From scientific discoveries to activist wins, here are the latest news stories that showcase the people who are taking on climate change and nature loss.

🌳 The Indigenous communities protecting the Colombian Amazon

The traditional knowledge of Indigenous communities – including practices such as sustainable agriculture and fire management, and a deep understanding of how ecosystems are interconnected – is crucial for protecting the Amazon, but has been systematically overlooked. However, recent years have seen this finally begin to change, with growing interest into how these communities can be centred in policies that aim to conserve the rainforest, and a recent decree in Colombia that legally recognises Indigenous peoples as environmental authorities.

“We’re doing the COP here [in the Colombian Amazon] every day … We never stopped protecting nature.”

🌡️ The innovative clothing technology that beats the heat

A new clothing technology can reportedly keep you 5-13C cooler than cotton, even under the beating sun. It achieves this by allowing your body’s infrared radiation to escape, where other types of materials trap it, keeping you warmer. The fabric, embedded with zinc oxide nanoparticles, also reflected the sun at a much higher level than your standard white t-shirt. While these fabrics aren’t ready to be worn yet – for cost, comfort, and biodegradability reasons – it’s hoped the innovation can be harnessed for clothing that would make hot weather more bearable and save energy on AC.

🌊 Can we increase the capacity of the world’s biggest carbon sink?

Some scientists claim we can boost the amount of carbon dioxide the ocean is able to store by tweaking its chemical composition. Known as ocean alkalinity enhancement, this technique involves dissolving acid-neutralizing rocks in the water. But, as with many carbon removal technologies, the main issue is scale – while it currently works to the tune of hundreds of thousands of tons of carbon, it would need to absorb billions to make a dent in global emissions.