The vast scale of native vegetation clearance for industrial soy cultivation in Brazil is apparent in this aerial image of the Cerrado. Jim Wickens Ecostorm / Mighty Earth (2017)
By Chris Arsenault
A first ever study has provided detailed estimates of greenhouse gas emissions across the entire soy producing agribusiness sector in Brazil. The study, published in the journal Global Environmental Change, found that countries and companies in the European Union and China importing soy from Brazil have driven deforestation there, causing a marked increase in greenhouse gas emissions, particularly when the soy came from certain regions.
<p>While <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/06/14-straight-months-of-rising-amazon-deforestation-in-brazil/" target="_blank">deforestation in the Amazon rainforest</a> has garnered global attention, a new wave of precipitous native vegetation loss is being seen in the Cerrado, Brazil's savanna biome, and is a major cause of concern to climate change researchers. Brazil's Cerrado grasslands are being <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/04/we-are-invisible-brazilian-cerrado-quilombos-fight-for-land-and-lives/" target="_blank">cleared of forest</a> at an alarming rate to expand soy plantations — along with ranches — to meet global demand.</p><p>In fact, soy exported from newly cleared lands in some savanna municipalities caused the release of as much as 200 times more greenhouse gas emissions than soy coming from other parts of Brazil, according to the new study, which was conducted by researchers from Germany, together with partners from Spain, Belgium and Sweden.</p><p>The extreme regional disparities in emissions from different parts of the country came as a surprise to the researchers, and could offer a detailed map to policymakers as to where to focus carbon emission reduction efforts to achieve the greatest benefit.</p><p>"One of the big takeaways: there is no average supply chain for soy exports from Brazil. We need to take into account these [major] regional differences," in deforestation, transportation infrastructure, and resulting emissions, said Dr. Neus Escobar, the study's lead author and a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Bonn in Germany.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQxNDA2Ny9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0NjUwMTAzNH0.E_nAhS8BixQgvO9eGTajXD7gjMaL7vLSF7kgIOVHGuo/img.jpg?width=980" id="7361c" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="52611a957c75326960085ff694269c68" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
A soy plantation in the Brazilian Cerrado. Alicia Prager / Mongabay.
<p>The new Brazil-wide soy dataset also offers insights into how countries and companies contribute to carbon emissions via deforestation occurring in Brazil. The information could help nations and the soy commodities industry reduce deforestation, and thereby emissions, by fine tuning their supply chains, purchasing decisions and climate change mitigation plans.</p><p>"This gives crucial information to stakeholders to improve environmental performance," Escobar added in an interview with Mongabay. Companies importing Cerrado soy now have been alerted that deforestation there is producing high greenhouse gas emissions, so they can work actively with soy producers to avoid <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/04/for-brazilian-agribusiness-leaving-the-amazon-forested-is-a-problem/" target="_blank">clearing new land for Cerrado plantations</a>, she said.</p><p>Total greenhouse gas emissions from Brazilian soy exports were estimated at 223 million metric tons of carbon dioxide. China was the largest importer of Brazilian soy during the study period which ran from 2010 to 2015, and responsible for 51% of associated carbon dioxide emissions, while the European Union was responsible for 30%.</p><p>But per unit of soy, Europe's carbon footprint from Brazilian imports is larger than China's, the study said. European Union imports were also more likely to cause new deforestation (causing more recent carbon releases), compared to imports from China.</p><p>"This [finding] is surprising because China is a much bigger [soy] importer," Javier Godar, a study co-author and senior researcher at the Stockholm Environment Institute said in an interview with Mongabay. "In the end, Europe is importing a bit more carbon dioxide emissions associated [with] deforestation embedded in soy [production] than China."</p><p>That's because much of the soy consumed in EU countries like Spain and Germany comes from the northern Cerrado where current rates of deforestation are especially high now, Godar explained. China, on the other hand, imports most of its Brazilian soy from the southern Cerrado, which has already converted a lot of its native vegetation to croplands.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQxNDEwMS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0NDk0NDM1M30.xffL1okBH8bwIt-H-vOrnCaEPsbqWZdnhoFRZgoC0GI/img.jpg?width=980" id="7bb22" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="1b4fade01f01d0e0f1b56075634b6201" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
A tractor works to turn deforested land into a soy field in São Desidério, Bahia state, Brazil in 2017. Jim Wickens Ecostorm / Mighty Earth
“Underground Forest”
<p>Lucia von Reusner, campaign director at Mighty Earth, a U.S.-based environmental NGO, said the study is crucial for highlighting deforestation risks in Brazil's Cerrado. "It's one of the world's most biodiverse savannas and a huge concern for people who care about some of the world's most beautiful and threatened species." Also, "Deforestation is one of the biggest drivers of climate change."</p><p>The region has been dubbed an "underground forest" due to the complex root systems of shrubs and small trees, which retain soil and sequester tremendous sums of carbon, she added in an interview with Mongabay. "When the soy industry moves in, all of that is ripped up and burned. All the carbon stored in the roots, trees and soils is burned and released into the atmosphere."</p><p>The Cerrado, dubbed "Brazil's last agricultural frontier" has some of the highest deforestation rates in Latin America, von Reusner said, with only 50% of its native vegetation remaining. The greatest CO2 emissions occurring in the Cerrado during the 2010-15 study period arose in the so-called MATOPIBA region, comprising the states of Maranhão, Tocantins, Piauí, and Bahia. Though the study offered no current deforestation or carbon emission data, MATOPIBA continues to be an agribusiness powerhouse today, a <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/01/communities-in-brazilian-cerrado-besieged-by-global-demand-for-soy/" target="_blank">center of soy production and deforestation</a>.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQxNDA4OC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1NDU4MzQwM30._JX9XVHy8kPS1rOAdfCBL3QglbmmtFGcTUeqpgSAqv0/img.jpg?width=980" id="6f992" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="0732fb50ab8b612e78f7b69910fc958e" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
This map shows total carbon dioxide emissions embedded in Brazilian soy imports for different regions between 2010 and 2015. The European Union imported 67.6 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions embodied in Brazilian soy, while China imported 118.1 million tons of emissions. Escobar, N. et al.
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQxNDA5MC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTU5OTM0ODc1Mn0.VGim10Le1NnUJpVS4BI1T6rZbaGTM6spTTtw4ayYKyA/img.jpg?width=980" id="1f46c" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="a1549c121c4ab75600e1c9f70e939ce0" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
This graph shows total carbon dioxide emissions embodied by Brazil soy imports in major soy importing countries from 2010 to 2015. Escobar, N. et al.
