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Climate Action
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Eastern Europe, Caucasus
and Central Asia
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Following the
destruction of the Kakhovka dam in Ukraine in
June as a result of continued Russian
aggression, Georgians began to worry about the
possible hazards of Black Sea water for
swimmers. Authorities give assurances there are
no signs of pollutants reaching Georgian shores
yet and experts, too, see little risk of the
country's coastline being affected. After the
start of Russia's full-scale invasion of
Ukraine, Georgia saw the war's impacts from
multiple directions over land - be it the
influx of migrants from
Russia, or more trucks and
trains
moving between Europe and Asia circumventing
Russia.
CAN
EECCA organized a workshop focused on the
registration process for the UNFCCC. The
workshop aimed to equip NGOs and media members
with the necessary knowledge and tools to
navigate the registration process effectively.
Attendees had the opportunity to learn from
experienced speakers who provided valuable
insights and guidance. The workshop specifically
addressed the registration process for NGOs,
emphasizing the importance of timely and
accurate submission of required documents.
Participants received detailed instructions on
the various steps involved, including the
documentation required for accreditation and the
selection of focal points for their respective
organizations.
Turkey
was offered to consider the possibility of
exchanging state debt for the implementation of
green projects in Kyrgyzstan, as well as to
participate in the construction of Asman
eco-city, the press service of the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs of Kyrgyzstan said. Kyrgyz
Ambassador to Turkey Ruslan Kazakbaev met with
Turkish Minister of Environment, Urbanization
and Climate Change Mehmet Ozhaseki. The diplomat
said that at the initiative of Kyrgyzstan a
number of environmental initiatives were adopted
in the international arena, and emphasized that
the Kyrgyz side expresses special interest in
the joint implementation of green projects,
particularly in the energy sector.
From
potatoes grown in recycled sacks to “more crop
per drop” fruit tree varieties, climate-smart
and women-led agriculture initiatives became the
center of discussions at a recent interregional
conference convened by the United Nations
Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in
Dushanbe, Tajikistan. Fertile land is a precious
commodity in Tajikistan, where 90% of the
country's territory is covered by mountains and
60% of the population directly depend on
agriculture for livelihood. As heatwaves,
droughts and other extreme climate events become
more frequent and severe across the globe,
regional cooperation and knowledge sharing are
becoming a priority in building drought
resilience and fighting land
degradation.
Tens
of middle and small-size hydropower plants have
been built in Georgia over the last decade.
Since they do not need large dams to store
water, they are often considered by some
individuals as less harmful for the environment,
and the government often uses this argument to
allow companies to go ahead and build them in a
quantity Georgian rivers cannot afford. Most of
the time, medium or small-sized hydropower
plants are built on small rivers. As a result
they end up taking the vast majority of water
flow [about 90% of annual average flow] of
rivers, especially in winter, when river
discharge declines and reaches a minimum level.
This empties and destroys river biodiversity and
ecosystems, including fish habitat and smaller
vertebrates, which despite their size, are as
important a part of the ecosystem as larger
vertebrates or mammals.
To
help young Central Asian women kick-start
careers in the sustainable energy sector, the
OSCE has launched a fully-funded scholarship
program in collaboration with the Kazakh-German
University (DKU) for the Master’s program in
“Strategic Management of Renewable Energy and
Energy Efficiency” at DKU. This scholarship
program aims to support and empower young women
from Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Mongolia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and
Uzbekistan in acquiring skills for establishing
and managing renewable energy facilities, as
well as effectively handling clean energy
technologies, including energy conservation and
efficiency.
As in
many other areas of sustainable development, the
fight against climate change must transcend
national boundaries. Balancing the water needs
of people, industry, agriculture and ecosystems
will require a multinational approach. That is
why finding a comprehensive solution to the
water problem in our region requires the joint
efforts of neighboring Central Asia and China.
Reflecting these concerns, the China-Central
Asia Xi'an Summit Declaration in May clearly
defined the following goals. The parties will
intensify their efforts in the development of
smart agriculture, and the exchange of
experience in the implementation of
water-saving, green and other highly efficient
technologies and best practices in this
area.
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The European Union will
push for a global pledge at Cop28 to phase out
unabated fossil fuels “well ahead of 2050”, EU
climate chief Frans Timmermans announced. The
commitment would mean stopping coal power and
eliminating emissions from the oil and gas
sector, but with only a minimal role for carbon
capture, he added. The EU unveiled its common
goals ahead of the climate summit in Dubai this
week, at a meeting of the bloc’s environment and
energy ministers in Spain. Speaking at the
gathering, attended by Cop28 chief Sultan Al
Jaber, Timmermans said the EU wants
governments to sign up to a pledge with three
main elements: tripling renewables rollout by
2030, better energy efficiency, and an
accelerated phase-out of fossil fuels with a
“residual” role for carbon abating
technologies.
