good at having electrical-powered van fleets and trucks, all those trucks come to those logistical buildings, and that’s an excellent spot to put up fleet chargers, so that when the truck is busy … we take the opportunity to charge its electrical battery as well,” Norell said. “We can charge it with clean electricity because we’re making solar power on the roof, and that’s then going into the truck.”

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  • Prince William, like his father, prioritizes the environment

    Prince William, like his father, prioritizes the environment

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    BOSTON — Prince William capped a three-day visit to Boston by meeting with President Joe Biden to share his vision for safeguarding the environment before attending a gala event Friday evening where he sounded an optimistic tone about solving the world’s environmental problems through “hope, optimism and urgency.”

    The Prince of Wales paid homage to the late President John F. Kennedy, saying his Earthshot Prize was inspired by Kennedy’s audacious moonshot speech in 1962 that mobilized the nation to put astronauts on the moon. That same sense of urgency and scale is needed now to protect the environment, William said.

    “In the same way the space effort six decades ago created jobs, boosted economies and provided hope, so too can the solutions borne of tonight’s Earthshot Prize winners,” William said.

    The second annual Earthshot Prize offered 1 million pounds ($1.2 million) in prize money to each of the winners in five separate categories: nature protection, clean air, ocean revival, waste elimination and climate change. The winners and all 15 finalists will receive help in expanding their projects to meet global demand.

    The winners, announced at Boston’s MGM Music Hall, were:

    — A female-founded startup that’s providing cleaner-burning biomass stoves in Africa

    — A United Kingdom company making biodegradable packaging from seaweed

    — A “greenhouse-in-a-box” concept created to increase yields on small farms in India

    — A technique for transforming atmospheric carbon into rock in Oman in the Middle East

    — A woman-led effort to create a new generation of indigenous rangers in Australia.

    Providing the star power for the glitzy show were Annie Lennox, Ellie Goulding and Chloe x Halle live in Boston, and Billie Eilish performing remotely. The event also featured videos narrated by naturalist David Attenborough and actor Cate Blanchett. Prizes were presented by actor Rami Malek, comedian Catherine O’Hara, and actor and activist Shailene Woodley.

    The entertainers were eager to help.

    “It’s the greatest crisis of our lifetime, and I appreciate what Prince William is doing,” Malek said before heading into the venue. “And in the next 10 years I think the impact will be staggering. And we can really effect change in the greatest way with these innovators who are being awarded this evening.”

    Before the event, William met privately for 30 minutes with Biden after the two shook hands and spoke briefly in the cold near the water outside of the John F. Kennedy Memorial Library and Museum. As William walked down the steps in his suit, Biden, wearing in a black winter coat, shouted: “Where’s your topcoat?”

    William also met Caroline Kennedy, the ambassador to Australia and the late president’s daughter. William toured the museum with Kennedy and told her that her father was “the man who inspired our mission.”

    William and his wife, Kate, earlier attended a welcome Wednesday at City Hall and then a Boston Celtics game before the royal couple spent much of Thursday hearing about the threats of climate change and solutions in the works.

    William became heir apparent less than three months ago with the death of his grandmother, the queen, but he already has been crowned Britain’s chief environmentalist. That was apparent during the Boston visit, which earned praise for drawing attention to pollution and climate change and the need to scale up solutions.

    “I just appreciate that they are using platform and publicity to bring attention to meaningful climate work,” said Joe Christo, managing director of Stone Living Lab, which researches nature-based approaches to climate adaptation and was among those who met the royal couple at Boston Harbor on Thursday.

    “I do know his dad is a big environmentalist,” he said. “He seems to be doing a great job continuing that legacy.”

    William is following in the footsteps of his environmentally minded grandfather Prince Philip — the late husband of Queen Elizabeth II — and more recently his father and Elizabeth’s successor, King Charles III.

    William’s father, in his former capacity as prince, was for decades one of Britain’s most prominent environmental voices — blasting the ills of pollution. Last year, he stood before world leaders at a U.N. climate conference in Scotland and suggested the threats posed by climate change and biodiversity loss were no different than those posed by the coronavirus pandemic.

    Now that he is king, Charles is expected to be more careful with his words and must stay out of politics and government policy, in accordance with the traditions of Britain’s constitutional monarchy. This year, he did not attend the U.N. climate conference, which was held in Egypt.

    The caution presents an opportunity for William to step into that role as the royal family’s environmental advocate and speak more forcefully about the issues once associated with his father.

    There is no better example than the Earthshot Prize.

    “It’s a huge deal to Prince William,” Joe Little, the managing editor of Majesty Magazine. “He knows he can attract attention from the most important people. That really is the core of the Boston trip.”

    William and Kate got a firsthand look at some recent innovations at a green technology startup incubator called Greentown Labs, in Somerville. Among them were solar-powered autonomous boats and low-carbon cement.

    “Climate change is a global problem, so it’s so important to have global leaders talking about the importance of taking action,” said Lara Cottingham, vice president of strategy policy and climate impact for Greentown Labs.

    The couple’s first trip to the U.S. since 2014 is part of the royal family’s efforts to change its international image. After Elizabeth’s death, Charles has made clear that his will be a slimmed-down monarchy, with less pomp and ceremony than its predecessors. William and Kate arrived in Boston on a commercial British Airways flight.

    ———

    Associated Press writer Zeke Miller contributed to this report in Boston.

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  • French President visits New Orleans, Louisiana

    French President visits New Orleans, Louisiana

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    BATON ROUGE, La. — French President Emmanuel Macron will head to Louisiana on Friday to celebrate longstanding cultural ties and to discuss energy policy.