Examining Total Emissions From Soy
<p>The study is the first to provide an estimate of greenhouse gas emissions across the entire soy sector in Brazil with such a high level of detail. To come to their conclusions, researchers analyzed data from 90,000 different soy supply chains between 2010 and 2015.</p><p>Soy is the most internationally traded agricultural commodity on earth, so analyzing data and strategies to reduce its impact on climate change is crucial for policymakers who want to preserve forests while simultaneously reducing emissions.</p><p>"This study does a good job in noting where along the supply chain we can pinpoint to reduce emissions," said University of California, Santa Barbara, land systems scientist Robert Heilmayr. He researches deforestation in Brazil and was not involved in the recent study.</p><p>The depth of the paper's data helps underscore how the Cerrado is "a new frontier in deforestation," he added, and establishes the importance of including the savanna in any plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions, as compared to other soy producing regions of Brazil.</p><p>In the Amazon rainforest, a moratorium on clearing new lands for soy was launched in 2006, which <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2015/01/brazils-soy-moratorium-dramatically-reduced-amazon-deforestation/" target="_blank">greatly reduced</a> the conversion of rainforests to make way for new soy plantations. The moratorium continues to work, though <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/06/14-straight-months-of-rising-amazon-deforestation-in-brazil/" target="_blank">Amazon deforestation is increasing</a> due to intense cattle ranching and mining pressures. One study found that the slowing of soy growth in Amazonia, merely <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/11/saving-the-amazon-has-come-at-the-cost-of-cerrado-deforestation-study/" target="_blank">shifted and intensified</a> soy production in the Cerrado.</p><p>Extending the Amazon Soy Moratorium into the Cerrado, via the so-called <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/03/cerrado-manifesto-could-curb-deforestation-but-needs-support-experts/" target="_blank">Cerrado Manifesto</a> or <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/06/14-straight-months-of-rising-amazon-deforestation-in-brazil/" target="_blank">other initiatives</a> — something transnational commodities companies have strongly resisted — could help reduce deforestation related to soy there, Heilmayr and <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/08/more-companies-sign-on-to-cerrado-manifesto/" target="_blank">others contend</a>.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQxNDA5NC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxMTcxMTA4N30.5PEar6sGahRvQ-vumiP3U0hUOhue29M99R13__oLrDU/img.jpg?width=980" id="bf665" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="a08b7a1bdbff1ed8d3cf020037c02921" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Data was gathered from 90,000 soy supply chains and shows how the amount of greenhouse gases released from soy production, processing and export varies between Brazilian municipalities, and from year to year. This map indicates carbon dioxide emissions from soy exports from around Brazil between 2010-15. Escobar, N. et al.
Complicated Supply Chains
<p>Deforestation isn't the only cause of soy-related emissions, Escobar explained. Transportation of soy from remote rural production areas to the South American coast especially by truck is another significant driver of carbon emissions.</p><p>In some inland communities in Brazil's center-west region, where poor infrastructure means soy needs to be trucked over long distances, transportation accounts for about 60% of total carbon emissions, especially from export-oriented municipalities in Goiás and Mato Grosso states. This has in part justified vigorous efforts to construct less carbon intensive <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/10/grainrail-2nd-revolution-in-brazilian-agribusiness-and-amazon-threat/" target="_blank">rail lines</a> and <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2017/01/battle-for-the-amazon-tapajos-basin-threatened-by-massive-development/" target="_blank">industrial waterways</a> connecting Brazil's interior with its coastal ports — though environmentalists worry about the deforestation such infrastructure might bring with it.</p><p>The global trade in agricultural food products more than doubled between 2000 and 2015, from US$600 billion to over US$1,300 billion, according to data from the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). But most of the soy exported from Brazil isn't actually eaten by people, explained Reusner; it's primarily used for animal feed or biodiesel.</p><p>To produce enough food for a growing global population, she said transnational companies should incentivize producers to not clear forests for new plantations, but plant soy on land that's already been degraded. <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/05/brazil-has-the-tools-to-end-amazon-deforestation-now-report/" target="_blank">Studies have shown</a> that Brazil has plenty of degraded land to meet global commodity demands, without causing any new deforestation.</p><p>"There is enough degraded land across Latin America to meet the needs of global markets to avoid compromising some of our last remaining ecosystems," she said.</p>From Your Site Articles
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Only the paper part of a drink carton would be recycled — everything else, including the plastic coating or layer or aluminum foil, would be incinerated as residual waste. tavan amonratanasareegul / Getty Images
By Jeannette Cwienk
When it comes to recycling and recyclability, very little, it seems is straightforward — even something as seemingly simple as orange juice can present a conundrum. In Germany, many smaller shops sell drinks in cartons or plastic bottles, both of which will end up in the yellow recycling bin. But how do their recycling credentials stack up?
<p>"As far as recyclability is concerned, the plastic bottle is probably slightly better because it is likely only made from one plastic, and so is easier to recycle than a multilayer material like a beverage carton," says Rolf Buschmann, waste and resource expert with the German environmental organization BUND, who worked on the group's 2019 Plastic Atlas.</p><p>He explains that only the paper part of the drink carton would be recycled <em>—</em> everything else, including the plastic coating or layer or aluminum foil, would be incinerated as residual waste.</p>
More and More Multilayer Packaging
<p>How easy is it to recognize multilayer packaging? With drink cartons, it's usually obvious that they're made from a combination of different materials, but with other products, such as candy wrappers, it's a different story.</p><p>Such packaging can be made from a complex mix of up to 10 different films of plastic, which as Joachim Christiani, managing director of German recycling institute cyclos-HTP, explains, is <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/germany-produces-record-amount-of-packaging-waste/a-51293541" target="_blank">invisible to consumers</a>.</p><p>"In recent years there's been a trend toward so-called multilayer packaging, which is extremely light and thin. It saves material as well as CO2 emissions during transport, but can't be recycled," Christiani says.</p><p>Because it is not possible to melt the different plastics together, or — at least for now — to separate the individual films from one another at recycling plants.</p>Lack of Recycled Plastic
<p>A 2017 cyclos-HTP study into the recyclability of conventional packaging waste concluded that a third of it was not recyclable, and only 40% of the remaining two-thirds was made into plastic recyclate. The rest was used as fuel <em>—</em> in other words it was incinerated.</p><p>"There was no economic or political pressure to recycle more than this amount," Christiani says. "The prescribed recycling quotas were met, and there were not nearly enough recycling plants."</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzMxNjYwMy9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0MTQ4MzI5M30.HL0sO8u-CFQf1FvXt4uVkyWtp5iseVH4FmaVYGkfNEY/img.png?width=980" id="b5980" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="0967b762faff5003e7a353180d4ad95e" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" /><p>Another 2017 study by the chemical and waste disposal industry also shows that to date, Germany has not made much use of recycled plastic. According to the findings, plastic recyclate accounted for only 12% of the total amount of plastic processed in Germany <em>—</em> just under 1.8 million tons. The share of new plastic, on the other hand, was more than 12 million tons.</p>
Room for Greenwashing
<p>According to a 2018 survey by Germany's vzbv consumer protection association, most consumers would like to see more plastic recycling, especially when it comes to packaging.</p><p>Although some products come in packaging that is advertised as being "made from recycled material," Elke Salzmann, a resource protection officer with vzbv, says that can be misleading.</p><p>"It says nothing about how much recycled material the packaging actually contains," according to Salzmann. "And it also doesn't mean that the recycled plastic comes from collected plastic waste. It could just as well come from plastic leftovers created during the production of primary plastic."</p><p>The term "ocean plastic," which some textile and shoe manufacturers use to advertise the recycled plastic in their product lines, can also be misleading, Salzmann says.</p><p><span></span>"Plastic waste from the ocean is in much too bad a state to be recycled. Instead, they use plastic waste from beaches or riverbanks."</p>Laws Against Plastic
