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COP26: UK pledges £290m to help poorer countries cope with climate change

Posted on November 9, 2021November 9, 2021 by dishanth

Government ministers from around the world are in Glasgow for more talks.

They will discuss how to support poorer countries and if reparations for damage from natural disasters should be paid.

Poorer nations have called for $100bn of financial help, arguing they are already suffering and will be worst affected by climate change.

Developing countries have historically contributed a very small proportion of the damaging emissions driving climate change – while currently the wealthiest 1% of the global population account for more than double the combined emissions of the poorest 50%.

The majority of the money from the UK will go to help Asian and Pacific nations plan and invest in climate action, improve conservation and promote low-carbon development, the government said.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office described the £290m as “new funding” from the foreign aid budget. The government said last month that cuts to the UK’s foreign aid spending, to 0.5% of national income, will stay in place until at least 2024-25.

Senior government climate change advisers previously warned the cuts showed the UK was “neither committed to nor serious about” helping countries vulnerable to climate change ahead of COP26.

The UN summit will continue until Sunday, with much of the focus of the talks over how to limit global warming to the target of 1.5C.

Monday will see negotiators discuss how best to mitigate the impact of a warming planet, particularly for poorer countries.

Developing countries are asking for $100bn (around £73bn at current exchange rates) annually to help reduce emissions and adapt to climate change and reaching net-zero targets on emissions well before 2050.

A pledge for $100bn from wealthier nations was made as long ago as 2009, but the plans to have it in place by 2020 have not been realised and current targets aim to reach it by 2023 – an offer which has been described as “extremely disappointing”.

International trade minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan said the world “must act now” to prevent more people being pushed into poverty by climate change.

Where will the money be spent?

The government said its £290m in new funding to tackle the impact of climate change will be split between:

£274m to assist Asian and the Pacific nations to plan and invest in climate action, improve conservation and ensure low-carbon development
£15m to a fund designed to support developing countries focus their response where they most need it
£1 million to support delivery of faster and more effective global humanitarian action, including in response to climate-related disasters

But there is also the question of whether rich nations should pay reparations to vulnerable countries for damage already caused by climate change.

Wealthy nations have never acknowledged legal liability for the impact of their emissions – because the bill could run into trillions.

So far, Scotland is the only country promising to donate to a compensation fund for countries whose economies have been damaged by climate change with a £1m pledge.

Saleemul Huq, director of the International Centre for Climate Change and Development in Bangladesh, said Scotland’s pledge is the first time any developed nation has tacitly admitted responsibility for contributing to global warming – and he believed it will not be the last.

Tough week ahead

The Glasgow COP isn’t really one conference – in effect it’s two processes in parallel.

One is a series of daily events organised by the British presidency of the COP. This innovation has already conjured welcome initiatives on forests, finance, methane and technology. This week it’ll unveil pledges on transport, cities and science. They’ll be significant if they’re carried through.

Meanwhile in parallel the tangled talks of the formal UN process labour on.

There are disagreements over the rules governing climate deals, whether rich countries will offer more cash to poorer countries already suffering from dangerous heating – and whether given the urgency of climate disruption, nations should raise their carbon-cutting ambitions in two years instead of five.

There’s also a question of reparations for nations harmed by emissions they didn’t cause. So far the only contribution to the fund is £1m from Scotland.

It’ll be a tough week.

Charity Christian Aid said some of the world’s poorest countries could suffer an average 64% hit to their economy by the end of the century under current climate policies.

Mohamed Adow, director of Kenyan climate and energy think tank Power Shift Africa, described the “scale of the economic disaster” as “deeply unjust”.

“The fact rich countries have consistently blocked efforts to set up a loss and damage fund to deal with this injustice is shameful”, he added.

The first week of the climate talks have led to a variety of pledges, including a major deal to end and reverse deforestation by 2030, and to cut methane emissions.

President of COP26, Alok Sharma, said the pledges made “must be delivered on and accounted for” by all nations.

Former US President Barack Obama is expected to speak in Glasgow later about the progress made in the five years since the Paris Agreement took effect.

Source BBC

Asian Development Bank announces plans at COP26 to partner with investors to buy and retire coal power plants

Posted on November 9, 2021 by dishanth

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) announced on Wednesday a fund that will buy coal power plants in order to shut them down early, replacing them with renewable energy alternatives.

The Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM) will be financed through a blend of equity, debt and concessional finance from funding sources including governments, philanthropy and private investors, to access low-interest loans to purchase the utilities.

The ADB is launching the pilot fund of US$2.5 billion to US$3.5 billion that will focus on buying plants in Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam with the aim to retire half of their coal fleet over the next 10 to 15 years, much sooner than their average lifespan.

“The ETM can usher in a transformation in the battle against climate change in Asia and the Pacific,” said Masatsugu Asakawa, president of ADB, at the launch of the ETM Southeast Asia Partnership at the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland.

“Indonesia and the Philippines have the potential to be pioneers in the process of removing coal from our region’s energy mix, making a substantial contribution to the reduction of global greenhouse gas emissions, and shifting their economies to a low-carbon growth path.”

More than half of the total of the Philippines’ power generation and some 67 per cent of Indonesia’s electricity come from coal, which fuels more than a third of the energy consumed worldwide and is the single biggest contributor to climate change.

The ETM provides a way to accelerate their retirement by providing low-cost financing to coal plant owners. We will acquire or incentivise the plants to retire early, but they will operate for a period of time before they close.

David Elzinga, senior energy specialist for climate change, Asian Development Bank

Masato Kanda, vice minister for international affairs at the ministry of finance of Japan, pledged a grant of US$25 million to ETM, the first seed financing for the mechanism.

David Elzinga, senior energy specialist at ADB, said without financial intervention from ETM, coal plants that are locked into long-term power purchase agreements will continue to operate until the end of their financial and technical life, even if there are cheaper alternatives.

