The Environment Chronicle

The International Co-ordinating Council of the Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme of UNESCO added 20 sites to the World Network of Biosphere Reserves during its meeting in the capital of Peru on 18 and 19 March 2016. The newly adopted sites include 18 national site and one transboundary site shared between Spain and Portugal. The Council also approved 9 extensions to existing Biosphere Reserves. Following the withdrawal of two sites at the request of Austria, this brings the total number of biosphere reserves to 669 sites in 120 countries, including 16 transboundary sites. The Lima Declaration was adopted by consensus by some 1,000 participants attending the Congress.

On 17 March 2016, SeaWorld Entertainment, Inc. announced that the killer whales – or orcas – currently in the company's care will be the last generation of orcas at SeaWorld. The company will end all orca breeding as of today.

In a report published on 11 March 2016 in the journal Science , a team of Japanese scientists described a species of bacteria that can break the molecular bonds of one of the world’s most-used plastics - polyethylene terephthalate, also known as PET or polyester. The Japanese research team sifted through hundreds of samples of PET pollution before finding a colony of organisms using the plastic as a food source.

On 9 March 2016 the Otsu District Court in Japan ordered Kansai Electric Power to halt operations at Takahama reactors numbers three and four. It was the first time a Japanese court shut down an operational nuclear power plant.

On 8 March 2016 the EU postponed a decision on whether to extend the approval of glyphosate for another 15 years.

On 4 March 2016, the Council adopted a statement concerning a recent ruling regarding endocrine disruptors. The General Court considered that the Commission failed to specify in due time scientific criteria for these substances. The statement underscores the importance of urgent action by the Commission to comply with the judgement and its legal obligations, in order to prevent any further delay in developing science-based criteria for endocrine disruptors.

On 2 March 2016 the Oregon Senate passed a bill that would eliminate coal from the state's energy supply by 2030 and double state mandates on renewable power by 2040.

A growing number of pollinator species worldwide are being driven toward extinction by diverse pressures, many of them human-made, threatening millions of livelihoods and hundreds of billions of dollars worth of food supplies, according to the first global assessment of pollinators. However, the assessment, a two-year study conducted and released on 26 February 2016 by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), also highlights a number of ways to effectively safeguard pollinator populations. The assessment, titled Thematic Assessment of Pollinators, Pollination and Food Production and the first ever issued by IPBES, is a groundbreaking effort to better understand and manage a critical element of the global ecosystem. It is also the first assessment of its kind that is based on the available knowledge from science and indigenous and local knowledge systems.

Kristjan Loftsson, the director of Iceland’s largest whaling company, told daily newspaper Morgunbladid on 25 February 2016 that Hvalur HF would not be sending out vessels to slaughter fin whales this season because of difficulties exporting the meat to the Japanese market.

On 16 February 2016, the third ESA-developed satellite was launched for Europe’s Copernicus environment programme. The Sentinel-3A satellite was carried into orbit on a Rockot launcher from Plesetsk, Russia, at 17:57 GMT (18:57 CET; 20:57 local time). The first signal from Sentinel-3A was received after 92 min by the Kiruna station in Sweden. The mission is the third of six families of dedicated missions that make up the core of Europe’s Copernicus environmental monitoring network. Copernicus relies on the Sentinels and contributing missions to provide data for monitoring the environment and supporting civil security activities. Sentinel-3 carries a series of cutting-edge sensors to do just that. Over oceans, it measures the temperature, colour and height of the sea surface as well as the thickness of sea ice. These measurements will be used, for example, to monitor changes in Earth’s climate and for more hands-on applications such as marine pollution and biological productivity. Over land, this innovative mission will monitor wildfires, map the way land is used, check vegetation health and measure the height of rivers and lakes.

Fiji became the first country in the world to formally approve the UN climate deal agreed by 195 nations in Paris in December 2015. On 12 February 2016 the island nation’s parliament unanimously agreed to ratify the Paris agreement, according to local news reports. The Paris agreement will open for signature in April 2016 to all 197 parties of the UNFCCC. It will enter into force only if 55 countries that produce at least 55% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions ratify, accept, approve or accede to the agreement.

