Climate Science Informs COP25

02.12.2019

The latest climate science from WMO and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is informing negotiations at the annual United Nations Climate Change Conference.

The 25th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, or COP25, takes place under the Presidency of the Government of Chile, held with logistical support from the Government of Spain. Carolina Schmidt, Minister of Environment of Chile, was elected President.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres renewed his appeals for urgent climate action.

“Do we really want to be remembered as the generation that buried its head in the sand, that fiddled while the planet burned?” he asked delegates.

“The latest, just-released data from the World Meteorological Organization show that levels of heattrapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere have reached another new record high,” he said. “Global average levels of carbon dioxide reached 407.8 parts per million in 2018. Not long ago, 400 parts per million was seen as an unthinkable tipping point.”

“The signs are unmissable,” continued Mr Guterrez. “The last five years have been the hottest ever recorded. The consequences are already making themselves felt in the form of more extreme weather events and associated disasters, from hurricanes to drought to floods to wildfires.”

“Ice caps are melting. In Greenland alone, 179 billion tonnes of ice melted in July. Permafrost in the Arctic is thawing 70 years ahead of projections. Antarctica is melting three times as fast as a decade ago. Ocean levels are rising quicker than expected, putting some of our biggest and most economically important cities at risk” said Mr Guterres.

Ahead of COP25, WMO issued its Greenhouse Gas Bulletin on the state of atmospheric concentrations of leading long-lived greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide. All hit new records in 2018.

WMO issues its provisional statement on the state of the global climate in 2019 on 3 December. This shows that the long-term warning trend continued in 2019, with many high-impact events.

An inaugural State of Climate Services in 2019 report will also be released by the WMO-spearheaded Global Framework for Climate Services.

The latest climate science is highlighted at the joint IPCC-WMO Science Pavilion at COP25. This will host a number of side events throughout COP25. (WMO COP25 website)

COP25 will follow up the implementation of the Paris Climate Change Agreement. This seeks to keep global mean temperature rise this century well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C. An Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C said this target was physically possible but would require unprecedented changes in our lifestyle, energy and transport systems.

“Our assessments show that climate stabilization implies that greenhouse gas emissions must start to peak from next year. But emissions are continuing to increase, with no sign of peaking soon,” IPCC Chair Hoesung Lee told the opening session.

“Our three special reports on warming of 1.5°C, climate change and land, and the ocean and cryosphere in a changing climate indicated that the impacts of current warming are much more severe than previously understood: e.g. accelerating sea level rise and ocean warming, some key ecosystems becoming much more vulnerable, and increasing risks of reaching limits to adaptation,” he said.

Source: WMO

EU Member States Add More Climate Policies

29.11.2019

flag-european-union — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

The EEA briefing ‘More national climate policies expected, but how effective are the existing ones?’ analyses EU Member States actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and achieve climate and energy targets. The briefing is underpinned by a more detailed analysis in the report ‘Overview of reported national policies and measures on climate change mitigation in Europe in 2019’, prepared by the European Topic Centre on Climate change Mitigation and Energy (ETC/CME), and an online database of these policies.

According to the briefing, EU Member States report better and more complete information about their climate policies, including on their expected emission savings. However, reported evidence on the achieved emission cuts and costs of these policies is still insufficient.

EU Member States have reported 1 925 climate change mitigation policies and measures to the EEA. More than 400 of these policies are new since 2017, and are mostly at the planning stage, reflecting also the ongoing preparation of National Energy and Climate Plans. The EEA data shows that most EU Member States’ climate policies are either economic instruments (44 %), such as subsidies or feed-in tariffs, or regulations (43 %), for example, on energy efficiency.

The reported policies primarily target energy-related greenhouse gas emissions, including by enhancing buildings’ energy efficiency (18 %), deploying more renewable energy (16 %), switching to low carbon fuels or electric vehicles (8 %), or by improving vehicles’ fuel efficiency (7 %). More than 10 % of the measures concern agriculture, including many of the new actions. In this sector, the EEA data shows that the most common objectives are reducing fertilizer or manure use on cropland and improving animal waste management.

The EEA estimated recently that the EU and its Member States have reduced their total greenhouse gas emissions by 23.2 % from 1990 to 2018. At the same time, Member States’ projections are not yet in line with the target for 2030 of at least a 40 % reduction in GHG emissions. According to the EEA analysis, Member States’ current policies can deliver only a 30 % reduction by 2030, while implementing all reported planned policies could bring the total reduction to 36 %.

Source: EEA

Drought and Flood Cause Drop in Emissions

29.11.2019

poplava_flood — Photo: Sinisa Ljubisavljevic

Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions have flatlined due to the effects of the drought, which has caused a large drop in carbon dioxide from the agriculture sector.

The government’s quarterly greenhouse data for the year to June 2019, published on Friday, shows Australia’s emissions fell by 0.1% on the previous year – equivalent to 0.4m tonnes of carbon dioxide.

Previous government reports showed emissions had risen year-on-year since 2015. The latest report uses newly adjusted numbers for some sectors and instead suggests emissions have increased in some years, slightly dropped in others, but mostly been flat since the abolition of the carbon price scheme in 2014.

The small drop is the result of declining emissions from the agriculture and electricity sectors, which fell by 5.9% and 1.2% respectively. Emissions from transport decreased by 0.5%. But these decreases have been almost entirely offset by large increases from other parts of the economy.

Emissions from stationary energy, including manufacturing, construction and commercial sectors, rose by 3.6% and fugitive emissions are up by 4.4%. Both increases are largely due to the growth in the liquified natural gas (LNG) industry.

The sharp drop in emissions from agriculture shows the effect of widespread drought in NSW and Queensland and the impact of the Queensland floods in February. Both have led to significant drops in the amount of cattle on properties.

Tim Baxter, a senior climate solutions researcher at the Climate Council, said there were “two stories” beneath the data.

