The Environment Chronicle

By unanimous decision of all Member States the UN General Assembly declared the period from 2014 to 2024 the “Decade of Sustainable Energy for All”. This is to highlight the necessity of a reliable and affordable access to energy sources for all people. The resolution stressed the need to improve access to reliable, affordable, economically viable, socially acceptableand environmentally sound energy services and resources for sustainable development. To that end, it also highlighted the importance of improving energy efficiency, increasing the share of renewable energy and cleaner and energy-efficient technologies. Launched by the UN Secretary-General in 2011, it has three interlinked objectives to be achieved by 2030: Ensure universal access to modern energy services. Double the global rate of improvement in energy efficiency. Double the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix.

Water Plant of the Year 2014 is the Australian Water Clover (Marsilea mutica).

European spider of the year 2014 is the Linyphia triangularis.

Cave Animal of the Year 2014 is the Proasellus cavaticus.

Microbe of the Year 2014 is the microorganism Nostoc.

Flower of the year 2014 is the Butomus umbellatus, also known as flowering rush or grass rush.

Perennial Herb of the Year 2014 is the Epimedium.

Dragonfly of the Year 2014 is the White-faced Darter (Leucorrhinia dubia).

The Yellow-bellied toad (Bombina variegata) was nominated to the Amphibian of the Year 2014 by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Herpetologie und Terrarienkunde e.V. (DGHT).

Butterfly of the year 2014 is the Spurge Hawk-moth (Hyles euphorbiae).

More than 20,000 seabirds died during the storms that hit France's west coast in January and February, according to the French society for the protection of birds. So many avain deaths have not been since 1900, the organisation says. A total of 21,341 dead birds were found in western France by 500 volunteers working on three weekends in January and February, the French League for the Protection of Birds (LPO) said on 26 February 2014. A further 2,784 were taken to sanctuaries. The worst-affected species were the Atlantic puffin and the guillemot with the razor-billed auk also suffering badly.

Weather observers at the School of Geography and Environment confirmed that January 2014 being the wettest since records began in the 1760s. The heavy rain meant that the total recorded at the University's Radcliffe Meteorological Station overtook the previous record in January 1852 of 138.7mm. January 2014's rainfall of 146.9mm is almost three times the average for the month of 52.5mm.

A record 1,215 rhinos were poached in South Africa in 2014, a 21 percent increase from the previous year, environmental authorities said 22 January 2015 in Pretoria.

Moss of the Year 2014 is the Hedwigia ciliata.

Lichen of the Year 2014 is the map lichen (Rhizocarpon geographicum).

Endangered livestock breed of the Year 2014 is the Dülmen Pony.

The environmental foundation Global Nature Fund (GNF) proclaims the Philippine’s Lake Sampaloc and the six other crater lakes in San Pablo City, Province Laguna, as the “Threatened Lake of the Year 2014”. In commemoration of World Wetlands Day 2014, the GNF draws attention to the advancing destruction of the crater lakes.

Bird of the Year 2014 is the European Green Woodpecker (Picus viridis).

Fluvial Topography of the Year 2014 / 2015 is the Argen. The Argen is a river in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It flows into Lake Constance between Kressbronn am Bodensee and Langenargen as the third largest tributary to the lake.

Medicinal Plant of the Year 2014 is the Plantago lanceolata commonly known as ribwort plantain, English plantain, buckhorn plantain, narrowleaf plantain, ribleaf and lamb's tongue.

Fish of the Year 2014 is the Sturgeon.

Since 2011, the Federal Environment Agency has selected a "water body type of the year".On World Water Day 2014 the Federal Environment Agency proclaimed the 'deep, low-nutrient lakes of Northern Germany' to be the Water Body Type of the year for 2014.

Laboratory animal of the Year 2014 is the monkey, especially the macaque monkeys.

The Christmas cactus is the cactus of the year 2014. The wild species Schlumbergera truncata with its red flowers grow epiphytically on trees in the Brazilian coastal forests. They root in the moss and loose humus that gathers on branches and twigs, sometimes even on the outer bark. Although millions of cultivars are produced each year by garden nurseries for the flower trade, the survival of the wild species of Schlumbergera occurring in the Organ Range in Brazil is endangered.

Fungus of the Year 2014 is the Crucibulum laeve.

The Anise Pimpinella anisum) has been chosen for the Medicinal Herb of the Year 2014 by the NHV Theophrastus.

Wild bee of the Year 2014 is the Wool-carder bee (Anthidium manicatum).

