Best printers for Home

Best Mixer Grinder

Best wired Earphones

Best 43 Inch TV in India

Best Wi Fi Routers

Best Home Theatre in India

Smart Watch under 5000

Best Laptops for Education

Best Laptop for Students

<keyword id="1820144" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="plastic-pollution" source="Orion">Plastic pollution</keyword> could reduce by 80 per cent by 2040 if countries and companies make deep policy and market shifts using existing technologies, a new report by UN <keyword id="6356826" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="environment" source="Orion">Environment</keyword> Programme (<keyword id="6491230" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="unep" source="Orion">UNEP</keyword>) said on Tuesday.<br /><br />The report was released ahead of a second round of negotiations in Paris on a global agreement to beat plastic pollution. It outlines the magnitude and nature of the changes required to end plastic pollution and create a <keyword id="2966117" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="circular-economy" source="Orion">circular economy</keyword>.<br /><br />'<em>Turning off the Tap: How the world can end plastic pollution and create a circular economy</em>' is a solutions-focused analysis of concrete practices, market shifts, and policies that can inform government thinking and business action.<br /><br />"The way we produce, use and dispose of plastics is polluting ecosystems, creating risks for human health and destabilising the climate," said Inger Andersen, Executive Director, UNEP, adding: "This UNEP report lays out a roadmap to dramatically reduce these risks through adopting a circular approach that keeps plastics out of ecosystems, out of our bodies and in the economy. If we follow this roadmap, including in negotiations on the plastic pollution deal, we can deliver major economic, social and environmental wins."<br /><br />To slash plastic pollution by 80 per cent globally by 2040, the report suggests first eliminating problematic and unnecessary plastics to reduce the size of the problem. Subsequently, the report calls for three market shifts — reuse, recycle, and reorient and diversify products.<br /><strong><br />Reuse: </strong>Promoting reuse options, including refillable bottles, bulk dispensers, deposit-return schemes, packaging take-back schemes etc. can reduce 30 per cent of plastic pollution by 2040. To realise its potential, governments must help build a stronger business case for reusables.<br /><strong><br />Recycle:</strong> Reducing plastic pollution by an additional 20 per cent by 2040 can be achieved if recycling becomes a more stable and profitable venture. Removing fossil fuels subsidies, enforcing design guidelines to enhance recyclability, and other measures would increase the share of economically recyclable plastics from 21 per cent to 50 per cent.<br /><strong><br />Reorient and diversify:</strong> Careful replacement of products such as plastic wrappers, sachets and takeaway items with products made from alternative materials (such as paper or compostable materials) can deliver an additional 17 per cent decrease in plastic pollution.<br /><br />Even with these measures, 100 million metric tonnes of plastic from single-use and short-lived products will still need to be safely dealt with annually by 2040 — together with a significant legacy of existing plastic pollution.<br /><br />This can be addressed by setting and implementing design and safety standards for disposing of non-recyclable plastic waste, and by making manufacturers responsible for products shedding microplastics, among others.<br /><br />Overall, the shift to a circular economy would result in $1.27 trillion in savings, considering costs and recycling revenues. A further $3.25 trillion would be saved from avoided externalities such as health, climate, air pollution, marine ecosystem degradation, and litigation-related costs.<br /><br />This shift could also result in a net increase of 700,000 jobs by 2040, mostly in low-income countries, significantly improving the livelihoods of millions of workers in informal settings.<br /><h2><br />Recommended stories:</h2><br />    <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="100104047" title="Plastic recycling plants could end up dumping lakhs of kilograms of microplastics in water bodies, study finds" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"><payload><![CDATA[seealso]]></payload></div>

80% plastic pollution could be eradicated by 2040 with appropriate policy changes: UNEP report

<ul><li><keyword id="8626838" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="UNEP-India">UNEP India</keyword> has launched a clothing line with designer <keyword id="121020" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Masaba-Gupta">Masaba Gupta</keyword> that aims to reduce the use of plastic in our country. </li><li>The collection and campaign is conceptualised by <keyword id="531122" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ogilvy-India">Ogilvy India</keyword> and both went live on January 22. </li><li><keyword id="8626840" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="the-house-of-masaba">The House of Masaba</keyword> and Ogilvy India are encouraging other designers to plagiarise their ideas and execute it themselves. To ease out this process, a few DIY videos will be launched, leveraging Masaba’s digital reach. </li></ul><div type="Video" msid="73550457" hostid="261" title="UNEP India has launched a clothing line with designer Masaba Gupta; aim to reduce the use of plastic in our country." thumbUrl="https://denmark.timesinternet.in/cmslite/api/app/images.jpg?msid=73550457"></div>

