Know better. Do better.

It’s 2024!

What will this year bring for climate action – and climate impacts? How could that be affected by major elections around the world – in the United States, India, Indonesia and elsewhere? Some of the smartest climate thinkers we know will be giving us their ideas this week – stay tuned!

We’ll also be digging into what climate change will mean, around the world, for the food we eat, and how growing that food in turn affects climate change and nature protection. Look out for some great videos starting this month as part of our Rerooted series.

In Brazil – which has the world’s biggest cattle herd – demand for beef abroad and at home has been a major driver of deforestation. Huge areas of the Amazon forest and Cerrado savannah have been cleared to create pasture and fields to grow soy, much of which becomes animal feed.

Cutting beef eating globally would be a major step toward meeting the world’s climate and nature preservation goals. So why can’t we kick beef?

Our video correspondent Albert Han hits the road with Brazil’s cattle and soybean truckers – and visits its famed barbecue restaurants – to explore why it’s so hard for us to give up the things that are bad for the planet.

How else might we kick-start climate action? How about better educating people about climate change and then letting them drive policy?

In Colorado, a 30,000-student school district late last year became the first in the country to approve a “Green New Deal for Schools” resolution, pushed by its students.

As part of the resolution, the district has pledged to move towards 100% clean energy, improve teaching about climate change, give students a voice in sustainability planning and work to better prepare students for green jobs, writes our correspondent Carey L. Biron.

U.S. lawmakers are considering a similar national “green schools” bill that would make $1.6 trillion available over a decade for green building upgrades and hiring additional teachers – something that could not only improve tens of thousands of aging and deteriorating U.S. schools but win broader support for climate action.

In Bangladesh, meanwhile, schools are testing fun ways to interest children in climate change and nature protection issues from an early age, from planting school gardens to building playground equipment with used and recycled materials.

The country’s textbooks already include climate-related information, but more such hands-on study is crucial, Aruba Faruque, a 17-year-old climate activist, told our correspondent Md. Tahmid Zami.

“Our schools teach children facts and theories that help them pass exams but what we need is multi-dimensional, action-oriented learning, taught by well-trained teachers,” she said.

Can football – or soccer, as it’s known in some parts of the world - kick its heavy emissions?

As we hit the midpoint of the European football leagues’ season, our reporter Beatrice Tridimas takes a look at the carbon footprint of the world’s most popular sport, and at efforts underway to reduce it, from vegan stadium menus and kit made of recycled plastics to holding more tickets for local fans to cut travel emissions.

“If (football) could be mobilised in service of climate action, that could make a really significant contribution,” noted British sports writer and researcher David Goldblatt.

See you next week!

Laurie