The Environment Chronicle

On 31 August 2016, Paul G. Allen’s Vulcan Inc. announced the alarming results of the Great Elephant Census (GEC), the first-ever pan-African survey of savanna elephants. Revealed at the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) World Conservation Congress, the GEC shows a decline of 30 percent in African savanna elephant populations in 15 of the 18 countries surveyed. Over a two-year period, using standardized data collection and validation methods, the GEC accurately determined the number and distribution of the great majority of African savanna elephants and provides a baseline for future surveys and trend analyses. Final results show: Savanna elephant populations declined by 30 percent (equal to 144,000 elephants) between 2007 and 2014. The current rate of decline is 8 percent per year, primarily due to poaching. The rate of decline accelerated from 2007 to 2014. 352,271 elephants were counted in the 18 countries surveyed.

On 26 August 2016, President Obama signed a proclamation expanding the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument. Previously the largest contiguous fully-protected conservation area in the United States at 362,073 km2, the expanded boundaries make it once again the biggest protected area on the planet at 1,508,870 km2, nearly the size of the Gulf of Mexico.

James Cook University (JCU), University of Sydney and Queensland University of Technology scientists working with laser data from the Royal Australian Navy have discovered a reef behind the Great Barrier Reef. JCU’s Dr Robin Beaman says the high-resolution seafloor data provided by LiDAR-equipped aircraft have revealed great fields of unusual donut-shaped circular mounds, each 200-300 metres across and up to 10 metres deep at the centre. “We’ve known about these geological structures in the northern Great Barrier Reef since the 1970s and 80s, but never before has the true nature of their shape, size and vast scale been revealed,” he said. The fields of circular donut-shaped rings are Halimeda bioherms, large reef-like geological structures formed by the growth of Halimeda, a common green algae composed of living calcified segments.

A University of Alaska Fairbanks-led research project has provided the first modern evidence of a landscape-level permafrost carbon feedback, in which thawing permafrost releases ancient carbon as climate-warming greenhouse gases. The study was published on 22 August 2016 in the journal Nature Geoscience. The project studied lakes in Alaska, Canada, Sweden and Siberia where permafrost thaw surrounding lakes led to lake shoreline expansion during the past 60 years. Using historical aerial photo analysis, soil and methane sampling, and radiocarbon dating, the project quantified for the first time the strength of the present-day permafrost carbon feedback to climate warming. Although a large permafrost carbon emission is expected to occur imminently, the results of this study show nearly no sign that it has begun.

On 16 September 2016, the luxury ship Crystal Serenity completed historic Northwest Passage Journey. The largest cruise ship to sail the Northwest Passage docked on the West Side of Manhattan, New York. On 16 August Crystal Serenity departed from Sward, Alaska carrying 1,700 passengers and crew, and escorted by an icebreaker.

On 5 August 2016 the Brazilian environmental agency IBAMA cancelled the process for licensing the São Luiz do Tapajós megadam in the heart of the Amazon. The 8,000-megawatt São Luiz do Tapajós dam would have been the sixth-largest hydroelectric dam in the world, spanning the five-mile wide Tapajós river and drowning 376 sq km (145 sq miles) of rainforest that is home to some 12,000 Munduruku Indians. But in an unexpected announcement, the Ibama protection agency on Thursday cancelled development permits saying that an environmental impact study submitted by a consortium of Brazilian, European and other companies seeking to build the dam had failed to present enough evidence to judge its social and ecological impacts.

On 27 July 2016 the European Commission took the decision to register the 'People4Soil' European Citizens' Initiative. The 'People4Soil' European Citizens' Initiative invites the Commission to "recognise soil as a shared heritage that needs EU level protection and develop a dedicated legally binding framework covering the main soil threats." The registration of the 'People4Soil' initiative will take place on 12 September.

Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg have just flown all around the world in their solar aircraft "Solar Impulse 2", which is powered by four solar electric motors. The two scientists took off from Abu Dhabi on 9 March 2015, and landed back there on 26 July 2016 after flying more than 40,000 kilometres across two oceans and four continents. That is the first circumnavigation of the world in an airplane powered by renewable energy rather than fossil fuel. The two men want their mission to promote the use of renewable energy in the fight to mitigate climate change.

