'Day Zero' looms in Australian Outback as climate change bites

Yahoo – AFP, Holly ROBERTSON, September 19, 2019

Angus Ferrier stands by his few remaining citrus trees at his drought-hit
orchard Stanthorpe, regional Queensland (AFP Photo/William WEST)

Stanthorpe (Australia) (AFP) - An unprecedented water shortage in drought-stricken eastern Australia is driving home the brutal realities of climate change and threatening the much-mythologised Outback way of life.

From sunny Queensland all the way to Sydney, more than a dozen small towns are facing their own "Day Zero" within months, a water crisis reminiscent of the taps being turned off in Cape Town and Chennai.

It's getting hotter, it's getting drier, and adding to the misery, precious water supplies are being tasked to fight hundreds of bushfires ripping through the Australian countryside.

In the small horticulture hub of Stanthorpe, Queensland, a prolonged crushing drought has left water supplies at the local dam sitting metres below normal levels.

Despite sitting within the basin of Australia's biggest river system -- as do all of the towns running dry -- Stanthorpe is set to run dry by Christmas.

Authorities will have no choice but to truck-in water at a monthly cost of Aus$1 million ($690,000) -- a temporary reprieve expected to remain sustainable for just 12 months.

In Angus Ferrier's orchard, citrus trees that once blossomed in orderly rows now lie in a twisted heap.

Cattle feeding on a drought-affected farm near Armidale in regional
New South Wales (AFP Photo/William WEST)

His farm's water own supply will be empty within weeks, so he has dug up thousands of trees and expects to sacrifice the same number again before the year is out.

"They were eight years old," he said, pulling a dried flower off a gnarled branch, "so eight years of your life, gone in a day."

Radical measures

The local growers' association believes drought will cost the region's economy Aus$100 million this season alone -- an enormous amount for a small community like Stanthorpe.

Farmers are taking radical measures just to survive, spending a small fortune to truck-in water for their crops or renting land in other districts that have been less badly affected.

"I do know of some growers who are literally bone dry and have decided to plant nothing this year and practically close their businesses down in the short-term," Ferrier said.

Their struggles have had a knock-on effect in town, where shops are on the brink of shutting, and desperation has led to several instances of water theft across the region.

To the south, the entire state of New South Wales was declared in drought last December. Some reservoirs are as low as one percent of capacity, and smaller towns such as Guyra have effectively already run dry.

Water is being trucked in until a fast-tracked Aus$13 million pipeline comes online at the end of September. But at current water usage rates, even the pipeline's supply will only last the wider 30,000-strong Armidale district another year.

Grazier Gordon Youman helps a struggling sheep back to its feet on his 

property at Guyra in regional New South Wales (AFP Photo/William WEST)

"We are looking at alternative sources of water, not just that which comes from the sky by way of rain," Armidale Regional Council CEO Susan Law said.

'Sunburnt Country'

"A hydrogeologist has identified nine sites around the Guyra region where we will be drilling to see if there's groundwater there to supplement our supply."

Australia -- dubbed the "Sunburnt Country" -- has long been buffeted by drought and floods.

But scientists say weather extremes are exacerbated by climate change, which Australians -- even some in these conservative bush areas -- increasingly acknowledge.

The government, anxious to support the country's huge coal mining and export sector, has rejected calls to make fighting climate change a priority on the grounds this would undermine economic growth.

Local authorities are scrambling to respond to the immediate crisis with measures such as pipelines and drilling, but there is growing pressure for a national policy response.

Storm King dam near Stanthorpe in regional Queensland used to be a popular
swimming spot, but there is hardly any water left now (AFP Photo/William WEST)

That could include dam-building and more stringent restrictions on using river water for irrigation.

"You get the feeling that everyone's on edge because you've got to watch everything you do -- you've got to be careful of every little drop you use," said Stanthorpe resident Tom Hehlen.

"That can be very stressful."

Guyra grazier Gordon Youman said the very fabric of Australia's Outback is at stake, with many farmers suffering mental health issues as they face the prospect of going broke.

"It's that core of the country -- where mum and dad and the kids work together -- they're the ones that are going to be pulled down," he said.

