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Energy Community Calls on the Balkans and Ukraine to Scrutinize Subsidies to Coal

Photo-illustration: Pixabay
Photo-illustration: Pixabay

In June 2019, the Energy Community Secretariat published a study on analysing and quantifying direct and hidden subsidies to support the coal sector in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo*, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Ukraine during the period 2015-2017. The Secretariat sent a follow-up preliminary assessment of these subsidies under the Energy Community State aid acquis to the competent State aid authorities to further assess these measures as to their compatibility with the State aid acquis.  DG Competition of the European Commission was informed as well.

Under the Energy Community Treaty, the Contracting Parties must ensure that any public aid which distorts or threatens to distort competition by favouring certain undertakings or certain energy resources is prohibited. As State aid may distort competition and affect cross-border trade in energy, the control of aid granted by public authorities is of key importance for the establishment of a regional energy market.

Source: Energy Community

Why Does Europe Need to Limit Climate Change and Adapt to Its Impacts?

Photo-illustration: Pixabay

The increased exposure to climate related hazards will differ from region to region across Europe, according to the EEA story map. The background briefing shows examples of selected risks across Europe. It stresses the important role of limiting climate change to avoid the worst impacts as well as the key role of adaptation and resilience amid new EU plans under the European Green Deal to present for a new, more ambitious EU adaptation strategy.

Photo-illustration: Pixabay

EEA assessments, including the recently published Europe’s state of the environment and outlook (SOER) 2020 report, point to a worsening of climate change in the future, even if global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions prove effective. Extreme weather and climate-related events that result in hazards such as floods, droughts, forest fires and extreme sea level will become more frequent and intense in many regions. This will lead to adverse impacts on ecosystems, economic sectors and human health and well-being.  Climate change impacts will also affect the urban areas in Europe. For example, low-lying cities in the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and along the northern Italian coastlines, in particular Venice, are among the cities most exposed to coastal flooding in Europe due to a combination of sea level rise and storm surges.

All of these impacts make adaptation to the impacts of climate change crucial. Adaptation must be tailored to the specific regional and local circumstances, including the climate hazards faced there and other regional and local aspects.

Key issues highlighted

Droughts: Existing studies project large increases in the frequency, duration and severity of drought in most of Europe over the coming century, except for northern Europe. The greatest increase in drought conditions is projected for southern Europe, where it will increase competition between water users, such as agriculture, industry, tourism and households.

Heavy rain and floods: Climate change is projected to lead to a higher intensity of rain, with projections showing an increase of heavy rain in most parts of Europe in autumn and winter by up to 35 % by the end of 21st century in a high emissions scenario.

Forest fires: Large forest fires in recent years have affected several regions in northern and western Europe where fires had not been prevalent in the past. The relative increase in fire danger is projected to be particularly large in western-central Europe, but the absolute fire danger remains highest in southern Europe.

Sea-level rise and coastal flooding: All coastal regions in Europe have experienced an increase in absolute sea level but with significant regional variations. Sea-level rise, in combination with storm surges, substantially increases the flooding risk in low-lying coastal regions in the coming decades. Coastal flooding is threatening coastal ecosystems, water resources, settlements, infrastructure and human lives. The severity of such impacts depends on current coastal flood protection, which varies across the various low-lying coastal regions in Europe.

While the impacts of climate change can no longer be avoided, their magnitude depends on the success of global and European efforts to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases, as mandated by the Paris Agreement and planned for under the European Green Deal.

Further information

Further information on climate change impacts and adaptation policies and actions across Europe is available on the European Climate Adaptation Platform Climate-ADAPT, including the country profiles.

Source: EEA

Water Well on a Roof? Innovative Hydro Panels Transform Air into Water

Photo: Zero Mass Water

American startup Zero Mass Water unveiled an innovative device called REXI, at the CES Electronics Show in January, designed to provide consumers with clean, drinking water from the air.

Photo: Zero Mass Water

REXI is half the size of standard hydro panels that are mounted directly on the ground and is suited for the production of water on roofs by both homes, schools and business offices.

Unique hydro panels are powered by solar energy to extract water from trapped steam, so there is no need to connect to any energy infrastructure and they are completely self-sufficient and sustainable. The invention also includes a battery to prevent the water supply from stopping even during cloudy hours.

In this way, this solution would help many communities around the world to cope with water scarcity but would also provide a kind of water network for facilities in remote and inaccessible terrain.

Zero Mass Water panels also operate at periods when the humidity is lower than 10 per cent, providing consumers with high-quality water even at times when other products of similar uses would not be able to do so.

Photo: Zero Mass Water

Depending on the humidity and sunshine during the day, a standard set of two hydro panels produces between 4 and 10 litres of water per day. It is estimated to meet the water needs of between 4 and 6 people.

Each panel (1.2m * 2.4 m) has a capacity of 30 litres, and the total capacity for storage of liquid in the “roof well” is 60 litres.

Orders are already possible, and installation of the water production plant will begin in the summer of 2020.

The estimated cost of the project ranges between € 5,000 and € 6,000 in the United States, including shipping, assembly and taxes.

Jelena Kozbasic

World’s Largest Platform for Air Quality Data Launched at Tenth World Urban Forum

Photo-illustration: Pixabay

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), together with UN-Habitat and IQAir, a Swiss air quality technology company, today launched the world’s largest air quality data platform, bringing together real-time air pollution data from over 4,000 contributors, including citizens, communities, governments and the private sector to work towards healthier, more sustainable cities.

Launched at the Tenth World Urban Forum in Abu Dhabi, this partnership – currently reaching over 15 million users and covering more than 7,000 cities worldwide – aims to sustain and grow the world’s foremost air quality databank.

The data, shared on a single, UN-coordinated platform, will empower governments to take action to improve policy, allow citizens to make more informed health choices and demand action from their governments, while giving businesses the ability to make investment decisions that promote a cleaner, greener environment.

Photo-illustration: Pixabay

The need to act is urgent. Globally, 7 million people die each year because of air pollution; 650,000 of these are children. Air pollutants not only affect our health, they also affect ecosystems and food production; air pollution is also linked to climate change. Despite this, most citizens don’t have access to real-time air quality data.

“Air pollution is a public health emergency and an environmental emergency that affects everyone, everywhere, said Joyce Msuya, Deputy Executive Director of UNEP. “We are excited to be launching this partnership with UN-Habitat and IQAir to bring information and, importantly, encourage action by citizens, governments and the private sector.”

The UNEP platform builds upon IQAir’s technology to aggregate, validate and calibrate air quality data that up until now was either restricted to individually-run websites or apps, or not shared publicly. UN-Habitat helps cities to develop plans that can reduce air pollution, including better public transport and waste management interventions.

