Landmark UN Resolution Confirms Healthy Environment is a Human Right

18.10.2021

environmental_protection_zaštita_životne_sredine — Foto-ilustracija: Pixabay

Nemonte Nenquimo, a member of the Waorani indigenous community in Ecuador says she is of “warrior blood.” Her weapon of choice has been an unusual one: the lawsuit.

In 2019, under Nenquimo’s leadership, the Waorani sued the Ecuadorian government for not consulting with them before offering their land for oil exploration.

“As indigenous people, we must unite in a single objective: that we demand that they respect us,” said Nenquimo, who is a UNEP Champion of the Earth. “The Amazon is our home and it is not for sale.”

Later that year, the court passed a historic ruling protecting 500,000 acres of Waraoni land from oil exploration. Like Nenquimo, thousands of activists across the world have had to place their lives in peril to protect their lands and nature. But now, these environmental defenders have a reason to celebrate. Last week, the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) recognised for the first time that having a clean, healthy and sustainable environment is a human right.

When Resolution 48/13 was adopted, applause broke out in the normally quiet Council chamber and the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment, David Boyd, tweeted a picture of himself with a raised fist.

“A little bit of joyful emotion at the very staid Human Rights Council, as the UN for the first time recognizes the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment!” he wrote.

Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) called the adoption of the resolution “a breakthrough moment for environmental justice”, saying it would help shield individuals and communities from risks to their health and livelihoods. She encouraged Member States to consider a similar resolution at the UN General Assembly, which has universal membership.

Ms. Andersen said UNEP expected the resolution to embolden governments, legislators, courts, and citizen groups in pursuing substantial elements of the Common Agenda for renewed solidarity, presented last month by UN Secretary-General António Guterres, as well as the 2020 Call to Action on Human Rights.

You can read the whole article HERE.

Source: UNEP

Tea and Coffee: Celebrating Their Cultural, Social and Economic Importance

18.10.2021

cup-čaj-tea — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

Global tea and coffee experts came together to explore and celebrate the cultural, social, and economic importance of the world’s two most popular beverages including their role in making agri-food systems more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable.

The Dialogue on Tea and Coffee, part of World Food Day celebrations hosted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), focused on the tea and coffee sectors and their importance as a vital source of income and employment for millions of people in developing countries. Smallholder farmers and farming households produce an estimated 60 percent and 80 percent, respectively, of the global tea and coffee outputs. Both sectors underpin the lives of millions of labourers, including women and their families, and are important contributors to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

“Our dialogue today constitutes a renewed commitment to celebrate peace, unity and exchange between civilizations and cultures,” said FAO Director-General QU Dongyu in his opening speech. “It also serves to highlight the achievements of tea and coffee farmers across the globe, and to remind all of us of the challenges that lie ahead.”

Speakers included José Dauster Sette, Executive Director of the International Coffee Organization, Prabhat Bezboruah, Chairman of Tea Board India and Vice-Chair and host of the next Session of the Intergovernmental Group (IGG) on Tea, Jacklene Arinda, Executive Director of JADA Coffee, Shabnam Weber, President of the Tea and Herbal Association of Canada, Tom Standage, Deputy Editor of The Economist, Vanessa L. Facenda, Editor of the Tea & Coffee Trade Journal, and Andrea Illy, Chair of illycaffè and Co-Founder of Fondazione Ernesto Illy.

The event highlighted tea and coffee production as a key element of the transformation of agri-food systems and touched on the issues facing the sectors, including the climate crisis, sustainability, low levels of productivity, price volatility, and the price-cost squeeze faced by actors along the value chain. The conversation sparked possible solutions to overcome these challenges, avail of new market opportunities and meet the sustainability issues associated with the production of both drinks.

For the tea and coffee sectors to remain viable and provide families with a sustained source of income, Qu Dongyu urged that “concrete solutions” be promoted on both the production and consumption sides, as well as throughout the value chains. The discussion was an opportunity to revive our determination to enhance the sustainability of tea and coffee, “bringing them to the forefront of the policy action,” he said.

Considering the many benefits offered and challenges faced, tea and coffee production are an important element of the transformation of agri-food systems for better production, better nutrition, a better environment, and a better life. FAO’s new Strategic Framework, based on the four betters -better production, better nutrition, a better environment, and a better life, leaving no one behind – aims to support the attainment of these objectives and the realisation of the 2030 Agenda.

Source: FAO

4 Myths About Industrial Agriculture

17.10.2021

soil-poljoprivreda — Foto-ilustracija: Pixabay

Photo-illustration: Unsplash (Jordan Opel)

Our lives revolve around food. It’s part of our cultures and our heritages, and our social interactions are often centered on it. Yet, it’s a privilege to be able to have meals every day. Even though the world produces more than enough food to feed everyone, 811 million people still go hungry. Poverty and inequality are two of the main reasons why that still happens, but besides that, there is a powerful element in our food production system that doesn’t only impact what, how and if we eat, but also affects our health and the health of our planet: industrial agriculture.

Industrial agriculture is the large-scale production of animals like cows, pigs and chickens, and crops such as palm oil, soybeans and corn. Heavily dependent on the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and often run by large, multinational corporations, the practice is harmful to the environment and is frequently linked to violence and human rights abuse.

Myth: Industrial agriculture feeds the planet

Industrial agriculture companies have planted in society the idea that producing low-quality food at large scale is the solution to feed the planet. But if that was the case, why are so many people still going to bed hungry? The reason is that, to the agriculture industry, food is not only food, it’s a commodity. A product with a price and profits attached to it, regardless of being eaten or not, and by who it’s being eaten.

Currently, industrial agriculture takes up 26 percent of all land on earth to produce food – livestock and livestock feed. A vast amount of land is actually used to grow food to feed pigs, chickens, and cows. In fact, it takes more land to feed animals than to feed people. Ninety percent of all the soy produced in the world is used to feed livestock. If that land was used to grow food for humans instead, and if governments invested in small, local producers, food would be cheaper and more accessible to everyone.