    Macron’s office said he will meet with political leaders and is scheduled to see the historic French Quarter, the heart of the city. The Advocate reported that the visit will be the first by a French president since Valery Giscard d’Estaing traveled to Lafayette and New Orleans in 1976. The only other French president to visit Louisiana was Charles de Gaulle in 1960.

    Macron is planning to go to Jackson Square in New Orleans, where he will be welcomed by Mayor LaToya Cantrell. He will then head to the Historic New Orleans Collection to discuss climate change impacts with Gov. John Bel Edwards. Macron is also scheduled to meet with energy company representatives.

    Edwards, a Democrat, has been outspoken about the perils of climate change, in a state where tens of thousands of jobs are tied to the oil and gas industry. This makes the stop to New Orleans “very emblematic” of climate-related efforts, French officials stressed.

    In addition, Macron and Edwards will sign a memorandum of understanding “to further expand and enhance the strong cultural connections between France and Louisiana in the areas of the economy, clean energy and the environment,” according to the governor’s office.

    During Macron’s visit to Washington on Thursday, he and President Joe Biden released a joint statement expressing “their deep concern regarding the growing impact of climate change and nature loss” and said they “intend to continue to galvanize domestic and global action to address it.”

    In New Orleans, Macron is expected to announce plans to expand programming to support French language education in U.S.

    “We want the French language to be a language for all and therefore give a fresh image of the French in the United States,” Macron said Wednesday in a speech to the French community in Washington D.C.

    New Orleans is where the Louisiana Purchase was finalized, transferring Louisiana from France to the United States in 1803. The state’s most populous city is also home to the French Quarter, the more than 300-year-old historic heart of New Orleans. First settled in the 1700s, ravaged by fire twice, it is 13 blocks long and roughly six blocks wide. It is best known as a tourist spot and commercial district where reimagined French Market, fine restaurants, antique shops and art galleries coexist alongside T-shirt shops, strip joints and bars blasting live music by cover bands.

    The visit will be the first by a French president since Valery Giscard d’Estaing traveled to Lafayette and New Orleans in 1976, The Advocate reported. The only other French president to visit Louisiana was Charles de Gaulle in 1960.

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  • Q&A: Jacob Harold creates philanthropist ‘toolbox,’ guide

    Q&A: Jacob Harold creates philanthropist ‘toolbox,’ guide

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    Jacob Harold believes philanthropy needs more “strategic promiscuity” – battling the world’s problems using a variety of approaches.

    It’s an idea that mirrors his wide-ranging career. Harold was president and CEO of GuideStar before it merged with Foundation Center to form the even larger nonprofit information source Candid, which he co-founded. He worked with the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation to make its giving more effective and with The Bridgespan Group, he helped philanthropists and foundations donate more intentionally. As a strategist for Greenpeace USA and Rainforest Action Network, he deployed those donations.

    “We can’t afford as a field and as a species to leave great ideas on the table right now,” Harold said. “If that great idea is born in some small organization, we have to figure out what is its pathway into government policy. What is its pathway into the marketplace? We can’t predict that, but we can equip people to have a better chance of getting there.”

    To boost those chances, Harold wrote “The Toolbox: Strategies for Crafting Social Impact,” which hit bookshelves Thursday. “The Toolbox” offers nine strategies, or tools, philanthropists can use on a problem – from storytelling to behavioral economics to community organizing.

    “I hope people who have only one lens — all they have is a hammer, so the whole world looks like a nail – read this and just sort of pause and see that there’s other stuff out there,” Harold said. “And I want people feeling discouraged and hopeless in this strange moment to be reminded of the abundance of options and the abundance of learning and resources that are out there.”

    Harold, 45, recently spoke with The Associated Press about his new book and how he hopes it helps nonprofits reach more donors. The interview was edited for clarity and length.

    Q: Why did you want to write this book?

    A: It goes back to my time at the Hewlett Foundation a decade ago where I’m sitting there in the fancy office of a $10 billion dollar foundation and the smartest social entrepreneurs in the world are coming to us pitching big ideas. Then, for lunch, we’ll have a great philosopher or a brilliant psychologist come in and give a talk. Or we’ll go across the street to Stanford and hang out at the design school. We were just so privileged to see all these different ways of thinking about social change. And I realized no one else had that level of privilege. So the first point of the book is “Let’s just share that abundance of ways of thinking about social good.” Over the centuries, people have put so much thought and time into figuring out how to do it and we’ve actually learned a lot.

    Q: You said that’s your hopeful reason. What’s the less hopeful reason?

    A: Part of me was kind of angry because so many people are so convinced that their one approach was the only way to succeed. So many of the failures we’ve seen in the social sector over the last 20 years come from people so obsessed with a particular framework that they don’t acknowledge the complexity of the world.

    Q: How do you want readers to use this book?

    A: I think most everyone is going to come to this with one of these tools as a framework that they’re already using. Maybe they come from the business world and use a market mindset. Or they come from journalism and they bring a storytelling mindset. I hope first they would see some affirmation in what they already have, but then seed their mind with these other ways of thinking… I would also expect that someone will read this book and say, “Seven of these tools make sense to me and two of them made no sense at all.” That is OK. It’s not that everyone has to master every way of thinking. It’s just that we have to recognize that the world’s too complicated for any one way to be enough.

    Q: Why is it important for this book to come out now?

    A: Right now, so many of us feel emotionally overwhelmed. There’s a lot of anxiety. We need to act in the face of all these challenges, but we also need to have confidence that we actually can succeed.

