A Chance to Win a Fully Funded Fellowship to COP 23 in Germany

Climate Tracker:

Deadline: 30 September 2017

The Climate Tracker is inviting trackers from everywhere in the world for its fully funded fellowship to COP 23 in Bonn, Germany.

Around the world, Renewable energy is driving bigger changes than we have seen in generations, and the pressure is on for countries to take their transitions even further. According to Climate Tracker, the message is clear now, Trump is isolated and it doesn’t matter where you’re from; it’s time to take your commitments to Climate Change seriously.

If you want to be part of this incredible transition, it’s time to raise your voice, and join the opportunity for a FULLY FUNDED trip to COP23, in Germany in November.

Topics

Climate Tracker will have 3 publishing windows, during which applicants will have to write at least 1 article about a specific topic. They will have to write at least one article on each topic to be eligible for our prizes. That means at least 3 articles in total:

• Topic 1 (1July – 31 July): The Clean Energy Revolution
  • During the first publishing window, Climate Tracker encourages applicants to: (1) describe the importance of, and the opportunities for, clean energy in their country or region; (2) explain how the fossil fuel industry is having negative impacts on climate change, endangering millions of people, and (3) call out for a higher ambition in executing the well-underway clean energy revolution.
• Topic 2 (1Aug – 31 Aug): Supporting Climate Finance
  • To ensure the wellbeing of future societies and to achieve the climate goals that have been set, we have to invest in the future. It’s time to take up responsibility and make sure where our climate money is going.
• Topic 3 (1 Sep – 30 Sept): Climate and health
  • Climate change is impacting each and every one of us on a very personal level that many of us don’t even realize, namely our health. With climate action, we have the chance to save millions of lives.
  • To get started on the first topic, and get some inspiration on how and what to write, Climate Tracker will be sending applicants a toolkit as soon as they sign up to the competition.
  • By writing on these topics, applicants eligible to win a spot on our team at COP23 in Bonn. Climate Tracker will be covering their flight, accommodation, entry into the COP and guidance by the Climate Tracker team. Other prices to win include online writing fellowships, for which they receive a stipend and personal guidance from Climate Tracker to write about climate change issues in their region.

Eligibility Criteria

• Journalists and writers who are interested to cover climate change issues and the UN climate change negotiations are eligible to apply.
• The call is open to all countries, to people aged 18-30 years old.
• Those above 30 and have journalistic experience may still apply but priority will be given to those who are 30 and below.

How to Apply

Applicants can apply online via given website.

For more information, visit:
http://app.climatetracker.org/competition/52aa87a3-3ed2-4392-8c50-e5473a9b36a2/information

Global Innovation Challenge Opens for Students to Fight Marine Plastics

Global innovation challenge opens for students to fight marine plastics

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June 28, 2017

• UN Environment and Think Beyond Plastic launch worldwide innovation challenge for university students to fight plastic in oceans
• Winners to attend the Sixth International Marine Debris Conference in San Diego, California and receive free mentorship to help them develop their ideas 

Entries open today for the world’s first student competition to find the next generation of solutions to the global problem of marine litter. Organized by UN Environment and Think Beyond Plastic, the Marine Plastics Innovation Challenge invites university students worldwide to submit fresh ideas in the fields of engineering, communications, economics and data modeling.

Each year, 8 million tones of plastic end up in the oceans: the equivalent of a full garbage truck every minute. This pollution threatens the survival of fish and other sea creatures, destroys marine and coastal ecosystems that support over three billion people worldwide, and endangers human health by entering the food chain. If no action is taken, by 2050 there could be more plastic than fish in the oceans.

Deadline for entries is 6 October 2017. To participate, students need to be enrolled in a graduate or postgraduate programme as of June 2017, be supported by a faculty member, and submit an entry in one or more of the following categories:

1. Engineering and Design:  including innovations in materials, manufacturing processes, packaging design and related fields that result in a measurable reduction in marine plastic.
2. Communication: including multimedia products, mobile apps, and innovative storytelling that raise awareness and inspire public action against marine plastics.
3. Economics: including innovative methodologies to assess the economic impact of plastic pollution and/or develop new financial and business models to address market failures.
4. Prediction and Recovery: including the development of analytical tools (algorithms, models, hotspot identification) to better capture and monitor data about plastic pollution and propose solutions.

One winner in each category will be announced at the Sixth International Marine Debris Conference in San Diego, California, which will run from March 12 to 16, 2018. Winners will have the chance to present their ideas at the conference and gain entry into the Think Beyond Plastic annual acceleration programme, which provides mentoring and support to help make the winning ideas commercially viable.

For detailed instructions on how to enter and judging criteria:

https://www.thinkbeyondplastic.com/marineplasticsinnovationchallenge

Statement by Mayor William Peduto on Paris Climate Accords against Donald Trump’s Allegation.

Statement below from Mayor William Peduto on President Trump’s announcement on the United States withdrawing from the 2015 Paris climate change agreement:

“President Trump’s decision is disastrous for our planet, for cities such as Pittsburgh, to the commitments the United States made to the rest of the world, and to our responsibility to save the globe for future generations.
The President has made America weaker, and the world less safe.
I’m appalled that the President used my city to justify his unacceptable decision, as most other Pittsburghers are. I was one of the nation’s mayors who went to Paris to fight for the accords, and my city, which has finally bounced back from decades of industrial carnage, will do all it can to promote its own environmental standards.