<p>Images of garbage choking our waters and <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/eurythenes-plasticus-a-deep-sea-crustacean-full-of-plastic/a-52663559" target="_blank">killing marine wildlife</a> have played a key role in giving plastic a negative reputation among the public, and politicians have started to act.</p><p>Many countries worldwide have introduced bans on single-use items, and in Germany, a 2019 packaging law stipulates a plastics recycling quota of 90% from 2022, up from 36%. That said, the quota only refers to how much material has to be fed into the recycling system, not how much ultimately needs to be recycled.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzMxNjYxNC9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzMzE4OTE0M30.8xGfBu2brG_AIp45i_q_LxZZu0nMvlFGAEWGL93Hv6M/img.png?width=980" id="79d47" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="6bc3d22db4f442dacf798ac32ccc7671" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" /><p>This may be addressed in future European Union legislation. As part of its "<a href="https://www.dw.com/en/will-trains-play-a-key-role-in-the-european-green-deal/a-52263495" target="_blank">Green Deal</a>," the European Commission <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/eu-commission-aims-to-clamp-down-on-waste-with-new-law/a-52720804" target="_blank">is aiming to move toward a circular economy</a>, and has announced an action plan to conserve resources and prevent waste.</p><p>The Commission is also being advised by the European Academies Science Advisory Council (EASAC) on how to establish new rules around the use of recycled materials.</p><p>The recommendations range from landfill and export bans on plastic waste and tax rebates for recycled products, to the introduction of a plastics tax and a legal minimum quota of recycled content in packaging.</p>
Rethinking the Whole System
<p>Although plastic is a very useful material, at the end of its life it causes many problems, EASAC environmental program director Michael Norton tells DW, adding that we have to rethink the whole system and completely change the way we use plastic.</p><p>Joachim Christiani says the packaging industry is starting to catch on. Around 70% of recycled mass can currently be generated from packaging, but that figure is expected to rise in the future.</p><p>"95% is quite feasible," says the engineer, adding that sorting facilities are currently undergoing improvements, while packaging design is also changing.</p>Clear Plastics Are Easiest to Recycle
<p>As things stand, PET bottles are easiest to recycle because they're not mixed with other materials. New bottles can therefore easily be made from the old ones and the recycling rate is high. But the color of the bottle can pose a problem.</p><p>Because plastic is sorted by type rather than color, if different colors of plastic are mixed, the resulting recyclate cannot be used for light-colored packaging, which many manufacturers want. The upshot is the introduction of new plastic instead.</p><p>Consumer and environmental associations have long called for recyclability, greater sorting purity and better sorting facilities, but their most important demand remains waste avoidance through reusable systems.</p><p>"Why melt down disposable bottles to make new disposable bottles when you can refill them up to 20 times?" Buschmann asks.</p>From Your Site Articles
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EcoWatch Daily Newsletter
Cleaner Air in Europe Has Resulted in 11,000 Fewer Deaths, New Study Says
30 April
Health + Wellness
Clear skies in Madrid seen from the Hill of Tio Pio during the 46th day of the state of alarm on April 29, 2020 in Madrid, Spain. Eduardo Parra / Europa Press via Getty Images
A new study has shown that drops in nitrogen dioxide in the air and fine particulate matter as coal and oil consumption have plummeted over the last month have saved an estimated 11,000 lives across Europe. The range may be as low as 7,000, but as high as 21,000 deaths avoided.
<p>The study found that steep declines in vehicular congestion and emissions from industrial activities has led to a bevy of positive health impacts, including 1.3 million fewer sick days for workers, 6,000 fewer children developing asthma, 1,900 emergency room visits avoided and 600 fewer preterm births in Europe, <a href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://energyandcleanair.org/air-pollution-deaths-avoided-in-europe-as-coal-oil-plummet/&sa=D&source=hangouts&ust=1588322738988000&usg=AFQjCNFeOwE48z6qIr5S0yGwCtbWKj56Wg" target="_blank">according to the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air</a> (CREA), as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/apr/30/clean-air-in-europe-during-lockdown-leads-to-11000-fewer-deaths" target="_blank">The Guardian</a> reported.</p><p>The researchers found that stay-at-home orders across Europe to slow down the spread of the coronavirus have led to a 40 percent drop in nitrogen dioxide in the air and a 10 percent drop in particle pollution, as <a href="https://www.businessgreen.com/news/4014659/study-cleaner-european-air-covid-19-lockdowns-helped-avoid-deaths" target="_blank">Business Green</a> reported.</p>
<p>These types of pollution weaken the immune system, heart function and the respiratory system. They are responsible for an estimated 470,000 deaths in Europe each year, according to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/apr/30/clean-air-in-europe-during-lockdown-leads-to-11000-fewer-deaths" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>.</p><p>Measures to combat the pandemic have resulted in "unprecedentedly dramatic reductions in coal and oil burning associated with air pollution in Europe," explained CREA lead analyst Lauri Myllyvirta, as <a href="https://www.businessgreen.com/news/4014659/study-cleaner-european-air-covid-19-lockdowns-helped-avoid-deaths" target="_blank">Business Green</a> reported. "This reduction in pollution has helped alleviate pressure on the health care system during this crisis. Furthermore, our analysis highlights the tremendous benefits for public health and quality of life that could be achieved by rapidly reducing fossil fuels in a sustained and sustainable way."</p><p>The statistical model the researchers created looked at data for air quality, weather conditions, emissions, population and disease prevalence. Germany ranked first with an estimated 2,083 deaths avoided followed by the UK (1,752), Italy (1,490), France (1,230) and Spain (1,083), according to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/apr/30/clean-air-in-europe-during-lockdown-leads-to-11000-fewer-deaths" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>.</p>
<p>The research also looked at the ailments that were avoided. They found that 40 percent of the reductions in death were related to heart conditions, 17 percent to lung disease, and 13 percent from strokes and cancer, as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/apr/30/clean-air-in-europe-during-lockdown-leads-to-11000-fewer-deaths" target="_blank">The Guardian</a> reported.</p><p>Myllyvirta noted that the research shows the impetus to transition to a clean energy infrastructure.</p><p>"Air pollution levels are plummeting as an unintended result of measures against the virus; this should not be seen as a 'silver lining', but it does show how normalised the massive death toll from air pollution has become, and points to what can be achieved if we shift to clean energy," he said, as <a href="https://www.businessgreen.com/news/4014659/study-cleaner-european-air-covid-19-lockdowns-helped-avoid-deaths" target="_blank">Business Green</a> reported. "When restrictions are fully lifted, European decision-makers can continue to implement policies to green electricity grids and transport systems in order to clear up our skies so we don't return to heavy pollution."</p>
<p>Myllyvirta noted that the results are just from Europe and they would likely be magnified if worldwide statistics were added. However, those gains are not to minimize the devastating toll the virus has had, claiming over 220,000 lives worldwide and causing millions of job losses.</p><p>The statistics mirror the observations of health experts who are seeing a dip in patients arriving at the hospital with complications from pulmonary disease and asthma.</p><p>"There is no doubt that a fall in air pollution is part of the reason," said Dr LJ Smith, a consultant in respiratory medicine at King's College hospital in London, to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/apr/30/clean-air-in-europe-during-lockdown-leads-to-11000-fewer-deaths" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>. "It's allowed us to question what we have previously accepted as normal. If air pollution returns to its previous levels my waiting room will once again start filling up with children and adults struggling to breathe."</p>
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Pixabay
By Roman Goncharenko
Unseasonably warm temperatures, blue skies and gardens in full bloom — most of Europe is currently enjoying dreamy spring weather. But that's not how farmers see it. They are hoping for rain, and fear that without it their crops will suffer greatly. And experts say there is a very real prospect that beyond the continuing coronavirus pandemic, Europe could be facing weather-induced crop failures in the very near future.
