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New York’s plastic ban begins on March 1st

Posted on by dishanth
New York’s plastic ban begins on March 1st
  • A year after New York passed a ban on grocery store plastic bags — the law is going into effect on March 1st 2020.
  • Retailers violating the ban will first receive a warning, followed by a $250 fine, leading to a $500 fine.

Nearly one year after New York became the second state in the nation to pass a ban on grocery store plastic bags — the law is going into effect on Sunday.

In accordance with the budge bill passed last year, New York State retailers will be banned from doling out single-use plastic bags, starting on March 1. California and Hawaii already have their ban in place and now New York is one of eight states inching toward implementing the ban, as Gothamist reported.

 

York is one of eight states inching toward implementing the ban.
Image: National Conference of State Legislatures

 

Some New York municipalities will also charge a five-cent fee for people who want a plastic bag, though that fee will be waived for customers using food stamps to make their purchases. The five cents will be used as a tax, with two cents going to local governments, and three cents going to the state’s Environmental Protection Fund, as the New York Post reported.

The governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, tweeted when the ban was first set to pass, “Plastic bags have blighted our environment and clogged our waterways. By banning them, we will protect our natural resources for future generations of New Yorkers,” as EcoWatch reported.

Now Cuomo is looking forward to seeing the bags gone.

“It’s no doubt that this is smart; you see these bags all over the place,” Cuomo, who added that the bags hang in trees like “bizarre Christmas ornaments,” said as WRVO Public Media reported. “I’ve been 30 miles out in the ocean and you see garbage floating and plastic bags floating. It’s terrible.”

The Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has recently increased its efforts in recent days to help New Yorkers understand the new rules. The department has run ads on social media and videos on its website and YouTube channel, according to WRVO Public Media. The DEC is also distributing 270,000 reusable bags to low and middle-income families to help them ease into the transition.

The plastic bag ban will apply to all retailers that collect sales tax, including grocery stores and bodegas. The DEC claims that currently more than 23 billion plastic bags are used each year and only for 12 minutes, according to the state Department of Environmental Conservation, as the New York Post reported.

There are exceptions to the ban. According to Gothamist, plastic bags can still be used for:

  • Uncooked animal products or other non-prepackaged food
  • Flowers, plants, or other items that require plastic to avoid contamination, prevent damage, or for health purposes
  • Bulk packaging of fruits, vegetables, grains, candy, hardware products like nuts, bolts, and screws, live insects like crickets, fish, crustaceans, mollusks, or other items that require a waterproof bag
  • Sliced food or food prepared to order
  • Newspapers for subscribers
  • Prepackaged plastic bags sold in bulk, such as garbage bags, sandwich bags, or bags used for pet poop pick-up
  • Dry-cleaner or laundry service clothing bags
  • Pharmacy bags for prescription drugs

While the law goes into effect on Sunday, the DEC will actually not enforce it for a few more months as stores and customers adapt to their plastic bag-free shopping. Once it does enforce the law, retailers violating the ban will first receive a warning, followed by a $250 fine, leading to a $500 fine for subsequent violations in the same calendar year, as Gothamist reported.

Environmental advocates are pleased with the ban, but worry about a loophole that allows for thicker types of plastic bags. While they are not yet commercially made, environmental advocates worry the plastic bag industry will start to manufacture the thicker type of plastic bags.

“It was most unfortunate,” Judith Enck, who runs Beyond Plastics at Bennington College and worked at the EPA under President Obama, said to WRVO Public Media. “Why even open the door to that?”

 

 

Written by

Jordan Davidson, ,

This article is published in collaboration with EcoWatch

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

5 reasons why CEOs must care about safeguarding nature

Posted on by dishanth
5 reasons why CEOs must care about safeguarding nature
  • A new series – the New Nature Economy reports – is being launched to make the business case for safeguarding nature.
  • The first, Nature Risk Rising, explains why nature-related risks have direct relevance for business through their impact and dependency on nature.
  • Here are five key lessons from that first report.

At the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos in January this year, there was unprecedented interest in and commitment to fighting the climate and nature emergencies facing humanity. Although the world’s 7.6 billion people represent just 0.01% of all living things by weight, humanity has already caused the loss of 83% of all wild mammals and half of all plants. Supporting the concept of stakeholder capitalism, leading CEOs, government leaders and heads of civil society organizations came together in the Swiss Alps to galvanize support for an integrated nature action agenda across the issues of climate, biodiversity, forests, oceans and sustainable development.

