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BCFN Releases Report Exploring Environmental, Food, and Migration Sustainability
BCFN Releases Report Exploring Environmental, Food, and Migration Sustainability
Jamaica Farm Drought
The Barilla Center for Food & Nutrition Foundation (BCFN) has released its second Food Sustainability Report titled “Environmental, Food and Migration Sustainability: Three Challenges To Overcome Together.” The report is a joint effort between BCFN and the Milan Center for Food Law and Policy, aimed at raising awareness about crucial issues surrounding food and sustainability.
The report emphasizes the connection between climate change and extreme poverty, with a section dedicated to the link between climate change and migration. “Environmental, food and migration sustainability are different facets of a single problem whose solution requires an integrated, informed approach ‘from governments, businesses, citizens and scientists,'” the authors conclude.
The report also highlights the Food Sustainability Index, a tool developed by BCFN in collaboration with the Economist Intelligence Unitthat ranks 25 of the world’s largest economies by the sustainability of their food systems. The index indicates “sustainable agriculture is an effective weapon for fighting climate change,” although the report acknowledged the difficulty in implementing fully sustainable food systems.
BCFN and the Milan Center released its first report in January 2017 titled, “Climate Change and Famine: Issues at the Heart of International Awareness,” which focused on climate change, food security, and food safety.
Zoya Teirstein graduated from NYU with a degree in Environmental Reporting and worked at amNewYork, Haaretz, and The Verge before coming to Food Tank. She is currently investigating conservative methods of environmentalism in America. Tips welcome @zteirstein.
Roof Gardens Plant Seeds of Recovery For Pollinating Insects
Roof Gardens Plant Seeds of Recovery For Pollinating Insects
The Scottish government’s pollinator strategy encourages owners of flats and offices to create rooftop, balcony and window-ledge gardens for insects GETTY IMAGES
Gabriella Bennett | July 27 2017, 12:01am, The Times
Homeowners are being urged to create rooftop gardens to help reverse a devastating decline in the insects that pollinate plants.
The number of pollinating insects such as bees and butterflies has halved since the 1980s because of climate change and a loss of habitat.
The Scottish government’s new “pollinator strategy” encourages owners of flats and offices to create rooftop, balcony and window-ledge gardens to help the insects thrive.
Food crops rely on pollinating insects and research has shown that fewer bees and butterflies mean stable production of fruits and vegetables cannot be guaranteed.
Insects pollinate about a third of the world’s agricultural crops, and the cost of losing all UK pollinators has been estimated at up to £440 million per year. The economic value of honey bees and bumble bees to commercially-grown crops alone has been estimated at more than £200 million a year.
Pesticides, pollution, disease and climate change are all thought to be contributing factors in the decline of pollinating insects.
As well as targeting city dwellers, the government scheme will call for more flower-rich habitats to be restored around Scotland. New insect-friendly pesticides will also be developed, and more research will be done on climate change.
Dougal Philip, a judge at the Royal Horticultural Society’s shows at Chelsea and Hampton Court, also runs New Hopetoun Garden Centre in West Lothian with his wife Lesley Watson, a former presenter of The Beechgrove Garden. He said: “Lesley and I have been championing this cause for the past 20 years. We have been challenging myths of wildlife gardens, such as [that] they need to be a bit of a mess, they need to be in the country, and they have to have native plants. They can just as easily be in the suburbs or cities.”
Housebuilders are also contributing to environmental improvements by putting in rooftop gardens as part of new developments.
At the New Lanark world heritage site, a former 18th-century cotton spinning mill village, a 9,000 sq ft green space has been created on the roof of an A-listed mill building, around which seven restored townhouses will go on the market later this year.
Roseanna Cunningham, the Scottish government’s environment secretary, called the country’s biodiversity one of its “key assets” and highlighted a commitment to ensuring it becomes a more “pollinator-friendly place”.
“Pressures such as pesticides, pollution, disease and climate change are threatening these life-giving insects, so we must act now to protect the pollinators and in turn safeguard our environment, our food and our health,” she said. Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), the body responsible for preserving and promoting the country’s landscape, led the development of the new strategy with environmental and land management organisations.
Mike Cantlay, chairman of SNH, said there was evidence proving that Scotland’s native bees and insects were facing “tough times”.
“This strategy, a key part of the Scottish Biodiversity 2020 route map, sets out what needs to be done to ensure these bees and insects survive and thrive for generations to come,” he said.
Food Tank’s Sold-Out NYC Summit on Food Waste
Food Tank’s Sold-Out NYC Summit on Food Waste
Food Tank, in partnership with Rethink Food Waste Through Economics and Data (ReFED) and with support from The Rockefeller Foundation and The Fink Family Foundation, will present a one-day summit on September 13, 2017, at the WNYC Greene Space in New York City (44 Charlton St., New York, NY, 10013), titled “Focusing on Food Loss and Waste.”
