Greetings to our Dear Climate Mamas and Papas,
I am sure you will agree, it has been a week….But rather than dwell further on the difficult stuff and big events that are out of our hands directly and in particular this very minute – i.e. the coronavirus and it’s continued spread, no more women in the USA democratic leadership race, floods, tornadoes and landslides the world over – I thought I’d share some exciting and climate related positive news. Yes, there still are reasons to celebrate and there is positive and encouraging climate related news to share.
- Six years ago, I worked on a Rainforest Action Network campaign that was calling out PepsiCoas a laggard on its palm oil policies. Then and now, many of the products we eat contain palm oil, and much of this comes from cutting down forests in places like Indonesia and Malaysia. This not only directly hurts ecosystems and forests being cut down for palm plantations, but it also puts in place feedback loops that contribute greatly to our climate crisis. You will find out more about our 2014 campaign here. Throughout the many years of the campaign I learn how to connect the dots between
Susan, Deborah and Harriet, demanding that Pepsico TELL THE TRUTH and ACT ON IT!
our climate crisis and deforestation, species loss, and human rights abuses, to name a few, and I also met some amazing climate women warriors along the way, who are still in my life today. After all, the saying goes: “good things comes to those who wait.” And good news in deed has come from these efforts and these good people. In late February 2020, PepsiCo announced “it would introduce stricter rules for the palm oil used in its goods – including a retrospective ban on working with firms linked to deforestation – and enforce them for its business partners.” This is huge and can and will have ripple
effects across many industries and on climate pollution across the globe, if it is implemented as planned. Instead of a laggard, PepsiCo can and must be an industry leader. - On a personal note, and more on this in a dedicated post the week of March 9th, my book publisher, New Society Publishers let me know that my book, How to Talk to Your Kids About Climate Change, Turning Angst into Action – the printed version of which will be in stores on May 5th – is also being produced as an audio book. Woohoo!!
- This one is somewhat tongue in cheek – clearly we are dealing with so many unknowns and a scary and deadly crisis (hey that sounds like our climate crisis doesn’t it?) One positive development of
NASA Photo: Public Commons
coronavirus is a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions – this because of reduced industrial activity. Check out this photo from NASA on nitrogen oxide production in China. One thing we can see from this is how quickly short term pollutants, and our air, can be cleaned up by nature herself, if we give her a chance. Unfortunately, the long term global warming trends, and greenhouse gas increases broadly continues, but lets for a moment, see a clear and hopeful future, as this snapshot in time helps us visualize.
Can you share three pieces of good new with us, so we can share it for you with others?
Wishing you a happy weekend, surrounded by friends, family and nature.
Warmly,
Your Climate Mama
