Half a degree of warming tesco has suspended production by banishing a dangerous greenhouse gas, the boss of an Indian Company of cards made at a factory in china after a message was found cleaning up one of the worlds most inside from prisoners who said climate hostile industries, they had been forced to work. Here in ethiopia we will meet it was discovered by a six year old in london writing her a woman who nurtures tree seedlings christmas cards. It is thought to have come from a prison in shanghai, as Katie Prescott reports. Who has now helped re green 1. 5 million hectares of barren, ready . Uhhuh. Here we go. Degraded land, and a man who has it was 6 Year Old School Girl turned his Design Brilliance Florence Widdicombe whod sat down into clean power thats starting at home to write christmas cards to undercut fossil fuels. To her friends and family when she discovered that one of the cards had already been written in. We were writing in them and about on my sixth or eighth card there was. Somebody had already written in it. There was a message which read the market here in mekele is full of that fresh, local produce. Just look at these tomatoes. Absolutely delicious. But im not here to shop. Im here to pose you a riddle. The first thought was it must how can something designed to cool be some kind of prank, us down be warming us up . I would be amazed if youve got but on reflection we realised the answer, because it lies deep it was actually potentially 00 02 05,512 4294966103 13 29,430 quite a serious thing. Within these within air conditioning units. Air conditioning is everywhere in hot countries these days. But air conditioning units contain chemicals called hfcs, which are thousands of times more potent Greenhouse Gases than carbon dioxide. So what if we could persuade the people who make air conditioning units to use something safer and, in the process, reduce temperature rise by half a degree centigrade . That would be, well, pretty cool, wouldnt it . Hannah long higgins in the United States has been to meet a man who has done just that. For this man, solving the problem of Climate Change isnt a matter ofjust tackling one issue. If we dont solve this problem we wont be able to solve the other problems of poverty, of peace. This is going to overwhelm everything. But what will it take to move the planet away from the brink . So we have to prioritise what will give us the fastest way to avoid warming. This has to become a new metric, the metric of speed. And his idea for speeding things up your air conditioning unit. We are able to avoid up to half a degree celsius of future warming and we can double that by making cooling equipment super efficient. I grew up in the 60s. I was at berkeley as an undergraduate, protesting, and i learned that students and young people have power. At my age i can continue to contribute. But i want to help the next generation. It is astounding how we package things and throw them away. Two of his granddaughters work with him. And hannah very much sees herself as the next one up to the task. You guys have been working on this for 30 years. Its time for us to take over. Its time for new people, new perspective, and change. The amendment and decisions are adopted. Three years ago, he was instrumental in getting 197 parties to adopt a climate treaty in kigali, rwanda. The so called Kigali Amendment intends to phase down powerful Greenhouse Gases called hydrofluorocarbons, or hfcs. The hfc refrigerants can, alone, give us avoided warming of about half a degree celsius. That may not sound like much. But remember weve warmed the planeti celsius so far, with pretty bad consequences. This half a degree of warming saved became a big rallying cry among world leaders. But lets get back to the start, when we said your air conditioning unit was important. As the world warms, we need more air conditioners and refrigeration and other cooling equipment to keep the world safe. But when you do that you have to have more electricity to power the air conditioners. In the next ten years i billion more ac units will be installed globally. The other piece is the refrigerant themselves. And right now the main refrigerant is something called an hfc, hydrofluorocarbons. So if we focus on air conditioning and other cooling equipment, we can squeeze out a tremendous amount of climate mitigation. That is where the Kigali Amendment is key. It means that on factory floors, like this one here in wisconsin, a newly developed an environmentally friendly refrigerant will be placed into air conditioning units. Honeywell is one of the companies designing these new refrigerants. Global adoption of our products today has reduced the amount of c02 emissions in the air by mi million metric tons. Thats the equivalent of removing 30 million cars from the road today. And this is happening without support from the white house. The Kigali Amendment has not been ratified by the trump administration. Back in washington, dc, durwood is working on more solutions that can stop this runaway train as fast as possible. If we dont speed up were going to find it harder and harder to protect the planet. So really its how to get the message across that