Melt! is Europe’s largest indie and electro music festival. Taking place in July every year, the 2011 installment saw 150 DJs and bands perform in front of a 20,000 strong crowd. When the music plays the heat is on. That’s not always a good thing: instruments, lighting, logistics plus thousands of fans camping out on site are gobbling up huge amounts of energy. The CO2-emissions of the 3-day event are on a par with that of a small town. But this year climate protection is part of the act. Find out how in our latest GI report.

In addition here are interviews on the issue with some of the artists. Daniel of projecthires.com has quizzed the Melt!-line up about climate change and the need for action.

Click here for more of Daniel’s video interviews.

In Africa’s Sahel region people are trying to push back the frontiers of the Sahara desert – or at least halt its continuing expansion into what used to be arable lands. Deforestation and ensuing soil erosion are a major cause for desertification. Replanting trees may stem the trend – and help local inhabitants earn their living. One example is this project initiated by the Food & Agriculture Organisation of the UN (FAO):

Among renewable energies wind power is number one. Wind energy facilities are cheaper to set up and maintain, require less infrastructure and generate greater returns in the long run. Wind power has become a booming global industry with new and ever larger wind farms springing up everywhere. Large scale facilities in particular are supposed to be crucial for a global switch to renewables. Over the last three years alone the number of wind turbines across the world has more than doubled. The GLOBAL IDEAS reporters have visited China, India, Morocco and Germany to investigate the promises ? and challenges ? of wind power.