Cracking Washington's Gridlock to Save the Planet

TARU, an Indian thinktank, has found that Indians cities have combined decentralized action and "multi-stakeholder engagement" in public policy to respond to problems of scarcity in water and power as well as climate change-related natural disasters. Municipalities are putting responsibility for improving local lives at the grassroots level; integrating disruptive technologies from the private sector; and fostering collaboration between government and citizens.

To protect the Mesoamerican Reef from the effects of climate change, key stakeholders in Mexico created the world’s first insurance policy to protect a natural asset. The policy provides an immediate infusion of cash in the event of a damaging storm, allowing hotel owners and local governments to quickly repair the reef and prevent further degradation. A volunteer corps of people called the Guardians of the Reef make those repairs. While the insurance policy doesn’t cover pollution or overfishing, this mechanism could work for reefs in other countries to restore and protect threatened ecosystems.

Enrolling administrators and financial planners in sustainable projects takes proving that investments pay for themselves. With the help of pressure from students and faculty, Penn State Universities administrators have adopted a long-term strategy to reduce the university’s carbon footprint and implement sustainable practices. Students produced the data that illuminated the university’s unsustainable practices; the numbers now show that their efforts are paying off.

In the face of climate change as a result of increased CO2 emissions, millions of concerned citizens have grown frustrated at the lack of change from more traditional forms of civil engagement such as petitions, protests, and campaigns against the behemoths of the oil industry. But some have found hope in a growing movement that pushes governments and large corporations to leverage a more effective tool: divestment - or withdrawing financial support from the fossil fuel industry.

The burning of coal for fuel is one of the world's largest contributors to CO2 emissions, and continues to worsen the detrimental effects of planetary warming. But while many feel hopeless in light of an administration that denies climate change and the billion-dollar companies that continue full steam ahead with mining and burning coal, a few clever individuals present a simple and straightforward solution: buy up the coal while it's still in the ground, and pay the government to keep it there.

Oscar López Rivera was a political prisoner for 35 years, 12 of which were in solitary confinement, for his political activism wanting Puerto Rico to be independent of the USA.An international campaign successfully lobbied Obama to commute the sentence, a campaign which included the support of Desmond Tutu, Oscar's brother- Jose, the Puerto Rican community etc.

As climate change drastically alters the land, sea, and how humans subsist in the face of a changing environment, governments are finding that traditional methods of development are no longer sufficient or sustainable. To adapt, governing bodies around the world are turning to their citizens - especially those most at-risk to the effects of climate change - to lend their ideas and experiences to ensure better, more sustainable development for the future.

While international initiatives have helped curb carbon emissions in numerous sectors like forestry, manufacturing, and energy production, two of the biggest CO2 contributors have remained unchecked on the sidelines until recently: shipping and aviation. Thanks in part to the Paris Agreement, these industries are starting to be held accountable for their contributions to climate change, and to implement solutions such as improved practices and policies, biofuels, and more efficient technologies.

The state of Louisiana is disappearing at an incredible rate, and its sinking deltas threaten some of the nation's crucial oil, gas, and fisheries industries. Industry and government have created an unprecedented plan to save and rebuild these wetlands over the next 50 years — and say failure is not an option.

In an effort to fix the climate movement’s voter turnout problem, the Environmental Voter Project’s 6,000 volunteers use behavioral and data science in their outreach campaigns to encourage environmentalists to become consistent voters so the issues they care about are prioritized by politicians.