    Q: To what extent can philanthropy get things done when compared to governments, especially in a global issue like climate change?

    A: That’s one thing that I struggled with in this book that the classic reader of this book would be a nonprofit manager or a foundation staffer. But there are lots of people in the business world and in government working full time to make a better world. And they need tools too. The people in government trying to figure out the right policies to address climate change need to have frameworks in their minds as well. And we actually need every sector applying every lesson to address a question like climate change. Climate change, to me, is the perfect example of a problem that can’t be solved with a single solution.

    —————

    Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.

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  • Why a Former CEO Doesn’t Want You to Lose Hope in Fashion

    Why a Former CEO Doesn’t Want You to Lose Hope in Fashion

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    “Standing on the edge of the sixth mass extinction, fashion might seem a small player in the emergency,” Safia Minney wrote in the opening pages of her latest book, “Regenerative Fashion.” But, she goes on to argue that it’s anything but small. 

    “We can put nature and people central to creating beautiful product. What my book is trying to do is show that we can redesign the fashion industry,” she tells Fashionista, “that these solutions already exist and that it’s really now up to us to learn what the solutions are to start.” 

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    Andrea Bossi

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  • Tesla is still dominant, but its U.S. market share is eroding as cheaper EVs arrive

    Tesla is still dominant, but its U.S. market share is eroding as cheaper EVs arrive

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    A Tesla Model 3 vehicle is on display at the Tesla auto store on September 22, 2022 in Santa Monica, California. Tesla is recalling over 1 million vehicles in the U.S. because the windows can pinch a person’s fingers while being rolled up.

    Allison Dinner | Getty Images

    Tesla is still the top-selling electric vehicle brand in the U.S., but its dominance is eroding as rivals offer a growing number of more affordable models, according to a report Tuesday by S&P Global Mobility.

    The data firm found that Tesla’s market share of new registered electric vehicles in the U.S. stood at 65% through the third quarter, down from 71% last year and 79% in 2020. S&P forecasts Tesla’s EV market share will decline to less than 20% by 2025, with the number of EV models expected to grow from 48 today to 159 by then.

    A drop in Tesla’s U.S. market share was expected, but the rate of the decline could be concerning for investors in Elon Musk’s autos and energy company. As Musk focuses attention on fixing his recently acquired social media company, Twitter, Tesla shares closed down by about a point to $180 on Tuesday. Tesla’s stock has declined by almost half year to date.

    S&P reported that Tesla is slowly losing its stranglehold on the U.S. EV market to fully electric models that are now available in price ranges below $50,000, where “Tesla does not yet truly compete.” Tesla’s entry-level Model 3 starts at about $48,200 with shipping fees, but the vehicles typically retail for higher prices with options.

    “Tesla’s position is changing as new, more affordable options arrive, offering equal or better technology and production build,” S&P said in the report. “Given that consumer choice and consumer interest in EVs are growing, Tesla’s ability to retain a dominant market share will be challenged going forward.”

    Read more about electric vehicles from CNBC Pro

    The new data follows a Reuters report Monday that Tesla is developing a revamped version of its entry-level Model 3 aimed at cutting production costs and reducing the components and complexity in the interior.

    During the company’s third-quarter earnings call in October, Musk said Tesla was finally working on a new, more affordable model that he first teased in 2020.

    “We don’t want to talk exact dates, but this is the primary focus of our new vehicle development team, obviously,” he said, adding that Tesla had completed “the engineering for Cybertruck and for Semi.”

    He described the future vehicle as something “smaller,” that will “exceed the production of all our other vehicles combined.”

    Stephanie Brinley, associate director of AutoIntelligence for S&P Global Mobility, noted that Tesla’s unit sales are expected to increase in coming years despite the decline in its market share.

    Tesla’s current leadership in EVs is over a relatively insignificant market. Despite the amount of attention surrounding EVs, sales of all-electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles — which include electric motors as well as an internal combustion engine — remain miniscule.

    Of the 10.22 million vehicles registered in the U.S. through the third quarter, roughly 525,000, or 5.1%, were all-electric models. That’s up from 334,000, or 2.8%, through the third quarter of 2021, according to S&P.

    The majority of the EVs registered through September — or nearly 340,000 — were Teslas, according to S&P. The remaining vehicles were divided, very unevenly, among 46 other nameplates.

    But Tesla’s success in the market as well as government incentives have all but forced traditional automakers to make an effort in the growing EV segment.

    The Ford Mustang Mach-E, ranked third in EV registrations, is the only non-Tesla vehicle in the top five rankings, S&P said. Those EVs were followed by the Chevrolet Bolt and Bolt EUV, Hyundai Ioniq 5, Kia EV6, Volkswagen ID.4 and Nissan Leaf.

    S&P noted that the growth in EVs is largely coming from current owners of Toyota and Honda vehicles. Both of the automakers are well-known for fuel-efficient vehicles but have been slow to transition to all-electric models.

    To help curb carbon and other emissions from traditional gas-powered vehicles, several states and the federal government are encouraging the transition to fully electric vehicles with incentives such as tax breaks.

    Transportation is responsible for 25% of carbon emissions from human activity globally, according to estimates by the nonprofit International Council on Clean Transportation.

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  • Australia argues against ‘endangered’ Barrier Reef status

    Australia argues against ‘endangered’ Barrier Reef status

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    CANBERRA, Australia — Australia’s environment minister said Tuesday her government will lobby against UNESCO adding the Great Barrier Reef to a list of endangered World Heritage sites.