Despite increasing attention on the topic of nature loss, there is still limited understanding on how nature loss can be material to businesses and what the private sector can do to address this challenge. The World Economic Forum is launching a series of New Nature Economy (NNE) reports in 2020, making a business and economic case for safeguarding nature. Nature Risk Rising, the first of the NNE series, aims to show how nature-related risks are material to business and why they must be urgently mainstreamed in risk-management strategies.

 

Here are the five key lessons from the Nature Risk Rising report:

1. Economic growth has come at a heavy cost to natural systems

The economic growth model of the 19th and 20th centuries has brought remarkable development and prosperity. Globally, we produce more food and energy than ever before. The human population has doubled, the global economy has expanded four-fold and more than a billion people have been lifted out of extreme poverty.

However, we have caused great harm to the planet. Three-quarters of ice-free land and 66% of the marine environment have been altered and 1 million species are at the risk of extinction in the coming decades, mostly due to human activities.

2. Five direct drivers are responsible for 90% of nature loss

Five direct drivers of change in nature have accounted for over 90% of nature loss in the past 50 years. Namely, land-and-sea-use change, natural resource exploitation, climate change, pollution and invasive alien species. These five drivers ultimately stem from a combination of production and consumption patterns, population dynamics and other human activities.

There is often a dissonance between economics and earth system science. While present economic frameworks see nature as an externality, nothing could be further from the truth. The global economy is embedded in Earth’s broader ecosystems and is dependent upon them.

When focused on measuring progress against the single indicator of gross domestic product (GDP), we risk failing to recognize and prevent the loss of our ecological foundations.

3. Nature loss is often hidden

Nature is often hidden or incorrectly priced in supply chains, blurring the link between nature loss and the bottom line. There are three ways in which the loss of nature creates risks for businesses:

i. Dependence of business on nature: Businesses depend directly on nature for their operations, supply chain performance, real estate asset values, physical security and business continuity. Our research shows that $44 trillion of economic value generation – over half the world’s total GDP – is moderately or highly dependent on nature and its services, and is therefore exposed to risks from nature loss. Together, the three largest sectors (construction, agriculture, and food and beverages) that are highly dependent on nature generate close to $8 trillion of gross value-added (GVA). This is roughly twice the size of the German economy.

ii. Fallout of business impacts on nature: The direct and indirect impacts of business activities on nature loss could trigger negative consequences, such as losing customers or entire markets, costly legal action and adverse regulatory changes. Consumers and investors are becoming increasingly aware of the environmental damage caused by industries and are demanding action. Companies that stay at the forefront of this shift in consumer consciousness and preferences stand to benefit.

iii. Impacts of nature loss on society: When nature loss aggravates the disruption of the society in which businesses operate, this can in turn create physical and market risks. For instance, the degradation and loss of natural systems can affect health outcomes. The onset of infectious diseases has been connected to ecosystem disturbances, including the strong links between deforestation and outbreaks of animal-transmitted diseases such as Ebola and the Zika virus.

 

Five direct drivers of nature loss have accelerated since 1970
Image: Nature Risk Rising report

 

4. A risks framework for nature

As the global community works towards transitioning to a nature-positive economy, an urgent reframing of the financial materiality of nature risks is required. The climate change agenda leveraged the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) framework to tackle this issue. Over 870 organizations – including companies with a combined market cap of over $9.2 trillion and financial institutions responsible for assets of nearly $118 trillion – have signed up to support the TCFD. A similar initiative – that draws lessons from the TCFD and which is backed by public and private stakeholders – is now needed for nature.

5. Business as champions for nature

As we are facing an unprecedented planetary emergency, businesses have an important role to innovate and advance solutions for a nature-positive economy and society. Some economies have shown how nature and business can work hand in hand. Costa Rica, for one, has in the last three decades stopped tropical deforestation, doubled its forest cover and reached near 100% renewable electric energy while GDP per capita has tripled. By realizing how nature-loss is material to their operations and growth models, businesses can and must be a key part of the solution. As the trend for greater transparency and accountability continues, costs are likely to rise for businesses which have not begun to include nature at the core of their enterprise operations. The World Economic Forum along with key partners and constituents will be furthering a business for nature mobilization to halt biodiversity loss and invest in nature over the coming years. The next steps are to identify the areas where strategic transformation of current business models can contribute most to halting and reversing nature loss, and the ways to finance this transition.

