Barely a month ahead of the UN climate summit in Durban, new figures show that global CO2 emissions a rising at record pace. The grim numbers from the US Department of Energy say the amount of carbon dioxide pumped into our atmosphere in 2010 was 6 percent higher than the year before.

 

6 percent doesn’t sound much? Well, it corresponds to more than half a billion metric tons of CO2 extra! Or, as a commentator on this blog puts it “We’re really flooring the accelerator as we approach the cliff”

Have you heard about the new Coca Cola billboard in the Philippines? The famous soft-drink company teamed up with the World Wildlife Fund to create a huge, environmentally-friendly billboard that’s actually alive!

It’s made up of 3,600 small tea plants that suck in harmful air pollutants from the surrounding atmosphere, and the plants themselves are placed in pots made of recycled Coke bottles.

What do you think? Is this an effective way of raising awareness and saving the planet?
One official from the project says the billboard can soak up 46,800 pounds of CO2 – especially important in the Philippines, where air pollution is a big problem.

Bad news for climate-savers: According to the latest estimates by the International Energy Agency (IEA), energy-related carbon-dioxide (CO2) emissions were the highest ever meted in history. After a dip in 2009, that was caused by the global financial crisis, the emissions have climbed to a record of 30.6 Gigatonnes (Gt) in 2010. Thats a jump of 5% from the previous record year in 2008, when levels reached 29.3 Gt, the IEA claims. In addition, the IEA has estimated that 80% of projected emissions from the power sector in 2020 are already locked in, as they will come from power plants that are currently in place or under construction today.

During the latest UN climate change talks in Cancun in 2010 global leaders actually agreed to a target of limiting temperature increase to 2°Ct. To achieve this goal, the long-term concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere must be strictly limited.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms in the world! Since we’re celebrating mothers today, we thought we’d share a cool initiative in Australia called “1 Million Women”. The campaign strives to inspire 1 million women to fight climate change by slashing 1 million tons of CO2. So that means each women who joins the cause would reduce her own CO2 emissions by 1 ton.

All the women who join the campaign get tips on how to cut their carbon footprints and help tracking their progress along the way. The more than 50 daily tips include things like staying away from plastic bags or bottles, cutting down on food waste and reducing your meat intake. You can check out some of the women’s stories who have joined on the campaign’s Youtube page.

Have you ever heard about the small Danish island called Samsø? It's home to only 4,000 people and stretches over about 103 square kilometers of land…and it's 100% energy self-sufficient! Using a combination of offshore wind power, solar energy and biofuels, Samsø has created a green haven, cutting CO2 emissions by an incredible 140% in just 10 years.

 

The model has been so successful that Samsø even exports energy to mainland Denmark and acts as a model for other islands that are interested in developing renewable energy. It's become a local attraction, too: around 20,000 people flock there during the summer. So what can the rest of the world learn from Samsø? Is a completely energy efficient life possible in bigger regions with large populations, too?