Even within a single country or city, access to air quality information can vary among different communities. And while Europe, Asia and North America have thousands of monitoring stations providing real-time air quality information on PM2.5 – the fine particulate matter largely responsible for deaths and illnesses – to the public, many developing countries lack infrastructure. For Example, Africa, a continent of 1.3 billion people, has just 50 publicly accessible air quality monitoring stations measuring PM2.5. Immediately following the launch of this new Platform, that number will increase to 85, with the inclusion of the City authorities of Addis Ababa, Nairobi and Kampala whom are actively engaged in deploying local monitoring networks.

“Poor air quality is a problem that affects urban populations particularly seriously so the ability to measure and take action to improve the health of those living in our towns and cities is critical; UN-Habitat is proud to be part of this important work,” said Maimunah Mohd Sharif, Executive Director of UN-Habitat.

The platform addresses the global air quality information gap by bringing together data collected by governments, NGOs, companies and local community groups and individuals. Anyone can apply to contribute real-time air quality data. To ensure data accuracy, IQAir brings its experience in creating and operating its global air quality map to ensure the reliability of published data through its validation and calibration system, which uses advanced machine-learning algorithms.

“We recognize that some of the world’s most vulnerable communities are disproportionately affected by poor air quality,” said IQAir CEO Frank Hammes. “Through our partnership with UNEP and UN-Habitat, we empower more citizens, communities and governments around world to monitor their air quality with low-cost air pollution sensors and make the changes necessary to breathe cleaner, healthier air.”

By improving access to real-time air quality data, this unique collaboration between UN entities, the private sector and local governments is expected to accelerate efforts to change how transport, waste management and other services are managed in cities so that air pollution from these activities is significantly reduced, if not eliminated.

Examples of successful policies to improve air quality exist: In the Chinese capital, Beijing, through a systematic approach based on strong science and coordinated successfully with surrounding cities and regions, the concentration of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in the air has fallen by 35% in just five years (2013-2017).

Source: UNEP

New Record for Antarctic Continent Reported

Foto-ilustracija: Unsplash (Bryan Goff)

The Argentine research base, Esperanza, on the northern tip of the Antarctic peninsula, set a new record temperature of 18.3°C on 6 February, beating the former record of 17.5°C on 24 March 2015, according to Argentina’s national meteorological service (SMN).

Photo-illustration: Unsplash (James Eades)

A committee for WMO’s Weather and Climate Extremes Archive will now verify whether  this indeed is a new record for the Antarctic continent, which is defined as the main continental landmass.

“Everything we have seen thus far indicates a likely legitimate record but we will of course begin a formal evaluation of the record once we have full data from SMN and on the meteorological conditions surrounding the event. The record appears to be likely associated (in the short term) with what we call a regional “foehn” event over the area:  a rapid warming of air coming down a slope/mountain,” according to WMO’s Weather and Climate Extremes rapporteur, Randall Cerveny.

Verification of this maximum temperature record is important because it helps us to build up a picture of the weather and climate in one of Earth’s final frontiers.” The Antarctic, like the Arctic, is poorly covered in terms of weather observations and forecasts, even though both play an important role in driving climate and ocean patterns and in sea level rise.

The record for the Antarctic region – that is, everywhere south of 60 degrees latitude – is 19.8C, taken on Signy Island in January 1982.

The Antarctic Peninsula (the northwest tip near to South America) is among the fastest warming regions of the planet, almost 3°C over the last 50 years.  The amount of ice lost annually from the Antarctic ice sheet increased at least six-fold between 1979 and 2017. Most of the ice loss takes place by melting of the ice shelves from below, due to incursions of relatively warm ocean water, especially in west Antarctica and to a lesser extent along the peninsula and in east Antarctica.

Spanning 14 million km2 (roughly twice the size of Australia), the Antarctic is cold, windy and dry. The average annual temperature ranges from about −10°C on the Antarctic coast to −60°C at the highest parts of the interior. Its immense ice sheet is up to 4.8km thick and contains 90% of the world’s fresh water, enough to raise sea level by around 60 metres were it all to melt.

Source: WHO

EU Launches New Forest Information System to Improve Knowledge on Forests and Woodlands

Photo-illustration: Pixabay

Amid a need for more accurate, up-to-date and harmonised data and monitoring on Europe’s valuable woodlands, the European Environment Agency and the European Commission launched a new Forest Information System for Europe (FISE) which aims to become Europe’s knowledge hub to monitor the state, health and sustainability of Europe’s many forests.

Photo-illustration: Pixabay

The FISE web portal will provide tailor-made information products to key users including national, EU and international policymakers, experts working in the forest industry, forest owners and conservationists, as well as scientists and researchers. Data will be collected, analysed and made available from across Europe, including EEA Member States, plus the six cooperating countries from the West Balkan region. It is the first common database on forest information in Europe. The aim is to facilitate expert knowledge sharing, research and innovation through the FISE platform, helping users better understand the complex changes and challenges facing forest ecosystems and their management. The platform will underpin the European Green Deal and the development of the expected new EU forest and biodiversity strategies. The portal was launched at the International Conference on forests for biodiversity and climate (4-5 February 2020) in Brussels, Belgium.

“The European Environment Agency is pleased to play its part in the creation of this important new knowledge tool. FISE will help us to improve the health and resilience of our forests, which play a vital role in protecting our biodiversity and in mitigating climate change,” said Hans Bruyninckx, EEA Executive Director.

Forests face increased pressures

Forests and other wooded land cover more than 40 % of Europe, making it one of the most forest-rich regions in the world. In addition to providing lumber and wood products, our forests are home to many ecosystems, which have multiple functions and are home to a major part of Europe’s biodiversity. Their ecosystem services contribute to our health and well-being.

Forests also act as an important stopgap to mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change. Although forests are increasingly seen as a major carbon sink, current management practices to increase this function are not always in line with the needs to ensure high biodiversity in woodland ecosystems. In addition to an increased demand for forest-based products like timber, forests and their ecosystems continue to face air and water pollution, urban sprawl, landscape fragmentation, habitat and biodiversity loss. Moreover, the impacts of climate change, which has led to more fires, pests and extreme weather, including droughts and storms, are putting forests under increased pressure.

A growing number of EU and national policies draw on, or affect directly and indirectly, Europe’s forests, including their ecosystems. Forests are addressed across a range of environment, climate and sectoral policies in the EU and also features in the European Green Deal. Forestsalso impact many policy areas meant to use forest resources sustainably and protect biodiversity, ecosystems, species and habitats.

