The Environment Chronicle

Eastern Europe countries have categorically rejected the target put forward by UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to reduce carbon emissions to zero by 2100 to avoid dangerous global warming, leaked documents show. On 2 November 2014, the IPCC said that fossil fuels must be entirely phased out by the end of the century to keep temperatures from rising as high as 5C above pre-industrial levels, a level that would have catastrophic impacts worldwide. On 28 October 2014, a few days before the IPCC synthesis report was published, EU environment and energy ministers meeting in Brussels were presented with a proposal by states including Sweden, Belgium, the Netherlands, France and Germany to incorporate the IPCC target into EU policy. However, it was judged not to have “sufficient support” because of opposition from Poland, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria and Latvia who “categorically rejected” it, according to a internal briefing note seen by the Guardian.

On 24 October, the European Council agreed on the 2030 climate and energy policy framework for the European Union. The European Council endorsed a binding EU target of an at least 40% domestic reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 compared to 1990. An EU target of at least 27% is set for the share of renewable energy consumed in the EU in 2030. This target will be binding at EU level. An indicative target at the EU level of at least 27% is set for improving energy efficiency in 2030 compared to projections of future energy consumption based on the current criteria.

On 23 October 2014 the International Snow Leopard Day was celebrated for the very first time. Snow leopards are among the most enigmatic of wild cats. With between 4,500 and 7,500 animals remaining in the wild today, they are also among the most threatened. Their long-term survival is far from assured, and despite being protected on Appendix I of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) as well as in the Red Data Books in each of the twelve countries in which they occur, the species has been extirpated from some parts of its historic range. In 2013 on the initiative of the Kyrgyz government, representatives of the twelve Central Asian Snow Leopard Range States came together in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan to endorse the Global Snow Leopard and Ecosystem Protection Program (GSLEP) to conserve snow leopards and the high-mountain ecosystems they live in. The Forum also called upon Range States to declare the year 2015 as the International Year of the Snow Leopard, and October 23 as an annually celebrated Snow Leopard Day.

On 20 October 2014 the first SolaRoad cycle path was opened in the town of Krommenie in northern Holland. SolaRoad is a road surface that acts as a solar panel. This is the first road in the world that converts sunlight into electricity. SolaRoad was developed by TNO, the Province of North-Holland, Ooms Civiel and Imtech Traffic&Infra. The pilot road of just a hundred metres consists of concrete modules each of 2.5 by 3.5 metres. Solar cells are fitted in one travelling direction underneath a tempered glass top layer which is approximately 1-cm thick. In time, the solar power from the road will be used for practical applications in street lighting, traffic systems, electric cars (which drive on the surface) and households.

The European Commission is urging Germany to correctly apply the requirements of the Habitats Directive in relation to the authorisation of a coal power plant in Hamburg/Moorburg. The project in question risks having a negative impact on a number of protected fish species including salmon, European river lamprey and sea lamprey, which pass the power plant when migrating from the North Sea to some 30 Natura 2000 sites on the Elbe, upstream of Hamburg. The species are harmed by the water abstraction process used to cool the power plant. When authorising the plant, Germany failed to carry out an appropriate assessment as required by the Directive, and notably failed to assess alternative cooling processes which could avoid the killing of the species concerned. The project was authorised on condition that an additional fish ladder should be built by a weir in Geesthacht, 30 km from the Hamburg power plant. The fish ladder, however, will not prevent the death of the protected species at the point of the water abstraction in Hamburg. Whilst the Commission does not intend to prevent the operation of the power plant, nature protection requirements must be respected in full. A reasoned opinion is therefore being sent. If Germany fails to comply with EU law in this area within two months, the Commission may refer the case to the EU Court of Justice.

Drastic weather, rising seas and changing storm patterns could become “threat multipliers” for the United States, vastly complicating security challenges faced by American forces, the Pentagon said in a new report on the impact of climate change released on 13 October 2014. The report, described as a “climate change adaptation roadmap,” included a foreword from Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel in which he urged the nation’s military’s planners to grapple now with the implications of a warming planet, even as scientists are “converging toward consensus on future climate projections.” The plan was released as Hagel attended a conference in Peru with his counterparts from across North and South America.

Om 12 October 2014 the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits arising from their Utilization to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) entered into force.