“Farmers are suffering. That’s part of the drop,” he said. “The other part of the drop is renewables deployment as a result of a whole bunch of projects coming online for the end of the renewable energy target.

“The drought is not something to celebrate, nor is the renewables sector at the moment which is facing a fairly big slump in investment.”

Baxter said the growth in the LNG sector was almost enough on its own to offset the fall in agricultural emissions and “the good work of the renewables sector”.

“This is a blip in our emissions that isn’t long for this world [due to] plans we have for gas in this country. It will go back up,” he said.

The emissions reduction minister, Angus Taylor, said the data emissions from electricity had fallen for the third consecutive year. He said emissions from producing Australia’s exports had increased as a share of total emissions from 30.1% to 37.5% over the past five years, largely due to the growth of the LNG industry.

Labor’s climate spokesman, Mark Butler, said the accounts showed that, on a seasonally adjusted and weather normalised basis, emissions continued to rise.

Adam Bandt, the Greens’ climate spokesman, said drought was “not an acceptable pollution reduction strategy”.

“The sad irony in these figures is that this small drop in pollution is itself due to climate inaction,” he said.

The decline in emissions from electricity was confirmed by the The Australia Institute’s monthly national energy emissions audit, which found pollution from the national grid continues to decline due to sharp decrease in coal-fired power.

Hugh Saddler, an energy expert who compiles the report for the institute, said Australia’s coal fleet was ageing, and increasingly requiring “sick leave” for repairs. “Power stations like Loy Yang A in Victoria are continually out of action,” he said.

Annual generation from coal peaked in January 2009. Since then, black coal generation has fallen 9%, brown coal electricity slumped by 41% and gas-fired power risen by 3%.

The decline in coal has been almost entirely replaced by an increase in wind power, rooftop solar panels, large-scale solar farms and hydro electricity.

Cut Global Emissions by 7.6 Percent Every Year to Meet 1.5°C Paris Target

28.11.2019

Nagoveštaj-Foto-Biljana-Gadjanski — Photo: Biljana Gadjanski

On the eve of a year in which nations are due to strengthen their Paris climate pledges, a new UN Environment Programme (UNEP) report warns that unless global greenhouse gas emissions fall by 7.6 per cent each year between 2020 and 2030, the world will miss the opportunity to get on track towards the 1.5°C temperature goal of the Paris Agreement.

UNEP’s annual Emissions Gap Report says that even if all current unconditional commitments under the Paris Agreement are implemented, temperatures are expected to rise by 3.2°C, bringing even wider-ranging and more destructive climate impacts. Collective ambition must increase more than fivefold over current levels to deliver the cuts needed over the next decade for the 1.5°C goal.

2020 is a critical year for climate action, with the UN climate change conference in Glasgow aiming to determine the future course of efforts to avert crisis, and countries expected to significantly step up their climate commitments.

“Our collective failure to act early and hard on climate change means we now must deliver deep cuts to emissions – over 7 per cent each year, if we break it down evenly over the next decade,” said Inger Andersen, UNEP’s Executive Director. “This shows that countries simply cannot wait until the end of 2020, when new climate commitments are due, to step up action. They – and every city, region, business and individual – need to act now.”

“We need quick wins to reduce emissions as much as possible in 2020, then stronger Nationally Determined Contributions to kick-start the major transformations of economies and societies. We need to catch up on the years in which we procrastinated,” she added. “If we don’t do this, the 1.5°C goal will be out of reach before 2030.”

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has warned that going beyond 1.5°C will increase the frequency and intensity of climate impacts, such as the heatwaves and storms witnessed across the globe in the last few years.

G20 nations collectively account for 78 per cent of all emissions, but only five G20 members have committed to a long-term zero emissions target.

In the short-term, developed countries will have to reduce their emissions quicker than developing countries, for reasons of fairness and equity. However, all countries will need to contribute more to collective effects. Developing countries can learn from successful efforts in developed countries; they can even leapfrog them and adopt cleaner technologies at a faster rate.

Crucially, the report says all nations must substantially increase ambition in their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), as the Paris commitments are known, in 2020 and follow up with policies and strategies to implement them. Solutions are available to make meeting the Paris goals possible, but they are not being deployed fast enough or at a sufficiently large scale.

Each year, the Emissions Gap Report assesses the gap between anticipated emissions in 2030 and levels consistent with the 1.5°C and 2°C targets of the Paris Agreement. The report finds that greenhouse gas emissions have risen 1.5 per cent per year over the last decade. Emissions in 2018, including from land-use changes such as deforestation, hit a new high of 55.3 gigatonnes of CO2 equivalent.

To limit temperatures, annual emissions in 2030 need to be 15 gigatonnes of CO2 equivalent lower than current unconditional NDCs imply for the 2°C goal; they need to be 32 gigatonnes lower for the 1.5°C goal. On an annual basis, this means cuts in emissions of 7.6 per cent per year from 2020 to 2030 to meet the 1.5°C goal and 2.7 per cent per year for the 2°C goal.

To deliver on these cuts, the levels of ambition in the NDCs must increase at least fivefold for the 1.5°C goal and threefold for the 2°C.

Climate change can still be limited to 1.5°C, the report says. There is increased understanding of the additional benefits of climate action – such as clean air and a boost to the Sustainable Development Goals. There are many ambitious efforts from governments, cities, businesses and investors. Solutions, and the pressure and will to implement them, are abundant.

As it does each year, the report focuses on the potential of selected sectors to deliver emissions cuts. This year it looks at the energy transition and the potential of efficiency in the use of materials, which can go a long way to closing the emissions gap.

Source: UNFCCC

Sustainable Transport Key to Tackling the Climate Crisis

27.11.2019

The critical role of the transport sector in achieving the goal of the Paris Climate Change Agreement to keep global temperature rise to well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels was the theme of a high-level Global e-Mobility Forum held in Warsaw, Poland, from 20 to 21 November.

