The Environment Chronicle

The world's largest artificial Sun started shining in Jülich on 23 March 2017. The North Rhine-Westphalia Ministery for Climate Protection, Environment, Agriculture, Nature Conservation and Consumer Protection and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs (BMWI) joined the Energy and German Aerospace Center to inaugurate the new research facility Synlight. Among other things, the facility is intended to develop production processes for solar fuels, including hydrogen. Hydrogen is considered to be the fuel of the future because it burns without producing carbon dioxide. But the production of hydrogen – by splitting water into its constituents of hydrogen and oxygen – needs significant amounts of energy. In future, this will be obtained from the Sun. Sunlight in central Europe is unreliable and irregular, so an artificial Sun is the preferred choice for developing production processes for solar fuels. Periods of unfavourable weather and fluctuating sunlight hours might otherwise negatively impact tests. Scientists at the DLR Institute of Solar Research already managed to produce hydrogen using solar radiation several years ago, albeit on a laboratory scale. The size of these processes needs to be enlarged significantly to make them interesting for industrial applications. This is the objective of Synlight. The state of North-Rhine Westphalia supported the project with 2.4 million euro, approximately 70 percent of the total sum of 3.5 million euro. The difference of 1.1 million euro was provided by the BMWi.

On the occasion of the International Day of Forests 2017, the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL), the Bundesland Nordrhein-Westfalen, and the City of Bonn have officially welcomed European Forest Institute (EFI) in Bonn. The EFI premises will be situated on the UN-campus, with 19 other international organizations. The German hosts are especially happy that EFI Bonn is the seat of EFI's Resilience Programme, as sustainability is high on the country’s policy agenda. As an independent scientific organization with an international focus, the European Forest Institute is uniquely positioned to offer relevant knowledge for decision makers in Germany and elsewhere. EFI’s Resilience Programme in Bonn will concentrate on generating and communicating knowledge on how global change affects the socio-ecological resilience of Europe’s forest systems. Together with EFI’s member organisations and partners, it will conduct interdisciplinary research that connects forest science to other land-use disciplines and urban studies. New knowledge will create a basis for effective, integrated policies and forest and land-use management strategies facing global change. The EFI Bonn office receives core funding through the German Government (BMEL). Setting up the Bonn office is also supported through the government of Nordrhein-Westfalen.

On 21 March 2017, negotiators of the European Parliament and the Council agreed on a revised energy efficiency label and the relevant regulatory framework. The current A+++ to G labels for products will be replaced by a clear and easier to use A to G labels. This will make energy labels more understandable for consumers and help them make better informed purchasing choices. The measure will be accompanied by the introduction of a public database making it easier for citizens to compare the energy efficiency of household appliances.

ECHA's Committee for Risk Assessment (RAC) agrees to maintain the current harmonised classification of glyphosate as a substance causing serious eye damage and being toxic to aquatic life with long-lasting effects. RAC concluded that the available scientific evidence did not meet the criteria to classify glyphosate as a carcinogen, as a mutagen or as toxic for reproduction.

Just two years after its 'twin satellite' was launched on 7 March 2017 at 02:49, the European Earth observation satellite Sentinel-2B set off on its mission on board a Vega rocket from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana. The approximately 1.1-ton satellite will monitor Earth from an altitude of 786 kilometres in a sun-synchronous orbit. Its most important task is to document changes to land surface and vegetation between 84 degrees North and 56 degrees South latitude. The Sentinel satellites are part of the European Commission's Copernicus programme. Its purpose is to collect and evaluate remote sensing data of Earth. The data has been provided free of charge to authorities, companies, science and every interested citizen since the start of the programme in 2014. In all, four optical Sentinel-2 satellites will be part of the Copernicus satellite family, which will comprise a total of 20 satellites. Sentinel-2A has been in orbit since 23 June 2015, Sentinel-2C and Sentinel-2D should follow from 2022 onwards. Together with Sentinel-2A, Sentinel-2B doubles the recording frequency – every point on Earth will now be recorded every five days – and halves the failure probability, which are both central requirements for users of Copernicus data.

