Great apes predicted to lose 90% of homelands in Africa, study finds

Damian Carrington

Global heating and habitat destruction may together devastate humanity’s closest relatives

Western lowland gorilla in the Dzanga-Ndoki National Park, Central African Republic. Half of the projected lost territory will be in national parks and other protected areas. Photograph: Nature Picture Library/Alamy Stock Photo

Great apes – humanity’s closest relatives, are predicted to lose a “devastating” 90% of their homelands in Africa in coming decades, according to a study.

All gorillas, chimpanzees and bonobos are already endangered or critically endangered. But a combination of the climate crisis, the destruction of wild areas for minerals, timber and food, and human population growth is on track to decimate their ranges by 2050, the scientists said. Half of the projected lost territory will be in national parks and other protected areas.

Some new areas will become climatically suitable for the apes, but the researchers doubt they will be able to migrate into these regions in time. The estimated range loss is stark, but today’s ranges in central and western Africa are already much smaller than in the past.

“It’s a perfect storm for many of our closest genetic relatives, many of which are flagship species for conservation efforts within Africa and worldwide,” said Joana Carvalho, a biologist and computer modeller at Liverpool John Moores University in the UK and who led the study. “If we add climate change to the current causes of territory loss, the picture looks devastating.”

The analysis used data from the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s apes database on species populations, threats and conservation action at hundreds of sites over 20 years. It then modelled the combined future impacts of global heating, habitat destruction and human population growth.

There are uncertainties in the data and model results, said Carvalho: “But there is going to be change and not for the best. Even the ranges we see at the moment are much smaller than they have been.”

Most great ape species prefer lowland habitats, but the climate crisis will make some lowlands hotter, drier and much less suitable. Uplands will become more attractive, assuming the apes can get there, but where there is no high ground, the apes will be left with nowhere to go.

“As climate change forces the different types of vegetation to essentially shift uphill, it means that all animals – not only great apes – that depend on particular habitat types will be forced to move uphill or become locally extinct,” said Fiona Maisels, at the Wildlife Conservation Society and part of the research team. “But when the hills are low, many species will not be able to go higher than the land allows, and huge numbers of animals and plants will simply vanish.”

The research, published in the journal Diversity and Distributions, was conducted by scientists from almost 50 universities, research institutes and conservation organisations. It analysed two scenarios, one where action is taken to curb the climate risis, habitat loss and human population growth, and one where little is done.

But the researchers found relatively little difference in the projected range losses, with 85% loss in 2050 in the first scenario and 94% in the second. “What is predicted is really bad,” said Carvalho.

Some new areas will become suitable for the great apes as the climate changes, but the animals are poor at migrating compared with many species because they reproduce slowly and have low population densities and specific diets. “The timeframe of 30 years [until 2050] is not enough,” Carvalho said.

Nonetheless, some migration could occur and a key action to avert some range losses is ensuring connectivity between the places where apes live, she said, by creating new protected areas. There is good conservation work being done in some places the scientists said with, for example, Gabon’s development of farming, mining and road and rail links being focused on areas that are already degraded, avoiding intact forests.

However, the biggest protection for great apes could come from consumers in rich nations demanding sustainably produced goods. Currently the export of minerals for mobile phones, timber, and palm oil are major drivers of great ape population falls.

“There must be global responsibility for stopping the decline of great apes,” said Hjalmar Kühl, from the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research in Leipzig. “All nations benefiting from these resources have a responsibility to ensure a better future for great apes, their habitats and the people living there.”

Global carbon dioxide levels continued to rise despite pandemic

Katharine Gammon

A coal-fired power plant sends off a plume of smoke in Independence, Missouri. Photograph: Charlie Riedel/AP

Emissions rose to 419 parts per million in May, the highest such measurement in the 63 years that the data has been recorded

The data is in: carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere hit 419 parts per million in May. The levels have now reached the dangerous milestone of being 50% higher than when the industrial age began – and the average rate of increase is faster than ever.

The figure is the highest measurement of the crucial greenhouse gas in the 63 years that data has been recorded at the Mauna Loa Atmospheric Baseline Observatory in Hawaii – despite slowdowns in air travel and industry during a global pandemic in the past year.

The 10-year average rate of increase also set a record, now up to 2.4 parts per million per year.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the reason is complex. Global emissions fell by 6.4% in 2020, but given the seasonal and natural variability, modest decreases wouldn’t make a big impact on the global tally of carbon emissions. And even as emissions dropped, wildfires burning through trees released carbon dioxide – maybe even at a similar rate as the modest lowering of emissions from the pandemic’s slowing impact on the global economy.

“The ultimate control knob on atmospheric CO2 is fossil-fuel emissions,” geochemist Ralph Keeling, whose father started gathering data at the Mauna Loa site, told NOAA. “But we still have a long way to go to halt the rise, as each year more CO2 piles up in the atmosphere. We ultimately need cuts that are much larger and sustained longer than the Covid-related shutdowns of 2020.”

In order to meet the goals of the Paris climate accords – to keep temperature rise to 1.5C – the United Nations Environment Programme report finds countries need to cut their global emissions by 7.6% every year for the next decade.

“Reaching 50% higher carbon dioxide than pre-industrial is really setting a new benchmark and not in a good way,” said Cornell University climate scientist Natalie Mahowald, who wasn’t part of the research.

“If we want to avoid the worst consequences of climate change, we need to work much harder to cut carbon dioxide emissions and right away.”

The laboratory at Mauna Loa, which sits on a volcano in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, combines two complementary observations to come up with the all-important value of carbon dioxide. The current level hasn’t existed on Earth since the Pliocene era, between 4.1m and 4.5m years ago – and global seas were 78 feet higher than current day levels.

The annual increase of 1.8 parts per million in May was slightly less than in previous years, though monthly measurements from 2021 show this year may be closer to the average increase of 2.3 parts per million.

Scientists focus on May as the month with the highest carbon dioxide levels of the year, because it comes before plants and trees in the northern hemisphere start to suck up carbon dioxide during their growing season of the summer. Then in the fall and winter, plants and soils release carbon dioxide back into the atmosphere.

Wealthy nations breaking climate pledge with gas dash in global south

Study finds leading economies have funded projects related to fossil fuel, worsening global heating

Palma, Mozambique. The US Export-Import Bank is a major funder of a huge gas project in the country. Photograph: John Wessels/AFP/Getty Images

Wealthy nations are breaking their climate commitments by funding a new dash for gas in the global south, according to a study.

A week before the G7 summit begins in Cornwall, the report reveals low and middle-income nations received nearly $16bn a year between 2017 and 2019 to fund projects related to gas, a fossil fuel that worsens global heating.

This was nearly four times more than international public finance for wind or solar projects, raising concerns that poorer nations are being locked into the old fossil fuel economy even though cleaner and increasingly cheap alternatives are available.

Many of these gas projects are likely to become stranded assets before the end of their 30-year terms because the International Energy Agency said last month that no new oil, gas or coal fields should be tapped if the world is to stay within 1.5C of warming above pre-industrial levels.

Leading economies and international financial institutions have promised to help others make the transition away from fossil fuels, but the report from the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) shows many of their funding decisions remain stuck in the past.

Three governments – the US, Japan and China – provided 48% of the public funding for gas in the global south. The World Bank accounted for a further 12%. The authors of the study said this funding was being used to expand markets in Asia and Africa, which would benefit petroleum industries in wealthy nations.

“As countries like Australia and the United States massively expand their liquefied natural gas exports, the public money supporting new gas infrastructure looks more geared to serving powerful interests than helping southern countries meet their needs,” the lead author, Greg Muttitt, said.

The report notes that new gas projects are inconsistent with the Paris climate agreement. According to 1.5C scenarios published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, global gas consumption must decline by 55% between 2020 and 2050. The just-published Net-Zero by 2050 report from the International Energy Agency notes there is no need for investment in new fossil fuel supply. More questionable still are new gas power plants, which – often built with a 30-year lifespan – would take the world past 2050 targets for achieving net zero.

The petrochemical industry has long claimed gas is a “bridge fuel” that is less damaging to the climate than oil or coal. But IISD experts say these arguments have been undermined by growing evidence of the damage caused by methane leaks, the urgency of curbing emissions and the falling price of renewables.

Some nations, such as the UK, and international financial institutions, including the European Investment Bank, have already decided to exclude overseas funding support for new gas and oil in line with the Paris agreement goals.

Ahead of the G7 “rich nation” summit in Cornwall next weekend, campaigners are calling for other major funders to follow suit, though gas has remained a priority during the pandemic. Last year, development banks, including the World Bank, sank 75% of their fossil fuel support into gas projects.