Work on FISE will be phased up over the coming years and will cover five priority themes for forest information on forest basic data (cover and types, species), bioeconomy, nature and biodiversity, climate change mitigation and forest health and resilience.

FISE partnership

The Forest Information System for Europe is a partnership between the European Commission services and the EEA, drawing on the preparatory work already done by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC). The EEA will manage the FISE web portal and will collect and analyse the data coming from national data centres via the European Environment Information and Observation Network, in collaboration with the JRC. FISE will also draw data and information from the EU’s Earth observation and monitoring programme Copernicus.

Source: EEA

This Is What We Can Really Do About Climate Change, Says New Report

Photo-illustration: Unsplash (Patrick Hendry)

It’s not too late to stop climate change. According to new research, decarbonizing fast enough to stabilize the climate and fast-track the planet to net-zero rests on all of us changing how we think and act – and doing it fast.

The report, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States (PNAS), identifies six “tipping dynamics”, or interventions, that could act as catalysts to bring about rapid societal and technological change towards a sustainable future.

The study highlights the importance of intervening to make fossil fuels less economically – and morally – attractive. A step-change of this kind could bring about tipping points that divert investment and consumer demand away from fossil fuels towards more sustainable energy sources. It says this can be done by:

  • Removing fossil-fuel subsidies and boosting incentives to move to decentralized energy systems and make clean energy production and storage systems more economically competitive;
  • Encouraging financial markets to divest of assets linked to fossil fuels, to divert investment towards less-polluting technologies, leaving investors keen to avoid the prospect of holding ‘stranded assets’ tied to fossil fuels;
  • Building sustainable cities powered by renewable energy;
  • Revealing the “moral implications” of fossil fuels;
  • Disclosing greenhouse gas emissions information;
  • Strengthening climate education and engagement.
Photo-illustration: Unsplash (Patrick Hendry)

While awareness of the climate emergency is growing, global efforts to reduce carbon emissions are not moving fast enough to avoid irreversible damage to the planet.

Moving from the fossil fuels that drive global warming to cleaner energy sources, such as wind or solar power, is at the heart of global efforts to decarbonize. Yet emissions from power generation continue to increase.

Carbon dioxide emissions from the energy sector have more than doubled since the 1970s and remain on an upward trajectory.

Once we reach a point where sustainable energy generates higher financial returns than coal and oil, the world should reach the critical mass needed to halt increasing CO2 emissions levels, and begin to reverse the trend.

Think again

But building a business case for clean energy is only one part of the challenge. The study also identifies the importance of changing social values and behaviour.

Progress in combating climate change rests on converting awareness of the problem into action, so the transition to a carbon-free lifestyle is made easy for the global population to achieve.

For this to happen, a new world view is needed that embraces a climate-friendly and sustainable stance, which demands a fundamental overhaul of existing social, political and economic norms. And this new perception needs to be contagious so it is adopted globally.

The paper’s authors suggest greater transparency could produce tipping points that change what’s considered normal or acceptable, by revealing the moral implications of fossil fuels and disclosing greenhouse gas emissions information. At the same time strengthening climate education and engagement among the global population.

Climate action was a key theme at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2020 in Davos. Klaus Schwab, the Forum’s Founder and Executive Chairman, and the heads of Bank of America and Royal DSM, sent a letter to all summit participants asking companies and investors to make a commitment to act on climate change, which is more urgently needed than ever before. The Forum’s ongoing work on climate change includes Mission Possible, a platform to help industries make the transition to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

The climate challenges facing the planet transcend national boundaries, requiring urgent action from policy-makers, businesses, organizations and communities to speed up the transition to a net-zero future.

Source: WEF

Trees in the City – Plaudits for Sustainable Urban Forestry Trailblazers

Photo-illustration: Unsplash (Juan Davila)

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the Arbor Day Foundation announced the first cities to be recognized under the Tree Cities of the World programme, designed to help create more resilient and sustainable cities.

Photo-illustration: Unsplash (Juan Davila)

Among the first-movers were capital cities such as Ljubljana, Quito, Paris, Yerevan, major metropolitan areas including New York, San Francisco and Toronto, and a host of smaller centers such as Bradford in the United Kingdom, Thunder Bay in Canada, Tempe, Arizona and Mantova, Italy, where the worldwide initiative was launched in 2018.

“We congratulate the first cities to be recognized,” said  Hiroto Mitsugi, Assistant Director-General, FAO Forestry Department. “Together, the mayors of these Tree Cities form a new global network of urban forestry leaders that share the same values for city trees and forests. We are proud to recognize these cities for their actions toward healthier, greener places to live.”

“We applaud all of the cities that have earned Tree City designation,” said Dan Lambe, president, Arbor Day Foundation. “They are leaders when it comes to planning and managing their urban forests. Many of the cities being recognized have gone above and beyond to use trees as part of their green infrastructure. This distinction is a celebration of their creativity and sustainability in creating healthier communities.”

A total of 59 cities have earned the international designation. The complete list of recognized communities is available here.

More than 100 other cities have pledged to participate – and to meet the five core standards – and are expected to qualify in the future.

In addition to promoting the efficient management of urban tree resources, the Tree Cities of the World programme also aims to create an international network of cities, facilitating the sharing of knowledge and good practices towards the sustainable management of urban forests and green spaces.

Sustainable Development Goal 11 calls for making cities inclusive, safe, resilient and more sustainable.

Cities occupy just three percent of the planet’s surface, but they are home to nearly 60 percent of the world’s population who consume 75 percent of natural resources. Anticipated urbanization trends make sustainable land-use planning even more important. Trees, for example, can reduce noise, protect water sources, prevent soil erosion and reduce energy costs for air conditioning and heating. They can enhance people’s health and well-being, as well as offering aesthetic pleasure and a physical marker of seasonality.

Source: FAO

Aiming for Healthier and Greener Belgrade

Photo: Grad Beograd
Photo: Private archive of Zoran Radojicic

If all the citizens of Belgrade, as their Mayor, walked every day, used public transport more, and planted some trees when the opportunity arises, perhaps our capital would already be a bit cleaner and the air healthier. Of course, to give up the comfort of private cars, it is necessary to have more buses on the streets, to have the subway built as soon as possible and to have such traffic infrastructure that we can safely and massively use bicycles as a means of transport. Naturally, we do not want to be worried about how polluted the air we breathe during the heating season is, that we want to drink quality water always, have our rivers clean and our city packed with parks and greenery. We spoke to the Mayor, Prof Zoran Radojicic PhD, about how far we are from such an image of Belgrade and what the City does to become a green capital. The Mayor has recently launched the challenge Tree for Belgrade with the idea of planting as many trees as possible in the capital so that by 2025 we can meet the goal of having 25 per cent of the urban part of the capital green.

