The Environment Chronicle

Close to 80 percent of the world's energy supply could be met by renewables by mid-century. This could lead to cumulative greenhouse gas savings that could contribute towards a goal of holding the increase in global temperature below 2 degrees Celsius. But it has to be backed by an appropriate policy framework and the development of system integration. These are the findings of a special report realised by Working Group III of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Over 120 researchers from all over the world have worked on this Special Report on Renewable Energy Sources and Climate Change Mitigation (SRREN) for the last two years. On the 11th Session of Working Group III, 5-8 May 2011 in Abu Dhabi, government representatives by 194 nations have approved the report.

The first chapter of WWF’s Living Forests Report, released on 27 April 2011, examines the drivers of deforestation and identifies the opportunities to shift from business as usual to a new model of sustainability, which can benefit government, business and communities. Based on a new global analysis showing that more than 230 million hectares of forest will disappear by 2050 if no action is taken, the report proposes that policymakers and businesses unite around a goal of zero net deforestation and forest degradation (ZNDD) by 2020 as a groundbreaking global benchmark to avoid dangerous climate change and curb biodiversity loss. During the 2011 International Year of Forests, WWF’s Living Forests Report is part of a year‑long conversation with partners, policymakers, and business about how to protect, conserve, sustainably use, and govern the world’s forests in the 21st century.

A study on the status of marine fish in the Mediterranean Sea released on 19 April 2011 by the International Union for Conservation of Nature says almost half of the species of sharks and rays in the Mediterranean and at least 12 species of bony fish are threatened with extinction due to overfishing, marine habitat degradation and pollution. This is the first comprehensive regional IUCN Red List assessment of the native marine fish species for an entire sea. The report also highlights the substantial lack of information on the conservation status of nearly one third of these Mediterranean marine fish (which were assessed as Data Deficient), a significant proportion of which are considered endemic to the region.

The coastline in Arctic regions reacts to climate change with increased erosion and retreats by half a metre per year on average. This means substantial changes for Arctic ecosystems near the coast and the population living there. A consortium of more than thirty scientists from ten countries was involved in preparing the 170-page status report entitled “State of the Arctic Coast 2010”. The study was initiated and coordinated by the International Arctic Science Committee (IASC), the international joint project Land-Ocean Interactions in the Coastal Zone (LOICZ), the International Permafrost Association (IPA) and the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) working group of the Arctic Council. The scientists jointly investigated over 100,000 kilometres and thus a fourth of all Arctic coasts and their results was published on 18 April 2011.The changes are particularly dramatic in the Laptev, East Siberian and Beaufort Seas, where coastal erosion rates reach more than 8 metres a year in some cases.

On 2 March 2011, coordinated by the French Institute for Public Health Surveillance (InVS), the Aphekom project released the results of 3 years of work on air pollution and its impact on health conducted by 60 scientists in 12 countries across Europe. Using traditional health impact assessment methods, Aphekom (Improving Knowledge and Communication for Decision Making on Air Pollution and Health in Europe) has showed that a decrease to WHO’s annual air-quality guideline on PM 2.5 fine particles (10 micrograms/cubic metre) in 25 large European cities could add up to 22 months of life expectancy for persons 30 years of age and older, depending on the city and its average level of PM 2.5.

As of 21 February 2011 the website of the German Emissions Trading Authority (DEHSt) at the Federal Environment Agency has a new outfit- a modern look, easier to navigate, and more services. Site visitors can now already access their topic of choice from the homepage.

A new comprehensive analysis finds that 75 percent of the world's coral reefs are currently threatened by local and global pressures. For the first time, the analysis includes threats from climate change, including warming seas and rising ocean acidification. "Reefs at Risk Revisited" is being released by the World Resources Institute, along with the Nature Conservancy, the WorldFish Center, the International Coral Reef Action Network, Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network, and the UNEP-World Conservation Monitoring Center, along with a network of more than 25 organizations. Local pressures - especially overfishing and destructive fishing - are causing many reefs to be degraded. Global pressures are leading to coral bleaching from rising sea temperatures and increasing ocean acidification from carbon dioxide pollution. According to the new analysis, if left unchecked, more than 90 percent of reefs will be threatened by 2030 and nearly all reefs will be at risk by 2050. For the first time, the report identifies the 27 nations most socially and economically vulnerable to coral reef degradation and loss. Among these, the nine most vulnerable countries are: Haiti, Grenada, Philippines, Comoros, Vanuatu, Tanzania, Kiribati, Fiji, and Indonesia. The report is an update of "Reefs at Risk," released by WRI in 1998.