“The ETM provides a way to accelerate their retirement by providing low-cost financing to coal plant owners. We will acquire or incentivise the plants to retire early, but they will operate for a period of time before they close,” Elzinga told Eco-Business on the sidelines of the climate summit.

Elzinga added that the coal plants cannot be closed right away to give time for renewables to be fully integrated in the grid as well as ensure that workers and communities that depend on coal for their livelihood are secured first.

Sri Mulyani Indrawati, finance minister of Indonesia, said the “ETM is an ambitious plan that will upgrade Indonesia’s energy infrastructure and accelerate the clean energy transition toward net zero emissions in a just and affordable manner.”

Indonesia, whose state utility declared in May that it will retire coal power plants gradually as part of its ambition to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060, has pledged to lower emissions by 29 per cent by 2030 and reach net zero by 2060.

Carlos Dominguez III, finance minister and head of the Philippine delegation to COP26, said the country will be piloting the ETM project in Mindanao, the southernmost island group of the archipelago, also the most coal-dependent one.

“We have a unique opportunity in Mindanao to demonstrate our carbon-reduction commitment and pilot the ETM project. In Mindanao, the hydropower source has a huge potential. The government is in the process of rehabilitating the Agus-Pulangi hydropower plant to improve its generating capacity,” Dominguez said. “Mindanao will showcase an Earth-friendly future that can be replicated in other areas in the Philippines and even countries around the world.”

In June, the department of finance disclosed how the government planned to phase out coal plants in Mindanao and substitute them with renewable energy facilities. It was going to coincide with their project to improve the decades-old Agus-Pulangi hydropower complex in Mindanao, which has deteriorated due to lack of maintenance over the years.

The Philippines, which declared a coal moratorium last year, is aiming to reduce harmful greenhouse gases, known as the “nationally determined contribution” (NDC), by 75 per cent by 2030.

The ETM Southeast Asia Partnership launch at the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland. In photo, (from left to right) are Per Heggenes, chief executive of IKEA Foundation; Philippine finance minister Carlos Dominguez III; Indonesian finance minister Sri Mulyani; ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa; and Dr Raj Shah, president, The Rockefeller Foundation. Image: Philippine Department of Finance

On Wednesday, 28 countries joined an international alliance dedicated to phasing out coal. The new members of the Powering Past Coal Alliance (PPCA), include Singapore and Poland, bringing the total number of national governments involved to 48.

Singapore is the first Asian country to join the PPCA, while Poland is the second largest consumer of coal in Europe and the region’s biggest coal producer. Other signatories include Chile, Estonia, Mauritius, and Ukraine.

However, China, India and the United States, the three biggest burners of coal worldwide, have not signed up to the PPCA. Other major users and producers of coal, such as Australia and Japan, have also not joined the group.

“People will ask about the omission of countries like the US from today’s announcement. The reality is that in the US and everywhere, coal is an expensive and outdated energy source that still fails to provide energy security. If the US wasn’t ensnared in Capitol Hill shenanigans we can be confident that the US would also have signed up,” said Leo Roberts, research manager at E3G, a think tank.

ETM: “premature and unclear”

Ahead of ADB’s announcement of its coal retirement mechanism proposal on Wednesday, civil society groups (CSOs) called on the Manila-based lender to delay soliciting financial support for its coal buy-out scheme.

In a letter to ADB, more than 60 CSO’s asked the multilateral bank to clarify details on how the ETM will shorten rather than prolong the lifespan of coal facilities.

“It’s unclear that it will hasten the transition to renewables and protect end-users from exposure to increased costs of power. Power plants in the target countries are not subject to market pressures and thus any buy-outs will have to contend with state support and opaque power purchase agreements,” read the letter.

The CSO’s also cited analysis from think tank Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis that suggests that, if designed poorly, such a scheme could actually create direct or indirect incentives for coal-fired power plant operators to prolong the operations.

The signatories of the letter, which include the Centre for Energy, Ecology and Development (CEED) and NGO Forum on ADB, added that community stakeholders from ETM pilot-countries have yet to be informed of the details of the mechanism in their own languages or be consulted.

The letter read: “We urge ADB not to gamble with our climate survival and the possibility of ending coal in a swift, just, and genuinely transformative manner with a premature buy-out scheme that remains shrouded in uncertainty.”

Fraser Morton in Glasgow contributed to this report.

Source Eco Business

Woodstock going green

Posted on November 5, 2021 by dishanth

What is going on?

Guilty pleasures. When we hear these words, we imagine a reckless shopping spree at the local mall, staying in our pyjamas all day, or a non-meat-free McDonald’s breakfast. But you’d surely question your sanity when contemplating adding “going to a concert” to that list, wouldn’t you?

When we think of a concert, we think of artists, venues, and lots of fun, but seldom do we take its impact on other stakeholders into account. While technological progress has shifted much of the delivery of music from vinyl to the cloud, the concept of concerts has largely remained the same – including its environmental impact.

A Cambridge study revealed that a six-month tour of five musicians emits as much as 19 metric tonnes of CO₂(the same as driving an average passenger car for 80,000km), of which the majority can be traced to the running of the venue and the traveling of the band and audience. As artists find themselves in ever more conflicting situations – “performing art at the cost of the environment” – there is a need for solutions.

How is the industry reacting?

Are we to abandon the notion of concerts altogether? Luckily not. The industry’s creative streak has been passed onto innovative teams developing ideas on how to bring concerts and festivals into harmony with the planet. From kinetic dancefloors that satisfy an entire venue’s electricity needs to specialist logistics companies and carbon capture collaborations.

The music industry has done a lot to reduce the environmental costs of concerts, and Coldplay’s 2022 “Music of the Spheres” world tour acts as a prime example. After abandoning plans for a 2019 world tour due to its significant potential environmental impact, the Londoners consulted researchers and climate experts at Imperial College London’s Grantham Institute of Climate Change and the Environment.