Myth: Our current food system is sustainable

When we think about the climate crisis, images of fossil fuel refineries, coal plants and air pollution come to our minds. But fossil fuels companies are not the only ones responsible for the current situation of our planet. Animal production accounts for 19 percent of greenhouse emissions globally, and according to the latest IPCC report, methane accounts for almost half of those emissions. And that’s not the only threat industrial agriculture poses to the global climate. Agricultural production accounts for 80 percent of all deforestation in the world.

Forests, grasslands, wetlands and other vital ecosystems are being wiped out to make way for cattle farms and massive fields to produce commodities like soy and palm oil. When forests are destroyed, they not only release a vast amount of CO2 into the atmosphere, they also lose their ability to intake it. To keep our planet’s average temperature below 1.5ºC and avoid the worst effects of the climate crisis, we need to stop destroying forests, protect the ones standing and restore what has been lost.

Myth: Companies and governments are really “going green”

Companies and governments have been making empty promises to stop deforestation and restore forests for years, but until now, almost nothing has been done. Corporations like Cargill, Nestlé and Mondelez, and all other members of the Consumer Goods Forum, promised to clean deforestation from their supply chains by 2020. Well, it’s 2021 and we’re still seeing vast amounts of forests being wiped out to be turned into food commodities. Some of those same corporations endorsed the New York Declaration on Forests along with world leaders, aiming to cut deforestation in half also by 2020. Last year, NYDF released its assessment and, instead, found forest loss increased rather than halved. Yet, we see more and more companies with greenwashing ads and proposing false solutions such as carbon offsets, zero-deforestation, and net-zero carbon emission targets that are unrealistic ways to tackle the climate crisis accelerating before our eyes.

Myth: Pesticides are not a risk to our health

Not too long ago, all food was organic. All food was locally sourced. But since food started to be produced at large scale and with the use of pesticides, local, organic and healthy food has been repackaged as a luxury, while industrialized food has become the default. But food should not come at the expense of our health. Several pesticides used in industrial agriculture are linked to diseases like cancer and premature mortality. Governments must regulate what corporations are using on their crops, and companies must stop putting profits over people’s lives and provide healthy, high-quality food accessible for everyone.

Source: Greenpeace

Green Hydrogen Fuels to Enable Up to 80 percent of Global Shipping Emission Cuts by 2050

16.10.2021

hydrogen-hidrogen — Foto-ilustracija: Pixabay

A rapid replacement of fossil fuels with renewable fuels based on green hydrogen and advanced biofuels could enable to cut up to 80 percent of CO2 emissions attributed to international maritime shipping by mid-century, a new report by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) finds. Renewable fuels should contribute at least 70 percent of the sector’s energy mix in 2050, IRENA’s A Pathway to Decarbonise the Shipping Sector by 2050 shows, outlining a roadmap for the global shipping sector in line with the global 1.5°C climate goal.

IRENA’s Director-General Francesco La Camera said: “Between 80 percent and 90 percent of international trade is enabled through maritime means. Decarbonising global shipping is one of the most challenging sectors to address – and despite raised ambitions – current plans fall short of what is needed. This IRENA outlook clearly shows that cutting CO2 emissions in such a strategic, hard to abate sector is technically feasible through green hydrogen fuels.”

‘‘Taking early action is critical’, La Camera added. “May this report encourage policy makers, ship owners and operators, port authorities, renewable energy developers and utilities to work together towards common climate goals and show their ambition to world leaders at the UN climate conference COP26 in Glasgow.”

If the international shipping sector were a country, it would be the sixth- or seventh-largest CO2 emitter. IRENA’s decarbonisation 1.5°C pathway is based on four key measures such as indirect electrification by employing green hydrogen-based fuels, the inclusion of advanced biofuels, the improvement of vessels’ energy efficiency and the reduction of sectoral activity due systemic changes in global trade dynamics.

In the short term, advanced biofuels will play a key role in cutting emissions, providing up to 10 percent of the sector’s total energy mix in 2050. In the medium and long-term green hydrogen-based fuels will be pivotal, making up 60 percent of the energy mix in 2050. E-methanol and e-ammonia are the most promising green hydrogen-based fuels, with particularly e-ammonia set to be the backbone for the sector’s decarbonising by 2050. IRENA report flags that e-ammonia could represent as much as 43 percent of the sector’s energy needs in 2050, which would imply the use of about 183 million tonnes of renewable ammonia for international shipping alone, a comparable amount to today’s ammonia global production.

IRENA’s report also finds that the production costs of alternative fuels and their availability will ultimately dictate the actual employment of renewable fuels. Moving from nearly zero CO2 emissions to net zero requires a 100 percent renewable energy mix by 2050. While renewable energy costs have been falling at an accelerated rate, further cost declines are needed for renewable energy-derived fuels to become the prime choice of propulsion. Climate goals and decarbonisation ambition can be raised by adopting relevant and timely coordinated international policy measures. A realistic carbon levy will be critical, putting an adjustable carbon price on each fuel to prevent new fossil fuel investments and stranded assets.

Finally, the report calls on all stakeholders to develop broader business models and establish strategic partnerships involving energy-intensive industries, as well as power suppliers and the petrochemical sector. Stakeholders need to be fully mapped out and engaged, the various players need to work towards a common goal. Accordingly, governing bodies regulating the international shipping sector need to develop integral and participative planning exercises, establishing step-by-step actions for reaching zero emissions by 2050.

Source: IRENA

New Centre of Excellence for Climate and Disaster Resilience

15.10.2021

The World Meteorological Organization and the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction are marking the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction on 13 October with the announcement of the creation of a Centre of Excellence for Climate and Disaster Resilience.

The establishment of the centre cements the long-standing collaboration between the two organizations.

Prof. Petteri Taalas, WMO Secretary-General, said: “This new Centre of Excellence for Climate and Disaster Resilience will act as an information hub about the escalating impacts of climate change and extreme weather and how we can manage and mitigate these risks.”

“Over the last 50 years there has been a five-fold increase in recorded weather, climate and water-related hazards. Economic losses have soared. The good news is that, thanks to improved early warnings and disaster management, the number of deaths decreased almost three-fold,” said Prof. Taalas.

