The Environment Chronicle

In accordance with last year’s EU Ecodesign Directive, new minimum energy efficiency requirements have been applying to PCs, laptops and servers since 1 July.

On 11 April 2014, the Permanent Representatives Committee of the Council of the European Union (COREPER) acknowledged the agreement reached by Member States on the Commission's proposal to amend the 2009 Nuclear Safety Directive. This agreement follows the supportive opinion adopted by the European Parliament in April 2014. The Council still needs to formally adopt the new Directive. The new Directive builds on the lessons learned from Fukushima and the nuclear stress tests and is based on the latest international standards.

On 27 June 2014, in Cascais (Portugal), the OSPAR Commission adopted a landmark Regional Action Plan on Marine Litter along with measures to protect 16 vulnerable species and habitats. The Regional Action Plan on Marine Litter will enable OSPAR countries to substantially reduce marine litter in North-East Atlantic. The Plan will address litter from both land and sea based sources and will result in a reduction in marine litter on coasts and beaches. The Regional Action Plan on Marine Litter will enable OSPAR countries to substantially reduce marine litter in North-East Atlantic. The Plan will address litter from both land and sea based sources and will result in a reduction in marine litter on coasts and beaches.

The European Wilderness Society have published a new European Wilderness Quality Standard and Audit System. This is a standardized and applicable wilderness standard that serves as a basis for effective wilderness protection, designation, restoration, and promotion initiatives across a range of geographic and cultural circumstances in all European Countries.

El Hierro, the smallest of the Canary Islands, became the world’s first 100 percent renewable island on 27 June 2014, when it inaugurated a hydro-wind power plant that will be the island's new energy production system.

The Wadden Sea World Heritage is now complete! On 23 June 2014, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee decided to extend the Wadden Sea World Heritage site with the Danish part of the Wadden Sea and an additional German offshore part. The Wadden Sea World Heritage property now covers an area of some 11,500 km2 and constitutes the world´s largest tidal barrier island system.

The European Chemicals Agency has added cadmium chloride, a phthalate and two boron substances to the Candidate List, which now contains 155 substances.

On 17 June 2014, President Obama announced a commitment to protect some of the most precious U.S. marine landscapes. The Administration will immediately consider how it might expand protections near the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument in the south-central Pacific Ocean, which contains some of the most pristine tropical marine environments in the world. Obama's proposal would expand the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument in the central Pacific from around 87,000 square miles to nearly 782,000 square miles (225,000 to 2 million square kilometers).

The Rhön biosphere reserve is part of the German central upland range and includes a mountainous region formed as a result of volcanic activity in the Tertiary era. With the extension of 58,113 hectares, the biosphere reserve will comprise a total surface of 243,323 hectares. In 2010, the biosphere reserve had over 135,000 permanent residents, the majority living in rural settlements. As a result of the extension, the population is now over 225,000.

An agreement announced on 11 June 2014 between SOCO International PLC and World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF) could prevent oil drilling in a national park in Africa where 200 endangered mountain gorillas live. A joint statement by SOCO International PLC and WWF said there will be no exploratory drilling in Congo's Virunga National Park, which is Africa's oldest, unless the government and the U.N. cultural agency UNESCO agree it would not threaten the park's world heritage status.

On 11 June 2014 the European Commission continued its action to fight illegal fishing worldwide by warning the Philippines and Papua New Guinea that they risk being identified as countries it considers non-cooperative in the fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. The decision highlights that these countries are not doing enough to fight illegal fishing. It identifies concrete shortcomings, such as lack of system of sanctions to deter IUU activities or lack of actions to address deficiencies in monitoring, controlling and surveillance of fisheries.

On 10 June 2014, the European Commission hosted the launching ceremony and first working session of the EU platform on Coexistence between People and Large Carnivores. In an effort to solve the social and economic problems that sometimes result from the new expansion of Europe's brown bear, wolf, wolverine, lynx, the European Commission has launched a platform where farmers, conservationists, hunters, landowners and scientists can exchange ideas and best practices on sharing the same land with large carnivores.

On 5 June 2014, the Shark Specialist Group of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) released a global strategy to prevent extinction and promote recovery of sawfishes, which have been devastated worldwide by overfishing and habitat loss. The strategy is being launched at the Sharks International conference in Durban and coincides with announcements that two West Africa countries -- Guinea and Guinea Bissau -- are proposing the listing of sawfishes under the Convention on Migratory Species in November, which could significantly boost protections.