In doing so, they have managed to reduce the anticipated carbon footprint of their upcoming musical spectacle by as much as 50 per cent compared to previous tours by using a kinetic dancefloor at venues, utilising EVs for transport where possible, and by storing excess energy in recycled BMW i3 batteries (to name just a few).

What’s the message?

“We won’t get everything right, but we’re committed to doing everything we can and sharing what we learn”. Coldplay lead singer Chris Martin’s words could not be more fitting. Especially as the band experienced a backlash for flying on private jets. Concerts and the music industry as a whole won’t turn “net-zero” overnight, but the will for change and collaboration is evidently there.

Unlike with some industry groups, musicians are proactively approaching the issue themselves, well-aware of the environmental implications, and without the need for regulations. And while there are certainly ways that such movement can be supported from a portfolio perspective, we’d much rather for the time being attend a “conscious artist’s” concert – there are plenty (Maroon 5, Fleetwood Mac, Harry Styles and more)!

Source Eco Business

Back to the land: Thai forest draws young, green farmers

Posted on November 5, 2021 by dishanth

Like many locals, Matthana Abhaimoon left rural Thailand to study in the city. Unlike most, she chose to come back — and fight for her right to farm in the forest as her forefathers had done.

After a 20-year campaign, residents of Mae Tha won a community forest title for their cluster of seven villages, joining a small but growing back-to-the-land movement that is luring young, eco-friendly farmers away from the city.

Under the order, she and about 5,000 villagers can farm some 3,500 acres (1,416 hectares) inside a protected forest in Mae Tha district, a mountainous region in northern Thailand which lies close to the region’s biggest city of Chiang Mai.

It is no small victory in a country rife with old disputes over who has rights to land and its natural resources.

“Young people have new ideas about the environment, sustainability and food security, and they want to contribute. So they are also involved in the decision making,” Matthana told the Thomson Reuters Foundation at Mae Tha community centre.

Residents and researchers say the title, with a 30-year lease ending 2045 — when it may be reviewed for extension — has already boosted conservation and jobs.

It has also encouraged more youngsters to stay put and embrace farming rather than run to the city.

“During the coronavirus, many young people who were in the city either lost their jobs or were afraid to stay on, and they moved back to the village and started farming,” said Matthana, 41, a youth community leader.

“It shows this can be a feasible option.”

Into the forest

About 20,000 villages and communities in Thailand are either partially or wholly situated within forest areas, according to government data.

The nation’s community forests — where local residents make decisions about land use and management collectively — benefit about 3 million people, authorities say.

The Community Forest Bill of 2007 had sparked hopes of giving rights to forest-dependent communities, but authorities were slow to issue titles, according to land rights groups.

A Community Forestry Bill introduced in 2019 aimed to give villagers more say in managing resources, but has limited these rights for a fixed period of time and does not give ownership.

“Conservationists don’t trust communities to take care of the forest, and authorities think giving a title will increase encroachments,” said Chayan Vaddhanaphuti, director of the Regional Center for Social Science and Sustainable Development, a research organisation in Chiang Mai.

“So while there is a law, it is not being implemented, even though local communities can be a resource in helping prevent wildlife poaching and illegal logging, and the spread of wildfires,” he said.

Authorities have pledged to resolve conflicts and issue more community land and forestry titles where feasible.

Common language

Rights to forest land are contentious worldwide, with indigenous and local communities from Brazil to India pitted against government officials and hardline conservationists.

About 2 billion indigenous and rural people live in conservation areas worldwide, according to Rights and Resources Institute (RRI), a Washington DC-based advocacy group.

But while indigenous and local communities own more than half of all land under customary rights, they only have secure legal rights to about 10 per cent, estimates RRI.

The Thai forest reclamation order, enforced by a military leadership in 2014, aimed to end encroachments and conserve natural resources. The government also vowed to increase forest cover to 40 per cent of total land area from about a third.

That goal threatens hundreds of thousands of people living in or near forests, with thousands jailed every year for trespassing, according to rights group Land Watch.

Against this backdrop, residents of Mae Tha sought the help of academics and architects to draw up a land-use plan to protect both natural resources and livelihoods.

They mapped existing land use and future proofed it, tallying water consumption and the risk of natural disasters, as well as forming committees to oversee conservation and record data.

“The participatory process enabled government officials and local communities to find a common language to speak to each other with data and agree on goals,” said Supawut Boonmahathanakorn, an architect who helped draft the plan.

Organic cafe

Forests in Thailand have long been contested sites between the government, corporations, indigenous people and farmers.

The Mae Tha community says their ancestors settled in the area more than 300 years ago, foraging for bamboo and mushrooms, and felling trees to build homes.

Decades of logging by authorities led to deforestation, and Mae Tha residents were sometimes arrested for trespassing.

Since the title was granted, residents record their use of forest resources including timber — allowed in a designated area — and the area is now lush green.

The Mae Tha Agricultural Cooperative encourages organic farming of vegetables, fruit, corn and herbs. Government funds mean better irrigation systems and a store for their produce.

“The title has given us confidence to use the land in a more efficient manner, and gives us power to make decisions to solve problems and decide what is best for us,” said Sawad Subajan, 67, a village committee leader.

“We have shown it is possible to preserve the forest while also ensuring development for the community – they can go hand in hand,” he said.

A group of more than 20 young residents is pushing for 100 per cent organic farming, and set up home delivery of their produce in the pandemic – a system now being expanded.

A tie-up with a big retail network has ensured demand for their organic produce, and their new organic cafe is thriving.

“The young people have ideas to promote Mae Tha — they feel more ownership, and have more of a role in the community now,” said Matthana, as she walked past the chic and bustling cafe.

