UAE Rethinks Sustainability with ‘Sustainable Cities’

Leaders of the Group of 20 rich countries will recognise this weekend that urgent steps must be taken to keep in reach the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, according to a draft statement seen by Reuters.  “We commit to tackle the existential challenge of climate change,” said the draft of the communique to be issued at the Rome summit, seen as a key stepping stone ahead of a broader United Nations climate summit next week in Scotland.  The leaders will say they recognise that the impacts of climate change if warming can be held at 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels are “much lower” than at 2 degrees and that “immediate action must be taken to keep 1.5 within reach.”

Intensification and the separation of crops, livestock and forestry production systems in agriculture contributes greatly to climate change and biodiversity loss. A new 1.33 million European funded project, co-ordinated by researchers at the James Hutton Institute, will aim to find measures that can improve circularity in crop-forest-livestock integrated systems and mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emission.  The project, Synergies in integrated systems: Improving resource use efficiency while mitigating GHG emissions through well-informed decisions about circularity (SENSE), will bring together 10 Institutions from 7 countries, 4 from Europe, and 3 from South America. The James Hutton Institute’s climate-positive research farm at Glensaugh will form one of the case study locations for the project.

Melodea Ltd. has developed MelOx, a plant-sourced barrier coating that protects packaged products from oxygen, as well as from oil and grease transmission. The company has also developed Melodea VBcoat, which protects packaged goods from water vapor, as well as from oil and grease transmission. The products are made from wood pulp, and do not contribute to plastic waste pollution.