The Federal Environment Agency (UBA) presents the brochure entitled Umwelt und Landwirtschaft [Environment and Agriculture], published in the Environmental Data (Daten zur Umwelt) series, with an overview of key facts and figures to enable a sound discussion about conservation in agriculture, and to present what has been achieved as well as where problems exist. Graphs, maps and tables serve to illustrate existing interrelationships.

Alternative fuels have the potential to gradually replace fossil energy sources and make transport sustainable by 2050, according to a report presented to the European Commission on 25 January 2011 by the stakeholder expert group on future transport fuels. The EU will need an oil-free and largely CO2-free energy supply for transport by 2050 due to the need to reduce its impact on the environment and concerns about the security of energy supply. The expert group has for the first time developed a comprehensive approach covering the whole transport sector. Expected demand from all transport modes could be met through a combination of electricity (batteries or hydrogen/fuel cells) and biofuels as main options, synthetic fuels (increasingly from renewable resources) as a bridging option, methane (natural gas and biomethane) as complementary fuel, and LPG as supplement.

On 17 January 2011 Greenpeace UK released a new report with partners from Platform and Oil Change International about oil investment and increasingly risky sources of oil. The report "Reserves Replacement Ratio in a Marginal Oil World: Adequate Indicator or Subprime Statistic?" examines current practices of reporting on oil reserves to be derived from tar sands, deep water drilling and Arctic crude. The international oil industry has entered an era in which maintaining production numbers involves unprecedented risk, escalating costs and tighter margins. Adequate profits from equity production will increasingly depend on a high demand and high oil price environment which is not only far from assured but is also counter to the interests of climate protection.

On 11 January 2010 the U.S. National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling released its final report and recommendations in Washington, DC.

Energy production from plants could provide up to twenty percent of the world's energy demand in 2050, half of it from biomass plantations alone – but only at the price of a substantial expansion of land used for cultivation, to the expense of nature. This is the finding of a study carried out by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), “which for the first time determines the potential and the risks of energy production from biomass plantations in a complex biogeochemical computer simulation,“ lead author Tim Beringer says. Human land use could increase by ten to thirty percent, depending on the scenario, and irrigation water demand could double.

In 2011, there was a massive increase in the use of renewable energy worldwide. Global invest­ment in the sector rose by about 17 per cent over 2010 levels, reaching a record high of 257 billion US dollars. This was announced on 11 Jun e 2012 by the REN21 policy network in its annual Renewables Global Status Report (GSR). Renewable energy now supplies 16.7 per cent of final energy consumption and about 20.3 per cent of global electricity con­sump­tion worldwide. Total investment in the sector was 40 billion US dollars higher than invest­ment in fossil energy generation capa­city. The number of countries that have adopted targets for the expansion of re­new­able energy has risen again, reaching 118. More than half of them are developing countries. Growth in the re­new­able energy sector mainly took place in China, the U.S., and Germany, as well as Spain, Italy, India, and Japan.

As the 2010 United Nations International Year of Biodiversity comes to a close, the Missouri Botanical Garden (MBG) and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (RBG Kew) announce the completion of The Plant List. This landmark international resource is a working list of all land plant species, fundamental to understanding and documenting plant diversity and effective conservation of plants. The completion of The Plant List accomplishes Target 1 of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC), which called for a widely accessible working list of known plant species as a step towards a complete world flora. The Plant List can be accessed by visiting www.theplantlist.org.

