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Forest Loss Slows Globally as Sustainable Management Grows

Photo-illustration: Pixabay
Photo-illustration: Pixabay

Did you know that forests cover nearly 1/3 of land globally?

That’s 4.06 billion hectares.

In other words, there is around 0.52 ha of forest for every person on the planet.

This interactive report contains the main findings of the Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 (FRA 2020).

FRA 2020 examines the status of, and trends in, more than 60 forest-related variables in 236 countries and territories in the period 1990–2020.

The information provided by FRA presents a comprehensive view of the world’s forests and the ways in which the resource is changing. Such a clear global picture supports the development of sound policies, practices and investments affecting forests and forestry.

Download the FRA 2020 Key Findings!

Source: FAO

Record Global Carbon Dioxide Concentrations Despite COVID-19 Crisis

Photo-illustration: Pixabay

Over the past few weeks there have been many reports of localized air quality improvements as the world has locked down to combat the coronavirus pandemic. However, no one should think that the climate crisis is therefore over—far from it.

Photo-illustration: Pixabay

The most recent data from the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) shows global carbon dioxide (CO2) levels rising sharply.

In April 2020 the average concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere was 416.21 parts per million (ppm), the highest since measurements began in Hawaii in 1958.

Furthermore, ice core records indicate that such levels have not been seen in the last 800,000 years.

The United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) World Environment Situation Room shows a sharp increase in CO2 concentrations of more than 100 ppm since March 1958.

The curve shows expected seasonal fluctuations: the northern hemisphere has a greater land mass than the southern hemisphere and more vegetation-absorbing CO2 during the summer. Global CO2 concentrations peak in May at the end of the northern hemisphere winter. Then, as photosynthesis takes place and new foliage appears, it absorbs CO2, lowering concentrations by about 7.5 ppm until October. During the northern hemisphere winter, the Earth has less photosynthesis activity, so CO2 concentrations go down until the next cycle.

However, owing to anthropogenic CO2 emissions (emissions from human activities), CO2 concentrations are not only increasing, but accelerating.

The long-term view

Using ice-core records, it is possible to measure CO2 trapped in deep Antarctic ice going back 800,000s years. We have never in the last 800,000 years reached 416 ppm.

Given that the Homo sapiens appeared about 300,000 years ago, and the first trace of Homo sapiens sapiens (also called anatomically modern humans) dates to 196,000 years ago, no individual of our species has experienced such high levels of CO2.

“This is, of course, of great concern for our climate, and demonstrates, yet again, that urgent action is needed to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. To keep average global warming to 1.5°C we need to achieve net zero emissions by 2040 (2055 at the latest),” says Pascal Peduzzi, Director of UNEP/GRID-Geneva and Programme Manager of the World Environment Situation Room.

These results may come as a surprise to those who optimistically assume that COVID-19 will reduce total global emissions.

While it is true that vehicular and air traffic, as well as industrial activity, has reduced sharply in most parts of the world since January 2020, this is not the case with our electricity supply: 64 per cent of the global electricity energy mix comes from fossil fuels (coal: 38 per cent, gas: 23 per cent, oil: 3 per cent), according to the World Energy Outlook 2019. Heating systems have been functioning as before COVID-19. None of the fundamentals have changed (such as the shift to renewable energy, public transport, deforestation).

Forest fires and wildfires that are increasing in likelihood and severity due to climate change continue to affect swathes of Brazil, Honduras, Myanmar, Thailand, and Venezuela, each fire emitting large amounts of additional CO2.

“COVID-19 instead provides us a chance to take stock of the risks we are taking in our unsustainable relationship with our environment and seize the opportunity to rebuild our economies in more environmentally responsible ways. We must take serious account of global threats such as pandemics and climate disaster in order to build resilient markets, companies, countries, global systems and a healthy, sustainable future for everyone.

“Supporting fiscal stimulus and finance packages to take advantage of decarbonization and the accelerating renewable and clean energy transition will not be just a short-term economic win but a win for future resilience too,” he adds.

Source: UNEP

Arctic Ozone Depletion Reached Record Level

Photo-illustration: Pixabay

Depletion of the ozone layer, ­the shield that protects life on Earth from harmful levels of ultraviolet radiation, reached an unprecedented level over large parts of the Arctic this spring. This phenomenon was caused by the continuing presence of ozone­-depleting substances in the atmosphere and a very cold winter in the stratosphere (the layer of the atmosphere between around 10 km and round 50 km altitude).

Photo-illustration: Pixabay

The last time similarly strong  ozone depletion was observed over the Arctic was during spring 2011, and ozone depletion in 2020 was even stronger, according to WMO’s Global Atmosphere Watch ozone observing stations, NASA and the Copernicus Atmospheric Monitoring Service implemented by ECMWF.

The ozone hole closed in April with an increase in stratospheric temperatures which culminated in an influx of ozone-rich air from the lower atmosphere.

The depletion would have been even worse if it had not been for a successful international agreement called the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. This led to a phaseout of substances such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). But they remain in the atmosphere for several decades and their concentrations are still high enough to cause severe ozone destruction.

“The Arctic stratosphere continues to be vulnerable to ozone-depleting substances linked to human activities,” said WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas.  “The degree of ozone loss experienced in any particular winter depends on the meteorological conditions. The 2020 ozone loss shows that we have to remain vigilant and maintain continuous observations,” said WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas.

“WMO’s Global Atmosphere Watch stations in the Arctic and the Antarctic provide us with early warnings in case of low ozone and intense UV radiation levels. We pay tribute to National Meteorological Services for continuing vital atmospheric monitoring and observing activities despite the constraints of the COVID-19 era,” he said.

Polar Vortex

The formation of an ozone hole is driven by extremely cold temperatures (below -80°C), sunlight, wind fields and damaging chemicals. The majority of the ozone depletion in the Arctic takes place inside the so-called polar vortex: a region of fast-blowing circular winds that intensify in the fall and isolate the air mass within the vortex, keeping it very cold.

This winter (2019-2020) the severity of the Arctic ozone depletion was supported by unusually weak upper atmospheric “wave” events. These waves drive masses of air through the upper atmosphere traveling upward from the lower atmosphere in middle latitudes which disturb the vortex around the Arctic and bring ozone rich air from other parts of the stratosphere.

In addition to that the stratospheric polar vortex over Arctic was strong and combined with consistently very low temperatures for long period of time promoting the creation of a large area of polar stratospheric clouds and the chemical processes that deplete ozone with the appearance of the sun over the Arctic.

As a result of these unusual atmospheric conditions, ozone concentrations above the Arctic reached a record low for the month of March, decreasing to less than 220 Dobson Units, which is normally considered ‘ozone hole levels,’ and at the peak down to 205 Dobson units. The typical lowest ozone values observed over the Arctic in March are at least 240 Dobson Units.

The increase in stratospheric temperatures in April caused the polar vortex to shrink and break into two smaller and separate vortices and allowed mixing with ozone-rich air from the lower atmosphere. The April warm up in the stratosphere ceased the conditions that support the needed for ozone-depletion reactions, polar stratospheric clouds and terminated the depletion event.

As the meteorological conditions and temperatures are different from year to year, the severity of the ozone depletion also fluctuates.  This means that occasional large Arctic ozone depletions are still possible.

The Arctic stratosphere is usually less isolated than the Antarctic one. Stratospheric temperatures in the Arctic usually do not fall as low as in the Antarctic stratosphere neither do they stay low for extended period of time.

This spring’s Arctic ozone hole had a much smaller maximum extension compared to a typical Antarctic hole extent. The  2019 ozone hole over Antarctica was the smallest on record since the ozone hole was first discovered.

Scientists are monitoring the extent to which climate change is leading to stratospheric cooling, which enhances the possibilities for observing temperatures under -78°C especially in the Arctic. Those are needed for the polar stratospheric cloud formation.

UV Radiation

WMO’s Global Atmosphere Watch Network has stations in the Arctic and these are performing high-quality measurements of  both ozone and Ultraviolet (UV) radiation.

The 2020 conditions are similar to the spring of 2011 when the ozone losses over the Arctic were near 50%. The depletion of the Arctic ozone led to an increase in surface UV radiation in the spring of 2011, with scientists observing a 60% increase in the UV Index in the Canadian Arctic, and an even higher increase over Northern Europe.

Moreover, ozone depletion in the Arctic affects the total ozone budget resulting in an increase of summertime UV levels over Canada and Europe. Each year, based on springtime ozone levels, a summer seasonal UV outlook is provided to the public in different countries.

