With climate concerns growing, many people are trying to reduce their environmental impact. Increasingly, they're turning to plant-based meats — and investors are taking notice. When Beyond Meat debuted on Wall Street in early May, share prices more than doubled the first day. "Investors recognize … a huge business opportunity," Bruce Friedrich, director of the Good Food Institute, told AFP.

Backed by Microsoft founder Bill Gates and stars like Leonardo DiCaprio, meat alternatives including Beyond Meat and Impossible Burger, seen here at left, use new food technology and ingredients like peas, fava beans and soy. Unlike earlier veggie burgers, these meatless patties are said to taste, look, smell and even "bleed" like real meat (the secret is beet juice). They can also be healthier.

But eating less meat isn't just a healthy decision. A 2018 WWF report said cutting animal products from diets would be a "relatively easy and cheap way" to fight climate change. A study by the University of Michigan found the Beyond Burger generates 90% less greenhouse gas emissions, requires 46% less energy to produce and has far less of an impact on water scarcity and land use than a beef patty.

Beyond Meat is already sold in thousands of US supermarkets and restaurants, and major brands are also looking for a piece of the action. Nestle launched its take on the beef patty in Europe in April, and Unilever took over Dutch plant-based meat producer The Vegetarian Butcher in late 2018. Burger King is rolling out a Beyond Meat option US-wide, and McDonald's is testing its own vegan burger.

Industrialized soy crops have been flagged as a contributing factor to widespread deforestation. As Brussels-based environment group Fern points out, more than 1 million square kilometers of land are used to grow soy, almost three times the size of Germany. Only a very small percentag of this, however, is used in meat alternatives. Most goes to animal feed.

There are also nutritional concerns about these highly processed foods. Leading brands can have more than double the saturated fat and as much as seven times the amount of sodium as a lean beef burger. And environmental groups are worried about Impossible Burger's inclusion of GMO yeast, which adds a meaty flavor. Excessive consumption has been linked to cancer — but that goes for real meats too.

In Europe, meat alternatives may soon have to be sold as "discs," "tubes" and "slabs" as opposed to burgers, sausages and steaks. The EU Parliament's agriculture committee has backed a move to ban producers of vegetarian food from using terms that usually describe meat. The full parliament is yet to vote on the measure however.

Small island nations around the world are already feeling the impact of rising sea levels. And probably none more so than the Maldives in the Indian Ocean, which is considered the lowest-elevation country on the planet. The average elevation of its 26 atolls is just 1.5 meters (5 feet) above sea level - so it wouldn't take much for the country to be rendered completely uninhabitable.

Rising waters have already caused some islanders to flee their homes for higher ground. On the Kiribati islands in the Pacific, some villages have been completely flooded. Local farmers also have to worry about encroachment of saltwater on their crops. The ever-approaching sea means less surface area for agriculture, and a greater need to transport food from afar.

Around 113,000 people call the Kiribati islands home. Locals who've been displaced often end up on the main island of South Tarawa, which has a sea wall to protect low-lying properties on the shore from rising waters - but that's no permanent solution.

The Dutch are famous for their efforts to fend off the sea - they built their first dikes to protect land from flooding more than 1,000 years ago. Today, a sophisticated system of dams and dikes allows two-thirds of the population live below sea level. Nevertheless, rising ocean levels are still a concern in the Netherlands, where there are future plans to fortify levees and build surge barriers.

Venice in northeastern Italy is no stranger to flooding - and according to experts, the iconic city will continue to sink. The Italian government has invested 9.6 billion euros ($7 billion) in the "Moses" water barrier project, designed to protect the city - a UNESCO World Heritage site - from rising oceans and high tides. The barriers are expected to be completed by 2016.

Many small islands in far-flung corners of the ocean don't have the money to fund large-scale climate change mitigation. And often, they're not just facing rising seas - they're also under threat from increasingly frequent cyclones and hurricanes. In the Caribbean islands of St. Lucia and Dominica, frequent storms wreak havoc on local agriculture, including bananas and avocados.

The devastation caused by Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines last November is a clear example of how the unpredictability of climate change can make weather events more severe for islands. Many homes in the typhoon’s path weren’t built to withstand typhoons, which previously tended to strike the north of the country. More than 6,200 people were killed.

Some argue that poorer, less-developed countries are now suffering as a consequence of Western industrialization. At the recent climate conference in Warsaw, Philippines Commissioner Yeb Saño made a passionate plea for action, saying: "What my country is going through as a result of this extreme climate event is madness."

Although Bangladesh is on the mainland of Asia, it faces a huge risk from climate change due to its low-lying geography and population density. A mere 1-meter (3-foot) rise in sea level would cause half the country to be under water. Communities have started adapting to increased flooding by using floating agricultural technology to grow their crops.

There are fears sea level rises could eventually displace entire populations, creating hoards of climate change refugees. One idea floated by President Anote Tong of Kiribati some years ago was the possibility of building artificial islands for displaced locals to live on. Dubai - with its artificial island projects, like the one pictured here - may be able to help by sharing its experience.

Thousands of students walked out of class in Sydney, kicking off global protests on Friday. They got the attention they wanted. Some Australian politicians hit back with criticism. "For action on issues that they think is important, they should do that after school or on weekends," said Education Minister Dan Tehan.

Protesters in New Zealand invited adults to join the march. "If we go on strike on a school day, then they'll notice and they might want to do something," said 14-year-old student Inese, who didn't want to give her full name. And her prime minister is listening. Jacinda Ardern supports the strikes and has pledged NZ$100 million (€60 million/$68 million) to cut greenhouse gases.

The movement has snowballed since 16-year-old Swedish activist Greta Thunberg began skipping school to protest in front of parliament last August. On March 15, her protest spread from Vanuatu to Hong Kong (pictured here), Tashkent to Madagascar. In Thailand, one of the world's top plastic polluters, students campaigned against single-use plastics.

From Seoul to Singapore, each city's students spoke out in their own way. Here in South Korea, 100 students held signs saying "Too warm 4 school" and "Don't deny climate change." In Singapore, strict laws regulate public assembly so young people planned a virtual campaign on social media.

In India, protests were seen in 36 different cities, including New Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bangalore. Students in New Delhi chanted slogans demanding the Indian government stop using coal and act against climate change and air pollution.

While German Chancellor Angela Merkel has supported the movement, some German students are still afraid to skip school. But not all. Protests were planned for 200 cities across the country. In the German capital, the crowds were huge by midday.

In the western German city of Cologne, students braved the wet weather. Massive storms have recently battered that part of the country, though they only appeared to fan the flames of the students' protest.

Greta Thunberg (center) led one of the many protests in Sweden. She said she was excited that protests had spread to 2,052 places in 123 countries. Asked if adults should strike too, she replied: "It's up to them, if they want their kids to have a future."

Students in South African cities, including Cape Town and Pretoria, joined in the school strike. Africa, with more than 1 billion people, is expected to be hardest hit by global warming even though it contributes the least to greenhouse gas emissions.

Strikes were held by students in cities across the country, including New York, Washington, Chicago, Portland, Oregon and St. Paul, Minnesota. In June 2017, US President Donald Trump announced that the US was withdrawing from the 2015 Paris agreement on mitigating climate change.

Montreal drew among the largest crowds, estimated by organizers at nearly 150,000. The global movement saw a response from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who said he was inspired by the climate strikers to call a special summit in September to deal with "the climate emergency."