I know cities around the nation and the world will do the same. This is not over.
In Pittsburgh, we’ve rebuilt our economy on the future and our people, not on the past.
We are improving the efficiency of buildings; using smart infrastructure to reduce emissions; supporting new mobility solutions like bike share, bus rapid transit, and shared rides to reduce our reliance on personal automobiles; and has world class innovation happening by the likes of the University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon University and many industry partners.

Pittsburgh is the example of why the Paris agreement is good for economic development: such work is good for business too. Thirteen thousand Pittsburghers are employed in the renewable energy industry, and sixty-six thousand across Pennsylvania, and renewable jobs are the largest employer in the energy industry.
Further, Pittsburgh and other cities know that fighting climate change will not only save our planet, but save lives. Pittsburgh has been engaged in resilience planning since 2015 and climate change and extreme weather were identified as the number one shock facing us.

Fighting for the Paris accords is my duty, and that of mayors across the United States, who are standing together in defiance of President Trump’s reckless decision. If you are a mayor and not addressing shifts in changing weather patterns or preparing for the impacts of climate change you aren’t doing your job. What is our job is preparing our cities for the future, and building opportunities and productive and safe lives for those we serve.”

FRANCE RESTRICTS PLASTIC BAGS

A year ago, the European Union made it compulsory for member states to take measures against very lightweight plastic bags, to keep yearly average use below 80 per person. As a result, the Netherlands introduced a ban on free plastic bags at the beginning of 2016. Lightweight plastic bags are, however, still allowed to be used for buying fruit and vegetables in supermarkets and on markets.

France has decided to take much stricter action. As of 1 July 2016, all single-use plastic bags with a thickness of less than 50 microns have been banned, regardless of their size and whether they are free or not. Consumers have to use reusable plastic bags (which are thicker than 50 microns) or bags made from something else. As of 1 January next year, all disposable plastic packaging, (as used for packaging all fruit and vegetables) up to the same thickness of 50 microns will be banned. Supermarkets in France had already decided to stop giving away free plastic bags earlier. Read more in this French article.

 The European directive also includes rules regarding so-called bioplastics. A standard needs to be developed for packaging which is suitable for home composting. The European Commission does not regard bioplastics which degrade using oxygen (oxo-degradable plastics) to be a solution to litter.

The new French legislation, in compliance with the European directive, also sets standards for bioplastics. For instance, in the future they must be home compostable (breaking down within 6 months at a temperature of 26 degrees). Plastic bags which break down via oxo-degradation are not considered a solution to litter.

However, the French legislation has failed to set a standard for the biodegradability of bioplastics in water. When bioplastics enter water and do not break down, the use of bags made from biodegradable plastics does not solve the problem of plastic soup.

Ban Ki-Moon Aipongeza Ushelisheli

Ban aipongeza Ushelisheli kwa vita dhidi ya mabadiliko ya tabianchi.
Katibu Mkuu wa Umoja wa Mataifa Ban Ki-moon ameipongeza serikali ya Ushelisheli kwa kuwa miongoni mwa nchi 16 za kwanza kuruidhia mkataba wa Paris wa mabadiliko ya tabianchi.
Baada ya mazungumzo yake na Rais James Alix Michel na baraza la mawaziri, Ban akizungumza na waandishi wa habari amesema, ana imani Ushelisheli itaendeleza rekodi yake kama nguzo imara ya demokrasia.
Kisiwa hicho ambacho kimebarikiwa na mali asili amekipongeza pia kwa uhifadhi wa mazingira baada ya kuzuru eneo la urithi wa dunia, lakini pia mchango wake katika kukabiliana na changamoto kubwa zinazoikabili dunia zikiwemo umasikini, mabadiliko ya tabianchi na usalama mdogo.
(Sauti ya Bwana Ban)
“Ziara yangu Ushelisheli imetimiza hisia yangu kuwa mataifa ya visiwa vidogo wametambua sauti zao na wako tayari kuongoza. Mna jukumu muhimu kuwa mstari wa mbele katika mabadiliko ya tabia nchi kutukumbusha sote kuhusu mwingiliano wa dunia yetu na nini tutapoteza kama hatuweza kuchukua hatua sasa."
Ban ameishukuru pia Ushelisheli kwa vita dhidi ya uharamia kwenye pwani ya Somalia, kudumisha haki za binadamu na kushirikiana na ofisi ya Umoja wa Mataifa ya Madawa na uhalifu UNODC kuhakikisha kwamba washukiwa wanapewa haki zinazostahili katika kesi zao.
Kesho Ban atazuru kituo cha walinzi wa pwani ambako atasikia mitazamo ya kukabiliana na uhalifu baharini.
Taifa hilo ambalo liko katika hatari ya vimbunga kikiwepo cha karibuni cha Fantala, Ban amesema ana tumai litaelezea uzoefu wake kwenye mkutano wa kimataifa wa masuala ya kibinadamu utakaofanyika Istanbull Uturuki Mai 23 na 24.

Source: DW