On 9 February 2016 the countries of the Danube river basin agreed in Vienna on joint steps to protect the Danube. At a conference of the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR), representatives of 14 states agreed on management and flood-prevention plans for the entire Danube river basin. The 2015 to 2021 management plan is the first update of the management plan presented for the first time in 2009 under the EU Water Framework Directive. The 2015 to 2021 management plan is the first update of the management plan presented for the first time in 2009 under the EU Water Framework Directive. It also contains a package of joint measures.

On 2 February 2016 by an overwhelming majority of 592 to 52, Members of the European Parliament voted to approve a report on the Mid-term review of the EU's Biodiversity Strategy, which calls for the protection of the Birds and Habitats Directives. The report was an ‘own-initiative report’ led by the Belgian MEP Mark Demesmaeker. The report stresses that full implementation and enforcement of these laws, collectively known as the Nature Directives, are needed to achieve the targets of the EU Biodiversity Strategy.

On 29 January 2016 Kansai Electric Power Co. restarted its Takahama No. 3 reactor, the nation’s third unit to go back online under new safety regulations but the first to run on mixed oxide (MOX) fuel, which contains plutonium extracted from spent nuclear fuel.

On 15 January 2016 Greenpeace International named not only its first female International Executive Director, but two. Jennifer Morgan and Bunny McDiarmid will take up the reins in an innovative co-leadership role on 4 April 2016. Bunny McDiarmid is a 30-year veteran of the organisation as an activist, ship's crewmember, and most recently the executive director of Greenpeace New Zealand which. Bunny has walked the decks of nearly every Greenpeace ship. Jennifer Morgan has walked the corridors of power. As Global Director of the Climate Program at the World Resources Institute she's dealt with heads of state and CEOs. She's been a leader of large teams at major organisations, a climate activist, and a constant innovator. Her other ports of call have included the Worldwide Fund for Nature, Climate Action Network, and E3G.

The capital of Slovenia, Ljubljana, has won the European Green Capital Award for 2016. The award was presented on 24 June 2014, by EU Environment Commissioner, Janez Potočnik, at a ceremony in Copenhagen, which holds the 2014 European Green Capital title. Ljubljana received recognition for raising environmental awareness amongst its citizens, for its sustainability strategy 'Vision 2025', its implementation of a range of urban green measures over the past decade and its impressive transportation network.

The European Commission has officially established the Integrated Carbon Observation System (ICOS ERIC), a new pan-European environmental research infrastructure which aims to provide long-term carbon and greenhouse gas observations across the Europe. The ICOS European Research Infrastructure Consortium has been established with eight founding members: Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Finland, which is the ICOS ERIC hosting country, as well as Switzerland which currently has an observer country status. The ICOS has successfully completed almost a decade long process from entering the European Commission ESFRI Roadmap to establishment of the ICOS ERIC. The ICOS ERIC inauguration has been held in Brussels on 24t November 2015 when Robert-Jan Smits has handed out the official plate to the Finnish Minister of Education and Culture Sanni Grahn-Laasonen and ICOS Director General Werner Kutsch in the presence of the hosting country delegation.

On 21 December 2015, Federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt gave the go-ahead to the expansion of the Abbot Point Coal Terminal near Bowen in north Queensland, making it one of the world's largest coal ports. The controversial project involves dredging 1.1 million cubic metres of spoil near the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, which will then be disposed of on land.

On 16 December 2015 Environment Ministers of the EU stood up to defend nature, calling for more money for protected areas and opposing a re-opening of the Birds and Habitats Directives. Ariel Brunner, BirdLife Europe Senior Head of Policy, said: “Today’s council conclusions give the European Commission a clear mandate; to not waste time and energy with a destructive reopening of the Birds and Habitats Directives, but to focus on what really matters: proper enforcement and implementation, the dramatic shortfall in funding for conservation and addressing the negative impacts of agriculture.”