Public money makes up a small fraction of funding for energy projects, which comes mostly from private banks and finance houses. But its influence is disproportionate in reducing risk and sending signals about future policy.

Attention is likely to focus on the US under Joe Biden, which is reviewing whether to end new oil and gas finance. The US Export-Import Bank is a major funder of a huge gas project in Mozambique that is blamed for deepening domestic public debt, increasing militarisation, and worsening corruption and militia violence.

Last week, G7 environment ministers announced an end to public financing for coal projects, but many scientists and civil society activists say this needs to be extended to all fossil fuels.

“At this stage, we should no longer be putting public money into the problem, only into the solution,” said Muttitt. “Governments have to stop pushing the market in the wrong direction.”

Many relatively progressive nations are sending contradictory signals. The UK, which is hosting the next major United Nations climate conference – Cop26 in Glasgow – continues to issue new domestic licences for oil and gas drilling in the North Sea, even after halting funding support overseas.

Donkeys to help re-establish rare wild flower in Devon

Patrick Barkham

Animals will be used to tread in seeds of small-flowered catchfly at Donkey Sanctuary rewilding project

The donkeys will play a role in helping to increase biodiversity at their sanctuary. Photograph: Alamy

The donkey has performed many roles: carrying Jesus, giving seaside rides to children and being the butt of many jokes over thousands of years of domestication. Now an unfamiliar job can be added to the list: ecosystem engineer.

The hard-working animals will help re-establish one of Britain’s rarest wild flowers by trampling over specially seeded plots.

More than 20,000 seeds of the small-flowered catchfly have been sown on farmland at the Devon headquarters of the Donkey Sanctuary, the international animal welfare charity.

The sowing is part of the Colour in the Margins project led by the charity Plantlife seeking to restore rare arable plants such as the small-flowered catchfly, which has vanished from about 70% of its former range.

The seeds, which have been sown alongside other wild flowers and grains, will also help provide food for threatened birds such as the linnet, yellowhammer and skylark, which have been recorded at the sanctuary.

If they germinate successfully this summer, the Donkey Sanctuary will host a trial next spring to discover if donkeys can assist the germination process by walking across specially seeded plots, a technique known as “treading in”.

Ruth Angell, the ecology and conservation manager at the Donkey Sanctuary, said: “Increasing biodiversity is essential for an enriched and resilient environment which can support rare species as well as our resident herds of donkeys.

“It is important to us that our donkeys benefit from different types of activities and experiences. Our donkeys will be able to enjoy a walk with our grooms and benefit from one to one time while they walk over the plots.”

Other animals including wild horses and cattle are widely used as “conservation managers”, with their trampling and grazing helping wild plants to flourish and flower. Tamworth pigs have also proved extremely useful in “ploughing” wild turf with their snouts and making space for annual wildflowers to germinate at the rewilded farm of Knepp in West Sussex.

Cath Shellswell at Plantlife said: “We’re incredibly grateful to partners like the Donkey Sanctuary who are helping these fantastically rare wild flowers come back from the brink of extinction by giving them a helping hand in one of their original regional strongholds. We look forward to seeing small-flowered catchfly return and working with the sanctuary to ensure this tiny plant has a thriving future.”

‘Simply no scenario’ where humanity can survive on an ocean-free planet

UNITED NATIONS NEWS

The world must harness “clear, transformative and actionable solutions” to address the ocean crisis, the President of the UN General Assembly said on Tuesday, opening a meeting to generate momentum towards the 2022 UN Ocean Conference, when public health safety measures allow.

UNCTAD I Coastal and marine ecosystems provide food, livelihoods, and coastal protection to more than a billion people worldwide.

“Simply speaking, our relationship with our planet’s ocean must change”, Assembly President Volkan Bozkir told a high-level thematic debate on the ocean and Sustainable Development Goal 14 (SDG14): Life Below Water. 

Against the backdrop that human activities have threatened to undo the delicate balance of this ecosystem, that supports nutritional, economic and social value to billions the world over, he upheld that there is “simply no scenario” wherein we live on a planet without an ocean. 

Appetite for change 

People do not want to live in “a world of one crisis after the next”, Mr. Bozkir said, preferring instead the “security, sustainability and the peace of mind” that comes with a healthy planet. 

Policy makers too are increasingly aware of how a healthy ocean is integral to a strong economy. 

“We have seen this in countries and cities that have prioritized coastal and marine areas over tourism…in protected wetlands…in efforts to address illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing, and regulate shipping and resource extraction”, he said. 

‘Blue recovery’  

A healthy ocean is the foundation of a healthy planet. It is becoming warmer and more acidic because of #climatechange, disrupting marine ecosystems.
High-level #UNGA debate today focuses on the need to #SaveOurOcean #OceanDecadehttps://t.co/uUuMmdbuTB pic.twitter.com/xqbooSYSsB

— World Meteorological Organization (@WMO) June 1, 2021

New governance, policy and market approaches that incentivize both profit ability and sustainability – for people and planet – provide an opportunity for a “blue recovery” to build resilience, particularly in small island developing States, upheld the Assembly President. 

“Building a sustainable ocean economy is one of the most important tasks and greatest opportunities of our time”, he spelled out, urging governments, industries, civil society and others to “join forces to develop and implement ocean solutions”. 

As the SDG14 targets will be among the first to mature, Mr. Bozkir encouraged everyone to “think ahead” and arrive at the second Ocean Conference in Lisbon, Portugal, with “demonstrable evidence of progress”.  

Rather than wait until the Conference opens to re-discuss these issues, he reminded that the Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development has already begun.  

“Let us choose to arrive in Portugal with accomplishments and progress that inspire hope and optimism for a better tomorrow”, he concluded. 

Blue economy ‘bedrock’  

Peter Thomson, Special Envoy on Oceans, emphasized the need to improve our relationship with the sea to one of respect and balance. 

He underscored the importance of delivering on SDG14, saying that “ocean acidification cannot continue unabated” while pointing out that greenhouse gas emission reductions are “required to meet 2030 goals”. 

And while spotlighting progress that is being made on ocean awareness, marine protected area coverage and ocean science, Mr. Thomson highlighted the urgent need to scale up. 

“At the heart of SDG14 is the sustainable blue economy”, Mr. Thomson said, “from nutrition to medicine, from energy to carbon sequestration and pollution-free transportation, the sustainable blue economy is the bedrock of upon which a secure future for humanity can be build. 

Saeed Rashid I Plastic pollution in the world's oceans is threatening marine life

‘No silver bullet’ 

In a world dependent on plastic, the UN official said that there was “no silver bullet for the plague of marine plastic pollution”.   

However, he advocated measures to battle the scourge, including by “exponentially” increasing funding for developing countries to invest in waste collection and disposal infrastructure as well as widely implementing systems of reduction, recycling and plastic substitution.     

He concluded by highlighting the interconnectivity of the world, calling it “the fundamental lesson of the COVID-19 pandemic”.  

“We are connected within nature’s nurturing embrace”, he said, upholding that if we poison nature, we are in effect “poisoning ourselves”. 

Engaging with the ocean 

From Portugal, Ricardo Serrão Santos, Minister of the Sea, also spoke about the importance of ocean health for human and planetary well-being, pointing to the 2022 goal of “a more inclusive and more connected” engagement with the ocean. 

“We are gathered here today to rekindle the tone of the Conference” next year, he said, elaborating on the need to “scale up ocean action…increasing and improving coordination at all levels…financing and continued monitoring”.   

Mr. Serrão Santos underlined Portugal’s support for science, as being “critical to cross-cutting in every ocean action”. 

Seeking sustainable recovery 

Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Raychelle Omamo, drew attention to the impact of COVID-19, not only in delaying the Conference but also the havoc it has wreaked on jobs in coastal economies an on vulnerable coastal communities.  

“We seek a recovery that will promote sustainable development and harmony between people and the natural resources that sustain us”, she said.  

UN chief calls for a global partnership to address COVID, climate change and achieve SDG’s

UNITED NATION NEWS

Speaking in a key international partnerships summit, António Guterres said that if governments embrace together the goals of phasing out coal, enhancing climate commitments, and investing in the Global Goals, there is an opportunity to rise to 'the biggest challenge of our lives'.

Unsplash/Chinh Le Duc I A street in Seoul, South Korea

The world needs a global partnership to beat COVID-19, achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and address climate change, said the UN Secretary General in a video message for the opening day of the 2021 P4G summit in Seoul, Republic of Korea.

