World Food Day

Today is World Food Day which highlights the urgent issue of chronic hunger and promotes positive action through events in some 150 countries.  Follow the action on the web or  on Twitter

About 795 million people are undernourished globally, down 167 million over the last decade, and 216 million less than in 1990–92. The decline is more pronounced in developing regions, despite significant population growth. In recent years, progress has been hindered by slower and less inclusive economic growth as well as political instability in some developing regions, such as Central Africa and western Asia.

Read more in the latest FAO Report The State of Food Insecurity in the World

Download report

Posted : Nick Gray https://twitter.com/Nickgraytcd

Living Sustainably in the centre of New York

Living a Zero-Waste Lifestyle from Alessandra Potenza on Vimeo.

It is not easy living sustainably but one of my personal hero’s, Lauren Singer, does just that…right in the centre of New York.  This video is by Alessandra Potenza who has made this video for The New York Times Upfront (issue Oct. 12^th 2015).

Nick Gray

https://twitter.com/Nickgraytcd

Aviation fuel use set to rocket despite better engine efficiency

Greenhouse gas emissions from commercial air travel is a major contributor to global warming emitting approximately 700 million metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) in 2012 alone. 

A new report from the International Council on Clean Transportation (icct) (www.theicct.org) Fuel efficiency trends for new commercial jet aircraft: 1960 to 2014 has explored the fuel efficiency in relation to UN targets.

It shows that  aviation fuel use, including military aircraft, quadrupled between 1960 and 2006.  While most countries are agreeing to 80% reductions in emissions by 2050, aviation fuel use is expect to increase by 300% over the same period.  The report explores how efforts to increase fuel efficiency of aircraft is continuing having already achieved an annual rate of reduction of 1.3% since 1968. Between 1968 and 2014 the average fuel burn of new aircraft fell approximately 45%, or a compound annual reduction rate of 1.3%. However, the efficiency of new aircraft are still a decade behind the United Nations’ fuel efficiency goals for new aircraft.

Download the report. 

Nick Gray 
https://twitter.com/Nickgraytcd