Poachers have broken into a French zoo, killing a white rhinoceros and sawing off its horn. Keepers found the dead animal in the African enclosure of the zoo at Thoiry, west of Paris, on 7 March 2017. It had been shot in the head and its large horn removed with a chainsaw. The poachers fled before they could remove the animal’s second horn, either because they were disturbed or because their equipment failed, police said. A rhinoceros horn has an estimated value of between €30,000 and €40,000. Authorities described the incident as the first of its kind in Europe.

A nine-year-old girl has filed a lawsuit against the Indian government for failing to take action on climate change, warning that young people will pay the price for the country’s inaction. In the petition filed with the National Green Tribunal, a special court for environment-related cases, Ridhima Pandey said the government had failed to implement its environment laws.

On 27 February 2017, activists from Greenpeace protested at a Statoil oil rig in a fjord in northern Norway. The activists peacefully protested against Statoil and the Norwegian government for opening up a new oil frontier in the Arctic. The rig Songa Enabler is planned to drill further north in the Norwegian Arctic than ever before. For the first time in 20 years the Norwegian government is opening up a new oil frontier in the Arctic, allowing state-owned Statoil and 12 other oil companies to start a exploration the Barents Sea.

On 20 February 2017, Singapore revealed plans to put in place a carbon tax on the emission of greenhouse gases from 2019. The government is considering a carbon tax between $10 and $20 per tonne of greenhouse gas emissions. The tax will apply to power stations and other large emitters producing over 25,000 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent per year. The government estimates that some 30 to 40 companies fall in this category.

On 17 February 2017, the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft-und Raumfahrt; DLR) Space Administration and Airbus Defence and Space GmbH signed a contract for the design and construction phases of the German-French climate satellite MERLIN (Methane Remote Sensing LIDAR Mission). From 2021, this small satellite mission will measure the methane concentration in Earth's atmosphere to an unprecedented level of accuracy and thus contribute to research into the causes of climate change. The contract was signed at the Airbus site in Ottobrunn and includes the German contribution to the mission – namely, the development and construction of the methane LIDAR (Light Detection And Ranging), the measuring instrument on board the MERLIN satellite. The core part of the instrument is a laser, which can send out light pulses on two different wavelengths and thus measure the methane concentration at all latitudes with great precision regardless of sunlight. The LIDAR instrument is being developed and constructed in Germany on behalf of the DLR Space Administration, funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy .

On 15 February 2017, the European Commission sent a final warning to Germany for failing to address repeated breaches of air pollution limits for nitrogen dioxide (NO2). The European Commission urges Germany to take action to ensure good air quality and safeguard public health in 28 air quality zones, including Berlin, Munich, Hamburg and Cologne.

The German government has laid the foundations for more comprehensive nature conservation in the North and Baltic Seas, and for the accelerated establishment of a network of terrestrial biotopes. On 8 February 2017, the Cabinet adopted a corresponding amendment to the Federal Nature Conservation Act (BNatSchG), as proposed by Federal Environment Ministry. This amendment establishes a basis for authorisation in the Federal Nature Conservation Act for conserving threatened species in marine areas in the German Exclusive Economic Zone by means of legal ordinances. A second focal area is the establishment of a nationwide network of terrestrial biotopes covering ten percent of each Federal State (Land). The draft act requires the Länder to set up this biotope network by 2027. A third focal area is the inclusion of caves and semi-natural tunnels in former mines in the list of protected biotopes, for example to preserve the habitats of bats, spiders, butterflies and other insects. Regarding species protection law, the draft act prescribes the adaptation of provisions on authorising road construction projects and planning construction areas and installations in the energy sector to rulings by the supreme courts.

On 8 February 2017, campaigners and activists met in Brussels and other European cities to launch a European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) to ban glyphosate, reform the EU pesticide approval process, and set mandatory targets to reduce pesticide use in the EU. The goal is to collect at least one million signatures from Europeans and submit the petition before the Commission’s next move to renew, withdraw or extend the EU licence of glyphosate.

BP and Total are planning to drill for oil near a recently discovered coral reef off the coast of Brazil, Greenpeace Energydesk revealed on 30 January 2017. Together the oil majors own five deepwater exploration licences in the Foz do Amazonas (Mouth of the Amazon River) basin and are expected to be granted permits to begin exploratory drilling early 2017 – once their environmental impact assessments are approved by the Brazilian government. The nearest of these blocks is just 8 km from the reef, which was was described by National Geographic as “one of the most surprising finds in modern sea research” when it was announced in 2016. The scientists who discovered it are worried that an oil spill could dramatically affect the coral reef.

