Protecting Fragile Marine Ecosystems

05.06.2021

rock - stena - more - obala — Foto-ilustracija: Pixabay

This year’s World Environment Day, officially celebrated on 5 June, focuses on ecosystem restoration, an important aspect of a healthy world. The EBRD’s work with the Northern Dimension Environmental Partnership (NDEP) shows how this can be successfully achieved.

The Baltic Sea is a shallow, almost landlocked, sea surrounded by nine countries: Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia and Sweden. Its drainage area is about four times larger than its surface area and is inhabited by around 85 million people.

The sea is suffering from eutrophication, which is depleting its flora and fauna of oxygen and slowly killing sea life. This is caused by surplus nutrient run-offs, mainly phosphorous and nitrogen, which feed excessive algae and plant growth, in extreme cases causing poisonous cyanobacteria outbreaks. Eutrophication is just one of the problems faced by the Baltic Sea, along with contamination, marine litter, the introduction and spread of non-indigenous species, underwater sound, fishing and hunting, habitat loss and disturbance.

The Helsinki Commission (HELCOM) was established in 1974 to protect this fragile Baltic marine environment. According to HELCOM, the peak of nutrient discharge was in the 1980s. International reduction targets were set and, over the next 20 years, the situation greatly improved, with the exception of the more land-locked Gulf of Finland.

At the start of the new millennium, the EBRD was asked to manage a new environmental fund to help restore the ecosystems in both the Baltic and Barents Sea. The Northern Dimension Environmental Partnership (NDEP) was established in 2002 by the European Union and the Nordic countries, with Finland in the lead. This international effort has grown to include 12 donors, which have contributed USD 182 million for environmental investments. Over the years Russia has became the largest contributor to this international cooperation. Donor funds were used as grants to co-finance IFI loans from the EBRD, EIB (European Investment Bank), NIB (Nordic Investment Bank) and NEFCO, the Nordic Green Bank, for municipal wastewater treatment projects in the north-west of Russia and northern Belarus, both part of the Baltic and Barents catchment areas.

The clean-up has had significant effects. The biggest transformation was achieved by the city of St Petersburg, which between 2002 and 2018 had managed to increase the level of wastewater treatment in the city from 50 percent to 98 percent. HELCOM recorded a huge drop in phosphorus and nitrogen discharges in the Gulf of Finland, the biggest in the Baltic Sea region, mostly attributable to NDEP investments with St Petersburg Vodokanal.

In addition, thanks to NDEP cooperation, the major Baltic Sea city of Kaliningrad opened a new wastewater treatment plant in 2017 – and increased its sewage treatment capacity from zero to 150,000 cubic meters per day. When the plant became operational, Kaliningrad was removed from HELCOM’s list of Baltic Sea environmental hotspots.

The NDEP has brought more than physical investments – it is also fostering rising awareness of of environmental concerns. In St Petersburg, Vodokanal has not only constructed a world-class wastewater treatment infrastructure but also a modern interactive water museum and children’s educational centre. Vodokanal is also co-financing a “seal kindergarten” where baby seals in distress are looked after and then released back into the wild.

There is more work to do on eutrophication, which persists in the sea, now mainly due to intensive animal farming and agricultural activities in the region. Rising temperatures, caused by climate change, are also boosting algae growth. The beaches are still closed from time to time because of cyanobacteria outbreaks, and other threats continue to affect the Baltic Sea.

But the NDEP is now a tried and tested financing instrument. The EBRD replicated it in 2010 by establishing the Eastern Europe Energy Efficiency and Environment Partnership (E5P) for climate action in the Eastern Partnership countries of Ukraine, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia and Moldova.

The EBRD is now actively exploring more such multilateral approaches, particularly in the context of Blue Economy marine sustainability investments. What is needed is to identify a core group of committed stakeholders or countries united by a shared concern and willing to cooperate with the IFIs to deliver investment projects of a high standard – and these efforts are fully aligned with the global actions to save fragile ecosystems which World Environment Day promotes.

Source: EBRD

Business Alliance for Scaling Climate Solutions: a New Key Piece to UNEP’s Forest Mitigation Arsenal

04.06.2021

deforestation-drveće-drvo-seča-šuma — Foto ilustracija: Pixabay

Forests soak up 30 percent of emissions from industry and fossil fuels and are our best natural ally in the fight against the climate emergency. However, the ongoing deforestation and degradation, especially of tropical forests, are responsible for 11 percent of carbon emissions: if deforestation were a country, it would rank third in carbon dioxide emissions behind China and the United States of America.

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has been working through the UN-REDD Programme to secure the full mitigation potential of forests of 5 gigatons a year by 2030. One crucial way forward is to work closely with forested developing countries that can supply high-integrity forest carbon credits (jurisdictional REDD) and corporations that would buy them as immediate stopgap solution, while working on reducing their emissions throughout their value chain.

The Business Alliance for Scaling Climate Solutions (BASCS), announced today at the occasion of the World Environment Day and the launch of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, is such a novel partnership, co-founded by UNEP, WWF, Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and corporate partners – from Amazon to Microsoft and Unilever. It aims to increase the scale and impact of business investments in nature-based climate solutions, a prerequisite for meeting the ambition of the Paris Agreement.

“Drastically reducing deforestation and simultaneously restoring forests is the single largest nature-based opportunity for climate mitigation. UNEP is therefore proud to be a co-founder of the Business Alliance to Scale Climate Solutions, supporting the private sector’s climate ambitions for deep cuts in their own emissions – working towards high-integrity outcomes for carbon neutrality by 2050 or sooner,” said Susan Gardner, Director of UNEP’s Ecosystems Division.

Any financing of nature-based solutions through BASCS or similar, ambitious partnerships founded or supported by UNEP, such as the Green Gigaton Challenge (GGC) and the LEAF Coalition, will be an addition to, and not a substitute, for deep, science-based cuts in emissions by participating companies.