EP: Belgrade has recently ranked as one of the cities with the most polluted air in the world, and an increase in concentration of toxic particles is yet expected in the heating season. There is an application on the City’s website where Belgrade citizens can monitor the air quality and receive recommendations in the event of pollution, but what has the City done so far regarding short-term and long-term measures to fundamentally tackle this problem?

Zoran Radojicic: The City of Belgrade has been implementing an Air Quality Plan that includes measures and actions to reduce the largest sources of pollution. Since 2016, when this Plan came into force, the City has invested more than 300 million dinars, and within this plan, the most significant measures taken were the reduction of the number of individual combustion chambers, the improvement of the performance in thermal power plants and the expansion of the district heating network. We are implementing a program for shutting down boiler rooms in public buildings by connecting them to the district heating system and the natural gas distribution system. The district heating system in Belgrade includes 65 per cent of primary and almost 85 per cent of secondary schools, as well as about 75 per cent of kindergartens. Since 2012, 17 boiler rooms have been shut down in primary and pre-school institutions, and those facilities have been connected to the district heating system. The plan is to continue shutting down boiler rooms in public buildings. For the time being, our priorities are schools, and later health care institutions and other public facilities. As a part of this Plan, to improve air quality, we have expanded pedestrian zones and raised public awareness of the importance of being informed about air quality through the application you mentioned – BEOEKO.

By purchasing 244 new buses by the end of the year, GSP will have 85 per cent of the fleet with Euro 5 and Euro 6 standard engines. Likewise, in the next year, funds are allocated for the purchase of another 100 articulated buses, 40 trolleybuses and 10 electric buses. With these moves, the structure of the bus subsystem will be significantly improved in terms of the exhaust emission itself, which will have a positive effect on air quality. The Forestry Strategy of the City of Belgrade should not be forgotten either, which is a direct implementation of measures aimed at reducing air pollution, but also adapting to climate change and protecting soil from erosion. All of these measures will improve air quality in Belgrade, but we all know that this is a key project to tackle the issue of exhaust emissions originating from traffic and traffic jams.

In focus:

EP: What measures can be taken to reduce the number of private vehicles in the wider center and to enable Belgrade citizens to use public transport more?

Zoran Radojicic: Next year we will start building the metro, which will be a revolutionary change in the way urban transport operates. According to our estimates, more people, between 25 and 30 per cent, will replace cars with the subway, which will reduce the number of cars downtown and allow people to travel more efficiently. I believe that by
modernizing the fleet, which I mentioned, we will be able to get citizens to use as much urban transport as possible, especially for shorter distances. Changes towards a greener capital cannot happen overnight, and the city’s urban plans and strategies have defined more walking and cycle paths in recent years, especially in the city center area, which you can see when walking downtown.

Photo: Jelena Kostic

EP: How to motivate the citizens of Belgrade to use a bike as a means of transport more? Bicycle tracks whose number in the city has increased are not stimulating enough.

Zoran Radojicic: As of February 2020, the Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan enters into force, and such a plan boasts all modern metropolises. The idea is that every road has a bike lane to create a real network. It is necessary for cyclists to be safe on the streets, and to make this possible, it is necessary to develop a functional cycle network. From 2017 to 2019, another 35 km of cycle paths were completed, which means that there are currently 100 km of paths in Belgrade. However, these tracks are mostly along rivers and are used for recreational purposes, which is highly complementary, but the culture of using a bicycle as a means of transport has not yet taken root. It is with the new Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan that we want to change that, and I am sure that the citizens of Belgrade will follow our idea and goal. Over the next four years, another 120 km of cycle tracks are planned, and the public bicycle system will encourage us to think more about the bike as a means of transportation.

EP: On the streets of Belgrade, there is an increasing number of electric scooters, which are banned in some metropolitan areas because they are too risky for safety, although they are a convenient environmental mode of transport. How does the City of Belgrade intend to regulate this type of transportation?

Zoran Radojicic: Electric scooters could be a part of the solution to the traffic problem in Belgrade, but only after the change in existing traffic regulations. Due to their enormous popularity, they are changing the traffic image of major European cities, including Belgrade. It is for this reason that there is a need to regulate them, especially in the field of security. It applies equally to pedestrians as well as to the users of electric scooters. I would point out that this is an ecological mode of transport, in line with our commitment to turning to the green hierarchy of transport which gives priority to pedestrians, cyclists and urban public transport, so that cars are used less.

EP: Many experts point out that a serious unifying strategy is required to implement adequate environmental measures and solutions in the capital earnestly. You stated last year that the City of Belgrade is working on developing a strategic plan that will deal with climate, energy and Belgrade as a green city. How far has this strategy gone?

Zoran Radojicic: I signed an agreement to join the Covenant of Mayors for climate and energy in 2018 and pledged to reduce the CO2 emissions by up to 40 per cent by 2030. Consequently, the City of Belgrade committed to developing the Green City Action Plan (GCAP) and the Sustainable Energy Development and Climate Change Action Plan (SECAP) within the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s Green City program. We are currently in the process of drafting these documents, we have put together a working group that together with eminent consultants in this area work on the development of an action plan, so I expect that by the end of 2020 we will adopt such a document. It will also focus on ways, concrete measures and solutions on how to adapt to climate change through reducing carbon dioxide emissions, increasing energy efficiency, using renewable energy sources and creating sustainable mobility in the city.

EP: How green is Belgrade now? Will we, by 2025, fulfill the plan, which the City has committed to, to have 25 per cent of green space in the urban part of the capital? As the Mayor, recently you launched the challenge Tree for Belgrade and invited organizations and companies to join it.

Photo: Grad Beograd

Zoran Radojicic: Currently 15 per cent of the territory of the City of Belgrade is covered with green space. For this ambitious but achievable goal, we need another 2.5 million seedlings by 2025. As a Mayor, since the beginning of my term, I have been in favour of a healthier and greener Belgrade. I started the challenge called Tree for Belgrade to join as many international organisations as possible, as well as socially responsible companies, in the fight for a healthier and greener Belgrade and planting as many trees as possible in our capital. Will and readiness to participate in this challenge were first shown by the German international organisation GIZ, planting 163 trees in Usce Park. I want to thank GIZ and Director Gerhard Zipel for supporting us to begin the Tree for Belgrade challenge, as well as for making it possible to achieve other sustainable development goals as soon as possible for the benefit of all our fellow citizens.