speed is essential. That was hannah long higgins reporting from the us. Now, i have taken a sneaky break to have a traditional ethiopian drink. Look at this. Different types of fruit juices all layered up. Let me try it. Mm. 0h. That is delicious. But this fruit bar, like so much else in all our lives could not exist without. Electricity. And most electricity is still produced from coal. It accounts for 40 of World Carbon Dioxide emissions and its why coal mining is still such a Huge Industry around the world. It employs about 6 Million People and is the lifeblood of many communities. So if we want to cut coal use we have to find alternative livelihoods for those miners, which is exactly what one woman has been trying to do through a process she calls Just Transition. Maryam moshiri has been to meet her in northern spain. Cheers. The sun is setting on spains coal Mining Industry. For years the industry has been economically unviable and now the demands of Climate Change are finishing it off altogether. But as one door closes, could more open . Sharan burrow is the head of the International Trade union confederation. A union boss with a difference. One who wants to defend the climate as well as workers. We want to see this region live. At the end of last year, spain reached an agreement with unions and the Companies Involved to shut down all its remaining coal mines. The fourth generation. A deal was forged which promised 250 Million Euros to help miners like these retire early or retrain. They call it a Just Transition and believe its a model for the rest of the world. Sharan is here to tell miners there is help for them, but the spanish coal Mining Industry is done. What we need to do is say to them we wont leave you behind and we will fight to see governments dont leave you behind or that corporations. But some of the miners remain unconvinced. Sharan is visiting the recently shut down escondida mine in castilla y leon. One of many shes visited around the world to reassure workers about their future. Coal burning is responsible for around one third of the rise in global temperatures. The biggest single source. It looks very rich, guys. Globally, around 6 Million People are employed in coal mining and in some parts of the world, mostly in asia, coal fired power stations are still being built. Round here, though, things are very different. Mines like this one used to be the lifeblood of this area, but over the past decade over 30,000 jobs have been lost in the coal Mining Industry in this region alone. In the nearby city of leon, sharans visit is generating a lot of interest. Just transition is under way in several countries and Industry Sectors and her message is blunt. We recognise there are no jobs on a dead planet. But theres a sharp reminder of the scale of the challenges she faces. The money these men were promised to help them retrain hasnt filtered through, because of continued Political Uncertainty in spain. We need to build living jobs on a sustainable planet. And if the planet is to live we need dramatic ambition. The transition to a zero Carbon Society is essential, but it goes hand in hand with helping those whose jobs will be displaced. For sharan its very much a work in progress. Shes well aware that some cases the reality does not yet match the aspiration. Now lets turn our attention to something you may not even associate with Climate Change. No, not the vehicles driving down the street, or even the energy used by the buildings here in downtown mekele. What i am talking about is the stuff the buildings are actually talking about. Im talking about cement. As countries develop they start to build and build and build. All this building uses millions and millions of tons of, yes, cement. And cement produces huge amounts of carbon dioxide. 8 of the world total. So heres the question can we make cement less damaging . Well, the boss of one Indian Cement Company says, yes, we can. He claims hes already cut emissions from his factories by 40 of the world average and he says hes going to make his factories Carbon Neutral by 2040. Rajini vaidyanathan has been to see him in south india in tamil nadu. As india grows, so too does its use of cement, now only second to china. Concrete buildings are changing the landscape here. But emissions involved in cement production are also pushing up global temperatures. The small town of ariyalur in indias south is nicknamed cement city because it is home to some of the industrys big players. And it is also here that one company is leading the world with a bold vision. To make cement carbon negative by 2040. But is that really credible . Mahendra singhi, the ceo of the Dalmia Cement company certainly thinks so. He is at the forefront of using Climate Friendly ways to make cement. The challenge which we took was is it possible to bring down c02 emissions from cement and to create an example that cement can be greener also. Today, we have the lowest Carbon Footprint in the global cement world. It has not been easy. Emissions from the cement industry contribute to Global Warming three orfour times more than aviation does. And becoming carbon negative requires a Huge Investment in Cutting Edge Technology