“This year’s devastating floods in Europe and the deadly heatwave in North America has shown that developed and developing countries alike are exposed. But there is an ever-widening resilience gap between rich and poor nations that lack multi-hazard early warning systems, ” said Prof. Taalas.

“We hope that the Centre of Excellence will strengthen our efforts to transform scientific knowledge and tools into action supporting climate change mitigation and adaptation, with concrete benefits for society,” he said.

Mami Mizutori, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction, said: “This new Centre of Excellence will concentrate minds on what extreme weather and other hazards mean for daily life on planet Earth for the foreseeable future and spur efforts to adapt and cope with that reality.

“Both WMO and the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction now share the same premises and will work more closely than ever before. Both UN agencies realize that climate change is no longer simply about the weather and its impact. We aim to do a much better job of explaining to governments and civil society how extreme weather interacts with other drivers of disaster risk to amplify disaster impacts in unprecedented ways.

“Disaster risk is systemic and deeply embedded in our development processes. It arises from weak governance, poverty, poor land use planning, environmental degradation, disease outbreaks and greenhouse gas emissions.

“The Centre of Excellence will also promote efforts to better understand the importance of improving the collection of loss and damage data especially in developing countries so policymakers can invest scarce resources in the right areas to mitigate and prevent future disaster events and to reduce existing levels of risk. This will help to guide international cooperation to developing countries desperately in need of financial support for climate change adaptation and improved disaster risk management.”

The Centre of Excellence will convene climate and disaster risk thought leaders and practitioners to advance joint-research, policies, and capacity-building, in a manner that will influence and strengthen existing national adaptation plans in line with the Paris Agreement, and national disaster risk reduction strategies in line with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.

Particular attention will be paid to the needs of Least Developed Countries, Small Island Developing States and Land-Locked Developing countries, many of which do not have access to multi-hazard early warning systems and lack the means to implement a national strategy for disaster risk reduction.

Context for creation of the Centre of Excellence

Between 1970 and 2019, there were more than 11,000 disasters attributed to weather, climate and water-related hazards, which accounted for just over 2 million deaths and USD 3.64 trillion in losses, according to the new WMO Atlas of Mortality and Economic Losses from Weather, Climate and Water Extremes. Low- and middle-income countries bore a disproportionate amount of these disasters losses.

Only half of the 193 WMO members have multi-hazard early warning systems;

In 2020, more than 30 million people were displaced by climate-related disasters;

Over two billion people struggled to feed themselves adequately in 2020 and 811 million people face chronic hunger;

Some 325 million extremely poor people will be living in the 49 most hazard-prone countries in 2030;

COVID-19 is undermining efforts to manage extreme weather events and to eradicate poverty and hunger;

Annual adaptation costs in developing countries are estimated at USD 70 billion, rising to USD 300 billion by 2030;

Developed countries have yet to deliver on promised USD 100 billion in climate finance annually to developing world;

Source: WMO

World Energy Outlook 2021 Shows a New Energy Economy is Emerging – But not yet Quickly Enough to Reach Net Zero by 2050

14.10.2021

solar-solarna-elektrana — Photo-illustration: Unsplash (Andreas Gucklhorn)

Photo-illustration: Unsplash (Alex Eckermann)

A new energy economy is emerging around the world as solar, wind, electric vehicles and other low-carbon technologies flourish. But as the pivotal moment of COP26 approaches, the IEA’s new World Energy Outlook makes it clear that this clean energy progress is still far too slow to put global emissions into sustained decline towards net zero, highlighting the need for an unmistakeable signal of ambition and action from governments in Glasgow.

At a time when policy makers are contending with the impacts of both climate change and volatile energy markets, the World Energy Outlook 2021 (WEO-2021) is designed as a handbook for the COP26 Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, which offers a critical opportunity to accelerate climate action and the clean energy transition. The new analysis – which the IEA is making available for free online – delivers stark warnings about the direction in which today’s policy settings are taking the world. But it also provides clear-headed analysis of how to move in a well-managed way towards a pathway that would have a good chance of limiting global warming to 1.5 °C and avoiding the worst effects of climate change.

The WEO-2021, the IEA’s annual flagship publication, shows that even as deployments of solar and wind go from strength to strength, the world’s consumption of coal is growing strongly this year, pushing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions towards their second largest annual increase in history.

“The world’s hugely encouraging clean energy momentum is running up against the stubborn incumbency of fossil fuels in our energy systems,” said Fatih Birol, the IEA Executive Director. “Governments need to resolve this at COP26 by giving a clear and unmistakeable signal that they are committed to rapidly scaling up the clean and resilient technologies of the future. The social and economic benefits of accelerating clean energy transitions are huge, and the costs of inaction are immense.”

The WEO-2021 spells out clearly what is at stake: what the pledges to reduce emissions made by governments so far mean for the energy sector and the climate. And it sets out what needs to be done to move beyond these announced pledges towards a trajectory that would reach net zero emissions globally by mid-century – the Net Zero Emissions by 2050 Scenario from the landmark IEA report published in May, which is consistent with limiting global warming to 1.5 °C.

As well as the Net Zero Emissions by 2050 Scenario, the WEO-2021 explores two other scenarios to gain insights into how the global energy sector may develop over the next three decades – and what the implications would be. The Stated Policies Scenario represents a path based on the energy and climate measures governments have actually put in place to date, as well as specific policy initiatives that are under development. In this scenario, almost all of the net growth in energy demand through 2050 is met by low emissions sources, but that leaves annual emissions still around today’s levels. As a result, global average temperatures are still rising when they hit 2.6 °C above pre-industrial levels in 2100.

The Announced Pledges Scenario maps out a path in which the net zero emissions pledges announced by governments so far are implemented in time and in full. In this scenario, demand for fossil fuels peaks by 2025, and global CO2 emissions fall by 40 percent by 2050. All sectors see a decline, with the electricity sector delivering by far the largest. The global average temperature rise in 2100 is held to around 2.1 °C.