A draft decision to raise diesel car emission limits for nitrogen oxides (NOx) by up to 110%, along with the introduction of the long-awaited Real Driving Emissions (RDE) test procedure, is neither explained nor justified, and would undermine the enforcement of existing EU standards, said Environment Committee MEPs, in a resolution, voted on 14 December 2015, which objects to the draft. Parliament has a right to veto the proposal.

On 12 December 2015 the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris adopted the first climate agreement which commits all countries. With this agreement the international community sets itself the internationally binding target of limiting global warming to below 2 degree Celsius. It also lays down that the world must become greenhouse gas-neutral by the second half of the century. The Paris Agreement maps out quite specifically how this target is to be achieved. As of 2020, every five years the countries shall update their nationally determined contributions, which must be as ambitious as possible. That is to say they must be more, not less ambitious than the preceding ones. In addition, every country has to report its GHG emissions to ensure that progress is not only made on paper but in reality. The agreement contains the firm commitment to support developing countries with regard to climate action and mitigation measures. The international community must also support the poorest and most vulnerable countries in coping with damage and loss due to climate change, e.g. via climate risk insurances and better damage prevention. The Paris Agreement overcomes the outdated division between developed and developing countries. Instead of the old division between developed and developing countries a fair differentiation will ensure that contributions are determined by the respective capabilities.

On 8 December 2015 the Supreme Court of the Philippines ordered a permanent ban on field trials of genetically engineered (GE) eggplant and a temporary halt on approving applications for the “contained use, import, commercialisation and propagation” of GE crops, including the import of GE products. The court ruled in favour of Greenpeace Southeast Asia, as well as several Filipino activists, academics and politicians. The Supreme Court affirmed the May 2013 Court of Appeals order for the government to prepare an immediate plan of action to rehabilitate field trial sites and protect, preserve, and conserve the environment, and recommend policies and measures to reform the present regulatory process. The temporary ban is in place until a new ‘administrative order’ takes effect, and includes the highly controversial ‘Golden’ rice, an experimental project by International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) that is currently back at the laboratory stage due to poor performance

The Philippines Commission on Human Rights (CHR) announced that it will launch an investigation on 10 December 2015 (International Human Rights Day), which could hold fossil fuel companies responsible for the impacts of climate change, such as extreme weather events. This will be the world's first national human rights investigation into big polluters. The 50 companies that will be investigated include Chevron, ExxonMobil, BP, Royal Dutch Shell, and ConocoPhillips. They are part of the 90 legal entities that are responsible for the majority of global carbon and methane emissions in the earth’s atmosphere, as identified by peer-reviewed research into so-called ‘Carbon Majors’ published in 2014.

The Guardian reports the Botswana government has sold the rights to frack for shale gas in the Kgalagadi transfrontier park, one of the largest conservation areas in Africa. The park is home to gemsbok desert antelope, black-maned Kalahari lions and pygmy falcons, the paper says. But conservationists and top park officials – who were not informed of the fracking rights sale – are now worried about the impact of drilling on wildlife. Prospecting licences for more than half of the park were granted to a UK-listed company called Karoo Energy in September 2014, although the sale has not been reported previously, the papers says.

How can development banks and other investors decide whether an investment is climate-friendly or not? A new study produced in the context of the German G7 presidency provides answers to this question. The paper was presented on the sidelines of the Climate Change Conference in Paris. It specifically deals with criteria that both public and private investors can use as a guide to ensure that their investments contribute to limiting global warming to below two degrees Celsius. The researchers derive categorisation of possible investments from various 2ºC scenarios. On a positive list there are investments in renewable energies, energy storage and low-carbon transport routes and means, which are important elements in limiting global warming to below two degrees Celsius. On the negative list, however, are investments in construction of new conventional coal power plants, which in principle are not compatible with the 2°C limit according to scientific scenarios.