<br />United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) India has launched a fashion line called ‘<keyword id="8626839" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="I-will-wear-out-plastic">I will wear out plastic</keyword>,’ which aims to phase out single use plastic in a unique way. The garments are designed by Masaba Gupta that come with built-in detachable bags. <br /><br />Conceptualised by Ogilvy India, this creative collection aims to use fashion trends to reduce the use of plastic. The agency has been in partnership with UNEP for the past three years. They have worked together to develop a larger platform called #BeatPlasticPollution. <br /><br />Under this initiative, each garment has as an exclusive accessory -- a detachable reusable bag, making a fashion statement. These bags are designed on clothes that can be worn for everyday use. It enables you ‘to wear out the problem,’ quite literally. <br /><br />The collection will be available in The House of Masaba stores in eight metro cities and online. <br /><br />To spread the word, The House of Masaba has launched a digital campaign asking a simple yet powerful question -- “Fashion brings change but can it save the world?” Masaba thinks it can. <br /><br />“This range is high-fashion and you are making a fashion statement. You are wearing a piece that doesn’t look like a gimmick and actually serves a purpose, which is to try and eliminate single use plastic,” explains Gupta. <br /><br />The House of Masaba and Ogilvy India are encouraging other designers to plagiarise their ideas and execute it themselves. To ease out this process, a few DIY videos will be launched, leveraging Masaba’s digital reach. <br /><br /><strong>Roots of the idea</strong><br /><br />This idea of launching a fashion line appeared in one of Ogilvy’s brainstorming sessions. The team tried to identify the problem and concluded that people use plastic because they usually don’t carry a bag along to shopping marts. They later posed a question to themselves, 'what if we had a cloth bag with us everywhere we go.' They then found a dress, took its pocket, folded a bag and tugged it inside. After a few designing sessions with Gupta, ‘I will wear out plastic’ was born. <br /><br />“When we presented our prototype and sketches, UNEP got really excited. They said it was simple and can be easily copied by others into a stylish garment,” shares Sukesh Nayak, Chief Creative Officer, Ogilvy. <br /><br />Expanding on what pushed them into their epiphany, Nayak adds, “When you want to bring about a behavioural change, you cannot do it in a boring way -- it has to be the most interesting. You really have to entice the person to change.”<br /><br />Sharing what he liked about Ogilvy’s pitch, Atul Bagai - Country Head, UNEP India said, “Addressing environmental challenges such as plastic pollution call for behavioral changes in society and it can have a huge impact when an acclaimed fashion designer like Masaba Gupta makes an environment statement through an entire clothing line.” <br /><br />After the agency conceptualised the idea, it went to Masaba Gupta — who is known for her bold and quirky designs — with a simple brief. <br /><br />“The brief that Ogilvy came to me with was simple. They said UNEP aims to cut down plastic pollution and asked if can we create a range of clothes that can be turned into a bag,” recalls Gupta. <br /><br />She says while the idea was exciting and she found herself tending towards it immediately, the execution and figuring out the technicalities was also a challenge. However, the bigger cause kept her going. It took nearly a year to conceptualise and bring the idea into life. <br /><br />Sharing what convinced her to get on-board, Gupta said, “Pollution is one of the largest environmental threats faced globally and there’s an urgent requirement and responsibility to address it. The Fashion Industry is also known to produce the most global wastage. This time, we’re using fashion as a tool for empowerment and activism. We encourage people to understand our concept and try to recreate their own permutations and combinations to take this concept forward.”<br /><br /><strong>Target Audience<br /></strong><br />Nayak says they wanted to create something that the audience would want to copy and the benchmark is so high that it would push them to act. The campaign plays on its aspirational factor and doesn’t have a voice over. It wants to walk the talk and let the audience follow. <br /><br />However, the collection will be available in all The House of Masaba stores and will start from Rs 6000. This initiative is clearly targeting the metros, who can afford this price range. But both Gupta and Nayak are confident that with digital media, any idea can be copied and it won’t take much time to pick up into a trend. <br /><br /><strong>Media Plan</strong><br /><br />While right now, a digital campaign has been released in the range of 15 seconders to 2:09 minutes ads, the plan is to keep launching Do it Yourself videos so that the idea is copied, multiplied and practised by different kinds of audience. <br /><br />Sharing why Gupta was okay with the idea being copied, she said, “We as a brand have fought very hard for plagiarism. But I would really encourage people out there to incorporate this collection and do it their way. They can understand how we did it and make their own permutations and combinations with it. This isn’t about plagiarism but about giving back to our environment.” <br /><br />As the word spreads, Nayak says the organisation also plans to use TV and Outdoor to keep the buzz going. <br />

UNEP India and Masaba Gupta launch a clothing line to help phase out single-use plastic in the country

<strong><br /></strong><ul><li><strong>The world has produced over 6.3 billion tonnes of plastic waste since 1950.</strong></li><li><strong>Every Indian on an average consumes 11 kgs of plastic per year.<br /></strong></li><li><strong>India also planning to join the “Clean Marine Ecosystem”.</strong></li></ul>Plastic is a growing concern not only for India but the whole world. Disposal and recycling of single-use plastic items such as polythene bags and containers are a major concern. Since the 1950s, an estimated 6.3 billion tonnes of plastic has been <a href="https://www.economist.com/international/2018/03/03/the-known-unknowns-of-plastic-pollution">produced</a>, of which an estimated 9% has been recycled and another 12% of plastic waste has been incinerated.<br /><br />India was the global host of the <keyword id="18996" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="World-Environment-Day">World Environment Day</keyword> this year. The country, which is in the 75th year of its independence, pledged to eliminate the use of all single-use-plastic items like straws, plastic bags and water bottles, by the year 2022.<br />
  
  <div type="javascript" title="Custom"><cdata><![CDATA[



]]></cdata></div>




Union Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan, on the occasion of the World Environment Day, said - "We make a solemn pledge that we will eliminate all single-use plastics from our country." This statement has also shed some light on the PM’s idea of new India by the year 2022.<br />
  
  <div type="javascript" title="Custom"><cdata><![CDATA[



]]></cdata></div> At Vigyan Bhawan where India’s Prime Minister <keyword id="6597234" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="narendra-singh-modi">Narendra Singh Modi</keyword> emphasised on India’s relentless commitment towards protecting the environment, Vardhan said - "This India of our dreams (New India) will be single-use plastic free."<br /><br />This commitment is intended to send strong messages to the world which is threatened with increasing <keyword id="1820144" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="plastic-pollution">plastic pollution</keyword> due to the huge amounts of environmental degradation it causes.<br />
  