Complimentary to GGC and LEAF, that are focused on unlocking private finance and assisting forested, developing countries, BASCS will focus on gathering and disseminating best practices, lessoned learned and latest research from practitioners and experts to scale climate solutions and make hard-to-achieve reductions feasible in the near future. BASCS offers an opportunity to connect and support existing initiatives and the surrounding community of practice by providing a central, neutral platform for businesses and experts to meet, learn, discuss and act together.

Source: UNEP

Why the EU’s Proposed Carbon Border Must not be Used to Launch a Carbon Club

03.06.2021

termoelektrana — Foto-ilustracija: Unsplash (Alexander Tsang)

Fuelled by frustration over the perceived insufficient progress on climate action among many of the world’s major economies, the idea of a so-called carbon club is gaining considerable momentum. Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s apparent keenness to use the UK’s presidency of the G7 to discuss coordinating action on carbon border levies is perhaps the most prominent, though by no means the only, example. Many writers and seasoned campaigners are jumping on the bandwagon, in part emboldened by the support of Nobel prize-winning economist William Nordhaus.

Given the urgency of the climate crisis frustration is an understandable response – less so the belief that there might be a single silver bullet which can propel the world to net-zero by mid-century. If there is such a panacea, carbon clubs are not it. In fact, the mere discussion of them is likely to prove counterproductive. Opponents of climate action may well be quietly rubbing their hands at the prospect.

But let’s take a step back. The carbon club idea has taken hold against the backdrop of the EU advancing its plans for a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) – simply put a carbon border levy to ensure imported industrial products face the same carbon price as those covered by the domestic Emissions Trading System (ETS). Legislative proposals are expected by 14 July with implementation set for early 2023.

A carbon club – so the theory goes – would see other countries erecting carbon borders in a coordinated fashion, and establish what might be seen as an overwhelming force, with an undeniable market logic and an unstoppable momentum.

The problem starts with a misunderstanding of the EU move for a CBAM, a response to reform of its 15-year-old ETS, which will see domestic heavy industry facing a strengthened carbon price as free emissions allowances are phased out. The CBAM would avoid granting an immediate competitive advantage to foreign producers, leading to displaced domestic production and increased emissions outside the EU, i.e. carbon leakage.

It is not designed as a template to address the decarbonization of heavy industry world-wide but as a very specific, legitimate domestic response to safeguard the efficacy of the bloc’s carbon pricing system. For other jurisdictions with different carbon mitigation policies, an adjustment at the border, if any, is unlikely to resemble the EU’s. Some may choose to apply standards on carbon intensity to both domestic and foreign products, rather than a carbon price. A border adjustment may not be justified in this case. If anything, countries with different approaches could exchange experience on their policies to drive this industrial transition and avoid putting border measures at the core.

We’ve already seen strong pushback on the EU’s CBAM plans from across the world, but most concerningly from China and India which will need plenty of convincing that the scheme is not first and foremost a protectionist measure. The idea that a group of countries needs to emerge around what is currently labelled as a protectionist initiative may neither help the EU’s ambition nor the multilateral process. Trust is also at a premium amid the COVID-19 pandemic and foot-dragging over long-promised climate finance to help poorer countries with the net-zero transition. Heading into November’s crucial COP26 UN climate negotiations, the necessity to offer plenty of carrots alongside sticks – but not “clubs” – is paramount.

There’s another concerning trend among carbon club advocates and that is to view the EU’s CBAM – against evidence to the contrary – as a blunt and ubiquitous instrument, which would apply indistinctly to all imports, from steel to TV sets and food products. Again, such talk is already negatively impacting perceptions of what is intended by the EU. Given the long supply chains involved, evidence of carbon leakage for consumer goods will be hard to establish and tracking their carbon content accurately will be plain impossible.

The fact is that carbon club advocates are approaching the most fiendish problem facing humanity with a simplicity that is doomed to failure.

Just as the fight against coronavirus can’t be won by one country or one vaccine – or indeed vaccines alone – so winning the climate fight will require many complimentary policies and approaches. We can only hope the ill-advised carbon club discussion will lead to a realization that industrial decarbonization won’t be straightforward, and policy discussions are needed rather urgently.

Regardless of the path trading partners choose to follow, they will increasingly require a shared approach to measuring and tracing carbon content. Therefore, convening strategic discussions centred on this topic of vital common interest appears to us to be a means of moving on from the current fractious – and perhaps short-sighted – debate over carbon borders and clubs.

Source: World Economic Forum

Key Trends That Will Transform the E-mobility World in the Western Balkans

02.06.2021

Virta-Presskit-2020-4_Z708269-16x9-web — Foto: Virta/Promo

Elias Pöyry is the Co-Founder & CBO of Europe’s fastest-growing electric vehicle charging company Virta. Since the company has also been present at our market as a partner in charge&GO – the first regional EV charging network, we asked Pöyry to give us insights on key trends that will change the market in the coming years and advice on how to prepare infrastructure for an EV future.

EP: Could you tell us about Virta and its mission?

Elias Pöyry: Already in 2013, Virta CEO Jussi Palola and i understood that the future of mobility is electric. We founded Virta with a vision to integrate electric mobility, energy system and digital sectors into one ecosystem. Virta is an independent platform that integrates chargers from different owners to enable the best user experience through interoperability and the most cost-ef- ficient way to handle payments and clearing. We grow fast: five times faster than the market average. The main reason for our rapid growth is the right partners. MT-KOMEX is a great example of this. Another example from Europe is E.ON. In Asia, Virta has partnered with Japan’s largest energy company ENEOS. We are currently expanding our reseller network.

Our solutions have been built to support electric vehicle charging infrastructure anywhere globally, and we have hundreds of professional charging network customers in Europe. Today our digital platform connects all the key players in the electric vehicle ecosystem and provides the whole value chain services. Virta operates in over 30 countries worldwide from French Caribbean to Finland – and in Serbia with MT-KOMEX.

EP: Why electric vehicles are the most important source of flexibility in the energy system?

