The Environment Chronicle

On 23 July 2012, the Investigation Committee on the Accident at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Stations of Tokyo Electric Power Company published its final report. This Investigation Committee was established on May 24, 2011 by a cabinet decision.

The European Commission has approved funding for 202 new projects under the LIFE+ programme, the European Union's environment fund. The projects cover actions in the fields of nature conservation, environmental policy, climate change and information and communication on environmental issues. They represent a total investment of some €516.5 million, of which the EU will provide €268.4 million. LIFE+ is the European financial instrument for the environment and has a total budget of €2.143 billion for the period 2007-2013. The Commission launches one call for LIFE+ project proposals per year.

On 19 July 2012, the European Commission proposed new measures to regulate fishing for deep sea species in the North-East Atlantic. The new regulation would result in a ban of deep-water trawling and gill netting below 1000m depth in the entire North-East Atlantic and for certain fisheries below 500m. It will apply to EU waters and vessels flying EU Member States' flags in NEAFC (North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission) high seas waters.

On 16 July 2012, the largest anti-nuclear protest in Tokyo to date was held. Organizers put the number of attendees at 170,000-200,000; this makes the demonstration the largest in 50 years. Over 7.8 million signatures have been collected for a petition demanding a phase-out for nuclear power.

The scientific data brought together by BirdLife International and the European Bird Census Council show that common farmland birds continue to decline in the EU: 300 million farmland birds have been lost since 1980. The news was released, on the eve of a major civil society debate organised by the European Commission and the new Cypriot Presidency of the EU on 13 July 2012. The Farmland Bird Indicator (FBI) combines the aggregate population trends of 37 species classified as farmland birds. 22 of these species are decreasing and only 6 are increasing, with a further 6 being stable and 3 having uncertain trends. Overall, the indicator shows a decline of 52% since 1980. This equates to a loss of more than 300 million birds breeding in farmland over the last three decades- despite the efforts of many nature-friendly farmers and conservation organisations.

On 12 July 2012, the European Commission put forward proposals to implement targets that will further considerably reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from new cars and light commercial vehicles (vans) by 2020. The proposals will cut average emissions from new cars to 95 grams of CO2 per km (g CO2/km) in 2020 from 135.7g in 2011 and a mandatory target of 130g in 2015. Emissions from vans will be reduced to 147g CO2/km in 2020 from 181.4g in 2010 (the latest year for which figures are available) and a mandatory target of 175g in 2017.

On 3 July the European Commission outlined the way forward for the EU's constructive engagement in the Arctic. The Communication contains a series of measures to support the effective stewardship of the Arctic. They include: Support of Arctic research under the Commission’s proposed 80 billion EUR Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme); Stepping up of actions to combat climate change; Use of EU’s funding opportunities to maximise sustainable development in the Arctic for the benefit of local and indigenous communities; Promotion and development of environmentally friendly technologies that could be used by extractive industries in the Arctic. In total, the Communication contains 28 action points.

Federal Ministery of Economics and Technology Federal Ministery for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear have agreed on key elements of legislation to accelerate offshore wind energy expansion. Major aspects of their agreement include a liability regime and a system change towards a separate offshore grid development plan governing the connection of offshore wind farms to the grid. Based on the proposals developed by the working group on the acceleration of offshore grid connection, both ministries agreed on introducing a multiannual offshore grid development plan. This plan will officially stipulate the time of completion, the location and capacity of future grid connection points to allow for better coordination with the onshore grid expansion process. It is envisaged to link the offshore grid development plan with a liability regime for delays during construction and disruptions in the operation of offshore grid connection lines.

A carbon tax in Australia was introduced on 1 July 2012.

From 1 July 2012, French shops and offices will have to switch off their lights at 1am to save electricity. The government hopes to save 170 million euros per year by introducing a new set of eco-friendly measures to cut energy consumption. Shops in city centers in France will be required to switch off their lights from 1am to 6am.

On 29 June 2012, the Bay South Garden, a section of the waterfront gardens in the new Downtown Marina Bay official opened. It is the largest of the three gardens that make up Gardens By The Bay, Singapore's new green oasis in the city.

On 29 June 2012 the 15 coastal states around the North-East Atlantic and the European Union agreed to establish the Charlie-Gibbs North High Seas Marine Protected Area on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between Iceland and the Azores, at a size of 180,000km².

