Save Santa’s home – Make smarter choices!

Save Santa’s home – Make smarter choices! – It’s that time of year again and this Christmas, Santa is begging us to make smarter choices as his home is melting even faster with 2023 set to be the hottest year on record and ice is melting too fast, too soon. So, this month we see if smart choices were made at COP28, how our choices impact ending oil and offer some greener gift choices. Plus, for some good feels during this festive season, we speak to CWR ex-intern on the success of her Carbon Canteen initiative.

COP28 recently wrapped and despite being dubbed the “oil COP” it achieved some key firsts, including the first-ever agreement for countries to transition away from fossil fuels, agreement to triple renewable energy, operationalising the loss & damage fund and more.

However, all these firsts come with “buts” like loopholes galore in the transition agreement and no call to phase out oil. And then there is the sore disappointment over water & ice being MIA from key discussions; it was back to the sidelines despite water being how we feel most climate impacts. Check out our five reasons why despite the movement forward, we feel it’s not concrete nor urgent enough.

Regardless of the actions and Charters on oil & gas launched at COP28, latest IEA projections expect oil & gas to only peak by 2030 and to stay close to peak levels for another 20 years. This doesn’t really sound like we’re ending oil and that’s bad news.

Maybe it’s because we don’t really know what oil is used for… do you know which everyday products contain oil – cosmetics, clothes? Get on top of hidden petrochemicals and what smart choices you can make to end oil.

It’s easy to get caught up in the fun and festivities during the Christmas season but just the shopping, travel and decorations over the three days of Christmas can produce as much as 650 kg of CO2 per person, which accounts for nearly 6% of our yearly CO2 emissions!

Gifts are an easy way we can make smarter choices and have impact, as we know and the IPCC has shown, our choices matter. So, although a bit late for this year – not for you last minute shoppers – have a read of our greener gifts for ideas on gifts that keep on giving – think experiences, donating, renewables and more. Let’s deck the halls, not landfills!

And for some good feels and to show Santa that some of us are making smart choices and you can too, we catch up with CWR ex-intern Isabel Picazo – just 17 years old – on the success of her Carbon Canteen initiative. We first spoke to Picazo on this last December, a lot can happen in a year.

While the initiative has managed to cut a whopping 60% of emissions from the canteen at Hong Kong Independent Schools Foundation, it hasn’t been without challenges. See what these were and how they were overcome. Plus, see what’s next and if this could be something you can do at your school.

It’s clear then, despite the surprising and positive firsts delivered by COP28 the many “buts” mean we need to make smart choices and take actions into our own hands as much as we can if we are going to save Santa, the reindeers, their home and our home too!

That’s going to be our wish this Christmas, along with more conversations on water and ice. Happy Holidays from the CWR Team!