  <div type="javascript" title="Custom"><cdata><![CDATA[



]]></cdata></div> <keyword id="6354642" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Modi">Modi</keyword> in his speech mentioned that India is preparing to join the “Clean Sea Campaign” and make its contribution towards saving the world's oceans. "Plastic threatens to become a menace to humanity. A lot of it never makes it to the recycling stations”, he said.<br /><br />The annual average per capita <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/environment/the-good-earth/by-2022-india-vows-to-stop-single-use-plastics/articleshow/64471467.cms">consumption of plastic in India</a> is at 11 kg as against the global average of 28 kg. The large amount of plastic waste the world produces inevitably enters the environment, with <a href="https://globalnomadic.com/turning-rubbish-into-money-environmental-innovation-leads-the-way/">studies</a> <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016648014004225?via%3Dihub">suggesting</a> that the bodies of 90% of seabirds contain plastic debris. <br />

India pledges to eliminate single-use plastics by 2020

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Getty Images</span></p><p class="caption">The solar road in Jinan, China.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul><li><strong>China is starting to find more success with solar highway projects than the US.</strong></li><li><strong>Proponents of solar roads say that they provide a way to generate solar power without paying for additional land. Critics say that solar roads do not generate enough power for their cost, since the solar cells do not tilt toward the sun.</strong></li><li><strong>Both countries face challenges, like reducing the cost of installation and repairs.</strong></li></ul><p>China holds the unusual title <span>of being both the</span> world's biggest carbon-emissions emitter and the largest investor in solar energy.</p><p>In 2017, the country <span>poured <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/solar-growth-outpaces-coal-oil-fossil-fuels-2018-4">$126.6 billion</a> into the solar industry - a 30% increase from the year prior - in an effort to reduce urban pollution, a problem that has become a health epidemic in <a href="http://www.greenpeace.org/eastasia/press/releases/climate-energy/2015/air-ranking-2015-Q1/">many Chinese cities</a>. </span></p><p><span>Most of China's solar megaprojects manifest as massive farms in open fields or on water. To build onshore solar farms, the country uses up to hundreds of acres of land.</span></p><p><span>A Chinese company called </span><span>Pavenergy aims to create similarly ambitious solar projects - but on freeways, where existing infrastructure can be repurposed.</span></p><p><span>In late 2017, Pavenergy teamed up with</span> with Qilu Transportation, a state-owned interstate construction firm, to <a href="http://www.chinanews.com/ny/2017/12-28/8411812.shtml">open</a> the country's first solar highway. As The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/11/business/energy-environment/china-solar-roads-renewables.html">notes</a>, the two companies are considered leaders in China's solar road development.</p><p>Pavenergy's plastic-covered solar panels blanket a two-thirds-mile portion of a highway in Jinan, the capital city of eastern China's Shandong Province. The panel-covered highway can withstand the pressure from the <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-04-11/the-solar-highway-that-can-recharge-electric-cars-on-the-move">45,000 cars and trucks</a> driving on it every day. </p><p>Solar roads are more feasible today than ever before; due largely to an increase in Chinese solar production, a solar panel today costs a tenth of what it did a decade ago.</p><p><span>But the US faces a unique infrastructure-related challenge with solar roads that China doesn't have to contend with. Most American roads include a lot of asphalt, which compresses slightly under the weight of heavy vehicles. On a concrete road, the nearly paper-thin solar cells can withstand a truck's load of weight. But on asphalt, the cells easily snap when bent. </span></p><p><span>This is not as much of an issue in China, where most highways are built with a more sturdy concrete foundation, according to The Times.</span></p><p><span>In the US, solar road projects have struggled to get off the ground. </span><span>A company called Solar Roadways <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/solar-road-panels-first-public-test-2016-10">made headlines in 2016</a> when it installed the country's first public (and very small) <a href="http://www.sandpointidaho.gov/visiting-sandpoint/solar-roadways#ad-image-3">test</a> of a solar road. The project received several research grants from the US Department of Transportation, and raised an additional $2.2 million in a crowdfunding campaign.</span></p><p><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Solar Roadways</span></p><p class="caption">The solar cell tiles used in the solar road test in Idaho.</p></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><p><span>The trial took place in a pedestrian square in Sandpoint, Idaho that's devoid of car traffic. Due to the project's small scale, it </span><span>only generates enough electricity to power a nearby fountain and restroom, according to Spokane-based news station <a href="http://www.krem.com/news/local/bonner-county/solar-roadways-to-go-live-as-the-world-watches/326923151" target="_blank" rel="noopener">KREM 2</a>.</span></p><p>Kansas City, Missouri <a href="https://www.curbed.com/2016/6/21/11976224/solar-panel-street-pavers-missouri-energy-route-66">started</a> planning a more ambitious solar road project with Solar Roadways in 2016, and the state launched a campaign to crowdfund its installation along Route 66. But in late 2017, the Missouri Department of Transportation put the project <a href="http://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/speed-bump-pops-missouris-solar-road-project#stream/0">on hold</a><span>.</span></p><p><span>China is facing its own roadblocks with making solar highways mainstream. Since the panels lie flat and don't tilt toward the sun's rays, they produce half as much solar power as rooftop installations on average. Solar roads are also more expensive than traditional asphalt. Each decade, it costs about $11 per square foot to repair an asphalt road. It's more than four times as expensive to replace a road's solar panels.</span></p><p><span>If solar road companies can get costs down, their products pose several advantages for cities.</span></p><p><span> There's </span><span>no added construction cost for land, because the roads already exist. Since roads run around and through cities, little power would be lost during the electricity transmission process. And as BI's Dana Varinsky has <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/solar-road-panels-first-public-test-2016-10">noted</a>, solar roads could making driving safer. Electric heating strips could melt snowy roads, and the embedded lights could alert drivers to construction, traffic hazards, and exits.</span></p><div><span>Bob Brendel, special assignments coordinator with the Missouri DOT, recently said that the state is not opposed to exploring solar highway projects in the future. But his team <a href="http://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/speed-bump-pops-missouris-solar-road-project#stream/0">may choose </a>to work with a foreign company next time.</span></div><p>The future for solar highways appears to be more optimistic abroad. On the solar road in China, Qilu and Pavenergy <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-04-11/the-solar-highway-that-can-recharge-electric-cars-on-the-move">have said</a> they will soon embed sensors that could interact with and charge autonomous electric vehicles. And this month, Tokyo's government announced that it plans to <a href="http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0004500668">trial solar road technology</a> as early as 2019.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/why-self-cannibalism-is-bad-idea-2018-5">Cannibalism used to be a popular medical remedy - here's why humans don't eat each other today</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