A representative survey polling 2008 people which the Federal Environment Agency (UBA) carried out in Spring 2010 revealed that nearly two-thirds of those surveyed (62 percent) believe that the state should do more to protect the environment. 61 percent are in favour of Germany assuming a pioneering role in international climate protection policy. 85 percent agreed with the statement: “We need a resolute switch to renewable energies“. About three-quarters expect achievement of the environmental policy goal to increase energy efficiency through greater involvement of the state, e.g. cutting ecologically harmful subsidisation policies.

On 10 December 2010 the Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, published the report 'Environmental statistics and accounts in Europe'. This publication covers key environmental statistics available at Eurostat, the Directorate-General for the Environment of the European Commission and the European Environment Agency.

On 30 November 2010 the European Environment Agency (EEA) released its fourth Environment State and Outlook report — SOER 2010 — a comprehensive assessment of how and why Europe’s environment is changing, and what we are doing about it. SOER 2010 concludes that a fully integrated approach to transforming Europe to a resource-efficient green economy can not only result in a healthy environment, but also boost prosperity and social cohesion.

The first World Ocean Review (WOR) was launched on 18 November 2010 in Hamburg. The non-profit company maribus gGmbH was established two years ago with the aim of raising the public's awareness of the interconnectedness of the marine environment, thus contributing to more effective protection of the world's oceans. The partners who have made such a vital contribution to the production of maribus's first publication, the World Ocean Review, have many years of commitment and expertise in studying the seas at the highest scientific level. They are: the International Ocean Institute (IOI), the Cluster of Excellence "The Future Ocean" and "mare" - the German-language magazine which focuses on the topic of the sea. The result is a comprehensive, detailed and unique report about the state of the world's oceans and their interplay with ecological, economic and sociopolitical conditions.

On 18 November 2010 the Vice President of the European Parliament, Diana Wallis, introduced a new report, the EU Arctic Footprint and Policy Assessment, in Brussels. The EU Arctic Footprint and Policy Assessment is another step towards a comprehensive EU policy strategy for addressing challenges in the Arctic. In 2009, the EU Council adopted the “Council conclusions on Arctic issues”, emphasising the need for gradual formulation of a policy on Arctic issues to address EU interests and responsibilities in the region.

On 20 October 2010 the final TEEB report was launched at the CBD COP10 meeting in Nagoya, Japan. "Mainstreaming the Economics of Nature" is the last of four reports produced by the U.N. Environmental Program over the past two years and aims to capture how habitats such as tropical forests and coral reefs contribute to countries' economic bottom lines.

Real time maps of air, ground and water pollution can now be made available to everyone thanks to an EU-funded research project called INTAMAP. The INTAMAP project has developed open specifications software to draw up contour maps that not only show the exact location of polluted areas but also illustrate where pollution is coming from and where it is headed. Such information enables public authorities to decide more quickly on appropriate action to tackle the source of the pollution and allows individuals to avoid it. Researchers from Austria, Belgium, Germany, Greece, The Netherlands and the UK worked on the project which received some €1.8 million in EU funding. Applying ICT research to benefit Europe's citizens and businesses is a key element of the Digital Agenda for Europe adopted by the Commission in May 2010.

The huge 10-year study involved 2,700 scientists from 80 nations and has revealed what, where, and how much marine life there is in the world’s oceans. The variety of life uncovered in the census is much more than many experts had imagined. So far, 1,200 new species have been officially named and there are 5000 more awaiting descriptions. The total number of marine species described is now about 244,000, but experts estimate there could be more than 1 million. And new species are being described at a rate of about 1,900 per year. The scientific results were reported on October 4, 2010.

Forests and other wooded areas occupy almost 40% of the total area of the EU, cropland nearly a quarter and grassland a further fifth, while built-up and other artificial areas, such as roads and railways, account for 4%. Regarding socio-economic use, over 40% of the land in the EU is used for agriculture and almost 30% for forestry. The use of land for residential, commercial and industrial purposes accounts for just over 10% of the total area of the EU. These data are published for the first time by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union and are based on a large scale land survey, the Land Use/Cover Area frame Survey (LUCAS), conducted in 2009.

The world's rivers are in crisis, according to a study by researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison Center for Limnology and the City College of New York (CCNY) that is published in the Sept. 30, 2010 issue of the scientific journal Nature. The study, led by UW-Madison limnologist and professor of zoology Peter McIntyre and CCNY modeler Charles Vörösmarty, combines, for the first time, indices of water security and biodiversity for all of the world's rivers, many of which are severely degraded due to issues of pollution, water diversion and introduced species.