For the first time in a WEO, oil demand goes into eventual decline in all the scenarios examined, although the timing and speed of the drop vary widely. If all today’s announced climate pledges are met, the world would still be consuming 75 million oil barrels per day by 2050 – down from around 100 million today – but that plummets to 25 million in the Net Zero Emissions by 2050 Scenario. Natural gas demand increases in all scenarios over the next five years, but there are sharp divergences after this.

After decades of growth, the prospects for coal power go downhill in the Announced Pledges Scenario – a decline that could be accelerated further by China’s recent announcement of an end to its support for building coal plants abroad. That move may result in the cancellation of planned projects that would save some 20 billion tonnes in cumulative CO2 emissions through 2050 – an amount similar to the total emissions savings from the European Union reaching net zero by 2050.

The differences between the outcomes in the Announced Pledges Scenario and the Net Zero Emissions by 2050 Scenario are stark, highlighting the need for more ambitious commitments if the world is to reach net zero by mid-century.

“Today’s climate pledges would result in only 20 percent of the emissions reductions by 2030 that are necessary to put the world on a path towards net zero by 2050,” Dr Birol said. “Reaching that path requires investment in clean energy projects and infrastructure to more than triple over the next decade. Some 70 percent of that additional spending needs to happen in emerging and developing economies, where financing is scarce and capital remains up to seven times more expensive than in advanced economies.”

Insufficient investment is contributing to uncertainty over the future. Spending on oil and natural gas has been depressed by price collapses in 2014-15 and again in 2020. As a result, it is geared towards a world of stagnant or even falling demand. At the same time, spending on clean energy transitions is far below what would be required to meet future needs in a sustainable way.

“There is a looming risk of more turbulence for global energy markets,” Dr Birol said. “We are not investing enough to meet future energy needs, and the uncertainties are setting the stage for a volatile period ahead. The way to address this mismatch is clear – a major boost in clean energy investment, across all technologies and all markets. But this needs to happen quickly.”

The report stresses that the extra investment to reach net zero by 2050 is less burdensome than it might appear. More than 40 percent of the required emissions reductions would come from measures that pay for themselves, such as improving efficiency, limiting gas leakage, or installing wind or solar in places where they are now the most competitive electricity generation technologies.

These investments also create huge economic opportunities. Successfully pursuing net zero would create a market for wind turbines, solar panels, lithium-ion batteries, electrolysers and fuel cells of well over USD 1 trillion a year by 2050, comparable in size to the current oil market. Even in a much more electrified energy system, major opportunities remain for fuel suppliers to produce and deliver low-carbon gases. Just in the Announced Pledges Scenario, an additional 13 million workers would be employed in clean energy and related sectors by 2030, while that number doubles in the Net Zero Emissions by 2050 Scenario.

Source: IEA

Between the Myth and Responsibility

13.10.2021

čokolada-Nestle — Foto-ilustracija: Unsplash (Thibault Penin)

Is it all that it takes for one product to have labels such as eco, 100 percent natural, or 100 percent bio so that we are assured that buying it would do us and the planet good? How conscientious are we as consumers, and do we need to think thoroughly about what we buy? Although big corporations that control the market are turning to green economy apace, environmental activists make known that not everything is as it seems and that each one of us has rights, opportunities, and obligations to act upon the market and to control big players.

We are all familiar with Nestlé products. There is hardly a consumer who hasn’t tasted their coffee, chocolate, muesli, or ice cream, and to some consumers, the Nestlé products are their cup of tea. Nestlé has been building up its reputation for 150 years, ever since the Swiss entrepreneur, Heinrich Nestlé has made a successful baby milk formula for the first time in the middle of the 19 century. Soon after that, also the first milk chocolate. Today, Nestlé is the biggest food company globally, the multinational corporation that runs the business in 189 countries, owns 447 factories, and employs 339,000 people. At the same time, it is one of the biggest stock owners of L’Oreal, the largest cosmetics company in the world. No, we are not advertising this famous brand. Instead, this serves as a mere illustration of how much Nestlé products took over

the market and to what extent companies with mass production affect our lives and the planet’s health. Yet, has this enormous impact one company has, being followed by proportionally large social and environmental responsibility in the way they run business and production?

The people from the Nestlé company will tell you that environmental protection is crucial to them. As a signatory of the Charter of the United Nations, Nestlé has committed to introducing particular measures to fight climate change, aiming that by 2030 it cuts its emissions of greenhouse gases by half. In contrast, by 2020, it should reach zero impact on the environment.

“The largest potential of the Nestlé company for that lies in agriculture. We are focused on preserving and restoring the forests, agroforestry, regenerating agricultural practices, and soil protection. Just the last sector, we can make an impact on up to 70 percent of emissions“, says Ivanka Stojnić, the manager for sustainable development at the Nestlé company for the Southeast European market.

In focus:

A green business strategy, such as this one, is something that almost all big companies today take as indispensable. Environmental activists generally accept big companies with a grain of salt, while the ones more radical take them a priori as bad guys. Milja Vuković, the founder of Facebook group Zero&Low Waste Serbia, has critical approaches to big corporations. She tries to put them in perspective, being aware that the companies have an immense responsibility in this historical moment and that it is of great importance they start to change their approaches. As a committed environmental activist with strong beliefs in civil actions, she notes that it is up to us, namely citizens, and up to legislation to make demands, support, and monitor. According to her, the main problem is that, despite all green strategies, we are still stuck in consumerism which has brought us to the global collapse in the first place.

“Consumer capitalism concept, embodied in the big corporation, is based on the ideology of constant growth. That approach is utterly unsustainable. It isn’t a solution to transition to a green economy or regenerative agriculture if we still remain affixed to constant growth ideology. For, what is the thing that actually grows? Does social justice grow, or the investments in education and art? Do we have a healthier environment, or are the people healthier and happier? What is the thing that grows in our modern societies? The amount of waste grows, which at rapid speed destroys the planet. The profit grows since the full human potential is reduced to become consumer”, says Milja Vuković.

