China shows you can decouple growth from GHGs Will the giant help other countries do the same? If China ploughs on with power sector reform and a national emissions-trading system, its emissions could peak well before 2030, concludes one study. Will the giant help other nations decouple growth from GHGs? Its relationship with Italy, the first major democracy and G7 nation to sign up to the Belt and Road Initiative, suggests it might. In May 2017, the two countries signed an Action Plan for cooperation with sustainable energy and the environment as priorities. Meanwhile, solutions for carbon capture caught your attention: The Climate Foundation is growing the Azolla plant, an aquatic fern found in Tasmania that can store a tonne of nitrogen and 6 tonnes of carbon dioxide per acre. Scientists have found a cost-efficient way to turn CO2 back into coal, using electrolysis.A Canadian company is building a plant to remove a megaton of CO2 from the atmosphere each year, and convert it into fuel. While citizens got themselves arrested for all our survival as part of Extinction Rebellion in London, pensioners in Japan have been seeking prison sentences to meet their immediate needs for housing, food and warmth. Global trends towards increasing inequality and social polarization continue, with risks for all. These signals of change to patch up our fracturing societies caught your attention: OneWeb, a UK start-up, confirmed funding to create a constellation of 650 satellites to provide high-speed broadband access to the 4 billion unconnected people around the world, beginning with schools. While the web can empower rural communities, and particularly women, it can also amplify inequalities and increase vulnerability to trafficking and harassment. You spotted the emergence of genderless digital voices to challenge assumptions affecting our equality online.We’re all at risk of marginalisation in an AI-dominated future. Stanford University has launched a human-centred AI institute, to promote the inclusion of humanists and social scientists in the development of artificial intelligence. If you’re taking to the streets, who are you taking with you? Share your signals of change, and tell us what difference you think they’re making to our shared future. Anna Simpson, CuratorFutures Centre |