Confirmed speakers include (in alphabetical order—dozens more to be announced soon): Emily Bachman, GrowNYC; Elizabeth Balkan, NYC Department of Sanitation (DSNY); John Boyd, Jr., National Black Farmers Association; Diane Brady, Bloomberg; Joan Briggs, The Fink Family Foundation; Gigi Lee Chang, FoodFutureCo; Chris Cochran, ReFED; Tom Colicchio, Craft restaurants; Karl Deily, Sealed Air; Ron Gonen, Closed Loop Partners; Tony Hillery, Harlem Grown; Helen Hollyman, Vice; Lynette Johnson, Society of St. Andrews; Prasanta Kalita, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Justin Kamine, KDC Ag – Kamine Development Corporation; Sam Kass, Trove; Amy Keister, Compass Group; Devon Klatell, The Rockefeller Foundation; Bonnie McClafferty, Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN); Jude Medeiros, Sodexo; Clare Miflin, Kiss + Cathcart; Carina Millston, Feedback Global; Monica Munn, The Rockefeller Foundation; Kimbal Musk, The Kitchen; Danielle Nierenberg, Food Tank; Pete Pearson, WWF; Tinia Pina, Re-Nuble; Antonio Reynoso, New York City Councilmember; Ruth Reichl, PBS/Food Writer; Brian Roe, The Ohio State University; Christine Datz-Romero, Lower East Side Ecology Center; Kim Severson, The New York Times; Stephanie Strom, The New York Times; Tom Vilsack, U.S. Dairy Export Council; Luca Virginio, Barilla; Brian Wansink, Cornell University; Jocelyn Zuckerman, Modern Farmer; and Konstantin Zvereff, BlueCart.
Click here to view more details.
With about 8 million residents, New York City alone sends 4 million tons of waste to landfills each year. An estimated one-third of that waste is food. As home to Hunts Point, the largest food distribution center in the world, New York City is primed to lead the nation’s (and even the world’s) food waste movement.
The 2017 Food Tank Summit in New York, NY, will consist of dynamic panel discussions featuring a variety of speakers from around the world and exciting keynote speakers moderated by journalists from The New York Times, Vice, Bloomberg, Modern Farmer, and more. Within just four hours of announcing the event, demand was so high that Food Tank received four-times more applications than there are seats.
The event will be co-hosted by ReFED, the leading national organization dedicated to reducing U.S. food waste. In 2016, ReFED published the Roadmap to Reduce U.S. Food Waste, a landmark report that presented cost-effective solutions capable of cutting food waste by 20 percent while conserving natural resources, creating jobs, feeding the hungry, and generating US$100B in economic value. ReFED now collaborates with businesses, nonprofits, and government to implement these solutions.
The Summit is also supported by The Rockefeller Foundation, who has committed US$130 million through their YieldWise initiative to work with private, public, and nonprofit actors across the food supply system to cut their food loss and waste by half. Support from The Fink Family Foundation has also made this event possible.
At the New York City Food Tank Summit, audiences will have the opportunity to participate in extended question-and-answer sessions and expert journalists will moderate each panel—topics include leveraging capital to fund innovations and fill research gaps, forging creative partnerships, encouraging behavior change, and more.
The Food Tank Summit is also made possible with the support of the Barilla Center for Food & Nutrition, Sealed Air, Blue Apron, Organic Valley, and Niman Ranch. Food and beverage donations will come from Niman Ranch, Juice Press, Harmless Harvest, Brooklyn Roasting Co., and GT’s Kombucha.
Great Performances, an NYC-based catering and events company engaged in the principles of sustainability and food justice, is graciously donating the breakfast and lunch receptions for all attendees. The menus will reflect the company’s commitment to the reduction of food waste and the creative application of full-food utilization.
Through a national partnership, many Food Recovery Network organizations and chapters on 230 university campuses nationwide will be participating in Food Tank Summit watch parties live. They are the largest student movement fighting hunger and food waste in the country
The following day on Thursday, September 14, 2017, Food Tank will be organizing a free public awareness event to benefit GrowNYC, featuring speakers to educate around food waste and showcasing its new dance fitness concept called Garjana at Washington Square Park (1:30 to 2:30pm). Garjana is led by a team of five Broadway performers, featuring choreography from Mamma Mia’s Monica Kapoor and debuting all-original music from Douglas Romanow, whose credits include Justin Bieber, Tyga, and hundreds more. Garjana has been selling out major venues across New York and getting rave reviews from outlets ranging from Billboard, Time Out, Edible Magazine, and more. Conceived by Food Tank Board Chairman Bernard Pollack with visuals and video by award-winning film and television director Kevin Arbouet. On September 28, Garjana will be making its Brooklyn debut at House of Yes.
More details can be found on the Facebook event page.
Since 2015, Food Tank has convened more than 275 speakers in front of more than 2,500 in-person attendees (all of our Summits have sold out!). More than 175,000 livestream viewers have tuned in from countries around the globe, representing six continents. Major food journalists from The Washington Post, National Public Radio, The Hill, Politico, National Geographic, and more have served as panel moderators. Food Tank Summits feature major partnerships with universities including George Washington University, Tufts University, the University of Chicago, University of California-Davis, and many more. In 2018, we will continue to bring Food Tank Summits to existing and new cities including Washington, D.C., Boston, Chicago, Seattle, San Diego, New York City, New Orleans, and more.