Photo-illustration: Unsplash (Andrew Roberts)

Participants at the forum representing governments, regions and cities, international organizations and business, examined ways to transform the transport sector – which accounts for approximately 23% of energy-related CO2 emissions – into one which is climate-friendly.

In an address to the meeting, the Deputy Executive Secretary of UN Climate Change, Ovais Sarmad, said: “We urgently need sustainable and clean transport systems. The good news is that the prospect for this is promising as innovation and technological progress in recent decades have led to significant advances in e-mobility.”

Over 1 billion passenger cars travel the streets and roads of the world today, and by 2040, that number is set to double to 2 billion at least. The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has stressed that without aggressive and sustained emission reduction policies being implemented, transport emissions could increase at a faster rate than emissions from other sectors.

The Forum addressed the social, environmental and economic challenges related to the global development of zero emissions transport. This includes effective strategies for developing sustainable transport that is affordable for everyone, as well as adopting new business models, with new forms of partnerships and ownership, and access to capital.

Katowice Partnership for E-Mobility

The Forum reflects the wide recognition that international collaboration is critical in driving forward the transformation of the transport sector. This was given a boost at last year’s UN Climate Change Conference COP24 in Katowice, Poland, where the Governments of Poland and the United Kingdom launched the ‘Driving Change Together Partnership’ as a platform to “promote and recognize e-mobility as an essential part of the solution to climate change.” The voluntary declaration was joined by the vast part of the global community.

This initiative is being carried forward, including through the Warsaw Forum, ensuring continuity from the COP24 E-mobility Declaration to the upcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference COP25 in Madrid and beyond. “Now that the global discourse is in our favour, we must translate the declaration into concrete action,” said Mr. Samad.

COP25 will provide the next major opportunity to take the topic of sustainable transport forward at a crucial time when the need for ever-increasing climate action in all sectors, and by all stakeholders, has never been greater if we are to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement.

Source: UNFCCC

Toward Congress Anniversary – the 50th International Hvac&R Congress and Exhibition

27.11.2019

In 1969 and 1970, in three republicas’ centres of the former Yugoslavia, three conventions were held about the same area of expertise. The common denominator of those professionals’ seminars in Zagreb, Ljubljana and Belgrade was air conditioning.

The Belgrade seminar, on the initiative of Djakovic, PhD, president of the SMEITS (Serbian Union of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering) and professor at the Faculty of Agriculture, was prepared by Assistant Professor of the Belgrade Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Branislav Todorovic.

The success of the seminar and the exchange of opinion between experts that followed led to the conclusion that the work the organizers had taken up isn’t over with that seminar. A circle of experts was formed, and under the SMEITS, they founded the Society for HVAC (heating, cooling and air conditioning). As one of their first tasks, they set to regularly inform members and the community of experts about the Society’s activities. The best way to achieve that was actually the launch of a specialized magazine that was brought to light in November 1972.

Seminars (Congresses) about HVAC

Over the next ten years, the seminar became the congress which was more suited to the nature of this manifestation. The exhibition of equipment and achievements was an integral part of the event, and it was on display in front of the hall where the Congress was held. The number of exhibiting companies, that are also sponsors of the seminar and co-publishers of the “KGH” magazine, was growing year by year. In addition to local companies from all over the former Yugoslavia, the number of foreign companies or their representative offices in the country was increasing. The totality of participants and seminar papers was becoming more significant, so very soon after the opening of the Sava Center in 1977, Congress got a new “home” where it is still held today.

The “first among equals” of the Belgrade HVAC Congresses professionals and his memories

One of the founders of the Serbian Society for HVAC and Congress, as a continuing institution which follows the development of this profession for 50 years now, Professor Branislav Todorovic, PhD, was chairman of the Organizing Committee and the jubilee of the 30th Congress. At the conference opening, in December 1999, professor Todorovic also described some famous moments from previous congresses, including the one that was taking place at that moment.

In focus:

“Organization of the first convention about heating, cooling and air conditioning, 30 years ago, was our response to the actuality of air conditioning, which by the middle of this century has experienced its previously unprecedented development and application. It was feedback on the arrival of incredible, well-designed air-conditioning appliances, systems and plants which were not only followed but propelled, with its constant optimizing and new options, by cooling technique and above all, by automation regulation technique.”

As the world was changing, the profession was developing

In the mid-twentieth century, thanks to the general progress in science and technology, the industry was adopting the latest production technologies that required rigorous controls of the environment parameters, as a prerequisite for the proper functioning of the production process, but also maximum result and employee’s health protection. These conditions are particularly strict in the industries such as electronics, food, pharmaceutical, film tape roll and tobacco production as well as in other branches.

Large buildings with premises for a great number of people, especially those built in large cities, also required huge amounts of air for the life and work of the users of those facilities, so the need for clean breathing air was another reason for science and industry to focus even more on air conditioning.

Buildings located below the Earth’s surface such as parking lots, train stations, shops, various traffic tunnels and underpasses for pedestrian, ask for implementation for ventilation and air conditioning. In addition, space technology which has also perverted into the armaments industry, whose consequences we got the chance to know from close in 1999, has aroused the search for means of defence and protection, so the ventilation was developing in that direction too which comprises underground shelters for people, factories and airports beneath the surface, protection against toxic gases, radioactive radiation and high shock pressures etc.

This development of air conditioning technology with all the problems imposed by the energy crisis, the environmental protection and modern technology, has affected our economy, project designs, ability to construct the most give a lecture at various universities. The Society for HVAC becomes a member of the international organisations, the Congress on HVAC takes place as one of the conventions organised by the International Refrigeration Institute from Paris, and the Clima World Congress 2000 was organised in 1989. Our experts become honorary members of Hungarian, Russian, American and other professional associations.