Montreal Protocol

The most recent Scientific Assessment of Ozone Depletion from WMO and the UN Environment Programme shows that the ozone layer in parts of the stratosphere has recovered at a rate of 1-3% per decade since 2000. At projected rates, Arctic and Northern Hemisphere mid-latitude ozone is expected to heal completely before the middle of the century (~2035) followed by the Southern Hemisphere mid-latitude around mid-century, and Antarctic region by 2060.

Without the Montreal Protocol, this year’s ozone destruction would most likely have been worse. Ozone depleting substances such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and halons, once present in refrigerators, spray cans and fire extinguishers, have been phased out under the Montreal Protocol. Nevertheless, the atmospheric measurements and analysis allowed to detect the renewed emissions of some of the controlled substances, stressing the importance of continuous observations of these constituents.

Source: WMO

ESCAP and IRENA Transitioning Asia-Pacific Region Towards Renewables Together

Photo-illustration: Pixabay

The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) will work together to improve access to sustainable energy, bolstering the Asia-Pacific region’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The two organisations will offer recommendations to governments in the region positioning the energy transition as an integral part of the immediate response to the crisis and medium to long-term recovery efforts.

Photo-illustration: Pixabay

Asia-Pacific, home to half of the world’s population, is largely dependent on fossil fuels. Diesel, for instance, fuels the majority of the region’s off-grid electricity needs. According to ESCAP, 200 million people in the Asia Pacific region live without electricity and 1.2 billion people without access to clean cooking fuel. Joint efforts will focus on developing sustainable energy policies that are closely integrated with health and industrial development policies to bolster recovery efforts and rebuild economies.

“The pandemic is an opportunity for us to rethink our economic growth path that has come at a heavy cost to the people and planet,” said Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of ESCAP. “To bring about a fundamental shift for the energy transition, we need to adopt the motto of ‘no more business as usual’ for all stakeholders. Policymakers should not lose sight of the looming climate crisis, but rather design economic stimulus packages with social inclusion and environmental sustainability built into every decision in particular sustainable energy development.”

“We are living in truly unprecedented times, calling for decisive and cooperative action among the international community to save lives and support livelihoods all over the world,” said IRENA Director-General Francesco La Camera. “The Asia-Pacific region faces unique energy challenges that undermine the ability of governments to respond to this crisis and build economic resilience. Renewables can underpin these efforts and therefore can play an instrumental role in both the response and the recovery.”

With national budgets strained by immediate COVID-19 needs, short to medium-term energy access investment may represent less of a priority for governments. However, underinvestment in this area could severely impact the capacity of rural health centres to support front-line health workers and provide essential services to COVID-19 patients. When a vaccine does become available, the provision of cold storage and refrigerated transport across large areas will be critical. Decentralized renewable energy technologies such as solar will be key for large-scale immunization efforts in developing countries.

Furthermore, slow progress in mainstreaming clean cooking solutions may expose millions of people to the dangerous combination of particulates and COVID-19. Scientists are already investigating links between air pollution and higher levels of coronavirus mortality, with preliminary results showing a probable correlation between the two.

Renewables can be deployed rapidly and are therefore well-placed to support immediate crisis response efforts including electrification of public health value chains. In the medium to long-term, renewables-based energy systems can also be an engine of sustainable growth. Renewable energy costs in many parts of the world now outcompete traditional energy sources, presenting cost saving opportunities for governments and consumers while boosting energy security, building energy independence and supporting climate-related nationally determined contributions.

According to IRENA’s recently launched Global Renewables Outlook report, renewables can supply more than half of all power needs in Southeast Asia alone by 2030, boosting the regional economy by more than 4.4 per cent and growing jobs by close to 50 per cent in the process. In a recent COVID-19 policy report for Asia and the Pacific, ESCAP identified renewable energy as one of the main sectors to include in stimulus packages.

During the 10th IRENA Assembly last January, ESCAP and IRENA signed a Memorandum of Understanding to work together to increase the uptake of renewable energy in the Asia-Pacific region, support the implementation of the Paris Agreement, and contribute to the achievement of SDG7 by 2030.

Source: IRENA

Will the Historic Decisions Bring the Oil Industry Back From the Brink?

Photo-illustration: Pixabay

The IEA Oil Market Report (OMR) is one of the world’s most authoritative and timely sources of data, forecasts and analysis on the global oil market – including detailed statistics and commentary on oil supply, demand, inventories, prices and refining activity, as well as oil trade for IEA and selected non-IEA countries.

About this report

  • Global oil demand is expected to fall by a record 9.3 mb/d year-on-year in 2020. The impact of containment measures in 187 countries and territories has been to bring mobility almost to a halt. Demand in April is estimated to be 29 mb/d lower than a year ago, down to a level last seen in 1995. For 2Q20, demand is expected to be 23.1 mb/d below year-ago levels. The recovery in 2H20 will be gradual; in December demand will still be down 2.7 mb/d y-o-y.
  • Global oil supply is set to plunge by a record 12 mb/d in May, after OPEC+ forged a historic output deal to cut production by 9.7 mb/d from an agreed baseline level. As April production was high, the effective cut is 10.7 mb/d. Additional reductions are set to come from other countries with the US and Canada seeing the largest declines. Total non-OPEC output falls could reach 5.2 mb/d in 4Q20, and for the year as a whole output may be 2.3 mb/d lower than last year.
  • Refining throughput in 2020 is forecast to fall 7.6 mb/d y-o-y to 74.3 mb/d on sharply reduced demand for fuels. Global refinery intake is expected to plummet by 16 mb/d y-o-y in 2Q20, with widespread run cuts and shutdowns in all regions. Although refinery runs are falling, product stocks are still expected to build by 6 mb/d. In 2H20, refining activity will slowly recover as the global market moves into deficit.
  • Early data show China’s implied stock build in 1Q20 at 2.1 mb/d, and US stocks increased by 0.5 mb/d. OECD data show that industry stocks in February fell by 35.4 mb to 2 878 mb as a draw for products more than offset a build in crude. Total OECD oil stocks stood 42.4 mb below the five-year average and, due to the weak outlook, now provide 79.2 days of forward demand coverage. In March, floating storage of crude oil increased by 22.9 mb (0.7 mb/d) to 103.1 mb.
  • Twin demand and supply shocks caused oil futures prices to fall by 40% in March. Brent has recovered modestly from an 18-year low as producers reached agreement to curtail output and is trading at $31/bbl. Weak demand pushed prices for crude grades such as WTI Midland and West Canadian Select below $10/bbl. Cracks for gasoline and jet fuel continued to suffer as containment measures were introduced.
Photo-illustration: Pixabay

Highlights

Around the world billions of people are affected by one of the worst health crises of the past century. The global economy is under pressure in ways not seen since the Great Depression in the 1930s; businesses are failing and unemployment is surging. Confinement measures are in place in 187 countries and territories, and although they vary in scope, activity in the transportation sector has fallen dramatically almost everywhere. Even assuming that travel restrictions are eased in the second half of the year, we expect that global oil demand in 2020 will fall by 9.3 million barrels a day (mb/d) versus 2019, erasing almost a decade of growth.

Against this bleak background, policy makers are responding with radical steps. Governments have introduced massive emergency fiscal plans to support workers and businesses. Central banks have embarked on huge monetary stimulus programmes. We are also seeing measures being taken to tackle the oil market crisis, with two major events taking place over the past week.

On Sunday, oil producers in the OPEC+ group agreed to cut output by an initial 9.7 mb/d versus their agreed baseline, effective 1 May. In light of the unprecedented depth of the crisis, the IEA has urged major consumers and producers to work together through the forum of the G20 to mitigate the impact on market stability, and an extraordinary meeting of energy ministers from G20 and other countries took place on Friday 10 April. Those present offered their support for the efforts of the OPEC+ countries to stabilise the oil market and, in some cases, discussed output cuts that would take place immediately or over time.

The measures announced by OPEC+ and the G20 countries won’t rebalance the market immediately. But by lowering the peak of the supply overhang and flattening the curve of the build-up in stocks, they help a complex system absorb the worst of this crisis, whose consequences for the oil market remain very uncertain in the short term. We forecast a drop in demand in April of as much as 29 mb/d year-on-year, followed by another significant year-onyear fall of 26 mb/d in May. In June, the gradual recovery likely begins to gain traction, although demand will still be 15 mb/d lower than a year ago. There is no feasible agreement that could cut supply by enough to offset such near-term demand losses. However, the past week’s achievements are a solid start and have the potential to start to reverse the build-up in stocks as we move into the second half of the year.