<p>Right now, there is little talk of that threat as farmers are more concerned with an acute lack of seasonal harvesters from abroad. The labor shortage is the direct result of travel bans put in place in an effort to curb the spread of COVID-19. Quarantine-related stories like this one have dominated headlines for weeks, leaving no space for the climate change stories they replaced — stories about massive forest fires raging across Australia and Brazil, for instance.</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/europes-hot-summer-weather-could-worsen-the-effects-of-covid-19/a-53089956" target="_blank">Deutsche Welle</a>.<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/r/entryeditor/2645699288#/" target="_self"></a></em><em></em></p>
Global Warming Hasn't Gone Away
<p>"January was too warm. There is no evidence that global warming has paused or slowed," says Andreas Becker of the German Weather Service (DWD) in Frankfurt am Main. Moreover, he says, January and March were far too dry and February too wet. Water levels in Germany's largest river, the Rhine, were more than 6 meters (20 feet) above average in early March, though they are now falling once again. Currently, the Rhine is close to its average depth of 3.5 meters, but water levels are continuing to drop.</p><p>Meteorologist Becker says the good thing about having such a wet February is that it helped offset some of the groundwater loss that occurred over the past two years as temperatures soared above 40℃ (104℉). He says plants, which draw water from the top 20-50 centimeters (8-20 inches) of soil, have been doing better than trees, which draw theirs from depths closer to two meters. Becker says there is very little water remaining at those levels.</p><p><span></span>Now, he warns, things will have deteriorated further still as March was such a dry month. This year, Germany only received 50-75% of the rainfall that it usually gets for the month. For meteorologists, that comes close to qualifying as a drought.</p>Eastern Europe Especially Dry
<p>Andreas Marx from the Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research's Central Germany Office in Leipzig points out that the past three years have seen unusually low amounts of precipitation. He says that has been the case not only in northern Germany, but also in Poland, Ukraine, Belarus, Russia and Romania.</p><p>The expert says three-week cycles without rain are normal for Europe, but says what has been unusual over the past three years has been the increasing stabilization of the jet stream, which normally meanders around the North Pole some 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) above the Earth. A veritable conveyor belt for winds, the jet stream normally winds and shifts its path, changing weather patterns on the Earth's surface.</p><p>"Climate change has caused the North Pole to warm far faster than the Equator. Now the jet stream is increasingly moving in a north-south direction," says Marx. As a result, the jet stream is not moving around as much as it once did, leading to stable weather patterns such as the extended dry periods that Germany suffered in 2018.</p>How Dry Will Things Get This Summer?
<p>Since weather predictions for even a week or two are considered uncertain, meteorologists shy away from making long-term weather predictions about things such as how the upcoming summer might be. Both Becker and Marx add that due to Europe's varied geography — including its mountains and oceans — it is far more difficult to predict the weather in Europe than in places like Australia, which is surrounded by water. Still, both expect this summer to be warmer than usual. The German Weather Service, for instance, has already suggested that temperatures in Germany could be half a degree (Celsius) warmer than average.</p><p>Marx, who is currently basing his modeling on data from the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), says not only does he expect the coming summer to be warmer than usual, but also drier. He points out that hot periods have changed all over the world.</p><p>"Technically, hot days are those over 30℃. Statistically, one can expect seven or eight such days each year in Leipzig. But we had 36 of them in 2018, and 29 in 2019. That means heat waves last three to four times longer than average." Marx says that has serious consequences for farmers but also for human health. </p>Heat Could Amplify the Effects of the Coronavirus
<p>If things go as the experts expect, Europeans will not only face the prospect of movement restrictions necessitated by COVID-19, but will also have to suffer under extended periods of extreme heat. That heat is something that already plagues elderly citizens — who are also most at risk from the coronavirus — and it makes wearing a face mask all the more uncomfortable.</p><p>Long droughts also increase the chance of forest fires and the massive amounts of smoke that they produce. That would be yet another burden on peoples' lungs, especially those infected with the coronavirus.</p>From Your Site Articles
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Pigeons gather on Piazza del Duomo by Milan's cathedral on March 10, 2020. Italy imposed unprecedented national restrictions on its 60 million people to control the deadly coronavirus. MIGUEL MEDINA / AFP via Getty Images
The entire country of Italy has gone into lockdown to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus, officially known as COVID-19.
<p>The measures, announced by Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte Monday night, will ban public gatherings for Italy's more than 60 million people and prevent them from traveling between towns and cities except for emergencies.</p><p>"There is no more time," Conte said, as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/09/coronavirus-italy-prime-minister-country-lockdown" target="_blank">The Guardian reported</a>. "I will take responsibility for these measures. Our future is in our hands."</p>
<div id="c2b80" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="59MDE61583845510"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1237145779350929410" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Il futuro dell’Italia è nelle nostre mani. Facciamo tutti la nostra parte, rinunciando a qualcosa per il bene della… https://t.co/LFlzmoDjjF</div> — Giuseppe Conte (@Giuseppe Conte)<a href="https://twitter.com/GiuseppeConteIT/statuses/1237145779350929410">1583793513.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Italy is facing the worst coronavirus outbreak in Europe and has seen the most deaths from the new virus outside <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/china" target="_self">China</a>, according to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/09/world/europe/italy-lockdown-coronavirus.html" target="_blank">The New York Times</a>. As of Monday, 9,172 Italians had fallen sick and 463 people had died, 97 more than on Sunday.</p><p>"The figures show we are experiencing a serious increase in infections, an increase in people hospitalised in intensive care – and an increase, unfortunately, in deaths. We need to change our lifestyle. We need to change it now. That's why I have decided to adopt these hard measures," Conte said, according to The Guardian.</p><p>His decree also makes Italy the first European country to enact dramatic restrictions comparable to those that seem to be working in the more authoritarian China, The New York Times pointed out.</p>
<p>On Tuesday, Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Wuhan for the first time since the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/china-lung-disease-caronavirus-2644658010.html" target="_self">new disease emerged there</a> in December 2019. The city, and the surrounding province of Hubei, have both been on lockdown in quarantine measures that appear to be working. His visit came as China reported its lowest number of new cases to date, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-51813876" target="_blank">BBC News reported</a>.</p><p>"He is there now to reap the harvest. His being there means the Communist Party of China (CCP) may declare victory against the virus soon," Renmin University professor Zhang Ming told Reuters, as BBC News reported.</p><p>But this is not the case outside China, where, as <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2020/03/10/asia/china-xi-jinping-wuhan-coronavirus-intl-hnk/index.html" target="_blank">CNN put it</a>, "the situation is growing increasingly dire." According to the <a href="https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/685d0ace521648f8a5beeeee1b9125cd" target="_blank">most recent World Health Organization figures</a>, there have now been 113,672 confirmed cases in 110 countries and more than 4,000 deaths.</p>
<p>Italy hopes to control its outbreak with its newly restrictive measures, which include, according to The Guardian:</p><ul><li>A ban on all public events</li><li>The closing of bars, movie theaters, gyms, clubs and other gathering spots</li><li>The cancellation of all funerals, weddings and sporting events</li><li>The closing of all schools and universities until April 3</li><li>Fines or as many as three months of jail time for those who travel between cities without legitimate reasons</li></ul><p>The decree also included a ban on prison visits, which set off riots in prisons across the country, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-51810673" target="_blank">BBC News reported</a>. Seven inmates died.</p><p>Giovanni Rezza, director of the infectious disease department at the National Health Institute, told The New York Times that Italy's restrictions were "necessary" and that other European countries like France and Germany should follow its example.</p>
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Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg speaks a meeting at the European Parliament in Brussels on March 4, on the day the European Union unveils a landmark law to achieve "climate neutrality" by 2050. KENZO TRIBOUILLARD / AFP / Getty Images
The executive branch of the European Union announced a "climate law" Wednesday that would make it legally binding for the 27-nation group to achieve zero emissions by 2050, but activists including Greta Thunberg say it does not go far enough.
