Banks Funneled $1.9 Trillion Into Fossil Fuels Since Paris Agreement

A new report published this week shows that 33 global banks provided $1.9 trillion to fossil fuel companies since the adoption of the Paris Climate Agreement at the end of 2015 and that the amount of fossil fuel financing has increased in each of the past two years.

The new report, Banking on Climate Change 2019, is the tenth annual fossil fuel report card and the first-ever analysis of funding from the world’s major private banks for the fossil fuel sector as a whole. The report was released Wednesday by Rainforest Action Network, BankTrack, Indigenous Environmental Network, Oil Change International, Sierra Club, and Honor the Earth, and endorsed by over 160 organizations around the world.

In addition to finding that 33 of the world’s top banks are supplied $1.9 trillion to fossil fuel companies since the adoption of the Paris Agreement, the report also found that of that $1.9 trillion, $600 billion went to 100 companies that are most aggressively expanding fossil fuels, highlighting business-as-usual practices that fly in the face of the latest scientific warnings from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) which warned that “Limiting global warming to 1.5°C would require rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society.”

Read the Clean Technica story by Joshua S. Hill - “Banks Funneled $1.9 Trillion Into Fossil Fuels Since Paris Agreement."

How A Vegan Diet Can Help Promote Global Sustainability

Veganism has gone mainstream! Once the preserve of a bohemian elite, the adoption of a plant based or vegan diet certainly has its detractors, but there’s no denying that the general public appear to be embracing it in a big way. Veganism has grown by 500% in the US alone since 2014. The increased demand has led food manufacturers to come up with new and inventive ways to simulate the texture and taste of animal products to make the transition easier for new adopters. But what is it that’s causing so many people to lead a plant based lifestyle and encourage their children to do the same?

Interested in sustainability - become a vegan!

Of course there’s the endemic passion for animal rights, as well as the various health benefits, but in a time when the most powerful office in the world is held by a climate change denier, one thing that one cannot overlook is the fact that a plant based diet is infinitely more sustainable than one that uses animal products.

Read the story from Millennial - “How A Vegan Diet Can Help Promote Global Sustainability.”

Royal Mail rolls out cute electric trucks

There’s a lot to love about the cute new electric trucks rolling out in London for Royal Mail. They run up to a hundred miles in all-electric mode, and will be used to move mail between distribution centres. 

Royal Mail Truck by Arrival.

According to the fleet director:

“Royal Mail is delighted to be collaborating with Arrival and pioneering the adoption of large electric commercial vehicles. We will be putting them through their paces over the next several months to see how they cope with the mail collection demands from our larger sites.”

It’s a neat looking truck, but there apparently is a lot more going on here than just a new electric van. According to the manufacturer Arrival, the four tonne truck costs about the same as a diesel vehicle. After running 100 miles on pure battery power, there is some kind of dual power mode (nobody seems to say exactly what) that "tops up" the batteries.

Read the Treehugger story - “Royal Mail rolls out cute electric trucks.”