“I hope they will stay back – we have enough land, water, and food for everyone if we do this in a sustainable manner.”

This story was published with permission from Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, climate change, resilience, women’s rights, trafficking and property rights. Visit http://news.trust.org/climate.

Source Eco Business

Data-driven platform aims to clear up fog of palm oil traceability

Posted on November 5, 2021November 5, 2021 by dishanth

A new web monitoring platform aims to achieve full traceability in palm oil supply chains and help companies to meet their zero-deforestation commitments — a goal that continues to elude the industry due to numerous challenges.

Palm oil is a major driver of deforestation in the two countries that produce nearly 90 per cent of the global supply, Indonesia and Malaysia, and whose forests are home to key biodiversity areas.

A 2019 study shows that land clearing for oil palm plantations was the single largest driver of deforestation in Indonesia between 2001 and 2016, accounting for 23 per cent of total deforestation.

One of the keys in stopping oil palm-driven deforestation is the ability to trace the palm oil product back to its origin, making sure that it’s legally sourced and produced from an environmental and social conflict-free area. Known as full traceability, this is a degree of transparency that the industry still hasn’t been able to achieve, despite the efforts of bodies like the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO).

“The goal is to make Palmoil.io a self-sustaining and reliable resource for palm oil professionals to identify and mitigate risks in their supply chain,” Leo Bottrill, CEO and founder of MapHubs, told Mongabay.

Monitoring palm oil supply chains has long been challenging due to their complexity. A ton of palm oil derivative like stearic acid, for instance, used widely in detergents and cosmetics, is likely to consist of palm oil from hundreds of mills that, in turn, process palm fruit grown by thousands of plantations.

These webs of plantations and mills make it difficult for companies to fully know where they source from, right down to the plantation level, and thus to provide evidence of compliance. This also makes companies interdependent on each other for ensuring transparency.

So even if efforts have been made to monitor palm oil supply chains, they remain fragmented, expensive, and uneven, according to Bottrill. And without full traceability, a buying company can’t truly know if its palm oil is deforestation-free or not, even if it has made efforts to establish this, such as by publishing a list of the mills it buys from.

“Just because you publish a mill list, purchase RSPO-certified palm oil, and maintain a grievance tracker, doesn’t automatically mean you get a good rating,” Bottrill said. “There is still work to be done.”

Palmoil.io aims to rectify this by being the first monitoring system that reflect the reality of shared supply chains in the industry. To do that, the platform collects various data, including mapping data such as concession boundaries and mill locations, supply chain information from public mill lists, land classification maps, reliable and free forest alert technology, and widely available satellite imagery.

Palmoil.io analyses more than 2,000 palm mills, 480 refineries and crushers, and 400 high-risk plantations. It also screens all major palm oil traders, buyers and suppliers.

By analysing such a large number of mills and identifying forest loss within a 25-kilometer (16-mile) radius of mills, Palmoil.io is able to identify not only whether deforestation has occurred or not, but also what and who caused it.

“We rate each mill on both the amount of recent deforestation as well as historical deforestation and future risk,” Bottrill said.

Besides deforestation, Palmoil.io also tracks mills and suppliers associated with human rights and labor violations, by building a common grievance database featuring more than 1,400 grievances that are updated monthly. Having this database means individual companies don’t have to maintain their own grievance trackers.

With all this data, Palmoil.io can identify high-risk mills and inform subscribers to the platform not only about their exposure to the mills, but also about other companies that buy from the same mills. As a result, companies that share the same exposure to high-risk mills can work together to address the issues — essentially, buyers putting pressure on their common vendors.

“Palmoil.io shows where you need to improve, and perhaps most importantly, allows you to compare your performance with your peers,” Bottrill said. “Peer pressure might be the most powerful tool we have to achieve this zero-deforestation goal.”

Since its launch earlier this year, Palmoil.io has been used by major traders and buyers like Golden Agri Resources (GAR), Pacific Interlink, Olam and BASF.

In April, Palmoil.io notified major traders and buyers that subscribe to the platform that they’re exposed to deforestation as they’re buying from high-risk mills in Peninsular Malaysia, before the deforestation risks had been widely reported.

Bottrill said the Palmoil.io team would continue updating and improving the platform by adding more mills into the database. An upcoming feature will be plantation ratings.

“Similar to mills, this will be a list of concessions that will be rated for recent, historical and future deforestation risk,” Bottrill said. “We will also identify buyers and the grievances associated with that concession and group owner.”

MapHubs is also developing an experimental approach to analysing deforestation risk from smallholders, since very few of them have been mapped despite accounting for 40 per cent of all palm oil production.

“Despite the many challenges, I’m optimistic palm oil could be the first major deforestation-causing commodity to move definitively towards a deforestation-free mode of production,” Bottrill said. “Palmoil.io’s job is to help accelerate the ‘could.’”

But for palm oil to be truly deforestation free, he added, it’s important for all stakeholders to be involved.

“This is not about delivering a sustainable supply chain for one particular company or market. This is about everyone,” Bottrill said. “There can’t be a sustainable market and a leakage market — there can only be one market. So whether you are selling Snickers bars to Slovenians or cooking oil to Indians, sustainability must become an industry standard, not some voluntary luxury. We want Palmoil.io to play an important role towards achieving this.”

This story was published with permission from Mongabay.com.

Source Eco Business

Biden, Bolsonaro and Xi among leaders agreeing deal to end deforestation

Posted on November 2, 2021 by dishanth

World leaders have agreed a deal that aims to halt and reverse global deforestation over the next decade as part of a multibillion-dollar package to tackle human-caused greenhouse gas emissions.

Xi Jinping, Jair Bolsonaro and Joe Biden are among the leaders who will commit to the declaration at Cop26 in Glasgow on Tuesday to protect vast areas, ranging from the eastern Siberian taiga to the Congo basin, home to the world’s second largest rainforest.

