250 million more older people could be exposed to dangerous heat levels, and other nature and climate stories you need to read this week

This article is brought to you thanks to the collaboration of The European Sting with the World Economic Forum.

Author: Michael Purton, Senior Writer, Formative

• This weekly round-up contains the key nature and climate news from the past week.
• Top nature and climate news: 250 million more older people could be exposed to dangerous heat levels; World’s biggest carbon dioxide removal plant opens; Venezuela could be first country to lose all its glaciers

1. Almost 250 million more older people could be exposed to dangerous heat levels

An extra 246 million older people could be exposed to dangerous levels of heat by 2050, a new study has found.

The number of people aged 69 or over who live in climates where temperatures reach 37.5°C or above will rise from 14% in 2020 to more than 23% worldwide in 2050, according to the paper published in Nature Communications.

That would be “an absolute increase of about 177-246 million age 69+ individuals”, the report said.

This could have a colossal impact on health systems and global inequality, because older people are more vulnerable to high temperatures and the populations most affected will be in the poorer Global South.

“Climate change has potentially dire consequences for the health and well-being of older adults,” the authors warned.

“Increases in the intensity, duration, and frequency of heat spells pose direct threats to physical health and mortality risk, with especially severe consequences for older adults, given their heightened susceptibility to hyperthermia and common health conditions worsened by heat exposure.”

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How is the World Economic Forum fighting the climate crisis?

The Global Risks Report 2023 ranked failure to mitigate climate change as one of the most severe threats in the next two years, while climate- and nature- related risks lead the rankings by severity over the long term.

The World Economic Forum’s Centre for Nature and Climate is a multistakeholder platform that seeks to safeguard our global commons and drive systems transformation. It is accelerating action on climate change towards a net-zero, nature-positive future.

Learn more about our impact:

• Scaling up green technologies: Through a partnership with the US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, John Kerry, and over 65 global businesses, the First Movers Coalition has committed $12 billion in purchase commitments for green technologies to decarbonize the cement and concrete industry.
• 1 trillion trees: Over 90 global companies have committed to conserve, restore and grow more than 8 billion trees in 65 countries through the 1t.org initiative – which aims to achieve 1 trillion trees by 2030.
• Sustainable food production: Our Food Action Alliance is engaging 40 partners who are working on 29 flagship initiatives to provide healthy, nutritious, and safe foods in ways that safeguard our planet. In Vietnam, it supported the upskilling of 2.2 million farmers and aims to provide 20 million farmers with the skills to learn and adapt to new agricultural standards.
• Eliminating plastic pollution: Our Global Plastic Action Partnership is bringing together governments, businesses and civil society to shape a more sustainable world through the eradication of plastic pollution. In Ghana, more than 2,000 waste pickers are making an impact cleaning up beaches, drains and other sites.
• Protecting the ocean: Our 2030 Water Resources Group has facilitated almost $1 billion to finance water-related programmes, growing into a network of more than 1,000 partners and operating in 14 countries/states.
• Circular economy: Our SCALE 360 initiative is reducing the environmental impacts of value chains within the fashion, food, plastics and electronics industries, positively impacting over 100,000 people in 60 circular economy interventions globally.

Want to know more about our centre’s impact or get involved? Contact us.

2. World’s biggest carbon dioxide removal plant opens in Iceland

Earth’s largest operational direct air capture and storage (DAC+S) plant, which sucks CO2 out of the atmosphere, has opened in Iceland.

Climeworks’ Mammoth plant in Hellisheidi can capture 36,000 tons of carbon dioxide a year and is 10 times the size of the previous largest DAC+S plant, the company’s Orca site, also in Iceland, which has a capacity of 4,000 tons annually.

Billions of tonnes of carbon must be removed from the atmosphere each year to meet global climate goals, scientists warn.

Mammoth works by filtering CO2 from the air and storing it permanently underground – and has successfully started to capture its first carbon, with 12 of its total 72 collector containers installed on-site.

Jan Wurzbacher, co-founder and co-CEO of Climeworks, said: “Starting operations of our Mammoth plant is another proof point in Climeworks’ scale-up journey to megaton capacity by 2030 and gigaton by 2050.”

3. News in brief: Other top nature and climate stories this week

Venezuela may be the first country in modern history to lose all of its glaciers, with the last one downgraded in classification to an ice field. Scientific advocacy organization the International Cryosphere Climate Initiative said the nation’s only remaining glacier, the Humboldt or La Corona, had become “too small to be classed as a glacier”.

Sixty percent of adults in England say extreme weather has negatively impacted their ability to be physically active, a study has found. Sport England, which produced the report, has announced a new investment package of £45 million “to help sports battle climate change” as part of the funding agency’s first environmental and sustainability strategy.

The extreme heatwave across Asia in April, which caused deaths, water shortages and crop losses, would have been impossible without the climate crisis, according to scientists. Searing heat above 40°C experienced across the region was made 45 times more likely in India and five times more likely in Israel and Palestine due to climate change, they said.

The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is increasing 10 times faster now than in the past 50,000 years, according to a new study led by researchers from the University of St Andrews and Oregon State University. Kathleen Wendt, lead author, said: “Our research identified the fastest rates of past natural CO2 rise ever observed, and the rate occurring today, largely driven by human emissions, is 10 times higher.”

The world may have had its hottest March on record, but England and Wales saw more than one-and-a-half times their average rainfall for the month. This comes after the UK’s eighth wettest winter since records began more than 150 years ago.

4. More on the nature and climate crisis on Agenda

What does it take to thrive as a Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO)? A decade ago, the CSO role did not exist in many organizations, but now it’s a crucial position as businesses around the world try to reduce their environmental impact. We look at the four key attributes a CSO needs to succeed.

Demand for critical minerals has doubled in the past five years, as they play a vital role in the construction of green technologies such as wind turbines, electric vehicles and solar panels. Here are some solutions to boost the critical minerals supply chain.

The climate crisis is damaging our mental and physical health, with a World Economic Forum report estimating it will lead to 14.5 million deaths by 2050. From our brains to our bowels, here are five ways the crisis is affecting our health.