Happy Friday! Here’s today’s good climate and environment news:

‘All COPs Are Bastards!’: The alternative summit

For years, COP has been criticized by climate activists for sidelining the people on the frontlines of the crisis, and failing to make the drastic changes that are needed to avert disaster. So, campaigners have sought to remedy its shortcomings with their own climate summit: The Global Meeting for Climate and Life, held in Oaxaca, Mexico. The gathering is a way to bring together people who are excluded from formal processes, propose alternatives, and outline a path for future action. 

‘For us, it’s not about the parts per million in the atmosphere, it’s about how our societies have transformed.’

🌊 How seaweed is boosting livelihoods

In coastal Kenyan villages, drought worsened by climate change has made it difficult for people to grow their usual crops. But other impacts of the crisis, like heightened temperatures and rising sea levels, have allowed them to adapt by growing a new crop – seaweed. It can be used in food as well as to make soap and shampoo. Since 2008, 20 villages in Kenya have started growing seaweed, and are reaping the economic benefits.

☃️ Winter-proof heat pumps are on the way

Until now, heat pumps have only performed at their best in warm or mild climates. So, when the US Department of Energy asked companies to create a heat pump that worked completely efficiently in the freezing cold, eight manufacturers rose to the challenge. Their heat pumps work at 5 degrees Fahrenheit or lower, and will enter commercial production in the coming months.