A UN committee has found that the EU is breaching the Aarhus Convention access to justice law. The Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee ruled after ClientEarth brought a case against the EU for stopping citizens taking environmental cases to the European Court of Justice. The Committee said the way the European Court of Justice has been interpreting EU rules on access to the court breaches the Aarhus Convention. The regulation which applies the Convention also puts the EU in violation of the Convention. The Committee called for the regulation to be amended to ensure individuals and NGOs go to court to challenge the decisions of EU institutions in environmental matters. A UN committee has found that the EU is breaching the Aarhus Convention access to justice law. The Committee said the way the European Court of Justice has been interpreting EU rules on access to the court breaches the Aarhus Convention. The regulation which applies the Convention also puts the EU in violation of the Convention. The Committee called for the regulation to be amended to ensure individuals and NGOs go to court to challenge the decisions of EU institutions in environmental matters.

On 22 July 2016, the Commission authorised three GMOs for food/feed uses, all of which have gone through a comprehensive authorisation procedure, including a favourable scientific assessment by EFSA. The authorisation decisions do not cover cultivation. The GMOs approved on 22 July had received "no opinion" votes from the Member States in both the Standing and Appeal Committees and the Commission adopted the pending decisions. The authorisations are valid for 10 years, and any products produced from these GMOs will be subject to the EU's strict labelling and traceability rules.

On 21 July 2016, the Mexican government announced new vaquita protections in the upper Gulf of California, the only place in the world where the vaquita lives. From September 2016, Mexico will permanently ban the use of gillnets throughout the range of vaquita porpoise (Phocoena sinus) in the upper Gulf of California. With just 60 individuals remaining in the wild, the vaquita porpoise is the world’s smallest, rarest and most threatened marine mammal. Night fishing will also be phased out by the end of this year, Mario Aguilar Sánchez, Mexico’s National Aquaculture and Fisheries Commissioner, told reporters.

On 19 July 2016 Germany presented first report on the implementation of the global Sustainable Development Goals to the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development. Germany is one of the first countries to report on its efforts to implement the goals. The German implementation report was compiled with input from German civil society representatives. That is why, in New York, the German government presented the report together with the Federation of German Industries, the German Trade Union Confederation, the German NGO Forum on Environment and Development, and the Association of German Development and Humanitarian Aid Non-Governmental Organisations (VENRO).

On 18 July 2016 the Council adopted a new regulation which updates the multiannual recovery plan for Bluefin tuna in the eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean. The new rules improve the existing recovery plan. The regulation transposes into Union law measures adopted by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) between 2012 and 2014. In particular it transposes recommendation 14-04, which rationalises the existing control provisions and sets out procedures in relation to the use of stereoscopic cameras, release operations and the treatment of dead fish in the recovery plan. The plan for Bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) applies from 2007 until 2022. It was recommended by ICCAT, an inter-governmental fishery organisation responsible for the conservation of tunas and tuna-like species in the Atlantic Ocean and its adjacent seas. The EU is a contracting party to ICCAT. This adoption by the Council confirms the first reading agreement reached with the European Parliament in April 2016. The regulation will enter into force and become applicable by the end of 2016.

On 13 July 2016 the European Commission took an important step towards halting biodiversity loss, adopting a list of invasive alien species that require action across the EU. The list contains 37 species that cause damage on a scale that justifies dedicated measures across the Union.

On 11 July 2016 Member states backed a proposal by the European Commission to put limits on the use of the weed-killer glyphosate in the 28-nation bloc, including a ban on one co-formulant called POE-tallowamine. Other measures approved by the EU expert panel include reinforcing the scrutiny of glyphosate use before harvest and restricting the use of the substance in areas like public parks and playgrounds.

To learn more about the specific impacts of climate change and the research work being conducted in the region, Federal Environment Minister Barbara Hendricks visited Svalbard from 11 to 15 July 2016. Her trip to the Norwegian Arctic was conducted in cooperation with the Norwegian environment ministry. The Director of the AWI, Professor Karin Lochte, accompanied Minister Hendricks on her trip.

With increasing water temperatures comes an increasing likelihood of potentially pathogenic bacteria appearing in the North and Baltic Seas. AWI scientists have now proven that a group of such bacteria known as vibrios can survive on microplastic particles. In the future, they want to investigate in greater detail the role of these particles on the accumulation and possible distribution of these bacteria.

Plans to update EU type approval rules and emission limits for internal combustion engines in non-road mobile machinery (NRMM), such as lawn mowers, bulldozers, diesel locomotives and inland waterway vessels, were backed by MEPs on 5 July 2016. NRMM engines account for about 15% of all NOx and 5% of particulate emissions in the EU. The legislation defines engine categories, which are divided into sub-categories according to their power range. For each category, it sets emission limits for CO, HC, NOX and particulate matter (PM) and deadlines for implementing them, starting from 2018. The plans include a new in-service engine performance monitoring system which should close the current gap between laboratory emission test figures and those measured in the real world.