The entire NYC Food Tank Summit can also be viewed remotely FREE via Facebook Live and live on FoodTank.com. Additionally, we will be featuring backstage interviews with speakers all day using Instagram Live and Periscope/Twitter Live. After the event, all videos will be immediately archived on Food Tank’s YouTube Channel.
Award-Winning Re-Nuble Lays Waste To Malnutrition
Re-Nuble Inc., founded by scientifically oriented business IT specialist Tinia Pina, has snagged a 2017 American Entrepreneurship Award and the $25,000 interest-free loan that accompanies it – the latest feathers in the cap of a 2015 startup that transforms food waste into fresh produce.
Award-Winning Re-Nuble Lays Waste To Malnutrition
Growth mode: Founder Tinia Pina's (multiple award-winning) biotech Re-Nuble is pacing the waste-to-table field.
JULY 17, 2017
By GREGORY ZELLER //
An outer-borough biotech with a Long Island lineage is racing to the head of the organic-fertilizer field.
Re-Nuble Inc., founded by scientifically oriented business IT specialist Tinia Pina, has snagged a 2017 American Entrepreneurship Award and the $25,000 interest-free loan that accompanies it – the latest feathers in the cap of a 2015 startup that transforms food waste into fresh produce.
The American Entrepreneurship accolades are doled out by the Libra Group, an international business group containing 30 subsidiaries across several core sectors, including finance, energy, real estate and shipping. The awards program is exclusive to the borough of the Bronx and Florida’s Miami-Dade County, communities that “face disproportionate lack of opportunity,” according to the program website.
That’s similar thinking to the mindset that first set Re-Nuble in motion. Concerned equally by chemical fertilization, the massive waste of “leftover” food and the poor nutritional choices available in Harlem, where she taught an SAT prep class, Pina began researching anaerobic digesters, biological processes in which microorganisms break down biodegradable materials.
That creates both harvestable energy and a residue goop that turns out to be a plus-grade fertilizer – and a super-effective hydroponics growth accelerant.
The leftover liquid is also a rocket fuel for Pina’s primary mission to convert individual communities’ leftover consumables into a renewability-focused product promoting healthier eating within that community, all with zero environmental effect.
The innovator and her research teams have fine-tuned the science as a “virtual tenant” of Stony Brook University’s Clean Energy Business Incubator Program and an actual tenant of the Harlem Biospace biotechnology incubator. Re-Nuble outgrew the uptown incubator in the fall of 2015 and split its operations in two – formulation in a large Long Island City-based shipping container, front office in the Brooklyn Navy Yard industrial park.
Neither of those locations are in the Bronx, obviously, but Re-Nuble was close enough: The $25,000 capital infusion will be used primarily to deepen the biotech’s longtime connection with Baldor Specialty Foods, a regional distributor based in the South Bronx’s Hunts Point section.
Christopher Upperman: Inspirational journeys.
In fact, the award was granted with the specific understanding that at least part of the $25,000 loan would be used to co-locate some Re-Nuble operations at Baldor’s distribution center – something “we haven’t had the working capital to do sooner,” Pina noted.
Such forward thinking (and geographic preferences) perfectly match the sentiment behind the American Entrepreneurship Award, according to awards program CEO Christopher Upperman, who said Re-Nuble and the other AEA winners “remind us of the importance in continuing to work on their behalf.”
“Hearing their inspiring entrepreneurial journey, I’m reminded why more emphasis should be placed on communities such as the Bronx,” Upperman said in a statement. “There are eager business owners and those with aspirations to become successful business owners in communities … all throughout the United States who will take advantage of continued support and additional resources, if offered.
“I commend each of the finalists, and certainly the winners, for their commitment to serving the Bronx and building successful businesses in the process.”
The other Bronx-area AEA winners include Duro UAS, which manufactures drone systems, sensors and components for marine-based industries; NoLogo Backpacks, focused on wearable technology for students, cyclists and pedestrians; Spadét, which is modernizing a 19th century extra virgin olive oil formula into a line of safe and sustainable skin, body and hair products; and Sustainable Snacks, a natural-foods company serving up gluten-free, vegan dark chocolate treats packed with plant-based protein, Omega-3s and fiber.
In addition to the $25,000 interest-free loan from Libra Group, winners receive business support including legal, accounting, communications and IT consultancy services. Each is also assigned a business mentor to provide guidance through the startup and early developmental stages.
While Re-Nuble is several steps beyond the typical startup stage – and gaining speed fast – Pina said she expects the advice to come in handy as she continues to fine-tune her growth-accelerant formulas and expand her product line.
The $25,000 capital infusion, she added, will also help the B2B enterprise – Re-Nuble sells primarily to specialty retailers, with some direct-to-farm business – expand its market horizons.
One key objective sure to offer a bottom-line boost is third-party organic certification, and “part of the $25,000 will definitely go toward that endeavor,” according to Pina.
The entrepreneur is also aligning her enterprise with Cornell Cooperative Extension researchers and “definitely” plans to continue leveraging SBU’s laboratory resources through Re-Nuble’s ongoing CEBIP affiliation.
“We’re B2B and we’re not deviating from that,” Pina told Innovate LI. “What we want to do right now is strengthen the efficiency of our products and get more published research.”
