The key issues addressed in this daily digest include COVID-19, circular economy, environment, renewable energy, sustainable development and SDGs.
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)*
As the deadline for achieving the SDGs draws to a close, Europe has been given a boost ahead in its trajectory towards achieving the sustainable development goals. Although specific gaps, such as gender equality (SDG 5), have widened, the region has nonetheless made progress in Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions (SDG 16).
Environment*
Richard Grove, the co-founder of the center for world environmental history, dies at 64. His book Green Imperialism was the first to give an account of environmentalism, “tracing the beginnings of modern green thinking to European experiences in the island ecologies and tropical environments of Asia and Africa during colonial expansion.”
Sustainable Development*
In the wake of the Great Reset Initiative, reconsideration about improving geospatial skills to accelerate the achievement of the SDGs has been adopted. Prior to this development, there has been little understanding of the imperative of geography as a crucial factor in underpinning the SDGs. Thankfully, Walker Kosmidou-Bradley, a geographer on the Afghanistan team in the World Bank’s Poverty and Equity Global Practice, has made it his mission to map every road across the country to ramp up sustainable development initiatives.
Economy*
In an interview with Andrea Huisman, Tjisse Stelpstra regional minister of the Province of Drenthe, aims to reinforce his stance with the New Circular Economy Action Plan (NCEAP) adopted on March 11, 2020. This plan sets out to tackle Europe’s 2.5billion tonnes of annual waste (Eurostat) from economic activities. He will be making his proposition during the plenary session of the European Committee of the Regions slated for 12-14 October 2020. The circular economy, according to Huisman, “is a key pillar of the European Green Deal, the EU’s growth strategy to reach climate-neutrality by 2050.”
COVID-19*
The unraveling of the COVID-19 pandemic has continuously led to discoveries. Currently, a new study released by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has shown that the coronavirus infections are two to thirteen times higher than reported, according to the New York Times. This report stems from the recognition that people with positive antibodies are asymptomatic and spread the disease unwittingly, as researches carried out in Minneapolis, Utah, New York, and seven other states in the United States have validated.
Renewable Energy*
Renewable energy has leveraged on the lockdown crises to seize a sizable amount of market share from fossil fuels in power generation. According to Reuters, renewables accounted for 44 percent of power generation in the European Union in the second quarter, compared against 37.2 percent in the same period a year earlier. Amidst the Trump Administration skepticism on the reality of climate change, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is not relenting in his fight against climate change. His prominent strategy is the massive deployment of renewable energy, as seen in his proposal for 4GW renewable energy revitalization. The energy project is distributed across a 2.5GW offshore wind energy and 1.5GW land-based renewable energy, which takes the state closer to its objective of operating 9GW of offshore wind energy by 2035.