-
ECSP Weekly Watch: April 29 – May 3
›A window into what we are reading at the Wilson Center’s Environmental Change and Security ProgramEnvironmental Prize Winners Highlight Local Communities’ Fight Against Fossil Fuels (New York Times)
On Monday, several environmental leaders won the Goldman Environmental Prize, which the Goldman Environmental Foundation awards annually to grassroots environmental activists from each of the world’s six geographic regions. This year’s prize comes as environmental advocacy groups, especially indigenous ones, increasingly fight legal battles against companies or government entities that wish to use their land for oil and gas acquisition or coal mining.
-
Tackling Food Waste in China’s Restaurants
›China Environment Forum // Cool Agriculture // Guest Contributor // May 2, 2024 // By Shiyang Li & Sam GrayBack in 2020, Shiyang Li at Rare visited restaurants across China to interview over 30 different owners and staff about the attitudes, beliefs, and everyday behaviors that contribute to food waste. Similar to global trends, food waste in China remains a significant challenge. A 2020 survey found restaurants in Chinese cities wasted at least 34 million tons of food every year, which can feed as many as 49 million people.
-
The Power of Play with The Plastic Pipeline
›During a visit to Vietnam in November 2023, I cringed as my aunt tossed our now empty bánh mì plastic bag onto the sidewalk. “It doesn’t really matter,” she shrugged, “there aren’t any nearby trash cans anyway.” Finding a trash can wouldn’t have helped much, as two-thirds of Vietnam’s plastic waste ends up burnt, landfilled, or leaked.
-
Clearing War Debris Can Help Ukraine Move Forward
›When Russia launched its brutal invasion of Ukraine on February 22, 2024, Western nations supported Ukraine with military and financial aid. But over two years, the cost of the war has been devastating—not only in terms of lives lost, and injuries sustained, but also in the number of buildings destroyed. According to some estimates, more than 150K structures have been damaged in the conflict.
-
Igniting a Reuse Revolution in China’s War Against Plastic Waste
›Food takeaway has become a symbol of urban lifestyle convenience in China, but the resulting single-use plastic (SUP) waste has become a costly environmental and economic burden. In 2020, urbanites ordering on food delivery apps generated 37 billion SUP containers and a small fraction was recycled. According to a report by Pacific Environment, 88.5% of SUP waste in China is landfilled, incinerated, or leaked to the environment. Food and beverage packaging is the number one contributor to China’s SUPs.
-
Food Waste: A Low-Hanging Fruit for Methane Reductions
›China Environment Forum // Cool Agriculture // February 8, 2024 // By Jennifer Nguyen, Jennifer Turner & Karen ManclThis blog is modified from the Wilson Center-OSU “Cultivating US and Chinese Climate Leadership on Food and Agriculture Roadmap” publication.
“Waste is something that most of us just don’t see,” stressed Pete Pearson, Senior Director, Food Loss and Waste, WWF, at a recent Wilson Center event. Though people are “conditioned” to be blind to food waste, continued Pearson, this not-so-invisible problem wastes a third of food grown around the world. When this wasted food decomposes, it emits methane, accounting for 8 to 10% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
-
Bottom-Up Food Waste and Climate Solution in China
›China Environment Forum // Cool Agriculture // Guest Contributor // waste // December 21, 2023 // By Xuehua ZhangChina is the world’s largest emitter of methane, a short-lived climate pollutant that traps 80 times more heat than carbon. Coal mining, agriculture, and food waste are China’s three biggest methane emitters. Among them, food waste holds the most promise for near-term climate action.
-
Shining a Light on China’s Hidden Waste Workers
›China Environment Forum // Guest Contributor // Vulnerable Deltas // November 9, 2023 // By Guo Chen, Liwen Chen & Jia FengThe untold stories about waste are about invisible and vulnerable waste workers. China is no exception. The millions of Chinese migrant waste workers who recover 20% of the country’s urban waste are ignored. Chinese policymakers need to integrate migrant waste workers, their knowledge, and social justice issues into the country’s waste management future.
Showing posts from category waste.