On 28 June 2012, the Mediation Committee of the German Bundestag and the Bundesrat reached an agreement on a highly controversial bill on carbon capture and storage.

On 28 June 2012, Swiss Federal Council decided to built a second road tunnel through the Gotthard.

On 27 June 2012, Gabon burned its burned its government-held stockpile of ivory to mark the country's commitment to combat poaching and illegal wildlife trade.

On 26 June 2012, the German government and federal states agreed on cuts to the country's solar feed-in tariff (FIT). Under the compromise, one-off cuts in incentives of 20 to 30 percent from April are to remain and incentives will be capped for installed capacity of 52 gigawatts. Solar power will still have to be fed into the grid, but at market prices. In addition, medium-sized plants of 10-40 kilowatts will receive compensation of 18.5 cents per kilowatt hour.

On 23 June 2012, a highly endangered Sumatran rhinoceros gave birth to a calf in Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary in Way Kambas National Park on the island of Sumatra. It is only the fifth known birth in captivity for the species in 123 years.

On 20 June 2012, the National Platform for Electromobility presented its third report on electromobility in Germany.

USA forest service, Rwanda, a Brazilian coalition and indigenous groups from Mesoamerica have committed to restoring a total of more than 18 million hectares of their forest landscape. The commitments are made by the United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service (15 Million hectares), the Government of Rwanda (2 million hectares), and the Brazilian Mata Atlantica Forest Restoration Pact—a coalition of government agencies, NGOs and private sector partners (over 1 million hectares) and the Mesoamerican Alliance of Indigenous Peoples.

The people of Munich voted against the construction of a third runway in a referendum held on 17 June 2012.

On 16 June 2012, Global Environment Facility CEO and Chairperson Monique Barbut joined other high-level dignitaries to mark the official launch of the Green Industry Platform, an initiative to mobilize action for the "Green Industry Agenda," which aims to promote green manufacturing and create green industries. In an address at the event, she expressed concern that the work accomplished by international institutions, organizations and countries does not suffice in an era where stronger ties between private and public sectors must be established for the successful development of sustainable environment initiatives. Spearheaded by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the "Green Industry Platform" is a global high-level multi-stakeholder partnership intended to act as a forum for catalyzing, mobilizing and mainstreaming action on green industry around the world. It serves as a channel which brings together governmental, business and civil society leaders.

On 14 June 2012, Environment Minister Tony Burke released the Government's final network of marine reserves which - once proclaimed under national environmental law - will increase the number of marine reserves from 27 to 60, expanding the national network to cover more than a third of Commonwealth waters. The new marine reserves take the overall size of the Commonwealth marine reserves network to 3.1 million square kilometres, by far the largest representative network of marine protected areas in the world.

On 12 June 2012, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), which is part of the World Health Organization (WHO), classified diesel engine exhaust as carcinogenic to humans (Group 1), based on sufficient evidence that exposure is associated with an increased risk for lung cancer.

On 6 June 2012, the European Commission presented a Communication on its renewable energy policy, outlining options for the period beyond 2020. It confirms the market integration of renewables and the need for their growth in the decades after 2020. The Communication also calls for a more coordinated European approach in the establishment and reform of support schemes and an increased use of renewable energy trading among Member States.

Increasing alarm for the fate of the two rarest rhinoceros species, and growing concern over the increased illegal hunting of rhinos and demand for rhino horn affecting all five species, has prompted President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of Indonesia to declare 5 June 2012 as the start of the International Year of the Rhino. President Yudhoyono took this step at the request of IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) and other conservation organisations, because the future survival of both the Javan and Sumatran Rhinos depends on effective conservation action in Indonesia.

In the run-up to the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development Rio+20, the Federal Environment Ministry has launched an initiative Making it Happen to support interested countries on their road to sustainable development with the expertise of renowned business corporations. The companies will organise workshops for local businesses in the countries concerned, and advise the governments on how they can create incentives for more innovative and sustainable management and ensure greater consideration of social issues. Other companies from Germany and abroad are welcome to join the initiative.

On 1 June 2012, the practical phase of the so-called fact-finding started with drilling into chamber 7 in a depth of 750 m. On his first visit to the Asse mine, the Federal Environment Minister, Peter Altmaier, started the drilling process with the help of which emplacement chamber 7 will be explored.