The influence of Congress on the profession in the country

For our experts, it is undoubtedly important that the graduates, the youngest holders of a degree in engineering who had an outstanding thesis, have given their first lectures at the congresses. They were coming almost straight from the school bench to the booth to present their work, with visible stage fright and excited, but encouraged to pursue a career in this branch of technology. Most of them took part in later congresses too, but on those occasions as experienced engineers, PhDs and professors.

The influence of the Congresses, actually of all that could be heard and that was happening there, reflected in all areas. At the universities, current topics were given for the graduate and master’s thesis. The literature was getting richer. There were many cases where local companies seized the opportunity upon arrivals of world experts to consult them on projects or the research they were working on at that moment. On one occasion, a student who was working on his thesis in the field of thermal comforts took the opportunity during the Congress to talk with Prof. Fanger, whose books he was referring to while preparing his graduate papers. Professor Fanger later admitted that he could not defend some of his thesis and that he had to do so in writing, upon his return to Denmark.

Prepared by: Tamara Zjačić

This article was published in the new issue of the Energy portal Magazine on CLIMATE CHANGE, september-november 2019.

Global Use of Coal-Fired Electricity Set for Biggest Fall This Year

26.11.2019

thomas-q-qwj029PidUY-unsplash — Photo-illustration: Unsplash (Thomas Q)

The world’s use of coal-fired electricity is on track for its biggest annual fall on record this year after more than four decades of near-uninterrupted growth that has stoked the global climate crisis.

Data shows that coal-fired electricity is expected to fall by 3% in 2019, or more than the combined coal generation in Germany, Spain and the UK last year and could help stall the world’s rising carbon emissions this year.

The steepest global slump on record is likely to emerge in 2019 as India’s reliance on coal power falls for the first time in at least three decades this year, and China’s coal power demand plateaus.

Both developing nations are using less coal-fired electricity due to slowing economic growth in Asia as well as the rise of cleaner energy alternatives. There is also expected to be unprecedented coal declines across the EU and the US as developed economies turn to clean forms of energy.

In almost 40 years the world’s annual coal generation has fallen only twice before: in 2009, in the wake of the global financial crisis, and in 2015, following a slowdown in China’s coal plants amid rising levels of deadly air pollution.

The research was undertaken by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air , the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis and the UK climate thinktank Sandbag.

The researchers found that China’s coal-fired power generation was flatlining, despite an increase in the number of coal plants being built, because they were running at record low rates. China builds the equivalent of one large new coal plant every two weeks, according to the report, but its coal plants run for only 48.6% of the time, compared with a global utilisation rate of 54% on average.

The findings come after a report from Global Energy Monitor found that the number of coal-fired power plants in the world is growing, because China is building new coal plants five times faster than the rest of the world is reducing their coal-fired power capacity.

The report found that in other countries coal-fired power capacity fell by 8GW in the 18 months to June but over the same period China increased its capacity by 42.9GW.

In a paper for the industry journal Carbon Brief, the researchers said: “A 3% reduction in power sector coal use could imply zero growth in global CO2 output, if emissions changes in other sectors mirror those during 2018.”

However, the authors of the report have warned that despite the record coal power slump the world’s use of coal remained far too high to meet the climate goals of the Paris agreement.

The US – which is backing out of the Paris agreement – has made the deepest cuts to coal power of any developed country this year by shutting coal plants down in favour of gas power and renewable energy. By the end of August the US had reduced coal by almost 14% over the year compared with the same months in 2018.

The EU reported a record slump in coal-fired electricity use in the first half of the year of almost a fifth compared with the same months last year. This trend is expected to accelerate over the second half of the year to average a 23% fall over 2019 as a whole. The EU is using less coal power in favour of gas-fired electricity – which can have roughly half the carbon footprint of coal – and renewable energy.

Source: Guardian

New Global Atlas on Using Advanced Technology to Monitor Fishing Activity

25.11.2019

A new global atlas – the first-ever of its kind – analyses the opportunities and challenges of using Automatic Identification Systems (AIS) to monitor fishing activity around the globe.

AIS is a tracking technology designed for navigation safety that transmits a ship’s location, identity, course and speed. By using machine-learning algorithms, AIS information allows us to identify vessel’s activity at sea.

The number of fishing vessels with AIS is increasing by 10 to 30 percent each year, making this technology more and more informative with time.

“AIS provides detailed tracks of tens of thousands of industrial fishing vessels, and this detailed tracking data has the potential to provide estimates of fishing activity and effort in near real time. This Atlas assesses this potential and shows that AIS can start to be considered a valid technology for estimating fishing indicators,” said FAO, the Global Fishing Watch (GFW), AZTI and the Seychelles Fishing Authority in the foreword of the Atlas issued on the sidelines of FAO’s International Symposium on Fisheries Sustainability.

Global Fishing Watch (GFW) published in 2018 a first global database of fishing operations based on AIS data. This dataset tracked the activity of over 60,000 fishing vessels, and was used to understand fishing around the world.

But the use of this new technology for monitoring fishing activity needed verifying and reviewing so fisheries managers and policy makers can fully understand its strengths and limitations.

The 400-page Global Atlas on AIS-based Fishing Activity provides this detailed review, and can prove a useful tool for improving sustainable fisheries management in line with SDG14.

It is the result of a two-year analysis of the GFW data, region by region, drawing on the knowledge of 80 fisheries experts, FAO fisheries data, and other scientific databases. The atlas also includes two local comprehensive analyses – on all fisheries in the Bay of Biscay and Seychelles’ tuna fisheries.

