Sustainability news you may have missed: Part 5
Adding colour to the wherefrom monthly newsletter, here are the bad and good sustainability news stories this past month.
FREAKING OUT
Covid-19 and climate change: some silver linings for the environment or is that not even a thing? With reduced energy consumption due to reduced economic activity, the pandemic has led to significant decreases in CO2 emissions. Last month, for instance, we saw that Covid-19 led to an estimated 25% reduction in energy use and emissions in China in a two week period compared to previous years. Even Italy, where the first lockdowns began around the 21st of February, saw massive decreases in nitrogen dioxide (NOx) levels between January 1st and March 11th. Venice’s canal water has cleared up without boat traffic. Deer and monkeys have been roaming empty streets in Japan and Thailand. On top of that, the airline sector which is responsible for 2.6% of all global CO2 emissions, has seen 40% to 90% of flights canceled.
However, Guterres, UN secretary-general, has rejected this idea of identifying these reduced emissions as a silver lining for the climate. He has said, “we will not fight climate change with a virus.” BusinessGreen has claimed that “falling emissions driven by economic distress are rarely sustainable, and easily reversible.” With the impulse to reignite the global economy after the pandemic, we may possibly see a boom in extracting resources, cutting down more forests and further degrading the natural world. Past economic crises would indicate that this phenomenon, known as retaliatory pollution, is highly likely.
This year we will inevitably see a decrease in clean energy investment as policymakers divert attention to more pressing concerns. Airlines will pressure governments for bailouts as they face potential bankruptcy, with Trump already claiming airlines would be prioritised in coronavirus bailouts. However, think tanks Common Wealth and IPPR have issued a joint report calling for any airline bailout to include strict climate targets, which would be ideal. Finally, COP26 — an important COP as all countries should be submitting their new long-term climate goals — could be postponed and companies could also delay or cancel their climate projects.
Ideally, when the pandemic has passed, our public support for robust climate policies will remain strong. Hopefully, this will prevent us from accepting the rise in global emissions, soaring fossil fuel infrastructure investments and experiencing similar climate impacts to those that happened in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crash. Hopefully, leaders will listen to Guterres, who has asked them not to be “diverted away from climate action” by the crisis.
East Africa is facing a double crisis between swarms of locusts threatening food security, employment, and economic growth as well as coronavirus impeding the fight against these swarms. The countries at the highest risk with new swarms include Kenya, Ethiopia, and Somalia, although Yemen, Iran and Saudi Arabia are also threatened. The UN estimates that breeding conditions could see locusts multiplying by 400 times this year, decimating crops and potentially endangering the food security of 25 million people. To make matters worse, the global Covid-19 pandemic is delaying the delivery of pesticides and equipment, as countries like Kenya have closed their borders to air travel. As such, the cost of shipping pesticides has tripled because fewer flights are operating.
These swarms are of a magnitude not seen in decades. Experts have linked this emergence of swarms to “a prolonged bout of exceptionally wet weather, including several rare cyclones that struck eastern Africa and the Arabian Peninsula over the last 18 months”. The cyclones passing in the desert allowed lakes to form between sand dunes, creating perfect breeding grounds for the locusts. Why the cyclones and all the wet weather? Experts claim these rains were caused by the Indian Ocean dipole, a phenomenon accentuated by climate change.
If you feel like you could donate something — especially if you haven’t been spending a lot during self-isolating times — why not? Action Against Hunger is a good place to start, but many other charities are doing their best.
The UK is going to have to halve all meat and dairy consumption in order to reach net-zero by 2050. This study from the Energy Systems (ESC) is far more stringent than the Committee on Climate Change’s (CCC) previously proposed reduction of only a fifth. Although it can seem difficult, we can each reduce our own meat and dairy consumption by half in our own day to day lives by either substituting meat with meat-free alternatives or making veg-based meals instead.
Photo: DAI KUROKAWA/EPA
FEELING HOPEFUL
The European Commission unveiled a Europe-wide ‘Climate Law’ requiring all EU members to build net-zero economies by 2050. This is a key pillar of the EC’s Green Deal Vision (remember last time I talked about Ursula von der Slayin’ it?). The new law would require member states to have detailed plans on how to decarbonise their economies and the EC would be allowed to give recommendations on these policies to ensure they are robust enough.
However, Greta claimed this law was so weak it was a surrender to climate change. She said: “We don’t just need goals for 2030 or 2050, we above all need them for 2020 and every year to come.” Aside from Greta, green groups received this law in a more positive way, claiming that the long term goals would likely trigger short and medium-term policy reforms to meet the climate objectives. Giannelli, a researcher at climate change think tank E3G, called it a “bold move in governance terms.”
Turns out summer 2019 was the most kick-ass season for butterflies in the last 22 years. More than half of the UK’s species increased in number. For instance, the rare Lulworth skipper increased in number by 138% compared to the previous year. Since last summer had a great combo of warmth, sunshine, and rain, the caterpillars could eat a lot of lush plants before becoming beautiful butterflies.
Why should you care about all these butterflies? It’s not just because they are pretty in gardens, but because they help ecosystems thrive. They are important pollinators for some plant species like milkweed and other wildflowers. They are also a key part of food chains. Caterpillars and butterflies are an important food source for bats and birds, which are in themselves important for ecosystem health. Plus, caterpillars are also great for pest control because they eat aphids (insects that suck the sap out of plants, depriving them of their nutrients).
Currently, the UK is dependent on complex international supply chains for fruit and veg. However, a study published by the University of Sheffield suggests we have enough space to grow what we need “on our doorsteps.” The study claims that if cities grew fruit and vegetables in only 10% of urban green spaces (think private and public gardens, allotments, parks, and roadside verges), we could feed 15% of the local population their five a day.
The benefits of farming even just a small percentage of available (albeit unconventional) land could “transform the health of urban populations, enhance a city’s environment and help build a more resilient food system.”
Photo: Peter Eeles