Land-clearing by humans accounts for almost a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions, largely deriving from the destruction of the world’s forests for agricultural products such as palm oil, soy and beef.

By signing the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forest and Land Use, presidents and prime ministers from major producers and consumers of deforestation-linked products will commit to protect forest ecosystems.

Boris Johnson will unveil the agreement at an event attended by the US president, Joe Biden, the Prince of Wales and the Indonesian president, Joko Widodo. He is expected to say: “These great teeming ecosystems – these cathedrals of nature – are the lungs of our planet. Forests support communities, livelihoods and food supply, and absorb the carbon we pump into the atmosphere. They are essential to our very survival.”

The commitment on nature and forests comes as more than 120 world leaders came together in Glasgow to thrash out fresh commitments on cutting greenhouse gas emissions, amid concerns that key countries have failed to step up.

On a day devoted to speeches by presidents and prime ministers that underlined the scale of the challenges ahead, Johnson said future generations “will judge us with bitterness” if the conference fails. Other key moments included:

India pledged to reach net zero emissions by 2070. Although it is the first time the world’s third biggest polluter has set this target, and experts said it was a realistic commitment, it is 20 years behind the 2050 date set agreed by other developed countries.
President Biden warned that greater urgency was needed at the talks: “Right now, we are falling short. There’s no time to hang back, sit on the fence or argue amongst ourselves.”
António Guterres, the UN secretary general, said the world was being driven to the brink by an addiction to fossil fuels. “We are fast approaching tipping points that will trigger escalating feedback loops of global heating,” he warned.
In a recorded message, the Queen called on leaders to “rise above the politics of the moment, and achieve true statesmanship”. She added: “Of course, the benefits of such actions will not be there to enjoy for all of us here today: we none of us will live forever. But we are doing this not for ourselves but for our children and our children’s children, and those who will follow in their footsteps.”

Following his own speech, Johnson provoked some ridicule by admitting he would fly home rather than take the train.

Shortly before, he had told a roundtable of leaders of developing nations: “When it comes to tackling climate change, words without action, without deeds are absolutely pointless.”

The commitments on deforestation are an early win for the UK, which as host nation bears responsibility for forging a consensus among the nearly 200 countries present, amid concerns that an overall commitment on cutting greenhouse gas emissions by the 45% scientists say is needed this decade will fall short.

The political declaration, which is voluntary and not part of the Paris process, is one of a range of side deals that the UK presidency is pushing for at the climate summit in Glasgow alongside others on methane, cars and coal.

The package includes £5.3bn of new private finance and £8.75bn of public funding for restoring degraded land, supporting indigenous communities, protecting forests and mitigating wildfire damage.

A pledge from CEOs to eliminate activities linked to deforestation, and £1.5bn funding from the UK government for forests, are also part of the deal. £350m of that will go to Indonesia and £200m to the Congo basin, with a new £1.1bn fund for the west African rainforest.

While the forestry agreement has been cautiously welcomed by ecologists and forest governance experts, they point to previous deals to save forests that have so far failed to stop their destruction, including in 2014. But this time, the EU, China and the US alongside major forested countries like Brazil, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Papua New Guinea will all sign the commitment.

Many details need to be clarified, particularly how the money is spent, according to Carlos Rittl, who works on Brazil for the Rainforest Foundation Norway. “Big cheques won’t save the forests if the money doesn’t go into the right hands,” he said, emphasising that it should go to indigenous groups and other who are committed to protecting the forest.

In a separate announcement, at least £1.25bn of funding will be given directly to indigenous peoples and local communities by governments and philanthropists for their role in protecting forests.

But the promised funds still fall far short of what some believe is needed. “We are undervalued and our rights are still not respected,” said Mina Setra, an indigenous rights activist from Borneo. “A statement is not enough. We need evidence, not only words.”

Source The Guardian

World Business Council for Sustainable Development appoints first female chair

Posted on November 2, 2021October 31, 2021 by dishanth

The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) has appointed Ilham Kadri, the French-Moroccan chief executive of Brussels-headquartered chemicals firm Solvay, as its new executive committee chair.

Kadri will lead the organisation — a group of more then 200 multinationals worth US$8.5 trillion in combined revenue working to make business more sustainable — for the next five years. She is WBCSD’s first female chair in its 26-year history, and replaces Sunny Verghese, co-founder and CEO of Olam International, an agri-business, who has held the position since January 2018.

Casablanca-born Kadri, who has a doctorate in physics and chemistry, held senior management positions with hygiene and cleaning firm Diversey, heaters and boilers company A. O. Smith Corporation, and chemicals multinational Dow before joining Solvay in 2019. She takes on the WBCSD chairmanship after a two-year term as co-chair.

She will lead WBCSD’s five-year strategy, which is aligned with targets for its members to reach net zero emissions by 2050, reverse biodiversity loss and end inequality. WBCSD’s members include carbon-intensive firms such as US oil major Chevron, tobacco firm Philip Morris, Danish furniture conglomerate IKEA, and Toyota, a Japanese car manufacturer.

In a statement, Kadri said WBCSD’s members were committed to “real action” on issues that required collective effort. “I look forward to further accelerating the fight against the critical challenges facing our planet and society with the urgency they deserve,” she said.

WBCSD has also appointed executive committee member Piyush Gupta, CEO of Singapore’s DBS Bank, which on Friday committed to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, as vice chair. Gupta joins a WBCSD vice chair line-up that includes CEO of sustainability consulting firm, ERM Keryn James and Alan Jope, CEO of consumer goods company, Unilever.

Executive committee members approved a third term of five years for the WBCSD president and CEO Peter Bakker, who has performed that role for almost a decade.

New to the executive committee this year are CEO of tyre company, Michelin Florent Menegaux and French utility company ENGIE boss Catherine MacGregor, Ana Botín, CEO of Spanish financial services firm, Santander, has ended her term on the committee.