    Officials from the U.N. cultural agency and the International Union for Conservation of Nature released a report on Monday warning that without “ambitious, rapid and sustained” climate action, the world’s largest coral reef is in peril.

    The report, which recommended shifting the Great Barrier Reef to endangered status, followed a 10-day mission in March to the famed reef system off Australia’s northeast coast that was added to the World Heritage list in 1981.

    Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek said the report was a reflection on Australia’s previous conservative government, which was voted out of office in May elections after nine years in power.

    She said the new center-left Labor Party government has already addressed several of the report’s concerns, including action on climate change.

    “We’ll very clearly make the point to UNESCO that there is no need to single the Great Barrier Reef out in this way” with an endangered listing, Plibersek told reporters.

    “The reason that UNESCO in the past has singled out a place as at risk is because they wanted to see greater government investment or greater government action and, since the change of government, both of those things have happened,” she added.

    The new government has legislated to commit Australia to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 43% below the 2005 level by 2030.

    The previous government only committed to a reduction of 26% to 28% by the end of the decade.

    Plibersek said her government has also committed 1.2 billion Australian dollars ($798 million) to caring for the reef and has canceled the previous government’s plans to build two major dams in Queensland state that would have affected the reef’s water quality.

    “If the Great Barrier Reef is in danger, then every coral reef in the world is in danger,” Plibersek said. “If this World Heritage site is in danger, then most World Heritage sites around the world are in danger from climate change.”

    The report said Australia’s federal government and Queensland authorities should adopt more ambitious emission reduction targets in line with international efforts to limit future warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) since pre-industrial times.

    The minor Greens party, which wants Australia to slash its emissions by 75% by the end of the decade, called for the government to do more to fight climate change in light of the report.

    Jodie Rummer, a marine biologist at James Cook University in Townville who has worked on the reef for more than a decade, supported calls for Australia to aim for a 75% emissions reduction.

    “We are taking action, but that action needs to be much more rapid and much more urgent,” Rummer told Australian Broadcasting Corp.

    “We cannot claim to be doing all we can for the reef at this point. We aren’t. We need to be sending that message to the rest of the world that we are doing everything that we possibly can for the reef and that means we need to take urgent action on emissions immediately,” she added.

    Feedback from Australian officials, both at the federal and state level, will be reviewed before Paris-based UNESCO makes any official proposal to the World Heritage committee.

    In July last year, the previous Australian government garnered enough international support to defer an attempt by UNESCO to downgrade the reef’s status to “in danger” because of damage caused by climate change.

    The Great Barrier Reef accounts for around 10% of the world’s coral reef ecosystems. The network of more than 2,500 reefs covers 348,000 square kilometers (134,000 square miles).

    Australian government scientists reported in May that more than 90% of Great Barrier Reef coral surveyed in the latest year was bleached, in the fourth such mass event in seven years.

    Bleaching is caused by global warming, but this is the reef’s first bleaching event during a La Niña weather pattern, which is associated with cooler Pacific Ocean temperatures, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Authority said in its annual report.

    Bleaching in 2016, 2017 and 2020 damaged two-thirds of the coral.

    Coral bleaches as a response to heat stress and scientists hope most of the coral will recover from the latest event.

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  • Sibling unease dogs Prince William’s ‘Earthshot’ US trip

    Sibling unease dogs Prince William’s ‘Earthshot’ US trip

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    LONDON — Prince William and the Princess of Wales will be looking to focus attention on their Earthshot Prize for environmental innovators when they make their first visit to the U.S. in eight years this week, a trip likely to be dogged by tensions with Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, who have criticized Britain’s royal family in the American media.

    William and his wife, Catherine, will travel to Boston on Wednesday for three days of public engagements before announcing the prize winners on Friday.

    Boston, birthplace of John F. Kennedy, was chosen to host the second annual prize ceremony because the late president’s 1962 “moonshot” speech — setting the challenge for Americans to reach the moon by the end of the decade — inspired the prince and his partners to set a similar goal for finding solutions to climate change and other environmental problems by 2030. The first Earthshot Prizes were awarded last year in London just before the U.K. hosted the COP26 climate conference.

    But as much as the royals try to focus on the prize, William is likely to face questions about Harry and Meghan, who have criticized the royal family for racism and insensitive treatment in interviews with Oprah Winfrey and other U.S. media. The Netflix series “The Crown” has also resurrected some of the more troubled times of the House of Windsor just as the royal family tries to show that it remains relevant in modern, multicultural Britain following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

    “You could say that the royal family, particularly as far as America is concerned, have had a bit of a bumpy ride of late,’’ said Joe Little, the managing editor of Majesty Magazine. “They’ve come in for huge amounts of criticism on the back of ‘The Crown’ and also the Oprah Winfrey interview, which has not particularly reflected well on the House of Windsor, so I think it’s a good opportunity whilst they’re in the U.S. … to sort of redress the balance if at all possible.’’

    Whatever those efforts are, they will take place in and around Boston, where William and Kate will remain for their entire visit.

    The royal couple will keep the focus on environmental issues, meeting with local organizations responding to rising sea levels in Boston and visiting Greentown Labs in Somerville, Massachusetts, an incubator hub where local entrepreneurs are working on projects to combat climate change.

    But they will also address broader issues, using their star power to highlight the work of Roca Inc., which tries to improve the lives of young people by addressing issues such as racism, poverty and incarceration. They will also visit Harvard University’s Center on the Developing Child, a leader on research into the long-term impact of early childhood experiences.

    William and Kate will also meet with Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and visit the John F. Kennedy Memorial Library and Museum with the late president’s daughter, Caroline Kennedy.

