Tag: pollution

Hindon River: A Tale of Ecological Struggles and Hope for Restoration

Introducing the Hindon River: A Lifeline Threatened
The Hindon River, a once-thriving watercourse that runs through India’s northern plains, lays witness to a chronicle of ecological conflicts and human effect. The river begins in the Uttarakhand district of Saharanpur and flows through the states of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana before joining the Yamuna. Unfortunately, the Hindon River has deteriorated over time due to excessive pollution and unrestrained human activity. In this article, we look at the issues that the Hindon River is currently facing, as well as the promising efforts to restore its ecological equilibrium.
The Downward Spiral: Pollution Threatening the Hindon River
The Hindon River, like many other rivers in India, is suffering from the effects of unregulated pollution. The release of untreated sewage, industrial effluents, and chemical runoff into its waterways has been aided by industries, urban settlements, and agricultural operations along its banks. As a result, the once-pristine river has become a poisonous canal, endangering aquatic life and public health.
Impact on Ecosystems and Biodiversity
The ecological implications of Hindon River degradation are extensive. Pollutants in excess have depleted the oxygen levels in the water, smothering aquatic plants and animals. Fish numbers have plummeted, upsetting the food chain and threatening several bird species that rely on the river for survival. The reduction in biodiversity is a troubling indicator of the river’s deterioration.
Human Communities at Risk
The contamination of the Hindon River also poses a severe hazard to the human communities that live along its banks. Contaminated water has a negative impact on local inhabitants, resulting in waterborne infections and health risks. The well-being of communities is jeopardized while the river continues to be a source of water for agricultural and daily necessities.
Efforts Towards Restoration: Hope for the Hindon
Despite the difficulties, a number of organizations and government programs have stepped forward to alleviate the Hindon River’s pollution. Restoration efforts include the construction of sewage treatment plants, public awareness campaigns regarding responsible waste disposal, and the imposition of stronger environmental laws on companies. Furthermore, community involvement and public participation have been critical in instilling a feeling of joint responsibility for recovering the river.

July 26, 2023
Air pollution, fast food causing rise in asthma cases in Kashmir: DAK

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Srinagar, May 2 (GNS): On World Asthma Day, Doctors Association Kashmir (DAK) on Tuesday expressed concern over rise in asthma cases in Kashmir.
“Air pollution and fast food are causing spike in asthma cases in the valley,” said DAK President Dr Nisar ul Hassan in a statement issued to GNS.
Dr Hassan said the air quality in Kashmir has been constantly deteriorating for the past few years due to the increasing number of vehicles, construction, brick kiln, cement and other factories which emit pollutants and significantly pollute our air.
“And this is behind rising cases of asthma in the valley,” he said.
“A study published in British Medical Journal has found that children exposed to higher levels of environmental pollutants are more likely to develop asthma compared to children who were not exposed,” DAK President said.
“The research showed that for every 5µg-per-cubic-meter increase in concentrations of air pollutants, there was about a 4 or 5% increase in asthma.”
“Not just what you breathe, what you eat puts you at risk of developing asthma,” he said.
“According to a study children and teenagers are nearly 40% more likely to have asthma if they eat fast food more than three times a week.”

Dr Nisar said over the years fast food has largely replaced homemade meals in Kashmir. Children and teens are often seen taking fast foods like burgers, pizzas, French fries and noodles.
“This change in dietary habits from homemade to processed and convenient foods could be another reason for rise in asthma cases,” he said.
“There is an urgent need to control environmental pollution to save people especially younger generation from the disease.
We need to educate parents to encourage their children to eat healthy and avoid fast foods,” he added.(GNS)
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#Air #pollution #fast #food #causing #rise #asthma #cases #Kashmir #DAK
( With inputs from : thegnskashmir.com )