The Partnering for Green Growth and the Global Goals 2030 (P4G) event aims to boost market-based partnerships and rally high-level political and private sector action. It brings together Heads of State, CEOs, and civil society leaders around a shared action agenda to mobilize investments for tangible impact.

The emissions gap

António Guterres expressed that although there are commitments to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, there is “still much to do” to close the emissions gap and achieve the SDGs.

He reaffirmed his call to all main emitters to present new Nationally Determined Contributions, commit to net zero emissions by 2050, and, ‘most importantly', put in place policies and programs towards achieving that goal.

“Tackling climate change head-on will help protect the most vulnerable people from the next crisis while sustaining a job-rich recovery from the pandemic”, he said, reminding that the first priority right now is stopping plans for new coal plants and phase-out of coal use by 2040.

On that note, the Secretary General commended the Government of the Republic of Korea for announcing that it will stop all international coal finance and encouraged other government and private sector entities to do the same.

The finance and adaptation gaps

UN News/Conor Lennon I Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) banners outside the United Nations Headquarters in New York. 20 September 2019.

Mr. Guterres also expressed his concern about the 'finance and adaption gaps'. He said that developed countries have yet to deliver on the 100-billion-dollar annual commitment to climate action efforts and supporting vulnerable communities that are already suffering the consequences of global warming.

He also explained that one in three people globally are still not adequately covered by early warning systems, and women and girls, who make up 80 percent of those displaced by the climate emergency, are still often excluded from decisions to address the climate crisis.

“We urgently need a breakthrough on adaptation and resilience”, he added, asking all donor countries to significantly enhance their financial commitments.

In his message, the UN chief highlighted the importance of financing the ‘infrastructure of tomorrow’ by supporting developing countries in a just transition to sustainable energy and a circular economy while helping them to diversify their economies.

“In short, we need a global partnership for green, inclusive, sustainable development”, he underscored.

A common goal

Mr. Guterres warned that there is no global partnership if some are left “struggling to survive” and said that this was true for COVID and the distribution of vaccines as well as the climate emergency.

“In this quest, the Republic of Korea is a leading partner”, he said, commending the government for its 2050 net-zero pledge and the Korean Green New Deal.

He stressed that if governments embrace the same goals, there will be an opportunity for a real partnership that will equip us to “rise to the biggest challenge of our lives”.

‘Cataclysmic day’ for oil companies sparks climate hope

A Shell oil refinery in Texas. A Dutch court has ordered the firm to cut carbon emissions from its oil and gas by 45% by 2030. Photograph: Gregory Bull/AP

A “cataclysmic day” for three major oil companies in which investors rebelled over climate fears and a court ordered fossil fuel emissions to be slashed has sparked hope among campaigners, investors, lawyers and academics who said the historic decisions marked a turning point in efforts to tackle the climate crisis.

A Dutch court on Wednesday ordered Shell to cut carbon emissions from its oil and gas by 45% by 2030. A tiny activist investor group simultaneously won two places on ExxonMobil’s board and Chevron’s management was defeated when investors voted in favour of forcing the group to cut its carbon emissions.

Chevron is second on the list of fossil fuel firms with the biggest cumulative carbon emissions, ExxonMobil is third and Shell sixth.

“It may be the most cataclysmic day so far for the fossil fuel industry,” said the climate campaigner and author Bill McKibben. “If you want to keep the temperature low enough that civilisation will survive, you have to keep coal and oil and gas in the ground. That sounded radical a decade ago. Now it sounds like the law.”

Sara Shaw at Friends of the Earth International said: “This is a landmark victory for climate justice. Our hope is that the Shell verdict will trigger a wave of climate litigation against big polluters.”

Andy Palmen of Greenpeace Netherlands said: “The verdict is a historic victory. We can now hold multinational corporations accountable for the climate crisis.”

Andrew Logan at Ceres, which coordinates climate action by investors, told the Financial Times: “This will be seen in retrospect as the day when everything changed for big oil. How the industry chooses to respond to this clear signal will determine which companies thrive through the coming transition and which wither.”

Nick Stansbury from Legal and General Investment Management said: “There is a valid question about whether this is a watershed moment in the same way the first big tobacco legal suits were.”

Michael Burger at Columbia Law School in the US said there was no question that the Shell court defeat was a significant development in global climate litigation, and that “it could reverberate through courtrooms around the world”.

Tom Cummins at the UK law firm Ashurst said: “This is arguably the most significant climate change-related judgment yet,” and Joana Setzer at the London School of Economics called it “mind-blowing, basically changing what Shell is at the core”. Scott Addison of the communications firm Infinite Global said: “Today’s ruling puts into stark relief just how high the commercial and reputational costs can get for inaction on climate change.”

Two other major oil companies, ConocoPhillips and Phillips 66, had already suffered investor revolts over climate inaction in recent weeks, but Shell’s court defeat set a new precedent, according to Roger Cox, a lawyer for Friends of the Earth Netherlands, which pursued the case along with 17,000 citizens. “This is a turning point in history,” he said. “It is the first time a judge has ordered a large polluting corporation to comply with the Paris climate agreement.”

Oil and gas majors have posted record losses and write-downs during the coronavirus pandemic. The International Energy Agency said earlier this month that if governments were serious about the climate crisis, there could be no new investments in oil, gas and coal from this year, contrasting with most companies’ plans for further exploration.

Shell said it expected to appeal against what it described as a disappointing judgment, which could take two years, and Chevron’s chief executive, Mike Wirth, said the company could boost financial returns and cut carbon at same time.

Exxon’s chief executive, Darren Woods, said he had heard shareholders’ desire for change and  that the company was well positioned to respond. Oil company climate plans have been criticised for not including all of their products, moving too slowly and being overly reliant on carbon offsets.

An editorial in the Wall Street Journal, which has frequently been sceptical about global heating, said: “The usual suspects are casting ExxonMobil’s partial defeat in a proxy shareholder battle as a Waterloo for fossil fuels. [But] this wasn’t a revolt by retail investors against fossil fuels. It was a progressive political coup. Fossil fuels aren’t going away, and Exxon won’t prosper if it acts like they will.”

Michael Holder from the BusinessGreen website said: “The events [on Wednesday] are still only baby steps towards these companies credibly transforming their businesses in line with the goals of the Paris agreement. Has the day of reckoning finally arrived for big oil? If it has, they can’t say they weren’t warned.”

Eco-Entrepreneurship for the Future of Green Economy

LEONARDO LIMA

GREEN INTERN

The impact of the Covid-19 has affected the entire world, and in the year 2020/2021, the rate of unemployment is one of the most worrying problems to the global economy. According to the Economy Research (2020), the unemployment rate at the beginning of the pandemic (March 2020) reached 14.8%, a higher number than the 2008’s crisis.

In parallel, climate change is growing and affecting several important ecosystems. On the Global Climate Change website developed by NASA, it is possible to find the information that the planet's average surface temperature has risen about 2.12 degrees Fahrenheit (1.18 degrees Celsius) since the late 19th century, a change driven largely by increased carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere and other human activities. In addition, the years 2016 and 2020 are tied as the warmest years on record.

What do youth unemployment and climate change have in common?

The future of humanity is more sustainable!

The new generation is following the purpose to cause a positive impact on the world, especially on the environment. To follow these goals, the youths are developing incredible ideas, as new eco-friendly products and services. Currently, The Green Economy has different problems to solve, and these problems are good opportunities to undertake and make benefits. The Otlas Website says that “the green economy can create 15 to 60 million new jobs, helping reduce poverty through sustainable management of natural capital”.

A new term called “Eco-Entrepreneurship” has been used. Seth (2020) affirms that Eco-Entrepreneurship is “enabling entrepreneurs to harness the power of green practices to create a difference. The solutions offered by the eco-business owners are helping in aligning the business for sustainable development, making eco-entrepreneurship be rigueur.”

Benefits of Eco-Entrepreneurship

Eco-Entrepreneurship has a lot of benefits, It brings growth to the economy, makes the marketplace more competitive, makes individual firms more productive through technological change, and creates jobs, added value, and welfare for the members of society. The youth can be motivated to make an impact for several reasons, such as, national and international challenges, a life purpose, something that impacted a lot in their life, to make money, or other reason. The study conducted by Kushwaha and Sharma (2017) affirms that “the entrepreneurial aspirants are influenced towards sustainable entrepreneurship mainly due to green marketing factors, changing consumer behavior towards ecological products and favorable market conditions for the entrepreneurship.”

Alan S. Gutterman, an international entrepreneurship researcher claims that “sustainable entrepreneurship should be carried out using a business model aligned with the principles of sustainability, which means that the model does not deplete resources, but rather replenishes them (for instance, natural resources, human resources, knowledge and technology foundations and so on.). Furthermore, the business model creates value and material and non-material wealth (i.e., well-being and happiness) for all stakeholders through actions which are ethical and just.”