The OPEC+ and G20 initiatives will impact the oil market in three ways. First, the OPEC+ production cut in May to reach the baseline will actually be 10.7 mb/d and not 9.7 mb/d, as April production was high. This will provide some immediate relief from the supply surplus in the coming weeks, lowering the peak of the build-up of stocks. Second, four countries (China, India, Korea and the United States) have either offered their strategic storage capacity to industry to temporarily park unwanted barrels or are considering increasing their strategic stocks to take advantage of lower prices. This will create extra headroom for the impending stock build-up, helping the market get past the hump. Third, other producers, with the United States and Canada likely to be the largest contributors, could see output fall by around 3.5 mb/d in the coming months due to the impact of lower prices, according to IEA estimates. The loss of this supply combined with the OPEC+ cuts will shift the market into a deficit in the second half of 2020, ensuring an end to the build-up of stocks and a return to more normal market conditions. At the time of publication, we were still waiting for more details on some planned production cuts and proposals to use strategic storage. If the transfers into strategic stocks, which might be as much as 200 mb, were to take place in the next three months or so, they could represent about 2 mb/d of supply withdrawn from the market.

If production does fall sharply, some oil goes into strategic stocks, and demand begins to recover, the second half of 2020 will see demand exceed supply. This will enable the market to start reducing the massive stock overhang that is building up in the first half of the year. Indeed, our current demand and supply estimates imply a stock draw of 4.7 mb/d in the second half.

The historic decisions taken by OPEC+ and the G20 should help bring the oil industry back from the brink of an even more serious situation than it currently faces. Even so, the implied stock build-up of 12 mb/d in the first half of the year still threatens to overwhelm the logistics of the oil industry – ships, pipelines and storage tanks – in the coming weeks. In this Report, we estimate that available capacity could be saturated in mid-year, based on our market balances. However, this is a very broad-brush assumption and the situation varies from place to place. There are already bottlenecks in other parts of the logistics chain, such as competition to buy space on pipeline systems that transport oil. There are also quality issues: it is not possible to accommodate different qualities of crude oil at many sites, and special tanks are required for some products. Floating storage is becoming more expensive as traders compete for ships. Chartering costs for Very Large Crude Carriers have more than doubled since February. Never before has the oil industry come this close to testing its logistics capacity to the limit.

Looking beyond the immediate imbalances in the market, the IEA pointed out to the G20 energy ministers that although low prices might appear to be attractive to consumers, they are of little benefit to the approximately 4 billion people living under some form of COVID-19 lockdown. Also, low prices impact the livelihood of millions of people employed along the oil industry’s extensive value chain, and they damage the economies of weaker producing countries where social stability is already fragile.

Low prices threaten the stability of an industry that will remain central to the functioning of the global economy. Even with demand falling by a record amount this year, oil companies still face the challenges of investing to offset natural production declines and to meet future growth. Global capital expenditure by exploration and production companies in 2020 is forecast to drop by about 32% versus 2019 to $335 billion, the lowest level for 13 years. This reduction of financial resources also undermines the ability of the oil industry to develop some of the technologies needed for clean energy transitions around the world.

There is clearly a long way to go before we can put the COVID-19 crisis behind us. However, we are encouraged by the solidarity shown by policy makers from producing and consuming countries working together to meet this historic challenge of bringing stability to the oil market.

Source: IEA

Forests and Waters Are Our Greatest Treasure

Photo: Marina Stančević

We talked to Branislav Nedimovic, the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management of the Republic of Serbia about the greatest potentials of Serbian agriculture, how to mitigate the effects of climate change and increase the yields, whether a new law to allow the circulation of genetically modified food is being prepared and whether we will meet the plan by 2050 to have 40 per cent of land under forest

Agriculture is most certainly one of the main pillars of the Serbian economy and any progress it records directly reflects the overall economic growth of our country. However, given that it has borne the brunt of severe economic and political crisis for decades, the key links in the production chain have been broken, especially the processing part which is primary for agrarian recovery. “This is why we increase subsidies every year to raise processing capacities, which are measured in tens of millions of euros, regardless of whether it is the processing of fruit, vegetables or meat. I believe that the results will be getting increasingly better since it takes time for the agriculture to return to solid ground where it once was. Although one can always do better, I am personally to a great extent quite pleased with the direction we are taking,” says Branislav Nedimovic, the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management at the beginning of the interview for Energy portal.

EP: Climate change is widely felt in our country, particularly affecting agriculture as the periods of major droughts and floods follow one after another. Is there a national plan for adaptation to changed climate conditions and what concrete measures have been taken so far to mitigate the effects of global warming?

Photo: Private archive of Branislav Nedimovic

Branislav Nedimovic: The Ministry of Agriculture in co-operation with other institutions, developed the document on the impact of climate change on agriculture and prepared the list of proposals for adaptation measures. The first version was developed in 2015 and the second one in 2019. Part of the measures, such as anti-hail nets and irrigation systems, are subsidised by the Ministry through its annual programs, as well as loans for them. In terms of mitigation, harmonisation of legislation with the European Union and IPARD funds lead to it and help reduce agricultural emissions.

EP: Our farmers do a lot of fruit-growing, but the yields are destroyed by hail every year in some parts of the country. In December last year, the first automatic anti-hail system which covers 13 municipalities was launched near Valjevo. What effects are expected in the first year of operation of this system, how many of those systems do we need across Serbia, and when will we purchase them?

Branislav Nedimovic: Since December, the automated defence system from hail has been fully operational on the territory of Valjevo radar centre, which covers the Macvan-Kolubara district, without the municipality of Ljig and with the municipality of Obrenovac. The system was put into operation in phases during 2019, and the fact is that minimal damage caused by hail was recorded the same year on this territory. The efficiency of this system of protection against hail is 70 per cent. There are 13 radar centres in Serbia, and 600 million dinars from the budget of the Ministry for 2020 has been allocated for the automation of the Uzice and Bukulja centres. The budget of Autonomous Province of Vojvodina envisages the modernisation of Fruska gora, Bajsa and Samos radar centres. It should be emphasised that through modernisation of the hail defence system, support in the construction of safety nets and subsidisation of insurance, farmers are provided with the maximum possible protection against this disaster.

EP: The production and buying and selling of genetically modified food in Serbia are forbidden by the Law. However, we can still often hear that we have thousands of acres under GM soybeans, and that, despite the law and border checks, we import products that even exceed 0.9 per cent of GM ingredients. To what extent is this Law implemented and how much does the recently opened National Food Safety Laboratory help?

Branislav Nedimovic: Each shipment that enters our country is the subject of inspection and testing, thus in this respect inspections carry out absolute controls, which means that on our domestic market only GMO-free products can be found. In case that, it is established at the border that goods contain in any respect higher values than allowed, then the destruction or return of the shipment shall be carried out. According to the Law on Genetically Modified Organisms, testing of GMOs and products from GMOs to identify and quantify genetic modification in them is performed by authorised and accredited laboratories which we currently have five. They, for the needs of the Ministry of Agriculture, carry out testing of samples of plants and plant products to identify and quantify genetic modification in the tested sample.

EP: Do you, as a citizen, buy products from the shelves without thinking or you read declarations carefully? Are you filled with apprehension concerning GM food?

Branislav Nedimovic: In this regard, I have no fear when shopping.

EP: How much truth is there in the announcement of a part of the expert public that the Government of Serbia is preparing a Law that will allow GM food on the market? This topic can be heard very often in the media…

Branislav Nedimovic: We are not preparing it. We have a clear applicable law.

In focus:

EP: Water is one of the greatest natural resources of Serbia. However, many rivers are polluted, sources of drinking water, which are not inexhaustible resources, are exploited mainly by foreign companies, and our hydro potential, which is above the European average, is insufficiently utilised, which is why we import electricity. Which of these three issues is your Ministry most focused on and what measures do you take to preserve Serbia’s water resources and use them responsibly?

Photo: Goran Djordjevic

Branislav Nedimovic: Waters are natural resources and owned by the Republic of Serbia and as such cannot be alienated. The Water law lays down appropriate obligations regarding the use, protection and abstraction of drinking water. The Ministry is committed to water protection from the pollution which is reflected in the preparation of regulations and strategic and planning documents (laws and regulations in the field of water, water management strategy, water management plan and others), on the one hand, but also the implementation of these regulations through measures for construction and reconstruction of facilities for collecting and treatment of municipal wastewater in residential areas, implementation of good agricultural practice rules and undertaking of agrotechnical and other measures, as well as implementing all other necessary measures to protect the waters from the pollution. It should be borne in mind that these measures not only require large investments which involve billions of euros but also take time from two to three decades in order to be fully implemented. To implement the enacted measures, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management from the funds of Budget Water Fund of the Republic of Serbia in accordance with the Regulation on Determining Water Management  Program, adopted by the Government for each calendar year, co-finances the construction and reconstruction of water facilities for collection, removal and treatment of wastewaters, as follows: the main collectors, wastewater treatment plants and wastewater collectors, as well as the preparation of technical documentation for these water facilities.