Algal researchers of the German Botanical Society have chosen Chlamydomonas reinhardtii as alga of the year 2014.

On 30 December 2014, severals cars in huge crude oil freight train exploded near the eastern North Dakota town of Casselton, after a collision with another train. The incident came just weeks after North Dakota's top oil regulator estimated that 90 percent of the state's oil would be carried by train in 2014, up from 60 percent in 2013. The oil train spilled 400,000 gallons of crude, U.S. investigators said on 13 January 2014, in a preliminary report on the accident.

On 29 December 2013 the Hong Kong-flagged tanker Maritime Maisie was carrying about 30,000 tonnes of chemicals when it was involved in a collision with a Pure Car and Truck Carrier (PCTC) near Busan/ Korea, subsequently catching fire. She has since been held at sea by tugs, as both the Japanese and South Korean governments unwilling to give her refuge, due to her hazardous cargo and the severe damage to the hull, despite the risk of a wider environmental disaster if it broke up and sank. In an end to the stalemate between South Korea and Japan over which country would accept the risk of a 26,000 tone hazardous chemical spill, the vessel was finally towed into the Port of Ulsan on 22 April 2014.

On 20 December 2013, the Sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly decided to proclaim 3 March, the day of the adoption of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), as World Wildlife Day, to celebrate and raise awareness of the world's wild fauna and flora. In its resolution, the General Assembly reaffirmed the intrinsic value of wildlife and its various contributions, including ecological, genetic, social, economic, scientific, educational, cultural, recreational and aesthetic, to sustainable development and human well-being, and recognized the important role of CITES in ensuring that international trade does not threaten the species' survival.

In a press release dated 16 December 2013, ECHA, the European Chemicals Agency, announced that it had updated the candidate list of substances of very high concern (SVHC) with the addition of seven new substances.

The European Natura 2000 Award was launched on 16 December 2013. Europeans feel strongly about nature conservation, but few are familiar with Natura 2000. This new annual Award aims to remedy this lack of public awareness, showcasing the variety of Natura 2000 sites and recognising excellence in a wide range of activities. Five awards will be given out each year in different areas, covering communication, conservation actions, socio-economic benefits, reconciling interests/perceptions, and networking and cross-border cooperation. The winners of this inaugural Natura 2000 Award will be announced in May 2014 and their achievements will be recognised at a high level ceremony in Brussels.

On 12 December 2013, the EU Council of Ministers rejected a compromise limit on the use of first-generation biofuels in Europe. The compromise by the Lithuanian government, which holds the rotating presidency of the Council of Ministers would have increased the cap proposed by the Commission and axed mandatory reporting of indirect land use change (ILUC) effects.

On 10 December 2013, the Federal Government approved the capital dredging program for the proposed Terminals 0, 2 and 3 at the Port of Abbot Point, the Adani T0 project at Abbot Point, the Arrow Liquefied Natural Gas Facility on Curtis Island and the Arrow Gas Transmission Pipeline to Curtis Island.

On 10 December 2013, the European Parliament approved the plan to freeze the auctioning of a portion of the current glut of CO2 permits to boost their price and encourage firms to invest in low-carbon innovation. The measures, amended by the EP in July to set stricter conditions for the freeze, are intended to restore the incentive effect of the Emissions Trading System, which is designed to curb CO2 emissions.

A milestone regional cooperation agreement was signed on 9 December 2013, at the World Bank Headquarters by senior Israeli, Jordanian and Palestinian representatives. They agreement is to lay a water pipeline linking the Red Sea with the Dead Sea.

On 6 December 2013, Shanghai's concentration of tiny, harmful PM 2.5 particles was 602.5 micrograms per cubic meter.

On 5 December 2013, the Council of the EU adopted the new Directive laying down basic safety standards for protection against the dangers arising from exposure to ionising radiation. The directive takes into account the latest scientific findings and aims for comprehensive radiation protection. The Euratom directives on the protection of the health of the general population and workers, patients, outside workers, on informing the general public in case of radiological emergencies and on the control of high-activity radioactive sources have been repealed. Member states have to transpose the directive into national law within the next four years.

On 4 December 2013, Ministers and other national representatives made commitments at the International Forum on Polar Bear Conservation that will help polar bears persist across their Arctic range. The commitments were made at a forum in Russia supported by WWF. One key commitment made in the Forum Declaration is that the five states responsible for polar bear populations - Canada, Norway, Denmark and Greenland, Russia and the United States - will work on managing the polar bears’ home in ways that will take into account the Arctic’s shrinking ice, and increasing industrial interest.