Source Eco Business

Want to be a greener food shopper? We ask experts for their advice

Posted on November 1, 2021October 31, 2021 by dishanth

We want to make the right decisions when we shop, but with so many different options on offer, how are we supposed to work out which one is best for the planet?

Guardian Money asked four experts. They are: Tim Lang, emeritus professor of food policy at City University, London’s Centre for Food Policy; Clare Oxborrow, senior sustainability analyst at Friends of the Earth; Isabella Woodward, researcher at the ethical comparison website The Good Shopping Guide; and Caroline Drummond, chief executive of Leaf (Linking Environment And Farming.

Is it greener to drive to a supermarket or book a delivery?

Tim Lang It depends on how much you buy. Practically, it’s hard to know what that delivery van’s impact is. If you own your own van and fill it on one trip, the carbon expended becomes proportionately smaller per food item than if you drive to the shop and buy little. The best strategy is to walk or cycle: you are taking exercise, putting the embedded energy in the food you eat to good use, and not polluting with your car. Electric cars simply push the pollution elsewhere – to the generating source..

Friends of the Earth There are so many factors. For deliveries, there are several questions. First, where is the food coming from – is it a warehouse? A shop? And how far away? Do they use refrigerated vans which use a lot of energy? Many supermarkets are switching to electric vans, so it’s important to check what’s available locally. The fact remains that travelling to the supermarket by foot or bike is the best choice, or opting for public transport.

Leaf For a van to deliver to some remote places, it may not be greener, but that driver could be the only person an individual living in a remote area has seen for the whole week … It is really important to understand the balance and trade-offs between impact on the environment, alongside economic viability and social acceptability and, indeed, health.

Food deliveries have an impact on the environment – but some say there are economic or social benefits. Photograph: Kathy deWitt/Alamy Stock Photo

Is organic always better?

Tim Lang Not always. Organic has the huge advantage of not being associated with pesticide use. In July I saw at a UK supermarket organic spring onions grown in Mexico. That is ludicrous. In truth, consumers get next to no information on the multiple forms of impact our food has. That’s why I, and many people, call for a new “omni-label” system that provides the range of information: not just environmental but health, social and economic data. We don’t know, for example, how much of what we spend actually gets to the primary producer.

Friends of the Earth Organic is the gold standard … so if you can afford it, it’s a great option. When it comes to meat and dairy, it will almost always be the best environmental choice in a supermarket. It does cost a bit more, but buying less and swapping some meat in dishes with other protein-rich foods like lentils will make it go further.

The Good Shopping Guide Overall, organic crops are better for nature and the biosphere. Organic farming minimises the use of pesticides, which have a potentially adverse impact on wildlife and the soil. Additionally, pesticides can be harmful to agricultural workers. However, it is important to balance this against food miles. Organic products shipped from thousands of miles away may be more harmful to the environment. Therefore, we recommend buying locally grown organic ingredients wherever possible.

Switching away from single-use plastic can make a real difference. Photograph: David Forster/Alamy Stock Photo

Can packaging cut food waste?

Tim Lang Plastic wrapping is often good news for retailers as they know it slows down the rotting process, but it is terrible for consumers and the environment. I always say: good food goes bad.

Friends of the Earth Wrapping fruit and veg in plastic can mask the fact that it’s no longer fresh. And fruit and veg left in airless plastic packaging will often go mouldy quicker than loose items without the needless wrapping. Considering that packaging is responsible for 70% of our plastic waste, there’s a huge difference to be made. It’s always better to buy loose fruit and veg, making sure they’re as fresh as possible. Stored correctly, they can last longer, too.

Leaf Packaging has certainly created an opportunity to stretch our seasons and storage for fresh fruit and veg; however, fossil fuel-based plastics and single-use plastics that are non-recyclable need to be phased out. The more we can stretch the time that fruit and veg are tasty, nutritious and assured of their growing quality, the better. Canning, freezing, packaging, storage, use of LED lights and growing capability all provide that opportunity.

Morrisons offers sturdy paper bags at checkouts, as it looks to ditch all its plastic ‘bags for life’. Photograph: Morrisons/PA

Which bags should I use?

Tim Lang If you walk to the shops, invest in a good trolley. Trolleys are trendy. Plastic bags are bad news full stop, but the avalanche continues, and it’s hard to avoid them unless you get into the habit of carrying your own bag.

Friends of the Earth Those designed to be reused tend to have a lower environmental impact than single-use plastic bags but, importantly, they must be used a sufficient number of times. For cotton bags, 50-150 times; paper bags, four-eight times; durable plastic bags like bags for life, 10-20 times. Cotton bags can be used for years, and can be washed and reused. So if you take the long view, cotton is best and more durable than plastic, particularly if it’s organic, unbleached fibre.

The Good Shopping Guide There are pros and cons to all types of shopping bags. The main problem is that many people use them once and discard them after. Regardless of what material they are, single-use bags are always unsustainable. Whichever bags you prefer to use, remember to bring them to the shop with you.

Leaf I am a big fan of the cotton tote bag. We have seen a lot of movement away from people always expecting a new plastic carrier bag when shopping, and our next step is to strive to ensure the bags we use are long-lasting, sustainably sourced and robust.

Cutting down on meat is one way to help the environment. Photograph: Ed Brown/Alamy

What’s the top thing a shopper should do to help the planet?

Tim Lang Cut down on meat. Eat it less often and buy high-quality meat such as pasture-fed. Less but better.

Friends of the Earth Livestock production has an enormous environmental impact, contributing 14.5% of the world’s planet-warming emissions. The industry is also a key driver of deforestation and the loss of important habitats, not to mention the huge amount of water and fertiliser needed, or the amount of waste produced in the process. That’s why buying and eating less meat and dairy is one of the best ways to reduce our own environmental impact.