A young Eco-Entrepreneurship is a key to achieve the UN 17 Sustainable Development Goals, moreover, it is necessary to remember that an important part of that key is encouraging young leaders to follow their own pathway and start the action. For this one, some entrepreneur approaches are being implemented at the schools and universities and giving undertaker experiences, knowledge, and skills for those young future sustainable leaders. 

This approach could be in the area, Tourism, Agriculture, Buildings, Waste, Forestry, Transport, Energy supply.

In each area, the Eco-Entrepreneur can build a new startup company and contribute to changing the society, creating new environmental technologies to cause positive impact, decreasing the effects of climate change effects and increasing the number of jobs. 

Opportunity: The GreenPreneurs is a global network of youth competing to take their green growth solution from idea to the business plan. Inside on the website (https://www.greenpreneurs.co/), you can read about the Teams (startups), and learn about the initiatives of young entrepreneurs.

Lecture suggest: Exploring entrepreneurial readiness of youth and startup success components: Entrepreneurship training as a moderator.
Link: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2444569X1730001X

Article References

Economy Research. Unemployment Rate. 2020. Available in: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/UNRATE. Access in: 23 May 2021.

GUTTERMAN, Alan S. Sustainability and Entrepreneurship. 2020. Available in: https://seproject.org/topics/sustainability-entrepreneurship/. Access in: 22 May 2020.

KUSHWAHA, Gyaneshwar Singh; SHARMA, Nagendra Kumar. Factors Influencing Young Entrepreneurial Aspirant’s Insight Towards Sustainable Entrepreneurship. Iranian Journal Of Management Studies, [S.L.], v. 10, n. 2, p. 435-466, abr. 2017. College of Farabi, University of Tehran. http://dx.doi.org/10.22059/ijms.2017.224885.672467.

NASA. Climate Change: How Do We Know? 2020. Available in: https://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/. Access in: 22 May 2021.

OTLAS. Youth Eco-Entrepreneurship for Future of Green Economy. 2020. Available in: https://www.salto-youth.net/tools/otlas-partner-finding/project/youth-eco-entrepreneurship-for-future-of-green-economy.9359/. Accessed 22 May 2021.

SETH, Bhrigu. Eco-Entrepreneurship: Steering the world towards responsible living. 2020. Available in: https://yourstory.com/socialstory/2020/08/eco-entrepreneurship-concept-india-future/amp. Access in: 22 May 2021.

Everyone will lose unless humanity makes ‘peace with the planet’, declares Guterres

“Humanity is “waging a war on nature”, threatening biodiversity loss, climate disruption and escalating pollution, the UN chief said on Friday. ”

“We will all be losers if we don’t achieve peace with the planet”, Secretary-General António Guterres told a webinar ahead of the International Day for Biological Diversity, commemorated annually on 22 May. 

“We should all be advocates for nature”, he said. 

A dismal picture 

"There is no Earth and us. We are one." 🌏

For #BiodiversityDay, explore the essential work of #indigenous peoples, who are safeguarding #nature by reminding us all that human beings are part of a single interconnected #ecosystem.

Via @BBCideaspic.twitter.com/9HuJjgqMiU

— UN Biodiversity (@UNBiodiversity) May 21, 2021

Nature sustains life and provides opportunities, services and solutions, he explained, noting that “a healthy planet is critical for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)”. 

Yet, biodiversity is declining at an “unprecedented and alarming rate”, and the pressures are intensifying, he warned. 

“We have failed to meet any of our internationally agreed biodiversity targets”, the UN chief said. 

He said one million species are at risk of extinction; ecosystems are disappearing “before our eyes”; deserts are spreading, and wetlands are being lost. 

Every year, 10 million hectares of forests are lost, oceans are overfished and “choking with plastic waste” as the carbon dioxide they absorb is acidifying the seas, bleaching and killing coral reefs, he added. 

And the total annual international public finance for nature is significantly less than the subsidies causing its degradation. 

“We are depleting resources faster than nature can replenish them”, the UN chief continued. 

Zoonic factor 

The pandemic has highlighted the intimate relationship between people and nature, he said, while changes in land use and encroachment on wild habitats are the primary paths for emerging infectious diseases, such as the deadly Ebola and COVID-19 viruses. 

“Three-quarters of new and emerging human infectious diseases are zoonotic”, jumping from animals to humans, and against this backdrop, the UN chief said that tackling the current COVID-19 crisis provides an opportunity to recover better. 

Biodiversity dividends 

In this landmark year for restoring balance with nature, tackling the climate emergency and getting ahead of the pollution crisis, the UN chief underscored, “our efforts to protect biodiversity will be key”. 

He said that solutions to the current crisis must expand opportunity, reduce stark inequalities and respect planetary boundaries, with “nature-positive investments and actions” to allow everyone to benefit from the “dividends of biological diversity”. 

Later this year, governments will meet for 15th Conference of Parties of the Convention on Biodiversity (COP-15) in Kunming, China, to finalize a new global framework for biodiversity to protect nature, restore ecosystems and reset humanity’s relationship with the

“It is essential that they succeed”, stressed the Secretary-General. “The rewards will be tremendous”. 

Movement for change 

There are many existing solutions to protect the planet’s genetic diversity on land and at sea, but they must be employed. 

“Everybody has a part to play. Sustainable lifestyle choices are the key”, said the UN chief, calling sustainable production and consumption “the answer”. 

Better policies that promote government, business and individual accountability are needed to give every person throughout the world the choice to live sustainably and be part of a movement for change. 

“Let us all be part of the solution”, he said. “Together, we can halt biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation and build a future where we live in harmony with nature”. 

‘Demand better for nature’ 

In her Biodiversity Day message, Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), spelled out that the planet’s challenges are “so acute that we don’t have the luxury of waiting around for someone else to step up and take action”. 

She explained that UNEP supports countries in monitoring and managing their biodiversity “as best we can”; sounds the alarm on what science is saying regarding biodiversity loss and how to change course; and works with businesses and finance to help shift towards “nature-positive investments”. 

The agency also works with decision-makers to factor in assets provided by nature to limit destruction caused by economic activity and mobilizes the entire UN system to support biodiversity through each of their mandates. 

“When we demand better for nature, we get better outcomes for all people”, stated Ms. Andersen. 

Become the solution 

Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), said that diversity of life on the planet is “declining more than ever before in human history”; plant and animal species face extinction; and “humans are overusing the Earth’s capacity by more than half”.  

Explaining that halting biodiversity loss would create the necessary conditions to achieve the SDGs, improve human health and address the climate emergency, she stressed: “Now is the time to change our relationship with nature”. 

The CBD chief underscored the importance of a COP-15 compact to protect crucial ecosystems, species and genetic diversity, saying that by acting for nature, “we can create a fairer, healthier and more sustainable world”.  

“Are you part of the solution to save biodiversity? If not, I invite you. Become part of the solution for nature”, she concluded.

Richest nations agree to end support for coal production overseas

Fiona Harvey

G7 countries reaffirm commitment to limit global heating to 1.5C after nearly two days of wrangling

Children play by the beach near a coal power plant in Java. Photograph: Kemal Jufri/Greenpeace

The world’s richest nations have agreed to end their financial support for coal development overseas, in a major step towards phasing out the dirtiest fossil fuel.

After nearly two days of wrangling at a meeting of the G7 Environment and energy ministers, hosted virtually by the UK on Thursday and Friday, all reaffirmed their commitment to limiting global heating to 1.5C, and committed to phasing out coal and fully decarbonising their energy sectors in the 2030s.

Japan, one of the world’s biggest sources of finance for coal power, along with China, held out on agreeing to stop helping to build until the final stages of the two-day virtual meeting. Japan’s government raised concerns that if it halted the financing, China would step in and build coal-fired power plants overseas that were less efficient than Japanese designs.

The other G7 members – the UK, the US, the EU, France, Italy, Germany, and Canada – were all united in calling for an end to such financing. The rich countries that make up the G7, along with other major non-G7 economies such as China and South Korea, have played a major role in the past in financing fossil fuel development in poorer countries. Japan, China and South Korea in particular have offered to help build coal-fired power plants in cash-strapped developing countries.

However, the International Energy Agency said earlier this week that all new developments of fossil fuels must end this year to give the world a good chance of keeping within the 1.5C limit. A recent increase in the use of coal, after last year’s lockdowns around the world, is largely responsible for what is forecast by the global energy watchdog to be the second biggest rise in emissions on record this year.