Related Articles:

Melting snowcaps spell water trouble for world's highest capital

"Recalibration of Free Choice"–  Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth,  4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical)  8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)

“…  4 - Energy (again)

The natural resources of the planet are finite and will not support the continuation of what you've been doing. We've been saying this for a decade. Watch for increased science and increased funding for alternate ways of creating electricity (finally). Watch for the very companies who have the most to lose being the ones who fund it. It is the beginning of a full realization that a change of thinking is at hand. You can take things from Gaia that are energy, instead of physical resources. We speak yet again about geothermal, about tidal, about wind. Again, we plead with you not to over-engineer this. For one of the things that Human Beings do in a technological age is to over-engineer simple things. Look at nuclear - the most over-engineered and expensive steam engine in existence!

Your current ideas of capturing energy from tidal and wave motion don't have to be technical marvels. Think paddle wheel on a pier with waves, which will create energy in both directions [waves coming and going] tied to a generator that can power dozens of neighborhoods, not full cities. Think simple and decentralize the idea of utilities. The same goes for wind and geothermal. Think of utilities for groups of homes in a cluster. You won't have a grid failure if there is no grid. This is the way of the future, and you'll be more inclined to have it sooner than later if you do this, and it won't cost as much.

Water

We've told you that one of the greatest natural resources of the planet, which is going to shift and change and be mysterious to you, is fresh water. It's going to be the next gold, dear ones. So, we have also given you some hints and examples and again we plead: Even before the potentials of running out of it, learn how to desalinate water in real time without heat. It's there, it's doable, and some already have it in the lab. This will create inexpensive fresh water for the planet. 

There is a change of attitude that is starting to occur. Slowly you're starting to see it and the only thing getting in the way of it are those companies with the big money who currently have the old system. That's starting to change as well. For the big money always wants to invest in what it knows is coming next, but it wants to create what is coming next within the framework of what it has "on the shelf." What is on the shelf is oil, coal, dams, and non-renewable resource usage. It hasn't changed much in the last 100 years, has it? Now you will see a change of free choice. You're going to see decisions made in the boardrooms that would have curled the toes of those two generations ago. Now "the worst thing they could do" might become "the best thing they could do." That, dear ones, is a change of free choice concept. When the thinkers of tomorrow see options that were never options before, that is a shift. That was number four. ….”

"2013 - What Now ?" – Jan 6, 2013 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll) - (Text version)

“… New ideas are things you never thought of. These ideas will be given to you so you will have answers to the most profound questions that your societies have had since you were born. Inventions will bring clean water to every Human on the planet, cheaply and everywhere. Inventions will give you power, cheaply and everywhere. These ideas will wipe out all of the reasons you now have for pollution, and when you look back on it, you'll go, "This solution was always there. Why didn't we think of that? Why didn't we do this sooner?" Because it wasn't time and you were not ready. You hadn't planted the seeds and you were still battling the old energy, deciding whether you were going to terminate yourselves before 2012. Now you didn't…. and now you didn't.

It's funny, what you ponder about, and what your sociologists consider the "great current problems of mankind", for your new ideas will simply eliminate the very concepts of the questions just as they did in the past. Do you remember? Two hundred years ago, the predictions of sociologists said that you would run out of food, since there wasn't enough land to sustain a greater population. Then you discovered crop rotation and fertilizer. Suddenly, each plot of land could produce many times what it could before. Do you remember the predictions that you would run out of wood to heat your homes? Probably not. That was before electricity. It goes on and on.

So today's puzzles are just as quaint, as you will see. (1)How do you strengthen the power grids of your great nations so that they are not vulnerable to failure or don't require massive infrastructure improvement expenditures? Because cold is coming, and you are going to need more power. (2) What can you do about pollution? (3) What about world overpopulation? Some experts will tell you that a pandemic will be the answer; nature [Gaia] will kill off about one-third of the earth's population. The best minds of the century ponder these puzzles and tell you that you are headed for real problems. You have heard these things all your life.

Let me ask you this. (1) What if you could eliminate the power grid altogether? You can and will. (2) What if pollution-creating sources simply go away, due to new ideas and invention, and the environment starts to self-correct? (3) Overpopulation? You assume that humanity will continue to have children at an exponential rate since they are stupid and can't help themselves. This, dear ones, is a consciousness and education issue, and that is going to change. Imagine a zero growth attribute of many countries - something that will be common. Did you notice that some of your children today are actually starting to ponder if they should have any children at all? What a concept! ….”

Tree-planting to offset carbon emissions: no cure-all

Yahoo – AFP, Pierre DONADIEU, 18 September 2019

Carbon offset schemes are based on trees absorbing carbon dioxide -- but can
planting compensate for pollution that causes global warming?

A few euros, a couple of mouse clicks and a tree is planted -- as air travel is increasingly becoming a source of guilt, consumers and companies are looking for other ways to ease their conscience and reduce their carbon footprint.