May 2, 2023
EPA set to take on a major source of carbon pollution

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The people, who asked for anonymity because they were not authorized to share details about the rulemakings, said EPA had not provided details about the upcoming proposals, though both people said they expected that the regulations would represent progress in combating climate change. CNN reported earlier Friday that the rules would be more stringent than previously planned regulations.
The EPA had said in January that it expected to issue the rule sometime in April and to issue a final rule in spring 2024. That timeline pushes the agency’s action dangerously close to the 2024 election, after which a Republican president or Congress could seek to undo it.
The agency is expected to crack down harder on existing natural gas generators than initially anticipated, according to one of the people. The other person said EPA must pair the proposal with environmental and health assurances for communities where power plants are sited, noting that questions about how well new technologies like carbon capture — a potential remedy likely to be included in the proposal — will work.
The power plant push follows other recent moves by the Biden administration to curb carbon emissions. Last week, EPA floated tougher auto emissions rules that would effectively ensure that nearly two-thirds of passenger vehicles sales are electric or otherwise zero-carbon by 2032.
On Friday, President Joe Biden issued an executive order tightening environmental reviews for projects in pollution-ravaged communities.
But environmental activists have also lamented recent administration decisions that benefit the oil and gas industry, which they say undermine Biden’s pledges to push the country off fossil fuels. Those decisions include the Interior Department approval of the Willow oil project in March and last week’s green light to a liquefied natural gas export facility, both of which are in Alaska.
Natural gas, which has half the carbon intensity of coal, provides the nation’s largest source of power, about 40 percent of the existing electricity output.
The Biden administration has set a target for 80 percent of U.S. power to come from sources that emit no greenhouse gases by 2030, and for the power grid to be completely free of emissions by 2035. That is part of an effort to keep global temperatures from surpassing 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels, a threshold that scientists say heralds widespread irreversible climate damage.

The proposal, Reg. 2060-AV09, will address both existing and future fossil fuel power plants. One of the people familiar with the administration’s thinking said it is expected to be highly nuanced.
Its release would come less than a year after the Supreme Court ruled that EPA’s regulatory authority does not allow it to require utilities to shift some electricity production from coal to cleaner-burning gas or carbon-free sources like solar or wind. That strategy, known as generation shifting, was the cornerstone of a major Obama-era regulation known as the Clean Power Plan.
The high court ruling did not address the exact limits of EPA’s authority, leaving the agency to try again. Without generation shifting, the likeliest method for reducing emissions is requiring some level of carbon capture and storage, a technology that companies are investing billions of dollars to develop but whose effectiveness remains unproven.
EPA is also expected to strengthen standards for newly built natural gas plants. The Obama administration had set a limit achievable by current technologies, although the agency has recently considered methods for reducing that limit further. Utilities plan to build 7.5 gigawatts of new natural gas capacity in 2023, according to the Energy Information Administration, around 14 percent of all new capacity additions expected this year.
The Obama EPA also set emissions limits for newly built coal-fired power plants that require at least part of the carbon to be captured and stored. That rule is still in place, although no new coal plants are expected to be built in the U.S., even absent emissions limits.
The forthcoming rule must also repeal the Trump administration’s power plant regulation, the Affordable Clean Energy rule, which initially was struck down by a federal court but technically went back on the books after the Supreme Court’s ruling last year. That rule required coal plants to consider installing efficiency upgrades that would have achieved little to no overall emissions reductions on their own.
The Biden EPA rule is still under review at the White House, according to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, which indicates it has at least one more meeting scheduled regarding the rule on Monday with a coalition of major environmental groups.
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#EPA #set #major #source #carbon #pollution
( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

April 22, 2023
Biden’s Earth Day order aims to ease pollution in poor communities

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The new actions could become especially significant as Biden’s climate agenda pushes the implementation of a host of clean-energy projects that raise local pollution concerns, including mineral mines, battery factories and carbon dioxide pipelines.
The executive order will be released a day before Earth Day in front of leaders from predominantly low-income and minority communities. In 2020, these activists helped shape his climate, environmental and social justice agenda while driving enthusiasm for his initial White House bid.
“Those are the groups that came out for this administration and those are the communities that I think the administration will look to again to form a coalition of communities that he will rely on in the next cycle,” Ana Baptista, an adviser to community environmental groups who was invited to the White House event, said in an interview. “I don’t think it’s a coincidence. This is his base.”
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Friday that the order “is a continuation of what [Biden has] promised the American people.”
“He’s going to sign a new executive order making environmental justice the mission of every federal agency,” she said. “When you think about that being the DNA of the administration, I think that’s an important piece here.”
Biden’s new order will offer direction to federal agencies on how to work with communities early in projects’ development. It will also tell them to improve their collection and use of data on the “cumulative impacts” of an area’s environmental and health problems when weighing decisions on infrastructure such as pipelines, waste incinerators, chemical processing facilities and highways.
Under current procedures, regulators typically assess pollution from new facilities or projects on a plant-by-plant basis rather than in conjunction with existing emissions from other sources. This method underestimates the health risks, community advocates say.
By instructing agencies to research and incorporate new data on those cumulative impacts and involving communities early in the process, Biden marries two of the “four historic crises” he identified on the campaign trail in 2020: climate change and racial inequality. Most people who face outsized health and climate vulnerabilities from concentrated pollution sources are people of color and low-income households.