Treatment plants cannot completely keep microplastics out of wastewater by conventional means. This is one of the results of a pilot study commissioned by the regional water association of Oldenburg and Ostfriesland, Germany and the Lower Saxony Water Management, Coastal Defence and Nature Conservation Agency. All plastic particles smaller than five millimetres are designated as microparticles. Microplastics have been included in the European Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) as an indicator of the status of marine waters. Experts at the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research examined wastewater and sewage sludge from twelve treatment plants in the region covered by the OOWV water board. “The study provides valuable findings about plastic residues that no one has obtained thus far. By applying state-of-the-art methods, it is now possible to specifically classify plastics, such as those used in toothpaste, cosmetics, fleece jackets and packaging, even in wastewater. For this reason the study is also relevant for legislators, manufacturers and industry,” explains OOWV Managing Director Karsten Specht. However, whether the majority of the microplastic particles found can actually be traced back to cosmetic products, for example, or whether they stem from abrasion of items of daily use, cannot be determined at the present time,” says microbiologist Dr. Gunnar Gerdts, who analysed the samples at the Alfred Wegener Institute on Helgoland.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the Nobel Prize in Physics for 2014 to Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano and Shuji Nakamura for the invention of efficient blue light-emitting diodes which has enabled bright and energy-saving white light sources. Moreover, and unlike fluorescent lamps, they do not contain mercury.

On 30 September 2014, Gov. Jerry Brown signed the nation's first statewide ban on single-use plastic bags at grocery and convenience stores, driven to action by pollution in streets and waterways. The bill would prohibit single-use plastic bags at grocery stores and large pharmacies in 2015 and at convenience stores in 2016 in an effort to reduce litter on streets and beaches.

On 29 September 2014 the Council adopted a regulation on the prevention and management of the introduction and spread of invasive alien species (PE-CONS 70/14, 13266/14 ADD 1). The regulation lays down rules to prevent, minimise and mitigate the adverse impacts of the introduction and spread, both intentional and unintentional, of invasive alien species on biodiversity and the related ecosystem services, as well as other adverse impact on human health or the economy.

On 25 September 2014, President Obama signed a proclamation to designate the largest marine reserve in the world that is completely off limits to commercial resource extraction including commercial fishing. The proclamation expands the existing Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument, one of the most pristine tropical marine environments in the world, to six times its current size, resulting in 370,000 square nautical miles (490,000 square miles) of protected area around these tropical islands and atolls in the south-central Pacific Ocean. The Pacific Remote Islands National Marine Monument was proclaimed a national monument on January 6, 2009 by U.S. President George W. Bus

On 24 September 2014, the Right Livelihood Award Foundation announced the 2014 Laureates of the Right Livelihood Award. The Jury recognises BILL McKIBBEN (USA) “for mobilising growing popular support in the USA and around the world for strong action to counter the threat of global climate change”. Bill McKibben is one of the world’s leading environmentalists. He has been an influential author and educator for 30 years, and his 1989 book The End of Nature was one of the first - ever books written to inform a general audience about climate change. Over the last ten years he initiated and built the first planet - wide, grassroots climate change movement. With the organisation 350.org at its core, this movement has spread awareness and mobilised political support for urgent action to mitigate the climate crisis that is already unfolding.

Many new initiatives to protect tropical forests have been presented at the UN Climate Summit. The New York Declaration aims to stop deforestation in developing countries by 2030 and establish supply chains that do not require deforestation at all. The declaration was initiated by Germany, the United Kingdom and Norway, the three largest donors in the field of forest protection as a contribution to climate action in developing countries. The German Government is supporting the implementation of the New York Declaration with a new financial commitment to protecting tropical forests. Germany has agreed, together with the United Kingdom and Norway, to finance forest protection programmes in up to 20 developing countries in the future if these programmes are accompanied by measurable emission reductions and the avoidance of deforestation. On the sidelines of the Climate Summit, Germany and Norway established a new forest-protection partnership with Peru. Together with Peru's President Ollanta Humala and Norway's Prime Minister Erna Solberg, Hendricks signed a corresponding Letter of Intent, in which Peru agrees to reduce its CO2 emissions from deforestation quickly and decisively. By 2021, Peru intends to be climate neutral in terms of land use and forestry. The rights of indigenous forest dwellers are also to be significantly expanded.

Stephen Heintz, president of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, announced its decision to divest from fossil fuels at a press conference in New York City on September 22, 2014, one day before world leaders convene at the UN Climate Summit. The Fund has begun a two-step process to divest from investments in fossil fuels, first focusing on limiting its exposure to coal and tar sands, with a goal to reduce these investments to less than one percent of the total portfolio by the end of 2014. The Fund is also analyzing in detail its remaining fossil fuel exposure and will develop a plan for further divestment as quickly as is prudent over the next few years.

