Sustainability Insider

Sea ice plays a crucial role in maintaining Earth's temperature by reflecting a significant amount of the Sun's radiation. Losing sea ice cover leads to the oceans taking its place and absorbing 90% of the Sun's heat, which ultimately contributes to atmospheric warming and accelerates global climate change. Given these critical factors, minimising sea ice melt is imperative, especially in today's challenging climate. Unfortunately, recent trends are not promising.

Using gene-editing technology, researchers modified the DNA of silkworms so that their silk-producing glands would instead create spider silk. A roaring success in the experiment resulted in full-length silkworm-originated spider silk-like fibres which were a whopping six times tougher than the Kevlar used in bulletproof vests! And the best part is scientists think upscaling is not too far off.

We're not just losing animals by the species anymore; it's by the genus now. Examining 34,600 land-dwelling vertebrate animals revealed that we have lost 73 genera (plural of genus) since 1,500 AD — 35 times faster than the extinction rate of the last million years. Birds suffered the worst among these with 44 genus extinctions.

Musk had earlier claimed that farming has no major effect on the climate, which drew flak from the scientific and agriculture communities.

Earth has sweltered through its hottest Northern Hemisphere summer ever measured, with a record warm August capping a season of brutal and deadly temperatures, according to the WMO. Last month was not only the hottest August scientists ever recorded by far with modern equipment, it was also the second-hottest month measured, behind only July 2023, WMO and Copernicus announced on Wednesday.

Urban parks, greenspace and trees promote more walking, bicycling and other environmentally positive habits that replace automobile driving. Combined with other solutions like green infrastructure, these measures can further improve urban microclimates by absorbing heat and cold, and as a result reduce energy use in buildings.

Kia has already begun upcycling plastic in many car parts, such as the EV9 model which incorporates roughly 34 kilograms of recycled plastic and eco-friendly materials. The Ocean Cleanup is also partnered with the Coca-Cola Company, which is helping place interceptors along rivers to collect trash, and Maersk, which continues to provide The Ocean Cleanup with many seafaring vessels to facilitate their cleanup operations.​​

To actualise a net-zero scenario, we will need to bolster our wind and solar power plant capacities by thirty-fold. On paper, this means expanding to nearly 3,000 gigawatts of power by 2050, a mountain compared to the molehill that was 99 gigawatts in 2021. India will also need energy investments amounting to an annual average of $438 billion.

Polyethylene, the most common plastic type that finds application in consumer products such as food packaging, bottles, buckets and even bulletproof vests, is shockingly similar to the fatty acids used in the manufacture of soaps. Therefore, it was thus theoretically possible to convert the unwanted plastic into soap. And turns out, it might be easier than previously thought!

The increasing switch to electrical appliances and vehicles has placed an urgent and growing burden on many minerals. The limited geographically availability of essential elements required in modern batteries, such as cobalt, nickel and lithum, continues to bottleneck how fast we can realistically make the green switch, even pushing up the prices for electrical applicances substantially.

The US Department of Agriculture has found that by 2070, forests in the country will begin to release a ton more carbon than they actually store. This will equate to a sequestration reduction of about 150 million metric tons, similar to the setting up and running of 40 coal power plants constantly oozing dirty emissions into the air.

The advent and adoption of new international shipping rules in 2020 cut out a ton of dirty fuel traditionally used in maritime shipping processes. While that seems fine and dandy on an overall, the routes also witnessed a massive reduction in sulphur emissions, which bounces back a ton of the Sun's radiation, allowing less heat to be stuck in the Earth.

The Earth was throwing an increasing number of climate tantrums over the past three million years, making it particularly hard for the budding genus Homo to attain stable footing. While we know how the success story ends, scientists don't know whether our ancestors managed to just adjust local environmental shifts, or if they actively sniffed out more stable environments with better resources.

While no further details were discussed in the recent shareholder meeting, estimates have shown that the park could generate around one lakh jobs and account for around 5 crore tonnes of carbon emission reductions every year, essentially churning immense wealth out of the wasteland.

As per the new notification, the new ISSB reports are divided into two sections: the IFRS S1, dealing primarily in the company's "sustainability-related risks and opportunities", while IFRS S2 pertains to "climate-related risks and opportunities", such as the company's estimated greenhouse gas emissions. According to the ISSB, these new standards will come into force by January 1 of next year.

The ban includes the manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, and sale of any type of plastic bags (virgin or modified), irrespective of the material thickness. In addition, decoration thermocol, sticks, flags, candy sticks and ice-cream sticks made out of plastic have also been prohibited.

The risk and onset of many health problems spike with age, including cardiovascular illnesses, cancer and cognitive function. The rise of rapid urbanisation inevitably leads to the loss of crucial green cover, with India's metros being a prime example of such tragic development. In order to develop sustainably and protect the next generation, we must invest in more such spaces.

Brain size doesn't always correspond to the level of cognitive function, but it could certainly have a massive effect on how we look and function. As Stibel argues in the paper, 'even a slight reduction in brain size across extant humans could materially impact our physiology in a manner that is not fully understood'.

In order for an institution to render their ESG rating services, they will have to be incorporated as a company under the Companies Act, 2013. The agency will also have to disclose their methodologies for all ratings on their website, and declare the weightage given to all environmental, social and governance factors in the final score.

The Indian proposal has been allocated almost $14 million of GEF financing along with a hefty $705 million in co-financing for the development of up to 100 compressed bioenergy projects as a fossil-fuel natural gas alternative. At fruition, the project could mitigate 11.6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, improve 5.5 million hectares of land, and benefit 5,100 people in the country.

As the battle to protect the environment heats up globally, the drone, despite being majorly touted as a military weapon in the news, continues to prove its versatility in sustainability strategies. Policymakers and big corporations across the globe are recognising the use of specialised civilian drones or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles for environment protection.

Global warming-exacerbated oxygen loss from the oceans significantly stresses marine life. The oceans have already lost 1-2% of their oxygen since the middle of the 20th century, and could be facing a decline of up to 7% in the next 100 years. And yet, it seems as though the seas adapted somehow amid similar conditions in the past.

Manufacturers are looking into improving zinc-ion batteries as an alternative to the lithium king. As production ramps up, we will eventually have to look into obtaining raw materials more sustainably. The discarded hard outer shells of crabs contain a chemical, when combined with zinc-ion batteries, can help extend the battery's lifespan to a year instead of a few days or weeks.

Recent analysis of satellite data revealed that Earth lost more than 41,000 square kilometres of rainforests in 2022, an area larger than the entire state of Kerala. This makes last year the fourth most devastating year for primary forests in the past two decades, despite accelerated efforts to protect them.

Within a mere decade, the report projects that the ESG IMM global market is set to jump to $32 billion by 2030, spiking fourfold from nearly $8 billion in 2020. Our country already boasts a significant market in the Asia-Pacific region, reporting $137 million in revenue in 2020. The report projects that this will likely quadruple to $531 million within this decade.