I also invite other international organisations, socially responsible companies to join this challenge and to plant as many trees as possible in Belgrade. The contact email is drvozabeograd@beograd.gov.rs. By planting in Belgrade, we have a positive effect on air quality, climate change, we lower temperatures during the summer, and reduce carbon dioxide emissions, the risk of flooding and landslides, noise levels and the effects of global warming. Trees and nature represent the green infrastructure of every city, which is why it is essential to preserve and restore it. PUC “Zelenilo Beograd” plants around 4,000 trees a year and 70,000 tree seedlings regularly. Planting is an integral part of the renovation and reconstruction of every park in Belgrade. We also maintain and restore natural resources such as Kosmaj, Avala, War Island and others. Belgrade is also launching the Generation Tree campaign – in 197 elementary schools, and each first grader will plant one tree in their schoolyard.

Interview by: Gordana Knezevic

Read the whole interview in the new issue of the Energy portal Magazine  GRINNOVATIONS, December 2019 – February 2020.

European Union Continues to Phase-Down Its Use of Climate-Warming Fluorinated Gases

Photo-illustration: Pixabay
Photo-illustration: Pixabay

The EEA report ‘Fluorinated greenhouse gases 2019’ assesses the data reported in 2019 by European companies on the production, import, export, destruction and feedstock use of F-gases until 2018. It looks at the progress made under both the ongoing EU-wide phase-down of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and the global HFC phase-down, which began in 2019 under the so-called Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol.

F-gases are synthetic chemicals used in everything from refrigerators, heat pumps to air conditioners. The EEA report also details the different amounts of F-gases supplied for various industrial applications. These are expressed both in physical amounts (in tonnes) and in ‘global warming amounts’, i.e. physical amounts weighted by the global warming potential of hydrofluorocarbon gases and measured in CO2-equivalent tonnes (CO2e).

Phase-down under the EU F-Gas Regulation

As F-gases contribute to climate change, phasing-down their use has become an important part of the EU’s strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and become climate neutral. The F-gas Regulation aims at cutting the EU’s F-gas emissions by two-thirds by 2030 compared with 2014 levels.

The phase-down in the EU is being done through a system of annual quotas allocated to producers and importers. In 2018, the EU-wide quantity of HFCs placed on the market stayed below the overall market limit for the third year in a row, by 1%.

EU contribution to global phase-down

The EU’s HFC ‘consumption’ in 2018, as defined under the Montreal Protocol, was 46 % below the first limit set for the EU for 2019 under the Montreal Protocol’s Kigali Amendment.

Other key findings:

In addition to reduced use and imports, a substitution is taking place in favour of less climate-harming F-gases:

  • The volume of total supply of F-gases in the EU was 14 % lower in 2018 than in 2017, and the overall warming effect decreased by 30 % (CO2e). Refrigeration and air conditioning continue to be key applications.
  • Total imports of F-gases to the EU in 2018 decreased by 7 % compared with 2017 (25 % if measured in CO2e). Most of this decrease is due to lower HFC imports, and the remainder is caused by decreases in imports of sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) and perfluorocarbons (PFCs).
  • Fluorinated greenhouse gas emissions have been decreasing in the EU since 2015, after 15 years of uninterrupted annual increases. In 2017, total fluorinated greenhouse gas emissions decreased by 2 %.

Source: EEA

Creating Energy and Fighting Waste in Yemen

Photo: UNEP

The humanitarian crisis in Yemen is considered to be among the worst in the world. In 2019, 80 per cent of Yemen’s people were in need—an estimated 24 million people. The 2019 Humanitarian Needs Overview for Yemen report shows that 14.3 million people are classified as being in need, with around 3.2 million requiring treatment for acute malnutrition. That includes 2 million children under-five, and more than 1 million pregnant and lactating women.

Photo: UNEP

Basic services and the institutions that provide them are collapsing, making access to essential services very challenging.

Energy access is limited and expensive. Most people cook on wooden stoves and face indoor air pollution. With almost no organic waste treatment, unprecedented outbreaks of cholera have been triggered.

The country’s complex and tragic political military crisis have severe implications for its future, as well as that of the whole region. Yet despite the hardships, Omer Badokhon from Yemen set out to contribute to the livelihoods of his community. When he won the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Young Champion award in 2017, his idea was to design small-scale biogas plants that run on household waste to provide fuel.

This idea was to tackle the lack of waste treatment while providing a clean cooking fuel option for families in need. Despite enormous challenges, he has now created three biogas prototypes systems. These will be given to farmers to test and share their experiences. Next year, between five and ten systems will be distributed and shared in rural areas to receive even more feedback.

“Armed conflict significantly harms the environment and the communities that depend on natural resources,” said Muralee Thummarukudy, Operations Manager at UNEP’s Crisis Management Branch, reflecting on the achievements made by Badokhon despite the crisis.

“We must afford the environment the same level of protection as human rights. UNEP hopes to develop an environmental stress index to support integrated risk assessments and conflict early warnings. Building a digital ecosystem for the planet to map, monitor and mitigate environment, peace and security risks is one of the next priority investments and it will help improve the protection of human health, livelihoods and security,” he added.

Badokhon’s situation reflects the extreme difficulties of living in Yemen. “The situation in Yemen affects every aspect of my life and business. Internet is extremely slow, and logistics and travelling are very hard. Getting in and out of the country is complicated. On top of that, Yemeni banks are blocked, which makes money transfers very hard,” he said.

Badokhon has since established a non-governmental organization to help ease some of the challenges and receive support from local government, ministries and foreign partners. It also has enabled him to further network and work alongside other large organizations.

Now, he is part of a team conducting an assessment to gauge how many people are in need of energy and can benefit most from his biogas system. After the testing phase, more funds can be raised to increase scale and reach more people.

“We want to meet the needs of people while also taking care of our planet, but first we need to know how we can best do that. That’s why 2020 is the user feedback year,” said Badokhon.

Since winning the Young Champions of the Earth prize, Badokhon feels he had the chance to highlight the situation in his region, especially the daily challenges he continues to face. At the same time, he has had an opportunity to connect with influential decision makers in his country and region.

Today, Badokhon is one of the few well-known environmentalists in Yemen. He has met with influential leaders to advocate for environmental inclusion in their practices and policies.

He has actively participated in the World Entrepreneurs Forum in Bahrain, where he represented Yemen. He was also engaged in the Arab Entrepreneurship Rally, being one of the 21 promising start-ups in the Arab region and won US$50,000 in funding.

“Winning the Young Champions award has helped me build a strong network with the real decision makers in my country and region. One of the most important things that I got from this award is that it helped me increase my credibility, enabling me to communicate with high-level government officials.”

Badokhon would recommend everyone to apply for the Young Champions prize: “This planet, our planet, is dependent on young people who decide on the future. We must care about the challenges and environment damage. Applying for this award makes you, as youth, powerful. Your voice will be heard.”