to remove the remaining carbon dioxide. So why is cement so dangerous for the planet . It is all in the way it is produced. Limestone and other materials are heated to temperatures of 1400dc and that process in itself emits carbon dioxide. As does the burning of the fuels to heat the kiln. Dalmia aims to reduce those levels first by using Renewable Fuels to heat the furnaces. Here, bamboo is being used as a replacement for coal. Bamboo grows rapidly on wasteland that cant be used for much else. Different types of waste are also being used as fuel and waste material from power stations is added to the mix of ingredients, reducing the need for limestone. For mr singhi, this mission is personal. First we had to convince ourselves and our people that it is good for them. Good for society, good for the future. That may be so, but why not just use less cement . The problem is that it is difficult to replace, as even environmentalists concede. In the years to come, india will rely more on cements but the notion has to change. I dont think it is practical but in the long run we can do it. We cannot eliminate the cement completely, but we can find many more alternate materials. Cement has now become one of the worlds most consumed materials. But many people are still unaware of the damage it does to the climate. It is still a big polluter. This plant in a small corner of india may be showing the way to reduce and one day eliminate its damage. Rajini Vaidya Nathan there. Now come with me because im going somewhere rather special. Up to the top of this hill on the outskirts of the city. I want to be out in the wind because if you want to feel optimistic about our climate future, just look at the price of electricity generated by offshore wind. It has fallen by one third in the last few years and is now so cheap it could put fossil fuels out of business. And that is thanks, in part, to the work of a danish inventor. He has been called the father of the wind industry and freya cole has been to see him. Wind. The invisible source of energy which now has the potential to change the world. The question used to be we like it but can we afford it . Now the question is how can we afford not to . From a young age danish inventor Henrik Stiesdal knew that a lot more could be done to use this natural and free source of electricity. Henrik created his first wind turbine at the age of 16. In 1991 he opened the worlds first offshore wind farm and his design for the modern wind turbine earned the title of the danish concept and that concept has shaped the wind industry for what it is today. And its efficiency, which is henriks biggest motivation. One of the biggest blades that he has helped design is 94 metres long. The blade is one seamless piece of fibreglass with no joins. While the blades have grown in size, the costs are shrinking. According to a new study by the paris based International Energy agency, the costs are set to fall a further 60 by 2040. Every time these blades make a full rotation, this turbine generates enough power for the average european household for a day. So there is no denying the strength in wind energy. But for this industry to make a meaningful impact worldwide, there are still challenges to overcome. Around the world, the Untapped Potential of offshore wind is vast, especially when you move further from shore into deeper water. The answer is Floating Wind turbines. According to the International Energy agency, floating turbines could unlock enough potential to meet the worlds total electricity demand 11 times over by 2040. Henrik is inventing a Floating Wind turbine which he says could be mass produced at a factory. He says it is a key to driving down costs to make it cheaper than fossil fuel competitors. So the real trick of all of this is getting our products industrialised. The next hurdle for the industry is to capture all of the electricity so it does not go to waste when wind drops and to work out the best way to feed it back to the grid. I am putting in a lot of effort on developing Storage Systems both for day to day storage and also for seasonal storage so we can store energy made when we have a lot of wind in the wintertime to be used in the summertime. Henrik is optimistic. He has watched the industry develop from the impossible to the possible, to a future reaching even greater heights. Freya cole reporting and now we come to the story of how the people here in northern ethiopia have been working for years to make their country more resilient to the effect of our changing climate. This whole semiarid region south of the sahara is expected to suffer some of the worst effect of Climate Change and, look around me. Virtually all the trees have been cut down leaving just this rough scrub. That makes the soil much more vulnerable to erosion and the land much less fertile. But ethiopia has been fighting to break that vicious cycle. It has restored one and a half million hectares. One half million hectares of degraded land. So how has ethiopia done this and what can the rest of the world learn from its example . 