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Heatwave in Paris exposes city’s lack of trees

France Paris Eiffel Tower heatwave

Paris, France Reuters As a third heatwave baked France this week, the heat radiating off the asphalt outside the Garnier Opera house in Paris hit 56 degrees Celsius on urban planning expert Tangui Le Dantec’s thermometer. Shade was non-existent with barely a tree in sight. The Place de l’Opera is one of numerous so-called urban […]

Invest in nature and reap cash benefits, World Economic Forum urges cities

South Korea Seoul Cheonggyecheon

Barcelona, Spain Thomson Reuters Foundation After a landslide in 2017 killed 1,141 people and left more than 3,000 homeless in Sierra Leone’s capital Freetown, the recovery plan included training residents to plant 21,000 native trees to reduce the risk of future disasters on bare hillsides. Amid erratic and unusually heavy rains, as well as urban […]

Explainer – Net zero: just patching over emissions or path for saving planet?

UK Rugby factory

London, UK Reuters More than 190 countries committed in 2015 to limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels in an effort to stave off the worst effects of climate change such as drought, flooding and loss of species. Scientists say bringing global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions to ‘net zero’ by 2050 is […]

Some 30 per cent of global tree species at risk of extinction – report

Colombia Caqueta felled tree

Reuters Almost a third of the world’s tree species are at risk of extinction, while hundreds are on the brink of being wiped out, according to a landmark report published by Botanic Gardens Conservation International on Wednesday.  According to the State of the World’s Trees report 17,500 tree species – some 30 per cent of […]