The skinny on songbirds – National Geographic

Eating just one to two seeds treated with neonicotinoid insecticide is enough to make a songbird lose so much weight that its migration journey is interrupted or delayed to a degree that threatens its chances to survive and reproduce. Because small birds may only breed once or twice in their lifetimes, losing out 50 or 100% of their breeding opportunities poses a huge threat to the population at large. The introduction of neonicotinoids has “made America’s agricultural landscape 48 times more toxic to honeybees, and likely other insects, than it was 25 years ago,” and it could be the reason for the songbird decline, too. What’s next?

Gucci goes neutral – Fast Company

Fast fashion isn’t slowing down any time soon but commitments to reducing the industry’s carbon footprint are being made throughout the industry by affordable and luxury brands alike. Gucci is going deep and using the Greenhouse Gas Protocol to measure supply chain and manufacturing impacts which they plan to offset completely via forest conservation projects in collaboration with REDD+. This organization enables intact forests to compete with historically more lucrative, alternate land uses — uses that result in forest destruction — by assigning economic value and coordinating with companies like Gucci to dedicate dollars to keeping them alive. Through REDD+, Gucci plans to achieve total carbon neutrality by the end of September … 2019. Bold, but as Gucci’s CEO Marco Bizzarri says, “The time for talking is over.”

What to know for the UN climate summit – Environmental Defense Fund (EDF)

EDF’s global climate VP, Britt Groosman, knows that, thanks in large part to Greta Thunberg’s unrelenting environmental advocacy work, passion for climate change around the globe has been “turned up to 11.” And in order to help global leaders, nonprofits and corporations get the most out of the summit, she’s prepared a list of 5 things everyone should know going in. No big surprise that item #5 is that the United States must move to a 100% clean economy. Can we do it? Can we transform the way energy is produced, bought and sold in time to make a difference?