The order comes as the Biden administration attempts to strike a contrast with House Republicans. They are pushing provisions that would put deadlines on environmental reviews for energy infrastructure projects, expand oil and gas drilling and exports, and slash chunks of clean energy tax credits from the Inflation Reduction Act, Democrats’ massive climate legislation.
The White House and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in recent days have sniped at each other over negotiations on lifting United States borrowing limits, a standoff that could have major implications for the U.S. and global economy. McCarthy on Wednesday proposed passing his caucus’ energy bill, H.R. 1 (118), in exchange for a one-year debt ceiling increase, as Democrats accused Republicans of turning what had once been a fairly routine procedural vote into hostage-taking.
“Speaker McCarthy and his extreme caucus’ proposals, including H.R. 1, would be a climate and health disaster that President Biden won’t allow on his watch,” a White House official said in a statement.
Baptista, who is also an associate professor at The New School in New York City, said Biden’s order could have major implications for areas already brimming with heavy industry where residents are suffering health risks.
But she said its effectiveness will depend on political will. It will be up to agencies, for example, to craft methodologies that help them decide whether to deny permits because of pervasive health and environmental disparities.
Raul Garcia, vice president of policy and legislation with the environmental group Earthjustice, said Biden’s executive order “gives us high hopes” that the federal government would curb new pollution in communities already bearing a disproportionate environmental burden. Weighing various sources of pollution in aggregate rather than individually should raise the bar for pollution in a particular place because “people on the ground don’t experience pollution pollutant by pollutant,” he said.
Still, implementing the order across the federal government will require hard work, Garcia said.
Recent decisions by the administration would exacerbate environmental and health inequalities for some communities, he said, such as the Interior Department’s approval last month of the Willow oil project in Alaska. He also criticized the White House embrace last year of a bill from Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) that would have changed environmental review laws to speed permitting for energy projects.
“On its merits, it’s something the country has needed for a very long time,” Garcia said of the new executive order. “At the same time, it does come on the heels of very dangerous decisions coming out of the Biden administration. We have to analyze the whole of the thread of decisions as we’re reacting to this.”
Biden has nonetheless made eliminating environmental inequalities central to his climate and energy agenda, including the IRA. He has pledged that at least 40 percent of clean energy and climate benefits will flow to environmentally overburdened communities to correct historical inequalities and underinvestment. Republicans have proposed cutting one of his administration’s signature programs for driving clean energy investment to poorer communities — a $27 billion green bank created by the IRA.
While his administration set lofty goals, the White House has taken criticism from many advocates in the environmental justice movement, which seeks to address systemic imbalances in the way pollution and other harms burden low-income communities and people of color. They have accused the Biden administration of failing to properly staff its environmental justice initiatives, and have sought more transparent accounting of how the administration is reaching its 40-percent goal.
The activists have also slammed the subsidies for carbon capture and hydrogen power found in the IRA and in 2021’s bipartisan infrastructure law.
Friday’s actions, however, address a key concern for the movement, as asking agencies to consider the totality of already-present pollution and health risks has been a pillar of its agenda since its infancy.
That push took on increased attention in recent years in Congress. Getting the federal government to more seriously assess the cumulative impacts of pollution was also the primary goal for the late Rep. Donald McEachin (D-Va.), an early Biden supporter whose input shaped the then-candidate’s platform on environmental justice. McEachin sponsored the Environmental Justice For All Act, H.R. 1705 (118) — which now bears his name — along with House Natural Resources Committee ranking member Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.). That bill would require agencies to consider cumulative impacts.
The moves announced Friday also answer other concerns activists wanted the White House to address.
The order creates a White House Office of Environmental Justice to coordinate and implement efforts across the federal government, although a White House fact sheet did not specify how many people will work for it. The office will be housed inside the White House Council on Environmental Quality.
The Biden administration will also unveil a scorecard to evaluate agencies’ environmental justice progress and detailed new programs at the Commerce Department, National Science Foundation and NASA that qualify for Biden’s 40-percent pledge.
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#Bidens #Earth #Day #order #aims #ease #pollution #poor #communities
( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