Elias Pöyry: As you know, renewables cause volatility to our energy systems. They require flexibility, and demand response elements to keep the system stable, reliable, and reasonably priced. That’s where electric vehicles come in. According to the International Energy Agency, EVs can provide a critical source of flexibility in our energy system; in fact, they are big batteries on wheels. EVs are the most cost-efficient batteries and energy storages in the energy system because they come with zero incremental costs. They also come with zero infra costs because the charging network is already there. They also run with zero maintenance and operations costs because the operation costs are already taken care of by the EV drivers and charging operators.

In focus:

EP: What are the key trends in the e-mobility world at the moment?

Elias Pöyry: The EV charging market in 2025 will look very different from today – both in the Western Balkan region and all over Europe. I would highlight four trends that will change the market in the coming years: partnership, brands, end-to-end and energy management.

The number one prerequisite for a profitable charging business is very traditional: location. Volumes, in turn, drive scale benefits and transaction efficiency. But partnerships are just as important. Valuable and carefully chosen partners and externalizing platform costs are the keys to success. Partnerships enable both parties to focus on what they do best and the end-user benefits, too.

The brand trend is another big one. People want to do business with familiar brands, for example, charge their electric vehicle at the NIS Gazprom Neft station. And on the other hand, the companies and property owners want their brand to be related to EV charging. That goes well beyond adding the company’s logo sticker to the charging station. It means full brand experience – from loyalty programs onwards.

The integrated end-to-end digital value chain is also a big trend. It means that anyone who wants to manage the best user experience or the best value for charging networks must understand and manage the entire value chain, end-to-end: From the customer journey to the hardware journey and from maintenance to operations and to customer experience.

The energy management trend is already in full motion. And no wonder energy management brings direct benefits in the form of saving costs. Electric vehicle charging often requires electrical upgrades, which means an increase in fixed and monthly energy costs. Smart charging solutions can alleviate many of those energy-related costs while helping futureproof businesses. All smart EV chargers can adapt to this and become active players in the energy flexibility markets.

Inteview by: Nevena Đukić

Read the whole interview in the new issue of the Energy portal Magazine CIRCULAR ECONOMY, march 2021 – may 2021.

IRENA Members Welcome New Framework on Just and Inclusive Energy Transition

02.06.2021

Representatives from over 50 IRENA member countries gathered for the first meeting of the Collaborative Framework for Just and Inclusive Energy Transitions. The meeting took place during the last week’s IRENA Council and was co-facilitated by the United States and South Africa.

As IRENA members are stepping up action to meet global climate objectives and advance the socio-economic development agenda, countries increasingly recognise the social and economic implications of energy transitions beyond technology choices. This entails both substantial benefits but also challenges for societies, as highlighted in the Agency’s World Energy Transitions Outlook.

Against this background, the new Collaborative Framework aims to bring countries and relevant stakeholders together to identify priority areas and concrete actions and to foster greater international collaboration.

“As we seek to accelerate energy transitions, we must ensure they are just and inclusive. This concerns not only the ultimate outcome, but also the process of what will likely be a decades-long transformation that the world’s economies undertake from different starting points,” said IRENA Director-General Francesco La Camera in his opening remarks.

Building on the strong body of knowledge on the socio-economic footprint of energy transitions developed by IRENA over the past 10 years, Rabia Ferroukhi, Director of IRENA’s Knowledge, Policy and Finance Centre, highlighted the multiple opportunities and benefits.

She also emphasised misalignments that may arise in moving from the current fossil fuel-centred economies toward more sustainable structures, in finance, labour markets, power systems, and the energy sector itself. “If not well-managed,” she said,”the transformation risks inequitable outcomes and resistance of affected social groups, potentially slowing the pace of the energy transitions.”

At the meeting, countries shared national experiences and challenges that can inform the design of the framework as well as new approaches in this space from establishing dedicated commissions and funds to multi-stakeholder dialogues on the energy transition, and national programmes seeking to address different dimensions of just and inclusive energy transitions.

There was broad agreement on the need to develop a more thorough understanding of energy transitions. Members stressed the importance of focusing on holistic and integrated policy approaches and structural policies to reap the economic, social and jobs benefits and successfully address challenges along the way.

They also emphasised the importance of overcoming energy poverty in both developing and developed countries; designing solutions that focus on local value creation and high quality, decent jobs; and ensuring equitable benefit sharing and inclusion of marginalised groups.

Members recognised that IRENA, which has led the work on the socio-economic dimensions of energy transitions including jobs since its inception, provides a global and inclusive platform that is of particular value to these efforts.

At the meeting, participants adopted general principles and modalities that will provide the foundation for the work of the Collaborative Framework. Among others, it was agreed to open participation to relevant stakeholders such as other intergovernmental organizations, civil society, private sector actors and research institutions, to ensure concerted action and harness synergies among different efforts and initiatives.

Source: IRENA

A year after the Norilsk disaster, where are Russia’s oil risks and what needs to be done?

01.06.2021

nafta zagađenje oil pollution river — Foto-ilustracija: Pixabay

Almost everyone in Russia has heard about the Norilsk accident. In May 2020, more than 20 thousand tonnes of diesel fuel seeped into the soil and water on the Taymyr peninsula in the Russian Arctic and the Ambarnaya River ran red.

Following public pressure, media attention, evidence from Greenpeace Russia — and finally a court battle with the government — the influential company responsible, Norilsk Nickel, has been ordered to pay full compensation for damage caused to the vulnerable Arctic ecosystem.

Totalling almost 150 billion rubles (nearly 2 billion USD), it’s the largest compensation for environmental damage in Russia’s history.

Despite this huge success, the human cost, which falls disproportionately on Indigenous and ethnic minority groups in the country, is incalculable.

One year on from the Norilsk accident, Greenpeace Russia is documenting the impacts of new oil spills in the Russian Arctic and looking at steps the government is taking to avoid such disasters in future.

What happened next?

Immediately after the accident, Greenpeace raised the story with the prime minister Mikhail Mishustin, demanding a system-wide review of facilities storing oil or petroleum products — and more frequent inspections. Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Viktoria Abramchenko instructed the responsible bodies to check all existing oil depots.