<p>"'Net zero emissions by 2050' for the EU equals surrender. It means giving up," Thunberg and 33 other youth climate activists wrote in an open letter published Tuesday and reported by <a href="https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-climate-change-eu-law/eu-unveils-climate-law-thunberg-calls-it-surrender-idUKKBN20R1OC" target="_blank">Reuters</a>. "We don't just need goals for just 2030 or 2050. We, above all, need them for 2020 and every following month and year to come."</p>
<div id="f750a" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="RACJCN1583424313"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1235270871662686208" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">“This climate law is surrender - because nature doesn’t bargain and you cannot make ”deals” with physics.
And we wi… https://t.co/bBBLaASK5E</div> — Greta Thunberg (@Greta Thunberg)<a href="https://twitter.com/GretaThunberg/statuses/1235270871662686208">1583346500.0</a></blockquote></div><p>Thunberg said the law abandoned the goals of the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/paris-agreement" target="_self">Paris agreement</a> because the European Green Deal it is a part of gives the world a less than 50 percent chance of limiting greenhouse gas emissions to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, which was the Paris accord's ideal target, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-51736134" target="_blank">BBC News reported</a>. UN scientists <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change-ipcc-report-2610866229.html" target="_self">have also said</a> that limiting warming to 1.5 degrees could prevent four inches of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/sea-level-rise" target="_self">sea level rise</a> and keep hundreds of millions of people safe from <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate crisis</a> and poverty by 2050.</p><p>The European Green Deal also includes a €100 billion ($112 billion) Just Transition Mechanism to help fossil-fuel dependent countries transition to renewable energy, a proposal to cut greenhouse gas emissions to 50 percent of 1990 levels by 2030, a plan to move towards a "circular economy" and the proposed climate law, BBC News explained. However, activists like Thunberg think benchmarks like 2030 and 2050 push action too far into the future.</p><p>"In November 2019 the European parliament declared a climate and environment emergency," Thunberg said in a meeting with the European Parliament's environment committee Wednesday, as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/mar/04/focus-coronavirus-shows-need-climate-law-says-eu-official-frans-timmermans" target="_blank">The Guardian reported</a>. "You stated that yes, the house is actually burning, this was no false alarm, but then you went back inside, finished your dinner and watched your movie and went to bed without even calling the fire department. When your house is on fire you don't wait a few more years to start putting it out, and yet this is what the commission are proposing today."</p><p>European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, meanwhile, championed the new effort.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjg0Mzk4NC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzNjExMjE1MH0.hQqFq-fCK5tq2fUfp4ebqdYJAIJP03mys8lTgDS1gDo/img.jpg?width=980" id="c2a6e" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="19b7926d97d2741328d7e62f19a58bb5" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen gives a press conference on the European Climate Law at the EU headquarters in Brussels on March 4. Europe unveils a landmark law on March 4 to achieve "climate neutrality" by 2050. JOHN THYS / AFP / Getty Images
<p><br></p><p>"We are acting today to make the EU the world's first climate neutral continent by 2050. The Climate Law is the legal translation of our political commitment, and sets us irreversibly on the path to a more sustainable future," she said, according to a <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_20_335" target="_blank">commission press release</a>.</p><div id="60e18" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="T4TI8U1583424313"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1235183279302750208" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">We are acting today to make the EU the world’s first climate-neutral economic bloc by 2050.
The Climate Law is the… https://t.co/W1pz9mOCvW</div> — European Commission 🇪🇺 (@European Commission 🇪🇺)<a href="https://twitter.com/EU_Commission/statuses/1235183279302750208">1583325617.0</a></blockquote></div><p>European Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans, meanwhile, argued that the law was important to keep the climate crisis on the agenda as Europe confronted other emergencies like the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/coronavirus" target="_self">coronavirus</a>.</p><p>"Even if the Eye of Sauron is on something else for a bit, the trajectory to 2050 will be clear," he said, according to The Guardian. "Because we discipline ourselves with the climate law."<br></p><p>The law would also require an impact statement for setting new 2030 targets and, beginning in 2023, introduce five year assessments to track the EU's progress towards meeting its goals, <a href="https://www.salon.com/2020/03/04/thunberg-when-your-house-is-on-fire-you-dont-wait-a-few-more-years-to-start-putting-it-out/" target="_blank">Salon explained</a>.</p><p>The climate law will have to be approved both by the European Parliament and the EU member states, according to Reuters. The 2050 goal would be EU-wide, meaning that some countries could meet it later if others achieved carbon neutrality before 2050.</p>
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View of canal in Amsterdam, Holland. Amstel river, canal, and bicycles. ElOjoTorpe / Moment / Getty Images
Vondelpark, Amsterdam's public urban park in the southwest of the city, is anything but a remote place. Even on a weekday, it's full of people taking a stroll, playing soccer or chatting with friends on the neatly mowed grass.
<p>There are also countless people bicycling on the wide, paved roads — after all, this is the Netherlands.<em></em></p>
<p class=""><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/are-cities-europes-new-biodiversity-hotspots/a-51211470?maca=en-VAM_volltext_ecowatch-28485-html-copypaste" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Deutsche Welle</a>. </em></p>
<p>Vondelpark definitely might not seem like the ideal place to look for new <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/to-stop-an-insect-die-out-the-world-needs-pollinator-friendly-policies-scientist-warns/a-50682992" target="_blank">species of insects</a>, but biologist Iva Njunjic begs to differ.</p><p>"Unknown biodiversity is lurking everywhere, even in this place dominated by humans."</p><p>Njunjic works for Taxon Expeditions, a Netherlands-based organization that offers <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/can-tourists-coexist-with-nature-on-lebanons-rabbit-island/a-50113738" target="_blank">ecotourism</a> trips, usually to places like Borneo, Panama and Montenegro.</p><p>Last year, they embarked on a <a href="https://taxonexpeditions.com/programs-2-2/" target="_blank">week long citizen-science project</a> to comb a small island nature reserve in Vondelpark called the "Koeienweide" — "cow meadow" — for new species.</p><p>A single path leads to the reserve, which is padlocked and clearly off-limits to the general public.</p><p>Managed by an Amsterdam citizens' initiative, the Koeienweide — an island surrounded by canals — clearly hasn't seen a lawnmower for quite a while.</p>
Collecting What's There
<p>Every day for a week, eight amateur researchers set up traps on the island to catch different kinds of resident critters, such as spiders, <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/we-cannot-survive-without-insects/a-44297313" target="_blank">beetles, worms and moths</a>.</p><p>"I'm not sure how many species we caught but I was surprised that it was so many," Norbert Peeters, a participant and philosopher from the city of Leiden, told DW.</p><p>Iva Njunjic says the group collected 143 different types of moths alone. Taxonomy experts at the Free University of Amsterdam helped the amateur researchers identify the species under the microscope.</p><p>"By the end of the week we were given some hints that we might be onto something," Peeters said.</p><p>It turns out the group discovered two species of insects that hadn't previously been described by scientists.</p><p><span></span>Njunjic unscrews a small plastic container to reveal one of the new finds. It is a small black dot, no larger than 3 millimeters or one-eighth of an inch, glued to a piece of paper and neatly labelled.</p><p>She explains that it's a beetle belonging to the family of Leiodidae, commonly called "round fungus beetles."</p><p>It most likely lives underground. "We think this species probably feeds on some decaying organic matter or fungi because we found it in a trap with meat and cheese."</p>Its Penis Gave It Away
<p>How did they know this beetle was a new discovery?</p><p>"It differs from very closely related species from southern Europe by the shape of its penis," Njunjic explains and laughs. "When studying insects we compare male genitalia. So we had to dissect its penis and observe it under a microscope."</p><p>The group decided to name the new species after the band "The Beatles," because as Njunjic puts it, "it's kind of unfair that there is no beetle species named after them yet." Its full name will be <em>Ptomaphagus beatles</em>.</p><p>The group of researchers also found a new species of parasitic wasp, which are small insects that lay their eggs on or in the bodies of other invertebrates, sooner or later causing the death of their hosts.</p><p>The new parasitic wasp will be named <em>Aphaereta Vondelpark</em> to honor the place where it first was found.</p>More to Uncover
<p>According to Martin Kubiak, insect researcher at the Center of Natural History at Hamburg University, who was not involved in the study, the outcome of the Vondelpark expedition is "not surprising."</p><p>While the fauna in Central Europe is well explored in terms of species of vertebrates, <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/in-costa-rica-butterfly-breeders-protect-the-forest/a-51917138" target="_blank">butterflies</a> and dragonflies, there is still much to discover in other parts of the animal world.</p><p>"We still know amazingly little about insect groups comprising beetles, wasps, bees, flies and mosquitoes, especially if they are only 1 to 2 millimeters big," Kubiak says.</p><p>In 2011, biologists from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada, estimated that there are an overall <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.1001127" target="_blank">8.7 million species</a> on Earth.</p><p>So far, scientists have only described 1.5 million species.</p><p>Using a technique called <a href="https://ibol.org/about/dna-barcoding/" target="_blank">DNA barcoding,</a> researchers identify species by analyzing a short section of their DNA.</p><p>When biologists at the Bavarian State Collection of Zoology in Munich <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30977972" target="_blank">analyzed the genetic material</a> of a large number of insects they had trapped across Germany, they were able to estimate that 930 different gall midges — a family of flies — live around us, yet only 800 species have been described so far. </p>Biodiversity and the City