The Atlas finds that in some regions, AIS data can provide a near comprehensive view of fishing activity, this is for example the case in the northern Atlantic for vessels above 15 metres in length, whilst in other regions, this data provides only a small fraction of the fisheries activity, as is the case of the Indian Ocean. This is partly due to the large proportion of artisanal or small size vessel sizes in many central and southern regions, but also because of lower use of AIS by larger vessels in regions such as Southeast Asia.

The Atlas confirms that the Northwest Pacific (FAO Fishing Area 61) and Northeast Atlantic (Area 27) are the areas with more industrialized fisheries and where AIS technology is more adopted. The largest discrepancy between AIS-based information and other fishing data occur for fishing activity in the Eastern Indian Ocean (Area 57).

Key findings:

AIS can track the majority of the world’s large fishing vessels (above 24 metres), especially from upper and middle-income countries and territories, distant water fleets and vessels on the high seas.
For monitoring fishing activity, AIS data has its limitations. AIS is carried by a small number of the world’s 2.8 million fishing vessels, and compared to the Vessels Monitoring System (VMS), vessels can more easily turn off their AIS or broadcast incorrect identity information.
AIS use varies significantly by fishing areas. In Europe, almost all vessels over 15 meters have AIS. In Southeast Asia, very few have AIS and reception quality is poor.
AIS data is limited for multi-gear vessels as highlighted in the analysis on the Bay of Biscay.
AIS is still limited in terms of its capacity to discriminate types of fishing activities for smaller scale fisheries using multiple combinations of fishing gears.
AIS can provide information on fishing activity much more rapidly than logbooks or official assessments via VMS. However, AIS’s level of detail (e.g. number of fishing gear or species captured) could be insufficient for many other uses.
Longliners with wide presence in high seas worldwide are the type of vessels better captured by AIS-based algorithms. AIS also captures well other main fishing gears such as purse seiners and trawlers, but tend to underrepresent their importance compared to longliners. This is confirmed by worldwide catch data showing that the order of prevalence of fishing gears is trawls, purse seines, longlines and other gears with variations across FAO areas.
AIS could start to be considered as a viable technology for near real time estimates of fishing effort and marine spatial planning provided it is supported by human verification given its variable accuracy.

Source: FAO

Textiles EU’s Fourth Largest Cause of Environmental Pressures After Food, Housing, Transport

24.11.2019

textile_insustry_tekstilna_industrija — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

Consumption of clothing, footwear and household textiles in the European Union (EU) uses annually about 1.3 tonnes of raw materials and more than 100 cubic metres of water per person, according to a European Environment Agency briefing, published today. A wide-scale change towards circular economy in textiles production and consumption is needed to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, resource use and pressures on nature.

The EEA briefing ‘Textiles in Europe’s circular economy’ presents the latest evidence on environmental and climate impacts from the consumption of textile products ranging from clothing and footwear to carpets and furniture in the EU. The briefing is based on a technical report by the EEA’s European Topic Centre on Waste and Materials in a Green Economy (ETC/WMGE).

According to the EEA study, the production and handling of clothing, footwear and household textiles that were sold in the EU in 2017 used an estimated 1.3 tonnes of primary raw materials and 104 cubic metres of water per EU person. About 85 % of these materials and 92 % of the water were used in other regions of the world.

For water consumption and the use of primary raw materials, clothing, footwear and household textiles represent the fourth highest consumption category in the EU, after food, housing and transport. The same product group causes the second highest pressure on land use (after food), and also a considerable amount of chemical and water pollution, including plastic microfibres released through washing, as well as various negative social impacts.

The EEA briefing also shows that the production of clothing, footwear and household textiles for Europeans caused an estimated 654 kg of CO2 equivalent emissions per EU capita, making textiles the fifth largest source of CO2 emissions linked to private consumption. About three quarters of these emissions took place outside of the EU.

Circular economy for textiles

Circular economy policies and principles, such as eco-design and reusing, hold potential to mitigate the environmental and climate impacts of textile production and consumption, the EEA briefing states. Current EU policies require Member States to collect textiles separately by 2025 and ensure that waste collected separately is not incinerated or landfilled.

According to the EEA, circular business models in textiles — such as leasing, sharing, and take-back and resale — need to be scaled up with the support of policies addressing materials and design, production and distribution, use and reuse, collection and recycling. This can include policies such as sustainable production and product policies, eco design and durability standards, green public procurement, safe and sustainable materials, waste prevention and extended producer responsibility, and labelling and standards.

Source: EEA

Restoring and Rehabilitating Land a Big Step Towards Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals

23.11.2019

land_zemljište — Photo-illustration: Unsplash (Roman Synkevych)

With just 10 years remaining before the world’s nations are due to realize the Sustainable Development Goals in 2030, we still have a long way to go for countries to deliver on their targets and reverse the climate, species and resource consumption crises.

The latest study from the International Resource Panel—the highlights of which are featured in the video here—shows the huge potential of land restoration and rehabilitation to deliver on all 17 of the Goals agreed to by the world’s nations as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Currently, about a quarter of the world’s land is degraded. Land restoration and rehabilitation together represent one of three primary strategies for achieving Sustainable Development Goal 15 (Life on Land), and particularly to achieve a land degradation-neutral world (target 15.3).

This International Resource Panel’s publication, Land Restoration for Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, provides diverse reflections for policymakers, academics and practitioners for developing strategies to maximize the benefits of land restoration and rehabilitation, as it highlights the risks, trade-offs and costs for achieving sustainable development.

The study outlines a clear four-step strategy to maximize cross-cutting opportunities for land restoration or rehabilitation across multiple Sustainable Development Goals.

The observations and conclusions, provided by 37 authors from across the globe, while by no means exhaustive, provide hope and aspirations for investments in land restoration and rehabilitation across our planet.

Source: UNEP

Light Pollution Is Key ‘Bringer of Insect Apocalypse’

22.11.2019

light_pollution_street_lighting_ulična_rasveta — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

Light pollution is a significant but overlooked driver of the rapid decline of insect populations, according to the most comprehensive review of the scientific evidence to date.