EP: How do we manage forests as our natural resource?

Branislav Nedimovic: Forests in Serbia are managed on the principle of sustainability, which involves managing and using forests and forest land in such a way and to such an extent that biodiversity is preserved, and on the other hand, to meet the relevant environmental, economic and social needs of today and future generations without endangering or damaging any other ecosystem. Forest management in Serbia is carried out in accordance with the Forestry Development Strategy, as the basic strategic document in the forestry sector, and in accordance with the Forest Law, adopted in 2010.

For all forests in Serbia, whether state-owned or privately owned, planning documents are prepared based on which management is carried out. State forests are managed by public enterprises, and private forests are managed by their owners. The state, as the enactor of the Forest Law, monitors its implementation through the Forestry and Hunting Inspection of the Republic of Serbia, which equally monitors the implementation of the Law in both state and private forests.

What are we particularly proud of is the fact that the volume of illegal activities is decreasing year after year, and that the activities that we, as the Ministry, carry out have a great influence on this. Those activities primarily consist of the implementation of preventive measures, and if required by individual cases, even of punitive measures following the Law.

Photo: Vesna Mijailovic

EP: How close are we to achieving the strategy of getting from the current 30 per cent covered with forests to 42 per cent by 2050?

Branislav Nedimovic: According to the data from the National Forest Inventory, carried out in 2004-2006, forest cover in Serbia is 29.1 per cent. However, it should be pointed out that in Serbia we have municipalities like Majdanpek, with about 70 per cent of forest cover, and on the other hand Kikinda with 0.5 per cent. Perhaps it is not necessary to talk about forest cover at the national level but to focus more on increasing the forest cover of the municipalities with the smallest area covered with forest. These are mostly municipalities in Autonomous Province of Vojvodina. A project funded by the Global Environment Facility is currently being implemented, under which a new National Forest Inventory is being carried out.

What we can expect is that the forest cover will certainly be above 30 per cent due to the raising of new forests. The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management, through the Forest Fund of Serbia, annually allocates funds for afforestation of state forests and private plots. Only in 2019, the funds of this fund intended for afforestation amounted to 80,000,000 dinars, while 90,000,000 of dinars are planned in 2020 90,000,000 of dinars are planned.

Interview by: Tamara Zjacic

This interview was published in the new issue of the Energy portal Magazine NATURAL RESOURCES, march – may, 2020

There Are No Winners in the Illegal Trade in Wildlife

Photo-illustration: Pixabay

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, or CITES, is an international treaty with 183 Parties–182 states plus the European Union.  It is one of the oldest multilateral agreements to tackle international trade in wildlife and conservation concerns.

Photo-illustration: Pixabay

CITES Secretary-General, Ivonne Higuero is an environmental economist, who has been working on issues of sustainable development for more than 26 years. In this interview, she discusses the connection between wildlife trade and the COVID-19 pandemic, and what must be done to reduce the likelihood of future zoonotic disease outbreaks.

Broadly, what does CITES do?

CITES aims to keep the international trade of wild plants and animals legal, sustainable and traceable.

Its Parties take decisions to ensure that international trade of valuable wild species of plants and animals does not endanger their survival in the wild.

Why is illegal trade in wildlife such an important issue; and in what practical ways does it affect our lives?

Illegal wildlife trade has many negative consequences for human well-being and species conservation. When criminal actors trade in endangered species, they weaken entire ecosystems and they threaten essential links of the world’s biological diversity. Biodiversity loss is one of the greatest global threats in our time, and it also means a narrower genetic pool and therefore less resilience to resist diseases of any kind.

Criminal wildlife trafficking networks also undermine states’ abilities to tackle outbreaks of disease, because they force governments to divert human and financial resources that could be allotted to other needs.

What is the significance of wildlife trade in relation to the spread of zoonotic diseases like COVID-19?

Illegal wildlife trade contributes to habitat destruction, which removes necessary buffer zones between humans and wild fauna, making it more likely that animal pathogens come into contact with people. Specimens that are traded illegally are also much less likely to be sold or bought where sanitary standards are being properly enforced, making the spread of diseases more likely.

We know that many emerging infectious diseases in recent times have originated in wild animals. Many of them were not considered illegally-traded CITES-listed species. However, illegal wildlife trade flows will only make these episodes worse, by degrading or bringing people too close to animal habitats, and therefore contributing to the spread of diseases.

How does the United Nations help countries conserve species and protect biodiversity?

United Nations organizations and United Nations-affiliated conventions and agreements, such as CITES, the Convention on Biological Diversity or the Convention on Migratory Species of Wild Animals, provide tools, resources, platforms, and expertise to governments around the world. Organizations such as the UN Environmental Programme help carry out and coordinate essential programmes in the field that contribute to achieving Sustainable Development Goals related to biodiversity. At the same time, CITES and other multilateral environmental agreements provide a global, legally-binding framework to conserve wildlife and biodiversity, while frequently contributing to build bridges between governments, the private sector and civil society, so that everyone can contribute to this common and essential mission.

What are some of the steps that need to be taken, to prevent the emergence and spread of diseases such as COVID-19?

Currently, there is a lot of discussion around the wildlife trade–both legal and illegal. It is indeed essential that international trade be fully regulated, and that national wildlife legislation and regulations be fully enforced. CITES parties must continue their work towards effective compliance with the Convention; and we have applauded all efforts to reinforce national implementation of CITES measures and local measures to enhance conservation of wild species, especially in key countries. Of course, this is only one part of the puzzle.

There is a need to have a better balance between humans and nature. This means stopping the destruction and degradation of habitats, deforestation and undesirable land conversion. We must raise the quality and enforcement of sanitary and phytosanitary standards and regulations; change unsustainable consumption and production patterns; rethink ways of connecting globally; and take many other actions to reduce risks that lead us to these global pandemics.

What’s your call to action?

The World Economic Forum found that over half of the world’s GDP is highly- or moderately-dependent on nature. Furthermore, the livelihoods of millions of people around the world rely on wildlife as a source of income and protein. Governments must rebuild post COVID-19 by investing in nature, in the compliance and enforcement of biodiversity-related conventions, in reducing the destruction and degradation of habitats and in the conservation and sustainable use of wild species to reduce the likelihood of future pandemics resulting from zoonotic diseases.

Source: UNEP

Insects Populations Have Been Declining for Nearly 100 Years, Study Reveals

Photo-illustration: Pixabay
  • Insect populations have been steadily changing over recent years.
  • A new study, based on 41 countries across 5 continents has found that land-based insects have been declining at a rate of 1% each year.
  • Scientists still do not fully understand the cause for decline.
Photo-illustration: Pixabay

When did you last see a glow worm? Most likely, quite some time ago. Depending on how young you are, you may have never seen one at all. Those light-emitting insects, Wordsworth’s “earthborn stars”, have been declining in the UK for decades. That means that scientists now see them in fewer places, and even in those pockets where conditions are right for them, there are fewer of them to be found.

But it isn’t just glow worms that are struggling. You’ll have heard reports that insects are declining in many parts of the world, with fewer of them around and some species disappearing altogether. Many people have noted that the number of “splats” you’re likely to see on a car windscreen in summer is now much lower compared with 20 years ago, and this has even been confirmed by a scientific study. As scientists who study insects, we’re right to be worried, but how sure can we be sure of the general picture if we only have information about particular species in particular places?

Fortunately, a new study has offered the clearest indication yet of how insects all over the world are faring. The researchers studied data on the numbers and total weight of insects and arachnids (spiders and mites) sampled in 166 long-term surveys. Each of these lasted more than ten years and recorded insects at 1,676 sites in 41 countries on five continents. The earliest record was from 1925, and the most recent from 2018, although most records were dated from 1986 or later.

They estimate that land-based insects, which make up the majority of species, have been declining at nearly 1% per year, or almost 9% per decade. But during the same period, the small proportion of insects which live in freshwater experienced a 1% annual increase, or just over 11% per decade.

A complicated picture

Does this give us cause to be relatively cheerful (or at least, less miserable)? Hardly. While these estimates of how rapidly insect populations are declining are much lower than some previous estimates, it’s still serious. The general rate of decline may be an underestimate, too – most of the long-term data came from protected populations of insects in nature reserves.

Even if you’re not enamoured with creepy crawlies, their gradual disappearance from the places they were once numerous is an ongoing crisis for the natural world. Insects and small invertebrates occupy the bottom rungs of most terrestrial ecosystems. As ecologist E.O. Wilson once observed, if you take away the “little things that run the world” then most of the creatures occupying niches further up the food chain will disappear too, and that includes humans. That’s why a 2017 study in Germany rang so many alarm bells – it reported a 75% decline over 27 years in the local biomass of all kinds of flying insects.