On 30 June 2016, the European Parliament, the Council and the European Commission reached an agreement on how to better protect deep-sea fish, sponges and corals while maintaining the viability of the European fishing industry. The agreement brings the EU rules on deep-sea fisheries, which date back to 2003, in line with the sustainability targets enshrined in the EU's reformed Common Fisheries Policy. The text agreed contains a number of provisions that will help better protect the European deep seas. From now on, fishermen may only target deep-sea fish in areas where they have fished in the past (their so-called 'fishing footprint'), thereby ensuring that pristine environments remain untouched. Trawls below 800m will be banned completely in EU waters, and areas with vulnerable marine environments (VMEs) will be closed to bottom fishing below 400m. To further protect VMEs, fishermen will have to report how many deep-sea sponges or corals they catch and move on to other fishing grounds in case a certain maximum amount has been reached. These measures are complemented by a reinforced observers' scheme that will improve the scientific understanding of the deep sea. Finally, specific measures, for example landings in designated ports, will be taken to improve enforcement and control. Fishing authorisations may ultimately be withdrawn in case of failure to comply with the new rules. In 2012, the Commission had proposed a package which included the full phasing out over two years of deep-sea gears in contact with the sea bottom. This proposal was rejected by the Council and the Parliament. Today's agreement offers alternative protection measures.

On 30 June 2016 the United Kingdom announced an ambitious new carbon target for the Year 2032. Amber Rudd accepted the advice of the government’s statutory climate advisers, setting a target on Thursday of reducing carbon emissions 57% by 2030 on 1990 levels.

On 6 June 2016, the EU Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed failed to extend the licence for controversial weedkiller Glyphosate. Twenty member states voted in favour of the extension and only one against while seven abstained, including Germany and France.

On 23 June 2016, the Berlin House of Representatives voted to blacklist investment into companies that are incompatible with the city’s stated goal of going “climate neutral” by the year 2050. The policy will ban coal, oil and gas companies from the city’s €750 million pension fund.

On 23 June 2016, five young elk that were imported from Sweden in November 2015 were released into nature after spending the past months in an enclosed area in the Lille Vildmose marsh in northeastern Jutland, Denmark.

On 22 June 2016 the first eHighway system on a public road opened. For the coming two years, a Siemens catenary system for trucks will be tested on a two-kilometer stretch of the E16 highway north of Stockholm, Sweden. The trial will use two diesel hybrid vehicles to operate under the catenary system. During the two-year trial, Sweden's Transport Administration Trafikverket and Gävleborg County want to create a knowledge base on whether the Siemens eHighway system is suitable for future commercial use and further deployment.

On 22 june 2016, the world’s two primary city-led climate change and energy initiatives, the EU Covenant of Mayors and the Compact of Mayors, announced the formation of a new, first-of-its-kind global initiative of cities and local governments leading in the fight against climate change. This single initiative will create the largest global coalition of cities committed to climate leadership, building on the commitments of more than 7,100 cities from 119 countries and six continents, representing more than 600 million inhabitants, over 8% of the world’s population.

Solar Impulse 2 has completed the first ever crossing of the Atlantic by a solar-powered aeroplane, landing in Spain early on 23 June 2016. On 20 June 2016 the solar aircraft took off from New York's JFK airport after mission engineers identified a narrow weather window in which to undertake the nearly four-day flight.

Norway has become the first industrialised nation to formally ratify the Paris Agreement, after its UN ambassador Geir Pederson deposited its "instrument of ratification" to the UN's climate change Secretariat in New York on 20 June 2016.

On 15 June 2016, the European Commission presented criteria to identify endocrine disruptors in the field of plant protection products and biocides. The Commission proposes to the Council and the European Parliament to adopt a strong science-based approach to the identification of endocrine disruptors and to endorse the WHO definition.

On 10 June 2016, the European Commission presented a proposal for the European Union to ratify the Paris Agreement. The Commission's proposal for the ratification of the Paris Agreement on behalf of the EU is now with the European Parliament and Council for their approval. The Commission's proposal takes the form of a Council decision. The consent of European Parliament is required prior to the adoption of the decision by the Council. Once approved, the Council will designate the person(s) who will deposit the ratification instrument, on behalf of the European Union, to the United Nations Secretary- General. In parallel the EU Member States will ratify the Paris Agreement individually, in accordance with their national parliamentary processes.

On 8 June 2016, Shell Canada announced it has voluntarily contributed offshore rights to the Nature Conservancy of Canada to support the establishment of a national marine conservation area off the coast of Nunavut.

The European Parliament adopted a resolution on 8 June 2016 calling for the Commission to take immediate action on the definition of endocrine (hormone) disruptors. The executive was supposed to publish its scientific criteria for the identification of chemical substances that affect the human endocrine system by December 2013 at the latest.

