- Date: 21 April 2022
In our Behind the Scenes series we speak to WWF staff to learn more about their work and what makes them tick. For today’s post, we caught up with David Kuhn, WWF's Lead of Corporate Resilience on the Climate team.
- Date: 20 April 2022
- Author: Tara Doyle, World Wildlife Fund
Beth Markham, Environmental Sustainability Coordinator, Town of Vail.
In this blog series, I’m speaking with sustainability officials in local governments around the country to learn about how they’re tackling socio-environmental issues within the public sector. This week, I interviewed Beth Markham, the Environmental Sustainability Coordinator for the Town of Vail. Markham’s deep love for the natural world led her to Walking Mountains Science Center in Avon, where she spent 11 years developing and teaching environmental education programs for students. Later, she worked for the Cycle Effect, a nonprofit that builds leadership skills and self-esteem in young women through mountain biking. In 2019, Markham took on the challenge of driving environmental stewardship through policies and partnerships at the municipal level.
Q: What are the most critical climate-related challenges facing Vail right now?
Climate systems are so interconnected, but if I had to choose one thing, I would say that the biggest issue is water. We’re already seeing the impact of climate change on our snowpack in winter and river flow in summer. Droughts are increasing the frequency and severity of our wildfires, and last summer we had the worst wildfire season in Colorado history. Vail has a tourism-based economy, so what happens when tourists can’t ski because of a lack of snow? What happens when wildfire smoke causes unhealthy air quality? It’s clear that our seasons are changing, and our precipitation is changing, especially in the form of snow. Many people live here because they love to ski, so if we want to continue our way of life here then we need to make some big changes.
- Date: 20 April 2022
- Author: Patrick Browne, Vice President, Sustainability, UPS
When I think back on all the times I’ve spent out in the natural world, the one that stands out the most is a trip I took with the Corporate Eco Forum in 2016 to Cody, Wyoming. For this excursion I had the opportunity to experience Yellowstone National Park through the eyes of wildlife ecologist Arthur Middleton, and as we made our way on horseback for three days I felt like I was stepping back in time. The trip was a truly pivotal moment – I was able to see our country in its raw natural state. We were studying the migration patterns of the Yellowstone wildlife, the reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone and on the lookout for grizzlies; we drank water from streams, and needless to say there was no cell service or modern amenities. Nothing I could study or learn could have prepared me for this trip.
- Date: 18 April 2022
In our Behind the Scenes series we speak to WWF staff to learn more about their work and what makes them tick. For today’s post, we talked to Alexander Nicolas, a Program Officer on WWF's Wildlife Conservation team.
- Date: 15 April 2022
- Author: Ayse Koçak, TikTok
At TikTok, our mission is to inspire creativity and bring joy. We're proud that over 1 billion people come to our platform each month in search of entertainment and an outlet to share what matters to them. We know that this would not be possible without our community's trust in our ability to maintain a safe and welcoming environment. We believe that everyone should be able to express themselves creatively and be entertained, but not at the expense of other forms of life.
Last year, TikTok joined the Coalition to End Wildlife Trafficking Online, which was established in 2018 by World Wildlife Fund (WWF), TRAFFIC, and IFAW to bring together e-commerce, search, and social platforms across the world to reduce wildlife trafficking online. Since then, we've worked closely with WWF to enhance our policies, launch in-app safety features and tools, and encourage education around the life forms with which we share a planet. In doing so, we aim to continue our work to prevent harmful content and behavior, including wildlife trafficking, from proliferating on the platform.
- Date: 14 April 2022
In our Behind the Scenes series we speak to WWF staff to learn more about their work and what makes them tick. For today’s post, we caught up with Afsoon Namini, a director with WWF's Private Sector Engagement Team.
- Date: 13 April 2022
- Author: Julia Kurnik and Katherine Devine, World Wildlife Fund
Most agricultural methane emissions (around 70%) come from ruminants, such as cows and sheep. This is primarily due to manure and gastroenteric releases—or, simply put, cow burps. Most methane for cattle, particularly beef, is released in the grazing phase of the supply chain. When cattle roam for grazing, it is difficult to track methane release or to mitigate emissions due to the nature of grazing. Furthermore, scalability and traceability are challenging, particularly for small-scale grazing operations.
- Date: 13 April 2022
- Author: Tara Doyle, World Wildlife Fund
Jennifer Green, Sustainability Director for the City of Burlington.
In this blog series, I’m speaking with sustainability officials in local governments around the country to learn about how they’re tackling socio-environmental issues within the public sector. This week, I had the opportunity to hear from Jennifer Green about her work on one of the boldest, most innovative climate action plans in the nation.
Jennifer Green is the Sustainability Director for the City of Burlington, Vermont. Green previously worked on international issues at the World Resources Institute (WRI) but shifted to a domestic focus upon moving to Burlington with her family. Shortly after moving to Vermont, she worked at the City’s Community and Economic Development Office. After Burlington announced its plan to transition to 100 percent renewable energy, Green’s position was moved to the Burlington Electric Department (BED) to maximize the impact of her work in supporting Net Zero Energy efforts. Describing her favorite aspects of her job, Green says, “It’s such a privilege to work for the city in which you live. The partnerships between the business sector, the nonprofit sector, and the residents of Burlington are really exciting to me. And when you’re a government official, you get to actualize ideas in the form of policy.”
- Date: 12 April 2022
- Author: By Julia Kurnik and Katherine Devine, World Wildlife Fund
Rice, one of the most abundant crops grown and consumed globally, makes up 12% of global methane emissions – and a staggering 1.5% of total greenhouse gas emissions. When rice is harvested, a ton of rice stubble and straw is left behind for every ton of harvested rice – 750 million tons globally in 2015. Currently, to clear fields for future crops, farmers either burn the rice straw, which results in significant carbon dioxide emissions as well as methane, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, and particulate matters, or they flood the field to encourage swift decay – which also leads to extensive methane emissions.
- Date: 11 April 2022
- Author: Julia Kurnik and Katherine Devine, World Wildlife Fund
Global leaders in Glasgow recently signed the Global Methane Pledge and recognized that addressing methane emissions is imperative if we’re going to achieve a 1.5° C future. In fact, the IPCC calculates that methane emissions will need to drop 37% below 2017 levels by 2030 and 55% below 2017 levels by 2050 to keep that goal within range. At COP 26, President Biden announced the US will join a global coalition of more than 100 countries pledging to cut global methane levels by a minimum of 30% by 2030 and rolled out an action plan for US methane emissions reductions.