She gives one very illustrative example: At the moment, we globally produce 120 percent of food necessary to feed the entire world population. At the same time, we throw away an unprecedented quantity of food that amounts to 30-40 percent. In other words, we produce so that companies make their projected profits, not to feed the people.

Undoubtedly, a green strategy is essential to make production more environmentally friendly, preserve the environment, take care of waste, use more clean energy, and produce packaging safer for the environment. Many big corporations already adopted these targets, including Nestlé, which in 2018 used for its production of 34.5 percent of electricity from renewable energy sources.

“As for Serbia, at the beginning of 2019, we signed the agreement with EPS for purchase of 100 percent green energy generated in hydropower plants. This way, we have already reached the specific goal locally”, says Ivanka Stojnić, offering further details on their factory in Surčin, which has become in 2019 the first facility reaching the Zero Waste to Landfill goal. That means that not even a single gram of waste from the factory goes to a landfill. Still, it is recycled and used for other purposes, while the food residues are used for organic fertilizer production. “And that’s not the end. We keep on reducing the energy consumption in the factory and replacing our packaging by introducing recyclable materials. The question of plastic waste, which can’t be recycled but ends up in our environment, also is one of the critical challenges the world is facing. Therefore, Nestlé has committed to making 10 percent of packaging produced in factory recyclable by 2025 and reducing virgin plastic usage by a third in the same period. With all investments so far, we have made recyclable 87 percent of our total packaging and 66 percent of plastic packaging.

Taking that green path, we continue investing in new technologies and substantial changes of our products and business around the globe”, says Ivanka. Although this corporative policy is something Milja Vuković advocates for, she mentions that consumers and citizens must follow these processes and buy, if we are environmentally aware, exercise self-control.

“Being informed buyers, we can support the product with environmentally friendly packaging, namely the naked ones. That means they have no packaging, or they were made of recyclable materials or materials from renewable sources. We need to know and control the percentage of collection and recycling of that specific material in our country. Otherwise, it ends up on landfill again, despite the theoretical possibility for its recycling”, she says and adds that the same goes for green energy use and that we should demand the transparency of production process and sale of this kind of energy.

Prepared by: Jovana Canić

Read the story in the new issue of the Energy portal Magazine WATER RESOURCES.

Launch of the Western Balkans Coal Regions in Transition Public Perception Survey

13.10.2021

termolektrana — Photo-illustration: Unsplash (Hassan Afridhi)

Photo-illustration: Unsplash (Ivo Lukacovic)

The World Bank’s Energy & Extractives Global Practice, together with the Energy Community Secretariat, launched on 11 October the Western Balkans Coal Regions in Transition Public Perception Survey, to be conducted across the coal regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo*, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia. The objective of the survey is to understand awareness, perspectives and expectations of citizens living in these coal regions related to the concept of Just Transition.

The survey was designed taking into account inputs from CSOs active in the region. The methodology will include both qualitative and quantitative data collection via a questionnaire administered in local languages. The questions mostly focus on determining participants’ knowledge, perceptions, understandings and expectations of the concept of the Just Transition. The questionnaire respondents will be selected on a randomized basis based on the sample frame.

A final report will present the survey’s key findings and identify the key issues facing coal regions, the key institutions involved in coal regions and the priorities and likely development strategies.

Results will play an integral role in informing stakeholder engagement and citizen engagement strategies with respect to a Just Transition in these coal regions, in the World Bank’s technical assistance and Energy Community’s work on the energy transition going forward.

The survey is being conducted under the umbrella of the initiative for Coal Regions in Transition in the Western Balkans and Ukraine, managed by the European Commission and launched in December 2020 to help countries and regions to move away from coal towards a carbon-neutral economy, while ensuring that this transition is just.

* This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.

Source: Energy community

Antarctica Shows Everything Is Possible When We Work Together – Now We Need Leaders To Make History Again

12.10.2021

lednik_voda_Antarktik — Foto-ilustracija: Unsplash (Long Ma)

30 years ago, something remarkable happened. Governments around the world agreed to make the Antarctic off limits to oil drilling and mining.

In the 1980s the debate of the fate of the Antarctic got intense, as interest in the continent’s oil and mineral reserves surged. Together with other organisations, Greenpeace was adamant on protecting one of the world’s last wildernesses.

We knew that governments could only lay claim to Antarctica if they built a base there. So to gain a place at the negotiating table, Greenpeace set about doing the same.

In 1987, we set sail. After years of campaigning, we went from being laughed at, to becoming a respected player in negotiations for the future of the continent. And gradually, more and more nations signed up to the ban on mining and drilling for fossil fuels.

The visionary agreement made on October 4. 1991. is known as The Protocol on Environment Protection to the Antarctic Treaty, or The Madrid Protocol. It has two important lessons: 1) We need to respect the planetary boundaries and learn to live within them, rather than racing to the ends of the world to exploit; 2) Everything is possible when we work together.

30 years later, those learnings are timely. These same lessons are what we need to tackle the climate and nature emergency facing our planet today. Not even the Antarctic is remote enough to be safe from climate breakdown, pollution and destructive fishing. In recent years, we have witnessed the Antarctic glaciers retreating, plastic pollution spreading, and penguin populations crashing.

The Antarctic Ocean Commission is made up of 25 governments and the European Union. Their job is to protect Antarctic marine life. But despite their commitment to create a network of Antarctic ocean sanctuaries, this group of decision-makers has let exploitation drive its agenda for far too long, and protecting the oceans has been left behind. But it is not too late.

True leaders would cut emissions back in their home countries, whilst working together to create vast ocean sanctuaries, off-limits to destructive industries, to give nature a chance to heal. And they would act right now: the world is expecting concrete action to give Antarctic waters a way back from the brink. We must protect at least 30 percent of the global oceans by 2030. When the Antarctic Ocean Commission will start their annual meeting in two weeks’ time, the leaders’ words will be tested.