Artificial light at night can affect every aspect of insects’ lives, the researchers said, from luring moths to their deaths around bulbs, to spotlighting insect prey for rats and toads, to obscuring the mating signals of fireflies.

“We strongly believe artificial light at night – in combination with habitat loss, chemical pollution, invasive species, and climate change – is driving insect declines,” the scientists concluded after assessing more than 150 studies. “We posit here that artificial light at night is another important – but often overlooked – bringer of the insect apocalypse.”

However, unlike other drivers of decline, light pollution was relatively easy to prevent, the team said, by switching off unnecessary lights and using proper shades. “Doing so could greatly reduce insect losses immediately,” they said.

Brett Seymoure, a behavioural ecologist at Washington University in St Louis and senior author of the review, said: “Artificial light at night is human-caused lighting – ranging from streetlights to gas flares from oil extraction. It can affect insects in pretty much every imaginable part of their lives.”

Insect population collapses have been reported in Germany and Puerto Rico, and the first global scientific review, published in February, said widespread declines threatened to cause a “catastrophic collapse of nature’s ecosystems”.

The latest review says: “Insects around the world are rapidly declining. Their absence would have devastating consequences for life on this planet.”

There are thought to be millions of insect species, most still unknown to science, and about half are nocturnal. Those active in the day may also be disturbed by light at night when they are at rest.

The analysis, published in the journal Biological Conservation, notes that light has long been used deliberately by farmers to suppress insects. But as human infrastructure has expanded, and the cost of lighting has fallen, light pollution has come to affect a quarter of the world’s land surface.

The most familiar impact of light pollution is moths flapping around a bulb, mistaking it for the moon. One-third of insects trapped in the orbit of such lights die before morning, according to work cited in the review, either through exhaustion or being eaten.

Recent research in the UK found greater losses of moths at light-polluted sites than dark ones. Vehicle headlights pose a deadly moving hazard, and this fatal attraction has been estimated to result in 100 billion insect deaths per summer in Germany.

Artificial light also hinders insects finding a mate in some species, the review found, most obviously in firefly beetles, which exchange bioluminescent signals during courtship.

Some insects use the polarisation of light to find the water they need to breed, as light waves line up after reflecting from a smooth surface. But artificial light can scupper this. “Mayflies live for only one day, so they come out and look for polarised light. They find it – but from asphalt – lay their eggs there, and they all die. That’s a good way to knock out an entire population in 24 hours.”

Afforestation as a Mission

20.11.2019

marijana-petrovic-PM1kjYQZudc-unsplash — Photo-illustration: Unsplash (Marijana Petrovic)

Photo: Private archive Biljana Filipovic Djusic

Harmonization of environmental and climate change regulations is a long-term process. It is known that these regulations are continually changing and improving at EU level, as well as a lack of administrative capacity in this area. All this additionally complicates the process, and thus represents a great challenge for the Ministry of Environmental Protection to prepare and propose about 100 bylaws in order to complete the transposition of the acquis in this area, says Biljana Filipovic Djusic.

EP: For Serbia to reach the EU standards in the field of environmental protection, about 15 billion euros is needed. What should be the first and foremost thing to invest money in and how to get the resources?

Biljana Filipovic Djusic: Many documents have been prepared within the draft Negotiating framework. In these documents are given a detailed plan of activities, necessary investments are also calculated and proposals which sources could be used for financing. According to the estimates of the Multi-annual Financial and Investment Plan, 64 per cent of the resources could be financed from the European funds, about 18 per cent from the national budget, 4 per cent form a local budget and the remaining 14 per cent from the loans. The areas that need most of the investment in the following period are wastewater, drinking water, waste management and sludge management. Of course, documents are being drafted, and the final solution will depend on the possibility of withdrawing money from the EU funds but also on the funds earmarked for the environment in the budget of the Republic of Serbia.

EP: Local self-governments have an important role to play in implementing solutions from Chapter 27. Surveys, however, show that the two-thirds of local self-governments in Serbia have only one or none of the employees engaged in environmental protection. How can we raise environmental awareness at a local level?

Biljana Filipovic Djusic: In this case, environmental awareness is not the main problem. The problem is the lack of ecological administration at all three levels (republican, provincial and local). Local employees cannot even do their job responsibly enough when they are engaged in all issues at the same time. The least time is left for investing in environmental issues. As a part of the package of documents accompanying the Chapter 27 Negotiating Position, a draft of Action Plan for the Administrative Capacities Development for the environment has been developed. In this plan, a shortage of about 760 people that need to be recruited in the period prior to EU accession is recognized. It is one of the crucial steps so that an appropriate environmental apparatus in local self-governments would be established, thus enabling the proper implementation of regulations in this area.

Photo-illustration: Unsplash (Felicia Birloi)

EP: Serbia is the largest recipient of EU pre-accession grants in the region of Western Balkans. Which environmental projects have been implemented so far thanks to the donations?

Biljana Filipovic Djusic: Sector for Strategic Planning and Projects at the Ministry carries out the activities for implementation of projects financed from pre-accession funds worth about 40.5 million euros, which are of great importance for the field of environmental protection in Serbia. In accordance with the plan and programme, the ongoing projects from IPA funds are being implemented, such as, among others: construction of Regional Waste management centre in Subotica, construction of wastewater treatment plant in Raska, strategic mapping of noise in Nis, the system for the collection and treatment of wastewater in Kraljevo, the creation of the wastewater treatment plant and the development and rehabilitation of wastewater collection system in Nis and many others. The program IPAs for 2019/2020 are in progress. Based on the comments made by the European Commission, the Environment and Climate Change Action Plan have been finalized and re-sent to Brussels for revision.

In focus:

EP: Compared to the developed countries, Serbia has a minimal share in terms of greenhouse gas emissions. What additional benefits Serbia has and how much that can help us with harmonization with EU standards?

