EcoUniv Weekend Reads: March 2021

EcoUniv Weekend Reads #56

6 Mar 2021

Consumerism: The average carbon footprint of a billionaire is 8190 ton/year, compared with 15 ton/year for an American and 5 ton/year as the global average. Most of it can be traced to yachts and private planes.

https://theconversation.com/private-planes-mansions-and-superyachts-what-gives-billionaires-like-musk-and-abramovich-such-a-massive-carbon-footprint-152514

Forests: Cumulative impact of deforestation in the Amazon rainforest is not causing it to release more CO2 than it absorbs on an annual basis.

Article: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/amazon-rainforest-now-appears-to-be-contributing-to-climate-change

Paper: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/ffgc.2021.618401/full

Agriculture: Intense monoculture driven by the green revolution accelerated desertification in India.

https://www.downtoearth.org.in/blog/environment/desertification-in-india-how-green-revolution-hastened-the-man-made-soil-degradation-75859

EcoUniv Weekend Reads #57

14 Mar 2021

Indigenous communities: A recent report by the UN on indigenous communities promotes awareness of indigenous peoples’ issues.

Article: https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/governance/reform-restitution-justice-un-report-suggests-host-of-measures-to-protect-indigenous-rights-75961

Report: https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/publications/state-of-the-worlds-indigenous-peoples.html

Economics: To provide a fillip to markets after Covid-19, governments borrowed mountains of money ($16.3 T to be precise), in the name of fiscal and monetary stimuli. But as we know, there is no free lunch.

https://edition.cnn.com/2021/03/11/investing/government-debt-bond-yields-interest-rates/index.html

EcoUniv Weekend Reads #58

21 Mar 2021

Wildlife Management: A change in government highlights debate over predator control in a wildlife-friendly US state, Montana.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/28/us/montana-wolves-grizzlies-hunting.html

Biodiversity: An opinion piece by several high profile environmental workers and officials.

https://edition.cnn.com/2021/03/24/opinions/biodiversity-nature-survival-azoulay-lee-salgar/index.html

EcoUniv Weekend Reads #59

28 Mar 2021

Green Finance: An invention of market-liberal environmentalism, Green Bonds / Sustainability Bonds market is expected to grow 13X this year. The question is: Is it really green? Are countries and companies getting away with greenwashing and cheating?

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-02-18/esg-debt-boom-sparks-concern-firms-get-away-with-bare-minimum

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-03-29/bond-investor-revolt-brews-over-bogus-green-debt-flooding-market

Moreover, such bonds mainly serve developed markets, not the poor countries who are likely to suffer more from climate change.

https://www.bloombergquint.com/global-economics/green-bond-boom-is-leaving-out-countries-most-at-climate-risk

Environmental Education: We resume the “Understanding the Learner” series, this week we focus on twelve-year olds (seventh grade).

http://ecouniv.in/ecouniv-environmental-education-framework-understanding-the-learner-twleve-year-old-seventh-grade/