The Good Shopping Guide Be aware of the ethical issues. This not only relates to which supermarket you use, but also which brands you are buying. We independently assess companies on their practices towards the environment, animals and people, providing a score out of 100 for each brand.

Leaf Naturally, seek out and purchase Leaf Marque produce. Quality fruit and veg grown with care for the environment, enhancing biodiversity, improving our soil health and water quality, and grown by farmers committed to more regenerative, climate-positive farming systems. Plus, go and visit a farm to see what farmers are doing to address climate change challenges.

Source The Guardian

The fuel economy of electric cars: How far can you go on a single charge?

Posted on November 1, 2021 by dishanth

Electric cars are becoming an increasingly popular option for drivers who’re conscious about the impact they’re having on the environment. And while critics of the past might have cited a lack of range in their batteries, things are quite different in 2021.

Cars are now built with distance in mind – without compromising on their overall performance and environmental impact. But just how far can some of the best electric cars travel on a single charge?

To find the answer to that question, check out our comparison tool. We’ve taken data from some of the best electric cars on the market to find out which can take you furthest on just one battery recharge.

For those of you who want to learn a little more about electric cars in general, read on to get a better understanding of just how this exciting new way to travel is slowly becoming the norm for British roads. The future is well and truly here.

Chapter 1. What you need to know about electric cars

It may be that you’re interested in trying out an electric car yourself, but just haven’t found the courage to take that leap of faith. If that’s you – or even if you’re just interested to find out more about this unique breed of vehicle – here are some of the most important things you should know.

Electric car statistics – How the world is adapting

While electric cars may have once seemed like an unrealistic and impractical way to travel, the technological advancements made throughout the 21st Century have meant that the prevalence of this type of vehicle on the road has soared.

The drivers of the world have seen the merits of electric alternatives, with more people seeming to place a focus on sustainable and environmentally friendly alternatives.

The numbers strongly support that, with exponential growth demonstrated on a consistent basis on electric vehicle sales since 2013. Figures from Virta show that, with the exception of 2019, the global electric market saw a rise of at least 43% in growth every year until 2020.

The full numbers showed:

The drop in growth to just 9% in 2019 may have initially implied a declining interest in electric vehicles. In reality, it was the combination of the industry’s hugely successful 2018 and the first throws of the COVID-19 pandemic in China, which triggered this sudden slide. As we enter 2021 and beyond, the numbers appear to be back on track.

The total number of electric cars on the road sailed to as high as 10 million, which was itself a 41% rise on the figure at the end of the previous year (and up significantly from just 1.2 million at the end of 2015).

Across the globe, powerhouses like China, the US and most of Europe have all begun to adopt this new and more sustainable form of transport. IEA highlighted in their 2021 Global EV Outlook how each of these regions has readily adopted electric, with the numbers showing:

Within Europe, Germany and the United Kingdom are amongst the leading names in terms of the pure number of vehicles being registered. The Germans saw an increase of 395,000, while UK numbers increased by 176,000.

But it is in Scandinavia where the concept of electric transport has been most readily adopted. The three leading countries for the percentage of new car sales being electric across the globe were:

Perhaps most encouragingly of all for the market is the news that both plug-in and pure electric battery options have seen significant and continued growth. Numbers of registrations for both across the past five years show:

Right now, everything is pointing towards an electric takeover at some point in the next decade..

The future of electric cars and the road

With the 2030 ban on selling petrol and diesel cars set to come into effect in the not-too-distant future, electric cars currently stand as the most viable alternative. But just how is this shift to a more sustainable form of transport going to translate on British roads?

Some of the most impactful changes we could see include:

Widescale electric vehicle (EV) adoption

One of the most common features of a largely electric future will be a steady and continued rise in the number of battery and plug-in powered cars we see on roads. In truth, as our figures have shown, this is something that is happening as we speak.

Charging points

The need to regularly stop and charge a car might seem like a hassle, but, with a higher percentage of EVs on the road, accommodations will be made to ensure there is an ample supply of charging points. Once again, this is something which has seen a rapid rise in recent years. Between just 2016 and June of 2021, numbers have increased from roughly 6,000 to just under 25,000 in the UK.

Synergy with other technology

This continued popularity and growth is sure to open up new avenues of opportunity for tech industries. Driverless cars are perhaps the most intriguing prospect – with this technology relying heavily on the need for electrical automation.

Smart motorways

While this is still something of a pipe dream right now, provisions have been put in place to start thinking about a self-charging smart motorway. This would eliminate the need to constantly stop and recharge a car, with vehicles being constantly topped up as they travel.

Sustainability rates of electric cars

Even the most staunch supporter of traditional internal combustion engines (ICE) can’t deny the environmental advantages an electric car offers. In fact, the numbers show that just one electric car can save as much as 1.5 metric tonnes of CO₂ across a year when compared to a combustion engine. To put that in perspective, that’s as many as four return flights from London to Barcelona.

But what other environmental benefits does driving an electric car offer?

Recycled products

Some (although not all) electric cars have parts and fittings which are made from exclusively recycled materials. This is more commonly the case with their internal features (like seats, trims and dashboards).

Health benefits

With fewer exhaust emissions to the surrounding air that you breath and contribute to climate change, you and those around you are bound to naturally benefit from a cleaner, healthier environment.

Efficiency

An electric car can use as much as 90% of energy generated to become motion energy. By comparison, a combustion engine will average roughly 20-30%. This efficiency means less goes to waste.

Heightened vehicle safety

While it’s often overlooked, the nature of an electric car’s construction means it is inherently safer. They benefit from a number of design features which makes the car less of a risk. Those include:

A lower centre of gravity (reducing the chances of rolling over)
A much lower risk of fires and explosions
A tougher body structure, to make them more durable in a collision

Chapter 2. How far can you go on a single charge?