Leaders of today have their chance to shape the fate of the oceans all around the planet, for generations to come, by creating a strong Global Ocean Treaty at the UN next year. Our global oceans belong to us all and we need to make sure everyone can benefit from the food, oxygen and scientific advances they provide. We need to cha

nge the way we take care of our oceans, business as usual has been driving them to the brink of collapse. A Global Ocean Treaty is about putting justice and protection at the core of how we manage our oceans.

By opening the door to a network of fully protected ocean sanctuaries, in areas beyond national boundaries, the Global Ocean Treaty under negotiation at the United Nations could improve the capacity of the global oceans to respond to the worst impacts of climate change, stop biodiversity loss and bring enormous benefits for coastal communities, whose food security and livelihoods are threatened by climate change, unsustainable industrial fishing practices, and pollution.

Source: Greenpeace

IEA works with Italy and UNEP in push for projects that use digital technologies to support flexible and resilient energy systems

11.10.2021

renewable-energy — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

The International Energy Agency is teaming up with the Italian Ministry of Ecological Transition (IMET) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to call for pilot projects on how digitalisation can contribute to flexible and resilient energy systems.

The initiative, a follow-up to the 2019 Climate Action Summit, aims to accelerate global climate action and encourage the uptake of clean energy models. The pilot projects are intended to produce on-the-ground insights, test new approaches and disseminate findings that will feed into the IEA’s Digital Demand-Driven Electricity Networks (3DEN) Initiative.

The 3DEN Initiative focuses on the policies, regulatory environment, technology and investments needed to accelerate power system modernisation as well as the effective utilisation of demand-side resources, such as electric vehicles and behind-the-meter batteries.

The open competitive call for proposals intends to support the implementation of pilot projects across the prioritised countries, namely Brazil, Colombia, India, Indonesia, Morocco, South Africa and Tunisia for a maximum of EUR 1.8 million per project (excluding co-financing). The projects are expected to develop and showcase innovative business and regulatory models for the adoption of smarter digital power infrastructures.

You can find more details and the application form here.

Source: IEA

EBRD to Acquire Stake in Bulgaria’s Euroins Insurance Group

09.10.2021

architecture-zgrada — Foto-ilustracija: Pixabay

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) signed an agreement to acquire a minority stake in Bulgaria’s Euroins Insurance Group (EIG), one of the largest independent non-life insurance groups in central, eastern and south-eastern Europe.

The EBRD is investing EUR 30 million through a capital increase, while Еurohold, the insurance group’s parent company, is providing a further equity injection of up to EUR 12 million.

Anca Ioana Ionescu, EBRD Director for Bulgaria, said: “This EBRD investment will play a key role in stabilising the insurance sector, while providing comfort to customers, regulators and suppliers.”

The funds will be used for the development and growth of the largest insurance entity within the group, Euroins Romania Asigurare Reasigurare. The financing will also support the group’s operations and growth in Georgia, Greece, North Macedonia, Poland and Ukraine.

Mark Davis, EBRD Regional Director for Romania and Bulgaria, added: “We are so pleased to be partnering with Euroins to expand high-quality, advanced and dependable insurance in Romania and across the region. We are also pleased to be engaging in parallel with Romania’s Financial Supervisory Authority (ASF) on a direct settlement process for the benefit of consumers and the insurance sector overall in Romania.”

The EBRD is working with ASF to develop new regulations for managing motor claims. Its goal is to help create a fairer system for all parties involved, including customers, workshops and insurance companies, while fostering the interest of larger global insurers and attracting capital to the sector.

Kiril Boshov, EIG Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Еurohold’s Management Board, stated: “We are glad to welcome the EBRD, one of the major international financial institutions, as a shareholder in EIG. The participation of the Bank will further strengthen EIG’s solvency position and support its growth in markets where both EIG and the EBRD have been focusing. The investment comes at an important moment for EIG’s largest company, Euroins Romania. It marks a strategic milestone in the capitalisation our Romanian subsidiary, in which EIG has invested more than RON 300 million (EUR 60 million equivalent) in the past 12 months. Euroins Romania will therefore be able to look ahead as a well-capitalised, innovative, client-oriented and diversified insurer on the challenging local market.”

The EBRD’s investment will also help Euroins create value through enhanced corporate governance, digitalisation and diversifying products from mandatory motor insurance to those covering health, accidents, fire and property.

The EBRD is a major investor in Bulgaria, where it focuses on making local firms more competitive at home and abroad, financing modern, sustainable infrastructure and developing financial products and capital markets, given the country’s plans to adopt the euro. To date, the EBRD has invested more than EUR 4 billion in Bulgaria’s economy through almost 270 projects.

Source: EBRD

Climate Scientists win Nobel Prize for Physics

08.10.2021

earth-zemlja-planeta — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

Photo-illustration: Unsplash (Markus Spiske)

The World Meteorological Community and the international science community have welcomed the awarding of the 2021 Nobel Prize in Physics to pioneering climate scientists who laid the foundations for our understanding of the role of human activities and greenhouse gases in climate change. The award is especially timely as it comes on the eve of decisive UN Climate Change negotiations, COP26.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences cited American-Japanese Prof. Syukuro Manabe (Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA) and the German Prof. Klaus Hasselmann (Max Planck Institute for Meteorology, Hamburg, Germany), “for the physical modelling of Earth’s climate, quantifying variability and reliably predicting global warming.”

They share the prize with the Italian theorist Prof. Giorgio Parisi (Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy) “for the discovery of the interplay of disorder and fluctuations in physical systems from atomic to planetary scales.”

WMO Secretary-General Prof. Petteri Taalas said the award is “great news.”

“This demonstrates that climate science is highly valued and the climate science message has been heard,” said Prof. Taalas.

He stressed the urgency of translating the scientific knowledge into policy-making.

“The concrete action hasn’t been ambitious enough so far. … There’s clearly a need to raise the ambition level. We cannot wait for decades to start acting,” he added.

“As public awareness of climate change grows, it is encouraging to see the Nobel Physics Prize recognizing the work of scientists who have contributed so much to our understanding of climate change, including two IPCC authors – Syukuro Manabe and Klaus Hasselmann,” said Dr Hoesung Lee, Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The WMO co-sponsored IPCC shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007.