April 21, 2023
Pollution by textile printing industries: NGT directs Rajasthan to pay Rs 100 cr compensation

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New Delhi: The National Green Tribunal has directed Rajasthan to pay an interim compensation of Rs 100 crore for damage to the environment, including pollution of the Dravyavati river, caused allegedly by textile printing industries in the Jaipur district.
The NGT also formed a 10-member joint committee to plan and oversee remedial action and said the compensation amount has to be utilised for restoration of the environment.
The NGT was hearing two petitions claiming violation of environmental norms by the industries which adversely impacted the water quality of the river.

A bench of chairperson Justice A K Goel noted a report by a panel constituted earlier and said it presented a “dismal picture” of the area. The industrial siting was faulty, most industries were located in the non-conforming areas and industrial effluents were being discharged into the Dravyavati River and Chandalai and Nevta dams.
The bench, also comprising judicial member Justice Sudhir Agarwal and expert members A Senthil Vel and Afroz Ahmad, said industrial operations had caused damage to the feeder canals, the river and dams, and the report did not mention the groundwater quality of Dravyavati river.
“There is no assessment of damage to soil and agriculture. The Dravyavati River restoration project costing Rs 1,676.93 crores lacks a holistic approach in absence of information about water quality and the degree of treatment required by sewage treatment plants (STPs)/ common effluent treatment plants (CETPs) and the report does not mention progress of formulation and execution of action plan for Sanganer critically polluted area,” the bench said.
It said the state of affairs was “utterly unsatisfactory” and it appeared that there was “no environmental rule of law in the area”.
“This calls for emergent action in a mission mode at a higher level to remedy the situation and to fix accountability for such failure of the administration in collusion with law violators,” the bench said.

It said higher authorities in the state have to rise to the occasion to protect the environment and public health instead of being “mute spectators as appears to be unfortunately happening”.
The green panel said, “We consider it appropriate to fix interim compensation of Rs 100 crore to be paid by the state of Rajasthan by way of deposit in a separate account, with the liberty to recover the amount from the violating units and erring officers.”
Directing the deposit to be made within two months, the tribunal said the amount had to be utilised for restoration of the environment in the area as per a plan which may be prepared.
The tribunal fixed the compensation for the damage to the environment in terms of deterioration in water quality of Dravyavati River, Chandalai and Nevta Dams, damage to soil and agriculture by trade effluents, non-functional CETP, inadequate functional STPs, violation of Hazardous Other Wastes (Management and Transboundary Movement) Rules and extraction of groundwater without permission.
The compensation was also fixed in terms of the estimated rough cost of remediation “on the most conservative estimate” and a rough estimate of the financial capacity of around 1,000 violating units and the cost of management of sewage.
The tribunal also constituted a 10-member committee headed by the state’s Chief Secretary for planning and overseeing remedial action in the interest of protection of the environment and upholding of rule of law.
“The committee may meet within two weeks and prepare an action plan and such action plan be executed within the shortest possible defined time frame to prevent further degradation of the environment by closing all non-compliant units and evolving mechanism for assessment and recovering compensation preferably within three months ,” the tribunal said.
Directing the panel to submit an interim action taken report within three months, the tribunal posted the matter for further proceedings on July 18.
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#Pollution #textile #printing #industries #NGT #directs #Rajasthan #pay #compensation
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 19, 2023
Gadkari bats for public transport, says road traffic generates 40% air pollution

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Mumbai: Making a strong case for improving and promoting the use of public transport, Union Minister for Highways Nitin Gadkari said that road transport alone is responsible for 40 percent of the air pollution in India, here on Thursday.
Addressing the 11th Biennial International Conference on Ports, Shipping and Logistics, Gadkari said that the government is implementing various measures to promote public transport as ecology and environment are the ‘highest priority’.
He referred to the double-decker buses in Mumbai and Bengaluru bus services as examples of these measures, and road projects worth Rs 65,000 crore underway in and around Delhi.

