Found in over 180 species of fungi these mushrooms have a long history of use in Indigenous spiritual and healing rituals in parts of Central and South America. Studies have found that 80% of patients who were given psilocybin experienced a drop in anxiety and depression that lasted for six months or more. David Seymour, New Zealand’s associate minister of health, said the new policy is a “real breakthrough.”
Taranaki Mounga, the second-highest mountain on New Zealand’s North Island, and its surrounding peaks have been granted legal personhood, becoming the country’s third natural feature to gain the same rights, duties, and protections as individuals. The mountain region is of considerable cultural significance to Taranaki Māori and its designation of legal personhood is a long-awaited acknowledgment of their relationship to it. The mountain will also now be solely referred to officially by its Māori name, laying to rest its former colonial name, Mount Egmont.
The toymaker hopes gradually to bring down the amount of oil-based plastic it uses by paying up to 70% more for certified renewable resin, the raw plastic used to manufacture the bricks, in an attempt to encourage manufacturers to increase production. In the long term, Lego plans to switch entirely to renewable and recycled plastic by 2032, in a green push that has resulted in the company testing more than 600 alternative materials.
Leading global renewable energy developer Lightsource BP has secured $NZ267 million in financing for its 168MW Kōwhai Park solar project planned to be built at the Christchurch Airport, which will be – for a time – the largest in the country. The solar farm is expected to begin construction later this year and begin operations some time in 2026. Once operational, the Kōwhai Park solar farm will generate over 275GWh per year, equivalent to the annual demand of approximately 36,000 homes.
Indigenous leaders of New Zealand, Tahiti, and the Cook Islands signed a historic treaty that recognizes whales as legal persons in a move conservationists believe will apply pressure to national governments to offer greater protections for the large mammals. “It’s fitting that the traditional guardians are initiating this,” said Mere Takoko, a Māori conservationist who leads Hinemoana Halo Ocean Initiative, the group that spearheaded the treaty. “For us, by restoring those world populations we also restore our communities.”
MethaneSAT, developed by the Environmental Defense Fund in partnership with the New Zealand Space Agency, is the size of a washing machine and cost $88 million to build and launch. While part of its mission is to spot polluters, the other side of the coin is that it can verify that others are indeed managing those emissions in a responsible fashion. Stemming methane leaks is the fastest single way to curb the escalation of average global temperatures, according to The Guardian.
Danish solar company SolarFuture has landed the order to establish a 35 MW rooftop solar power plant at DSV’s new logistics center in Horsens. The building at DSV’s logistics center is over 300,000 m2, an area that corresponds to the world’s 5th largest building, of which the majority of the roof surface will be covered by solar panels. The establishment of the construction site has just begun and is expected to be completed in December 2024.
Hereditary angioedema, or HAE, is a rare disease that affects about one in 50,000 people. It is caused by a genetic mutation that leaves patients with leaky blood vessels, causing erratic bouts of swelling. Dr. Hilary Longhurst, the principal investigator at New Zealand’s Te Toka Tumai, Auckland City hospital, said the new single-dose therapy appeared to provide a permanent cure for her patients’ “very disabling symptoms”.
The new ban will also extend to plastic straws and cutlery, as the nation’s government expands its campaign against single-use plastics, which began in 2019 when it banned plastic carrier bags.
The move is the nation’s largest-ever emissions reduction effort and is expected to take the equivalent of 300,000 cars off the road.
