Same-sex marriage referendum to take place in Switzerland
Citizens will be voting on whether to legalize same-sex marriage this Sunday. If approved, it will be a huge step forward for a nation which has straggled behind its European neighbours. In most eastern European countries, same-sex marriage remains illegal. However, on the western side of the continent, nations have been...
Current in Change
England’s new Covid travel rules are strangely selective
According to England’s updated travel policy, being considered ‘fully vaccinated’ and exempt from quarantine isn’t as simple as having been double jabbed. What was proposed as ‘a new simplified system’ that would make international travel ‘easier’ is now causing global outrage for being xenophobic. As the new travel rules were unveiled,...
Diving into the Pacific Ocean’s plastic nightmare
Somewhere floating in the Pacific is a collection of plastic so large, experts can only estimate its size - an incomprehensible mass of 1.6 million km2. Unless you’ve been ignoring the state of the planet, don’t have a Netflix account (or access to somebody else’s), and haven’t been graced by...
40 days out from COP26 China’s attendance remains in doubt
As the world’s biggest polluter, any success at COP26 all but hinges on China’s attendance. Yet with just 40 days to go until the conference, president Xi Jinping has still yet to commit. After close to two years of grandiose sustainable rhetoric, the world’s leaders are finally set convene in...
Gabon is pioneering the carbon sequestration economy
At the edge of Congo Basin, the ‘lungs of Africa’ absorb a gigantic portion of the world’s greenhouse gases. The road to commodifying this natural process will be a focal point at COP26. On the West coast of Africa lies the second most forested country on Earth and one of...
How can Africa respond to rising teenage pregnancy?
Teenage pregnancy and maternal deaths see substantial rises across Africa as a result of Covid-19. Is this now the second societal pandemic? According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), pregnancies among adolescent girls remain a global problem. An estimated 21 million girls aged 15–19 years in developing countries become pregnant...
Tottenham Hotspur host world’s first net zero football match
Sky and Tottenham partnered for the first net zero match in elite level football on Sunday. Supported by COP26 and the Premier League, #GameZero is striving to drive emissions down in stadiums throughout England’s top division. As 60,000 poured into the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for a tense London derby on Sunday, #GameZero provided a promising backdrop for a more sustainable future in English football. It may be too soon to approach...
Climate change puts millions at risk of trafficking and exploitation
As extreme weather patterns become the norm, millions will be forced to relocate from their homes into the unknown. What does this mean for the future of their security? Around the world, the effects of climate change have become impossible to ignore. This summer, even major cities like New York and London saw flooding of underground transport stations due to extended periods of rain and major storms. While metropolises have remained...
Exclusive: Chatting to Gen Z activists Jeremy and Michelle
Michelle and Jeremy are siblings from Western Kenya who describe themselves as energetic environmentalists. Their dream is to improve the cleanliness of our oceans and build better habitats for aquatic life. They built an app to do just that. Michelle, a 16-year-old final year student from White Oaks School, Kisumu, is a co-founder of Osiepe Sango (Friends of Sango), a nongovernmental organisation that helps to improve Lake Victoria's ecosystem. She is...
Italy’s rising radical right and the quest to end immigration
In Italy, a country once home to Benito Mussolini, a leader who radicalised society between 1919 and 1945, history is on the verge of repeating itself. On 10 September, police officers arrested a 26-year-old Somali asylum seeker for allegedly stabbing four women and a six-year-old boy in Italy’s north-eastern town of Rimini. While Luciana Lamorgese, the country’s interior minister, called the incident a ‘very grave episode’, it didn’t take long for...