The IEA has set out milestones for a pathway to net zero CO₂ carbon emissions in 2050

John Kerry, the US climate envoy, said the US was determined to bring forward policies consistent with keeping within a temperature rise of 1.5C above pre-industrial levels, including phasing out coal. Referring to the IEA advice, he said the US would phase out unabated coal-fired power, which means power stations without technology to capture and store carbon dioxide.

Kerry said: “I will strongly recommend to the president that this is a policy that we should pursue … But I guarantee that we will be completely consistent with 1.5C. 1.5C governs the choices we have to make in the next 10 years. Any decision has to be within that framework.”

He said the G7 decision to affirm a 1.5C temperature limit, which according to scientists will require a halving of greenhouse gas emissions this decade as well as reaching net zero emissions by 2050, marked the first time that the countries had made such a commitment and was a major step forward. The 2015 Paris agreement requires countries to hold temperature rises “well below” 2C above pre-industrial levels, with a 1.5C limit as an aspiration.

“[There was] a greater sense of urgency than I have felt in G7 countries as a unit,” he said.

Barbara Pompili, France’s environment minister, said: “I am delighted that an agreement could be found regarding a key aspect of our G7 communique: the absolute end of new direct government support for international coal power generation. It gives a very strong signal to the world that coal is an energy of the past and has no place in our future energy mix. It sets the stage for a radical transition towards clean energy.

“That was a difficult decision for Japan in particular, and I am very pleased that Japan was able to take this decisive step.”

South Korea, another major source of finance for coal-fired power generation overseas, has already agreed to end the practice. That leaves China as the biggest source of such finance in developing countries.

China will now be keenly watched ahead of Cop26, the vital UN climate talks to be hosted by the UK in Glasgow this November. The world’s biggest emitter has yet to produce a national plan for curbing greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, called a nationally determined contribution (NDC) and an essential part of any deal at Glasgow.

Amina Mohammed, deputy secretary-general of the UN, told the meeting: “We are running out of time to bend the emissions curve and cut emissions by 45% globally by 2030 and that’s from 2010 levels. This means all main emitters must deliver enhanced NDCs this year with concrete and credible targets that we can follow through to 2030. Important investments in the targets we set for 2030 will determine the outcome of credibility of the 2050 targets. And it means no new coal starting now, phasing out coal in OECD countries by 2030, and in the rest of the world by 2040.”

The G7 communique contains a caveat, the Guardian understands, at the behest of the Japanese government, that would allow financing for coal in “limited circumstances at the discretion of each country”. It is understood this will only be used in exceptional circumstances.

The draft text reads: “We commit to promoting the increased international flow of public and private capital toward Paris Agreement-aligned investments and away from high-carbon power generation to support the clean energy transition in developing countries. In this context, we will phase out new direct government support for carbon-intensive international fossil fuel energy, except in limited circumstances at the discretion of each country, in a manner that is consistent with an ambitious, clearly defined pathway towards climate neutrality in order to keep 1.5C within reach, in line with the long-term objectives of the Paris Agreement and best available science.

“Consistent with this overall approach and recognising that continued global investment in unabated coal generation is incompatible with keeping 1.5C within reach, we stress that international investments in unabated coal must stop now and commit to take concrete steps towards an absolute end to new direct government support for unabated international thermal coal power generation by the end of 2021, including through Official Development Assistance, export finance, investment, and financial and trade promotion support.”

Trillions of litres of water released into Murray-Darling fails to help threatened species, research finds

Graham Readfearn

A ‘just add water’ approach is unlikely to be successful, with better monitoring of species needed to target environmental watering

The Darling-Barka River. An Australian National University study suggests a major rethink is needed of the way water is released for the environment in the Murray-Darling Basin. Photograph: Jenny Evans/Getty Images

Trillions of litres of water released into the Murray-Darling Basin to benefit the environment has failed to increase the populations of threatened species, according to new research.

In a damning assessment of the monitoring of eight threatened species, the research from Australian National University scientists says the public reporting of the benefits of environmental watering was fragmentary and not backed by evidence.

A “major rethink” of the way water was released for the environment through the $13bn basin plan was now needed, the research said.

Since 2007, some 198,000 gigalitres of environmental water had been released into the Murray-Darling Basin – the equivalent of almost 400 Sydney Harbours of water.

Research at the university’s Fenner School of Environment and Society looked at eight species listed nationally as threatened: two frogs, two waterbirds and four fish.

After reviewing all available data on the location and number of the species, the analysis published in the journal Marine and Freshwater Research found “no overall beneficial effect in terms of population increase of threatened species from environmental watering under the Basin Plan”.

Prof Jamie Pittock, a co-author of the research, told Guardian Australia: “Our overall finding is that there is no evidence of any improvement after reallocating about 2,000 billion litres of water and spending those billions of dollars.”

He said they found there was no monitoring at all of the threatened species in one-quarter of all the places where water was released. Some environmental watering had undoubtedly benefited some species, but the evidence for this was scarce, the report said.

Albie Ryan, who led the research but has since moved into private industry as an environmental consultant, said poor monitoring of species had led to poorly targeted releases of water.

He said a top-down approach to conservation and monitoring had not worked. “What’s more effective is a bottom-up grassroots approach that’s led by the community and brings together people including Indigenous groups and catchment managers.”

The researchers wrote that a lack of assessments meant it was not possible to know if Australia was upholding obligations to three international environmental treaties – the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Convention on Migratory Species and the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands.

Two of the species – flathead galaxias and silver perch – are listed nationally as critically endangered, but a national recovery plan is not in place for either. Plans are only in place for the southern bell frog, trout cod and Murray hardyhead.

“A failure to monitor and detect translates into a failure to prioritise species in environmental watering plans,” the research said.

“The approach to conservation in the basin that is characterised by the expression ‘just add water’ is unlikely to be successful in the long term without more sophisticated and strategic management.”

The Murray-Darling Basin Authority has seen previous drafts of the research.

In a statement Vicki Woodburn, the authority’s executive director of basin strategy and knowledge, said the authority agreed monitoring “needs to be improved across the basin and that threatened species should be considered”.

The authority had received $7.5m from the Australian government to improve monitoring capability “as this is an area requiring funding boost” and a strategy was being developed.

She said: “We welcome this independent research and the contribution it makes to the public conversation. It also helps to inform our work.

“This paper makes some good points, however the Basin Plan and the Water Act are not solely responsible for monitoring and recovering threatened species populations – there is role for all governments, including through the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC Act) in this important work.”

Starting up a Sustainability Business? Here is what you need to know!

Leonardo Lima

In our current scenario, we need new ideas to reduce environmental impacts and create a prosperous world. International companies seek innovation and business models to improve the relationship with ecosystems and communities.

For this reason, sustainable entrepreneurship has been growing inside and outside companies, contributing to the solution of social and environmental problems, both locally and globally. Boosting entrepreneurship is an emergency and a strategy for governance and companies, for example; this makes the marketplace more productive through technological change, creates jobs, and adds value for members of the society. Sustainability entrepreneurship acts at the interface of politics, business, and civil society to mobilize new resources and aim at a structural change towards socially and environmentally sound economic activities. 

Currently, several people are trying to develop new ideas to solve some socio-environmental problems, in addition, there are many challenges that compel governments and companies to envision new ideas. As a result, new entrepreneurial methodologies are being implemented in several projects to accelerate business, but, unfortunately, the lack of opportunities and experiences during schools and undergraduate courses is a major barrier to the entrepreneur's mindset.

In order to help new entrepreneurs, 4D Sustainability Canvas created a simple and affordable solution to develop new sustainable business models. The company developed a methodology that supports the first steps for small and medium-sized companies, carrying out a journey.

The company follows these steps:

1. Map the impact

• Value chain

• Community

• Governance

• Planet

• Employees

2. Associate the organization with the UN 2030 Agenda

3. Define the sustainability goals

• Goal

• Action

• Related SDG

• Target indicator

• Owner

• Reporting method

• Business advantage

4. GET Results

The world is ‘standing on the precipice’ of multiple crises, former UN chief warns

Tania Bryer

• Former U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the coming 10 years would be crucially important for global leaders to work on the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals.

• These are 17 targets created by the New York-based organization which are a call for action on economic, social and environmental sustainability by the year 2030.

• Narrowing it down, he said that the ongoing Covid-19 crisis had further highlighted the impact of a global water shortage.

Former UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon IThomas Trutschel | Photothek | Getty Images

Former U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has spoken of the multiple disasters the world is currently facing, which have only been accentuated by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. 

Ban, who led the U.N. from 2007-2016, called on global leaders to raise their ambition in order to avoid failures on a range of different issues, including climate change and the scarcity of water.