China could beat the US in a race to get solar power from highways

<ul class="summary-list"><li><strong>I recently traveled to England, Scotland, and Belgium. </strong></li><li><strong>I arrived with some preconceived notions that were proven entirely wrong. </strong></li></ul><p>After weeks of research, there were some things I didn't expect during my recent trip to Europe.</p><p>I went to <a href="https://www.insider.com/visited-europe-with-friend-ways-to-avoid-disastrous-trip-2023-10" target="_blank" rel="noopener">London, Brussels, and Glasgow in late September for a 10-day vacation</a> with my friend for her birthday. It was my first time traveling across the pond, so I was very excited to experience cities I'd only seen through pictures and films. I prepared by reading travel articles online, watching TikToks on what to pack, and asking my colleagues for activity suggestions beforehand. However, there were still a few things I didn't see coming. </p><p>Here are three assumptions about the United Kingdom and Belgium that were quickly dashed. </p><h2>London isn't a 24-hour city like New York, where people enjoy nightlife any day of the week</h2><div type="image" title="Lauren Edmonds in London, England" height="3024" width="4032" msid="104627823" hostid="261" sizebytes="1384838"></div><p>My friend and I were riding in the back of an Uber through London when we sparked a conversation with the driver. It was a Wednesday around 8 p.m. </p><p>"So, where can we go to drink and dance tonight?" my friend asked. </p><p>The driver looked at us through the rearview mirror curiously before answering with a question. </p><p>"Isn't it Wednesday?" he asked. </p><p>He made a fair point, but we assumed that London's nightlife mirrored New York City, where there's a monstrous appetite and industry for after-hour activities. Clubs and bars are usually open until 4 a.m. several nights a week, and there's never a shortage of eateries to stumble into afterward. NYC is also dubbed "The City That Never Sleeps" for its subway system, which runs 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. </p><div type="image" title="Lauren Edmonds in London, England" height="2274" width="3024" msid="104627824" hostid="261" sizebytes="970780"></div><p>Although we still had an absolute blast, we struggled to find venues in London that stayed open past 2 a.m., and most eateries closed shop by midnight. <a href="https://www.visitlondon.com/traveller-information/getting-around-london/london-tube#:~:text=London%20Underground%20trains%20generally%20run,night%20on%20Fridays%20and%20Saturdays." target="_blank" rel="noopener">London Underground</a>, the city's rail transit system, ends service by midnight between Monday and Saturday.</p><p>I was curious why London didn't have more late-night options, and a quick Google search showed I wasn't alone. Time Out published an article titled "<a href="https://www.timeout.com/london/clubs/why-did-london-start-going-to-bed-so-early" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Why did London start going to bed so early?</a>" in February 2023, and one Telegraph article headline from July read, "<a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/united-kingdom/england/london/londons-nightlife-is-an-embarrassment/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">London's nightlife is an embarrassment</a>." </p><p>The pandemic and economic hardships likely played a role in the lack of options, but the trend may not be confined to London. <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/06/21/nyc-night-owls-left-hungry-as-24-hour-restaurants-dwindle/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The New York Post</a> reported in June 2023 that some 24-hour restaurants in New York City were cutting down their hours post-pandemic.</p><h2>Uber and rideshare apps are less reliable in parts of Europe compared to New York City</h2><p>Living as an American in New York City has conditioned me to think Uber and other rideshare options are always an option. Whether it's 3 a.m. or 10 p.m., I've always felt confident that I could open an app and get a ride home with little effort. </p><p>But in London, Glasgow, and Brussels, my friend and I faced cancellation after cancellation. We attempted to plan for each daily excursion by ordering the Uber at least 15 minutes before leaving, but we often left later than expected because rideshares kept bailing. </p><div type="image" title="Lauren Edmonds in Brussels, Belgium." height="3024" width="4032" msid="104627827" hostid="261" sizebytes="1074638"></div><p>While it didn't ruin our plans, we certainly didn't think to explore the cities' Uber trends before flying to Europe. If we did, we probably would have come across the <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/brussels/comments/11pc1y5/american_visiting_brussels_why_are_uber_drivers/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Reddit board in March questioning the wave of cancellations </a>in Brussels and <a href="https://www.timeout.com/london/city-life/whats-going-on-with-uber-drivers-right-now" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cabbies sharing their insights into the issue with Time Out</a> in November 2022. </p><p>But there's always a silver lining.</p><p>The struggle to book Ubers forced us to walk more often, meaning we interacted with more people and had spontaneous explorations in Brussels. In London, we navigated the Tube to different parts of the city and took a boat tour on a whim.  </p><h2>I was surprised by the significant push for sustainability in Europe, which differs from the US</h2><p>The United Kingdom and Belgium have the US beat regarding environmentalism, and it's not a secret. The <a href="https://epi.yale.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Environmental Performance Index</a> (EPI) created by Yale University reported the United Kingdom ranked 2nd and Belgium 21st on the list, while the US ranked 43rd in 2022.  </p><div type="image" title="Sign showing Ultra Low Emission Zone in London, England." height="3712" width="5568" msid="104627829" hostid="261" sizebytes="504730"></div><p>Still, I was surprised by how significant the push for sustainability is in London, Glasgow, and Brussels. The Visit Brussels website said the <a href="https://www.visit.brussels/en/visitors/plan-your-trip/practical-info/low-emission-zone#:~:text=Did%20you%20know%20that%20the,registered%20in%20Belgium%20or%20not." target="_blank" rel="noopener">Brussels-Capital Region is a low emission zone</a>, meaning that most polluting vehicles are not permitted to drive there, <a href="https://lez.brussels/mytax/en/practical?tab=Controls" target="_blank" rel="noopener">with a potential fine of €350 (or $368 USD) for non-compliance</a>. <a href="https://www.glasgow.gov.uk/LEZ" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Glasgow</a> and London have similar areas, with <a href="https://www.london.gov.uk/programmes-strategies/environment-and-climate-change/pollution-and-air-quality/ultra-low-emission-zone-ulez-london" target="_blank" rel="noopener">London officials implementing an Ultra Low Emission Zone</a> across all its boroughs, according to the Mayor of London's website. </p><p>Meanwhile, <a href="https://nacto.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/BuildingHealthyCities_UrbanFreight_LEZs.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The National Association for City Transport Officials</a> said Santa Monica, California, became the first US city to pilot a zero-emissions delivery zone in April 2020. </p><p>There were more subtle efforts, too. Each hotel I stayed at gave me wooden room keys instead of plastic ones. </p>