Cross-border trips with oversized lorries remain banned. This was specified by the EU transport ministers on 5 June 2014, in Luxemburg. The Council thereby followed the European Parliaments position which earlier also rejected border crossing journeys proposed by the European Commission. Instead the ministers agreed to the proposal to make trucks more safe and aerodynamic – without increasing the loading space.

A new initiative by governments and the private sector aims to achieve a noticeable increase in the level of private investments in climate action and adjustment in developing countries. The "Global Innovation Lab for Climate Finance" is taking up its duties in London, started on 3 June 2014. This new kind of public-private joint platform is being built up by the governments of Germany, USA and United Kingdom.

On 10 May 2014, the Knowledge Platform „Earth and Environment – Earth System Knowledge Platform“( ESKP) went online. Under www.eskp.de scientists from eight centres of the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres present their latest research results as well as scientifically sound background knowledge on the topics of “Impact of Climate Change”, “Natural Hazards” and “Spread of Pollutants in the Environment”. ESKP is an information pool and a focal point for the general public. The existing knowledge of the Helmholtz-Centres participating in ESKP will be made available for the respective target groups (including public authorities, politics, decision makers, press, and the general population). The broad supply of information includes texts, interviews, real-time data, graphics, photographs and film material. References to peer-reviewed publications but also to general brochures complete the range of material on offer. Experts from the respective centres are also available to answer any further questions.

On 29 May 2014, the Spanish government gave oil giant Repsol the green light to explore for oil and gas off the coast of the Canary Islands. The environment ministry said the exploration would take place around 60 kilometres from the shores of the archipelago.

Greenpeace International activists from eight countries have scaled a Statoil contracted oil rig to protest the company’s plans to drill the northernmost well in the Norwegian Arctic, close to the Bear Island nature reserve.

The Chinese government announced on 26 May 2014, the country will eliminate 6 million high-polluting vehicles before the end of 2014 in a move to bring down air pollution. The mandatory rule applies to vehicles that do not meet exhaust emissions standards.

On 26 May 2014 the European Commission presented a revised list of Critical Raw Materials. The 2014 list includes 13 of the 14 materials identified in the previous list of 2011, with only tantalum moving out of the list (due to a lower supply risk). Six new materials appear on the list: borates, chromium, coking coal, magnesite, phosphate rock and silicon metal bringing the number up to 20 raw materials which are now considered critical by the European Commission. The other 14 raw materials are: antimony, beryllium, cobalt, fluorspar, gallium, germanium, indium, magnesium, natural graphite, niobium, platinum group metals, heavy rare earths, light rare earths and tungsten (MEMO/14/377). The list should help to incentivise the European production of critical raw materials and facilitate the launching of new mining and recycling activities. Furthermore, the list is being used by the Commission to help prioritise needs and actions.

On 26 May 2014 a group of 30 activists in the Dutch port of IJmuiden occupied the GSP Saturn, a rig contracted by Russia’s state owned energy company Gazprom on its way to the remote Pechora sea. They were removed after five hours and six activists remain under arrest.

Fishing for Litteris an initiative based on cooperation with fisheries associations, in which fishermen bring ashore, voluntarily, the litter that is collected in the nets during the normal fishing operations. Fishermen are not financially compensated for their engagement, just the disposal logistics are for free. In 2011 NABU adopted the KIMO approach developed in year 2000 by launching first 2 harbours in Schleswig-Holstein Germany and therefore in the entire Baltic region. Today 9 harbours and more than 75 fishermen have joined the scheme.

The Brazilian government, WWF and partners have committed $215 million for the protection of a vital part of the Amazon rainforest following an agreement signed on 21 May 2014. The move will guarantee funds over the next two decades to ensure long-term protection of the world's largest network of protected areas, 60 million hectares of the Amazon rainforest. The funding is part of a program called the Amazon Region Protected Areas (ARPA), which aims to permanently protect 15 per cent of the Amazon, an area equivalent to the size of Spain.

On 22 May 2014, the International Day for Biological Diversity, the European Commission launched the Biodiversity for Life (B4Life) flagship initiative to halt biodiversity loss and eradicate poverty in developing countries. The initiative is designed to help the poorest countries protect ecosystems, combat wildlife crime and develop green economies. B4Life will be financed initially from the EU Global Public Goods and Challenges (GPGC) thematic programme as well as from regional and national development cooperation envelopes, with an estimated budget of up to €800 million for 2014-2020.