Besides, approval has been given for 260 ropeways and cable cars and other public transport modes to reduce road traffic congestion and air pollution, the Minister said.
The Centre is also trying to construct electric highways, and along with electric vehicles, make use of vehicles with flex engines.
Since hydrogen is the fuel of the future, there should be no hassles running trucks and buses using methanol as fuel even in Mumbai to reduce fuel costs and pollutants, Gadkari said.
The government has also started 36 green highway projects and paid more than the market value as compensation for the lands being acquired for these ventures, removing all hurdles in this process.
“We are working to reduce logistics cost to 9 per cent — which is currently 14-16 per cent — by 2024. Better roads and lower logistic costs will help in enhancement of trade business and industry,” said Gadkari.

He said that 5-6 logistics parks will be set up in Maharashtra, and the work of construction of dry ports at Jalna and Wardha in the state has been completed and now the work of construction of similar dry ports in Nashik and Pune is being undertaken.
Gadkari urged that if water transport can be launched between Mumbai and Goa, the entire picture of transportation in this region will change as its very cost-effective compared with road and rail, and if alternative fuels are used, the cost of water transport will further reduce.
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#Gadkari #bats #public #transport #road #traffic #generates #air #pollution
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 13, 2023
Air pollution level in Delhi-NCR this winter was lowest for season since 2018: CSE

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New Delhi: This winter saw the cleanest air in the Delhi-NCR region since large-scale monitoring started in 2018, according to the latest analysis of air pollution levels by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE).
The concentration of air pollutants in Delhi stood at 160 micrograms per cubic meter for the October-January period, which is the lowest level recorded since wide-scale monitoring started in 2018-19, the leading think tank said in its report.
“The PM2.5 level, computed by averaging monitoring data from 36 Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Stations (CAAQMS) stations located in the city was 17 percent lower compared to the seasonal average of 2018-19 winter. Based on the subset of the 10 oldest stations, there is an improvement of almost 20 percent,” the CSE report said.
It also said that the number of days with severe or severe-plus air quality was the lowest in the last five years.
“This winter, around 10 days had a city-wide average in ‘severe’ or worse AQI category, which is much lower compared to 24 such days in the previous winter and 33 in the 2018-19 winter,” the report said.
According to CSE, the city also recorded five days of good air this year which is an improvement over the last winter which had recorded one “good” AQI day, whereas, earlier winters did not record any “good” air quality days.
Farm stubble fires this winter were about half of the last winter as the total count of stubble fires reported this year from Punjab, Haryana and Delhi in October and November stood at 55,846 (according to NASA’s VIIRS satellite) and 12,158 (according to MODIS satellite) respectively.
“These are respectively 36 per cent and 40 per cent lower than the figures for October-January in 2021-22. If the FRP (fire radiative power which is the measure of the intensity of fire) is taken into account in addition to the number of fires, it becomes clear that not only were the fires lesser in count, but also lower in intensity compared to the previous two years,” the CSE report said.

It also said that fires have been lower between October 2022 and January 2023, both in count and intensity, compared to the previous two seasons, but are marginally higher compared to the 2019-20 season.
“The spike seen in the fires since the beginning of the pandemic has ended and the situation has reverted to a pre-pandemic scenario. This is a relatively better scenario, but we are still far from attaining our clean air objectives,” the report said.
The quantity of smoke from farm stubble fires affecting Delhi is dependent upon two major factors – quantity and intensity of farm stubble fires and meteorological conditions conducive for transportation of the smoke to Delhi.
This winter, not only the quantity and intensity of farm stubble fires have been low, but also the meteorological conditions have been less conducive for the transport of the smoke and as a result, the total smoke that fell upon Delhi in the form of PM2.5 has been considerably less.
The CSE estimates that about 4.1 tonnes of PM2.5 affected Delhi this winter in the form of smoke, which is 37 per cent less than the 6.4 tonnes last year and almost half of the 2020-21 winter figure.
However, the report also mentioned that even though there has been a significant decline in peak pollution levels, air in NCR continues to remain toxic.
“In comparison to the other NCR cities, Delhi was the most polluted city followed by Greater Noida this winter.
“Among the five big NCR cities, Ghaziabad registered the highest improvement in its winter PM2.5 level with a reduction of 23 per cent compared to the previous winter average. Noida (17 per cent), Faridabad (12 per cent) and Gurugram (6 per cent) also registered improvements in air quality, but it worsened for Greater Noida (-3 per cent),” the CSE analysis report said.
About the way forward, the CSE said clean fuels and emissions control systems are needed in the industries. It also said that massive electrification of the vehicle fleet and scaling up of integrated public transport options with vehicle restraint measures are also needed.
“The only way to prevent the high peaks and smog episodes during winter is to ensure sustained improvement in air quality to meet the national ambient air quality standard across the region.
“This requires region-wide implementation of urban greening and dust control, waste management based on 100 per cent segregation, material recovery and zero landfill policy,” the report said.
Clean construction and recycling of construction and demolition waste, and replacement of solid fuels in households are some other measures that the CSE suggested to prevent the high peaks of pollution in NCR.
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#Air #pollution #level #DelhiNCR #winter #lowest #season #CSE
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 6, 2023
KENT 16002 Bed & Upholstery Vacuum Cleaner 450W | Cyclonic Technology for Dust Collection | UV Disinfection | Reduced Air Pollution