    “The Prince and Princess are looking forward to spending time in Boston, and to learning more about the issues that are affecting local people, as well as to celebrating the incredible climate solutions that will be spotlighted through the Earthshot Prize,” their Kensington Palace office said in a statement.

    Earthshot offers 1 million pounds ($1.2 million) in prize money to the winners of five separate categories: nature protection, clean air, ocean revival, waste elimination and climate change. The winners and all 15 finalists also receive help in expanding their projects to meet global demand.

    Among the finalists is a startup from Kenya that aims to provide cleaner-burning stoves to make cooking safer and reduce indoor air pollution. It was the brainwave of Charlot Magayi, who grew up in one of Nairobi’s largest slums and sold charcoal for fuel.

    When her daughter was severely burned by a charcoal-fired stove in 2012, she developed a stove that uses a safer fuel made from a combination of charcoal, wood and sugarcane. The stoves cut costs for users, reduce toxic emissions and lower the risk of burns, Magayi says.

    Other finalists include Fleather, a project in India that creates an alternative to leather out of floral waste; Hutan, an effort to protect orangutans in Malaysia; and SeaForester, which seeks to restore kelp forests that capture carbon and promote biodiversity.

    The winners will be announced Friday at Boston’s MGM Music Hall as part of a glitzy show headlined by Billie Eilish, Annie Lennox, Ellie Goulding and Chloe x Halle. It will include video narrated by naturalist David Attenborough and actor Cate Blanchett.

    Prizes will be presented by actor Rami Malek, comedian Catherine O’Hara, and actor and activist Shailene Woodley. The show will be co-hosted by the BBC’s Clara Amfo and American actor and producer Daniel Dae Kim.

    The ceremony will be broadcast Sunday on the BBC in the U.K., PBS in the U.S. and Multichoice across Africa.

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  • Fire plan would cut 2.4 million New Jersey Pinelands trees

    Fire plan would cut 2.4 million New Jersey Pinelands trees

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    BASS RIVER TOWNSHIP, N.J. — Up to 2.4 million trees would be cut down as part of a project to prevent major wildfires in a federally protected New Jersey forest heralded as a unique environmental treasure.

    New Jersey environmental officials say the plan to kill trees in a section of Bass River State Forest is designed to better protect against catastrophic wildfires, adding it will mostly affect small, scrawny trees — not the towering giants for which the Pinelands National Refuge is known and loved.

    But the plan, adopted Oct. 14 by the New Jersey Pinelands Commission and set to begin in April, has split environmentalists. Some say it is a reasonable and necessary response to the dangers of wildfires, while others say it is an unconscionable waste of trees that would no longer be able to store carbon as climate change imperils the globe.

    Foes are also upset about the possible use of herbicides to prevent invasive species regeneration, noting that the Pinelands sits atop an aquifer that contains some of the purest drinking water in the nation.

    And some of them fear the plan could be a back door to logging the protected woodlands under the guise of fire protection, despite the state’s denials.

    “In order to save the forest, they have to cut down the forest,” said Jeff Tittel, the retired former director of the New Jersey Sierra Club, calling the plan “shameful” and “Orwellian.”

    Pinelands Commissioner Mark Lohbauer voted against the plan, calling it ill-advised on many levels. He says it could harm rare snakes, and adds that he has researched forestry tactics from western states and believes that tree-thinning is ineffective in preventing large wildfires.

    “We are in an era of climate change; it’s incumbent on us to do our utmost to preserve these trees that are sequestering carbon,” he said. “If we don’t have an absolutely essential reason for cutting down trees, we shouldn’t do it.”

    The plan involves about 1,300 acres (526 hectares), a miniscule percentage of the 1.1-million-acre (445,150-hectare) Pinelands preserve, which enjoys federal and state protection, and has been named a unique biosphere by the United Nations.

    Most of the trees to be killed are 2 inches (5 centimeters) or less in diameter, the state said. Dense undergrowth of these smaller trees can act as “ladder fuel,” carrying fire from the forest floor up to the treetops, where flames can spread rapidly and wind can intensify to whip up blazes, the state Department of Environmental Protection said in a statement.

    A Pinelands commissioner calculated that 2.4 million trees would be removed by using data from the state’s application, multiplying the percentage of tree density reduction by the amount of land affected.

    The department would not say whether it believes that number is accurate, nor would it offer a number of its own. But it did say “the total number of trees thinned could be significant.”

    “This is like liquid gasoline in the Pinelands,” said Todd Wyckoff, chief of the New Jersey Forest Service, as he touched a scrawny pine tree of the type that will most often be cut during the project. “I see a forest at risk from fire. I look at this as restoring the forest to more of what it should be.”

    Tree thinning is an accepted form of forest management in many areas of the country, done in the name of preventing fires from becoming larger than they otherwise might be, and is supported by government foresters as well as timber industry officials. But some conservation groups say thinning does not work.

    New Jersey says the cutting will center on the smallest snow-bent pitch pine trees, “and an intact canopy will be maintained across the site.”

    The state’s application, however, envisions that canopy cover will be reduced from 68% to 43% on over 1,000 acres (405 hectares), with even larger decreases planned for smaller sections.

    And scrawny trees aren’t the only ones that will be cut: Many thick, tall trees on either side of some roads will be cut down to create more of a fire break, where firefighters can defend against a spreading blaze.

    The affected area has about 2,000 trees per acre — four times the normal density in the Pinelands, according to the state.