Biljana Filipovic Djusic: I am glad that you have asked that question since we usually talk about the problems we have and the ones we can expect when complying with EU standards. What makes Serbia rich and what can enrich the EU is biodiversity. In this regard, Serbia will propose three additional habitat types to the EU during the negotiation process. These habitats require the establishment of new categories of protected areas and a dozen of species that need to be protected throughout the territory of EU Member States.

EP: At the Innovative Solution Forum last year, you selected 12 projects for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Are any of these projects underway and which ones?

Biljana Filipovic Djusic: The projects presented at the Innovative Solutions Forum were of most interest to investors and based on predefined criteria and technical evaluation, five projects were selected to receive funding for implementation co-financing in April 2019. These are the following innovative projects: the company “Jugo-Impex” from Nis with the project “End of Polyurethane Foam Waste”; the company “Eso Tron” from Rumenka with the project “Reduce Garbage for Collective Health and Happiness”; the company “Sanicula Co” from Gornja Mutnica near Paracin with the project “Innovative Approach in the Production of Biomass Pellet Made from the Processing of Medicinal Plants”; the company “GreenEnergy Point” form Belgrade with the project “New Approach to the Production of Electricity and Heat from Wood Biomass”; the public utility company “Toplana Sabac” from Sabac with the project “Establishment of SCADA System for Monitoring and the Control of Operation of Thermal Substations on the District Heating System of Sabac”. The implementation of these projects started in May 2019 and should be completed by the end of 2020.

Photo-illustration: Unsplash (Iva Rajovic)

EP: You have been working at the Ministry of Environmental Protection for 27 years. It is obvious that nature and ecology are your lifelong commitment. What is ecologically unacceptable to you as a citizen?

Biljana Filipovic Djusic: The greatest environmental crime is reflected in the aggressive behaviour of individuals or legal entities, the destruction of plant and animal species and throwing waste into the rivers. Unfortunately, we still face that on a daily basis and fight against it by any means. A case that recently occurred in the village of Donje Medjurovo near Nis, when an unknown person fired from an air rifle on a white stork, a strictly protected animal species throughout Serbia, has brought the arrogance of individuals into the focus. Cutting a tree is a crime for me. Forests are the lungs of our planet; they give us oxygen and provide so many benefits. The world would be a better place if each of us planted a tree at least once a year. We are not even aware of the fact that afforestation is the cheapest and at the same time, the most effective way of fighting climate change. Our minister has been committed to afforestation since the beginning of his mandate, and at the same time that is also a great mission of all of us who, not only professionally, but also out of love, deal with the environment.

Interview by: Gordana Knezevic

This article was published in the new issue of the Energy portal Magazine on CLIMATE CHANGE, september-november 2019.

Climate Crisis ‘May Have Triggered Faster Wind Speeds’

20.11.2019

nicholas-doherty-1320345-unsplash — Photo-illustration: Unsplash (Nicholas Doherty)

The global climate crisis could lead to more renewable electricity being generated by spurring faster wind speeds for the world’s growing number of windfarms, according to research.

Scientists have discovered that the world’s shifting ocean circulation patterns may have triggered a rapid increase in wind speeds over the last 10 years.

The international research team analysed data from 9,000 international weather stations since the late 1970s and found that wind speeds had unexpectedly increased after a three-decade slowdown.

Dr Zhenzhong Zeng, a professor at Princeton University and the lead author of the report, said the research team was surprised by the findings after setting out to study the slowdown in global wind speeds.

The faster than expected wind speeds could help increase the amount of renewable electricity generated by each turbine by more than a third to 3.3m kilowatt hours (kWh) by 2024.

Zeng said the unexpected acceleration is likely to have played a bigger role in improving the efficiency of windfarms in the US than technological innovations.

The research paper, published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Climate Change, suggests that faster global speeds may continue for at least another decade in what would be a major boost for windfarm owners.

Dr Adrian Chappell, a professor at Cardiff University and a co-author of the report, said the rapid increase in global wind speed bodes well for the expansion of renewable energy which will be central to keeping global heating to below 2C.

The findings mark a major reversal in a trend of decreasing wind speeds over the last three decades – known as global terrestrial stilling – which threatened to halve the world’s wind power potential by the end of the century.

Previous studies have found that increased “roughness” on the Earth’s surface, from new buildings and urbanisation, has acted as a buffer by slowing wind speeds by up to 2.3% every decade since the late 1970s. But the latest research has demonstrated that large-scale ocean and atmospheric circulation patterns could be making wind speeds faster again.

The study found that the main drivers of the world’s quickening wind speeds were the Pacific decadal oscillation, the North Atlantic oscillation and the Tropical North Atlantic index.

Zeng said that the effect of global heating on the world’s wind speeds remained largely uncertain because rising temperatures would have a diverse range of impacts that are not fully understood.

“We believe our study advances [the] understanding on how climate change affects wind, and we appeal for more scientists to focus on this important climate variable,” he said. “The study of wind can also shed light on the dynamic mechanisms of climate change.”

Source: Guardian

City Roadmap 2050 Supports Low-Carbon Winter Olympics 2022 in China

19.11.2019

Zhangjiakou_energy roadmap_2019_art — Photo: IRENA

The Chinese city of Zhangjiakou has stepped up its efforts to deploy renewable energy systems, a new report by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) finds. The Agency’s first ever roadmap 2050 for the city of Zhangjiakou sets an example for Chinese cities to run their energy systems off coal and take advantage of renewable energy. Zhangjiakou, home to 4.4 million people in the Hebei Province, will play an important role in achieving Beijing’s ambition for low-carbon Winter Olympic Games 2022. IRENA’s new report has been launched today at the Great Wall World Renewable Energy Forum in China.