And while teams of scientists maximize the hydroponics growth formulas to deliver exacting nutrient levels during plants’ changeable growth cycles and otherwise tinker with the delicate intricacies of microbial science, they’ll also investigate some “deodorizing” options, according to Pina, who senses another important step in the commercialization process.
“On the hydroponics side, which is a soilless system, the vegetative growth comes from the nitrogen,” she said. “And the nitrogen comes from a fish hydrolysate.
“Not everyone has the tolerance.”
TOPICS:American Entrepreneurship AwardBaldor Specialty FoodsCEBIPChristopher UppermanCornell Cooperative Extension Of Suffolk CountyDuro UASHarlem BiospaceLibra GroupNewsNoLogo BackpacksRe-NubleSpadetSustainable SnacksTinia Pina
A Stunning New Smog-Eating ‘Vertical Forest Tower’ Will Feature Luxury Apartments And 300 Species of Plants
A Stunning New Smog-Eating ‘Vertical Forest Tower’ Will Feature Luxury Apartments And 300 Species of Plants
By Business Insider | July 22, 2017 10:00AM
Stefano Boeri Architetti
A smog-eating tower will soon go up in the Netherlands city of Utrecht.
On the outside, 10,000 trees and shrubs — nearly half the amount found in New York’s Central Park — will fill the skyscraper’s facade, roof, and balconies. Inside, it will feature 200 luxury apartment units, restaurants, a fitness center, and offices.
Stefano Boeri Architetti
Called the Utrecht Vertical Forest, the 300-foot-tall tower will host around 30 different plant species. The plants will absorb 5.4 tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year — the equivalent of about one car, according to designers from Italian architecture firm Stefano Boeri Architetti. In addition, the company said the tower will produce about 41,400 tons of oxygen annually, roughly the same as what 2.5 acres of forest generates.
Stefano Boeri Architetti
The mixed-use building is being billed as the “new healthy center of Utrecht,” since the plan calls for healthy eateries, a gym with yoga studios, bike parking, and a small public park. The Vertical Forest Hub, a new research center on urban forestation, will also have offices on the ground floor.
INTERVIEW: Architect Thomas Kosbau On The Exciting Future Of Sustainable Design In NYC
INTERVIEW: Architect Thomas Kosbau On The Exciting Future Of Sustainable Design In NYC
POSTED ON MON, JUNE 26, 2017BY EMILY NONKO
Since Thomas Kosbau began working for a New York consultancy firm running its sustainable development group, in 2008, much has changed in the city’s attitude toward green design. Kosbau has gone from “selling” the idea of LEED certification to building developers, to designing some of the most innovative sustainable projects in New York to meet demand. He founded his firm, ORE Design, in 2010. Soon after, he picked up two big commissions that went on to embody the firm’s priority toward projects that marry great design alongside sustainability. At one commission, the Dekalb Market, ORE transformed 86 salvaged shipping containers into an incubator farm, community kitchen, event space, community garden, 14 restaurants and 82 retail spaces. At another, Riverpark Farm, he worked with Riverpark restaurant owners Tom Colicchio, Sisha Ortuzar and Jeffrey Zurofsky to build a temporary farm at a stalled development site to provide their kitchen with fresh produce.
From there, ORE has tackled everything from the outdoor dining area at the popular Brooklyn restaurant Pok Pok to the combination of two Madison Avenue studios. Last November, ORE launched designs for miniature indoor growhouses at the Brooklyn headquarters of Square Roots, an urban farming accelerator.
ORE’s latest project—and the one Kosbau feels best embodies his design philosophy—is Farmhouse, a sustainably-designed, minimalist community venue and kitchen for the city organization GrowNYC. The Union Square building features a live indoor growing area, fully-functioning kitchen, and a design inspired by the traditional geometry of the American barn. Kosbau and GrowNYC have continued their partnership to design a massive Bronx agricultural distribution center for the organization, to be called FoodHub. When it opens, the building will employ the city’s first closed-loop, entirely organic energy system that utilizes self-purifying algae blooms generated by rainwater. The system, of course, was designed by Kosbau.
With 6sqft, Kosbau discusses how his early projects set the tone for ORE Design, what’s unique about sustainable work in New York City, and how designers have to step up to the plate to offer great design that also happens to be environmentally friendly.
So you came to New York from Oregon.
Thomas: Yes, born and raised in Portland, Oregon. When I moved to New York, it wasn’t at the forefront of my mind for what kind of designer I was. But I think inevitably it’s influenced a lot of my design work.
What factors led you to start a firm in 2010?
Thomas: A combination of many different elements, which has resulted in some of our best projects. Part of it was the recession. I worked five years for another architect as a sustainability consultant in real estate. After a year, the recession hit, and the firm came to a cataclysmic halt. It made me question what would come next, and I already started receiving queries from my network to pick up small projects. I gravitated toward design work, small residential projects, then a store.
But the real culminating event was that I submitted an entry for the IIDA green idea competition hosted in Korea, in 2010. My design was a replacement for asphalt—an ubiquitous material in the world. I put together a proposal for replacing the world’s asphalt with organically-grown sandstone, as way to offset numerous health concerns associated with it.