    Most of the cut trees will be ground into wood chips that will remain on the forest floor, eventually returning to the soil, the department said, adding, “It is not anticipated that any material of commercial value will be produced because of this project.”

    Some environmentalists fear that might not be true, that felled trees could be harvested and sold as cord wood, wood pellets or even used in making glue.

    “I’m opposed to the removal of any of that material,” Lohbauer said. “That material belongs in the forest where it will support habitat and eventually be recycled” into the soil. “Even if they use it for wood pellets, which are popular for burning in wood stoves, that releases the carbon.”

    John Cecil, an assistant commissioner with the department, said his agency is not looking to make a profit from any wood products that might be removed from the site.

    But he said that if some felled trees “could be put to good use and generate revenue for the taxpayers, why wouldn’t we do that? If there’s a way to do this that preserves the essential goals of this plan and brings some revenue back in, that’s not the end of the world. Maybe you could get a couple fence posts out of these trees.”

    Created by an act of Congress in 1978, the Pinelands district occupies 22% of New Jersey’s land area, is home to 135 rare plant and animal species, and is the largest body of open space on the mid-Atlantic seaboard between Richmond, Virginia, and Boston. It also includes an aquifer that is the source of 17 trillion gallons (64 trillion liters) of drinking water.

    “It is unacceptable to be cutting down trees in a climate emergency, and cutting 2.4 million small trees will severely reduce the future ability to store carbon,” said Bill Wolfe, a former department official who runs an environmental blog.

    Carleton Montgomery, executive director of the Pinelands Preservation Alliance, supports the plan.

    The group said opponents are using the number of trees to be cut “to (elicit) shock and horror,” saying that by focusing on the number rather than size of trees to be cut, they “are quite literally missing the forest for the trees. The resulting forest will be a healthy native Pine Barrens habitat.”

    ———

    This story corrects the name of agency in paragraph 13 to New Jersey Forest Service, not Forest Fire Service.

    ———

    Follow Wayne Parry on Twitter at www.twitter.com/WayneParryAC

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  • Review: ‘Strange World’ explores big themes in bold colors

    Review: ‘Strange World’ explores big themes in bold colors

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    Is Searcher Clade the most millennial dad in all of animated moviedom? He has that telltale hipster beard. A sensitive voice sorta like Jake Gyllenhaal. And he feeds his kid avocado toast, with an egg on top.

    Oh wait, that IS Gyllenhaal in “Strange World,” Disney’s pleasantly entertaining, gorgeously rendered but slightly heavy-handed meditation on climate change and father-son dynamics. The actor charmingly voices a character drawn to look so much like him, you almost expect an animated Swiftie to come around, asking for that infamous scarf back. (Sorry, but it’s been a Taylor Swift kind of month.)

    The very name “Searcher” sounds vaguely millennial, too, but actually it’s a reference to both the blessing and the curse of the Clade family, a storied clan of explorers. In a prologue, we see the young Searcher set out on a family expedition led by his dad, burly Jaeger Clade, whose life goal is to find what’s beyond the forbidding mountains that ring their homeland, Avalonia. But before they get there, young Searcher discovers something shocking.

    It’s a group of plants that seem to be lit up, glowing from an unseen energy. What is this magical crop? Searcher argues that they need to bring it back to Avalonia, where it could serve many uses. But Jaeger (voiced with appropriate gruffness by Dennis Quaid) refuses to turn back. He tosses his young son his compass and continues by himself. Twenty-five years go by.

    Wait, what? Dad stays away for 25 years? This is truly deficient parenting, and it’s no wonder that when grownup Searcher has his own son, Ethan (an adorable character sweetly voiced by Jaboukie Young-White), he’s a helicopter parent, doting on the boy a bit too much. Grandpa is still lionized in town with a large statue attesting to his exploits. But Searcher tells Ethan that despite his fame, Grandpa was a majorly absentee dad.

    Let’s pause to consider the themes at play. We have climate change issues in the form of “pando,” the crucial energy source that Searcher now farms and has modernized Avalonia. And we have three generations of men: the very different Jaeger and Searcher, a boomer and a millennial if you will, and then young Ethan, trying to find his way. There’s much dialogue here about breaking from expectations to forge your own path.

    There’s also the not-insignificant fact that Ethan has a same-sex crush. This has led some to call the film the first Disney animated gay teen romance. That’s a bit of a stretch, because this budding romance is a side plot, referred to by a number of characters, but by no means a major topic of discussion.

    But maybe that’s the point — if it’s not a major plot point, nor is it a sneeze-and-you-miss it moment like, for example, that quick glance in “Beauty and the Beast” in 2017 that was heralded as the first Disney “gay moment.” It’s just a given that when Ethan talks about his crush, he’s talking about Diazo, a boy, and nobody, not his parents nor his crusty old granddad, bats an eyelid. It’s also refreshing that the Clades are a biracial family, and that too, is not discussed.

    The movie, it must be said, is definitely about men, despite the welcome but underused presences of Gabrielle Union as Searcher’s wife, Meridian — a fearless pilot — and Lucy Liu as Callisto, president of Avalonia, It is Callisto who gets things moving, plot-wise, when she arrives at Searcher’s front door in her pando-powered airship with a stark warning: the pando crop is failing. Everywhere. Searcher must come help. Now.

    Reluctantly, the homebody Searcher hops aboard. Someone on the ship asks him immediately if he can, like, forge an autograph from his more-famous dad. Aargh. In any case, the ship travels down to the roots that power pando. Meanwhile, Searcher soon discovers that Ethan has stowed away on the ship, eager for his own adventure (and more Jaeger-like than Searcher would want to admit). Meridian has followed, and now they’re on a family trip.