On 21 September 2014, the People’s Climate March (PCM) took place in locations all around the world. From Manhattan to Melbourne, more than half a million people took to the streets in a unified global move to demand ambitious commitments from world leaders in tackling the climate crisis. By end of day estimates, the flagship march in New York City drew more then 300,000 people just two days before world leaders converge in New York for an emergency UN Climate Summit. Notable participants in the march also included: UN Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon, NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio, Former Vice President Al Gore, Leonardo di Caprio, Mark Ruffalo, Edward Norton and Sting.

ON 18 September 2014, Ban Ki-moon received a six million signature petition from Greenpeace calling for long term protection of the Arctis. "I receive this as a common commitment toward our common future, protecting our environment, not only in the Arctic, but all over the world," said the UN Secretary General.

The 65th meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) ended on 18 September 2014 with a landmark decision to impose better controls over any future whale hunts conducted for the purposes of so-called scientific research. In March 2014, the International Court of Justice determined that Japan’s hunts were not for purposes of science, and established criteria that the IWC is now seeking to incorporate. By March 2015, Japan plans to present its new whaling proposal to the IWC’s Scientific Committee. The committee then will have the opportunity to review the merits of what Japan puts forward, to test its compliance with the ICJ criteria, and to make recommendations to the commission.

On 17 September 2014, the WBGU's new special report 'Climate Protection as a World Citizen Movement' was presented to Federal Environment Minister Dr. Barbara Hendricks and State Secretary Dr. Georg Schütte (Federal Ministry of Education and Research) on the occasion of the UN Secretary-General's Climate Summit in New York. In its report, the WBGU recommends a dual strategy for international climate policy: on the one hand, the planned Paris Agreement should codify the global phasing-out of fossil CO2 emissions and thus serve as a guide; on the other, civil-society initiatives that take on responsibility and make their own contributions towards a low-carbon economy and low-carbon lifestyles should be supported.

From 14 September 2014, international trade in specimens of five shark species and all manta ray species, including their meat, gills and fins, will need to be accompanied by permits and certificates confirming that they have been harvested sustainably and legally. New controls adopted by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) will apply to the oceanic whitetip shark (Carcharhinus longimanus), scalloped hammerhead shark (Sphyrna lewini), great hammerhead shark (Sphyrna mokarran), smooth hammerhead shark (Sphyrna zygaena), porbeagle shark (Lamna nasus) and manta rays (Manta spp.) as they are now included in CITES Appendix II.

IWC65 took place in Portoroz, Slovenia, from 15-18 September 2014.

New analysis and maps released on 4 September 2014, revealed the alarming speed at which the world’s largest expanses of forest wilderness are being degraded. More than 104 million hectares—an area three times the size of Germany—of the world’s remaining Intact Forest Landscapes were degraded from 2000 to 2013. The Greenpeace GIS Laboratory, University of Maryland and Transparent World, in collaboration with the World Resources Institute and WWF-Russia, used satellite technology and advanced techniques to conduct a global analysis to determine the location and extent of the world’s last remaining large undisturbed forests, called Intact Forest Landscapes (IFLs).

COMMISSION REGULATION (EU) No 666/2013 of 8th July, 2013 implementing Directive 2009/125/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to ecodesign requirements for vacuum cleaners came into effect from 1st September, 2014. As of 1 September only vacuum cleaners with a wattage of less than 1600 may be made available for sale. The aim is to further reduce households' power consumption and to prevent consumer fraud. After 1 September 2017 the maximum allowable power consumption for vacuum cleaners is 900 watts. The requirements apply to new products on the market. Devices which are already on the market may continue to be sold. There are already devices available on the market which comply with the standards for 2017. When compared to the current trend, the EU guidelines will result in a savings of about 18 billion kilowatt hours by 2020, which is the equivalent output of roughly five power stations. The new regulation requires producers to provide proof that their vacuum cleaners are fully functional. The EU Ecodesign Directive therefore not only stipulates minimum requirements for energy consumption, it also addresses dust pick up on carpets and hard floors and imposes limits on noise emissions. To extend the device's service life, the operational motor lifetime must be greater than or equal to 500 hours, and its hose must meet specific requirements as concerns durability.

One of the rarest birds in the world, the Madagascar Pochard Aythya innotata was thought to be extinct until a small population was found in 2006. The first ever study of the Madagascar pochard has revealed that 96% of its chicks die before fledging. The conclusion is that the last remaining population will never expand without outside help. Just 25 pochards remain in the wild, restricted to one wetland in northeast Madagascar – a complex of lakes near Bemanevika. The study, published online on 26 August 2014, in Bird Conservation International, found that the level of mortality actually increases as the chicks get older, peaking when they are between two and three weeks old. The researchers conclude that most chicks slowly starve to death once they’re old enough to dive for food, because the water is too deep for them.