<p>Like Norbert Peeters, many people might assume that cities are not where animals are most likely to be found.</p><p>But Menno Schilthuizen, evolutionary biologist at Naturalis Biodiversity Center in Leiden and co-founder of Taxon Expeditions, says the opposite is the case.</p><p>"In a country like the Netherlands, cities are actually biologically rich in comparison to the countryside," he told DW. "This is because there is intensive agriculture everywhere."</p><p>The organizers hope their findings will shed light on the <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/insect-apocalypse-dying-ecosystem-species-loss-a-52160360/a-52160360" target="_blank">importance of insects</a>.</p><p>"Even though they're so tiny they perform many important functions like aerating the soil, decomposing organic matter and pollinating the plants," Iva Njunjic says. "Everyone wants to save pandas and lions, but insects are actually more important."</p>From Your Site Articles
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The Rybnik Power Station in Rybnik, Poland on Sept. 20, 2018. Poland gets 80% of its power from coal. Hans Permana / Flickr
After marathon talks in Brussels, the leaders of European Union member states – bar Poland – agreed early Friday to commit to going carbon neutral by 2050.
<p>"We have reached an agreement on <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-change" target="_self">climate change</a>, it is very important, it was crucial, for Europe to show strong ambition," EU Council President Charles Michel said.</p><p>The summit was the first since European Commission <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/eu-lauds-new-green-deal-as-europes-man-on-moon-moment/a-51622675" target="_blank">President Ursula von der Leyen unveiled her "European Green Deal"</a> – a plan to overhaul the EU economy and achieve climate neutrality by the middle of the century.</p><p>The 2050 goal is a key commitment under the 2015 <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/paris-agreement">Paris agreement</a> on climate change. In order to meet it, EU countries will have to slash carbon emissions generated by <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels">fossil fuels</a> and find ways to offset remaining emissions.</p>
<h2>Poland Left Out</h2><p>Poland, which gets 80% of its power from <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/coal">coal</a>, resisted the plan during hours of intense debate and was ultimately left out of the commitment.</p><p>Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki announced he had secured an exemption from 2050 climate neutrality, but said the bloc had offered generous funding for regions that would be "most affected" by the fossil fuel phaseout.</p><p>German Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters that Warsaw would now have until a summit in June 2020 to decide whether it can commit to implementing the goal.</p><p>"There is no division of Europe into different parts, but there is a member state that still needs a bit more time," she added.</p><p>The French president's office said EU leaders would work towards getting Poland on board, and that the <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/amid-climate-emergency-eu-pins-hopes-on-green-deal/a-51533483" target="_blank">new "European Green Deal" would be rolled out in the meantime.</a></p>
<p>The Czech Republic had also raised objections to the 2050 carbon neutrality goal, and only agreed to the deal after assurances were made for member states to use <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/nuclear">nuclear</a> energy to reduce emissions.</p><p>Scientists warn that a dramatic shift away from fossil fuels is needed to prevent global temperatures from rising more than 1.5 to 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.</p><p>According to a 2018 EU report, the bloc's emissions have fallen significantly over the past two decades but still represent 9.6% of carbon emitted globally each year.</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/eu-leaders-agree-to-2050-carbon-neutrality-deal-without-poland/a-51651459?maca=en-VAM_volltext_ecowatch-28485-html-copypaste" target="_blank">DW</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen delivers a press statement on the European Green Deal at the EU headquarters in Brussels, Belgium on Dec. 11, 2019. Xinhua / Zheng Huansong via Getty Images
The European Commission introduced a plan to overhaul the bloc's economy to more sustainable, climate-conscious policies and infrastructure, with the goal of being carbon-neutral by 2050, according to CNBC.
<p>The proposal, dubbed the "European Green Deal," seems to be the most ambitious vision from a major economy to combat the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-crisis" target="_self">climate crisis</a>. The proposal for the 28 countries that make up the world's largest economic bloc and ranks third behind the U.S. and China in global greenhouse emissions will require a massive overhaul of its practice in order to achieve no detrimental impact on the economy by 2050, as <a href="https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2019/12/11/21010681/european-green-new-deal-climate-change-cop25" target="_blank">Vox</a> reported.</p><p>Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission's new president, introduced the European Green Deal package in Brussels on Wednesday. The proposals seem to leave no part of life untouched, as it affects transportation, agriculture, energy and buildings. Industries such as cement, steel, information and communication technology, chemicals and textiles are also included, as <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/12/12/eu-sets-out-plans-for-climate-neutrality-by-2050.html" target="_blank">CNBC</a> reported.</p><p>"[This] is our new growth strategy, for a growth that gives back more than it takes away," she said, according to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/dec/11/european-green-deal-will-change-economy-to-solve-climate-crisis-says-eu" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>. "It shows how to transform our way of living and working, of producing and consuming, so that we live healthier [lives] and make our businesses innovate. We will help our economy to be a global leader by moving first and moving fast."</p><p>To reach carbon neutrality in 30 years, the package calls for upping the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/paris-agreement" target="_self">Paris agreement</a> target of slashing emissions to 40 percent below pre-1990 levels by 2030 to 50 percent, as <a href="https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2019/12/11/21010681/european-green-new-deal-climate-change-cop25" target="_blank">Vox</a> reported.</p><p>"This is Europe's man on the moon moment," said von der Leyen, according to <a href="https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2019/12/11/21010681/european-green-new-deal-climate-change-cop25" target="_blank">Vox</a>.</p><p>The policy paper calls for massive payouts to member-states that rely on <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/coal" target="_self">coal</a> power as a way to wean them off burning <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels" target="_self">fossil fuels</a> and shift to <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/renewable-energy/" target="_self">renewables</a>, according to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/11/world/europe/eu-climate-plan-coal.html" target="_blank">The New York Times</a>. The bloc will have to spend generously to convince polluting countries like Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic, which rely on coal for generating electricity and have long resisted commitments to net-zero carbon emissions.</p><p>"Our goal is to reconcile our economy with our planet, and make it work for our people," said von der Leyen, as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/11/world/europe/eu-climate-plan-coal.html" target="_blank">The New York Times</a> reported. "The European Green Deal is as much about cutting emissions as it is about creating jobs."</p><p>The commission will present the draft laws to the European Union for approval in January. It is expected that the final product will be slightly watered down after debate and input from the member states. If the proposal passes, the policies will likely be implemented in 2021, as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/11/world/europe/eu-climate-plan-coal.html" target="_blank">The New York Times</a> reported.</p><p>If the EU passes this ambitious strategy paper, it can claim the mantle as a world leader in fighting the climate crisis. Doing so would put pressure on China to reduce its carbon emissions when EU and Chinese leaders meet for a climate summit in Germany next fall. Alden Meyer, an expert on climate change policy at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said China was unlikely to commit to stronger emissions goals if Europe did not do so first, according to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/11/world/europe/eu-climate-plan-coal.html" target="_blank">The New York Times</a>.</p><p>Climate activists welcomed the ambitious plan, but called for bolder strokes and more specific details.</p><p>"The proposed package is comprehensive, identifying the right areas for action — from biodiversity and nature restoration to climate change and stopping deforestation — and it presents us with a number of new and potentially transformational initiatives," Ester Asin, director of the WWF's European Policy Office, said in a statement, as <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/12/12/eu-sets-out-plans-for-climate-neutrality-by-2050.html" target="_blank">CNBC</a> reported.</p><p>"However, by emphasizing continued economic growth as a key objective, the Commission has missed an opportunity to challenge the traditional growth paradigm in favor of an approach that would respect planetary boundaries," Asin added. "Can such 'in the box' thinking achieve the deep systemic change that was promised?"</p><p>Greenpeace was similarly skeptical.</p>"The climate targets [the commission is] proposing would be too little too late," said Franziska Achterberg, EU spokesperson for Greenpeace, as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/dec/11/european-green-deal-will-change-economy-to-solve-climate-crisis-says-eu" target="_blank">The Guardian</a> reported. "On protecting nature, much is aspirational and needs to be fleshed out. The detailed measures that will follow must tackle the production and consumption patterns that have brought us to the brink."