I won that competition around the same time I received two major commissions from relationships I started years before. One was the Dekalb Market, the shipping container market in Downtown Brooklyn, and the other was Riverpark Farm, the first portable rooftop farm in an urban environment. There, we used milk crates to create a temporary farm on a stalled building site. Both were products of the economic downturn—they were stalled building sites that needed activation for various reasons.
Dekalb Market, courtesy ORE Design
Tell me more about Riverpark Farm.
Thomas: It was a site located right next to Riverpark, the restaurant owned by Tom Colicchio. The team was pretty forward thinking about doing something with this empty land. So they reached out to GrowNYC to think of a solution for a farm that would potentially be moved within a year. GrowNYC tapped our shoulder to do that.
Riverpark, courtesy ORE Design
It seems like these early projects set a tone for your firm, and how it thinks about sustainability.
Thomas: I think the gene that was inside of me from Oregon—mostly from my mother, who founded a community gardening program in Portland—was dormant. But as soon as the need became a higher-level issue, and designers became tasked with thinking about these things, the influence ingrained in who I am came out. The environment revealed this direction and ultimate design brand.
What makes NYC an interesting or challenging place to experiment with sustainable design?
Thomas: You can debate whether this is the most urban place in the world; it’s certainly the most urban environment in the United States. It’s also one of the most concentrated and most interesting environments in terms of diversity. There are so many ideas from around the globe that find a home here and are placed in a small dense environment.
Land is so critically valuable, as well, so people consider it precious. To see food, community gardens, and urban agriculture become such a priority is a litmus for how important it is to the world. We’re seeing rapid urbanization across the globe, and there’s been an influx of residents to New York making the land more precious.
It’s an exciting environment. There are so many different factors on how to use land, what’s considered valuable in green design, and thinking about design that’s equally productive as it is attractive.
Since founding your firm, have you seen a rise in awareness in sustainable design?
Thomas: I have witnessed a shift in priorities. It’s more accepted as a norm to be sustainable, and less of a selling point. LEED was an early vehicle to sell sustainability—we really had to sell developers on how these features could bring a return of value, even if it’s just from a branding standpoint. LEED has become so ubiquitous that’s not the case anymore, and I don’t think that’s a bad thing. The real revolution is that it made material sustainability an absolute must for projects. LEED created a market for sustainable materials to outperform other materials in sales. That’s the real shift. It’s that the choice is easier, and sustainable materials have become as performative, in terms of longevity, have much less of a cost premium, and there’s more variety.
The next step is good design. Making green design interesting, without being tagged green design.
What projects of yours really embody that idea?
Thomas: Farmhouse was our first project to unify our core values with our design aesthetic. It’s our first embodiment of “this is who we are.” It has the nonprofit roots, as a community space with an educational component for GrowNYC. Then there’s the green technology with the hydroponic walls, and food production on site. We did research into recycled materials that solve design issues, evidenced in the acoustic panels we chose. That became our major design move—to use acoustic panels we had pre-manufactured in our geometry, and unite the space with one design feature. It’s not only aesthetic, it balances the acoustics of the space and it’s a placemaker.
Inside farmhouse, courtesy ORE Design
We also used solar tubes to bring natural light into the darkest spaces, and we sourced hardwood from a forest that was drowned in the 1960s. That feature is then awash in natural light.
Farmhouse, courtesy ADG – Amanda Gentile Photography
We didn’t pursue the LEED designation for Farmhouse, though it could easily be Gold if not higher. We offered the option for the client, but LEED is no longer an identifier as an interesting, sustainable space. We pushed the design to make it a unique space. That’s on the shoulder of designers now, we have to be better to make these spaces speak for themselves.
So what’s next for the firm?
Thomas: GrowNYC is working on a really cool project up in the Bronx, a regional food hub. GrowNYC supplies the food for the city’s green markets, and it’s a huge task. The president of GrowNYC and his staff feel they’ve mastered the logistics for moving food in small quantities, and want now build a larger distribution center for farm fresh produce they can bring into the Bronx to distribute to various programs. It would be tenfold of what they’re able to provide now. They’ve tapped us to look at how to make a highly-performative building, with offset carbon emissions and localized power production. We also designed an “anthropomorphic stomach” for the building—a “bio digester” that would take food waste to provide energy for the electricity and heat of the facility.
275 South rooftop forest, courtesy ORE Design
L&M Development also tapped us to create a roof amenity for one of their buildings [275 South, in the Lower East Side]. The building is a 1970s, poured-in-place concrete bunker. It has a huge, bearing capacity. We looked at what it would take to allow large groups on roof—we needed to put a certain amount of steel to get to that level. We also wanted to maximize the view, so we elevated the steel above the existing concrete parapet. With the bearing weight, and 40 inches of room from the new roof to the existing roof, we realized we could plant a forest up here. That’s what we decided to do. We’re planting 80 mature aspen trees, and conceptually carving into the forest floor so the benches are situated within the forest, and trees frame different views toward Brooklyn.
If it’s done in time it will be the location of my wedding in September. The client didn’t have a problem allowing me to do that because they knew it’d get done quickly.