On 21 May 2014, the Board of the Green Climate Fund successfully reached agreement on essential requirements for the Fund to move towards commencing its initial resource mobilization, among them, a results management framework, the initial proposal approval process, the guiding framework and procedures for accrediting entities, and the Fund’s financial risk management and investment frameworks. Speaking immediately after the Board meeting, Co-Chair Mr. Manfred Konukiewitz (Germany) stated: “We have taken the final steps for the fund to become operational and to start the initial resource mobilization process. With the decisions taken at this meeting, especially on the investment framework and the proposal approval process, we have designed the fund to be ambitious and effective in supporting developing countries in their way towards low-emission and climate-resilient development. This was a very crucial meeting and we have made the essential progress needed.”

On 21 May 2014, the winners of the first Natura 2000 Awards were announced at a ceremony in Brussels. The winners received trophies from the European Commissioner for the Environment, Janez Potočnik, along with members of the award Jury. Anyone directly involved in Natura 2000 – businesses, authorities, NGOs, volunteers, land owners, educational institutions or individuals – could apply for this Award, and a total of 163 applications from across Europe were received. From these, a shortlist of 22 applications was submitted to a high-level jury, who then selected the winner of each category. Following the interest shown in this Award, the quality of the submissions and the importance of highlighting the fantastic conservation work being carried out across Europe, the European Commission aims to make this Award an annual event.

On 21 May 2014 the European Commission sets out strategy to curb CO2 emissions from heavy-duty vehicles. The strategy focuses on short-term action to certify, report and monitor HDV emissions. The Commission has developed a computer simulation tool, VECTO, to measure CO2 emissions from new vehicles. With the support of this tool the Commission intends to bring forward proposals for legislation next year which would require CO2 emissions from new HDVs to be certified, reported and monitored. Studies carried out while preparing the strategy suggest that state-of-the art technologies can achieve cost-effective reductions in CO2 emissions from new HDVs of at least 30%.

This ambitious project started on 21 June 2010, when the radar satellite TanDEM-X set off into space to join its twin satellite, TerraSAR-X. Since then, these two German satellites have been orbiting Earth in an intricate formation and mapping its surface. Now, the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) is making the first elevation models of a new global topography for scientific use. Canyons in Australia's Flinders Ranges National Park, Canadian islands and the rugged volcanic landscape of Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula are revealed at a level of detail 30 times greater than anything seen to date. Over 800 scientists from 31 countries have already registered to work with these highly accurate elevation models. The complete and uniform terrain model is scheduled for completion by the end of 2015.

The European Commission wants to prohibit the use of any kind of driftnets for fishing in all EU waters as of 1 January 2015. Although rules are already in place to forbid using driftnets to catch certain migratory fishes, the practice continues to be a cause of concern due to the incidental catching of marine mammals, sea turtles and sea birds which are mostly protected under EU legislation. To fight circumvention, the Commission proposal includes a full ban of driftnets fishing in the EU as well as the prohibition of keeping driftnets on board of fishing vessels. Furthermore, to avoid ambiguity, the proposal refines the current definition of a driftnet.

Glaciers exist on every continent, but until now there has been no definitive source of information on where and how large they are, or indeed how many exist. On 6 May 2014, in the Journal of Glaciology, an international group of scientists from 18 nations published the first globally-complete inventory of glaciers on Earth. This digital inventory contains details of more than 200,000 glaciers from all glaciated regions. Together these glaciers cover 730,000 square kilometres, an area as large as Germany, Switzerland, and Poland together. They contain around 170,000 cubic kilometres of ice – enough if melted to raise global sea level by 35-47 cm. The inventory is a crucial resource for glaciologists seeking to provide projections of ice-loss from glaciers during the coming century, both as a contribution to sea-level rise and as an important factor controlling the availability of water resources. The Randolph Glacier Inventory (RGI), a name that arose from the location of a meeting in New Hampshire where the project was established, is the product of several years of intensive work by 70 scientists. It consists of digital outlines that can be overlaid on regional or global-scale maps.