    And who should turn up but Jaeger himself? He has some explaining to do. Turns out he got stuck in a stunning, scary, strange underworld. And it’s beautiful. Directors Don Hall and Qui Nguyen have created a stunning universe of psychedelic colors and creatures, most memorably in hues of deep pinks and purples. Wondrous creatures emerge, and also one of the cutest little blobs you’ve ever seen, the aptly named Splat, who befriends Ethan.

    Will the family discover what’s imperiling pando, and fix it in time to save Avalonia? Will Jaeger and Searcher come to a better understanding of each other? Will Ethan follow his own path?

    Well, there’s not a lot of mystery here, nor nuance to the plot. Energies have been focused on the visuals, and they make the experience worthwhile. That, and an appealing collection of human characters that look a lot more like the real world than usually seen in these films. And that’s not strange at all. That’s progress.

    “Strange World,” a Walt Disney Studios release, has been rated PG by the Motion Picture Association of America “for action/peril and some thematic elements.” Running time: 102 minutes. Two and a half stars out of four.

    MPAA definition of PG: Parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children.

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  • Climate activists prompt closure of Berlin airport runways

    Climate activists prompt closure of Berlin airport runways

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    A climate activist glues herself to a runway at the Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) during a protest, in Berlin, Germany November 24, 2022, in this still image obtained from a handout video. Courtesy of LETZTE GENERATION/Handout via Reuters

    Letzte Generation | Via Reuters

    Berlin Brandenburg Airport on Thursday said it closed its takeoff and landing runways due to unauthorized access of several people, while a climate group said its activists glued themselves to the tarmac.

    The activists from the Last Generation environmental group called on the public to stop travelling by air and on the government to stop subsidizing it, the group said on Thursday.

    “In an airport area that is not open to the public, we encountered several people who had previously gained unauthorized access and some glued themselves,” Berlin police said on Twitter.

    A spokesperson for the airport said police had detained the activists but the runways were closed in order for staff to check for and rule out the presence of further people.

    The spokesperson could not say how many flights were affected.

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  • Review: ‘Strange World’ explores big themes in bold colors

    Review: ‘Strange World’ explores big themes in bold colors

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    Is Searcher Clade the most millennial dad in all of animated moviedom? He has that telltale hipster beard. A sensitive voice sorta like Jake Gyllenhaal. And he feeds his kid avocado toast, with an egg on top.

    Oh wait, that IS Gyllenhaal in “Strange World,” Disney’s pleasantly entertaining, gorgeously rendered but slightly heavy-handed meditation on climate change and father-son dynamics. The actor charmingly voices a character drawn to look so much like him, you almost expect an animated Swiftie to come around, asking for that infamous scarf back. (Sorry, but it’s been a Taylor Swift kind of month.)

    The very name “Searcher” sounds vaguely millennial, too, but actually it’s a reference to both the blessing and the curse of the Clade family, a storied clan of explorers. In a prologue, we see the young Searcher set out on a family expedition led by his dad, burly Jaeger Clade, whose life goal is to find what’s beyond the forbidding mountains that ring their homeland, Avalonia. But before they get there, young Searcher discovers something shocking.

    It’s a group of plants that seem to be lit up, glowing from an unseen energy. What is this magical crop? Searcher argues that they need to bring it back to Avalonia, where it could serve many uses. But Jaeger (voiced with appropriate gruffness by Dennis Quaid) refuses to turn back. He tosses his young son his compass and continues by himself. Twenty-five years go by.

    Wait, what? Dad stays away for 25 years? This is truly deficient parenting, and it’s no wonder that when grownup Searcher has his own son, Ethan (an adorable character sweetly voiced by Jaboukie Young-White), he’s a helicopter parent, doting on the boy a bit too much. Grandpa is still lionized in town with a large statue attesting to his exploits. But Searcher tells Ethan that despite his fame, Grandpa was a majorly absentee dad.

    Let’s pause to consider the themes at play. We have climate change issues in the form of “pando,” the crucial energy source that Searcher now farms and has modernized Avalonia. And we have three generations of men: the very different Jaeger and Searcher, a boomer and a millennial if you will, and then young Ethan, trying to find his way. There’s much dialogue here about breaking from expectations to forge your own path.

    There’s also the not-insignificant fact that Ethan has a same-sex crush. This has led some to call the film the first Disney animated gay teen romance. That’s a bit of a stretch, because this budding romance is a side plot, referred to by a number of characters, but by no means a major topic of discussion.

    But maybe that’s the point — if it’s not a major plot point, nor is it a sneeze-and-you-miss it moment like, for example, that quick glance in “Beauty and the Beast” in 2017 that was heralded as the first Disney “gay moment.” It’s just a given that when Ethan talks about his crush, he’s talking about Diazo, a boy, and nobody, not his parents nor his crusty old granddad, bats an eyelid. It’s also refreshing that the Clades are a biracial family, and that too, is not discussed.

    The movie, it must be said, is definitely about men, despite the welcome but underused presences of Gabrielle Union as Searcher’s wife, Meridian — a fearless pilot — and Lucy Liu as Callisto, president of Avalonia, It is Callisto who gets things moving, plot-wise, when she arrives at Searcher’s front door in her pando-powered airship with a stark warning: the pando crop is failing. Everywhere. Searcher must come help. Now.

    Reluctantly, the homebody Searcher hops aboard. Someone on the ship asks him immediately if he can, like, forge an autograph from his more-famous dad. Aargh. In any case, the ship travels down to the roots that power pando. Meanwhile, Searcher soon discovers that Ethan has stowed away on the ship, eager for his own adventure (and more Jaeger-like than Searcher would want to admit). Meridian has followed, and now they’re on a family trip.