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The European Parliament building in Brussels. Andrijko Z. / CC BY-SA 4.0
European Parliament declared a "climate and environmental emergency" Thursday, calling on the European Commission to make sure all legislation and budgets align with the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
<p>In another resolution, the group called on the EU to submit a strategy to the UN Convention on Climate Change for reaching carbon neutrality by 2050. The European Commission has already proposed a 2050 carbon neutrality goal, but the opposition of Poland, Hungary and Czechia has stopped it from earning the endorsement of the European Council.</p>
<div id="fbbe4" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="ZT75UN1576661071"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1200079023554121728" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">@UNEP MEPs are calling for declaration of climate emergency in the EU.
🌿 EU should commit to net zero emissions by… https://t.co/D5JYl13Dff</div> — European Parliament (@European Parliament)<a href="https://twitter.com/Europarl_EN/statuses/1200079023554121728">1574956110.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>The votes come less than one week before countries are set to <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/madrid-host-cop25-chile-2641211571.html" target="_self">gather in Madrid</a> for the UN COP25 Climate Change Conference.</p><p>"The fact that Europe is the first continent to declare climate and environmental emergency, just before COP25, when the new commission takes office, and three weeks after Donald Trump confirmed the United States' withdrawal from the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/paris-agreement" target="_self">Paris agreement</a>, is a strong message sent to citizens and the rest of the world," French liberal Member of European Parliament (MEP) Pascal Canfin, who wrote a draft of the climate emergency resolution, said, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/28/eu-parliament-declares-climate-emergency" target="_blank">according to The Guardian</a>.</p><p>Some climate activists applauded the European Parliament's emergency declaration, but also urged the EU to back up words with deeds.</p><p>"We can't solve a crisis without treating it as one," Swedish school-strike leader <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/greta-thunberg" target="_self">Greta Thunberg</a> tweeted from the Atlantic Ocean, as she sails back from North America to attend COP25. "Let's hope they now take drastic sufficient action."</p>
<div id="ada60" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="PE7S2M1576661071"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1200086898099789824" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Day 16. In the middle of the ocean I’m struck by the news that the EU Parliament has declared a climate emergency.… https://t.co/mYa2EgHtSV</div> — Greta Thunberg (@Greta Thunberg)<a href="https://twitter.com/GretaThunberg/statuses/1200086898099789824">1574957987.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p><a href="https://www.greenpeace.org/global/" target="_blank">Greenpeace</a> EU climate policy adviser Sebastian Mang shared a similar sentiment before the vote.</p><p>"Our house is on fire. The European parliament has seen the blaze, but it's not enough to stand by and watch," Mang said, according to The Guardian.</p><p>The first resolution was adopted 429 to 225 with 19 abstentions, and the second passed 430 to 190 with 34 abstentions.</p><p>The votes came a day after European Commission President-elect Ursula von der Leyen, the first woman to lead the EU's executive arm, pledged that the EU would be the first continent to reach net zero emissions by 2050, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2019/11/28/european-parliament-declares-climate-emergency/" target="_blank">The Washington Post reported</a>. She has promised a European Green Deal, which the commission will draft within 100 days of taking office in December.</p><p>"If there is one area where the world needs our leadership, it is on protecting our climate," she said, as The Washington Post reported. "This is an existential issue for Europe — and for the world."</p><p>The European Parliament's resolutions Thursday will put additional pressure on her to make good on her promises, and even increase them. Von der Leyen has proposed a goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to at least 50 percent of 1990 levels by 2030, but the second resolution called on her to make that a 55 percent reduction. The current target is 40 percent, which activists and Green politicians argue is not ambitious enough, according to The Guardian.</p><p>A UN study <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/greenhouse-gases-climate-change-un-2641459291.html?rebelltitem=1#rebelltitem1" target="_self">released this week</a> warned that greenhouse gas emissions must decline 7.6 percent every year for the next decade in order to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees.</p>
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Europe ranks second only behind Asia in terms of e-waste, according to the Platform for Accelerating the Circular Economy. Ladislav Kubeš / iStock / Getty Images Plus
By Tim Schauenberg
Technician Christopher Olk concentrates hard as he removes the broken drive from a DVD player and pushes it back in again.
"If it's the mechanics or the electronics, I can fix it," explains the 26-year-old, who is working on his Ph.D. in battery technology at Aachen University. "If the chip or the cooling system is affected then I can't do anything, because I'm missing the equipment and spare parts."
<p>In a small room inside a repair cafe in Cologne's civic center, Olk is one of four technicians who, with the help of some spanners and a soldering iron, try to breathe new life into faulty electronic devices, whether it's a razor, a toaster, a screen or a lamp.</p><p>Europe is full of broken-down equipment. With more than 12 million tons per year — the equivalent of 30,000 jumbo jets — Europe ranks <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/electronic-waste-reaches-record-high-of-45-million-tons/a-41784177" target="_blank">second only behind Asia</a> in terms of e-waste, <a href="http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_A_New_Circular_Vision_for_Electronics.pdf" target="_blank">according to the Platform for Accelerating the Circular Economy (PACE).</a></p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjA2NzI2Ni9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0NjU5ODE5NX0.Smi39oooos3JO0j9sEHktsETeoK4uy6x4P1drWLYLBU/img.png?width=980" id="446ce" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="b7d7e57b8493103110a1e6d2ea00d729" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
<h2>Manufacturers to Make Changes</h2><p>"We want to avoid electronic waste and try to motivate people to act in an environmentally conscious way," says Dunja Karabaic, one of the repair cafe's founders.</p><p>The European Commission now wants to implement a new ecodesign directive at the EU level to help ensure home appliances have a longer functional lifespan — and it's banking on regulation.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjA2NzI2OC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTU5OTExNjg4NH0.lMUTX75fwxk_a7aCGrDxx3-rAglW0Uq_32x07j0T2sI/img.jpg?width=980" id="b871d" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="fd4682fee1302d675fccc44f92d12aea" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
At the repair cafe in Cologne, Christopher Olk is trying to get this faulty DVD player up and running again.