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Hawking Says Trump's Climate Stance Could Damage Earth
Hawking Says Trump's Climate Stance Could Damage Earth
By Pallab Ghosh | Science correspondent, BBC News
From the sectionScience & Environment | 2 July 2017
Prof Hawking said the action could put Earth onto a path that turns it into a hothouse planet like Venus.
He also feared aggression was "inbuilt" in humans and that our best hope of survival was to live on other planets.
The Cambridge professor spoke exclusively to BBC News to coincide with his 75th birthday celebrations.
Arguably the world's most famous scientist, Prof Hawking has had motor neurone disease for most of his adult life. It has impaired his movement and ability to speak.
Yet through it all, he emerged as one of the greatest minds of our time. His theories on black holes and the origin of the Universe have transformed our understanding of the cosmos.
Prof Hawking has also inspired generations to study science. But through his media appearances what has been most impressive of all has been his humanity.
'Great Danger'
His main concern during his latest interview was the future of our species. A particular worry was President Trump's decision to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement to reduce CO2 levels.
What is in the Paris climate agreement?
"We are close to the tipping point where global warming becomes irreversible. Trump's action could push the Earth over the brink, to become like Venus, with a temperature of two hundred and fifty degrees, and raining sulphuric acid," he told BBC News.
"Climate change is one of the great dangers we face, and it's one we can prevent if we act now. By denying the evidence for climate change, and pulling out of the Paris Climate Agreement, Donald Trump will cause avoidable environmental damage to our beautiful planet, endangering the natural world, for us and our children."
The UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) also highlights the potential risk of hitting climate tipping points as temperatures increase - though there are gaps in our knowledge of this topic.
In its Fifth Assessment Report, the IPCC authors wrote: "The precise levels of climate change sufficient to trigger tipping points (thresholds for abrupt and irreversible change) remain uncertain, but the risk associated with crossing multiple tipping points in the Earth system or in interlinked human and natural systems increases with rising temperature."
When asked whether he felt we would ever solve our environmental problems and resolve human conflicts, Prof Hawking was pessimistic, saying that he thought our days on Earth were numbered.
"I fear evolution has inbuilt greed and aggression to the human genome. There is no sign of conflict lessening, and the development of militarised technology and weapons of mass destruction could make that disastrous. The best hope for the survival of the human race might be independent colonies in space."
And on Brexit, he feared UK research would be irreparably damaged.
"Science is a cooperative effort, so the impact will be wholly bad, and will leave British science isolated and inward looking".
I asked him what he would like his legacy to be.
"I never expected to reach 75, so I feel very fortunate to be able to reflect on my legacy. I think my greatest achievement, will be my discovery that black holes are not entirely black."
"Quantum effects cause them to glow like hot bodies with a temperature that is lower, the larger the black hole. This result was completely unexpected, and showed there is a deep relationship between gravity and thermodynamics. I think this will be key, to understanding how paradoxes between quantum mechanics and general relativity can be resolved."
When asked if money or practicality were no object, what his dream present would be, he said it would be a cure for motor neurone disease - or at least a treatment that halted its progression.
"When I was diagnosed at 21, I was told it would kill me in two or three years. Now, 54 years later, albeit weaker and in a wheelchair, I'm still working and producing scientific papers. But it's been a great struggle, which I have got through only with a lot of help from my family, colleagues, and friends."
Palais des Congrès de Montréal Wins Prestigious International Innovation Award For Its Urban Agriculture Lab
"We have an immense rooftop surface right in the heart of the city, and we knew that by working with environmental experts, we could make a positive contribution by repurposing this vast space. Scientists, engineers, crop farmers, bee farmers, managers and a host of other specialists worked together with the Palais' building management team to make this project happen, which we believe will inspire other property owners to do the same," mentioned Chrystine Loriaux, the Palais des congrès Director of Marketing and Communications.
Palais des Congrès de Montréal Wins Prestigious International Innovation Award For Its Urban Agriculture Lab
The Urban Agriculture Lab of the Palais des congrès de Montréal (CNW Group/Palais des congrès de Montréal)
MONTRÉAL, July 5, 2017 /CNW Telbec/ - The Palais des congrès de Montréal was presented with the prestigious AIPC Innovation Award on July 4, 2017 at the AIPC International Association of Convention Centres Annual Conference in Sydney, Australia. The Palais was recognized for its Urban Agriculture Lab and its innovations in sustainable development. The Lab was among the 16 convention centre entries shortlisted for the award. "We are proud of the sustainability leadership role we play within the industry through our tangible actions. By opening the Urban Agriculture Lab in tandem with partners like the Laboratoire sur l'agriculture urbaine (AU/LAB) and Ligne Verte, the Palais is fostering experimentation with new rooftop urban farming technologies and practices, and in the process, is also reducing heat islands in the city's downtown core," declared Raymond Larivée, President and CEO of the Palais des congrès de Montréal.
The AIPC Innovation Award recognizes excellence in convention centre management by showcasing initiatives that represent innovation, namely through the development of a new, more creative or more effective approach to any aspect of convention centre management, operations or marketing. The Palais des congrès was the Overall Innovation Award Winner as selected by the committee, while the Cairns Convention Center was the Innovation Award Delegates' Choice – it won for a promotional item made from steel recovered from their old roof.