Source: UNEP

GEF-FAO Fishery Project Makes Remarkable Progress in Protecting International Waters’ Biodiversity

Photo-illustration: Pixabay
Photo-illustration: Pixabay

A five-year, $50-million Global Environment Facility (GEF)-funded program rolled out by FAO and partners has made remarkable progress in protecting international waters’ biodiversity by rendering fishing in these waters less harmful to several marine species, including sea turtles and tuna.

The Common Oceans ABNJ Program focused on areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ) – also called international waters – that cover 40 percent of the earth and comprise nearly 95 percent of the oceans’ volume.

“Keeping international waters healthy and preserving their rich biodiversity have long been a challenge for these marine areas that do not fall under the responsibility of any one country,” said Maria Helena Semedo, FAO’s Deputy Director-General, Climate and Natural Resources.

“The Program has brought together a broad and unique partnership to tackle this challenge by promoting the sustainable management of fishery resources and ecosystem-based practices, with some outstanding results. We hope to expand this initiative to continue safeguarding our marine biodiversity and contributing to the global goals and aspirations of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework,” added Semedo.

The GEF-FAO Program’s achievements at a glance:

Eight out of 13 major commercial tuna stocks no longer experience overfishing

Between 2014 to 2019, the number of major tuna stocks experiencing overfishing went down from 13 to five. This means eight fish stocks are now being rebuilt to reach a healthy level.

To make this happen, the Common Oceans ABNJ Program brought together scientists and fishery managers to develop sustainable and transparent tuna harvest strategies and processes based on computer simulation exercises. This then helped them set and apply more sustainable tuna catch limits.

Every year, nearly 6 million tonnes of tuna species are fished worldwide. The annual value of the business is almost $12 billion. The strong demand, combined with the excessive number of fishing vessels, meant that tuna stocks were under immense pressure.

Bycatch and marine pollution reduced

Adjustments to fishing gear – such as placing the gillnets two metres deeper – as well as training in how to protect threatened species have helped save marine mammals, mainly dolphins and sea turtles.

For example, between 2013 to 2018, the mortality rate of marine mammals caught by Pakistani gillnet fisheries in the northern Arabian sea was reduced by 98 percent – from 12,000 in 2013 to less than 200 in 2018.

Bycatch reduction was also made possible thanks to an uptake in non-entangling and ocean-friendly fish aggregating devices – so-called FADs – that are used to attract fish.

Prior to the Program, there were no FAD-guidelines in place for the Atlantic, Indian, Eastern and Pacific or Western & Central Pacific Oceans. In 2019, all of them had FAD-guidelines.

The Program developed and tested non-entangling and ocean-friendly FAD-designs, and carried out workshops with over 2,500 fishers from 22 countries about bycatch mitigation techniques.

To bring down further plastic pollution at sea, studies are ongoing on the use of biodegradable materials for FADs.

Eighteen new vulnerable marine ecosystems established

Between 2014 and 2019, the Program helped to establish and protect vulnerable marine ecosystems in 18 new areas – home to deep-sea species such as corals and sponges. This means these areas have been closed to fishing.

Two of the sites are in the Pacific Ocean, five in the southern Indian Ocean, one in the Southern Pacific Ocean, seven in the international waters around Antarctica and three in the Mediterranean.

Raising awareness on ocean issues to strengthen decision-making

Sharing experiences, showcasing innovative solutions and gaining a deeper understanding of the complex issues at stake in international waters, the Program also established a group of ABNJ Regional Leaders.

Connecting representatives and decision-makers from 34 countries and across various sectors strengthened their ability to participate in the ongoing negotiations for a new international legally-binding instrument under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ).

The partnership behind the Program

FAO worked with the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), the World Bank, World Wide Fund (WWF), tuna and deep-sea Regional Fisheries Management Organizations, civil society, national governments, the private sector and non-governmental organizations – all in all over 60 partners – to roll out the GEF-funded Program.

To address the critical nexus between environment and sustainable food systems, GEF is an increasingly important partner for FAO with an emphasis on innovation, private sector and integrated systems-based solutions. Today, FAO manages a GEF portfolio worth nearly $900 million and representing over 190 projects in more than 130 countries.

Discussions are underway at the ABNJ Global Steering Committee Meeting (29-30 January) in Rome to extend the Program – all with the aim of continuing to strengthen governance in international waters and reinforce measures to combat illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing (IUU), and improve coordination amongst all those who have an interest in the sustainable use of the international waters.

Source: FAO

See the Sun’s Surface Move in ‘Unprecedented’ Detail

Photo: NSO/AURA/NSF

From our vantage point on Earth, the sun is often a miraculous sight, shining brightly on clear days and bathing the sky in vivid color as it rises and sets. This week, astronomers released stunningly detailed images of the sun’s surface—revealing that up close, the star is pretty spectacular, too.

Photo: NSO/AURA/NSF

As Alexandra Witze reports for Nature, these are the first images taken with the National Science Foundation’s Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope, which sits atop Haleakala, a dormant volcano in Hawai‘i. The Inouye Solar Telescope is the most powerful solar telescope in the world, and according to the National Science Foundation (NSF), its images show the sun in “unprecedented” detail.

The celestial body looks like a bubbling expanse of golden kernels, which in fact represent plasma that covers the sun. The kernels—or “cell-like structures,” as the NSF puts it—are each about the size of Texas. Hot solar plasma rises up in the center of the cells and then cools, sinking down from the surface—“a process known as convection,” the NSF notes.

The sun is a constant swirl of violent activity, burning around 5 million tons of hydrogen fuel every second. That energy radiates into space, and the movement of the sun’s plasma “twists and tangles” solar magnetic fields, according to the NSF.

From 93 million miles away, we can’t see all this motion, but we sometimes feel its effects. For instance, coronal mass ejections from the sun shoot charged particles into space that can collide with the Earth’s atmosphere and disrupt satellites, telecommunications and navigation systems, and power grids. In 2017, a solar flare caused blackouts across a wide geographic area, including the Caribbean—where, in an unfortunate coincidence, Hurricane Irma was raging and emergency radio communications were knocked out.

Scientists hope that the Inouye Solar Telescope will help them gain a better understanding of “space weather,” a general term that refers to conditions on the sun, in the solar wind, and within Earth’s magnetosphere, ionosphere and thermosphere, according to NASA. The standard notification time for space weather is currently 48 minutes; experts want to extend that period to 48 hours, allowing for more time to secure infrastructure and satellites.

“On Earth, we can predict if it is going to rain pretty much anywhere in the world very accurately, and space weather just isn’t there yet,” says Matt Mountain, president of the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, which manages the Inouye Solar Telescope. “Our predictions lag behind terrestrial weather by 50 years, if not more.”

