Feed aggregator

The response to our most urgent threat requires new forms of creativity and human imagination

Faced with the state of the world and the depth of denial, faced with the data that keeps falling on us, faced with the sense that we are on a ship heading towards an abyss while the party on board gets louder and louder, I have found it necessary to develop an attitude and a mode of writing that I refer to as existential creativity. This is the creativity at the end of time.

It is not given to many people to sense the end of time approaching. Maybe some Atlanteans sensed it. Maybe the sages of Pompeii, if there were any, felt it in advance. Maybe those ancient civilisations whose societies were about to be wrecked by invaders from the sea felt it. But I can’t think of any who had the data that it was coming, who had the facts pouring at them every day, and yet who carried on as if everything were normal.

Albert Camus, writing during the second world war, felt the need for a new philosophy to answer the extreme truths of the times. The absurd was born from that. Existentialism was born too from a world in the throes of extreme crisis. But here we are on the edges of the biggest crisis that has ever faced us. We need a new philosophy for these times, for this near-terminal moment in the history of the human.

It is out of this I want to propose an existential creativity. How do I define it? It is the creativity wherein nothing should be wasted. As a writer, it means everything I write should be directed to the immediate end of drawing attention to the dire position we are in as a species. It means that the writing must have no frills. It should speak only truth. In it, the truth must be also beauty. It calls for the highest economy. It means that everything I do must have a singular purpose.

Ben Okri is a novelist and poet. His latest books are Every Leaf a Hallelujah and The Famished Road

Continue reading...

Restaurateurs invited to discuss plant-based ‘faux gras’ ahead of expected ban on liver-based spread

It is prized for its rich flavour and exclusive image by top restaurants and gourmands, but now foie gras is going vegan as the government meets chefs to discuss how to make alternatives out of nuts and mushrooms.

Vegan restaurateurs have been invited to meet UK government advisers to discuss how to create plant-based “faux gras” in the event of an upcoming ban, the Guardian has learned. Sources said the government hoped to show that a gap in the market left by a restriction on the trade of the controversial product could be filled by high-end chefs who are willing to produce alternatives.

Continue reading...

The wording of the new text is softer in some places, but experts say many of the key elements to keep hopes of 1.5C temperature rise in reach are still present

My colleague Fiona Harvey says it is a surprise and a positive step that the coal phaseout has remained in the document at all. and that the fact it has remained in the draft is a positive step.

Paragraph 62 in the second draft is new:

62. Also acknowledges the important role of a broad range of stakeholders at the local, national and regional level, including indigenous peoples and local communities, in averting, minimizing and addressing loss and damage associated with the adverse effects of climate change;

Continue reading...

It softens commitments on fossil fuels but requires governments to take action urgently.

Prices and volumes in China’s national carbon market remained relatively stable again over the past week, with little indication of impending pre-compliance volatility.

Negotiators in Glasgow are working to come to an agreement as the conference enters its final day

Countries are being called on to accelerate the phaseout of coal power at the Cop26 summit, and to return to the negotiating table next year with improvements to their national plans on cutting greenhouse gases.

The second draft of the key outcome from the Cop26 summit, now nearing its final hours in Glasgow after a fortnight of intense talks, showed a slight softening of language in some instances but retained the core demands for a return.

Continue reading...

Most of the $2,000 per year increase in income by 2050 is due to the success of a new hydrogen industry. Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Campaigners say current design that includes plastic should be replaced with a sustainable version

Remembrance poppies should be fully recyclable or even biodegradable, say green campaigners, amid fears millions will end up in landfill this month.

The Royal British Legion produces about 30m poppies each year. Although the flower and leaf are made from paper, the green stem and black centre are plastic.

Continue reading...

Barack Obama may have struck a gloomy tone, but that sense is amplified for those in imminent peril

After an exhausting two weeks of speeches, protests, meetings and increasingly tortuous negotiations at the Glasgow climate summit, a sense of simmering frustration and anxiety has gripped many of the 25,000 attenders.

Even former world leaders are not immune. “There are times where the future seems somewhat bleak,” said Barack Obama on Monday. “There are times where I am doubtful that humanity can get its act together before it’s too late, and images of dystopia start creeping into my dreams.”

Continue reading...

Five things you need to know about COP26 - the United Nations climate change conference - on Friday.

Japanese oil company Idemitsu is considering opportunities in the voluntary carbon market with generation of credits based on its technologies, and on Friday announced its first offset-backed crude oil transport.

Hull has been at COP26 to share its innovative approach to tackling flood threats with the world.

New walk covering park’s most spectacular peaks opens to public on Saturday after construction delays

• Get our free news app; get our morning email briefing

A 160km multi-day hiking trail running the length of the Grampians (Gariwerd) National Park will open to the public on Saturday, becoming one of the longest trails in Victoria.

Connecting some of the parks’ most spectacular peaks, the Grampians Peaks Trail is a 13-day/12-night journey starting at Mt Zero and travelling south over the ranges that make up Gariwerd and ending in the town of Dunkeld, 270km west of Melbourne.

Continue reading...

A report has suggested the carbon footprint of the Glasgow summit is more than double that of COP25.

Whether it’s by car or plane, we need to do less. Yet the government thinks of mobility as a freedom for it to champion

Continue reading...

Basslink owners go into administration after Tasmania government chases damages for lengthy 2015 outage.

The post Basslink sinks as Tasmania government suits forces it to call in administrators appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Australia has the most emissions per capita from coal power in the world, new analysis reveals.

The post Australia has highest coal power emissions per capita in the world appeared first on RenewEconomy.

There appears to be only one pumped hydro project left in the race to deliver long term storage to South Australia as it charges to 100 per cent wind and solar.

The post One pumped hydro project still standing as South Australia heads to 100pct wind and solar appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Simon Corbell says Australia’s green energy transition will be harder, slower and more expensive due to federal government’s lack of leadership.

The post Energy Insiders Podcast: Australia will pay high price for Morrison’s lack of leadership appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Australia's biggest battery discharges at full capacity for first time, suggesting it will be ready in time for the peak summer period.

The post Australia’s biggest battery discharges at full capacity for first time appeared first on RenewEconomy.