    And who should turn up but Jaeger himself? He has some explaining to do. Turns out he got stuck in a stunning, scary, strange underworld. And it’s beautiful. Directors Don Hall and Qui Nguyen have created a stunning universe of psychedelic colors and creatures, most memorably in hues of deep pinks and purples. Wondrous creatures emerge, and also one of the cutest little blobs you’ve ever seen, the aptly named Splat, who befriends Ethan.

    Will the family discover what’s imperiling pando, and fix it in time to save Avalonia? Will Jaeger and Searcher come to a better understanding of each other? Will Ethan follow his own path?

    Well, there’s not a lot of mystery here, nor nuance to the plot. Energies have been focused on the visuals, and they make the experience worthwhile. That, and an appealing collection of human characters that look a lot more like the real world than usually seen in these films. And that’s not strange at all. That’s progress.

    “Strange World,” a Walt Disney Studios release, has been rated PG by the Motion Picture Association of America “for action/peril and some thematic elements.” Running time: 102 minutes. Two and a half stars out of four.

    MPAA definition of PG: Parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children.

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  • Young people just got a louder voice on global climate issues — and could soon be shaping policy

    Young people just got a louder voice on global climate issues — and could soon be shaping policy

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    COP27 was another milestone for young climate activists as they became official climate policy stakeholders under the ACE Action Plan.

    Photo by Dominika Zarzycka/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

    Young people have long been at the forefront of discussions and activism around climate change.

    This year’s COP27 was another milestone for them — they became official stakeholders in climate policy under the ACE action plan, which was created at COP27 in Egypt over the last few weeks.

    Young people’s voices and opinions will now be much more impactful when it comes to the design and implementation of climate policies, explains Hailey Campbell, one of the negotiators who made it happen.

    “Official recognition as stakeholders in the ACE Action Plan gives young people the international backing we need to demand our formal inclusion in climate decision-making and implementation,” she told CNBC’s Make It.

    Campbell is also the ACE co-contact point for YOUNGO, the youth constituency for the United Nations’ framework convention for climate change and the co-executive director of the U.S.-based organization Care About Climate.

    What is the ACE action plan?

    ACE stands for Action for Climate Empowerment and is outlined in article 12 of the 2015 Paris Agreement. Improving education and awareness around climate change by making research easily accessible is one of its aims. Another goal of the article, and the new plan developed at COP27 to support it, is making sure governments and organizations around the world work together on policies and take opinions from the public and stakeholder groups into account when making decisions.

    Srishti Singh from the Indian Youth Climate Network, who worked alongside Campbell at COP27, told CNBC’s Make It that the new ACE plan is key when it comes to different groups being considered in climate policy.

    “Strengthening ACE in climate policy means better participation of stakeholders at local, regional, and global levels, including youth,” she said.

    Young participants meet on a discussion panel in Youth and Children Pavilion during the COP27 UN Climate Change Conference.

    Photo by Dominika Zarzycka/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

    What does this mean for climate policy?

    In short, being official stakeholders means young people get a bigger seat at the table. Campbell hopes that now, they will be able to shape policies that affect their future and work “with those who will not be here to see the impacts of decisions made today.”

    The youth constituency should also see additional funding and support to take part in future COP conferences and other events about climate change, she adds.

    Especially in recent years, young people have been some of the most vocal about strong climate targets and policies. Millions joined school strikes around the world, others took part in U.N. youth climate summits or made headway as activists, like 19-year old Greta Thunberg, or reached political leadership positions liked 28-year old Ricarda Lang, who is the co-leader of the German Green party.

    This year’s COP27 also saw the first ever official youth representative, Omnia El Omrani, fight for the inclusion of young people’s voices, the launch of a climate youth negotiator program that aims to empower young climate activists from the global south, and the inaugural youth climate forum.

    We know that including more youth creates more ambitious and just outcomes

    Hailey Campbell

    Co-Executive Director at Care About Climate and ACE Co-Contact Point of YOUNGO

    Campbell says the goal was for young people to be at the center of policy-making.

    “When we talk about representation, we don’t just want it at international negotiations and we don’t want to only be consulted. We want it at all levels of government and we want to be partners because action happens on the ground,” she said.

    Her and her colleagues also hope to change the way older generations see climate change and its urgency.

    “We know that including more youth creates more ambitious and just outcomes, so hopefully we will be able to advance quicker action on the climate crisis through our genuine involvement,” Campbell concluded.

    How did they make it happen?

    Most people on YOUNGO’s team had never formally learned negotiation skills. This included Bettina Duerr, a policy officer at Federation Internationales Des Mouvements Catholiques d’Action Paroissial.

    “I did not have specific training or support in this role, but I used experiences from other contexts. Plus, our working group was really supportive throughout,” she told CNBC’s Make It.

    “It helped that I was already in touch with the working group before COP27 and that we planned our strategy,” she added.

    As well as learning from each other, previous networking had put the group in contact with experienced negotiators who gave them advice, Campbell added.

    But their overall strategy boiled down to just three points, she explained. Those included writing out agreements they hoped to reach, partnering with other constituencies and making sure they had other groups in their corner, backing their ideas.

    Duerr and Campbell both described the negotiations as intense, draining and stressful — but their commitment to the cause outweighed this.

    “We’d stop anything we were doing to join last minute meetings with each other and with parties that wanted to champion our perspective,” Campbell said.

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