But what does a “general decline” mean? It doesn’t mean that every kind of insect is affected in the same way. Several recent studies have shown that some species are able to prosper while their close relatives die out. A study of wild pollinators (bees and hoverflies) in the UK between 1980 and 2013 showed that around 10% of these insects increased in abundance while more than 30% declined. The insects that did well were crop specialist pollinators, those that didn’t were those specialists that preferred plants pushed out of farmed landscapes.

It’s a complicated picture, but the sheer number of records collected under different conditions from diverse sources in this new study gives grim confirmation that something is very wrong.

What it means for conservation

While the picture of widespread insect declines is becoming a little clearer, we still don’t know the cause. The new study found some evidence that the growth of cities and towns nearby was detrimental to insect abundance. Perhaps surprisingly, there was little evidence for insect populations being harmed by neighbouring intensive agriculture, but this might have been because those sites were already depleted of insects when the study began.

There was also no evidence for climate change affecting insect abundance. Terrestrial insects seemed to be worst affected in Europe and North America, with insects in Asia, South America and Oceania showing no great declines. This likely reflects the fact that there’s less information from these places, though. Interestingly, terrestrial insect populations in North America have recovered markedly since 1990, while those in Europe have shrunk still further. There is no obvious explanation for this.

The apparent healthiness of aquatic insects confirms the results of a recent UK study, which suggested that EU legislation to clean up rivers throughout Europe may be working. Sounds encouraging, but fresh water only covers 2.4% of the Earth’s land surface. The comparative success of aquatic insects doesn’t make up for everywhere else, and it might even conceal the collapse of some water dwellers, like water beetles and the superabundant mayfly swarms of the North American Great Lakes and Upper Mississippi which used to number in the tens of billions but have declined by around 50% in recent years.

The German federal government recently approved €100 million for insect conservation, with a quarter of it going towards research. Knowing where and why certain species are struggling is as important as trying to fix it. Insects are in trouble, but each bug faces its own battle. Support for our arthropod friends will need to be carefully targeted.

Source: WEF

3 Ways the Ancient World Embraced the Circular Economy

Photo-illustration: Pixabay
  • Scientists show the circular economy has roots in ancient history.
  • Broken ceramics, Roman recycling and melting down glass all happened thousands of years ago.
  • Going circular could generate as much as $4.5 trillion in economic benefits, according to the World Economic Forum.
  • The Ellen MacArthur Foundation says our current system is no longer working for businesses, people or the environment.

Think the circular economy is a novel idea that’s just come into fashion? Think again.

There’s evidence that the mantra “reduce, reuse, recycle” has its origins with the Romans, Greeks or even in the Bronze Age. A circular economy is based on the principles of designing out waste and pollution, keeping products and materials in use, and regenerating natural systems, according to one of its key proponents, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, which also says the idea isn’t new.

“The idea of feedback, of cycles in real-world systems, is ancient and has echoes in various schools of philosophy,” the Foundation says.

Here are three examples of how the ancient world embraced the circular economy:

1. Broken ceramics in Dubai 3,000 years ago

Polish scientists found tools in Dubai made from copper, bronze and iron refashioned from broken ceramic vessels. Broken ceramic vessels were not thrown away, the researchers told Science in Poland, instead they were modified and used as tools.

Here are three examples of how the ancient world embraced the circular economy:

Photo-illustration: Pixabay

2. Sorting out the trash in Pompeii

The Romans also recycled, according to a report in the Guardian newspaper. Mounds of rubbish preserved after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD were “staging grounds for cycles of use and reuse,” says Professor Allison Emmerson, an American academic who works in Pompeii.

3. Glass recycling in Byzantine times

Archeologists working at the ancient city of Sagalassos, now part of Turkey, found glass chunks, fuel ash slag and kiln fragments, that indicate glass recycling, according to a paper in the Journal of Archaeological Science.

Even so, we should be careful not to overstate past populations’ commitment to recycling, argues Maikel Kuijpers, an assistant professor at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, on digital news site The Conversation.

“Our ancestors were no ecological saints,” he said. “They polluted their surroundings through mining, burned down entire forests, and they too created massive amounts of waste.”

And those themes are still relevant today.

A circular economy could result in as much as $4.5 trillion in economic benefits to 2030, according to the World Economic Forum. Just 8.6% of the world is currently circular, and the Forum’s work seeks to foster collaboration between private, public, civil society and expert stakeholders to accelerate the circular economy transition.

“The current system is no longer working for businesses, people or the environment,” the Ellen MacArthur Foundation says. “We must transform all the elements of the take-make-waste system: how we manage resources, how we make and use products, and what we do with the materials afterwards. Only then can we create a thriving economy that can benefit everyone within the limits of our planet.”

Source: WEF

Pakistan’s ‘Green Stimulus’ Scheme Is a Win-Win for the Environment and the Unemployed

Photo-illustration: Pixabay
  • Pakistan’s government are offering labourers, who are out of work due to the coronavirus lockdown, a chance to earn money by planting trees.
  • The project is part of Pakistan’s existing initiative to plant billions of trees to counter the effects of climate change.
  • Pakistan is badly affected by climate change, experiencing more than 150 extreme weather events between 1999 and 2018.

When construction worker Abdul Rahman lost his job to Pakistan’s coronavirus lockdown, his choices looked stark: resort to begging on the streets or let his family go hungry.

Photo-illustration: Pixabay

But the government has now given him a better option: Join tens of thousands of other out-of-work labourers in planting billions of trees across the country to deal with climate change threats.

Since Pakistan locked down starting March 23 to try to stem the spread of COVID-19, unemployed day labourers have been given new jobs as “jungle workers”, planting saplings as part of the country’s 10 Billion Tree Tsunami programme.

Such “green stimulus” efforts are an example of how funds that aim to help families and keep the economy running during pandemic shutdowns could also help nations prepare for the next big threat: climate change.

“Due to coronavirus, all the cities have shut down and there is no work. Most of us daily wagers couldn’t earn a living,” Rahman, a resident of Rawalpindi district in Punjab province, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

He now makes 500 rupees ($3) per day planting trees – about half of what he might have made on a good day, but enough to get by.

“All of us now have a way of earning daily wages again to feed our families,” he said.

The ambitious five-year tree-planting programme, which Prime Minister Imran Khan launched in 2018, aims to counter the rising temperatures, flooding, droughts and other extreme weather in the country that scientists link to climate change.

Big Risks

The Global Climate Risk Index 2020, issued by think tank Germanwatch, ranked Pakistan fifth on a list of countries most affected by planetary heating over the last two decades – even though the South Asian nation contributes only a fraction of global greenhouse gases.

As the coronavirus pandemic struck Pakistan, the 10 Billion Trees campaign initially was halted as part of social distancing orders put in place to slow the spread of the virus, which has infected over 13,900 people in Pakistan, according to a Reuters tally.

But earlier this month, the prime minister granted an exemption to allow the forestry agency to restart the programme and create more than 63,600 jobs, according to government officials.

While much of the country is still observing stay-at-home orders, local police and district authorities have been told trucks carrying trees should be allowed to travel and villagers permitted to leave their homes to work with the project.

A recent assessment by the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics found that, due to the lockdown, up to 19 million people could be laid off, almost 70% of them in the Punjab province.

Abdul Muqeet Khan, chief conservator of forests for Rawalpindi district, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation that the planting project is in “full swing”.

Much of the work is happening on 15,000 acres (6,000 hectares) of land near the capital Islamabad, he said, as well as on other tracts of state-owned forest land around the country.

This year the programme is employing triple the number of workers it did in its first year, said Malik Amin Aslam, climate change advisor to the prime minister.

Many of the new jobs are being created in rural areas, he said, with a focus on hiring women and unemployed daily workers – mainly young people – who were migrating home from locked-down cities.

The work, which pays between 500 rupees and 800 rupees per day, includes setting up nurseries, planting saplings, and serving as forest protection guards or forest firefighters, he said.

All the workers have been told to wear masks and maintain the mandated two metres (six feet) of social distance between them, he added.

“This tragic crisis provided an opportunity and we grabbed it,” Aslam told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in a phone interview.

“Nurturing nature has come to the economic rescue of thousands of people.”

Extended Help

According to Germanwatch, Pakistan reported more than 150 extreme weather events between 1999 and 2018 – from floods to heatwaves – with total losses of $3.8 billion.

Environmentalists have long pushed reforestation as a way to help, saying forests help prevent flooding, stabilise rainfall, provide cool spaces, absorb heat-trapping carbon dioxide emissions and protect biodiversity.

According to green group WWF, Pakistan is a “forest poor” country where trees cover less than 6% of the total area.

Every year thousands of hectares of forest are destroyed, mainly as a result of unsustainable logging and clearing land for small-scale farming, the group said on its website.