100 years ago, trees covered one third of ethiopia. Now it is less than 5 . And without trees, there is nothing to protect the soil from drought, wind and burst of rain which all become more intense with Climate Change. When the soil goes, very little grows. But people are breaking this vicious circle. This one is the african olive. Does it bear fruit . Yes, it does grow olives. Sarah tewolde berhanis an expert at restoring degraded land. This is her tree nursery at Mekele University in northern ethiopia. Some 30 or 40 years ago data shows that droughts were occurring every ten years. Now they are every five years. So we need to prepare, as a community, as a society to be able to function in drought years and one of the best ways to do that is to restore the environments and restore the environments we can capture every little drop of rain that comes. Here is how it works. People and animals are kept out to allow natural regrowth. The trees help keep moisture in the soil, recharging rivers and springs. It may seem trivial to people who live in wet environments that a spring has come back. But for people who live in a dry environment, a spring that was around 100 years ago or 200 years ago is now coming back and giving water. It is highly significant. And this re greening is happening on a vast scale. In this one province in northern ethiopia, they have reforested 15,000 square kilometres. Trees are also a source of cash. Local people get paid for every unit of carbon stored here. Last year, the community was paid 33,000 euros from an International Carbon offset scheme. That money goes on Community Projects like Water Conservation and a new school. Worldwide, we are still losing an area of forest the size of the uk every single year. But the re greening effort here in ethiopia is a lesson in what can be done. Evidence that, when people work together, we can build resilience to our changing climate. My time in ethiopia has come to an end. We are all packed up and ready to go. But i have been so impressed by all the work that people on this programme have been doing to combat Climate Change. It is so reassuring to know that an army of climate defenders already exist. But it is also clear that we have a long and difficult journey ahead and we all need to be on board. And i hope that you have been inspired tojoin the climate defenders. Time to go. Hello. Sunday saw the winter solstice, that means that at least from an astronomers point of view, we are officially into winter. The days are also starting to get just that little bit longer. How about the weather . The start of christmas week a bit of a mixed bag, sunshine and showers on the way. Were in between weather systems, one weather front moving out towards the east, another one heading our way for later on monday. But during the day on monday, were in this sort of clearer slot here, but its not completely clear. You can see some speckles of cloud. Those are showers coming off the atlantic and thats exactly whats happening right now. Showers across western scotland, end of the night, start of the morning, maybe one or two further south, but generally speaking, the weather is dry and its not particularly cold even where the skies clear. Six or seven in the south, a touch of frost there, as youd expect this time of year in scotland. Heres mondays weather forecast. So the weather is approaching but its still way to the south west of our neighbourhood, that does mean the weather is largely dry during the daytime itself, apart from showers which may affect western scotland for a time. There could be one or two moving through the lakes, but theres more clear weather than wet weather around on monday. So i think a very decent day on the way for cardiff but birmingham, as i say a few showers there for glasgow, edinburgh, maybe carlisle. 11 degrees, so mild in the south, nine in glasgow. We are watching the next weather front approaching the neighbourhood, the thinking is after dark, itll start to turn cloudy then wet in cornwall, devon, throughout wales, and that rain will move across other parts of the uk as well. With it also comes mild air, and its notjust across the uk but also spreading deeper into europe too. So the weather is very mild throughout the continent at the moment. Lets have a look at christmas eve. You can see the extent of the cloud early in the day, outbreaks of rain, the rain will probably come and go from thicker cloud during the afternoon as well across the south but the trend will be for the weather to gradually improve through the day on christmas eve, and thats a hint of things to come for the big day itself, because Christmas Day is expected to be a fine day throughout the country. High pressure is expected to build, the winds will fall light, the sun should be out for the morning on, a bit of mist start with but on the whole, but overall a fine day to walk off those calories. Temperatures around nine or 10 degrees in south, six degrees in the north. So we dont get the snow but we do get the sunshine this christmas. Goodbye. Welcome to bbc news. Im aaron safir. Our top stories syrias refugee crisis worsens. Turkeys president warns 80,000 people have fled fighting in idlib province. The battle to control australias bushfires. 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