By MIRIAM ACZEL A new study conducted by researchers at Duke University shows a dramatic increase in the amount of water used in hydraulic fracturing, or ‘fracking,’ to extract shale oil and gas in all of the main production areas in the United States. Published mid-August in Science Advances, the study compared the quantities of water used in...
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Preserving Legends to Protect the Environment
By MIRIAM ACZEL The Mekong River, one of the longest river systems in Asia—and twelfth longest in the world–flows through six countries: Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, and China. The Mekong Basin is particularly rich in biodiversity, and provides both crucial habitat for plant and animal species as well as a key source of livelihood for...
Leaders in Energy 2018 – Year in Review
By MIRIAM ACZEL 2018 was another busy and successful year for Leaders in Energy (LE). Janine Finnell, Executive Director, and the Leaders in Energy team and community are working hard towards the goal of advancing clean energy and sustainability solutions, with a focus on key areas of sustainable communities; the green economy and green jobs; and multigenerational...
Demystifying Impact Investment
By MIRIAM ACZEL Last month, I represented Leaders in Energy at the 2018 Youth Global Forum in Paris. The Youth Global Forum brought together over 100 participants, experts, and young entrepreneurs from all over the world for a jam-packed three days of discussing ideas and solutions to pressing global problems. One keynote speaker, Robert Rubinstein gave a very...
Social Investment: Gaps and Opportunities in Emerging Markets
By MIRIAM ACZEL Impact Investing to Achieve the SDG’s During the Global Youth Forum in Paris, Anne-Louise Thon Schur, the founder of SDG Invest and Head of Secretariat at The Global Impact Club (GIC) presented a masterclass on “Social Investment: Gaps and Opportunities in Emerging Markets.” Anne-Louise’s mission is to prove that sustainable investments are indeed...
Urban Hanging Gardens: A Win-Win For Puerto Rico
By MIRIAM ACZEL Young Leaders Share Their Ideas for a Better World I’d like to follow up on my previous report from the Youth Time Global Forum held in Paris, which I attended as a journalist representing Leaders in Energy. The 2018 Forum’s theme was Worldwide Impact Investing: The Role of Entrepreneurs. This emerging form of ‘impact...
Impact Investing, Climate Change, and the SDG’s
By MIRIAM ACZEL and DR. WALEED SADEK Youth Global Forum 2018 This week, I had the opportunity to represent Leaders in Energy at the Youth Global Forum in Paris from December 3rd – December 6th. The Youth Time International Movement brings together over 100 participants, experts, and young entrepreneurs from all over the world for a jam-packed...
Cambodia’s Buddhist Monks Fight Against Deforestation
By DEBRA ACZEL and MIRIAM ACZEL Deforestation is a major environmental threat in Cambodia According to a study published last year in Science Advances, Cambodia has some of the world’s highest rates of deforestation. For example, according to a World Bank report, in 1990 over 73% of the country’s land area was forest, but by 2015, the...
Single Organizing Idea–A Force for Good: An Interview with Neil Gaught
By MIRIAM ACZEL Miriam Aczel recently interviewed Neil Gaught, author of ‘Core: How a Single Organizing Idea Can Change Business for Good,’ on the concept of the Single Organizing Idea. Read more in Neil’s recent blog The Time for Business to Act is Now. MA: In your research and in your book, you present the...
Brazil’s Amazonian Mangroves: Crucial for Climate Change Mitigation
Brazil’s Amazon is home not only to the world’s largest tropical forest, but also one of the world’s largest mangrove areas. Mangroves are collections of different tree and shrub species found in tropical coastal regions, growing in waterlogged soils. They can be recognized because of their large roots protruding from soils—roots they use to ‘anchor’themselves from strong incoming tides. There are over 80 distinct mangrove tree species, and can sequester or store large amount of carbon in their soils, which can be stored for multiple centuries. Deforestation of mangroves results in the release of sequestered carbon dioxide, as trees, plants, and soils release stored carbon once they are logged and cleared or burned. Although mangroves represent only 0.6% of global tropical forests, a new, long-term study published in the journal Biology Letters shows that these mangrove forests contain much more stored carbon than previously thought, and that their deforestation accounts for as much as 12 percent of greenhouse gas emissions produced by all tropical deforestation worldwide.