Please reach out to [email protected] if you want to learn more about the New Nature Economy report series and engage in the process.

 

 

Written by

Akanksha Khatri, Head, Nature and Biodiversity Initiative, World Economic Forum

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

Peatlands are under threat. Here’s why we must act now to save them

Posted on by dishanth
Peatlands are under threat. Here’s why we must act now to save them
  • Peatlands play a huge role as carbon sinks and biodiversity hotspots.
  • Centuries of depletion, either by drainage or peat extraction, have put them under huge risk.
  • The damage can be reversed, as current projects demonstrate.
  • We must regenerate damaged peatlands and save those that still exist today.

Wetlands are known by many names such as peatlands, marshes, bogs, fens or mires. What they all have in common is that their landscape is temporarily or permanently saturated with water. But if you think that these areas are just swamps with no significant role, then you are wrong. These landscapes are of special importance – not only for their water storage and purification capacity, but also in their roles as carbon sinks and biodiversity hotspots.

Why are peatlands important?

Peatlands are a particular type of wetland that builds up peat by accumulating dead plant material, which is prevented from biodegrading thanks to the water saturation. In peatlands, this constantly growing layer of organic matter (peat) slowly accumulates carbon and permanently sequesters it. And even though little attention has been given to peatlands so far, their hidden potential is enormous. Currently covering around 3% of the earth’s solid surface, peatlands store around 33% of the world’s overall carbon, which represent more carbon than in all forests combined worldwide.

Peatlands are also hotspots for biodiversity. Although few plant and animal species live in these nutrient-poor, acidic and wet raised wetlands, those that do are highly specialised and dependent on this habitat.

An intact peatland also contributes to a balanced water budget for an entire landscape by helping attenuate floodings during heavy precipitation.

Peatlands are at risk

Peatlands have been at risk for centuries. They are either drained to make way for fertile pasture and cropland, or they are destroyed by the extraction of peat, which is used as a source of energy. When peatlands are drained, their peat is exposed to air and releases its carbon in form of CO2, 20 times faster than it was sequestered.

Peatlands in Switzerland

In the early 19th century, there were around 250,000 hectares of wetlands in Switzerland. This area had already reduced by 40% by 1900; today there are less than 2,000 hectares left. This means that over the past 200 years, more than 90% of the peatlands in Switzerland have been lost. They might be gone altogether within this century if no action is taken.

Restoring peatlands

To avoid this nearly irreversible loss, regeneration measures have been taken in around 30% of the remaining Swiss peatlands over the past three decades. To date, regeneration projects have been financed mainly by the Swiss federal government and the cantons.

As part of its sustainability efforts for the 2019 Annual Meeting, the World Economic Forum also supported the restoration of 2.5 hectares of three different peatlands in the region of the Engadin in the Grisons, two of which are now completed. Acknowledging that an event such as the meeting in Davos by nature consumes finite resources and causes emissions, the Forum wanted to take responsibility for both. In addition to measuring and offsetting these, the Forum also sought to create a positive legacy within the region that hosts the Annual Meeting.

The biggest of the three sites – ‘Salastrains’, in St. Moritz – was drained in the last century by the installation of artificial ditches and its peat was mined for heating purposes. Three restoration measures have been taken in response: First, the installation of watertight wooden dams around the area; second, damming the old drainage ditches; and third, directing the spring water back into the bog area. The peatland area is now rewetted, stopping biological degradation and the release of CO2 emissions, but instead sequestering carbon. Regular plant samples allow us to assess the condition of the rewetted area, and progress of the peat development over time. A final report on this project will be published in April this year.

With only 1 to 10 millimetres of peat being built up per year in a peatland, regeneration measures are indispensable, and protecting the remaining peatlands is crucial.

Read more about sustainability at the Forum: http://wef.ch/sustainability

 

 

Written by

Laura Saputelli, Sustainability Specialist, Swiss Public Affairs and Sustainability, World Economic Forum

Peter Staubli, Co-founder and director, Beck & Staubli

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

Biodiversity and our brains: How ecology and mental health go together in our cities

Posted on by dishanth
Biodiversity and our brains: How ecology and mental health go together in our cities

Biodiverse nature is particularly beneficial for mental well-being. There is also growing and compelling evidence that contact with diverse microbiomes in the soil and air has a profound effect on depression and anxiety.