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Change those bedsheets every 3rd day or routinely clean armchair/ sofa covers but still laying in & breathing in some harmful particles and bacteria every day?
It sucks air and dust at high speed, creating a fast-spinning vortex and separating dust in a detachable cylindrical collection vessel or bin
With its HEPA filter, it ensures minimal release of dust and bacteria back into the environment than traditional vacuums cleaners
It uses a powerful 450W motor for high efficiency and stronger suction force, MAX. VACUUM PRESSURE: > 2.5 kpa
Country of Origin: China

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#KENT #Bed #Upholstery #Vacuum #Cleaner #450W #Cyclonic #Technology #Dust #Collection #Disinfection #Reduced #Air #Pollution

March 6, 2023
The environmental scars of Russia’s war in Ukraine

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One year of war in Ukraine has left deep scars — including on the country’s natural landscape.
The conflict has ruined vast swaths of farmland, burned down forests and destroyed national parks. Damage to industrial facilities has caused heavy air, water and soil pollution, exposing residents to toxic chemicals and contaminated water. Regular shelling around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe, means the risk of a nuclear accident still looms large.
The total number of cases of environmental damage tops 2,300, Ukraine’s environment minister, Ruslan Strilets, told POLITICO in an emailed statement. His ministry estimates the total cost at $51.45 billion (€48.33 billion).
Of those documented cases, 1,078 have already been handed over to law enforcement agencies, according to Strilets, as part of an effort to hold Moscow accountable in court for environmental damage.
A number of NGOs have also stepped in to document the environmental impacts of the conflict, with the aim of providing data to international organizations like the United Nations Environment Program to help them prioritize inspections or pinpoint areas at higher risk of pollution.
Among them is PAX, a peace organization based in the Netherlands, which is working with the Center for Information Resilience (CIR) to record and independently verify incidents of environmental damage in Ukraine. So far, it has verified 242 such cases.
Left: Hostomel, Ukraine, after a Russian assault. Right: Port of Mykolaiv after a Russian strike | Imagery courtesy of Planet Labs PBC
“We mainly rely on what’s being documented, and what we can see,” said Wim Zwijnenburg, a humanitarian disarmament project leader with PAX. Information comes from social media, public media accounts and satellite imagery, and is then independently verified.
“That also means that if there’s no one there to record it … we’re not seeing it,” he said. “It’s such a big country, so there’s fighting in so many locations, and undoubtedly, we are missing things.”

After the conflict is over, the data could also help identify “what is needed in terms of cleanup, remediation and restoration of affected areas,” Zwijnenburg said.
Rebuilding green
While some conservation projects — such as rewilding of the Danube delta — have continued despite the war, most environmental protection work has halted.
“It is very difficult to talk about saving other species if the people who are supposed to do it are in danger,” said Oksana Omelchuk, environmental expert with the Ukrainian NGO EcoAction.
That’s unlikely to change in the near future, she added, pointing out that the environment is littered with mines.
Agricultural land is particularly affected, blocking farmers from using fields and contaminating the soil, according to Zwijnenburg. That “might have an impact on food security” in the long run, he said.
When it comes to de-mining efforts, residential areas will receive higher priority, meaning it could take a long time to make natural areas safe again.
The delay will “[hinder] the implementation of any projects for the restoration and conservation of species,” according to Omelchuk.
And, of course, fully restoring Ukraine’s nature won’t be possible until “Russian troops leave the territory” she said.
Meanwhile, Kyiv is banking that the legal case it is building against Moscow will become a potential source of financing for rebuilding the country and bringing its scarred landscape and ecosystems back to health.
It is also tapping into EU coffers. In a move intended to help the country restore its environment following Russia’s invasion, Ukraine in June became the first non-EU country to join the LIFE program, the EU’s funding instrument for environment and climate.
Earlier this month, Environment Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius announced a €7 million scheme — dubbed the Phoenix Initiative — to help Ukrainian cities rebuild greener and to connect Ukrainian cities with EU counterparts that can share expertise on achieving climate neutrality.