With 7.5 billion rupees ($46 million) in funding, the 10 Billion Trees project aims to scale up the success of an earlier Billion Tree Tsunami in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where the government has been planting trees since 2014.

About 30 million indigenous saplings have been planted in Punjab since the start of the 10 Billion Tree Tsunami – including mulberry, acacia and moringa – said Shahid Rashid Awan, project director for Punjab province.

This year, the project hopes to hit 50 million trees, he said.

Planting season usually ends in May, Awan noted, but programme organisers plan to extend the initiative to the end of June, to keep workers employed for longer.

“We can absorb all the unemployed labourers and workers who have fled the cities and returned to their villages in the past few weeks. This is unskilled work,” he said.

Recovering with Dignity

Rab Nawaz, of WWF-Pakistan, said the government’s move is “a very good idea to create green jobs and get people employed.”

But he cautioned that planting trees is just one tool in the fight against climate change, saying there also needed to be investment in improving the ability of farmers and city dwellers to adapt to the effects of a hotter planet.

“The government should be very selective on how it spends money, and focus on resilience,” he urged.

For Aslam, the green jobs initiative is a way to help Pakistan’s workers recover from the coronavirus crisis “with dignity and avoiding handouts”.

“This has taught us the valuable lesson that when you invest in nature it not only pays you back, but also rescues you in a stressed economic situation,” he said.

Source: WEF

ABB Brings Fuel Cell Technology a Step Closer to Powering Large Ships

Photo-illustration: Pixabay

ABB signed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Hydrogène de France to jointly manufacture megawatt-scale fuel cell systems capable of powering ocean-going vessels. The MOU envisages close collaboration on the assembly and production of the fuel cell power plant for marine applications.

Photo-illustration: Pixabay

Building on an existing collaboration announced on June 27, 2018 with Ballard Power Systems, the leading global provider of proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell solutions, ABB and HDF intend to optimize fuel cell manufacturing capabilities to produce a megawatt-scale power plant for marine vessels. The new system will be based on the megawatt-scale fuel cell power plant jointly developed by ABB and Ballard, and will be manufactured at HDF’s new facility in Bordeaux, France.

Fuel cells turn the chemical energy from hydrogen into electricity through an electrochemical reaction. With the use of renewables to produce the hydrogen, the entire energy chain can be clean.

“HDF is very excited to cooperate with ABB to assemble and produce megawatt-scale fuel cell systems for the marine market based on Ballard technology,” said Damien Havard, CEO of HDF.

“With the ever-increasing demand for solutions that enable sustainable, responsible shipping, we are confident that fuel cells will play an important role in helping the marine industry meet CO2 reduction targets,” said Juha Koskela, Managing Director, ABB Marine & Ports. “Signing the MOU with HDF brings us a step closer to making this technology available for powering ocean-going vessels.”

With shipping responsible for about 2.5 percent of the world’s total greenhouse gas emissions, there is an increased pressure for the maritime industry to transition to more sustainable power sources. The International Maritime Organization, a United Nations agency responsible for regulating shipping, has set a global target to cut annual emissions by at least 50 percent by 2050 from 2008 levels.

Among alternative emission-free technologies, ABB is already well advanced in collaborative development of fuel cell systems for ships. Fuel cells are widely considered as one of the most promising solutions for reducing harmful pollutants. Already today, this zero-emission technology is capable of powering ships sailing short distances, as well as supporting auxiliary energy requirements of larger vessels.

ABB’s eco-efficiency portfolio, which enables sustainable smart cities, industries and transport systems to mitigate climate change and conserve non-renewable resources, accounted for 57 percent of total revenues in 2019. The company is on track to reach 60 percent of revenues by the end of 2020.

ABB (ABBN: SIX Swiss Ex) is a technology leader that is driving the digital transformation of industries. With a history of innovation spanning more than 130 years, ABB has four, customer-focused, globally leading businesses: Electrification, Industrial Automation, Motion, and Robotics & Discrete Automation, supported by the ABB Ability™ digital platform. ABB’s Power Grids business will be divested to Hitachi in 2020. ABB operates in more than 100 countries with about 144,000 employees.  www.abb.com

Source: ABB

Environmentally Conscious Tourists Are Attracted to Eco-Friendly Destinations

Photo: Milos Vujovic, Dusko Miljanic

If you are a fan of unspoiled nature hidden between the Montenegrin mountains and the Adriatic Sea, surely it must have happened to you, at least once, to be stuck for hours in traffic at the beautiful Bay of Kotor. It seems like such the hustle and bustle could end, especially if you decide to park your cars and use public eco-boats during your vacation. If you take another eco-friendly step and decide to stay in a “green” hotel, you will also have a variety of choices. There are 27 Green Key certified hotels in Montenegro

The owners of electric vehicles will be pleased by the fact that that UNDP has supported the installation of 11 chargers in Podgorica so far. We talked about the progress in the field of ecology, as well as the other innovative and sustainable projects to Mr Tomica Paovic, Democratic Governance & Economy and Environment Team Leader at UNDP.

EP: You have organised a network of eco-friendly hotels in Montenegro. How does a hotel get a Green Key certificate? What motivates hotel managers to enter a process of obtaining this document?

Photo: From private archive of Mr Tomica Paovic

Tomica Paovic: Montenegro currently has 27 certified hotels, and their number is constantly increasing. Doing business following the principles of environmental protection, rational use of resources, that is water and electricity, while continually improving the quality of offers – are prerequisites for obtaining the Green Key. Certified hotels are energy efficient; they use renewable energy, implement measures for the reduction of waste that hotel produces, have a responsible attitude to employees and the local community and are less harmful to the environment.

Due to all this, eco-certified hotels have lower operating costs, can operate throughout the year, and since they are competitive, they position more easily in the markets of Western and Northern Europe. Eco-conscious tourists expect a high quality of service and full experience, which is the reason why they are ready to spend more money to stay in a certified accommodation.

EP: Environmentally conscious tourists are attracted to the destinations that offer a stay in unspoiled nature and enjoy the wild beauty, which is exactly the thing distinguishes Montenegro. How many municipalities have participated in the UNDP’s “Low Carbon Tourism” program so far?

Tomica Paovic: Sustainable or “green” tourism in Montenegro has a great potential due to its relatively untouched nature and preserved cultural heritage. UNDP, in cooperation with numerous partners, successfully implemented 31 investment projects in 12 Montenegrin cities: Podgorica, Cetinje, Kolasin, Mojkovac, Savnik, Pluzine, Zabljak, Pljevlja, Budva, Tivat, Herceg Novi and Ulcinj.

These are very diverse projects, from supporting ecological water transport in the Bay of Kotor, through investing in the development and equipment of bicycle and pedestrian paths, the installation of solar water heating systems at hotels, the replacement of conventional public lightening with LED bulbs and the procurement of electric vehicles, to the introduction of modern, automated and highly energy-efficient heating and cooling systems. All projects have significantly contributed to the promotion and diversification of Montenegro’s touristic offer.

EP: What kind of program did you implement in these municipalities?

Tomica Paovic: In addition to the savings of 60 per cent on electricity bills, the modernisation of public lightning in Zabljak and Savnik achieved better illumination, increased safety of traffic participants and eliminated light pollution. Since last year, electric vehicles for the local transport of tourists have been available to visitors of Cetinje, Ulcinj and Zabljak and there are more and more electric vehicles inside hotel complexes.

Forty households in katuns (shepherds’ temporary summer house in the mountains) in Pluzine and Zabljak got access to electricity for the first time when solar power systems were installed in their households. Solar panels will contribute to creating better working and profit conditions for the farmers and shepherds who take their livestock to the katuns. In addition to the traditional role the katuns play, the tourists like to visit Montenegrin katuns, thus they are becoming an important part of the tourist offer of the northern part of the country.

This project has encouraged both the public and the private sector to implement concrete measures and introduce new technologies, contributing to the fight against climate change. The regulation dealing with carbon dioxide (CO2) reduction has been improved, and the framework was established for sustainable mechanisms of financing. I am here primarily referring to the Eco Fund, as support for innovative initiatives with a green background. With our partners, we have managed to raise over 13 million euros in investments in sustainable tourism, and a little bit more than 30 new “green” jobs have been created on the territory of these municipalities.

In focus:

Photo: UNDP

EP: Last summer, electric and hybrid ships started operating as part of the “Bella Boka” project on the route from Kotor to Herceg Novi. The company “Bella Boka” has announced that it will expand its fleet this year. To what extent has UNDP helped in the development of this project and will you continue to support this project?