Greenpeace Brazil has captured the first underwater images of the Amazon Reef, a 9500 km2 system of corals, sponges and rhodoliths located where the Amazon River meets the Atlantic Ocean – an area that the Brazilian government has opened for oil exploration. A team of experts, including several oceanographers who announced the discovery of the reef last year, have joined the Greenpeace ship Esperanza on an expedition to document this new biome, which runs from French Guyana to the Brazilian state of Maranhão, an area larger than the cities of São Paulo or London.

On 26 January 2017 a majority vote was passed in the Irish Parliament on fossil fuel divestment legislation. Lawmakers split 90 to 53 in favour of ditching coal, oil and gas holdings from the €8 billion Ireland Strategic Investment Fund. The bill, brought by independent representative Thomas Pringle, is expected to pass into law in the next few months after consideration by the finance committee.

On 24 January 2017, US President Donald Trump signed two executive memorandums to revive the Dakota Access pipeline and the Keystone XL pipeline.

On 21 January 2017 , the town of Essen in Germany officially became the European Green Capital for 2017. In a ceremony, Karmenu Vella, Commissioner for the Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, handed over the title for 2017 from Ljubljana to Essen. Commissioner Vella said: “I congratulate Essen on becoming European Green Capital 2017 and making the city a healthier place to live in. The impressive transformation from coal and steel industry to the greenest city in North Rhine-Westphalia is proof of Essen's successful structural change. Great progress in environmental sustainability required vision, good governance, strong leadership and citizens' involvement.”

For the first time, a total of 490 habitats across 35 countries in Europe have been assessed to determine their risk of collapse. The European Red List of Habitats, initiated by the European Commission, benefited from the knowledge and expertise of over 300 experts who reviewed the current status of all European natural and semi-natural terrestrial, freshwater and marine habitats. The assessment reveals that over a third of all land habitats are currently under threat, including more than three-quarters of bogs, over half of grasslands, and almost half of Europe's lakes, rivers and coasts. Forests, heaths and rocky habitats are overall less threatened, but remain of great concern. In Europe's neighbouring seas, mussels and seagrass beds and estuaries are threatened. Nearly a third of marine habitats in the Mediterranean Sea are at risk of collapse, as well as almost a quarter in the North-East Atlantic. Some habitats, particularly in the Black Sea, remain poorly studied and their status could not be determined. The methodology used by the European Red List of Habitats is based on the IUCN Red List of Ecosystems Categories and Criteria, a unified global standard for assessing ecosystem risk.

Just 20 years ago, the rusty patched bumble bee was a common sight, so ordinary that it went almost unnoticed as it moved from flower to flower, collecting nectar and pollen. But the species, now balancing precariously on the brink of extinction, has become the first-ever bumble bee in the United States -- and the first bee of any kind in the contiguous 48 states -- to be declared endangered. The endangered designation is made by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service under the Endangered Species Act for species that are in danger of becoming extinct throughout all or a portion of their range. Service Midwest Regional Director Tom Melius said, “Our top priority is to act quickly to prevent extinction of the rusty patched bumble bee. Listing the bee as endangered will help us mobilize partners and focus resources on finding ways right now to stop the decline.” Once common and abundant across 28 states from Connecticut to South Dakota, the District of Columbia and two Canadian provinces, the rusty patched bumble bee has experienced a swift and dramatic decline since the late 1990s. Abundance of the rusty patched bumble bee has plummeted by 87 percent, leaving small, scattered populations in 13 states and one province. Causes of the decline in rusty patched bumble bee populations are believed to be loss of habitat; disease and parasites; use of pesticides that directly or indirectly kill the bees; climate change, which can affect the availability of the flowers they depend on; and extremely small population size. Most likely, a combination of these factors has caused the decline in rusty patched bumble bees.

The German city of Essen has won the European Green Capital Award for 2017. The award was presented by Karmenu Vella, EU Commissioner for Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, at a ceremony on 17 June 2015 in Bristol, UK, which currently holds the title. Essen was singled out for its exemplary practices in protecting and enhancing nature and biodiversity and efforts to reduce water consumption. Essen participates in a variety of networks and initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to improve the city’s resilience in the face of climate change.