“Climate change will affect the Department of Defense’s ability to defend the Nation and poses immediate risks to U.S. national security.” – DoD Climate Change Adaptation Roadmap, 2014
Naval Station Mayport sits 15 miles east of Downtown Jacksonville at the mouth of the St. Johns River. One of two major naval installations in Jacksonville, Mayport is home base for the Navy’s third-largest fleet, along with more than 15,000 active-duty personnel and 32,000 of their family members. Any menace to Mayport threatens as many as 100,000 related jobs and around $1.3 billion in infrastructure.
Global issuance of green bonds has hit yet another milestone: for the first time surpassing $100 billion inside six months, the Climate Bonds Initiative confirmed.
The $100 billion mark was first reached in November 2017 during the COP23 climate summit, and again in September. Now the milestone has been reached during the first half of the year for the first time.
The record means the global green bond market has quadrupled since 2014.
Thanks to several bonds settled late last week and a $340.53 million bond from Dutch utility firm Alliander NV settled a week ago, green issuance has shot up to $121 billion for 2019 so far, the Climate Bonds Initiative explained.
Provided by Sundance Channel, this editorial by Simran Sethi, host of the Ethical Markets TV series, explains the environmental damage caused by lawn maintenance and offers alternatives.
If you’ve never heard of Hottentot bread and think it comes from a bakery, think again! It’s actually a plant in the yam family (Dioscorea elephantipes, also known as elephant’s foot) and the large underground tuber that inspired the middle school winners of the 2nd annual Biomimicry Youth Design Challenge (YDC). Team Futuristas, from Rhinebeck, NY, designed a permeable tile for courtyards to limit the amount of water pooling on the hardscape surface of a courtyard in their village.
At the high school level, the winning team, RHS Biomimicry, from Larkspur, CA, was inspired by the winged seeds of the Javan cucumber, Alsomitra macrocarpa. They devised a passive control system for tidal kites, a type of underwater energy generator. Other innovations honored in this year’s Challenge were inspired by the unique traits and strategies of hagfish slime, Namib beetles, oyster reefs, prairie dogs, and Saharan silver ants.
Inspired by Unilever’s sustainability slogan, “Small actions can make a big difference,” workers at the company’s PG tips tea factory in Trafford Park, England, had a bright idea. In Britain, most tea comes in paper tea bags. By reducing the end seals of each tea bag by 3 millimeters, 15 huge reels of paper could be saved every shift. Since its launch in 2015, this factory-floor suggestion has resulted in savings of €47,500 and 9.3 tonnes of paper (about 20,500 pounds).
Similarly, in early 2015, at the Unilever factory in Khamgaon, India, six employees approached the factory manager with the idea of starting a beauty and hair care course in their village to help local women get a job or start a business, while at the same time promoting Unilever’s personal care products. In March 2015, management gave the green light, and the training center was launched. To date, 825 women have been trained, and 610 are working in beauty parlors or have started their own business.