Then the government ordered an official investigation.

In March 2021, ten months after the accident, the head of Rostekhnadzor, the Russian government’s supervisory body on ecological, technological, and nuclear issues, reported results of their safety audit to the media.

Thousands of objects at oil storage facilities have been checked and violations identified in hundreds of items are being addressed. During the audit, 3626 violations of industrial safety requirements were revealed, 219 administrative cases were initiated, and the total amount of administrative fines reached 15 million rubles.

Why it matters now?

Greenpeace Russia welcomes the risk inspection work done by Rostekhnadzor. But we believe that this is not enough. In a context where oil accidents happen so often, not only is regular monitoring needed, but also maximum transparency — so that people can see where the risks are and what action is being taken.

Because accidents can strike at any time — and because the world needs to phase out fossil fuel use to protect the climate — we’re also urging the Russian Government to retire such reservoirs and instead develop renewable energy in the isolated Arctic territories.

This demand for a shift to a new type of economy based on green technologies has added urgency after a series of recent oil accidents.

You can read the whole article HERE.

Source: Greenpeace

World Needs USD 8.1 Trillion Investment in Nature by 2050 to Tackle Triple Planetary Crisis

31.05.2021

nature-priroda — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

Foto-ilustracija: Unsplash (La coccinelle)

A total investment in nature of USD 8.1 trillion is required between now and 2050 – while annual investment should reach USD 536 billion annually by 2050 – in order to successfully tackle the interlinked climate, biodiversity, and land degradation crises, according to the State of Finance for Nature report.

The report finds that annual investments in nature-based solutions will have to triple by 2030 and increase four-fold by 2050 from the current investments into nature-based solutions of USD 133 billion (using 2020 as base year).

The authors of the report – produced by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the World Economic Forum (WEF) and the Economics of Land Degradation (ELD) Initiative hosted by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) in collaboration with Vivid Economics – urge Governments, financial institutions and businesses to overcome this investment gap by placing nature at the heart of economic decision-making in the future. They stress the need to rapidly accelerate capital flows to nature-based solutions by making nature central to public and private sector decision-making related to societal challenges, including tackling the climate and biodiversity crises.

Unlocking the potential of nature-based solutions to close the finance gap by 2050

Structural transformations are needed to close the USD 4.1 trillion finance gap between now and 2050, by building back more sustainably in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, but also by repurposing harmful agricultural and fossil fuel subsidies and creating other economic and regulatory incentives. Investing in nature supports human, animal and planetary health, improves quality of life, and creates jobs. However, nature currently only accounts for 2.5 percent of projected economic stimulus spending in the wake of Covid-19. Private capital will also have to be scaled up dramatically to close the investment gap. Developing and scaling up revenue flows from ecosystem services and using blended finance models as a means to crowd in private capital are among the suite of solutions needed to make this happen, which also requires risk-sharing from private sector entities.

“Biodiversity loss is already costing the global economy 10 percent of its output each year. If we do not sufficiently finance nature-based solutions, we will impact the capacities of countries to make progress on other vital areas such as education, health and employment. If we do not save nature now, we will not be able to achieve sustainable development,” said UNEP Executive Director, Inger Andersen.

“The report is a wake-up call for Governments, financial institutions and businesses to invest in nature — including reforestation, regenerative agriculture, and restoration of our Ocean,” she said, adding that countries and leaders of industry will have an opportunity to do so at the upcoming summits related to climate, biodiversity, land degradation and food systems, and in the context of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030).

Investing smarter: Reimagine, recreate, restore

Forest-based solutions alone, including the management, conservation and restoration of forests, will require USD 203 billion in total annual expenditure globally, according to the report. That is equivalent to just over USD 25 per year for every citizen in 2021. The report calls for coupling investments in restoration action with financing conservation measures. This could result in forest and agro-forestry (the combination of food production and tree growing) area increases of approximately 300 million hectares by 2050, relative to 2020.

The upcoming summits on climate, biodiversity, land degradation and food systems, as well as the launch of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration on 5 June 2021 provides an opportunity to harness political and business momentum to align the economic recovery with the Paris Agreement and the anticipated post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework, and thus be consistent with limiting warming to 1.5° C above pre-industrial levels, as well as halting and reversing the loss of biodiversity.

Making nature a business and investment case

The report’s authors say the annual investment of the private sector in nature-based solutions was equal to USD 18 billion in 2018. Private finance only accounts for 14 percent, including capital mobilized through sustainable agricultural and forestry supply chains, private equity investments, biodiversity offsets financed by private sectors, philanthropic capital, private finance leveraged by multilateral organizations and forest and other land use-related carbon markets.

In climate finance, private sector investment accounts for most capital flows (56 percent according to the Climate Policy Initiative). The scaling up of private capital for nature-based solutions is one of the central challenges of the next few years with a specific focus on investing in nature to support sustainable economic growth in the 21st century.

Investors, developers, market infrastructure makers, customers and beneficiaries can play roles in creating a market where nature-based solutions access new sources of revenue, increases resilience of commercial activities, reduces costs or contributes to reputation and purpose.

While a number of private sector-led initiatives have already emerged, the report stresses the need for companies and financial institutions to increasingly be part of the solution by sharing the risk and committing to boost finance and investment in nature-based solutions in an ambitious way and with clear, time-bound targets. While investments in nature-based solutions cannot be a substitute for deep decarbonization of all sectors of the economy, they can contribute to the required pace and scale of climate change mitigation and adaptation.

Source: UNEP

Thacker Pass Lithium Mine Opposed By 4 Conservation Groups

31.05.2021

coal-mining-mine-miners-rudnik-rudarsko-okno-rudari-rudarski-basen — Photo illustration: Pixabay

With 4 conservation and public accountability groups filing for a preliminary injunction in the Federal District Court in Reno, the construction of the Thacker Pass lithium mine has taken center stage. The motion for preliminary injunction and the prior legal complaint allege that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) violated federal laws when it approved the Thacker Pass Lithium Mine’s Plans of Operation on January 15, 2021, including the National Environmental Policy Act and Federal Land Policy and Management Act.