<p>As of 2021, manufacturers across Europe will be required to improve both the reparability and service life of devices such as washing machines, refrigerators, dishwashers, electric motors, light sources and LED screens. Manufacturers must also be more precise when it comes to including energy consumption information on the labels of their products and providing replacement parts for at least 10 years after purchase.</p><p>Laptops and smartphones, however, are not covered under the new rules — more on that later.</p>
<h2>Ecological Potential and the Right to Repair</h2><p>The European Commission estimates that up to 167 terawatt hours of energy could be saved annually by 2030 — approximately the same annual energy consumption as Denmark, which has a population of 5.8 million. This could be achieved, on the one hand, through more energy efficient devices, and, on the other, as a result of fewer devices needing to be re-produced if they last longer in the first place.</p><p>When it comes to electricity and acquisition prices, the European Commission projects that EU citizens would save around €150 ($167) per year in the future.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjA2NzI3Mi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYwMjIyMDIwOH0.1RcwNNgKXWQXkuLf51nHwKoNC0CsSF31l8csjqdblDI/img.jpg?width=980" id="91a64" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="75183f1fcba395e0fb0e0a44c8244167" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Old televisions are much easier to repair compared to modern LED screens.
<p>"Whether it is by fostering reparability or improving water consumption, intelligent ecodesign makes us use our resources more efficiently, bringing clear economic and environmental benefits," the European Commission Vice President for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness, Jyrki Katainen, said in an official statement.</p><p>Environmental organizations have also welcomed the new regulations.</p><p>"From the U.S. to Europe, people are demanding their right to repair things they own because they're tired of products that are designed to break prematurely," said Chloe Fayole, the program and strategy director at the environmental organization ECOS. "Enabling consumers to repair and reuse all electronic products is just common sense."</p>
<h2>How Long Should Devices Last?</h2><p>Exactly how much longer electronic devices should last in the future is still unclear, as is a more detailed benefit analysis of the plan. But if the devices are easier to repair, "the turnover of product inventories will automatically decrease," Pierre Schweitzer, an expert on ecodesign at the European Environment Bureau (EEB) told DW. "That means that less electronic waste will be produced. But no one has tested the model yet, as to whether this will happen in practice."</p><p>The EEB has therefore submitted a report looking at the effects of measures which prolong the life of electronic devices. The calculations show that if washing machines in Europe were to function for just one extra year, it would have the same positive effect on the environment as if 133,000 cars were taken off the road.</p><p>On average, a washing machine currently lasts around 11 years. But according to the experts, it would have to be used for at least 20 years before the purchase of a new washing machine is advisable from an environmental point of view.</p><p>"That's how long it takes resources to use an old device — and to repair it," explains Rasmus Priess, a product <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/sustainability">sustainability</a> expert from the Öko-Institut in Freiburg.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjA2NzMxNS9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYwODg2NDc0OX0.-Fl12mKRQrQf0PtP8xiLv3JjqdWu1q1TUaZ6ApnHoiQ/img.png?width=980" id="54c62" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="8f7757983ab8e411a945a08a5c1616e9" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
<p>But not all electronic devices are created equal. If the energy footprint required to manufacture and then run a device is taken into account, a laptop should be used for 44 years, and a smartphone for up to 232 years. As mentioned earlier, these devices – along with small appliances like razors, blenders and toasters – won't be included in the new EU rules. The plan is to incorporate them at a later stage.</p><p>The DVD player, which Christopher Olk is busy fixing in the repair café in Cologne, hasn't made it onto the European Commission's list yet either.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjA2NzMxOS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxNjUxNDMyNX0.RM11olI2IcCkZVQg1K-3zHS_dfJao7hCNlTdlbVts_M/img.jpg?width=980" id="744e9" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="d5f3ecdfb3f67610b6ce74ee9d8ca850" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Brussels will soon be discussing whether to include longer-lasting smartphones and laptops in the new regulations.
<h2>Gaps in the Rules</h2><p>It took Olk 30 minutes to remove the device's case and take a look inside. After some tinkering, he still only managed open it by force. "See that old radio over there," he said, pointing to an antique mustard yellow transistor radio that has probably been around for several decades, "Underneath is a guide on how to open it and remove some of the parts. Something like that alone would help."</p><p>The German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Technology (BMWI) has also been negotiating in Brussels. In a statement provided to DW, it says it is committed to ensuring that customers can make simple repairs themselves, while more difficult or dangerous repairs should be done by a specialist.</p><p>The cost of replacement parts may also limit the overall success of the new regulations: The scheme doesn't include a price break for spare parts.</p><p>Jean-Pierre Schweitzer from the EEB believes this has increased the risk of "an economic incentive to make spare parts either very expensive, or to manufacture products that break down regularly."</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjA2NzMyMi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYwMzEzODc3M30.rEVzJ39Ei2y2zJdMYKOWCKIG5iZvDl6E3gxDhJHgbmU/img.jpg?width=980" id="5da65" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="dd8bef7a909bcec45d85bb15e61474ce" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
The more complicated the technology, the harder it is to identify which parts are broken.
<p>An analysis by the Joint Research Center of the European Commission found that the main reason people didn't have a washing machine or dishwasher repaired was because "it was too expensive."</p><p>Paolo Falcioni, the Director General of APPLiA, an association representing home appliance manufacturers in Europe, has nevertheless praised the regulations as "a balanced representation of interests." But he also sees some disadvantages. On the one hand, APPLiA fears that the regulations would mean fewer devices would be approved for the European market. On the other hand, it also wants to avoid any unfair competition.</p><h2>'Repairing Is More Important Than Recycling'</h2><p>But although there is still room for improvement, Jean Pierre Schweizer from EEB says the new legislation is "groundbreaking" because it acknowledges the importance of using devices as long as possible.</p><p>"When we talk about a circular economy, repairing is a very efficient point at which you can save real resources and emissions — and that's just the start. We really should highlight the positive aspects of this legislation."</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjA2NzMyMy9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzNjI4MzU3OH0.9G-KgV_ra89-LTPlce892qagbtwlA5J45Ng2mXA0pr0/img.jpg?width=980" id="df51c" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="19fe91af3692d5fe8193552822d395d7" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Not all electronic devices can be repaired using normal, everyday tools.
<p>Back at the repair cafe, Christopher Olk has given up. The DVD player is beyond saving. This isn't an unusual outcome here.</p><p>Braco Sladakovic, who brought in his defective LED TV, has also admitted defeat. The backlight no longer works.</p><p>"We tried, but it was too complicated," he told DW. "It's not worth it anymore, unfortunately." The spare part needed is cheap enough to replace, but the repair itself would be too difficult and expensive.</p><p>Sladakovic now needs to decide what to do with his broken TV. He might be able to sell if to a hobbyist for a few euros. Or he'll simply take it to the nearest electronic waste dump.</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/the-eu-declares-war-on-e-waste/a-51108790?maca=en-VAM_volltext_ecowatch-28485-html-copypaste" target="_blank">DW</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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