“There are still 2 billion people who lack safe drinking water, more than 1.5 billion people who do not have electricity and there are more than 60 million schoolchildren who do not go to school, even elementary school ... This is sad, this is really heartbreaking,” Ban told CNBC’s “Sustainable Future” in March, speaking around World Water Day.

“We are standing on the precipice of all these crises ... I hope that global leaders should have far-reaching global visions, that we are in this world together, we are all in this together, otherwise, we will all be a failure. Therefore, I’m really urging political leaders to do their best, lead by example,” he added. 

Ban said the coming 10 years would be crucially important for global leaders to work on the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals. These are 17 targets created by the New York-based organization which are a call for action on economic, social and environmental sustainability by the year 2030.

Narrowing it down, he said that the ongoing Covid-19 crisis had further highlighted the impact of a global water shortage.

“The pandemic of course has thrown a spotlight on this issue and it has also really demonstrated that water is a connecting thread linking the myriad of impacts of our crises, whether that’s around infectious diseases or food security, the last year has seen us experience all of them,” he said.

“When trillions of dollars are being spent for controlling the coronavirus, I think we need to see a bigger, bigger picture, investing wisely in water, that will really help our life. That’s one of the most important urgent items of (the) Sustainable Development Goals now,” he added.

Ban was speaking alongside the CEO of the Global Center for Adaptation, Patrick Verkooijen. Ban is also the chair of the GCA, which describes itself as a “solutions broker to accelerate, innovate and scale adaptation action for a climate-resilient world.”

Verkooijen told CNBC that the pandemic had been a “wake-up call.” “We are utterly unprepared for the next crisis, the climate emergency ... 90% of all natural disasters are water-related, more floods, more droughts, more storms, more fires. In the last two decades, these climate disasters have doubled. Half a million people lost their lives and over 2 trillion in economic losses,” he said.

“In 2017, three storms cost the United States economy $265 billion. Last year in 2020, one storm, over $55 billion in economic losses. I think (U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate) John Kerry said it very well, we have now crossed the point that investing in prevention is much more effective than cleaning up afterwards. That’s why investing in water and climate adaptation is the way to go,” he added.

Ban, who led efforts for the signing of the Paris Agreement for Climate Change in 2015, said that action on addressing all these issues needed to be sped up.

“We have to really expedite and raise the ambition level particularly by political leaders ... People know that climate change is very important, very serious and needs urgent action,” told CNBC.

“But at the same time, we have to take care of all the food shortages and gender empowerment, water shortages, quality education, resilient cities.”

‘Catastrophic’: Sierra Leone sells rainforest for Chinese harbour

Seascape: the state of our oceans

Karen McVeigh and Kabba Kargbo in Freetown

Controversial deal with China would be ‘disastrous’ for fishing and protected rainforest, say opponents

The beach earmarked for development fringes the Western Area Peninsula national park, home to endangered species including pangolins. Photograph: Issouf Sanogo/AFP/Getty

A $55m (£39m) deal struck by the government of Sierra Leone with China to build an industrial fishing harbour on 100 hectares (250 acres) of beach and protected rainforest has been criticised as “a catastrophic human and ecological disaster” by conservationists, landowners and rights groups.

The gold and black sands of Black Johnson beach fringe the African nation’s Western Area Peninsula national park, home to endangered species including the duiker antelope and pangolins. The waters are rich in sardines, barracuda and grouper, caught by local fishermen who produce 70% of the fish for the domestic market.

After reports of a Chinese-backed fishmeal plant began circulating on social media, A statement that appeared to be from the Sierra Leonean fisheries ministry confirmed the deal, but denied the planned construction was a “fish mill”. The facility would be a harbour for tuna and “other bigger fishing” vessels exporting to international markets, it said. It would include a “waste-management component” to “recycle marine and other wastes into useful products”.

The government said the beach, one of many along the nation’s 250-mile (400km) coastline, was the “most suitable place” for construction, and revealed the finance ministry had set aside a compensation package of 13.76bn leone (£950,000) for affected landowners. But the statement leaves more questions than answers, say those objecting to the plan.

The planned development is on Whale Bay, known for its cetaceans and also a key fish-breeding area, say opponents of the scheme. Photograph: Issouf Sanogo/AFP/Getty

Two legal campaign groups, the Institute for Legal Research and Advocacy for Justice (ILRAJ) and Namati Sierra Leone, have written to the government, under the 2013 Right to Access Information Act, demanding to see the environmental and social-impact assessment studies, and the report showing that the beach was, as claimed, the most suitable place for construction “in terms of bathymetry, social safeguards (minimum resettlement costs) and environmental issues”. They are also seeking a copy of the grant agreement between China and Sierra Leone.

Basita Michael, a lawyer for the ILRAJ, said: “The press release was very vague. It left us wondering how did we arrive here and how come we are only hearing about this now. We have a right to know more.”

James Tonner, who owns land at Black Johnson with his mother, Jane Aspden Gbandewa, has written an open letter to the president, Julius Maada Bio, calling for him to intervene and stop the construction, which Tonner said would be “disastrous for the country and the planet”.

It would destroy pristine rainforest, plunder fish stocks and pollute fish breeding grounds and several ecosystems, Tonner said. The beach is on Whale Bay, so-named because whales and dolphins are seen there.

Tonner, who lives in London, has set up a crowdfunding page to fund a judicial review into the deal. The government could be acting unconstitutionally if it acquired the land compulsorily, he said, because the constitution requires any such move to be in the public interest. The compensation stated by the government was also unfair, he argued, claiming that the rate was about 30 times lower than the market value of the land.

“Under the constitution, the government can sequester land if it is in the public interest,” Tonner said. “Even if this just a deep-water harbour, it is not in the public interest because it’s not a suitable site. There are fish breeding sites in the lagoon. It will wipe out the local fish people live on.”

Tito Gbandewa, Tonner’s stepfather, is a former fisherman who runs an ecotourism business on the beach and owns about 1.2 hectares. He said: “If they do this here, the water will be dirty, there will be a lot of oil and noise, the trawlers will be all around.

“Our own fishermen won’t have a place to fish. Everything will be spoiled. Tourism will be finished.”

Dr Sama Banya, president emeritus of the Conservation Society of Sierra Leone, echoed Gbandewa’s comments, saying the proposed development would have a “disastrous” impact on tourism and “the very fish industry that it’s supposed to support”.

Tito Gbandewa: ‘If they do this here, the water will be dirty, there will be a lot of oil and noise, the trawlers will be all around.’

Emma Kowa Jalloh, Sierra Leone’s fisheries minister, insisted that the plan was for a harbour and not a fishmeal factory. She said: “I can categorically tell you there is no fish mill [sic] going in at Black Johnson. What we are doing is a fish harbour that will be built by the Chinese government. A fish mill is something where you go and catch all the baby fish and grind it into food to give to piggeries, and fish in aquaculture – and that is so not true.”

It would be built with a Chinese government “grant” and equity from Sierra Leone in the form of land, she said. Half of the land needed was government-owned, she said, including the seafront, up to 200 metres from the sea. The rest has been acquired through compulsory acquisition, she said.

“People are making this fuss about it,” the minister added. “I would just appeal to people: ‘be patient, we want to be developed, we want to grow, we want to be classified as an upcoming country. There must be development and somebody has to sacrifice.’

“I’m not saying everything is going to be 100% perfect but we will make sure that it is near-perfect.”

Air pollution linked to ‘huge’ rise in child asthma GP visits

Damian Carrington

Exclusive: consultations for asthma and other respiratory infections go up with increased dirty air, finds study

The study found that inhaler prescriptions also increased significantly as a result of higher air pollution. Photograph: Yui Mok/PA

A “huge” increase in the number of visits to doctors by children with asthma problems occurs after a week of raised air pollution, according to a study. The number of inhaler prescriptions also increases significantly.

Dirty air is already known to increase hospital treatment for severe asthma attacks and other respiratory problems. But the new research is the first using clinical data to show increased illness among the much bigger number of people who seek treatment from their GP.

The researchers said children were the most severely affected by the raised air pollution, but there were increases in GP consultations and inhaler prescriptions for people of all ages. Overall, they said, the study demonstrates that air pollution, particularly from diesel vehicles, affects whole communities.

The researchers called for action to cut air pollution and said pollution warnings could be used to help those at risk to prepare for episodes of increased dirty air. The research was conducted in south London over five years and analysed more than 750,000 respiratory consultations at GPs and inhaler prescriptions.