Raymond Larivée (right), President and CEO of the Palais des congrès de Montréal, at the July 4 AIPC Annual Awards Dinner, in Sydney, Australia. (CNW Group/Palais des congrès de Montréal)
"We have an immense rooftop surface right in the heart of the city, and we knew that by working with environmental experts, we could make a positive contribution by repurposing this vast space. Scientists, engineers, crop farmers, bee farmers, managers and a host of other specialists worked together with the Palais' building management team to make this project happen, which we believe will inspire other property owners to do the same," mentioned Chrystine Loriaux, the Palais des congrès Director of Marketing and Communications.
According to Eric Duchemin, AU/LAB's Scientific Director: "Partnering with the Palais des congrès on the Laboratory initiative will make it possible to broaden our knowledge of the challenges and constraints associated with rooftop farming, but it will also serve to build rooftop farms, in Montréal and abroad." The project is part of CRETAU, a network created in collaboration with the Québec Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, which focuses on urban farming research and expertise, and the transfer of urban farming best practices.
In 2016, the Palais des congrès de Montréal became the main showcase in Québec for experimenting with and advocating for urban farming technologies and techniques, when it opened its Urban Agriculture Lab jointly with AU/LAB, an organization associated with the faculty of science and institute of environmental studies at Université du Québec à Montréal. The Urban Agriculture Lab includes:
- Culti-VERT, a technological showcase for green roofs and container gardening;
- Three pollinating beehives; and
- VERTical, an urban agriculture project driven by new vertical farming technology that is based on free-standing structures equipped with experimental wall tarps.
The various components of the Palais Urban Agriculture Lab are primarily tasked with:
- Helping reduce urban heat islands and improving air quality in the Montréal downtown area;
- Encouraging the real estate industry and property owners to adopt concrete steps toward greening their rooftops;
- Promoting Montréal's reputation as a world-class city firmly committed to fostering urban sustainability; and
- Enabling convention participants and the Maison du Père homeless shelter to benefit from the crops grown, with the help of Capital Catering, the Palais' exclusive caterer.
About the AIPC
The International Association of Convention Centres (AIPC) represents convention and exhibition centre professionals and managers worldwide. In addition to recognizing convention centre management excellence, the AIPC also provides resources and programs that foster striving for the highest industry standards through research, networking and education.
About the Laboratoire sur l'agriculture urbaine
The Laboratoire sur l'agriculture urbaine (AU/LAB) is a centre for urban agriculture research, training, innovation and activities designed to serve the community and act as a rallying hub for organizations and individuals devoted to urban farming. A non-profit, AU/LAB is also a national and international discussion and action forum for issues related to urbanism and food. With its extensive expertise, AU/LAB fosters emerging ideas, initiatives and businesses focused on the production, processing, distribution and marketing of urban agriculture. AU/LAB is actively involved in the development of urban food systems, viable urbanism and circular economies in cities.
About the Palais des congrès de Montréal
Recipient of the highest quality standards certification in the industry and shortlisted for the World's Best Congress Centreaward (AIPC), the Palais des congrès de Montréal attracts and hosts conventions, exhibitions, conferences, meetings and other events. It generates major tourism revenues and intellectual wealth for Montréal and Québec, while also contributing to the international reputation of Montréal, the top host city in North America for international events. congresmtl.com
SOURCE Palais des congrès de Montréal
For further information: Source: Chrystine Loriaux, Fellow Adm.A., B.A.A., Director, Marketing and Communications, Palais des congrès de Montréal, Phone: 514 871-3104 ; For information: Amélie Asselin, Advisor, Communications and Public Affairs, Palais des congrès de Montréal, amelie.asselin@congresmtl.com, Phone: 514 871-5897
$4.4 Million Is Being Spent to Protect the Global Seed Vault From Global Warming
Crop Trust
WRITTEN BY Tom Ward
IN BRIEF
A melting permafrost caused by global warming has raised concerns over the security of the global seed vault. To ensure its integrity, the Norwegian government has pledge to spend $4.4 million on improvements to the structure.
The Global Seed Vault was designed as a back-up plan for humanity in the case of an apocalyptic event. The seeds in its collection would allow future societies to maintain the planet’s botanical diversity while covering the spectrum of nutrition in case no other sources of food were available. 50,000 more seeds were recently added to the collection, but now, climate change is threatening the world’s Plan B.
Click to View Full Infographic
The vault, which is owned by the Norwegian government, was designed to function in a permafrost. However, global warming made 2016 the hottest year on record, and melting permafrost due to the rising temperatures caused water to flood the entrance to the enormous vault, undermining its “failsafe” status.
In response, the Norwegian government has pledged to spend $4.4 million to upgrade the vault. The first $1.6 million will got toward investigating the problem and potential solutions, efforts that will be spearheaded by consultancy firm Dr. Techn. Olav Olsen.
Current suggestions for future improvements include building an entrance tunnel that slopes upward toward the seed vault to drain water away. For now, the government is attempting to improve the situation by relocating a heat-emitting transformer station inside of the tunnel to decrease thaw, and plans are in place to dig drainage ditches around the complex and build a waterproof wall within it as well.