Tomica Paovic: The project “Bella Boka” is of significant importance for the Bay of Kotor and Montenegro. It establishes sustainable water transport with electric and hybrid trimaran sailboats through the Bay of Kotor. That will have a positive effect on solving the problem of congestion in road transport, especially during the summer season, when you need an hour and a half or two hours at its best from Kotor to Herceg Novi due to traffic jams. From a cultural point of view, this project is important because it revives the tradition of using waterways for the transport of residents and tourists – which was forgotten in the past decades. Electric and hybrid trimaran sailboats, designed for short-distance tourist trips, are ideal for coastal cruising and interurban transport in coastal cities.

This project will reduce the emission of harmful gasses in traffic and offer visitors an exciting eco-friendly travel experience. More than 4 million euros have been invested in this unique project at the Adriatic, while co-funding through UNDP was 150.000 euros. The Investor has announced that this year another 9 such sailboats will be providing the service of public transport at sea.

Photo: UNDP

UNDP has supported the reconstruction of the 100-year-old-ship, which rock musician and environmental activist Antonije Pusic, also known as Rambo Amadeus, turned into a solar sailboat. With a sophisticated design, this sailboat is powered by solar energy, without CO2 emission, exhaust gases and noise. This venture combines the local nautical tradition with sustainable materials and clean technologies, and it is an example of how innovations in design, renewable energy and the private equity investment for the public good, combine economic opportunity with the need for environmental protection.

EP: Electromobility is on the rise in the Scandinavian countries and in the Balkans, it has just started developing. What is the role of UNDP Montenegro in the development of this sector?

Tomica Paovic: The increasing global awareness of climate change has led the automotive industry, which contributes significantly to environmental degradation, to put in great efforts in resolving this issue. One of the most important moves is the production of more environmentally-friendly vehicles. It is true that European countries, such as Norway and Sweden, advanced most in terms of electrification of the traffic. However, the road to full e-mobility, not only in Montenegro but also globally, is undoubtedly a long one, taking into account many challenges, which are primarily related to the inadequate offer of electric vehicles and the long period from ordering to delivery, then underdeveloped charging infrastructure, the absence of various incentives such as financial, economic and regulatory for e-vehicle owners. In order to make transport truly sustainable globally, society, as a whole, needs to re-examine the entire mobility system and to find innovative ways for the reduction of our dependency on vehicles. Here, I primarily refer to the implementation of the car-sharing model, development of better public transport infrastructure and greater use of low-emission or zero-emission transportation.

Alternative solutions that contribute to the sustainability of transportation are necessary, and the introduction of electric vehicles is just one of those. We have also helped the equipment of more than 70 km of hiking and biking trails throughout Montenegro, as well as the introduction of environmentally-friendly vehicles for the transportation of tourists in protected areas and touristic complexes.

EP: UNDP in Serbia mostly develops projects for the utilisation of biomass. Which type of the renewable source in principle has UNDP decided to support in Montenegro?

Photo: UNDP

Tomica Paovic: Renewable energy sources are one of the key tools for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. There is significant untapped potential in the field of renewable energy sources, especially in the field of solar energy, and more importantly in the sector of small producers, such as small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as individual households.

This year could be a significant milestone in the global effort for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in the energy sector. Namely, the signatory countries of the Paris Agreement, which are now updating their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), could raise their previously targeted ambitious by increasing the production of electricity from renewable sources.

The decarbonisation of the electric power system itself is not enough to meet climate goals set out in this Agreement. Instead, the entire energy sector must undergo a profound transformation by moving to renewable sources and adopting energy efficiency measures, as well as increasing the level of electrification of end-users. In this context, part of our focus is to improve the investment and development environment for the installation of solar panels, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises and households.

Interview by: Nevena Djukic

Read the whole interview in the new issue of the Energy portal Magazine NATURAL RESOURCES, march – may, 2020

IRENA’s Coalition for Action Calls for Green Recovery Based on Renewables

Photo-illustration: Unsplash (Laurel and Michael Evans)
Photo-illustration: Unsplash (Laurel and Michael Evans)

As COVID-19 rapidly devastates communities and livelihoods, effective response measures are urgently needed to address the immediate as well as the longer-term impacts of the crisis. Over 100 leading players in renewable energy, gathered under the IRENA Coalition for Action, have come together in a joint call for action, putting forward concrete recommendations on how governments can ensure a rapid and sustained economic recovery that aligns with climate and sustainability objectives.

IRENA’s recent Global Renewables Outlook finds that aligning COVID-19 recovery efforts with the objectives of the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development will require comprehensive policy packages, massive resource mobilisation, and enhanced international cooperation, but would result in massive socio-economic gains at the global level.

During a webinar organised by IRENA, Coalition for Action members echoed these findings as they discussed solutions and concrete policy actions in response to COVID-19. Members further emphasised that renewable energy can play a key role in strategies addressing COVID-19 by providing reliable, easy-to-mobilise, and cost-effective electricity for essential services.

Coalition for Action Key Messages

In the development of immediate response measures to the COVID-19 emergency, Coalition for Action members are calling on governments to:

  • Revisit deadlines for renewable energy projects that face contractual obligations for near-term delivery.
  • Designate the renewable energy industry and related infrastructure as a critical and essential sector.
  • Affirm and extend policies promoting renewable energy solutions, both centralised and decentralised.

In considering the stimulus packages needed for rapid and sustained economic recovery, Coalition for Action members recommend that governments:

  • Prioritise renewable energy in any stimulus measures and commit to phasing out support for fossil fuels.
  • Provide public financial support to safeguard the industry and mobilise private investment in renewable energy.
  • Enhance the role of renewable energy in industrial policies.
  • Revise labour and education policies to foster a just transition and help workers make the shift into renewable energy jobs.
  • Strengthen international co-operation and action to accelerate renewable energy deployment in line with global climate and sustainability objectives.

The IRENA Coalition for Action brings together over 100 leading renewable energy players from around the world with the common goal of advancing the uptake of renewable energy. The Coalition facilitates global dialogues between public and private sectors to develop actions to increase the share of renewables in the global energy mix, and to accelerate the global energy transition. IRENA acts as the Secretariat of the Coalition.

Read more about the IRENA Coalition for Action and its joint call for action on https://coalition.irena.org/

Read more about IRENA’s Global Renewables Outlook here.

Source: IRENA

The COVID-19 Crisis Has a Profound Impact Also on the Energy Sector

Photo-illustration: Pixabay

In three reports published today, the Energy Community Secretariat assesses the current status of financial liquidity of the electricity sector; compiles information about support from International Financial Institutions and commercial banks; and measures taken by energy regulators to address the ongoing issues, concluding that the COVID-19 crisis has a profound impact also on the energy sector.

Photo-illustration: Pixabay

The measures taken to contain the COVID-19 crisis have led to a persistent decrease in electricity supplier income due to non-payment of electricity bills in the majority of Energy Community Contracting Parties, putting pressure on the financial liquidity of utilities and market participants throughout the electricity supply chain. According to the report published by the Secretariat today on financial liquidity in the electricity sector, the drop in the collection rate ranged from 10 to 30% in March 2020 in most of the Contracting Parties, with Kosovo* and North Macedonia the hardest hit. Preliminary data for April 2020 show a further sharp decline.

In the coming months, electricity companies are expected to face additional pressure in their efforts to maintain financial liquidity due to decreased revenue and cash-flow because of non-payment and waiving of interest, lower consumption and a shift from commercial to residential consumption where electricity prices are often lower. In several instances, the pressure on working capital and lack of clarity on the distribution of the incurred loss of revenue gave rise to suppliers to activate force majeure provisions in their contractual arrangements with other market players

On the other hand, strong pleas by the prime ministers and suppliers for customers to pay their electricity bills helped keeping the payment rate high in Georgia, while it started to increase after an initial drop in Albania.

Suppliers that are facing an immediate risk of insufficient working capital have either entered into negotiations with commercial banks and/or international financial institutions (IFIs) for additional loans or with their governments to receive support either directly or as guarantor for commercial loans. The Secretariat has held calls with the International Financial Institutions active in the Energy Community and the European Commission to exchange views on the assessment of the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the liquidity of energy utilities and local commercial banks as well as the resulting implications on the ongoing and future investments in the energy sectors.

It became clear that the ongoing investment projects in large energy infrastructure, energy efficiency and renewable projects may be delayed because of supply chain disruptions and clients not being able to repay loans due to loss of revenues. In its report, the Secretariat assesses projects implemented by SMEs and households as the most vulnerable. The liquidity of local commercial banks through which IFIs disburse many of the investment credit facilities does not seem to pose an immediate problem if the payment delays are limited in time. The IFIs and the European Commission were unanimous in highlighting that energy sector reforms and the Green Agenda must continue.

