The climate crisis is bringing more extreme weather conditions to places like Roys Peak, New Zealand, pictured above. Aaron Sebastian / Unsplash
Consideration of the climate crisis will be front and center in all of New Zealand's major policy decisions. The new rule means that any new proposal before the government that aims either to reduce emissions or has a collateral damage effect of raising emissions will need to go through a climate-impact assessment before it can be considered, according to The Guardian.
The Women's March, Jan. 19, 2019. The Washington Post / Contributor / Getty Images
Today women and their allies celebrate International Women's Day. This year, the theme for the day—and the campaign that will run all year—is promoting a gender balanced world. "A balanced world is a better world," the day's organizers write. They are asking people around the world to take a picture of themselves making the #BallanceforBeter pose and post it on social medial to promote the cause of gender equality. Here is one example:
Three years into the Sustainable Development Goals—17 global goals set by the United Nations—many countries' policy makers are developing domestic legislation that will help them reach environmental targets, from cutting carbon emissions to improving clean water and sanitation. But when it comes to environmental research and action, weighing the options to reach policy decisions relies on personal experience and perspective as well as facts and evidence, and gender plays a major role.
The McKinsey Global Institute's report, The Power of Parity: How Advancing Women's Equality Can Add $12 Trillion to Global Growth, concluded that, "Gender inequality is not only a pressing moral and social issue but also a critical economic challenge. If women … do not achieve their full economic potential, the global economy will suffer."
