5/22 Creation Corner Column: Reasons for Hope.
Hope is a discipline. Our job is to cultivate hope. Mariame Kaba.
THIRD ACT: Our Time is Now! A new organization, Third Act, is mobilizing the generation (Boomers, born 1946-1964) with the most political and economic influence to fight for a working climate, among other priorities. Such "experienced Americans", some seventy Americans over the age of 60 are being encouraged by environmentalist and United Methodist layman Bill McKibben to help stabilize the climate. See their home page.
RESTRAINT OF GLOBAL HEATING IS POSSIBLE IF ALL MEASURES TAKEN.
For the first time, the world is in a position to limit global heating below 2C, according to the first in-depth analysis of the net zero pledges made by nations at the UN COP26 climate summit in December.
Before these pledges, a temperature rise above 2C was almost inevitable, bringing more severe effects for billions of people. Now it is more likely that the peak rise will be about 1.9C. However, the researchers said this depended on all nations implementing their pledges on time and in full, and warned that the policies to do that were not in place. The pledges include some that developing countries have said will happen only with more financial and technical support. (Source: The Guardian Weekly, 22 April 2022.)
RECENT TITLES
Climates, Habitats, Environments. Edited by Ute Meta Bauer.
From Big Oil to Big Green: Holding the Oil Industry to Account for the Climate Crisis. Marco Grasso.
Natura Urbana: Ecological Constellations in Urban Space. Matthew Gandy.
Pandora's Toolbox: The Hopes and Hazards of Climate Intervention. Wake Smith.
The Pivotal Generation: Why We Have a Moral Responsibility to Slow Climate Change Right Now. Henry Shue.
Rewilding: The Radical New Science of Ecological Recovery, The Illustrated Edition. Paul Jepson and Cain Blythe.
Waste: One Woman's Fight Against America's Dirty Secret. Catherine Coleman Flowers.
From the "Earth, Inc." cover story of TIME magazine for April 28/May 2, 2022:
ESG refers to prioritizing environmental, social, and corporate governance concerns in investing.
COP26 Coalition: a climate-justice group.
"Ecopreneurs" are environmentally focused entrepreneurs taking risks for the critical work of fossil-fuel reduction and increased awareness. Such individuals, innovators and businesses around the world help promote technical and nature-based projects, develop new energy sources, and support climate-vulnerable communities around the world.
Examples of climate terminology in corporate 10-K SEC filings:
Climate change references include broad climate terms (climate change, global warming, climate crisis); climate effects (sea levels, biodiversity, wildfires, extreme weather); climate causes (greenhouse gases, CO2, carbon emissions, methane).
Corporate ideals include sustainable principles (ESG, closed loop and other sustainability-jargon terms); climate goals (net zero, carbon-neutral, decarbonize); social responsibility (fair trade, social impact, shared value).
Corporate actions include energy transition (clean energy, renewables, energy efficiency); climate measurement (assessment terms such as carbon footprint, Scope 3, SASB or the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board); Offsets (compensating references for emissions, such as carbon capture, carbon pricing).
TIME Magazine has a 2030 committee project that will mark this decade's progress toward a better world and offer solutions for change.
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