On 5 June 2016, a key international treaty aimed at combating illegal fishing came into force. The Port State Measures Agreement, adopted and promoted in November 2009 by the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organisation, allows countries to keep illegal operators out of their ports and to prevent them from landing illegal catches. It requires that countries officially designate ports for use by foreign fishing vessels. These vessels should send prior notifications to enter designated ports and provide port authorities with information, including on the catches they have on board. The Agreement also calls on countries to deny entry or inspect vessels that have been involved in IUU fishing and to take appropriate actions.

Climate change is fast becoming one of the most significant risks for World Heritage sites, according to the report “World Heritage and Tourism in a Changing Climate”, released on 26 May 2016 by UNESCO, the United Nations Environment Programme, and the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). The report lists 31 natural and cultural World Heritage sites in 29 countries that are vulnerable to increasing temperatures, melting glaciers, rising seas, intensifying weather events, worsening droughts and longer wildfire seasons. At the request of the Government of Australia, references to Australian sites were removed from the Report. The report initially had a key chapter on the Great Barrier Reef.

On 19 May 2016 a committee of representatives from the 28 European Union member states met again to vote on whether to extend the authorization of glyphosate - the most commonly used herbicide in the world - which is set to expire in the EU at the end of June. But the committee could still not get a majority of countries for or against reauthorization.

On 18 May 2016, German federal cabinet agreed to set aside some 600 million euros to encourage people to buy electric cars - via an "environmental bonus." The costs of the scheme will be shared with the auto industry, which is also putting up 600 million euros. New car-buyers stand to get a 4,000-euro subsidy if they buy a purely electric car, and 3,000 euros if they opt for a hybrid car, which combines a battery and a small combustion engine. Not only that, electric cars will be exempt from motor vehicle taxes for 10 years.

On 17 May 2016, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court found in favor of four youth plaintiffs, all supported by Our Children's Trust, the Conservation Law Foundation, and Mass Energy Consumers Alliance, in the critical climate change case, Kain et al. v. Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection. The Court found that the DEP was not complying with its legal obligation to reduce the State’s GHG emissions and ordered the agency to “promulgate regulations that address multiple sources or categories of sources of greenhouse gas emissions, impose a limit on emissions that may be released . . . and set limits that decline on an annual basis.”

On 12 May 2016, the Brazilian Government announced the creation of five new protected areas in the State of Amazonas. These lands together stand for 2.69 million hectares. All of these areas are located in the Madeira River basin , in the southern Amazon. They were established due from studies funded by the Amazon Protected Areas Program (ARPA) – a Brazilian government initiative supported technically and financially by WWF for more than a decade. The Conservation Director of WWF-Brazil, Mário Barroso, celebrated the creation of the new areas. “Creating protected areas is one of the most effective strategies to protect and promote the conservation of biodiversity. So, we welcome the action of the Brazilian Government and found this decision very interesting and important”, he said.

On 9 May 2016 environmental officials in El Salvador announced a three-month emergency over a molasses spill in a river in the Santa Ana department. The civil protection service issued the alert after 3.4 million liters of sludgy, brown, hot molasses was released into La Magdalena river near the town of Chalchuapa, 55 kilometers (35 miles) west of the capital San Salvador. The environment ministry said the spill occurred on 4 May 2016.

On 9 May 2016, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew released the first annual report on the State of the World’s Plants. The World's Plants report, which involved more than 80 scientists and took a year to produce, is a baseline assessment of current knowledge on the diversity of plants on earth, the global threats these plants currently face, as well as the policies in place and their effectiveness in dealing with threats. The first section focuses on the diversity of plants on earth, noting that there are now an estimated 391,000 vascular plants known to science of which 369,000 are flowering plants -- with around 2,000 new vascular plant species described annually. In terms of the uses of plants, the report collates data from multiple data sources to reveal that at least 31,000 plant species have a documented use for medicines, food, materials and so on. The majority (17,810 plants) of those now documented have a medicinal use. A large movement of invasive alien plant species is also occurring. Nearly 5000 plant species are now documented as invasive in global surveys. These plants are causing large declines in native plants, damaging natural ecosystems, transforming land-cover and often causing huge economic losses.

The Amendment to the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material (CPPNM) takes effect on 8 May, 30 days after the number of countries adhering to this legal instrument reached the necessary threshold for its coming into force. One hundred and two countries have now adhered to the Amendment, which amount to two-thirds of the 152 States Parties to the CPPNM. The Amendment expands the original Convention, adopted in 1979, to also cover the protection of nuclear facilities and nuclear material in domestic use, storage and transport.