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#environmental #scars #Russias #war #Ukraine
( With inputs from : www.politico.eu )

February 21, 2023
In from the coal: Australia sheds climate pariah status to make up with Europe

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Europe loves the Aussies again.
Australia was, until recently, an international pariah on climate change and a punchline in Brussels. But a new government in Canberra coupled with Europe’s energy and economic woes mean a better relationship is now emerging — one that could fuel Europe’s transition to a clean economy, while enriching Australia immensely.
“Europe is energy hungry and capital rich, Australia’s energy rich and capital hungry, and that means that there’s a lot that we can do together,” said Australia’s Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen.
A little over a year ago, relations between Australia and the EU were in a parlous state. The government of Prime Minister Scott Morrison had reneged on a nuclear submarine contract — a decision the current government stands by — incensing the French and by extension the EU. Equally as frustrating for many Europeans was Australia’s climate policy, which was viewed as outstandingly meager even in a lackluster global field.
The election of Labor Prime Minister Anthony Albanese — whose father was Italian — last May brought a change in tone, as well as a new climate target and a trickle of policies designed to cut greenhouse gas pollution that heats up the planet.
Those moves were “the entry ticket” to dealings with Europe, Bowen told POLITICO in Brussels, the second-last stop on a European tour. “Australia’s change of climate positioning, climate policy, has changed our position in the world.”
That’s been most notable in progress on talks on a free trade agreement with the EU. Landing that deal would be a “big step forward,” said Bowen. Particularly because when it comes to clean energy, Australia wants to sell and Europe wants to buy.
Using the vast sunny desert in its interior, Australia could be a “renewable energy superpower,” Bowen argued. Solar energy can be tapped to make green hydrogen and shipped to Europe, he said.

European governments are listening closely to the pitch. Bowen was in Rotterdam on Monday, inspecting the potential to use the Netherlands port as an entry for antipodean hydrogen. He signed a provisional deal with the Dutch government to that end. Last week, Bowen announced a series of joint investments with the German government in Australian hydrogen research projects worth €72 million.
It’s not just sun, Australia has tantalum and tungsten and a host of minerals Europe needs for building clean tech, but that it currently imports. In many cases those minerals are refined or otherwise processed in China, a dependency that Brussels is keen to rapidly unwind — not least with its Critical Raw Materials Act, expected in March.
According to a 2022 government report, Australia holds the second-largest global reserves of cobalt and lithium, from which batteries are made, and is No. 1 in zirconium, which is used to line nuclear reactors.
Asked whether Australia can ease Europe’s dependence on China, Bowen said: “We want to be a very strong factor in the supply chains. We’re a trusted, reliable trading partner. We have strong ethical supply chains. We have strong environmental standards.”
But Australia has its own entanglements.
Certain Australian minerals, notably lithium, are largely refined and manufactured in China. Bowen said he was keen on bringing at least some of that resource-intensive, polluting work back to Australia.
While its climate targets are now broadly in line with other rich nations, the rehabilitation of Australia’s climate image jars with its role as one of the biggest fossil fuel sellers on the planet.
Australia’s coal exports, when burned in overseas power plants, generate huge amounts of planet-warming pollution — almost double the amount produced annually by Australians within their borders. Australia is also the third-largest exporter of natural gas, including an increasing flow to the EU. At home, the government is facing calls from the Greens party and centrist climate independents to reject plans for more than 100 coal and gas developments around the country.
But how many of Bowen’s counterparts raised the issue of Australia’s emissions during his travels around Europe? “Nobody,” he said. “We are here to help.”
Antonia Zimmermann contributed reporting.

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( With inputs from : www.politico.eu )

February 8, 2023