The average level of particle pollution in Lambeth during the study period was 21 micrograms per cubic metre of air (µg/m3). The researchers found that when this pollution was raised by 9 µg/m3 for a week, the number of child consultations for asthma and respiratory infections went up by 7.5%. For nitrogen dioxide pollution, the average level was 51µg/m3, and a rise of 22µg/m3 was linked with consultations rising by 6%.

“These are huge increases,” said Mark Ashworth, at King’s College London, who led the research. “We’d expected much smaller associations. This is a very large shift of the dial and has never been shown before.”

Air pollution was found to have caused the death of nine-year-old Ella Kissi-Debrah. Photograph: Family Handout/PA

Children are already among the most frequent visitors to GPs and respiratory problems are one of the most common reasons for consultations, he said, so these percentage rises mean a large number of extra visits.

Furthermore, Ashworth said: “We think these headline figures are a substantial underestimate.” This is because the GP data was only available from Monday to Friday and during surgery hours, so consultations at weekends or in the evening were not included in the data.

“We all have in our minds the case of Ella Kissi-Debrah,” Ashworth said. “If only we’d had this evidence then.” A landmark ruling by a coroner in December found that air pollution was a cause of death of the nine-year-old girlin south London in 2013.

“We now have confirmation that diesel-related air pollution is linked strongly to respiratory illness that is bad enough to see the GP,” Ashworth said. “That’s got to be a call to reduce diesel pollution.”

Rosamund Kissi-Debrah, Ella’s mother and clean air advocate for the World Health Organization (WHO), said: “I keep on saying daily how so many are affected like Ella. Diesel must be phased out as soon as possible – the health impacts are terrible. We can’t have a generation of children on inhalers. Health professionals must continue to speak up as their voice is critical.

The coroner’s April report on the prevention of future deaths said the UK’s legal limits for particulate pollution should be halved, to be in line with WHO guidelines. He also said better warnings on air pollution levels should be provided to the public and that medical staff should be trained to give patients more information on the dangers of dirty air.

Privacy safeguards mean that large datasets of clinical data from GPs are rare but the new study, published in the journal Environmental Health, used Lambeth DataNet, which provides anonymised information on 1.2 million patients.

Data on respiratory consultations and inhaler prescriptions from 2009–2013 were compared with fine-scale air pollution data to reveal the links. The researchers took account of other factors, including the weather and levels of deprivation.

Air pollution levels have reduced since the study period, but NO2 levels remain illegally high in many urban areas and particle pollution is frequently above WHO guidelines, though there is thought to be no safe limit.

“It is not just a few severely affected people who are going to be hit by particulates and NO2,” said Ashworth. “It’s a large proportion of people who are vulnerable. Therefore, anybody taking asthma inhalers is going to have a degree of vulnerability and needs to be prepared.”

At least 12 dead as tornadoes rip through two Chinese provinces

Reuters

"I've grown up in Wuhan and I've never seen anything like it," one resident of the city posted on China's Weibo app.

SHANGHAI — Two tornadoes ripped through China's central city of Wuhan and a town in the eastern province of Jiangsu, killing at least 12 people and injuring hundreds while destroying homes and property, the official Xinhua news agency said on Saturday.

Eight people were reported dead in Wuhan, in Hubei province, with 280 injured after Friday's tornado ripped through the district of Caidian at 8:39 p.m. local time, the agency said.

The tornado toppled 27 houses and damaged 130 more, as well as two tower cranes and row upon row of sheds at construction sites, it added.

"I've grown up in Wuhan and I've never seen anything like it," one resident of the city posted on China's Weibo app. "There's been so much extreme weather recently."

Another tornado struck the town of Shengze, in the Suzhou area of tornado-prone Jiangsu province, killing four people and injuring 149, Xinhua said.

Fire officials said the winds damaged electricity facilities and toppled several factory buildings.

Tornadoes often hit Jiangsu in the late spring and early summer.

China's commercial hub of Shanghai, around 62 miles from Suzhou, was also hit by powerful thunderstorms, prompting weather officials to declare an alert.

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More heavy storms were expected in Shanghai and other parts of the Yangtze river delta region later on Saturday, the state weather forecaster said.

China faces more extreme weather as a result of climate change, Jia Xiaolong, an official of the forecaster, told reporters in late April, adding that the risk of disasters such as heat waves and floods was expected to rise in the coming years.

Climate emissions shrinking the stratosphere, scientists reveal

Damian Carrington

Exclusive: Thinning indicates profound impact of humans and could affect satellites and GPS

The thickness of the stratosphere has contracted by 400 metres since the 1980s, the researchers found. Photograph: Alamy

Humanity’s enormous emissions of greenhouse gases are shrinking the stratosphere, a new study has revealed.

The thickness of the atmospheric layer has contracted by 400 metres since the 1980s, the researchers found, and will thin by about another kilometre by 2080 without major cuts in emissions. The changes have the potential to affect satellite operations, the GPS navigation system and radio communications.

The discovery is the latest to show the profound impact of humans on the planet. In April, scientists showed that the climate crisis had shifted the Earth’s axis as the massive melting of glaciers redistributes weight around the globe.

The stratosphere extends from about 20km to 60km above the Earth’s surface. Below is the troposphere, in which humans live, and here carbon dioxide heats and expands the air. This pushes up the lower boundary of the stratosphere. But, in addition, when CO2 enters the stratosphere it actually cools the air, causing it to contract.

The earth’s atmosphere consists of several layers, with the troposphere at the bottom. The measurements indicated here are approximate and can vary enormously according to time of year, or position in relation to the earth.

The shrinking stratosphere is a stark signal of the climate emergency and the planetary-scale influence that humanity now exerts, according to Juan Añel, at the University of Vigo, Ourense in Spain and part of the research team. “It is shocking,” he said. “This proves we are messing with the atmosphere up to 60 kilometres.”

Scientists already knew the troposphere was growing in height as carbon emissions rose and had hypothesised that the stratosphere was shrinking. But the new study is the first to demonstrate this and shows it has been contracting around the globe since at least the 1980s, when satellite data was first gathered.

The ozone layer that absorbs UV rays from the sun is in the stratosphere and researchers had thought ozone losses in recent decades could be to blame for the shrinking. Less ozone means less heating in the stratosphere. But the new research shows it is the rise of CO2 that is behind the steady contraction of the stratosphere, not ozone levels, which started to rebound after the 1989 Montreal treaty banned CFCs.

The study, published in the journal Environmental Research Letters, reached its conclusions using the small set of satellite observations taken since the 1980s in combination with multiple climate models, which included the complex chemical interactions that occur in the atmosphere.

Sunset over the Indian Ocean. Above the darkened surface of Earth, a brilliant sequence of colours denotes several layers of the atmosphere. Deep oranges and yellows are visible in the troposphere that extends from Earth’s surface to 6-20km high. The pink to white region above the clouds appears to be the stratosphere; this atmospheric layer generally has little or no clouds and extends up to approximately 50km above Earth’s surface. Above the stratosphere blue layers mark the upper atmosphere as it gradually fades into the blackness of outer space. Photograph: NASA

“It may affect satellite trajectories, orbital life-times, and retrievals […] the propagation of radio waves, and eventually the overall performance of the Global Positioning System and other space-based navigational systems,” the researchers said.

Prof Paul Williams, at the University of Reading in the UK, who was not involved in the new research, said: “This study finds the first observational evidence of stratosphere contraction and shows that the cause is in fact our greenhouse gas emissions rather than ozone.”

“Some scientists have started calling the upper atmosphere the ‘ignorosphere’ because it is so poorly studied,” he said. “This new paper will strengthen the case for better observations of this distant but critically important part of the atmosphere.”

“It is remarkable that we are still discovering new aspects of climate change after decades of research,” said Williams, whose own research has shown that the climate crisis could triple the amount of severe turbulence experienced by air travellers. “It makes me wonder what other changes our emissions are inflicting on the atmosphere that we haven’t discovered yet.”

The dominance of humanity activities on the planet has led scientists to recommend the declaration of a new geological epoch: the Anthropocene.

Among the suggested markers of the Anthropocene are the radioactive elements scattered by nuclear weapons tests in the 1950s and domestic chicken bones, thanks to the surge in poultry production after the second world war. Other scientists have suggested widespread plastic pollution as a marker of a plastic age, to follow the bronze and iron ages.

Study finds alarming levels of ‘forever chemicals’ in US mothers’ breast milk

Tom Perkins

Toxic chemicals known as PFAS found in all 50 samples tested at levels nearly 2,000 times what is considered safe in drinking water

‘The study shows that PFAS contamination of breast milk is likely universal in the US,,’ said Erika Schreder, the report’s co-author. Photograph: Compassionate Eye Foundation/David Oxberry/Getty Images

A new study that checked American women’s breast milk for PFAS contamination detected the toxic chemical in all 50 samples tested, and at levels nearly 2,000 times higher than the level some public health advocates advise is safe for drinking water.