Major mine construction on thousands of acres of public land is planned to begin in the fall.

The BLM had only begun its environmental review process during 2020, yet the mine’s fast-tracked approval came just days before the Biden administration was ready to take office. Resource studies at the mine site, which are expected to begin on or soon after June 23, 2021, are likely to disturb cultural sites. The mine site studies will include:

surface disturbance,
mechanized trench excavation, and
removal of wildlife habitat and vegetation.

The Fort McDermitt Paiute, Shoshone, and other tribes have not been properly consulted about the potential impacts to their sacred ground, although the Thacker Pass mine would be built on their traditional lands.

The Biden administration has not moved to promote more environmentally friendly options to extract lithium — like lithium brine extraction instead of open pit mines. Federal and state officials will decide which of the 2 methods — or both — will be approved. Much will depend on how successful environmentalists, tribes, and local groups are in blocking projects.

Thacker Pass is critically important to wildlife because it is an important habitat linkage between the Double H Mountains to the Montana Mountains, according to the Great Basin Resource Watch. The pass also provides lower-elevation habitat that wildlife need to survive the winter.

It contains thousands of acres of the most important type of greater sage-grouse habitat, designated as Priority Habitat in federal plans, and two pronghorn migration corridors. Golden eagles nesting in the nearby cliffs and canyons forage here for food to feed their chicks. Local springs are the only place in the world where the Kings River pyrg, a rare type of springsnail, are known to live.

You can read the whole article HERE.

Source: Clean Technica

Costa Rica Will Invest 54 Million Dollars in Climate Action Thanks to the Conservation of its Forests

30.05.2021

Thanks to the conservation of its forests, Costa Rica will invest 54 million dollars over the next five years from the Green Climate Fund (GCF), which last November recognized 14,7 million metric tons of carbon dioxide captured in 2014. and 2015. by the country’s forests.

The resources will be executed by the REDD+ Results-Based Payments project, led by the Costa Rican Ministry of Environment and Energy (MINAE) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), which was officially launched on May 24th, 2021.

The GCF funds -whose mobilization was supported by UNDP- will focus on three areas: strengthening the existing Payment for Environmental Services (PES) scheme; expanding PES coverage in indigenous territories; and strengthening forest fire prevention measures in rural communities and ensuring the application of environmental and social safeguards provisions.

“Is one of the reasons why the country has managed to reverse deforestation and increase forest cover significantly. It is one of the few countries in the world that has done so. In the 1980s, Costa Rica had lost most of its primary forest and had only 21 percent of its land covered by forest as a result of having the highest deforestation rates in the world. Today, the country has 52 percent forest cover and protects more than a quarter of its territory,” said the President of the Republic, Carlos Alvarado referring to the PES.

For the past 25 years, Costa Rica has maintained a PES scheme with an investment of more than 15 billion Costa Rican colones per year. With the actions of the strategy and the REDD+ Results-Based Payments Project, the protection and sustainable management of forests will be expanded in more than 500.000 ha of private forests, including approximately 150.000 ha in Indigenous Territories.

“This is a historic moment: the culmination of incredible efforts by communities across Costa Rica to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with deforestation, making the country a huge “carbon sink,” said UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner.

Of the total resources, 41 million US dollars will be transferred to inhabitants of the country’s forested areas, where some of the most marginalized districts with the lowest social development index are located, such as the coastal regions and forested areas in general.

The project will improve and expand public policies related to the implementation of Costa Rica’s Forestry Law, climate action, conservation and empowerment of rural women, youth and indigenous peoples over the next five years.

Source: UNDP

Nature Loss Threatens Global Economy

29.05.2021

The ongoing loss of natural spaces, including forests, has become a systemic risk for the global economy, warns a new report from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and several partners.

Over the past decade, 26 percent of global tree cover loss was caused by the production of just seven agricultural commodities – cattle, oil palm, soy, cocoa, rubber, coffee and wood fibre – said the State of Financing for Nature report. Barring major changes, the toll on forests and other wild spaces will continue to mount, ultimately imperiling industries that rely on natural resources. The authors of the report urged governments, financial institutions and businesses to place nature at the heart of future economic growth by tripling the financing available for environmentally friendly projects by 2030.

The report’s launch comes on the eve of the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, a global effort to revive natural spaces lost to development. Forests have been hit especially hard by human activity. Every year, the world loses 10 million hectares of tree cover, an area the size of the Republic of Korea. Forests provide drinking water to one-third of the world’s largest cities and support more than 65 percent of amphibian, bird, and mammal species.

The State of Finance for Nature report was produced by UNEP, the World Economic Forum and the Economics of Land Degradation Initiative in collaboration with Vivid Economics. It showcases the investment opportunities that nature can offer and emphasizes its importance to the global economy. By demonstrating the value of nature, the report authors say they hope to show countries it is possible to safeguard the planet while spurring economic growth and sustainable development. The report said that reviewing public subsidies, factoring the costs of ecosystem degradation into products or services and integrating the value of nature into credit risk analysis could lead to greener economies.

Investments in nature-based solutions (NbS) is a key component of transformational change, the report noted. They provide economic, social and environmental stimulus by creating jobs, protecting nature, accelerating decarbonization and improving climate resilience.

There is a lack of data on how much public and private capital is flowing to productive and non-productive activities that constitute NbS. However, governments, financiers, and businesses are becoming increasingly interested in nature-based solutions, the report said. Two-thirds of governments have now committed to restoring or protecting ecosystems in their Nationally Determined Contributions, the commitments at the heart of the Paris climate change agreement. There is also growing interest from companies to commit to “net zero” targets for greenhouse gas emissions.

But much remains to be done to create demand for NbS, to put in place robust environmental and social safeguards, and to address legal hurdles. One lever to generate investment opportunities is to focus on economic stimulus and positive societal outcomes. The more stakeholders pursue these win-win opportunities, the more public and private investments in NbS will rise over time.