The world's freshwater turtle populations are being decimated by a perfect storm of habitat loss, hunting and a lucrative pet trade, and urgent action is needed to save them according to new analysis from Conservation International. The new analysis, which has been undertaken for World Water Week, identifies that the worrying decline in many of the world's turtle species is evidence that humanity's management of vital freshwater ecosystems is causing deep and damaging environmental impacts that will affect people and wildlife alike. Dr Peter Paul van Dijk, Director of Conservation International's Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Conservation Program said: "More than 40 percent of the planet's freshwater turtle species are threatened with extinction – making them among the most threatened groups of animals on the planet. Their decline is an indicator that the freshwater ecosystems that millions of people rely on for irrigation, food and water are being damaged in a manner that could have dire consequences for people and turtles alike."

On 9 September 2010 the Report “TEEB for Local and Regional Policy Makers” was launched. The new report, entitled TEEB for Local and Regional Policy Makers, prepared by The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) initiative hosted and supported by the United Nations Environment Programme, highlights how much cities depend on nature, and illustrates how ecosystem services can provide cost-effective solutions to municipal services.

By integrating satellite mapping, airborne-laser technology, and ground-based plot surveys, scientists from the Carnegie Institution’s Department of Global Ecology, with colleagues from the World Wildlife Fund and in coordination with the Peruvian Ministry of the Environment (MINAM), have revealed the first high-resolution maps of carbon locked up in tropical forest vegetation and emitted by land-use practices. These new maps pave the way for accurate monitoring of carbon storage and emissions for the proposed United Nations initiative on Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD). The study is published in the September 6, 2010, early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

On 30 August 2010, the InterAcademy Council has released its report “Climate Change Assessments - Review of the Processes and Procedures of the IPCC”. The review committee states that the process to produce the periodic assessment reports has been successful overall. However, it recommends fundamentally reforming the IPCC management structure and strengthening its procedures.

The business community too is increasingly recognising that the Earth's natural resources represent economic value, business possibilities and opportunities for profit. Worldwide, the costs of biodiversity loss amount to many trillions of dollars and thus have a growing influence on markets and consumers: 60 percent of consumers in America and Europe and more than 90 percent of consumers in Brazil are aware of the problem of biodiversity loss. More than 80 percent of consumers throughout the world said they would no longer buy products from companies whose business plans neglect ecological and social considerations. These are the findings of the recent TEEB for Business Report which was presented on 13 July 2010 at a conference in London. The TEEB experts conclude that companies can only meet today's market requirements if they integrate sustainable biodiversity management into their corporate strategy.

On 8 July 2010 a new report was published by environmental group EEB, Europe’s largest federation of environmental citizens’ organisations. The report, “10 years of Water Framework Directive: a toothless tiger?” reveals that European governments are doing very little to protect and restore Europe’s waters. Based on eight river management plans around Europe, it was discovered that despite eight years of preparation and planning there appears to be little improvement forecast in the coming years. The findings revealed River Basin Management Plans - national plans for protecting and improving water - are showing little or minimal success. Indeed, many of the plans delay any improvements until 2027, suggesting a widespread abuse of the exemptions the law provides.

On 7 July 2010 the president of the UBA, Jochen Flasbarth, inaugurated the new biocide information portal (www.biozid.info)in Berlin.

Only 30 eastern North Pacific right whales are left on the planet, making it the world’s smallest population of whales, according to a paper published in the Royal Society Biology Letters on 30 June 2010. Paul Wade, a research biologist at the National Marine Mammal Laboratory at the Alaska Fisheries Science Center, and his colleagues used several different methods, including DNA analysis and photo-identification surveys, to count the eastern North Pacific right whales. The estimates all came to very similar conclusions, all pointing to around 30.

