Climate Action

What does the world think about global warming? 5 climate change stories to read this week

Climate change protest. A new ozone layer hole, carbon taxes and the potential of green steel - here are the latest stories around climate change.

A new ozone layer hole, carbon taxes and the potential of green steel - here are the latest stories around climate change. Image: Unsplash/Markus Spiske

Tom Crowfoot
Writer, Forum Stories

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  • This weekly roundup brings you some key climate change stories from the past seven days.
  • Top stories this week: The world's opinions on climate change; Ozone layer hole above the tropics; The potential of green steel; Countries using carbon taxes; and Why gender must be considered in sustainable building designs.

1. A new survey reveals what the world thinks about climate change

Nick Clegg, President of Global Affairs at Meta, explores a new survey covering the public views on climate change based on more than 100,000 Facebook users from nearly 200 countries.

A chart showing how worried people from Asia & the Pacific region are about climate change.
Participants were asked how worried they are about climate change. Image: Meta/Yale

The survey found that the majority of people in nearly all countries surveyed say they are somewhat or very worried about climate change, with majorities seeing climate change as likely to cause harm to future generations. Learn more about what the world feels about climate change.

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How is the World Economic Forum fighting the climate crisis?

2. What could the discovery of a new year-round ozone hole mean for life on Earth?

Researchers are working to determine the exact impacts of a new year-round ozone hole discovered above the tropics. There are concerns it will negatively impact both the ecosystem and the people living there. The tropics are home to half the planet's surface area and about half the world's population.

Ozone layer depletion can lead to increased ground-level UV radiation, which increases the risk of cancer and weaken immune systems, as well as impacts agricultural productivity and ecosystems, explains Qing-Bin Lu one of the authors of a new paper. With this ozone hole being seven times bigger than the infamous Antarctic ozone hole, find out more about its potential impacts.

3. What is green steel and why does the world need more of it?

Steel is the most commonly used metal in the world, but its manufacturing produces around 8% of total global emissions. While 75% of steel is produced using coal-fired furnaces — which are emissions heavy — efforts are underway to transition to furnaces powered by electricity or hydrogen.

A chart showing CO2 emissions from the production of chemicals, steel and cement.
CO2 emissions from heavy industries can be reduced with green practices like manufacturing green steel. Image: IEA

Steel produced by 'green hydrogen' is 'completely free of CO₂ emissions,' according to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Group. However, the challenge of scaling up the production of green steel is no mean feat, read more to find out why.

Have you read?

4. Which countries have introduced a carbon tax?

As countries look to transition to net-zero, governments are exploring carbon pricing to help reduce pollution from fossil fuels by encouraging investment in cleaner technology. A carbon tax is levied on the carbon emissions required to produce goods and services.

The Danish parliament has recently approved a new corporate carbon tax, which will target companies both in and outside the EU's quota system. But, which other countries have a carbon tax? Read on to find out more.

5. Why sustainable building design needs to consider how women use energy and space

Research shows that buildings designed without considering gender often benefit men and disadvantage women by default, impacting energy efficiency. With buildings contributing to around 40% of global energy consumption, if we are to meet COP26 targets, the energy efficiency of buildings will have to improve by 30% by 2030.

To make these changes, gender must be accounted for. Why? Research has shown that men and women use energy in different ways, due to the way labour is traditionally divided between them. Discover how energy is used differently depending on gender, and how this information can support sustainable building design.

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World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

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