Founding Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Maurice Strong passed away at age 86. Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and Executive Director of UNEP, issued the following statement: "Today the world mourns one of its greats. Maurice Strong was a visionary and a pioneer of global sustainable development. His courageous leadership allowed the Stockholm Conference of 1972 to make history by launching a new era of international environmental diplomacy which saw the birth of UNEP, the first UN agency to be headquartered in a developing country. Not a believer in summits as an end in themselves, he accepted the appointment to become UNEP's first Executive Director and moved to Kenya to establish UNEP's iconic global headquarters on what was then a coffee farm on the outskirts of Nairobi. Strong will forever be remembered for placing the environment on the international agenda and at the heart of development. He shepherd global environmental governance processes - from the original Rio Earth Summit, Agenda 21 and the Rio Declaration to the launch of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Convention on Biological Diversity."

On 12 November 2015, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) issued an opinion that glyphosate is unlikely to cause cancer. That clashed with a view from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), part of the World Health Organisation, stoking outrage among environmental campaigners and divided the scientific community. The IARC said in March 2015 that glyphosate is “probably carcinogenic to humans”. Ninety-six academics from universities around the world signed an open letter to European Health Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis, dated 27 November 2016 and written by Christopher Portier from the US-based non-governmental organisation the Environmental Defense Fund. Portier was also a specialist consulted for the IARC’s research on glyphosate. “We urge you and the European Commission to disregard the flawed EFSA finding on glyphosate in your formulation of glyphosate health and environmental policy for Europe,” the letter said.

On 27 November 2015 the Japanese Fisheries Agency notified the International Whaling Commission that it will resume whaling in the 2015-16 season under a revised plan. The plan, which calls for cutting annual minke whale catches by two-thirds to 333, is scientifically reasonable, Japan says in a document filed with the IWC.

New rules on export credits to coal-fired power plants, developed within an OECD framework, have been endorsed by the EU. The participants to an arrangement on officially supported export credits agreed a sector understanding on coal-fired electricity generation projects on 17 November 2015. The Council endorsed the EU's position on 26 November 2015, thus allowing the EU formally to join the consensus on the new rules. t sets out financial terms and conditions that will apply to export credits for coal-fired electricity generation projects from 1 January 2017. Official support for coal-fired power plants will thus be banned or phased down, with a view to significantly reducing the use of less efficient coal-fired power plants. Current participants to the arrangement are Australia, Canada, the EU, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland and the United States. Other OECD members and non-members may be invited to participate.

On 24 November 2015 the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA) authorized the Belo Monte Dam’s operating license, which allows the dam's reservoirs to be filled.

On 24 November 2015, the World Bank Group unveiled a new plan that calls for $16 billion in funding to help African people and countries adapt to climate change and build up the continent’s resilience to climate shocks. Titled Accelerating Climate-Resilient and Low-Carbon Development, the Africa Climate Business Plan will be presented at COP21, the global climate talks in Paris, on November 30. It lays out measures to boost the resilience of the continent’s assets – its people, land, water, and cities - as well as other moves including boosting renewable energy and strengthening early warning systems. The World Bank and the United Nations Environment Programme estimate that the cost of managing climate resilience will continue to rise to $20-50 billion by mid-century, and closer to $100 billion in the event of a 4°C warming.

For the first time, a person affected by the hazards of climate change is suing a company in Europe: On 24 November 2015, Saúl Luciano Lliuya filed a lawsuit against the energy company RWE at the Regional Court in Essen (Germany) with his lawyer. Saul Luciano fears for his home city of Huaraz which is threatened by a possible flood wave. The lawsuit argues that the Essen-based company is partly responsible for glacial melting in the Andes and thus also for the danger to his house which lies at the foot of the mountains. It requests that RWE contribute financially to safety measures at the lake above the city, which has grown immensely as a result of glacial melting. The payment requested is proportional to the company’s contribution to climate change. “We support Saúl Luciano Lliuya’s claim“, says Klaus Milke, Chairman of the Board of Germanwatch. “Only a few days before the Paris Climate Summit, this lawsuit against RWE sends an important message to the energy sector and to policy-makers: emissions must drop to prevent more people from being threatened by climate change. And those responsible for the risks must take on the costs to protect the people who are affected."

