Billions of people this week felt the deadly intensity of heat waves fueled by climate change.<\/strong> A week of scorching heat across five continents shows how human-driven warming has raised the baseline of normal temperatures, scientists say, fueling more frequent extremes. In just the past seven days, a majority of the planet experienced heat waves that were made more likely by climate change. Scorching heat across five continents set 1,400 records this week and showed how human-caused global warming has made catastrophic temperatures commonplace. Country by country here.<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Stand.earth and the Coordinating Body of Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon Basin (COICA) today call on major international banks to end the financing of oil and gas extraction in the Amazon, in order to protect the remaining 80% of the world\u2019s largest rainforest by 2025<\/a><\/strong>, as a new report underscores the abyss between the environmental and social policies claimed by the top financiers versus the destruction they are bankrolling in the region. This report comes as the Amazon is at an imminent tipping point, which threatens Indigenous Peoples, local communities, the forest and its biodiversity, and the continuity of life on the planet. The report \u201cGreenwashing the Amazon\u201d reveals that, on average, 71% of the Amazon is not effectively protected through the environmental and social risk management frameworks of the five top financiers of Amazon oil and gas \u2013 Citibank, JPMorgan Chase, Ita\u00fa Unibanco, Santander, and Bank of America. This means these banks leave most of the Amazonian territory vulnerable, with no risk management for climate change, biodiversity, forest cover, and Indigenous Peoples\u2019 and local communities\u2019 rights.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Better news<\/span><\/p>\n How a wave of developers turning office buildings into apartments could create more walkable cities<\/a><\/p>\n Downtown office vacancy rates have not totally recovered from the pandemic, and probably won\u2019t. In the United States, commercial vacancy rates hover around 20% nationwide, as companies have moved more of their employees to fully remote working arrangements. This reality could hollow out urban centres in many cities across North America, as the businesses in these areas struggle with the lack of foot traffic, or it could be a massive opportunity to build the 15-minute neighbourhoods of tomorrow, writes John Weigand<\/strong>, an architecture professor at Miami University. He writes that converting all this space into homes has its challenges but could help bring \u201ca vibrant lifestyle\u201d to these areas. Read more \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n ELECTRIFICATION IN CALIFORNIA: <\/strong><\/p>\n Chicago teachers demand climate solutions in their next contract.<\/strong> Chicago Public Schools will face more than a billion dollars in climate driven cooling costs by 2025,\u201d Ayesha Qazi-Lampert, an environmental science teacher, explained. The CTU wants to transform the city\u2019s schools into \u201cclimate-resilient community hubs,\u201d Qazi-Lampert said to the crowd. To do it, the union wants<\/a> the school district to install heat pumps, transition to solar and geothermal power, and get all lead contamination out of the school\u2019s drinking water. <\/strong><\/p>\n Last Tuesday, the first class of the American Climate Corps took a pledge<\/a> to work \u201con behalf of our nation and planet, its people, and all its species, for the better future we hold within our sight.\u201d Soon enough, this inaugural batch of corps members will set about the task of restoring landscapes, building out renewable-energy infrastructure, and advancing other projects that will push the nation toward its climate goals. This week\u2019s swearing-in ceremony welcomed the first of 9,000 people who will join the corps in its first few weeks,<\/strong> Kate Yoder<\/a> reports, with at least 11,000 more expected to join the program during its first year.<\/p>\n CLIMATE: <\/strong>Hawaii recognizes children\u2019s constitutional right to a life-sustaining climate<\/a> and steps up efforts to reach a goal of net-negative emissions by 2045 to settle a youths\u2019 lawsuit targeting the state\u2019s fossil fuel-friendly policies. (Associated Press)<\/em><\/p>\n PEAKING CHINA: <\/strong>China has reduced power from fossil fuels and boosted solar and hydro, \u201cfeeding hopes that the world\u2019s biggest polluter may have peaked emissions years before its own deadline\u201d, Bloomberg<\/a> reported. Carbon Brief<\/a> analysis in May found China may have peaked its emissions in 2023.<\/p>\n Renewables in the Philippines.<\/strong> Changes including allowing full foreign ownership of renewable energy projects have already helped secure a pipeline of 99 gigawatts of wind and solar developments.<\/strong> That\u2019s more than enough power to supply all Philippine households, and is ahead of Vietnam at 86 gigawatts and about five times higher than in Indonesia. The energy transition in coal-dependent emerging nations like the Philippines will determine the success of global efforts to hit net zero targets and curb the worst impacts of climate change. [For comparison, California only projects 25 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2045.]<\/p>\n\n
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