The Environment Chronicle

The Cubeb (Piper cubeba) has been chosen for the Medicinal Herb of the Year 2016 by the NHV Theophrastus.

The 27th annual State of the Climate report has confirmed that 2016 topped 2015 as the warmest year in 137 years of record keeping. The report found that most indicators of climate change continued to follow trends of a warming world, and several, including land and ocean temperatures, sea level and greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere broke records set just one year prior. This annual check-up for the planet, led by researchers from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, is based on contributions from more than 450 scientists from nearly 60 countries. Greenhouse gases were the highest on record. The 2016 average global CO2 concentration was 402.9 parts per million (ppm), an increase of 3.5 ppm compared with 2015 and the largest annual increase observed in the 58-year record. Global surface temperature was the highest on record. The 2016 combined global land and ocean surface temperature was record-high for a third consecutive year, according to four global analyses. The increase in temperature ranged from 0.45°–0.56°C above the 1981-2010 average. Average sea surface temperature was the highest on record. According to four independent datasets analyzed, the record-breaking globally averaged sea surface temperature for 2016 was 0.36–0.41 degrees C higher than the 1981–2010 average and surpassed the previous mark set in 2015 by 01–0.03 degrees C. Global upper-ocean heat content neared record high. Heat in the uppermost layer of the ocean, the top 2,300 feet (700 meters), saw a slight drop compared to the record high set in 2015. The findings are consistent with a continuing trend of warming oceans. Global sea level was the highest on record. The global average sea level rose to a new record high in 2016, and was about 3.25 inches (82 mm) higher than that observed in 1993, when satellite record-keeping for sea level began. Arctic sea ice coverage was at or near record low. The maximum Arctic sea ice extent (coverage) reached in March 2016 tied last year as the smallest in the 37-year satellite data record, while the minimum sea ice extent in September tied 2007 as the second lowest on record. Tropical cyclones were above-average overall. There were 93 named tropical cyclones across all ocean basins in 2016, above the 1981-2010 average of 82 storms.

The globally averaged temperature in 2016 was about 1.1°C higher than the pre-industrial period. It was approximately 0.83° Celsius above the long term average (14°C) of the WMO 1961-1990 reference period, and about 0.07°C warmer than the previous record set in 2015. WMO uses data from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies and the UK’s Met Office Hadley Centre and the University of East Anglia’s Climatic Research Unit. WMO also draws on reanalysis data from the European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasts and the Copernicus Climate Change Service, which use a weather forecasting system to combine many sources of data to provide a more complete picture of global temperatures, including in Polar regions.

The globally averaged temperature, over land and ocean surfaces for 2015, was the highest since record keeping began in 1880.

Cactus of the year 2016 is the Discocactus horstii.

Dragonfly of the Year 2016 is the Lestes sponsa. It is known commonly as the emerald damselfly or common spreadwing.

Fungus of the Year 2016 is the Lepista personata.

The Endangered Domestic Breed of the Year for 2016 are regional cattle breeds: the Braunvieh cattle, the Glan cattle and the German Black Pied cattle.

Flower of the Year 2016 is the Cowslip or Cowslip primrose (Primula veris).

Moss of the Year 2016 is the midway peat moss or Magellan's peatmoss (Sphagnum magellanicum).

Lichen of the Year 2016 is the Icmadophila ericetorum.

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.”

Climate change is rapidly warming lakes across the globe. This is the result of a study published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters and presented on 16 December 2015 during the annual conference of the American Geophysical Union (AGU). In this first worldwide synthesis of in situ and satellite-derived lake data, the scientists find that lake summer surface water temperatures rose rapidly (global mean = 0.34°C decade−1) between 1985 and 2009. Their analyses show that surface water warming rates are dependent on combinations of climate and local characteristics, rather than just lake location, leading to the counterintuitive result that regional consistency in lake warming is the exception, rather than the rule. The most rapidly warming lakes are widely geographically distributed, and their warming is associated with interactions among different climatic factors—from seasonally ice-covered lakes in areas where temperature and solar radiation are increasing while cloud cover is diminishing (0.72°C decade−1) to ice-free lakes experiencing increases in air temperature and solar radiation (0.53°C decade−1). The pervasive and rapid warming observed here signals the urgent need to incorporate climate impacts into vulnerability assessments and adaptation efforts for lakes.

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.

The European Commission has decided to refer Germany to the Court of Justice of the EU over the failure to apply Directive 2006/40/EC (Mobile Air Conditioning (MAC) Directive) on mobile air-conditioning systems which prescribes the use of motor vehicles' refrigerants with less global warming potential and the phasing out of certain fluorinated greenhouse gases. The Commission alleges that Germany has infringed EU law by allowing the car manufacturer Daimler AG to place automobile vehicles on the EU market that were not in conformity with the MAC Directive, and failing to take remedial action. Daimler AG invoked safety concerns regarding the use of refrigerants prescribed by the MAC Directive. These concerns were not shared by any other car manufacturer and were rejected by Germany's Federal Motor Transport Authority (Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt, KBA) and the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission (JRC), which undertook an additional risk analysis in 2014. Despite contacts between the Commission and the German authorities in the context of the infringement procedure, Germany has not taken any further steps against the issuing of the type-approval of non-compliant motor vehicles and has not taken appropriate remedial action on the manufacturer. In referring Germany to the Court of Justice, the Commission aims to ensure that the climate objectives of the MAC Directive are fulfilled and that EU law is uniformly applied throughout the EU so as to ensure fair competitive conditions for all economic operators.

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.

On 1 December 2015, Japan’s whaling fleet set sail for the Antarctic despite international pressure to end its annual hunts. A mother ship and three other vessels, along with 160 crew, plan to kill 333 minke whales in the Antarctic. The Japanese fisheries agency said the fleet would conduct research, despite the International Court of Justice in den Haag, ruling last year that the hunts were a cover for commercial whaling and have no proven scientific merit.

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.

The 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP 21 or CMP 11 was held in Paris, France, from 30 November to 12 December 2015. It was the 21st yearly session of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the 11th session of the Meeting of the Parties to the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. On 12 December an historic agreement to combat climate change and unleash actions and investment towards a low carbon, resilient and sustainable future was agreed by 195 nations. The Paris Agreement for the first time brings all nations into a common cause based on their historic, current and future responsibilities. The universal agreement’s main aim is to keep a global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius and to drive efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

On 30 Novemver 2015, Beijing suffered its worst air pollution of the year. The city said the levels of hazardous tiny PM2.5 particles in the air exceeded 600 micrograms per cubic meter at several monitoring sites late Monday afternoon. The U.S. Embassy in Beijing reported 666 micrograms per cubic metre at 8 p.m.

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 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.

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 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.

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.

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."

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.

A new report issued on 23 November 2015 by the UN, “The Human Cost of Weather Related Disasters” in Geneva, shows that over the last twenty years, 90% of major disasters have been caused by 6,457 recorded floods, storms, heatwaves, droughts and other weather-related events. The five countries hit by the highest number of disasters are the United States (472), China (441), India (288), Philippines (274), and Indonesia, (163). The report and analysis compiled by the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) and the Belgian-based Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED) demonstrates that since the first Climate Change Conference (COP1) in 1995, 606,000 lives have been lost and 4.1 billion people have been injured, left homeless or in need of emergency assistance as a result of weather-related disasters.

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 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.

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.

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.

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."