The European Commission had provisionally rejected the ECI “My Vote against Nuclear Power” launched by GLOBAL 2000/Friends of the Earth Austria and organised together with international partner organisations.

The growing erection of photovoltaic systems and the early summer weather provided Germany with a new world record for solar capacity, producing electricity at midday on 25 May 2012. According to IWR, a renewable energy institute based in Muenster, German solar systems with a capacity of more than 20,000 MW feeding environmentally friendly power into the national grid for the first time under a cloudless sky at midday on Friday. The solar power plant capacity reached 22,000 MW at midday on Friday. This is equivalent to the capacity of more than 20 nuclear power stations.

On 25 may 2012, the captain and navigation officer of container ship Rena were each jailed for seven months. Both the captain and navigation officer pleaded guilty to a number of charges, including operating a ship in a manner causing unnecessary danger or risk to persons or property. The Rena grounded on Astrolabe Reef on the Bay of Plenty coast on October 5 last year, spilling fuel, cargo and other debris into the sea and causing an environmental disaster on the coast.

On 25 May 2012, President Dilma Rousseff vetoed portions of Brazil’s new Forest Code.

On 24 May 2012 Los Angeles became the largest city in the USA to approve a ban on plastic bags at supermarket checkout lines, handing a major victory to clean-water advocates who sought to reduce the amount of trash clogging landfills, the region’s waterways and the ocean. Egged on by actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus and an array of environmental groups, the City Council voted 13 to 1 to phase out plastic bags over the next 12 months at an estimated 7,500 stores.

The European Parliament approved, in plenary on 23 May 2012, a draft regulation that writes into EU law the new international rules designed to reduce illegal catches of bluefin tuna in the Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean. The new rules, which focus primarily on reducing the size of fishing fleets, extending closed seasons for purse seiners and tightening controls, were agreed at the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT) in November 2011.

The European Commission has adopted a framework under which Member states may compensate some electro-intensive users, such as steel and aluminium producers, for part of the higher electricity costs expected to result from a change to the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) as from 2013. The rules ensure that national support measures are designed in a way that preserves the EU objective of decarbonising the European economy and maintains a level playing field among competitors in the internal market. The sectors deemed eligible for compensation include producers of aluminium, copper, fertilisers, steel, paper, cotton, chemicals and some plastics.

On 21 May 2012, is the 20th anniversary of two key instruments for the conservation and sustainable use of nature in the EU: the Habitats Directive and LIFE, the EU financing programme for the environment. Twenty years ago, EU Member States unanimously adopted the Habitats Directive to safeguard the most threatened species and habitats across Europe. This was in response to concerns over rapidly declining wildlife and loss of natural habitats, resulting from land-use changes, pollution and urban sprawl. To give species and habitats space to recover, the Directive set up the Natura 2000 network of protected areas and the LIFE financial instrument has provided strategic support to its development. Definitionen

On 18 May 2012, the first international "Fascination of Plants Day" will be launched under the umbrella of the European Plant Science Organisation (EPSO). The goal of this activity is to get as many people as possible around the world fascinated by plants and enthused about the importance of plant science for agriculture, in sustainably producing food, as well as for horticulture, forestry, and all of the non-food products such as paper, timber, chemicals, energy, and pharmaceuticals. The role of plants in environmental conservation will also be a key message.

At its first general meeting on May 14, 2012, the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) elected its board of managers and officially took up its work. Three Central German universities – University of Halle, University of Jena and University of Leipzig – are involved in the iDiv. Together with their partners, they were awarded the funds for the development of a new research centre on biodiversity by the German Research Foundation (DFG). The DFG will fund the iDiv for up to 12 years with seven million euros per year.

On 10 May 2012, the European Parliament adopted a resolution calling for the European Patent Office to stop granting patents on the conventional breeding of plants and animals. The resolution was jointly tabled by Members of Parliament from several parties and was adopted with a large majority.

Map of Life — an interactive resource for global biodiversity analysis — was launched on 10 May 2012. A Yale-led research team has opened to the public a demonstration version of its “Map of Life,” an ambitious Web-based endeavor to depict how all living things on the planet, animals and plants alike, are distributed geographically. Built on a Google Maps platform, the debut version allows anyone with an Internet connection to map the known global distribution of almost all 30,000 species of terrestrial vertebrate animals, including mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, and North American fresh water fish.