 

 

Mental health in our cities is an increasingly urgent issue. Rates of disorders such as anxiety and depression are high. Urban design and planning can promote mental health by refocusing on spaces we use in our everyday lives in light of what research tells us about the benefits of exposure to nature and biodiversity.

Mental health issues have many causes. However, the changing and unpredictable elements of our physical and sensory environments have a profound impact on risk, experiences and recovery.

Physical activity is still the mainstay of urban planning efforts to enable healthy behaviours. Mental well-being is then a hoped-for byproduct of opportunities for exercise and social interaction.

Neuroscientific research and tools now allow us to examine more deeply some of the ways in which individuals experience spaces and natural elements. This knowledge can greatly add to, and shift, the priorities and direction of urban design and planning.

 

What do we mean by ‘nature’?

A large body of research has compellingly shown that “nature” in its many forms and contexts can have direct benefits on mental health. Unfortunately, the extent and diversity of natural habitats in our cities are decreasing rapidly.

Too often “nature” – by way of green space and “POS” (Public Open Space) – is still seen as something separate from other parts of our urban neighbourhoods. Regeneration efforts often focus on large green corridors. But even small patches of genuinely biodiverse nature can re-invite and sustain multitudes of plant and animal species, as urban ecologists have shown.

It has also been widely demonstrated that nature does not effect us in uniform or universal ways. Sometimes it can be confronting or dangerous. That is particularly true if nature is isolated or uninviting, or has unwritten rules around who should be there or what activities are appropriate.

These factors complicate the desire for a “nature pill” to treat urban ills.

We need to be far more specific about what “nature” we are talking about in design and planning to assist with mental health.

 

 

Why does biodiversity matter?

The exponential accessibility and affordability of lab and mobile technologies, such as fMRI and EEG measuring brain activity, have vastly widened the scope of studies of mental health and nature. Researchers are able, for example, to analyse responses to images of urban streetscapes versus forests. They can also track people’s perceptions “on the move”.

Research shows us biodiverse nature has particular positive benefit for mental well-being. Multi-sensory elements such as bird or frog sounds or wildflower smells have well-documented beneficial effects on mental restoration, calm and creativity.

Other senses – such as our sense of ourselves in space, our balance and equilibrium and temperature – can also contribute to us feeling restored by nature.

Acknowledging the crucial role all these senses play shifts the focus of urban design and planning from visual aesthetics and functional activity to how we experience natural spaces. This is particularly important in ensuring we create places for people of all abilities, mobilities and neurodiversities.

Neuroscientific research also shows an “enriched” environment – one with multiple diverse elements of interest – can prompt movement and engagement. This helps keep our brains cognitively healthy, and us happier.

Beyond brain imaging of experiences in nature, there is growing and compelling evidence that contact with diverse microbiomes in the soil and air has a profound effect on depression and anxiety. Increasing our interaction with natural elements through touch – literally getting dirt under our nails – is both psychologically therapeutic and neurologically nourishing.

We also have increasing evidence that air, noise and soil pollution increase risk of mental health disorders in cities.

 

What does this mean for urban neighbourhoods?

These converging illustrations suggest biodiverse urban nature is a priority for promoting mental health. Our job as designers and planners is therefore to multiply opportunities to interact with these areas in tangible ways.

The concept of “biophilia” isn’t new. But a focus on incidental and authentic biodiversity helps us apply this very broad, at times unwieldy and non-contextual, concept to the local environment. This grounds efforts in real-time, achievable interventions.

 

 

Using novel technologies and interdisciplinary research expands our understanding of the ways our environments affect our mental well-being. This knowledge challenges the standardised planning of nature spaces and monocultured plantings in our cities. Neuroscience can therefore support urban designers and planners in allowing for more flexibility and authenticity of nature in urban areas.

Neuroscientific evidence of our sensory encounters with biodiverse nature points us towards the ultimate win-win (-win) for ecology, mental health and cities.

 

 

Dr Zoe Myers is the author of Wildness and Wellbeing: Nature, Neuroscience, and Urban Design (Palgrave Macmillan, 2020). This article was originally published on The Conversation.