The silver lining of the situation is that these concerns have arisen at a time when there is still sufficient human infrastructure to repair and plan. Running into these problems post-global disaster would no doubt be much more troubling.
Syngenta Looks To The Future
Syngenta Looks To The Future
June 27, 2017 07:30 AM Eastern Daylight Time
BASEL, Switzerland--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Syngenta today announced its new ambition and priorities following the completion of the transaction with ChemChina. The company aims to profitably grow market share through organic growth and collaborations, and is considering targeted acquisitions with a focus on seeds. The goal is to strengthen Syngenta’s leadership position in crop protection and to become an ambitious number three in seeds. Key drivers for the next phase of growth will be further expansion in emerging markets, notably China, the stepping up of digital agriculture offers, and ongoing investment in new technologies to increase crop yields while reducing CO2 emissions and preserving water resources.
Syngenta looks to the future: Our new ambition & priorities following completion of the transaction w/ ChemChina
After being elected Chairman of the Board of Directors on June 26, Ren Jianxin, Chairman of ChemChina, reaffirmed that Syngenta’s operational independence will be maintained and the existing management team will continue to run the company. He said: “We share Syngenta's strategic and long-term vision and look forward to supporting Syngenta's growth, product offering and services. Together with its Board and Management and all its employees, we will work for the benefit of growers and to enhance food security and fight famine around the world - based on principles of technological leadership, environmental safety and sustainability.”
Michel Demaré, Vice Chairman of Syngenta and Lead Independent Director, said: “This transaction is historic for many reasons. Not only is it the largest acquisition ever made by a Chinese company, but also it is a deal focused on growth. All our stakeholders are benefiting from this change of ownership. Jobs have been safeguarded and farmers will continue to have a choice and enjoy the benefits of our investments in technology. Syngenta will continue to be headquartered and to pay taxes in Switzerland, with major manufacturing and R&D sites in the country. Syngenta remains a standalone company, with a new owner who has a long term vision for our industry and will invest accordingly. The company will maintain the highest corporate governance standards with four Independent Directors on the Board. I look forward to working with Ren Jianxin and the rest of the Board to further develop Syngenta leadership in growth and sustainability. Together, ChemChina and Syngenta will make a significant contribution to global food security.”
Erik Fyrwald, CEO of Syngenta, said: “We play a vital role in the food chain to safely feed the world and take care of our planet. Our ambition is to be the most collaborative and trusted team in agriculture, providing leading seeds and crop protection innovations to enhance the prosperity of farmers, wherever they are. With ChemChina we have a stable new owner who will help us to achieve this ambition. At the same time we will sustain our focus on productivity and on improving the customer experience. We are excited by the global prospects and particularly those in China, where we will utilise and build on our technology and know-how to promote the highest agriculture, food safety and environmental standards, as well as to increase productivity.”
About Syngenta
Syngenta is a leading agriculture company helping to improve global food security by enabling millions of farmers to make better use of available resources. Through world class science and innovative crop solutions, our 28,000 people in over 90 countries are working to transform how crops are grown. We are committed to rescuing land from degradation, enhancing biodiversity and revitalizing rural communities. To learn more visit www.syngenta.com and www.goodgrowthplan.com. Follow us on Twitter® at www.twitter.com/Syngenta.
About ChemChina
ChemChina, which is headquartered in Beijing, China, possesses production, R&D and marketing systems in 150 countries and regions. It is the largest chemical corporation in China, and occupies the 234th position among the Fortune Global 500. The company’s main businesses include materials science, life science, high-end manufacturing and basic chemicals, among others. Previously, ChemChina has successfully acquired 9 leading industrial companies in France, United Kingdom, Israel, Italy and Germany, etc. To learn more visit www.chemchina.com and www.chemchina.com/press.
Cautionary statement regarding forward-looking statements
Some of the statements contained in this press release are forward-looking statements, which involves a number of risks and uncertainties discussed in Syngenta’s public filings with the SEC, including the "risk factors" section of Syngenta's Form 20-F filed on February 16, 2017 as well as the U.S. Offer documents filed by ChemChina and CNAC Saturn (NL) B.V. (“Purchaser”) and the Solicitation/Recommendation Statement filed by Syngenta. These statements are based on current expectations, assumptions, estimates and projections, and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from any forward-looking statements. These statements are generally identified by words or phrases such as "believe", "anticipate", "expect", "intend", "plan", "will", "may", "should", "estimate", "predict", "potential", "continue" or the negative of such terms or other similar expressions. If underlying assumptions prove inaccurate or unknown risks or uncertainties materialize, actual results and the timing of events may differ materially from the results and/or timing discussed in the forward-looking statements, and you should not place undue reliance on these statements. ChemChina, Purchaser and Syngenta disclaim any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a result of developments occurring after the period covered by this press release or otherwise.
Contacts
Syngenta International AG
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Tel: +41 61 323 2323
Fax: +41 61 323 2424
www.syngenta.com
or
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or
Paul Minehart
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or
Analyst/Investor contacts:
Jennifer Gough
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+41 61 323 5059
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+1 202 737 6521