On 25 August 2014, a new atlas, providing the most thorough audit of marine life in the Southern Ocean, was published at the Open Science Conference in Auckland, New Zealand by the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR). Leading marine biologists and oceanographers from all over the world spent the last four years compiling everything they know about ocean species from microbes to whales. 147 scientists from 91 institutions across 22 countries combined their expertise and knowledge to produce the new Biogeographic Atlas of the Southern Ocean. More than 9000 species are recorded, ranging from microbes to whales. Hundreds of thousands of records show the extent of scientific knowledge on the distribution of life in the Southern Ocean. In 66 chapters, the scientists examine the evolution, physical environment, genetics and possible impact of climate change on marine organisms in the region. It’s the first time that such an effort has been undertaken since 1969 when the American Society of Geography published its Antarctic Map Folio Series.

New research led by Colorado State University has revealed that an estimated 100,000 elephants in Africa were killed for their ivory between 2010 and 2012. The study shows these losses are driving population declines of the world's wild African elephants on the order of 2 percent to 3 percent a year. This study provides the first verifiable estimation of the impacts of the ongoing ivory crisis on Africa’s elephant populations to date, solidifying speculation about the scale of the ivory crisis. An average of 33,630 elephants per annum are calculated to have been lost over those three years, with preliminary data indicating unsustainable levels continued in 2013. To quantify the poaching death toll, researchers drew on data and experience from a continent-wide intensive monitoring program. The most thoroughly studied site was Samburu in northern Kenya where every elephant birth and death over the past 16 years has been recorded. The intensive population study was conducted in a project founded by George Wittemyer of Colorado State University with Save the Elephants, and in association with the Kenya Wildlife Service. The research paper, "Illegal killing for ivory drives global decline in African elephants," was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States on 18 August, 2014.

On 17 August 2014, the United Nations Watercourses Convention, the first global framework on fresh water and the world’s only global framework for transboundary cooperation endorsed by the General Assembly of the United Nations, officially entered into force.

On 15 August 2014, the starting gun was fired in Brazil for the construction of the climate measurement tower ATTO. Representatives of the Max Planck Society, the Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia (INPA), the Universidade do Estado do Amazonas (UEA), and the Brazilian Ministry for Research poured the foundations for a 325 meter high measuring tower, in the middle of the Amazon rain forest. The Amazonian Tall Tower Observatory, ATTO for short, should provide groundbreaking knowledge and the principles for improved climate models, and will be outfitted with measurement equipment for measuring greenhouse gases, aerosol particles, and collecting weather data. The tower will stand in the largest continuous rain forest in the world, and is therefore of great significance to climate researchers. With its height of 325 meters, the ATTO measurement tower makes it possible to investigate the transport and alteration of air masses through the forest over a distance of several hundred kilometers. In addition, measurement instruments mounted high on the tower will reach into stable air layers, in which for example the carbon dioxide concentration is not exposed to the day - night changes due to plants.

On 6 August 2014, a new paper appeared in the journal Nature and provides the first direct calculation of mercury in the global ocean from pollution based on data obtained from 12 sampling cruises over the past 8 years. The work, which was funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the European Research Council and led by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) marine chemist Carl Lamborg, also provides a look at the global distribution of mercury in the marine environment. Analysis of their results showed rough agreement with the models used previously—that the ocean contains about 60,000 to 80,000 tons of pollution mercury. In addition, they found that ocean waters shallower than about 100 m (300 feet) have tripled in mercury concentration since the Industrial Revolution and that the ocean as a whole has shown an increase of roughly 10 percent over pre-industrial mercury levels.

On 30 July 2014, the Federal Environment Agency (UBA) pressed for speedy regulation of fracking technology, on the occasion of the presentation of UBA's new, 600-page export Fracking II report in Berlin. The Federal Environment Agency recommends a comprehensive risk assessment of all fracking projects for the purpose of gas and oil extraction and for all testing measures. These assessments must become an integral part of an environmental impact assessment which is standardised according to the core principles put forward by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) and the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB). The UBA – like the BMWi and BMUB – continue to adhere to placing a ban without exception on every form of fracking in water protection areas and medicinal spring protection zones as well as other sensitive areas such as the drainage areas of lakes and river dams, nature conservation areas and Habitats Directive sites.