The findings “are cause for concern” and highlight a potential threat to newborns’ health, the study’s authors say.

“The study shows that PFAS contamination of breast milk is likely universal in the US, and that these harmful chemicals are contaminating what should be nature’s perfect food,” said Erika Schreder, a co-author and science director with Toxic Free Future, a Seattle-based non-profit that pushes industry to find alternatives to the chemicals.

PFAS, or per and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a class of about 9,000 compounds that are used to make products like food packaging, clothing and carpeting water and stain resistant. They are called “forever chemicals” because they do not naturally break down and have been found to accumulate in humans.

They are linked to cancer, birth defects, liver disease, thyroid disease, plummeting sperm counts and a range of other serious health problems.

The peer-reviewed study, published on Thursday in the Environmental Science and Technology journal, found PFAS at levels in milk ranging from 50 parts per trillion (ppt) to more than 1,850ppt.

There are no standards for PFAS in breast milk, but the public health advocacy organization Environmental Working Group puts its advisory target for drinking water at 1ppt, and the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, within the Department of Health and Human Services, recommends as little as 14ppt in children’s drinking water.

Though researchers are concerned by the findings, newborns are difficult to study so there has not been a thorough analysis of how PFAS affect them, said Sheela Sathyanarayana, a co-author of the study and pediatrician with the University of Washington.

But she added that studies of older children and adults have linked the chemicals to hormonal disruptions and suggests PFAS harm the immune system, which could be especially problematic for infants because breast milk bolsters their immune system.

Though the study checked a relatively small sample size, the contamination cut across socioeconomic and geographic groupings, which is “what makes the issue so difficult on an individual level”, Sathyanarayana said.

“What it speaks to is that the chemicals are so ubiquitous that we can’t really predict who will have the highest exposures,” she added.

The study also runs counter to a chemical industry claim that its newer generation of PFAS that are still in use do not accumulate in humans. It found more than 12 kinds of compounds in about half of the samples, and 16 compounds overall, including several that are currently in use.

Evidence also suggests that the problem is getting worse. The study is the first in the US since 2005 to check breast milk samples, and shows an increase in the newer generation of PFAS, while older compounds that were phased out by industry are still present, and some at high levels.

The study also analyzed breast milk data from around the world and found PFAS detection frequency is increasing.

Among steps that the authors recommend pregnant women and mothers take to protect themselves are avoiding greaseproof carryout food packaging, stain guards like ScotchGard, waterproof clothing that uses PFAS, and cooking products with Teflon or similar non-stick properties, though manufacturers often do not disclose the chemicals’ use.

Moreover, the compounds’ ubiquity makes them all but impossible to avoid, and Schreder said that the best solution is a virtual ban of the entire chemical class, including those that industry claims do not accumulate as much in humans.

“The study provides more evidence that the PFAS that companies are currently using and putting into products are behaving like the ones they phased out, and they’re also getting into breast milk and exposing children at a very vulnerable phase of development,” she said.

SUSTAINABLE FUTURE: 4 steps to take to achieve socially responsible investment goals, according to a consultant

Karen Gilchrist

• With sustainable investments becoming an increasing part of the international agenda, pressure is piling on businesses to ensure they have a suitable strategy in place.

• Benjamin McCarron, founder and managing director of Singapore-based consultancy Asia Research and Engagement, told CNBC there are four key principles companies can follow to make their ESG plan consistent.

• The guidance comes as ESG investments have been rising, hitting a high of $2 trillion in Q1 2021.

With sustainable investments becoming an increasing part of the international agenda, pressure is piling on businesses to ensure they have a suitable strategy in place.

BlackRock — the world’s largest asset manager and a forerunner in sustainable investments — was last week accused of inconsistency in its ESG agenda. ESG stands for environmental, social and corporate governance, and refers to a set of standards that measure a company’s performance in areas like carbon emissions and social responsibility.

The investment firm was found to have links to an Indonesian palm oil company, which once again raised concerns around possible blind spots in the ESG investment process. But according to Singapore-based consultancy Asia Research and Engagement (ARE), there are several steps businesses can take to ensure their ESG strategy is considered and consistent.

“It’s no good having a commitment for 2050 and expecting all of the change to happen in 2049.
”

— Benjamin McCarron FOUNDER AND MANAGING DIRECTOR, ASIA RESEARCH AND ENGAGEMENT

First, businesses must set out a strong intention to “manage whatever it is that needs to be managed,” Benjamin McCarron, founder and managing director of ARE told CNBC Tuesday. That could be internal policies or external investments.

Then, leaders should set in place a time-targeted plan to meet those goals.

“It’s no good having a commitment for 2050 and expecting all of the change to happen in 2049, so there needs to be a plan which is in place and which is progressive through time,” he said.

An Acehnese worker harvests palm oil fruits at a palm oil plantation area in Kuta Makmur, North Aceh Regency. SOPA Images | LightRocket | Getty Images

Next, they need to implement a transparent reporting system and have appropriate governance in place to ensure that reporting is adhered to.

Finally, businesses need to start now. “Don’t leave it too late,” said McCarron.

The advice comes as interest in ESG investments has been rising. In the first quarter of 2021, investments in sustainable funds hit a new high of nearly $2 trillion, marking the fourth quarter of gains, according to Morningstar.

However, investors should continue to exercise caution to ensure companies are acting in accordance with their claims. Institutional investors should engage in dialogue, exert their voting rights and implement shareholder proposals to make sure companies are meeting the set goals.

Meanwhile. it’s much easier for retail investors, said McCarron: “You can have whatever values you want. If you don’t want to own something, don’t own it.”

The Green Digest: Biden's land conservation program, Post-covid economy and other world issues

The Green Institute

How will the government use its dollars for Biden's land conservation program to promote local conservation?

President Joe Biden has a big challenge, to conserve 30% of the US land and water by 2030. Biden signed an executive order at the beginning of his term that addresses “facing the climate crisis”. With that, a report was created to explain which way the US can go in order to reach its goal. The report was titled as "Conserving and Restoring America the Beautiful", within their actions are creating more parks, increasing the habitats of animals, boost outdoor recreation and create incentives for fishers, farmers and forest owners to voluntarily conserve some of their land. Much has been discussed in this program as the report lacks many details on how the government will use its federal dollars and powers to promote local conservation. Although the importance of environmental preservation is clear, during the recent meeting of the House Committee on Natural resources, GOP lawmakers repeatedly described the plan as Biden's "radical 30 by 30 land grab initiative."

GOP lawmakers repeatedly described it as Biden’s “radical 30 by 30 land grab initiative.”

Circular Economy: The Future of Business Post COVID-19

Much has been discussed about the impacts of the new circular economy and its positive effects on the environment and the generation of economic opportunities, but what is the perspective for after COVID-19? The post-pandemic world is very uncertain, but top experts have concluded that adopting circular economy strategies might be one of the best ways to ensure business recovery. About 8.6% of the world economy is circular, says The 2020 Global Circularity Report. Great opportunities are in store for this market, as it is directly linked to consumption habits when it comes to recycling, reusing, and reusing waste and raw materials. The circular economy is able to generate employment opportunities, create new avenues of revenue, and fuel economic activity while reducing some pressure on natural resources. Faced with the impacts of covid, the circular economy appears as a solution for new lifestyles and businesses, with more social responsibility and concern for future generations.

SDG Media Zone at UN Youth Forum focuses on reimagining sustainable development as we approach a post-pandemic world

The discussion started in the SDG Media Zone at the 10th UN Youth Forum on advances in the objectives of sustainable development. Climate change and inequality were the most debated topics, and in the face of these issues, global youth perspectives on problems and possible global solutions in the post-pandemic were discussed. Young activists and local leaders expressed their opinions and showed what attitudes would be essential to continue pursuing the SDGs. The session was a special episode of the BBC World Service's 17-part series, called Project 17, where seventeen 17-year-olds in seventeen countries explore progress and setbacks towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

Living Planet: Aflatoxins threaten food security for millions in East Africa

Global warming has been impacting life on land in several ways, and due to the rise in temperature on earth, a new type of mycotoxin called “aflatoxin” is affecting corn and peanut crops in East Africa, where thousands of people depend on these foods for survival. Several researchers in pathology and other areas have been studying over the years the serious situation that has been aggravated by the high temperature and several technologies can help to mitigate this impact, but that investment is needed.