World Economic Forum (July 29, 2023) – This week’s top stories of the week include:

6 energy saving tips for hot weather – When it’s hot, your ceiling fan should turn anti-clockwise. This creates a downdraft and circulates the cool air. On winter mode, fans move clockwise instead. Pulling hot air upwards and dispersing it around the room.

France will help pay for people’s clothing repairs – The government will refund €6-€25 of the cost of mending shoes and clothes. It hopes the scheme will cut textile waste and help to create a more circular textile sector. 700,000 tonnes of clothing are thrown away in France every year. Two-thirds of it ends up in landfill. The global textile industry is a major source of both pollution and CO2. It generates 10% of the world’s total CO2 emissions. By 2050, this could be 25%.

This Finnish island wants you to turn off your phone – This summer, Ulko-Tammio is encouraging visitors not to look at their devices. Ulko-Tammio is a small island in the Eastern Gulf of Finland. It’s uninhabited and home to rare birds and plants. Visitors arrive by boat to birdwatch, hike and camp. Now, the island is encouraging them to switch off their devices, take a break from emails and social media and focus attention on their surroundings rather than their screen.

Japan is encouraging more women into science – Currently, only 1 in 7 Japanese scientists are women. So from 2024, a dozen universities are introducing quotas to urge more women to major in science, technology, engineering and maths, also known as STEM. The Tokyo Institute of Technology wants women to make up 20-30% of new students, up from 13% today. Nagoya University, Shimane University and the University of Toyama are also putting quotas in place. Currently, only 7% of female students in Japan major in science and engineering. The lowest in the OECD.

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