Prof. Manabe was born in Japan in 1931 and studied at the University of Tokyo, where he received his PhD in 1958. He then moved to the United States to work on climate prediction using numerical simulations at the General Circulation Research Section of the National Weather Bureau. He has continued to work on global warming research at the Frontier Research System for Global Change in Japan and at Princeton University, where he has contributed to climate change prediction.

The numerical simulation techniques developed by Prof. Manabe, which take into account the interaction between the atmosphere and the oceans, are the basis of the Earth system modelling and predictions used today for long-term prediction and climate prediction, and are indispensable not only for global warming prediction but also for daily to seasonal forecasting.

Prof. Hasselmann was born in Germany in 1931 and earned his PhD at the University of the University of Göttingen and Max Planck Institute of Fluid Dynamics in 1957. He has conducted research in the 1970s on the relationship between weather and climate. He also contributed to a better understanding of global warming and the responsibility of human activities. The methods he developed made it possible to prove this.

Source: World Meteorological Organization

Fast-Growing EBRD Green Cities Signs up 50th member, Medias

07.10.2021

sibiu-romania — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

The EBRD’s fast-expanding EUR 3 billion urban sustainability programme, EBRD Green Cities, has reached a new growth milestone, with Medias in Romania becoming the 50th city to sign up to improve the environment in which its citizens live and plan a more sustainable future. The EBRD will lend Medias RON 38 million (EUR 7.7 million) to part-fund a bigger EU project to improve its infrastructure.

“We are delighted that Medias is becoming EBRD Green Cities’ 50th member,” said Nandita Parshad, Managing Director, EBRD Sustainable Infrastructure Group.

“When it comes to addressing the climate emergency, cities must be front and centre given the need for clean air, decarbonised urban transportation and green and reliable energy access for all. This is why we established our flagship EBRD Green Cities Programme – to introduce bottom up planning for green priority investments for cities.”

Medias, located in Sibiu County in the central Romanian region of Transylvania, is an existing EBRD client. The city is looking to revitalise its public infrastructure as prerequisite for business and economic development in the region. The city, with a population of approximately 56,400 inhabitants, suffers from legacy infrastructure issues across its transport network, public buildings and road systems. Medias plans to address these issues through a broad programme of investments, focused on accelerating the City’s sustainable development and transition to a low-carbon future.

Cities, which account for 70 percent of energy use and 80 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the world, represent a big opportunity to tackle climate change and environmental degradation. This is particularly true of cities in the EBRD regions, where obsolete urban infrastructure diminishes the quality of life of citizens, increasing greenhouse gas emissions, and preventing communities from adapting to climate change.

EBRD Green Cities was launched in 2016 with just EUR 250 million of funding, which was expected to last five years. The programme proved so popular that its funding was quickly increased. EBRD Green Cities has won support from the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and attracted significant levels of co-finance, expanding the number of cities that can be supported and further raising the level of ambition.

EBRD Green Cities offers tangible support to help cities address their environmental issues and improve the quality of life of their residents. All participating cities embark on a trigger project to improve their local environment then, with EBRD help, work on a Green City Action Plan (GCAP) to create a tailor-made list of further environmental investments and policy changes most suitable to address their environmental challenges.

In the case of Medias, the trigger project will be work on rehabilitating, modernising and improving energy efficiency in public buildings, as well as public transport investments supporting e-mobility. Both will bring significant greenhouse gas emissions savings. The EBRD loan will represent the city’s co-financing of a larger investment for a total value of RON 138.4 million (EUR 28.1 million), approved under the relevant EU Regional Operational Programme in Romania.

Medias is the 3rd green city in Romania, after Craiova and Iasi, while Timisoara and Constanta are expected to join the programme soon. To date, EBRD has signed 8.8 billion in over 460 projects in Romania.

Source: EBRD

Digital Partner in the Fields of Sustainability and Efficiency

06.10.2021

Plovdiv_pametna fabrika_ — Foto: Schneider Electric, via Represent

The coronavirus has brought numerous changes in everyday life. It also contributed to the increasing demand for sustainable energy and sustainability in all areas of work.

The innovations are introduced, and new technologies are adopted apace. The measures that were globally adopted to protect people’s health and lives, such as lockdowns and movement restrictions, appeared to be also an impetus for changes speeding up the adoption of digital technologies.

“I am sure that the high level of their use will persevere in the future,” said Dr. Petr Hermann, the cluster president for Southeast Europe at Schneider Electric, in the interview he gave to our Magazine.

“The Schneider Electric company recognizes increasing demands for sustainable energy and also that sustainability is one of the key drivers of efficiency and innovations. We believe that this concept is a powerful source of motivation for people looking for sustainable workplaces. The solutions based upon sustainability are also a great response to greater clients’ demands”, says Hermann.

He points out that more than 80 percent of CO2 emissions come from energy production and consumption. In addition, throughout the previous five decades, the global population has doubled.

“With the expansion of the global economy and the growth of the global population, our energy needs will rise more than 40 percent until 2040, to be able to supply with electricity our facilities, houses, factories satisfying our need for cooling, transport, and connections.”

Therefore, it is necessary to generate electricity from renewable energy sources and increase the share of electric energy significantly in total energy usage, aiming to reduce CO2 emissions and slow down global warming. According to Hermann’s prognosis, in the next 20 years, the share of electricity in all our activities will double.

In focus:

“A lot has been said about electricity, but today it makes only 20 percent of all energy we use. In the next two decades, that share will amount to at least 40 percent. And finally, electricity will be substantially different, because today only 6 percent of energy is generated from renewable sources. Expectations are that during that period, up to 40 percent will come from renewable sources. In addition to that, all that we install today and build will also be here in the next 20 years. So, if we want to tackle the climate issue, we have to introduce all those changes now.”

Petr Hermann reflected that the Schneider Electric company was ranked the world’s most sustainable corporation at the beginning of 2021, in a prestigious annual list compiled by Corporate Knights, a media and research company focused on corporate sustainability performance.

