London saw a surprising benefit to fining high-polluting cars: More active kids

Washington State’s Climate Commitment Act set a limit on greenhouse gas emissions and created an emissions market to incentivize emission reductions while generating money for climate change mitigation. Carbon emission allowances are auctioned off to businesses, and set percentages of the income are designated for projects like electrifying public transit.

Getting to public transportation can be difficult for commuters. Microtransit is easing that burden and reducing emissions by replacing individual car trips. Partnerships between cities and companies ensure shared, on-demand scooters, bikes, or vehicles are available to help people reach public transportation.

Ukrainian scientists invented a generator that uses organic waste from agriculture to produce cheap energy. This method can replace natural gas while disposing of agricultural waste in a way that doesn’t emit carbon dioxide.

A building material made of hemp fibers, water, and clay or lime is a sustainable alternative to other options like concrete. Dubbed hempcrete, the product has many benefits including a very low carbon footprint, active sequestration of carbon dioxide, and using a sustainable, fast-growing crop as its base.

A regional cap-and-trade program in the northeast United States has reduced carbon dioxide emissions from power plants and led to overall job gains in the economy. Up to 50 percent of the region’s CO2 reductions are attributable to the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative program and nine of the states participating report training more than 8,000 workers.

VOCs, or volatile organic compounds, are a type of pollutant that can be found even in homes and small businesses, but across Utah, small businesses are finding creative ways to reduce their emissions. A mix of mandatory rules at the state level as well as supplementary grants to pay for the cost to switch to more environmentally-friendly machinery and materials has fueled this shift. Businesses including coffee shops, lawn care companies, and furniture stores are stepping up.

Across the world, countries are reckoning with its astounding single-use plastic bag waste by instituting legislation that taxes or all-out bans them. Research has shown that taxing the bags has been a more effective strategy with less unintended consequences, as banning often leads to a sharp increase in thicker plastics or paper bags. In places that have instituted the tax, they’ve seen a 40 percent decrease in usage, and arguably more importantly, a cultural shift away from single-use plastics.

Oakland Unified School District's transition to 74 electric school buses has eliminated diesel exhaust exposure and noise pollution for 1,300 students—particularly benefiting those with special needs like autism—while reducing behavioral incidents and saving an estimated $440,000 annually in fuel and maintenance costs.

Following the success of New York City's divestment of pension funds from fossil fuels, a process that started in 2015, other cities around the US are exploring ways to achieve net-zero portfolio emissions. In most cases, the divested pension funds have performed at least as well financially as a city’s non-divested funds.

In New England, government incentives and education are supporting and encouraging residents to swap their wood-burning stoves for high-efficiency models that burn less wood and emit less smoke. The aim is to reduce air pollution and its public health and climate impacts.