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Helping research and rebuild in the face of destruction.
Dear Reader,
Despite the ongoing decimation of many communities in Gaza, today’s Climate Champs are working tirelessly to create solutions.
We’ll start with Tala and Farah Mousa, two winners of the Earth Prize, who are turning war rubble into bricks and blocks that others can use to rebuild. Tala talked to a CBC radio host from the tent camp where she lives with her family: “When rubble became part of our daily life, we started asking ourselves how we could turn this destruction into something useful and helpful.”
With their grandfather’s guidance, the two teens hammered and sifted the rubble to create the consistency of coarse sand. Then they added clay, ash, straw, or glass powder to bind it together, shaping the material into bricks. The bricks, they say, are meant for non-load-bearing use, and can be used to build pavements, partitions, and garden beds. They call their project Build Hope Palestine and dream of the day that their innovation will be available to others. “It would not be strictly for Gaza,” Tala said.
Next up is another Gazan who is also working against a backdrop of war to study giant devil rays. Over the past three years, reports a story in MongaBay, Mohammed Abu Daya “has lost his home, his office, and access to his beloved sea. But he never lost his fascination for devil rays: As he’s moved from one refuge to the next, the scientist has continued to analyze data collected in previous years, to attend international conferences remotely and to co-author publications.” He’s one of few experts in this species in the world and told Mongabay that “the giant devil ray Mobula mobular is classified as endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species since 2018, [a listing updated to ‘critically endangered’ in 2025]. It has been protected under Annex II of the Barcelona Convention since 1996.” While he faces challenges, including impeded access to scientific equipment, funding, laboratories, and inconsistent internet and electricity, he remains undaunted in his quest to understand and protect giant devil rays.
Dot applauds these courageous Climate Champs.
Admiringly,
Dot
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