When music is good… for premature babies! In industrialized countries, 1% of babies are born before the 32nd week of pregnancy. These are the very premature babies. Born before term, measuring less than 25 cm, they end their development in incubators, far from the heat of the mother’s womb. The very premature babies then encounter…
Biodegradable masks in the Philippines A Filipino company develops biodegradable sheet fiber masks. An initiative that matches the environment and health. “Coronavirus waste”. In the COVID period, it is not uncommon to see N95 masks and latex gloves in the streets, on the beaches, and in the countryside. Environmentalists call them “coronavirus waste”. The UN…
Montreal: the “largest rooftop greenhouse in the world” Lufa Farms, a local company, has just set up an organic greenhouse that is unrivaled in the world. The largest rooftop greenhouse in the world Mohamed Hage and his wife Lauren Rathmell founded Lufa Farms in 2009 with the ambition to “reinvent the food system”. In 2011,…
In Finland, eco-citizens rewarded To encourage eco-citizens behavior, the Finnish city of Lahti offers rewards to its’ residents if they reduce their CO2 emissions. A city highly dependent on the car On average, a resident of Lahti, a city of 120,000 inhabitants, emits the equivalent of 21 kilograms of CO2 per week. “Lahti is still…
Econogy: the coronavirus, good news for the planet In May 2020, three young people launched a research group on the positive consequences of the coronavirus on economic development, called ECONOGY. Interview with two of them, Anaïs Julin and Maëlle Waché. A project for the future Anaïs, Blanche, and Maëlle are students, graduated from Cambridge or…
Soon to be a Green Investment Bank in the UK The global climate emergency requires new economic and ecological instruments. The Green Investment Bank (GIB) is one of them increasingly being considered in the UK. False start Since 2008, the Climate Change Act and the United Kingdom have been committed to reducing its CO2 emissions…
Autonomous drones for humanitarian aid A Montreal-based company is partnering with researchers who are developing autonomous drone technology to assist humanitarian aid workers. Technology at the service of humanitarian aid Humanitarian missions today often use UAVs (or autonomous air vehicles). They make it possible to fly over devastated areas inaccessible to humans, and share geographical…
In Libya, Peace is possible Since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, Libya has been the scene of a factional struggle between two rival authorities. On August 21, 2020, they both separately announced the cessation of fighting and the holding of elections. An explosive situation Tripoli is home to the Government of National Accord…
A well-being budget in New Zealand On the 30th may 2019, the government of New Zealand passed a “well-being budget”, based on new socio-environmental indicators. After the storm The current Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern confessed it herself, 2020 has been “frankly terrible”. For good reasons. First, an extended quarantine due to coronavirus in Auckland, the…