I'm an American who visited London and Brussels for the first time. Here are 3 expectations I had that turned out to be wrong.

<ul><li><keyword id="45009" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Unilever">Unilever</keyword> is opening up its plan for tackling climate change to a shareholder vote in May next year, becoming the first global company to do so. </li><li>However, the vote won’t be open to shareholders of <keyword id="6365619" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="hindustan-unilever">Hindustan Unilever</keyword> (<keyword id="44863" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="HUL">HUL</keyword>) in India. </li><li>The company announced its plans for a shareholder vote shortly after joining the Amazon-led Climate Pledge, which has been criticised for being a branding endeavour rather than delivering actual change. <br /></li></ul>Big corporations all over the world have been pledging to reduce their role in the impact of climate change, and this includes the global consumer goods giant Unilever. <br /><br />The London-based multinational has announced that it will be opening up its ‘climate transition action plan’ to the shareholders to vote next year and seek a non-binding advisory vote.“It is the first time a global company has voluntarily committed to put its climate transition plan before a shareholder vote,” said the company. <br /><br />The plan will outline the overall goals of the organisation to mitigate climate change, and the specific measures it will be putting in place to achieve those goals. This includes an ambitious target to turn net-zero emissions by 2039.<br /><br />However, the vote won’t be open to shareholders of Hindustan Unilever (HUL) in India. “The proposal to seek shareholders’ approval is by Unilever. HUL is a separate listed company, and therefore, HUL shareholders will not be participating in the approval process,” HUL told Business Insider.<br /><br /><br /><strong>Unilever’s climate transition targets:</strong><br /><ol><li>Zero emissions from its own operations by 2030</li><li>A 50% reduction in the average footprint of its products by 2030</li><li>Net-zero emissions from sourcing to point of sale by 2039<br /></li></ol>The climate transition action plan will be shared with shareholders during the first quarter of the next fiscal year, and the vote is likely to take place during the Annual General Meeting on 5 May 2021. <br /><br />The plan will be revised and put up for a vote every three years after that. Unilever will share its first annual progress report of the ‘climate transition action plan’ in 2022.<br /><br />According to the company, the endeavour is to be more transparent about its goals and how it plans to achieve them. <br /><br /><strong>Just branding or actual change?<br /></strong>The move to share its plans with the shareholders comes after <a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20201209005672/en/Unilever-Microsoft-Brooks-Neste-and-ITV-Are-Among-13-More-Companies-to-Join-The-Climate-Pledge">Unilever joined</a> Amazon’s Climate Pledge to be net-zero carbon by 2040 along with Microsoft, Rubicon, and ten other companies last week.<br /><br />But, many aren’t convinced. Critics point out that the cooperative environmental agreement lacks transparency around the exact measures that will lead to these behemoths beating the Paris Agreement’s goal of 2050 by a decade. <br /><br />Aseem Prakash from the University of Washington told <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/12/09/amazon-climate-pledge-members/">The Washington Post</a> that the climate pledge is nothing more than a ‘branding exercise’. “They’ve wrapped themselves in the cloak of environmental respectability,” he said. <br /><br /><div type="twitter" handle="bcmerchant" handlename="Brian Merchant" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1311406626604150784/KggZb5KJ_normal.jpg" favoritecount="1" retweetcount="1" status="Plastering the Climate Pledge branding on stadiums, building flashy websites, posting sponsored content at… https://t.co/WBHLGsCofO" createdat="1593717192000" id="1278768707892731905"></div><br />Another critique was highlighted in a report by <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2020/12/16/amazon-must-stop-flooding-our-oceans-with-plastic-waste">Oceana</a>. It points out the irony between Amazon’s Climate Pledge and the fact that the e-commerce giant is still using plastic packaging, polluting waterways and oceans across the world. <br /><br />Earlier in December, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazons-days-of-impunity-over-400-lawmakers-tell-bezos-2020-12?r=DE&amp;IR=T">400 international law makers</a> from 34 different countries also wrote an open letter to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos accusing Amazon of underpaying workers, paying taxes that are too low — and being a contributor to climate change.<br /><br /><strong>SEE ALSO:<br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/apps/news/fake-instagram-facebook-and-vimeo-extensions-on-google-chrome-can-steal-personal-information-and-location/articleshow/79773977.cms">Fake Instagram, Facebook, and Vimeo extensions on Google Chrome can ‘hijack’ your URL, steal personal information and track your location</a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/environment/news/supercomputer-shows-tropical-cyclones-hitting-india-are-going-get-more-destructive-that-is-until-the-flooding-starts/articleshow/79764803.cms">Supercomputer shows tropical cyclones hitting India are going get more destructive — that is until the flooding starts</a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/bitcoin-price-has-smashed-past-the-20000-mark-for-the-first-time-doubling-in-value-since-the-beginning-of-2020/articleshow/79775482.cms">Bitcoin has doubled investor wealth in 2020 — and industry insiders say there's more to come</a></strong><br />