Governments must create the enabling environment that allows this to happen, the report said. They can do that by revisiting agricultural policies and tariffs and developing taxonomies to determine what is sustainable and what is not. Companies and financial institutions must also share the risk and commit to increase finance and investment in nature-based solutions in an ambitious way, with clear time-bound targets. A nature finance action track, acting as a shared vision can guide land-use decisions in support of healthy natural systems and sustainable development, the report added.

Several case studies in the State of Finance for Nature illustrate the business and investment case for nature, along a pathway to transition towards a net-zero, nature-positive economy. They range from the Scottish government’s commitment to spend USD 250 million on peatland restoration over the next 10 years, to Credit Union’s Social Performance Management initiative, which provides innovative financing schemes to support integrated landscape projects in Indonesia.

Source: UNEP

Seagrass meadows, coral reefs and destructive fishing

28.05.2021

riba - fish - ribolov — Foto-ilustracija: Unsplash (jean wimmerlin)

A remote area in the middle of the Indian Ocean, between the Seychelles and Mauritius, this underwater plateau the size of Belgium is home to the world’s largest seagrass meadow, some of the few shallow water corals so far away from land and an abundance of marine life.

The bank provides feeding habitats for endangered turtles and breeding grounds for majestic sperm whales and pygmy blue whales.

Seagrass meadows occupy a vanishingly small area of our oceans but capture up to twice as much carbon dioxide as forests on land, making them extremely important for our climate and the balance of the ocean. This applies to the cold-water eelgrass meadows in Sweden, as well as seagrass meadows in tropical waters.

They function as nurseries for vulnerable cod spawn in the north and feeding grounds for sea turtles and dugongs in the Indian Ocean. But these ecosystems are in decline across the globe due to human activity, making it crucial to protect the remaining areas.

The Saya de Malha Bank has been identified as an ecologically and biologically significant area of global interest by scientific experts. Places like these could be safe havens for marine life, protected in a vast network of ocean sanctuaries across our blue planet.

But the rich wildlife, especially the shoals of tuna that pass by on their journey through the high seas, attracts the real predators: the fishing industry. A few powerful fishing nations are depleting marine life around the world, and this hotspot in the heart of the Indian Ocean is no exception. Industrial fishing vessels from the EU, mainly Spain and France, fish for yellowfin tuna, a population that has been classified as overfished for several years.

These vessels use huge fishing nets that can stretch for 2km and reach 200m deep. The net is placed in a ring around a school of fish and pulled together from below – scooping up pretty much anything that gets in its way. Turtles, whales and sharks can be caught up in the net as ‘bycatch’ and young yellowfin tuna are trapped before they have a chance to reproduce.

The other type of destructive fishing that takes place around Saya de Malha Bank is longline fishing. This method is used by around 500 ships, from distant water fleets, using a single long line, anywhere from 50 to 120km long, with thousands of hooks.

Can’t imagine that? It’s like 1,000 football pitches, laid end to end. The biggest problem with this fishing method is that it also catches and kills many other animals as bycatch, especially already endangered sharks.

We must ensure that rich companies and nations stop this destruction of life in the oceans, which not only impoverishes wildlife but also the coastal communities that are truly dependent on small-scale fishing for survival. It’s critical that we protect important areas of the ocean to give marine life a chance to recover and thrive.

Governments are negotiating this treaty at the UN already – we have an opportunity to make history if we get this right. Join us in calling for governments around the world to take action to protect our oceans: join over 3,5 million people and sign the petition.

Source: Greenpeace

Spain’s Extensive Policy Plans Set to Help Underpin a Successful Energy Transition Powered by Renewables and Efficiency

28.05.2021

spain_španija — Foto-ilustracija: Pixabay

Spain has made considerable progress towards its goal of reaching net zero emissions by 2050, but future gains need to be supported by stable policies, adequate public financing and incentives for private investment, according to a new policy review by the International Energy Agency.

Since the IEA’s last in-depth review in 2015, Spain has solved a long-standing problem of electricity and gas tariffs not covering costs, and has closed all its coal mines, allowing the country to prioritise the issue of climate change and align its goals with EU objectives and ambitions.

Spain’s 2050 objective for national climate neutrality calls for renewables to provide 100 percent of electricity and 97 percent of the total energy mix. The country’s energy policies are centred on massive deployment of renewable energy, energy efficiency, electrification and renewable hydrogen.

While the share of renewables in the electricity sector has risen, the report finds Spain’s total energy mix is still heavily dominated by fossil fuels. Notably, the transport, industry and buildings sectors all have considerable work ahead of them to meet the country’s targets for renewables penetration and decarbonisation.

At the same time, Spain has emphasised the importance of ensuring a just transition to ensure that communities in traditional energy regions and sectors, notably coal mining, are not left behind by the changes.

“Under the direction of Minister Teresa Ribera, Spain has shown strong leadership on clean and equitable energy transitions,” said Fatih Birol, the IEA Executive Director, who is launching the report today with Ms Ribera, Spain’s Fourth Vice President of the Spanish Government and Minister for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge.

“Spain has major renewable energy resources that can drive the transformation of its energy system and help realise its ambitious goals.”

The IEA report notes that Spain is progressing toward its 2030 targets, especially in the electricity sector. After a slump between 2013 and 2018 due to a lack of financial incentives, investments in renewables took off again starting in 2019. The share of renewables in the national electricity mix grew from 33 percent in 2010 to 44 percent in 2020.

The government aims to expand renewables installations in homes and businesses, as well as promote the use of renewables for industry and heating. It also intends to support the production of advanced biofuels, renewable gases, and hydrogen.

Spain’s energy sector will look completely different once its plans and strategies have been fully implemented, with fossil fuels no longer dominant and end-user sectors mostly electrified. As is the case everywhere, a system underpinned by variable renewable generation will require new forms of back-up and flexibility to ensure energy security.

The changes also bring opportunities, particularly greater integration of a clean energy system across sectors, as well as new jobs.