Also, the same year the company entered Fortune’s 2021 World’s Most Admired Companies list for the fourth year in a row, as the third company on the electronics sector list. At the Schneider Electric company, they make sustainable development a focal point. Over the last three years, they have saved more than 130 million tonnes of CO2 emissions for their clients in the sectors of construction, industry, infrastructure, and data centers.

“Our mission is clear and unwavering. We want to encourage all to make better progress and use fewer resources. We hope our motto Life is on takes root everywhere, and goes for everyone, at every moment”, notes Hermann.

He says that new trends, which they recognize and work on, concern four types of integrations:

Integration of supply management and electricity usage with automation aiming for better efficiency both in terms of energy usage and remaining business operations
Integration of smart devices with control systems, but also with cloud, to collect data from all company sectors and find the best way to use energy and other available resources
Integrated architecture; from the project design to construction and from operation to maintenance, accomplished through special software, which provides for integrated design, construction, operation, management, and installation maintenance, and the technology implementation such as digital twin for the industry sector, or artificial intelligence

The transition from the maintenance of each installation separately (from location to location) to comprehensive company management Speaking of the local market, Hermann says that Serbia has a very competent team and an excellent network of partners.

“We have ambitious plans for Serbia. But, first, let me remind you that our company has a high-tech Center for the research and development of software for management of the electric power distribution systems located in Novi Sad. There we have more than 1,000 engineers employed”, underlines Hermann adding that the Schneider Electric company’s priority is attracting and training of skillful personnel along with the people development.”

Text published in the Energy portal Magazine WATER RESOURCES.

Amazon Expedition: The harsh reality of those living near the fires

05.10.2021

šumski_požar — Foto-ilustracija: Pixabay

The fires and deforestation in the Amazon have a devastating impact on the forest, biodiversity, and the global climate. We have seen news, articles, and documentaries about it.

But little is told about the impact the destruction has on the lives of those living in the region. For me, there is no richer experience than being on the field, talking to those people, and hearing about their – sometimes very harsh – reality.

For a week I traveled with a team from Greenpeace Brazil to a few municipalities in the Amazon to document the devastation, enabled by Bolsonaro’s government, in the region.

We started our trip in Porto Velho. The day we arrived, the city had just gotten the first substantial rain in several weeks. “ Last week we couldn’t even see the sky, now we can just because it rained last week”, the people who live there said. The smoke, which prevents the city’s residents from seeing the sky and breathing good quality air, is one of the reasons why we went there.

During our visit to Porto Velho, we wanted to understand how the fires affect people’s health and well-being. We interviewed researchers from Public Health Research Institute Fiocruz, the state’s Health Surveillance Agency Agevisa, and a doctor from the local Children’s Hospital.

All of them emphasized that fires affect the health of the population, especially children and the elderly, who are more vulnerable. But they also highlighted that the smoke doesn’t impact only the ones living near the fires but also people far away, as the pollution travels with the wind.

Every resident from Porto Velho talks about the smoke, which covers the city every year. In the few days we were there, even with the rain, we saw fires very close to the city and the air was still very dry. I couldn’t stop thinking how inconceivable that was: such low humidity in a city right next to the rainforest.

This is the first of a series of stories I am going to tell you about my visit to the Amazon. From deforestation to logging and land grabbing, the forest is being devastated, threatening the health and livelihood of those in the region. Stay tuned, share this story and join the movement to Stand with the Guardians of the Amazon.

Author: Diego Gonzaga

Source: Greenpeace

How Eco-Labelling Can Drive Consumer Decision-Making

05.10.2021

kupovina_prodavnica_rafovi_žena — Foto-ilustracija: Unsplash (Martijn Baudoin)

Photo-illustracion: Unsplash (Mehrad Vosoughi)

“What exactly happens between the farm and the table?”

Each year, 17 percent of total global food available at retail may be wasted, including 11 percent at the household level, says the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP’s) Food Waste Index Report 2021.

Finding out how our food is distributed and reaches our plates could help reduce food loss and waste and accelerate the transition to sustainable food systems.

At the first-ever UN Food Systems Summit last month, UNEP jointly developed a pair of coalitions –‘Food is Never Waste’ and ‘Healthy Diets from Sustainable Food Systems’ – to help cut food loss and ensure access to healthy diets.

The Summit also saw nearly 300 commitments from hundreds of thousands of people worldwide to accelerate action and transform food systems.

Experts say successful policymaking will rely on improving consumer knowledge.

“Our understanding of food systems is incomplete,” says UNEP Programme Manager James Lomax. “Most existing data focus on agriculture – where the food chain begins. At the other end of that chain, individual choices and consumption patterns are fragmented.”

The “middle part” of the food chain is less visible, notes Lomax. “Consumers may not know how food reaches their plates or be aware of the health and environmental consequences of their dietary choices.”

Information enables better decision-making

Consumers play an essential role in shaping the global food system through the decisions they make in grocery stores, restaurants and in their homes. To improve consumer decisions and positively impact human and planetary health, consumers need access to more information about their food and a deeper understanding of the “middle part.”

Eco-labelling is one solution. This system identifies products that meet low environmental impact criteria and provides insight into the process to facilitate consumer decision-making. It provides an incentive for producers to review their own performance and communicate product sustainability credentials. In Latin America, UNEP’s Sustainable Public Procurement and Ecolabelling project is helping consumers to learn more about the production and management of the products they purchase.

Costa Rica developed the first product category rule to measure the environmental impact of coffee production against international standards – for planting, packaging, harvesting, grinding, packaging and distribution – and is now developing a new eco-labelling norm for its domestic sale. It is also working on new category rules to measure the environmental footprint of bottled water, malt-based drinks and bakery products.

Eco-labelling is part of a global transition towards sustainable development, and its importance is widely recognized. Building on the principles adopted at the UN Conference on Environment and Development held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation Articulates the need to “develop and adopt, where appropriate, on a voluntary basis, effective, transparent, verifiable, non-misleading and non-discriminatory consumer information tools to provide information relating to sustainable consumption and production”.

Source:UNEP

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