It used to be that electric vehicles were criticised because of their battery life. In the 2020s, things are very different – with some cars even able to go as far on one charge as an average-sized fuel tank.

But just how far can they go? Use our interactive tool to work out how far each of the electric cars we’ve focused on can travel after just one full charge.

The future of electric cars and the road

As you can see, you’ll get quite far on just the one charge these days. But there are ways to ensure you really get the maximum out of your car. Try these handy tips:

Make sure to keep all of these in mind if you want to go as far as possible on just one charge.

Chapter 3.

Planning for a long distance journey

Now that you better appreciate the range of your electric car, it’s time to put that battery to use. Heading away on a road trip is always rewarding – and an increasingly popular option in the age of COVID-19. Let’s explore everything you need to keep in mind when hitting the open road.

Charging your electric car

While this is a lot easier to manage than in the past, some consideration still needs to be made when planning out the battery management of your car. Follow this handy advice to ensure you aren’t caught out when you travel:

Packing essential items

No matter where you’re going, there are a handful of essential items which make any road trip much easier. Whether it’s to keep you on course, or just to provide some home comforts, these are amongst the most important to keep in mind for your trip:

Staying awake and alert

Safety on the road is paramount, whether you’re driving for five minutes or five hours. The key to lowering your chances of causing an accident is to make sure you’re as alert as possible every time you get behind the wheel. Here are some of the most important and effective ways of doing just that:

A good night’s sleep

Nothing beats getting a full night of rest when it comes to feeling awake and alert. Having the chance to refresh and recharge is why we sleep in the first place – so make sure to always get enough by going to bed at a reasonable time the night before a long journey.

Shifts

If you’re lucky enough to be on the journey with another driver, make sure to take it in turns behind the wheel. This will give you both the much-needed time to relax and not have to worry about concentrating on the task at hand.

Take breaks

Whether you’re sharing shifts or not, it’s also wise to take regular breaks. The Highway Code recommends stopping for at least 15 minutes every two hours as a guideline. Your body will know when it’s time to take a little break.

Top tips for a long trip with a young family

Keeping little ones entertained can be a challenge at the best of times, let alone on long car trips. Thankfully, you’re not the first to experience this hurdle. Here are some of the most tried-and-tested methods to keep the kids satisfied while you drive:

Source Auto Trader

Meet Jetson One: The eVTOL Aircraft You Build Yourself

Posted on November 1, 2021 by dishanth

Jetson Aerospace, namesake of the 1960s-era Hanna-Barbera cartoon, has unveiled its personal eVTOL aircraft, the Jetson One.

The Jetson One, revealed to the public last week, is a recreational ultralight eVTOL aircraft that doesn’t require a pilot certificate to fly. Pre-orders have already begun and it will only set you back $92,000, with some assembly required.

Upon delivery during summer of next year, the small eVTOL will arrive 50 percent assembled. The frame comes in one piece while the batteries and cables are up to you—with detailed instructions, of course.

“If you get the Jetson at lunchtime, you’re ready to fly by dinner.”

– —Peter Ternström, Jetson president and co-founder

He talked about the inspiration for the Jetson One.

“I wanted to have a little sports car for the sky,” Ternström said. “It has always been my dream since just a kid and finally now, the technology is available.”

The 190 lb. aircraft, powered by Tesla battery cells, only lasts about 20 minutes in the air. But the short battery life is of no concern to Ternström, however, as that’s not what Jetson is aiming for.

“The scope of the project is not to solve big issues like urban mobility or air taxis or something like that,” he said. “The Jetson is all about having fun.”

Think of the Jetson One as a Jet Ski—something you take out for a joyride, but can’t ride to work.

“It’s a profoundly ecstatic experience to fly this thing because it’s completely vibration-free,” Ternstöm said. “And it makes a buzzing noise like something from ‘Star Wars.’”

Just like vehicles you would find in “Star Wars,” the Jetson One comes packed with amazing technology. The bottom of the aircraft comes equipped with a LIDAR sensor, with software that limits how fast you can travel depending on your surroundings. Safety features include ballistic parachutes and zero-input hovering—just let go of the throttle and joystick and you’ll come to a peaceful stop mid-air.

According to Ternström, the Jetson One is designed to allow anyone to climb in and fly without the need for piloting experience. The eVTOL’s software also includes a “virtual cushion.” When landing, the aircraft slows down your descent to mitigate hard landings.

While you may not need a pilot certificate to fly the Jetson One, you may need one to purchase it. Ternström said that he wants the first customers to “know what they’re doing.”

“I am not going to sell it to anyone. Whether or not they like it or not, the first 30 people to receive their Jetson, they are going to be ambassadors for the brand because the level of attention they’re going to get with their flying device is going to be astronomical,” he said. “That’s why I’m selecting people.”

Still, if you manage to get inside one, no training will be required. The Jetson One, in the U.S., will be classified as an ultralight vehicle that will not be required to attain any airworthiness certifications.

“It offers them some flexibility, it offers them also some restrictions that aren’t part of the usual aircraft world,” said Dick Knapinski, director of communications at EAA.

Due to its classification, the Jetson One will not be permitted to fly in populated areas or controlled airspace.

Knapinski believes there are three things that stand in the way of a successful eVTOL aircraft: the engineering, the regulatory process, and consumer acceptance.

“It appears the Jetson people have got a lot of the engineering down,” he said.

As for regulatory obstacles, Knapinski says technology oftentimes moves faster than regulations. It will take time for the Jetson One to deliver and to find its place within FAA certifications.

Finally, consumer acceptance is often the determining factor for any emerging technology.

“They can have the best innovation in the world. If they don’t sell many of them, they’re not going to be successful,” he said.

Knapinski hopes to see the Jetson One in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, in the near future.

Source Flying Mag