The new telescope features a 13-foot mirror. More than seven miles of underground piping are required to cool the instrument as it collects solar heat. “The greater size of the mirror, abetted by adaptive optics that reduce atmospheric blurring, offers higher resolution,” explains Dennis Overbye of the New York Times. Engineers are still working to finish the telescope’s dome, according to Nature, and studies will begin “in earnest” this summer. With this powerful technology at their fingertips, scientists may be able to shed light on some of the sun’s more confounding secrets—like why the corona, or outer atmosphere of the sun, is millions of degrees hotter than its surface.

So while the new close-ups of the sun are fascinating, experts say the images represent just a tantalizing glimpse into the telescope’s capabilities.

“These first images are just the beginning,” claims David Boboltz, a program director in NSF’s Division of Astronomical Sciences. “The Inouye Solar Telescope will collect more information about our sun during the first five years of its lifetime than all the solar data gathered since Galileo first pointed a telescope at the sun in 1612.”

Source: Smithsonian Magazine

WHO Declares the New Coronavirus Outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern

Photo-illustration: Unsplash

The second meeting of the Emergency Committee convened by the WHO Director-General under the International Health Regulations (IHR) (2005) regarding the outbreak of novel coronavirus 2019 in the People’s Republic of China, with exportations to other countries, took place on Thursday, 30 January 2020, from 13:30 to 18:35 Geneva time (CEST). The Committee’s role is to give advice to the Director-General, who makes the final decision on the determination of a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). The Committee also provides public health advice or suggests formal Temporary Recommendations as appropriate.

Photo-illustration: Unsplash

Proceedings of the meeting

The Director-General welcomed the Committee and thanked them for their support. He turned the meeting over to the Chair, Professor Didier Houssin.

Professor Houssin also welcomed the Committee and gave the floor to the Secretariat.

A representative of the department of compliance, risk management, and ethics briefed the Committee members on their roles and responsibilities.

Committee members were reminded of their duty of confidentiality and their responsibility to disclose personal, financial, or professional connections that might be seen to constitute a conflict of interest. Each member who was present was surveyed and no conflicts of interest were judged to be relevant to the meeting. There were no changes since the previous meeting.

The Chair then reviewed the agenda for the meeting and introduced the presenters.

Representatives of the Ministry of Health of the People’s Republic of China reported on the current situation and the public health measures being taken. There are now 7711 confirmed and 12167 suspected cases throughout the country. Of the confirmed cases, 1370 are severe and 170 people have died. 124 people have recovered and been discharged from hospital.

The WHO Secretariat provided an overview of the situation in other countries. There are now 83 cases in 18 countries. Of these, only 7 had no history of travel in China. There has been human-to-human transmission in 3 countries outside China. One of these cases is severe and there have been no deaths.

At its first meeting, the Committee expressed divergent views on whether this event constitutes a PHEIC or not. At that time, the advice was that the event did not constitute a PHEIC, but theCommittee members agreed on the urgency of the situation and suggested that the Committee should continue its meeting on the next day, when it reached the same conclusion.

This second meeting takes place in view of significant increases in numbers of cases and additional countries reporting confirmed cases.
Conclusions and advice

The Committee welcomed the leadership and political commitment of the very highest levels of Chinese government, their commitment to transparency, and the efforts made to investigate and contain the current outbreak. China quickly identified the virus and shared its sequence, so that other countries could diagnose it quickly and protect themselves, which has resulted in the rapid development of diagnostic tools.

The very strong measures the country has taken include daily contact with WHO and comprehensive multi-sectoral approaches to prevent further spread. It has also taken public health measures in other cities and provinces; is conducting studies on the severity and transmissibility of the virus, and sharing data and biological material. The country has also agreed to work with other countries who need their support. The measures China has taken are good not only for that country but also for the rest of the world.

The Committee acknowledged the leading role of WHO and its partners.

The Committee also acknowledged that there are still many unknowns, cases have now been reported in five WHO regions in one month, and human-to-human transmission has occurred outside Wuhan and outside China.

The Committee believes that it is still possible to interrupt virus spread, provided that countries put in place strong measures to detect disease early, isolate and treat cases, trace contacts, and promote social distancing measures commensurate with the risk. It is important to note that as the situation continues to evolve, so will the strategic goals and measures to prevent and reduce spread of the infection. The Committee agreed that the outbreak now meets the criteria for a Public Health Emergency of International Concern and proposed the following advice to be issued as Temporary Recommendations.

The Committee emphasized that the declaration of a PHEIC should be seen in the spirit of support and appreciation for China, its people, and the actions China has taken on the frontlines of this outbreak, with transparency, and, it is to be hoped, with success. In line with the need for global solidarity, the Committee felt that a global coordinated effort is needed to enhance preparedness in other regions of the world that may need additional support for that.
Advice to WHO

The Committee welcomed a forthcoming WHO multidisciplinary technical mission to China, including national and local experts. The mission should review and support efforts to investigate the animal source of the outbreak, the clinical spectrum of the disease and its severity, the extent of human-to-human transmission in the community and in healthcare facilities, and efforts to control the outbreak. This mission will provide information to the international community to aid in understanding the situation and its impact and enable sharing of experience and successful measures.

The Committee wished to re-emphasize the importance of studying the possible source, to rule out hidden transmission and to inform risk management measures

The Committee also emphasized the need for enhanced surveillance in regions outside Hubei, including pathogen genomic sequencing, to understand whether local cycles of transmission are occurring.

WHO should continue to use its networks of technical experts to assess how best this outbreak can be contained globally.

WHO should provide intensified support for preparation and response, especially in vulnerable countries and regions.

Measures to ensure rapid development and access to potential vaccines, diagnostics, antiviral medicines and other therapeutics for low- and middle-income countries should be developed.

WHO should continue to provide all necessary technical and operational support to respond to this outbreak, including with its extensive networks of partners and collaborating institutions, to implement a comprehensive risk communication strategy, and to allow for the advancement of research and scientific developments in relation to this novel coronavirus.

WHO should continue to explore the advisability of creating an intermediate level of alert between the binary possibilities of PHEIC or no PHEIC, in a way that does not require reopening negotiations on the text of the IHR (2005).

WHO should timely review the situation with transparency and update its evidence-based recommendations.

The Committee does not recommend any travel or trade restriction based on the current information available.

The Director-General declared that the outbreak of 2019-nCoV constitutes a PHEIC and accepted the Committee’s advice and issued this advice as Temporary Recommendations under the IHR.