Unilever is opening up its climate action plan to shareholders as Amazon's Climate Pledge battles criticism

<p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><ul><li><span></span><strong>UK-based LADBible is one of the biggest publishers on Facebook with 32.6 million followers. But it is scrambling to make content for other platforms as Facebook's reach continues to dip.</strong></li><li><strong>The publisher's monthly video views on Facebook have decreased from 3.2 billion to 1.3 billion since October, according to CrowdTangle data.</strong></li><li><strong>LADBible is now focused on Snapchat and Instagram and is eyeing more long-form content.</strong></li><li><strong>As part of the shift, the publisher is exploring "positively social" content that tackles topics like mental health and gender norms.</strong></li></ul><p>A year ago, bro-oriented UK publisher LADBible was cranking on Facebook.</p><p>The six-year-old site had built one of the biggest Facebook followings from funny video clips, and the appetite for such content seemed to only be growing-until it abruptly ended in October.</p><p>Similar to other publishers that have seen an audience drop-off on Facebook in recent months,&#xa0;LADBible's reach on the platform has decreased dramatically in recent months due to changes to Facebook's algorithm. In particular,&#xa0; viral-minded social publishers <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/littlethings-online-publisher-shuts-down-and-blames-facebook-algorithm-2018-2">like LittleThings</a> and <a href="http://www.thedrum.com/news/2017/01/03/unilad-beats-the-daily-mail-and-buzzfeeds-tasty-become-2016s-most-popular-facebook">Unilad</a> that spent years building massive audiences and distribution for their content on Facebook have noticed a sizable hit.</p><p>As a result, LADBible is turning to Instagram and Snapchat to feed its next wave of growth, the company said.</p><p>According to data from Facebook-owned CrowdTangle, engagement with LADBible's Facebook content has steadily declined since October. LADBible's monthly video views from its flagship Facebook page (which counts 32.6 million followers) dropped from 3.2 billion in October to 1.3 billion in June.</p><p>In terms of interactions-which measures likes, comments and shares-the page has dipped from 95 million to 39.8 million.</p><p>The amount of content that LADBible pumps into Facebook hasn't changed significantly, suggesting that it's become harder to drive engagement. In June, the site published 1,152 pieces of content to its main Facebook page, down slightly from the 1,373 posts published in October.</p><p>"It's no secret with what they're doing to their platform," Arian Kalantari, cofounder of LADBible Group, told Business Insider. "We probably saw that at the turn of the year where conversations were happening around 'how can we make the newsfeed better?' From my point of view, we're positive about it and we're looking at other platforms like Instagram-it's about where is the audience and what can we do to engage any kind of youth audience."</p><h3>Ditching the Facebook bubble</h3><p>LADBible is continuously one of the top publishers on Facebook, per<a href="https://www.facebook.com/LADbible/videos/4785305224849963/"> findings from Tubular Labs,</a> and its sweet spot is in short, humorous videos that people can easily scroll through in their newsfeed.</p><p>For a publisher that was born on Facebook, untethering itself from the social networking giant is tough, Kalantari said.</p><p>"Facebook is a huge beast in itself so it's definitely up there as one of our main priorities," he said. "You can't ignore the numbers that they have."</p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><p>Still, Facebook's reach is declining, so the publisher is now squarely focused on Instagram and Snapchat because, "If you speak to the younger audience now, Instagram and Snapchat are very much what they're on," said Kalantari. The publisher has even <a href="http://www.thedrum.com/opinion/2016/09/22/the-lad-bible-hires-16-year-olds-its-newsroom-understand-the-next-phase-digital">hired two teenagers </a>to work with editorial teams on planning and making social content. All told, LADBible has 150 staffers.</p><p>"When we started the business, we were 20 and 21 years old and we were of the Facebook generation and understood that world-we took advantage of it whereas the traditional publishers didn't understand the platform at the time," Kalantari said. "[Instagram and Snapchat] are replicating the way that we came about on Facebook so hiring younger talent to drive it seems like a no-brainer for us."</p><p>LADBible's main Instagram account has 6.3 million followers, up from 4.6 million a year ago, per CrowdTangle. In terms of video views, LADBible's Instagram clips had 164 million views in June, up from 26.1 million in October.</p><p>According to LADBible's internal numbers, its Instagram Stories average more than 850,000 impressions per story.</p><p>The social publisher has also created a handful of long-form videos for IGTV, Instagram's video hub. The same day that IGTV rolled out, LADBible posted <a href="https://www.instagram.com/tv/BkQT6lFhpl-/">a 10-minute clip</a> titled "Conspiracies: Why the Earth is flat" with different perspectives explaining why some people believe the world is flat. The video has racked up more than 246,000 views and 950 comments.</p><p>"The growth that we see on Instagram is going to be rapid whereas Facebook is maturing," Kalantari said.</p><h3>Changing tone</h3><p>In addition to Instagram's IGTV, LADBible also recently became the newest publisher to join Snapchat Discover, the app's hub where publishers create vertical content. According to Kalantari, the publisher is currently making three Discover editions a week with the goal of making it daily in the near future.</p><p>Up until now, advertisers like Smirnoff and Beats by Dre have funded LADBible's move into long-form content but the publisher said that it plans to invest more in its own studio and production resources over the next 12 months.</p><p>Along with its new distribution outlets, LADBible has also changed the tone of its content from sensational clips that generate clicks on Facebook to "positively social" content that tackles issues like mental health, gender equality, and pollution.</p><p>Its work with agency AMV BBDO and The Plastic Oceans Foundation for plastic pollution, for example, includes a campaign called "The Trash Isles" starring Al Gore that encourages consumers to lobby for the trash in the ocean-which is about the size of the country of France-to become its own country. The campaign won eight Cannes Lions Awards at the recent&#xa0;Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.</p><p>"We're in a generation now where young people are a lot more sensitive to what's going on in the world," Kalantari said. "We're covering all sorts of topics that maybe we didn't five or six years ago. A big focus for us is how we redefine the way in which news and entertainment is given to a young audience. Whether it's the platforms or the type of content, it's constantly evolving."</p><p class="tagline">Get the latest Snap stock price<a href="http://markets.businessinsider.com/stock/SNAP-Quote"> here.</a></p><div>    </div><div></div><div></div>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/jurassic-world-fallen-kingdom-science-facts-ignored-2018-6">5 science facts that 'Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom' totally ignored</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div></hr>

