In a month, Nzambi Matee is able to turn between 10 to 20 tonnes of plastic waste into pavers of different colours, with Gjenge Makers managing to produce 1,500 every day.
“We’re not just about building houses and reducing plastic pollution. We want to change people’s awareness of plastic.”
“Well the truth is, everything in Caribbean life almost has an outdoor existence. So climate becomes so much a part of our life but it also drives a big part of our economy; agriculture, tourism. When you have any kind of storm event it disrupts life totally.”
According to a study in the journal Nature Food, our food system is responsible for 1/3 of global greenhouse gases, especially our agriculture and land use. The latest report of the environmental organization WWF, “Europe eats the world” shows: The EU is the world’s second-largest importer of products related to rainforest deforestation. What we eat not only heats up the planet but also destroys habitats and reduces the diversity of animal and plant species.
The challenges that disabled people face to participate in COP27 are in the context of existential challenges for civil society as a whole.
In Singapore, you can already order chicken from a bioreactor in the restaurant. The rest of the world could soon follow. That could save billions of animals from suffering, protect the climate – and change our diet forever.
In 2021, residents along the Gujjar nullah in Karachi saw their houses unceremoniously destroyed as “encroachments” to the city’s drainage. Now, a grassroots movement is fighting for climate solutions that will help everyone in the city by the sea – not just the wealthy.
With homes swallowed by floodwaters and river erosion, migrants from different parts of Bangladesh have opted to move to the cities of Dhaka and Chittagong for ‘safer ground.’ But these options for ‘safer’ ground are also sinking.
Their stories are meant to help break the illusion of gradual, natural change and uncloak what is happening to coastal cities for what it is: a deeply social, cultural and political phenomenon that is inextricably linked with actions humans take now.
Thanks to the city’s efforts toward climate adaptation and decades-old engineering works, Rotterdam does not have to worry about climate change until the end of the century. Yet, as the city develops, any mistake in flood defence planning becomes more costly.
The challenges faced in Clontarf in Dublin are likely to be mirrored across Ireland in the coming years, as coastal communities and the state grapple with how to protect against flood risk, while also preserving much-loved environments.
For thousands of years, cultural hub Alexandria, Egypt has been at a geographical crossroads that puts it at risk from earthquakes and extreme weather events. Now, with massive real estate ventures underway, researchers say the government should look to the city’s past in preparation for the future.
Lagos, Nigeria is positioned to become West Africa’s economic hub for the 21st century. But boundless economic and physical growth at the expense of protective wetlands puts the entire city at risk of climate disaster.
The underprivileged are often more exposed to pollution either from the lack of policies that protect them from it or from actions by government authorities which increase their vulnerability to it.
Do you share our mission? Sign up for our newsletter so we can keep in touch!