To the People’s Republic of China

Continue to:

• Implement a comprehensive risk communication strategy to regularly inform the population on the evolution of the outbreak, the prevention and protection measures for the population, and the response measures taken for its containment.

• Enhance public health measures for containment of the current outbreak.

• Ensure the resilience of the health system and protect the health workforce.

• Enhance surveillance and active case finding across China.

• Collaborate with WHO and partners to conduct investigations to understand the epidemiology and the evolution of this outbreak and measures to contain it.

• Share relevant data on human cases.

• Continue to identify the zoonotic source of the outbreak, and particularly the potential for circulation with WHO as soon as it becomes available.

• Conduct exit screening at international airports and ports, with the aim of early detection of symptomatic travelers for further evaluation and treatment, while minimizing interference with international traffic.

To all countries

It is expected that further international exportation of cases may appear in any country. Thus, all countries should be prepared for containment, including active surveillance, early detection, isolation and case management, contact tracing and prevention of onward spread of 2019-nCoVinfection, and to share full data with WHO. Technical advice is available on the WHO website.

Countries are reminded that they are legally required to share information with WHO under the IHR.

Any detection of 2019-nCoV in an animal (including information about the species, diagnostic tests, and relevant epidemiological information) should be reported to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) as an emerging disease.

Countries should place particular emphasis on reducing human infection, prevention of secondary transmission and international spread, and contributing to the international response though multi-sectoral communication and collaboration and active participation in increasing knowledge on the virus and the disease, as well as advancing research.

The Committee does not recommend any travel or trade restriction based on the current information available.

Countries must inform WHO about travel measures taken, as required by the IHR. Countries are cautioned against actions that promote stigma or discrimination, in line with the principles of Article 3 of the IHR.

The Committee asked the Director-General to provide further advice on these matters and, if necessary, to make new case-by-case recommendations, in view of this rapidly evolving situation.

To the global community

As this is a new coronavirus, and it has been previously shown that similar coronaviruses required substantial efforts to enable regular information sharing and research, the global community should continue to demonstrate solidarity and cooperation, in compliance with Article 44 of the IHR (2005), in supporting each other on the identification of the source of this new virus, its full potential for human-to-human transmission, preparedness for potential importation of cases, and research for developing necessary treatment.

Provide support to low- and middle-income countries to enable their response to this event, as well as to facilitate access to diagnostics, potential vaccines and therapeutics.

Under Article 43 of the IHR, States Parties implementing additional health measures that significantly interfere with international traffic (refusal of entry or departure of international travellers, baggage, cargo, containers, conveyances, goods, and the like, or their delay, for more than 24 hours) are obliged to send to WHO the public health rationale and justification within 48 hours of their implementation. WHO will review the justification and may request countries to reconsider their measures. WHO is required to share with other States Parties the information about measures and the justification received.

The Emergency Committee will be reconvened within three months or earlier, at the discretion of the Director-General.

The Director-General thanked the Committee for its work.

Source: WHO

Improving Circular Economy Practices in the Construction Sector Key to Increasing Material Reuse

Photo-illustration: Pixabay

The EEA briefing ‘Construction and demolition waste: challenges and opportunities in a circular economy,’ says more must be done in preventing or recycling the large amount of waste produced by the construction and demolition sector in Europe. Such waste, such as scrap metal, used cement or wood products, currently make up the largest waste stream in the European Union. At present, many of the material streams from demolition and renovation works are not suitable for reuse or high-grade recycling. This is stalling efforts in shifting to a circular economy. The briefing examines how circular economy-inspired actions can help achieve EU waste policy objectives, such as waste prevention and increasing the quantity and quality of recycling for the waste produced on building sites, while also reducing hazardous waste materials. The briefing is based on a report compiled by the EEA and the European Topic Centre on Waste and Materials in a Green Economy.

Photo: EEA

The briefing notes that construction and demolition waste totaled 374 million tonnes in the EU in 2016, excluding excavated soil. The high volume and nature of produced waste are challenging to manage, but also present a clear opportunity to implement sound waste management practices according to the circular economy principles. Besides, the construction sector is considered a priority sector according to the forthcoming European Commission circular economy action plan.

While EU countries are on track to meet the 70 % recovery target of 2020 with most countries already exceeding the target in 2016, the briefing says, closer scrutiny of waste management practices at national level shows that recovery of construction waste is largely based on low-value backfilling operations — using collected waste and rubble to fill holes on construction sites, and low-grade recovery such as using recycled and crushed cement or stones (aggregates) in road construction. The briefing notes that better waste prevention and higher and better quality recycling can be achieved if certain measures are followed to improve pricing, improve information on which materials are used in existing and new buildings and to improve users’ trust in the quality of using secondary materials like recycled aggregates. Circular economy-inspired actions, like improved information sharing on material properties, and better re-use of secondary raw materials can go a long way in increasing circularity in the sector.

Source: EEA

Nominate a Champion of Earth

Photo: UNEP (Tony Morrison)

Do you know a Champion of the Earth?

Nominations for 2020 open on 20 January 2020.

Every year, individuals, groups and organizations that have made outstanding contributions to the protection and restoration of the environment are recognized in four categories:

  • Policy leadership
  • Inspiration and action
  • Entrepreneurial vision
  • Science and innovation
Photo: UNEP (Tony Morrison)

On selection process

Every year, Champions are selected from hundreds of nominees globally, submitted during a public nominating process. Once submitted, a team of UN Environment Programme (UNEP) staff research and prepare detailed profiles of each candidate, their achievements and qualifications. The profiles are reviewed by a broader group of UNEP experts before submission to a jury who select the laureates. In 2019, the jury consisted of five leaders of United Nations and other international organizations.

The 2020 nomination opens on 20 January 2020.

January 2020 – Submissions open. The criteria for selection are:

  • Impact – Have the nominee’s actions resulted in profound environmental gains or demonstrated significant potential for replication and scaling?
  • Novelty – Has the nominee done or achieved something new and innovative?
  • Power of the story – How compelling and inspiring is the nominee’s story?

March 2020 – Deadline for submissions. All nominations must be received by 20 March 2020, accompanied by appropriate supporting materials.

March 2020 – UN Environment Programme review. Winners are shortlisted and a team of UN Environment Programme staff reviews the list of nominees and prepares a shortlist to be submitted before a global jury.

May 2020 – Award laureates are chosen. A global jury comprised of high-profile individuals from different United Nations agencies and international organizations reviews the shortlist of nominations and selects their winning choice in each award category. Their decision is final.

October 2020 – Laureates are announced. Winners are disclosed publicly during a gala ceremony recognizing their achievement. The awards will be presented to this year’s laureates at a ceremony later this year.

Source: UNEP

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