LADBible was once the poster child for Facebook video - now it's shifting its distribution to Instagram and Snapchat and ditching its bro-ey tone

<p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><ul class="summary-list"><li><strong>Climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe says she's learned more about which of her behaviors contribute most to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/climate-change">warming the planet</a>&#xa0;by using a carbon footprint calculator.</strong></li><li><strong>While she drives a plug-in car and uses energy-saving LED light bulbs in her home, she says that neither of those are the most important thing she's done to reduce her contribution to a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/global-warming-point-of-no-return-temperature-2018-8">warming Earth</a>.</strong></li><li><strong><strong>Instead, she now insists that when she must travel for work, she books more than one event at a time.</strong></strong></li></ul><p>Recently, the news about our planet's health hasn't been great.</p><p>Studies have pointed out that we may be headed toward a "hothouse" Earth scenario - a catastrophic tipping point that could cause&#xa0;<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hothouse-earth-climate-change-tipping-point-2018-8">seas to rise another 200 feet</a>, inundating many major cities.&#xa0;Scientists and engineers have now started&#xa0;<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/geoengineering-ice-sheets-prevent-ice-sheet-collapse-2018-9">proposing that we build giant Antarctic sea walls</a> to keep melting glaciers from <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/giant-iceberg-threatens-greenland-with-tsunami-photos-2018-7">slamming into our shores</a>.</p><p>But not everyone is wallowing in despair.</p><p>One climate scientist in Lubbock, Texas, is making her own set of changes at home to help keep the planet cool.</p><h2>It started with a lightbulb&#xa0;</h2><p>"The first thing I did, was I said 'Ok,&#xa0;let's just look at the light bulbs,'" climate scientist Katherine Hayhoe told Business Insider.</p><p>Hayhoe directs the climate center at Texas Tech, and she also <a href="http://www.atmos-research.com/">consults</a> for cities, water districts, and highway planners around the country about the best ways to prepare for life in a warmer world.</p><p>She says if&#xa0;every home in the US swapped&#xa0;one regular lightbulb out for an LED bulb, which <a href="https://www.energy.gov/energysaver/save-electricity-and-fuel/lighting-choices-save-you-money/led-lighting">uses about 75% less energy</a>,&#xa0;that would reduce emissions as much as&#xa0;taking 800,000 cars off the road. "T<span>hat's actually pretty significant," Hayhoe said. </span></p><p><span>Still, she had a hunch that changing lightbulbs wasn't the most significant thing she could do to reduce her carbon footprint.</span></p><p>No two people consume energy in the same way. While some may push more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere when they're driving around in a car, others might leave a bigger CO2&#xa0;"print" using throw-away plastic containers, eating lots of meat, or plugging in energy-hogging appliances. All of these require oil and gas, and <a href="https://www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/climate-change-atmospheric-carbon-dioxide">contribute to climate change</a>.&#xa0;</p><p>Hayhoe plugged her own energy habits into an online carbon footprint calculator, trying to determine which single act she could cut back on to help the Earth.&#xa0;As it turned out, it wasn't her lights, but her flights.</p><p>"For me as a climate scientist, the biggest part of my personal carbon footprint was travel," she said. "Because I travel to tell people about climate change. It's very ironic."&#xa0;</p><p>Hayhoe isn't the only one. The <a href="https://www.epa.gov/regulations-emissions-vehicles-and-engines/regulations-greenhouse-gas-emissions-aircraft">US Environmental Protection Agency</a> (EPA) estimates that aircraft account for about 12% of all transportation-related greenhouse gas emissions in the US.</p><p>A single round-trip flight from New York to San Francisco "emits about 0.9 metric tons of carbon dioxide per person,"&#xa0;according to The <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/27/climate/airplane-pollution-global-warming.html">New York Times</a>. Take five of those flights, and you've generated the same amount of emissions that the average car spits out all year long.</p><h2>Hayhoe cut back on her flights, but she hasn't stopped traveling altogether</h2><p>Hayhoe says she's not ready to completely swear off air travel.