“The foundations for Spain’s energy system transformation will be laid this decade. Notably, the current economic recovery from the Covid-19 crisis presents Spain with an important opportunity to frontload clean energy investments over the next year three years,” said Dr Birol. “I hope this report will help Spain navigate its path toward a clean and efficient energy system and a net zero future.”

Source: IEA

Space Observations Support Sustainable Development

27.05.2021

NASA-svemir-universe- satelit-zemlja-astronaut — Foto-ilustracija: Unsplash (NASA)

Space-based observations are key to achieving the international agenda on sustainable development, disaster risk reduction and climate change and it is thus imperative to ensure there is a stable and sustainable space-environment.

This was one of the take-home messages of a high-level panel event on civil space issues organized by the French diplomatic mission to Geneva and hosted by the World Meteorological Organization. It brought together the heads of WMO, the International Telecommunications Union, UN Office on Outer Space Affairs and the European Space Agency, as well as the Chief executive Officer of Arianespace and the director of France’s Foundation for Strategic Research.

WMO Secretary-General Prof Petteri Taalas underlined how space observations are a fundamental part of Earth-system monitoring – even though ground-based measurements and vertical profile measurements like radiosondes remain necessary.

The space-based observational capabilities have greatly improved since the launch of the first weather satellites in the early 60s. Today they provide high-precision observations of a wide range of parameters and are a key input for global numerical weather prediction models, underpinning most application areas and the services of all WMO Members, enabling the protection of life and property. This allows us not only to monitor the weather, climate and water, but also to assess the health of the environment and the extent to which human activities are sustainable.

The impressive progress made in recent years in weather, water and climate analysis and forecasts, including warnings for hazards such as tropical cyclones is to a great extent attributable to satellite data and the assimilation of space-based observations in numerical models. This has narrowed the forecast accuracy gap between the northern and southern hemisphere, Prof. Taalas told panelists.

With almost 200 Earth observation satellites now in operation, it is clear that spaceborne sensing of the Earth’s surface and atmosphere will continue to play an increasingly important role in operational and research meteorology, disaster monitoring and Earth system monitoring in general, said Prof. Taalas.

It will also inform better scientific understanding, monitoring and prediction of climate change indicators and its impacts – ocean heat, sea level rise and ice melt – as well as air quality and anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases, critical for the implementation of the Paris Agreement.

Radio Frequencies

Spaceborne sensing for meteorological applications is performed in specific radio-frequency bands. These bands are determined by fixed physical properties (molecular resonance) that cannot be changed or ignored, nor can these physical properties be duplicated in other bands. Therefore, these frequency bands are an important natural resource.

In the more critical passive sensing frequency bands, the Table of Frequency Allocations in the international Radio Regulations states that “all emissions are prohibited”, enabling in principle the deployment and operation of sensors with the highest reliability.

However, experience has shown that in some cases this protection is jeopardized due to unregulated, and in some cases by mass-market short-range devices allowed nationally to operate in these bands or by unwanted poorly controlled emissions from adjacent bands, putting increasing pressure on the frequency bands used for meteorological purposes.

Prof. Taalas told the high-level panel session that WMO continues to work with ITU to try to ensure the protection of vital Earth observation satellite systems essential and will present its findings and concerns at the next World Radiocoimmunication Conference 2023 (WRC-23).

Source: WMO

Shift Into The Fast Lane For Smart EV Charging

26.05.2021

Charge&go-39-min — Foto: Bojan Džodan/MT-KOMEX

It is expected that every third vehicle in Europe in the coming period will be environmentally friendly, which is a standard that Serbia aspires to.

As a quarter of the EU’s total emissions come from diesel and petrol exhausts, nine member states have decided to send a clear request to the European Commission to set a precise deadline for stopping the production and sale of vehicles on fossil fuels, all to achieve climate neutrality by 2050.

The European Commission will introduce changes to “raise” the number of electric vehicles to 30 million in the next ten years. Currently, there are 1.4 million electric vehicles on the roads of Europe, while on Serbian roads, according to the data from 2020, there are about 300 registered electric cars and around 3.000 registered hybrids.

To encourage the use of environmentally friendly modes of transport, the Ministry of Environmental Protection continues to subsidize electric and hybrid vehicles, which is a part of measures implemented to improve air quality and the environment.

It is known that traffic everywhere in the world, especially in big cities, is a significant cause of air pollution. So, for the electric vehicle ride to become popular in our area, it is necessary to develop the appropriate infrastructure.

In focus:

New charging points in the charge&GO network

At the end of March, another charger for electric cars was put into operation, which is located near the toll ramp in Vrčin, when you travel from Niš to Belgrade. It is an ABB HP 175 fast charger installed by MT-KOMEX.

The company is becoming recognizable in the electromobility sector, and it is quite possible that you have heard for some of the charging points on Serbian highways or you have parked your vehicle in the Plaza shopping centre in Kragujevac or TC Promenada in Novi Sad and saw parking spaces specially reserved for electric four-wheelers.

The MT-KOMEX team installed all chargers at these locations. Each of these shopping malls has five Smart wallbox chargers manufactured by Schneider Electric with the power of 22 kW.

If you go down the Danube main road to Kladovo, a “green” charger under a solar canopy that supplies it with electricity will be waiting for you. This modern combination of panels and chargers is located at the parking lot of domestic company Termovent. All mentioned chargers are integrated into the charge&GO platform.

It is the first regional platform for charging electric vehicles, which also includes neighbouring countries in addition to Serbia. Through this charging system for the use of charging points, drivers of electric cars can charge their vehicles fast and easy.

They also have a mobile application charge&GO for Android and iOS at their disposal. MT-KOMEX continues its mission of developing electromobility in Serbia, and all interested parties are invited to include their chargers in the charge&GO network.

How does charge&GO work?

The software allows users to quickly search for the nearest chargers in the charge&GO network, as well as vacant charging stations. At the charging point, it is necessary to authorize yourself by using a mobile phone or RFID card.

The charging session starts the moment you connect the cable to the selected charging point. Service users can use charging points for their four-wheelers with a one-time payment option.