A total of eight products and concepts were granted the 2015 German Federal Ecodesign Award. The ceremony took place on 23 Nvember 2015 November at the Federal Environment Ministry in Berlin. Alongside President of the Federal Environment Agency, Maria Krautzberger, Federal Minister Barbara Hendricks gave an opening speech and presented the awards to the winners.

Aware of the two-degree-target of the Paris climate negotiations as well as the economic risks involved, CEO Oliver Bäte announced that Allianz will stop financing coal-based business models. It will no longer invest in companies that derive more than 30 percent of revenue from coal mining or generate over 30 percent of their energy from coal.

The EU limit values for nitrogen dioxide are still exceeded in many German cities. The Environmental Action Germany (DUH), supported by British NGO ClientEarth has therefore filed a lawsuit today (19 November 2015) against several German Federal States who need to do more in the area of clean air planning. The affected cities are Cologne, Bonn, Aachen, Dusseldorf, Essen, Gelsenkirchen, Frankfurt/Main and Stuttgart. With this measure, the DUH intends to commit the Federal States in question to change their clean air plans. The aim is to include all appropriate measures in the plans so that the limit values, which have been valid for many years, are complied with as soon as possible. The DUH has also applied for compulsory enforcement measures to be taken against the Bavarian and the Hessian Ministries of the Environment due to limit exceedances in Munich, Darmstadt and Wiesbaden. Final judgements have already been issued there, but they have not been complied with. The DUH is now requesting that penalty payments be paid by the two competent federal state ministries for failing to implement the judgements. The law provides for a maximum penalty of 10,000 euros; this penalty can be repeated and also fixed on a per day basis.

The French government has canceled several public demonstrations that were planned on the sidelines of the COP21 climate talks in Paris. On 18 November 2015 Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on France Inter radio that the climate talks will go ahead, but that the country’s forces couldn’t guarantee the security of public demonstration after the terror attacks on 13 November in the French Capital.

The UK will close all coal-fired power plants by 2025. The announcement came in a speech by the energy secretary, Amber Rudd, which she described as a “reset” of Britain’s energy policy on 18 November 2015.

On 12 November 2015 the Sustainable Ports Development Bill 2015 was passed by the Queensland Parliament. The Bill was assented to on 20 November 2015. The Sustainable Ports Development Act 2015 will: - restrict new port development in and adjoining the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area (GBRWHA) to within current port limits and outside Commonwealth and state marine parks - prohibit major capital redging for the development of new or expansion of existing port facilities in the GBRWHA outside the priority ports of Gladstone, Abbot Point, Townsville and Hay Point/Mackay - prohibit the sea-based disposal of port-related capital dredge material within the GBRWHA. WWF-Australia CEO Dermot O’Gorman said that, for more than a century, dumping huge amounts of dredge spoil in reef waters was the norm. But the continuing decline of Australia’s national icon sparked an international campaign to end this outdated practice. “For everyone around the world who cares about the reef this is a moment to savour,” said O’Gorman. “We’ve stopped up to 46 million cubic metres of dredge spoil from being dumped in reef waters in coming years. That’s enough dredge spoil to fill 4.6 million dump trucks."

EFSA and the EU Member States have finalised the re-assessment of glyphosate. The report concludes that glyphosate is unlikely to pose a carcinogenic hazard to humans and proposes a new safety measure that will tighten the control of glyphosate residues in food. The conclusion will be used by the European Commission in deciding whether or not to keep glyphosate on the EU list of approved active substances, and by EU Member States to re-assess the safety of pesticide products containing glyphosate that are used in their territories.