Design Emergency is a new podcast from Paola Antonelli, Senior Curator at New York’s Museum of Modern Art, and design critic Alice Rawsthorn which will “explore design’s potential to help us build a better future”. The series follows a book of the same title by the pair and “will introduce you to the inspiring and ingenious designers whose success in tackling major challenges – from the climate emergency and refugee crisis, to ensuring that new technologies affect us positively, not negatively – gives us hope for the future”, they say. Their first guest was Sir David Adjaye. More here

A new report reveals the billions of pounds of benefits that trees provide in the UK, including capturing carbon dioxide, reducing air pollution and reducing flood risk. The report is the first to calculate a value for trees in gardens, parks, fields and along streets across the UK and finds that a single tree with a canopy diameter of 30 metres, provides hundreds of pounds of benefits a year, according to The Guardian. Full story here

The Guardian also reports on draft EU legislation designed to reduce plastic waste. The legislation  would ban mini-shampoo bottles in hotels and the use of throwaway cups in cafes and restaurants. It also “proposes mandatory deposit and return schemes for single-use plastic drinks bottles and metal cans, as well as an end to e-commerce firms wrapping small items in huge boxes,” says the paper. More here

And talking of plastic waste, Notpla, the seaweed and plant-based material that can be used “to create a range of packaging products, such as a bubble to hold liquids, a coating for food containers, and a paper for the cosmetic and fashion industry” has been named as one of the winners of the Earthshot Prize this year. More here

The European Commission has approved a plan under France’s new Climate Law to ban short-haul flights to selected cities that are linked by a train journey of less than two and a half hours. Initially the plan will apply only to flights between Orly airport in Paris and Nantes, Lyon, and Bordeaux. In three years, its affect will be measured and, if successful, more routes will be added. More here from Forbes

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