Apart from the fact that users will be able to travel around the country and the region without any worries, thanks to the cooperation between MT-KOMEX and Finnish company Virta, they will also have electric chargers in more than 30 countries (more than 180,000 chargers in Europe) which are part of the global platform at their disposal. And all of that without the additional cost of roaming!

We remind you that the subsidies for the purchase of electric vehicles range from 2,500 to 5,000 euros. The Public Company “Roads of Serbia” has launched an initiative to reduce the toll for electric and hybrid vehicles by 13 per cent.

In the future, we expect some more benefits for those who opt for electric vehicles, and with the available incentives, we should soon see more of these vehicles on our streets. What we will not see is an ominous cloud of smoke from the exhaust, which will contribute to the reduction of air pollution.

Read the story in the new issue of the Energy portal Magazine CIRCULAR ECONOMY march 2021.-may 2021.

How to go Solar in Serbia

26.05.2021

solar-panels-radnici — Foto-ilustracija: Pixabay

With many sunny days, Serbia has great potential for solar energy. However, the use of solar power in residential buildings and individual houses is still in its early stages. The country’s recently adopted energy laws, combined with the lower costs of solar technology, raise expectations that this may soon change.

For Nikola Rađenović from Belgrade there were no doubts about installing solar panels on his house, even before these developments. He has been determined to invest in renewables, which he sees not only as financially interesting, but also ethically right.

“I have been interested in renewables and I decided to invest in solar panels because I wanted to be, as much as possible, energy independent, but I also wanted to contribute to decreasing air pollution in my city,” explains Nikola, who is currently working to develop a mobile application for an electric bike sharing system in two Serbian cities.

Nikola had previously invested in good-quality windows and insulation, and his house was already energy efficient. In addition, he wanted to use solar panels as his main electricity source and a heat pump for heating and hot water.

Nikola invested EUR 9,000 in solar panels and equipment and received a EUR 1,600 cashback incentive. He secured a loan under the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)’s Green Economy Financing Facility (GEFF), which works with local banks to on-lend funds to residential borrowers for investments in residential energy efficiency and renewable energy solutions. In Serbia, UniCredit Bank and Erste Bank offer GEFF loans.

Although such home improvements can noticeably reduce energy use and long-term associated costs, the initial financial outlay can be high. To help homeowners invest in green solutions, GEFF provides technical assistance and grants, supported by the European Union (EU), the Austrian Federal Ministry of Finance and the Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF).

“I believe I will pay off my investment in 7 to 10 years, maybe even sooner, considering the house is completely powered by solar energy,” Nikola says. “My electricity bills are zero.”

Administrative barriers have meant that Nikola’s house is not connected to Serbia’s electricity grid. He still manages to generate electricity all year round, with most energy produced from March to November and less produced on winter days. Ideally, he would like to connect his house to the grid to be able to return the surplus of energy produced in summer for use in winter. He hopes to be able to do this as the new energy laws in Serbia envision the possibility of users also being electricity producers, known as “prosumers”.

Telefon Inženjering, a Belgrade-based company specialising in solar technology solutions, sees greater interest in solar energy and believes that the new regulations will motivate even more people to consider a switch to solar.

“Previously, we have mainly worked on off-grid systems, for users who do not have access to the electricity grid, such as small weekend homes or homes in the mountains,” explains Nikola Šakan, CEO of Telefon Inženjering. “Nowadays, we work more on on-grid systems, for users who have electricity but want to make additional savings with solar energy. An average household in Serbia would require a solar plant of 5-10 kW. Such a system can be paid off in five to seven years. The installation is not complex and can be finished within a couple of days,” adds Nikola.

Decarbonisation and environmental benefits

Households in the Western Balkans account for about 60-70 percent of energy used in buildings and the region’s energy usage is around 2.5 times higher than the average for Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries in Europe. Implementing energy efficiency in residential buildings is critical to achieving energy savings.

Together with the EU and other donors, the EBRD provides finance and delivers policy support to harmonise countries’ laws and regulations on energy efficiency under the Regional Energy Efficiency Programme (REEP) for the Western Balkans.

So far, through the GEFF programme, over 7,000 households in the Western Balkans have invested around EUR 40 million in green residential solutions, less than half of what is available under the EUR 85 million Western Balkans GEFF programme. These investments already contribute to saving over 31 million kWh of energy and over 11,200 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year. That is the equivalent of taking more than 6,000 cars off the road.

Source: EBRD

Why Is Wind Essential For Zero Emissions?

25.05.2021

wind_turbine_bird_vetrenjače_ptica — Foto-ilustracija: Pixabay

Photo-illustration: Unsplash (NIcholas Doherty)

Wind is essential for our zero emissions future because it is a clean fuel energy source, is cost-effective, and can be built on existing farms or land or offshore. Oh, yeah — it’s renewable and infinite, too.

When humans moved from a nomadic to agricultural existence, few asked, “Why is wind important?” That’s because early farmers knew that windmills could pump water from streams and tributaries to irrigate their crops. They already understood that wind was an important element of their renewable energy toolkits.

Fast forward to the 21st century, and wind has risen to the top of the renewable energy mix. Vestas, the Danish wind turbine company, has developed a new offshore wind turbine designed specifically for use in typhoon-prone areas. The company’s V236-15.0 MW will produce 15 megawatts of electricity — the highest output of any offshore wind turbine in the world. The next closest is the GE Haliade X-13, which will be installed in the UK’s Dogger Bank offshore wind project in the North Sea.

In the US, the Biden administration announced this month a plan to expand the use of offshore wind power along the US East Coast, with the goal to tap this substantial new source of renewable energy. The plan sets a goal of deploying 30.000 megawatts of offshore wind turbines in coastal waters nationwide by 2030, enough to power 10 million homes.

To help meet that target, the administration said it would accelerate permitting of projects off the Atlantic Coast and prepare to open up waters near New York and New Jersey for development. The endeavor contains 3 billion dollars in federal loan guarantees for offshore wind projects and invest in upgrading the nation’s ports to support wind construction.

You can read the whole article HERE.

Source: Clean Technica

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