A new biodiversity management handbook for companies was presented by parliamentary state secretary at the Federal Environment Ministry, Ursula Heinen-Esser, at the international business conference "SusCon" (Sustainable Business and Consumption) in Nuremberg on 15 June 2010. Using many examples, the Corporate Biodiversity Handbook gives companies a clear picture of the importance of biological diversity for business. It also shows what companies can do to actively supportthe conservation of biodiversity in practice.

The recently-conducted “Synovate and Deutsche Welle Global Study on Climate Change 2010” has shown that people around the world still see global climate change as a major threat and extreme weather conditions as one of the major risks. Synovate surveyed more than 13,000 people from 18 different countries about the potential threats, the effects and the possibilities that exist to counteract climate change. The “Synovate and Deutsche Welle Global Study on Climate Change 2010” is the third survey that Synovate has completed on this subject. Researchers relied on more than 13,000 respondents from 18 countries for the results, which were collected between February and May throughout the world – including Germany, France, Brazil, USA, China and South Africa.

On 10 May 2010, the third edition of Global Biodiversity Outlook is being launched in a number of cities around the world, including Alexandria, Bonn, Brasilia, Chamonix, London, Manama, Montreal, New York, Nairobi, Panama, and Tokyo. The third edition of Global Biodiversity Outlook (GBO-3), produced by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) confirms that the world has failed to meet its target to achieve a significant reduction in the rate of biodiversity loss by 2010. The report is based on scientific assessments, national reports submitted by governments and a study on future scenarios for biodiversity. Subject to an extensive independent scientific review process, publication of GBO-3 is one of the principal milestones of the UN’s International Year of Biodiversity.

Scientists have discovered more than 123 new species in the Heart of Borneo area during the past 3 years – an average of more than 3 new species per month. These fascinating finds include the world’s longest known stick insect, a flame-coloured snake and a colour-changing frog. In total, 67 plants, 29 invertebrates, 17 fish, five frogs, three snakes and two lizards and a brand new species of bird have been discovered. The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) released the list of the discovered species on 22 April 2010.

The current national emissions-reduction pledges accompanying the Copenhagen Accord will not limit global warming to two degrees Celsius. In fact, they imply a global mean temperature increase of more than three degrees Celsius this century. This is reported by a team of researchers led by Joeri Rogelj and Malte Meinshausen of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in the current edition of the journal “Nature”.

The federal Environmental Specimen Bank (ESB), Germany’s archive documenting environmental quality, provides exhaustive public information. Since 1981 it has collected environmental and human specimens which it analyses for pollutant substances, and put them in long-term storage. The new web application at www.umweltprobenbank.de provides private citizens, scientists, policy and administration officials alike with user-friendly and easily navigable access to topics and data contained in the ESB. The Federal Environment Agency (UBA) has operated the Environmental Specimen Bank on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Environment for over 30 years. It comprises one of the central components of environmental observation in Germany. Regular sampling occurs in 13 typical areas within six different eco-system types. Students from the universities of Münster, Halle, Greifswald, and Ulm make annual donations of blood and urine samples to the ESB. The representative environmental and human samples have in part been stored permanently since 1981. This allows retrospective trend analyses of substances for which there was no verification procedure at the time of sampling, or which were mistakenly considered harmless at the time. A public ESB web application has existed since 2000. This new look lends a new and appropriate outfit to the familiar theme.

The cinema documentary THE 4TH REVOLUTION – EnergyAutonomy describes the possibility to switch to 100% renewables within the next 30 years by telling the stories of its protagonists, a prominent environmental activist, Nobel laureates, innovative businessmen and politicians. It demonstrates the opportunities which will be provided by the energy revolution regarding the sustainable economic development and social and economic fairness. The film was launched in German cinemas on 18 March 2010.

Habitat loss is having a serious impact on Europe’s butterflies, beetles and dragonflies. The release of the European Red List, commissioned by the European Commission, shows that nine percent of butterflies, 11 percent of saproxylic beetles (beetles that depend on decaying wood) and 14 percent of dragonflies are threatened with extinction within Europe. Some species are so threatened that they are at risk of global extinction and are now included in the latest update of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™. Today’s studies reveal that nearly a third (31 percent) of Europe’s 435 butterfly species have declining populations and 9 percent are already threatened with extinction.