The more you install,
the cheaper it gets’: Wind and solar to produce
33% of global power by 2030
Wind and solar projects
are on track to account for more than a third of
the world's electricity by 2030, a report by the
Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) said on Thursday.
This signals that the energy sector can achieve
the change needed to meet global climate goals.
Sultan al-Jaber, president of the next UN
climate summit, COP28, earlier this year
called for a tripling of renewable
energy generation by 2030 to curb
greenhouse gas emissions and help reach goals
set under the 2015 Paris climate
agreement. Exponential sector
growth means wind and solar
projects are predicted to
generate at least 33 per cent of global
electricity, up from around 12 per cent now.
This will lead to a fall in fossil
fuel-powered generation and cheaper
power,
the RMI report showed.
Climate
change is driving ever more extreme weather
events, scientists say, including changing
rainfall patterns that caused fatal flooding in
the US, South Korea, India and Japan over the
past week at the same time as an extreme
heatwave called Cerberus is forecast for
southern Europe. South Korean rescuers on Sunday
pulled bodies from a flooded tunnel where around
15 vehicles were trapped in muddy water,
agencies reported, as days of heavy rain
triggered flash floods and landslides. An
estimated 37 people had died and thousands since
heavy rain started a week ago.
Energy industry uses
whale activists to aid anti-wind farm
strategy
The
SRWC’s strategy – exploiting gaps in scientific
research or consensus to spread doubt – mirrors
one long used by oil interests to delay the
transition to renewable energy. Science
historians Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway
outlined how climate deniers and skeptics used
this playbook in their 2010 book Merchants of
Doubt. Today, organizations like the SRWC are
calling into question the effectiveness of wind
energy in an attempt to delay or suspend
construction of wind projects. Knight, whose
group Green Oceans is also a member of the SRWC,
recently self-published a white paper on wind
energy that Roberts called “full of cherrypicked
data”. (In a response to the Guardian, Knight
said that Green Oceans used “peer-reviewed
publications to support our scientific claims”
and “still welcome[s] the opportunity” to
discuss the issue with Roberts’
students.)
A joint Spanish and
American research team found that people living
near green
spaces
are on average 2.5 years biologically younger
than those who do not. “Living near more
greenness can help you be younger than your
actual age,” said Kyeezu Kim, the study’s lead
author and a postdoctoral scholar at
Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of
Medicine. “We believe our findings have
significant implications for urban
planning in terms of expanding
green infrastructure to promote public health
and reduce health disparities.” The team
analysed a type of DNA chemical modification
known as “methylation”. “Methylation” is a
chemical process that occurs in our DNA. Certain
patterns of DNA methylation tend to change as we
age, and these changes can be used to estimate a
person's biological age on a molecular level -
something known as an “epigenetic
clock.”
Government
backing for new oil and coal, airport expansion
plans and slow progress on heat pumps show that
the UK has lost its leadership on climate
issues, a government watchdog warns. The Climate
Change Committee (CCC) described government
efforts to scale up climate action as
"worryingly slow". It was "markedly" less
confident than a year ago that the UK would
reach its targets for cutting carbon emissions.
The government said it was committed to its
climate targets. Committee chairman Lord Deben,
a former Conservative environment minister, was
particularly critical of the government's policy
on new coal and oil projects.
One of the last places
in the country you wanted to be on July 11 was
Houston, Texas. Roasting under a heat dome,
Houston topped
105ºF
that day, continuing a punishing trend that has
already seen the city hit over 90°F on
46
days in 2023. Houston isn’t alone. Record
highs
have been reached this summer in Tucson, Ariz.;
Tampa, Fla.; Corpus Christi, Texas.; and both
Stockton and Sacramento, Calif., which on July 1
posted twin readings of 109ºF. Climate
change
is surely playing a role in the rise of such
incinerating heat, but it is no coincidence
either that the greatest suffering has been
endured not in the outlying suburbs, exurbs, or
countryside, but in city centers, characterized
by what experts call urban heat
islands.
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Sent: Tuesday, July 18,
2023 3:07 PM
Subject: 🌏CAN EECCA
Newsletter: Exchange of debts for green projects, Waterlight cooperation,
33% wind and solar
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