Throughout the crisis, energy regulatory authorities of the Energy Community Contracting Parties have taken an active role to address the challenges the gas and electricity systems are facing. The third report published by the Secretariat today focuses on the actions and measures taken by regulators to protect and support gas and electricity users and market participants in the COVID-19 crisis, while striking a balance between protecting customers and not putting liquidity of energy companies at unnecessary risk.

(* This designation is without prejudice to positions on status and is in line with UNSCR 1244/99 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence)

Source: Energy Community

Two Thirds of World’s Citizens Agree Climate Change Is as Serious as Pandemic

Photo-illustration: Unsplash (Markus Spiske)
Foto-ilustracija: Unsplash (Markus Spiske)

A new Ipsos poll conducted in 14 countries finds that 71% of adults globally agree that, in the long term, climate change is as serious a crisis as Covid-19 is. The survey shows widespread support for government actions to prioritise climate change in the economic recovery after Covid-19 with 65% globally agreeing that this is important. The survey was conducted online among more than 28,000 adults between April 16th and April 19th 2020.

Another Ipsos survey, carried out online among more than 20,000 adults across 29 countries between Friday, February 21st and March 6th 2020, finds that while climate change remains the most important environmental issue for citizens globally, citizens are no more likely to say they plan to make changes to their own environmental behaviours than they were six years ago.

The top findings include:

  • Climate change remains the most important environmental issue globally, with 37% citing it as one of their three top environmental issues. Other environmental issues that are important to citizens are air pollution (33%) and dealing with the amount of waste we generate (32%), followed by deforestation (26%) and water pollution (25%). Concern for the top four issues has increased since two years ago.
  • A majority of the public globally (68%) agree that if their governments do not act now to combat climate change, they will be failing their citizens. Nearly six in ten (57%) say they would be put off from voting for a political party whose policies do not take climate change seriously.
  • Across a range of environmental behaviours, as many as two fifths globally feel they are already doing as much as they possibly can on specific behaviours. Areas where some feel they have no room to improve include recycling (40% state ‘I am already doing this as much as I possibly can’), saving energy at home (37%), and saving water at home (33%).

Agreement that human activity contributes to climate change has fallen in some European countries between 2014 and 2020 (by 14 percentage points in Germany, 9 percentage points in Italy and 8 percentage points in France), as well as elsewhere in the world (by 17 percentage points in Brazil, 16 percentage points in China and Japan, and 12 percentage points in Russia) (It is important to note that the profile of the online population has changed during this time, for example with an increase in the proportion of older people who are online). In other countries such as Great Britain and the US, however, there has been no significant change.

A majority of citizens feel they are likely to make changes to their own behaviour to limit personal contribution to climate change. However, the proportion saying they are likely to make such changes has not increased since Ipsos last asked this question six years ago. Citizens remain more likely to plan to take actions which are convenient and easier to achieve than they are to plan changes which are more far-reaching – such as avoiding flying or making changes to their diet.

  • The public are willing to exercise their spending power: avoiding products which have a lot of packaging is the most popular change, with 57% globally saying they are ‘likely’ to change their behaviour on this in the next year.
  • This is followed by avoiding buying new goods, mending what you have or buying used products instead (52%), saving energy at home (50%), recycling (49%) and saving water at home (49%).

Citizens are divided on how likely they are to undertake less comfortable and convenient lifestyle changes.

  • 41% say they are likely to avoid flying in the next year to limit their personal contribution to climate change, while a third (33%) say they are unlikely to make this change.
  • 41% say they are likely to eat less meat, or replace the meat in some meals with alternatives such as beans, in the next year. However, a similar proportion (39%) say they are unlikely to do this.
  • 35% say they are likely to eat fewer dairy products or replacing dairy products with alternatives such as soya milk. Nearly half (49%) say they are unlikely to do this.

There has been very little change since 2014 in how likely the public are to say they plan to change their behaviours to limit their personal contribution to climate change, across the 12 countries where Ipsos has trend data.

  • The lack of change is not because the public in these 12 countries have already taken action: rather, the proportion who report that ‘I am already doing this as much as I can’ across most behaviours has decreased since 2014. This lack of movement may relate to a heightened sense among the public of the difficulty of changing behaviours – increasing awareness of an issue can be accompanied by an increasing sense that little can be done to improve the situation.

Diet is the one area where there has been some movement (albeit small) since 2014. 18% in 2020 say they are reducing meat in their diets as much as they can, up from 14% in 2014, and the proportion who say they are unlikely to make this change has also fallen – from 44% in 2014 to 39% in 2020. Fewer now say they are unlikely to reduce their dairy product consumption in the next year – from 55% in 2014 to 49% in 2020.

Source: Ipsos

Here Is What COVID-19 Teaches Us About ‘Social Learning’ and the Environment

Photo-illustration: Pixabay
  • The dire social and economic impact of COVID-19 could worsen environmental destruction in the long run.
  • But the pandemic is also teaching us how to use individual choices to tackle a global disaster.
  • “Social learning” is a powerful tool for lasting change. It involves people learning from each other and adapting their behaviour as a result.

The horrors of the global human death toll of COVID-19 confront me daily in the news and through my concern for my own vulnerable parents. The economic and other hardships so many are facing due to physical distancing measures also deeply disturb me. Moreover, as a global change ecologist whose lens has been the whole wide world and everything in it —the millions of other species, the air we all share, and the water we all depend on—the environmental dimensions of COVID-19 are impossible for me to ignore.

Photo: UN

Let me be clear: COVID-19 itself is not good for any of the seventeen UN Sustainable Development Goals. Human wellbeing, the economy and the environment are all interrelated, and the pandemic is certainly not helping us achieve our goals for protecting them. However, the pandemic is teaching us lessons in human behaviour that could bring us closer to these goals in the future.

A mere year and a half ago, in October 2018, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published an alarming Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5 degrees C. It started with a quote from The Wisdom of the Sands, by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry: “Your task is not to foresee the future, but to enable it.”

The report called for “rapid, far-reaching, and unprecedented changes” in all aspects of society to avert the worst disasters of climate change. It predicted dire consequences for human well-being, the economy and the environment if those warnings were not heeded. Despite the shift in language from “climate change” to “climate emergency” over the past year by many institutions, we have not seen these recommendations being implemented.

And yet, COVID-19 has forced us to make dramatic changes in every area of life in the space of only a few weeks. Cities and entire countries were shut down overnight, leaders declared national and international emergencies, people and institutions adapted to unprecedented societal change.

COVID-19 is also transforming our relationship to the environment. The origins of emerging infectious diseases, including COVID-19 but also HIV, Ebola, Nipah, SARS, pandemic influenza and others, are at least partly linked to the growing human impact on the environment. Acknowledging this is crucial as we try to address the root causes of pandemics. These days, many cities are reporting cleaner air and lower pollution. In some places, this is literally changing how we perceive nature. Some communities in India are able to see the snow-capped Himalayas for the first time in their lives. However, these changes are also revealing the magnitude of these chronic problems, and the importance of tackling them. As the pandemic limits access to green spaces such as parks and conservation areas, many are becoming painfully aware of how fundamental these natural oases are to their wellbeing.

Photo-illustration: Pixabay

It appears that in times of crisis, we connect even more strongly with our natural surroundings. In the short term, this may well have a beneficial impact on some aspects on the environment. However, in the long term, the picture is more complex. Economic recession could exacerbate environmental degradation, as resources are diverted from efforts to protect and restore habitats. It could also worsen existing poverty traps. As the UN Climate Change Executive Secretary said: “COVID-19 is the most urgent threat facing humanity today, but we cannot forget that climate change is the biggest threat facing humanity over the long term.” The acting executive secretary of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity put it bluntly: “The message we are getting is if we don’t take care of nature, it will take care of us.”

Consider the quote from Antoine de Saint Exupéry, however: we need not foresee the future, we just need to enable it. This is where the lessons on human behaviour come in.

Some of my own research on the power of human behavior to shape environmental trajectories, such as biodiversity loss and climate change, suggests social learning is a significant factor in changing systems. That is to say, people learn from each other, and change their behaviour accordingly.

Right now, we are learning valuable lessons in resilience and human adaptability. We are learning how quickly humans can respond when faced with a common enemy, be it a novel virus or the well-established physics of climate change. Let us examine these lessons, reflect on our new respect for the natural world, and consider what enabled us to adjust to such profoundly challenging and unfamiliar new norms. Let us take note of how some of the ideas put forward by different countries now are very much in line with UN sustainable development goals, such as the elimination of poverty, good health and wellbeing, reduced inequality, and responsible production and consumption. And let’s imagine how we might be able to harness these lessons to reduce the risk of catastrophes – disease, climate change or other threats – in the future.

Author: Madhur Anand

Source: WEF

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