</p><p>"Don't beat yourself up, because none of us can live carbon-free lifestyles yet. We just don't have the ability," she said.&#xa0;</p><p>But she has cut back.&#xa0;When she was recently a "visiting" scholar at&#xa0;Canadian Mennonite University in Winnipeg, she held coffee hours, taught classes, and hosted question and answer sessions, all without leaving her Texas home. She burned up just a fraction of the energy it would have taken her to fly to Canada, instead only guzzling enough electricity for computer plugs, cameras, and projectors.&#xa0;</p><p>"I was talking about climate change," she said. "This was the way we could do a zero carbon talk."</p><p>Hayhoe says since she adopted her new rule, just one university (Princeton) has turned down her request to video conference instead of traveling for an in-person talk.</p><p>"I can't fly all the way to Jersey to give a single, 45-minute&#xa0;seminar," she said.&#xa0;&#xa0;</p><p>Instead,&#xa0;when she does travel, she insists on collecting a critical mass of at least three, four, or five invitations at a time. She tries to consolidate her travel schedule enough so that each talk, averaged out, has the emissions equivalent of an hourlong drive.&#xa0;</p><p>Her record-breaker trip to date was to North Carolina last year, where she did 25 talks in 4 days.&#xa0;</p><p>"That was a bit much" she said. "But&#xa0;it was fantastic, because I was able to model what I was doing."</p><h2>Hayhoe would love to fly in algae-fuel powered plane</h2><p>Hayhoe says there is one surefire way she could be coaxed back into her old, jet-setting ways.</p><p>"I would love to have an algae-fuel powered plane," she said. "That technology exists. It's just that it isn't cheap enough yet."</p><p>While there are not yet any special algae-subsidies that offset the high cost of producing the <a href="https://www.energy.gov/eere/videos/energy-101-algae-fuel">novel (and nearly carbon-neutral) jet fuel</a>, the same is not the case for the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/newspaper-in-1912-linked-coal-to-climate-change-2018-8">well-established coal</a>, oil, and gas industries. They aren't taxed much for all the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/pollution-kills-more-people-than-wars-obesity-smoking-malnutrition-2017-10">dangerous pollution</a> they produce.</p><p>The International Monetary Fund (IMF) <a href="https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2015/09/28/04/53/sonew070215a">estimated in 2015</a> that energy subsidies prop up the fossil fuel industry to the tune of about $166,000 per second. There's no way one person's action is going to balance a global economy that makes fossil-burning fuel cheaper than alternatives. Like <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/plastic-straw-ban-why-are-there-so-many-2018-7">forgoing a plastic straw</a>, this is simply a first step.&#xa0;</p><p>"We have to forgive ourselves for what we can't do, but we have to make sensible choices to reduce what we can," Hayhoe said.&#xa0;</p><p><em>If you want learn more about Hayhoe's work, check out this recent 5-minute documentary on her, created as part of a Let <keyword id="41551" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="science">Science</keyword> Speak series:</em></p><p>&#xa0;</p><div></div>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-you-have-to-lift-airplane-window-shades-2016-4">Why airlines ask you to raise the window shades for takeoffs and landings</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

You Searched For "beat plastic pollution" and got 9 results

80% plastic pollution could be eradicated by 2040 with appropriate policy changes: UNEP report

IANS

UNEP India and Masaba Gupta launch a clothing line to help phase out single-use plastic in the country

Karuna Sharma

India pledges to eliminate single-use plastics by 2020

BI India Bureau

China could beat the US in a race to get solar power from highways

Leanna Garfield

I'm an American who visited London and Brussels for the first time. Here are 3 expectations I had that turned out to be wrong.

Lauren Edmonds

Unilever is opening up its climate action plan to shareholders as Amazon's Climate Pledge battles criticism

Prabhjote Gill

LADBible was once the poster child for Facebook video - now it's shifting its distribution to Instagram and Snapchat and ditching its bro-ey tone

Lauren Johnson

The one thing a renowned climate scientist does to reduce her own impact on the environment

Hilary Brueck

Jeff Bezos' Shareholder Letter Is Out

Jay Yarow

Popular Keywords

Buying Guides