Zhangjiakou benefits from an abundant renewable energy resources, including an estimated technical resource potential of 30 gigawatts (GW) for solar photovoltaics (PV) and 40 GW for wind. In 2017, renewables accounted for 73% of the total installed capacity and around 45% of the total electricity output. IRENA’s report finds that after 2035, the city can achieve renewable shares of over 70% by 2050.

In addition, the study has shown that because Zhangjiakou has undertaken an initiative to upgrade its current industrial sectors, urban energy system planning must be strategically harmonised with industrial sector development to ensure that the new energy demand can be met as much as possible by renewables. This is important for China as it seeks a way to sustainably fuel its continued urbanisation over the next three decades, with an estimated 255 million people set to be added to Chinese cities by 2050. How China chooses today to power its cities will have a far-reaching impact on future energy and environmental sustainability.

As the first of its kind in China, IRENA’s Zhangjiakou Energy Transformation Strategy 2050 will set a new paradigm for many other Chinese cities that are eager to wean their energy systems off coal and to take advantage of the uptake of renewable energy technologies and other enabling technologies. Given the increased nationwide impetus for advancing the energy transformation towards a green, clean and low-carbon energy system for the city, this report contributes to a rising tide of urban strategic energy development planning across China.

This report has been jointly conducted by IRENA, the China National Renewable Energy Center and People’s Government of Zhangjiakou and forms part of the implementation for the workplan for co-operation under the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the People’s Government of Hebei Province of the People’s Republic of China and IRENA signed in March 2018. The report is part of the ‘Energy Solutions for Cities of the Future’ series supported by the International Climate Initiative (IKI).

Source: IRENA

UNESCO Closely Follows Tides and Flooding in Venice World Heritage Site

18.11.2019

The UNESCO World Heritage Centre is closely monitoring the state of conservation of the World Heritage site of Venice and its Lagoon.

Inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1987, Venice faces several threats from overtourism, damage caused by a steady stream of cruise ships, and from the potential negative effects of new developments.

The site is also highly vulnerable to the negative impacts of climate change. The frequency of heavy rains and floods has increased in recent years in the Mediterranean region especially, and the intensity of such floods is rising. The city of Venice is currently hit by the highest tide in more than 50 years.

Other sites are also affected by serious floods, such as Matera in Southern Italy, inscribed on the World Heritage List as Sassi and the Park of the Rupestrian Churches of Matera.

The UNESCO World Heritage Centre is working in close collaboration with the State Party and the Advisory Bodies on all issues related to the potential threats to the site. It had recently agreed with the Italian authorities to conduct an Advisory mission to Venice scheduled for early 2020. In the meantime, the Centre will discuss with the authorities any potential assistance that might be required.

Source: UNESCO

European Investment Bank to Phase Out Fossil Fuel Financing

16.11.2019

fosilna_goriva_fossil_fuels — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

The European Investment Bank has agreed to phase out its multibillion-euro financing for fossil fuels within the next two years to become the world’s first ‘“climate bank”.

The bank will end its financing of oil, gas, and coal projects after 2021, a policy that will make the EU’s lending arm the first multilateral lender to rule out financing for projects that contribute to the climate crisis.

The decision to stem the flow of capital into fossil fuel projects has been welcomed by green groups as an important step towards the EU’s aim to be carbon-neutral by 2050.

The EIB, the world’s largest multilateral financial institution, described its decision as a “quantum leap” in ambition. “Climate is the top issue on the political agenda of our time,” said the bank’s president, Werner Hoyer. “We will stop financing fossil fuels and launch the most ambitious climate investment strategy of any public financial institution anywhere.”

The bank’s vice-president, Andrew McDowell, said the move was “an important first step – not the last step, but probably one of the most difficult.”

Under its new policy, the bank will end all lending to fossil fuels within two years and align all funding decisions with the Paris climate accord. Energy projects applying for EIB funding will have to show they can produce one kilowatt hour of energy while emitting less than 250 grammes of carbon dioxide.

The decision to prioritise renewable and efficient energy follows a policy promise by the incoming European commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, to turn the EIB into a “climate bank”, unlocking a potential €1tn in funds to help move Europe’s economy toward cleaner energy.

Von der Leyen also wants the EU to raise its target of cutting emissions by at least 40% from 1990 levels by 2030 in support of plans to become the first climate-neutral continent by 2050.

The EIB’s announcement comes a year later than hoped by climate campaigners but also limits approvals of new fossil fuel projects before 2021 to projects that are already under appraisal by the EIB. This could pose long-term problems for the gas industry, which has more than $200bn in liquefied natural gas projects planned over the next five years.

Colin Roche, of Friends of the Earth Europe, called the decision “a significant victory” for the climate movement. “Finally, the world’s largest public bank has bowed to public pressure and recognised that funding for all fossil fuels must end – and now all other banks, public and private, must follow their lead,” he said.

Nick Mabey, of the environmental thinktank E3G, said: “Europe is sending a clear signal that it intends to move away from fossil fuel investments toward the climate-neutral future its citizens want. The EIB is sending a message to other financial institutions that investment in fossil fuels is drawing to an end.”

Environmental campaigners estimate that the EIB handed out €6.2m every day to fossil fuel companies between 2013 and 2018.

The EIB handed one of Europe’s largest ever loans to the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), which will bring Caspian gas to Europe, and it has funded plans by the Polish utility PGE to build two gas-fired power plants.

The climate campaign group 350.org said a decisive end to this financial lifeline could prove another nail in the coffin for the fossil fuel industry.

Kate Cahoon, a campaigner for 350.org, which is based in Germany, said: “When the world’s biggest public lender decides to largely ditch fossil fuels, financial markets across the globe will take notice: this is the beginning of the end of climate-wrecking fossil fuel finance.”

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As the world was changing, the profession was developing

The influence of Congress on the profession in the country

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