Australia's biggest coal mine, the $16.5 billion Carmichael Coal and Rail Project in Queensland's Galilee Basin, has been given federal approval. Federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt said the project proposed by Indian company Adani could go ahead, subject to 36 "strict" conditions focused on conserving groundwater. The mine project west of Rockhampton would be one of the biggest in the world, covering 200 square kilometres and producing about 60 million tonnes of coal a year.

On 22 July 2014, European Commission proposed a higher energy savings target for 2030. The proposed target goes beyond the 25% energy savings target which would be required to achieve a 40% reduction of CO2 emissions by 2030. At the same time the framework on energy efficiency put forward today aims to strike the right balance between benefits and costs.

CO2 emissions from coal power plants in the EU are undermining climate efforts, reveals the “Europe’s Dirty 30” report, released on 22 July 2014, by CAN Europe, WWF, the European Environmental Bureau, the Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL) and Climate Alliance Germany. The “Europe’s Dirty 30” report exposes the top 30 CO2-polluting power plants in the EU, with Germany and the UK ranking joint first, with nine of the dirtiest coal plants each.

As part of the Antarctic Ocean Alliance’s (AOA) proposal to designate marine protected areas (MPA) and marine reserves across 19 regions around Antarctica, the AOA launched on 17 July 2014, its new report titled Antarctic Ocean Legacy: Towards Protection of the Weddell Sea Region. The findings of the report aim to contribute towards ongoing scientific and policy work – currently led by Germany and Russia – on the region, which is located south of the Atlantic Ocean. The Weddell Sea region is renowned for having one of the most intact ecosystems left on earth and for being a major engine of global ocean circulation.

The carbon tax was repealed by the Australian senate on 17 July 2014.

On 11 July 2014, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED) of the Catholic University of Louvain (UCL) in Belgium jointly published the ‘Atlas of Mortality and Economic Losses from Weather, Climate and Water Extremes 1970-2012,' which describes the distribution and impacts of weather, climate and water-related disasters, and highlights measures to increase resilience. The Atlas indicates that from 1970 to 2012, 8,835 disasters, 1.94 million deaths and US$ 2.4 trillion in economic losses were reported as a result of hazards, such as droughts, extreme temperatures, floods, tropical cyclones and related health epidemics. The ten worst reported disasters in terms of lives lost occurred primarily in least developed and developing countries, while economic losses mainly took place in developed countries. The Altas highlights the importance of historical, geo-referenced information about deaths and damages to estimate risks prior to the next disaster so that decisions on reducing potential impacts can be taken. The Atlas was published ahead of the First Session of the Preparatory Committee Meeting for the Third UN World Conference on DRR, and aims to inform the debate on the post-2015 framework for DRR and sustainable development.

The European Commission is urging Germany to take stronger measures to combat water pollution caused by nitrates. The latest figures submitted by Germany in 2012 showed worsening nitrates pollution problems in groundwater and surface waters, including eutrophication of coastal and marine waters, especially in the Baltic Sea. Despite the worsening trends, Germany has not taken sufficient additional measures to reduce and prevent nitrate pollution as required under EU law. On the recommendation of Environment Commissioner Janez Potočnik, the Commission is sending a reasoned opinion to ask Germany to comply with EU law in this area. If they fail to do so within two months, the Commission may refer the case to the EU Court of Justice.

Germany’s first UNESCO Water Institute is about to start operating. The new UNESCO Water Institute aims to strengthen global cooperation in policy, research and education about water resources and global change. The treaty was signed in Berlin on 9 July 2014 by the representatives of the German Federal Government and the UNESCO. The Institute has its headquarters at the Federal Institute of Hydrology in Koblenz. It cooperates with the German National Committee for the Water Research programs of UNESCO and the World Meteorological Organization. Worldwide, there are now 27 UNESCO Water Institutes and Germany now operates one of them.

On 8 July 2014, the World Biodiversity Council IPBES officially opened its Secretariat in the Federal City of Bonn on the Rhine river. The Federal Government has provided office space in the UN Tower (Langer Eugen). On behalf of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety Parliamentary State Secretary Florian Pronold attended the opening ceremony.

On 2 July 2014, NASA successfully launched its first spacecraft dedicated to studying atmospheric carbon dioxide. The Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) raced skyward from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, on a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket. Approximately 56 minutes after the launch, the observatory separated from the rocket's second stage into an initial 429-mile (690-kilometer) orbit. OCO-2 will take NASA's studies of carbon dioxide and the global carbon cycle to new heights.