For the first time, a woman will head the Federal Environment Agency. On 5 May 2014 Maria Krautzberger took office as the President of Germany's biggest national environment authority. On 30 April the Federal Cabinet nominated her to succeed Jochen Flasbarth, who at the end of 2013 became State Secretary at the Federal Environment Ministry. The Federal Environment Agency was founded in 1974 and has since had three presidents: Heinrich von Lersner (1974-1995), Andreas Troge (1995-2009) and Jochen Flasbarth (2009-2013)

A number of clean-up campaigns have been organised in Europe in recent years to tackle the litter problem. “Let’s Clean Up Europe!” will bring together these initiatives in a Europe-wide clean-up event to take place on the same day all over the continent, reaching as many citizens as possible. "Let's Clean up Europe" is an initiative that aims to encourage more such actions, to raise awareness about the scale of the litter and waste problems, and to encourage changes in behaviour. The event is being coordinated by the European Week for Waste Reduction. ‘Let’s Clean Up Europe!’ is a truly bottom-up event that aims to inform and mobilise the public into cleaning up their environment for themselves. The Commission is promoting the event, but the clean-ups are truly independent, local and citizen-led. In many cases local authorities, NGOs businesses and schools will be getting involved or coordinating actions. "Let's Clean up Europe" is a LIFE project coordinated by the Association of Cities and Regions for Recycling and sustainable Resource management, the organisation that is also responsible for the European Week for Waste Reduction.

Rotterdam, 1 May 2014 - A group of 80 activists supported by the Greenpeace flagship Rainbow Warrior are attempting to stop the oil tanker Mikhail Ulyanov from delivering the first oil from a controversial drilling platform in the Russian Arctic. They are calling for a ban on offshore oil drilling in the Arctic and an urgent switch to new sources of energy. One group of activists has painted "No Arctic Oil" in large letters on the hull of the "Mikhail Ulyanov" tanker, while other activists in inflatables are trying to prevent the ship from mooring by putting themselves between the quay wall and the tanker.

A large-scale seafloor survey off the European coast has found widespread presence of bottles, plastic bags, fishing nets, and other types of human litter at all sample locations, according to results published April 30, 2014, in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Christopher Pham from University of the Azores and colleagues from 15 other institutions.

On 28 April 2014, Taiwanese Premier Jiang Yi-huah announcedthe suspension of construction of the island’s controversial fourth nuclear power station, pending a public referendum on whether to resume work. The decision followed several large protests in Taipei. The move was announced on Sunday after a meeting of county and city officials from the governing party, the Kuomintang, which is headed by President Ma Ying-jeou.

In defiance of local protests and international opposition, UK company Soco International PLC will start on 26 April 2014, the seismic testing phase of its controversial oil exploration project in Virunga National Park, according to media reports. Residents living near the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) park say that portions of Lake Edward will be closed to fishing while Soco searches for subterranean oil reserves. If deposits are found, WWF understands that the company intends to drill exploration wells in the lake.

Gazprom sent its first shipment of oil from its controversial Russian Arctic offshore platform on 18 April 2014, a landmark event that Russian President Vladimir Putin said would contribute to economic growth.

EU countries would have to reduce the use of the most common and most polluting plastic bags by at at least 80% by 2019, under draft rules backed by Parliament on 16 April 2014. MEPs say that lightweight plastic bags thinner than 50 microns – the vast majority of plastic carrier bags used in the EU – are less reusable than thicker models and become waste more quickly. They are also more prone to littering the environment. Member states would have to at least halve their consumption by 2017 and reduce it by 80% two years later - compared to 2010 figures. They should use measures such as taxes, levies, marketing restrictions or bans to stop shops from giving out plastic bags for free, except for very light ones, used to wrap loose foods such as raw meat, fish and dairy products. Plastic bags used to wrap foods such as fruit, vegetables and confectionery should be replaced by 2019 by carrier bags made of recycled paper or biodegradable and compostable bags. Requirements for compostable and biodegradable packaging should be amended, MEPs say.

Measures to stop invasive alien species of plants animals or insects getting into the EU, or limit the ecological and economic damage caused by those that do, were backed by European Parliament on 16 april 2014. The legislation bans species declared to be of “Union concern” and requires more and better-coordinated action by member states to tackle the threat. The legislation would require EU member states to ascertain the routes of introduction and spread of invasive alien species (IAS) and set up surveillance systems and action plans. Official checks at EU borders would also be stepped up. For widespread IAS, member states would have to draw up management plans.

The chief warden of Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Virunga National Park, Emmanuel de Merode, has been shot in an ambush, according to a statement on the park’s official website. De Merode was attacked while travelling from the provincial capital of Goma to the park’s headquarters on 15 April 2014.