But as more polluting industries join efforts to offset their carbon emissions, the effectiveness of the approach is open to debate, with some critics suggesting that tree-planting schemes are nothing more than a fig leaf.

Once marginal, the offset movement has even reached the arch-enemy of environmentalists: big oil.

Shell has ploughed $300 million (270 million euros) into forest plantations to reduce its carbon footprint by 2-3 percent, Italy's ENI has set an objective of zero net emissions via its forestry investments, and France's Total plans to set up a special "business unit" next year to spend $100 million annually on compensation efforts.

Beyond the grand statements, carbon offset schemes basically follow the same, simple mechanism.

A polluting company or individual purchases a credit equivalent to a tonne of carbon dioxide and the purchase price is paid directly or indirectly into an emissions reduction scheme, such as planting trees which absorb CO2 responsible for global warming or investment in renewable energy sources.

This is the principle that the civil aviation industry is adopting with its initiative CORSIA (Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation) starting from 2020. Sixty-five countries have signed up to it so far -- equivalent to 87 percent of all international activity in the sector.

"There will be a number of eligible carbon reduction schemes and airlines will be able to buy the equivalent tonnes of CO2 via these projects," says Nathalie Simmenauer, Air France's head of environment and sustainable development.

The aim is to reach "neutral carbon growth" -- that is to ensure future emissions are held at 2020 levels.

Civil aviation is responsible for between 2 and 5 percent of global CO2 emissions

'A cop-out'

While trees are an important tool for regulating the climate, reforestation alone cannot whitewash a company's carbon-emitting activity, say activists.

"If you don't reduce your emissions and don't stop deforestation, you're not going to solve anything by merely planting trees," says Stephane Hallaire, president and founder of Reforest'Action, which has planted 3.8 million trees in nine years.

For just three euros, the company will plant a tree adapted to the local biodiversity and purchase part of a carbon credit for a foreign forest conservation project.

But Hallaire argues that reforestation must also be accompanied by better behaviour elsewhere.

Jean-Francois Rial, the head of the environmentally friendly tour operator, Voyageurs du Monde, agrees.

He fervently advocates so-called "absorption", where "precise and sustainable" reforestation projects are identified and financed without the use of carbon credit systems, which are seen by some as more opaque and less effective.

"It's a cop-out that risks dissuading society collectively from making greater effort and investing in costlier technologies," says Alain Karsenty, researcher at the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD).

Large-scale reforestation also poses other problems: the planted trees may compete with local cultures and forests and may not necessarily be beneficial to the local environment.

"These are often fast-growing species such as eucalyptus, pines, because we need trees that store carbon very quickly, but it can end up causing problems of biodiversity, soil drying," Karsenty said.

Reforestation alone is "insufficient", but still "better than nothing", and, for the time being it is just one tool among others to reduce emissions, the expert says.

That is until technological advances that allow the efficient capturing and storage of CO2 from the air or developing jets that run on hydrogen.

"It at least lets you buy time. Temporary storage can be a way to make the transition while waiting for breakthrough technologies," says Karsenty.

Lilly, Thailand's Greta Thunberg, wages 'war' on plastic

Yahoo – AFP, Sophie DEVILLER, 16 September 2019

US-Thai youngster Lilly started campaigning at the age of eight after a seaside
vacation in southern Thailand where she was horrified by a beach covered in rubbish

Skipping school to glide through a dirty Bangkok canal on a paddleboard, Lilly fishes out rubbish in her mission to clean up Thailand, where the average person uses eight plastic bags every single day.

"I am a kid at war," the bubbly 12-year-old says after a painstaking hour-long routine picking up cans, bags and bottles bobbing in the canal.

"I try to stay optimistic but I am also angry. Our world is disappearing," she adds.

Thailand is the sixth largest global contributor to ocean pollution, and plastic is a scourge.

Whether it's for wrapping up street food, takeaway coffees or for groceries, Thais use 3,000 single use bags per year -- 12 times more than someone from the European Union.

In June, Lilly won her first victory: she persuaded Central, a major supermarket in Bangkok, to stop giving out plastic bags in its stores once a week.

"I told myself that if the government did not listen to me, it would be necessary to speak directly to those who distribute plastic bags and convince them to stop," she explains.

This month some of the biggest brands, including the operator of the ubiquitous 7-Eleven convenience stores, pledged to stop handing out single-use plastic bags by January next year.

Lilly fishes out rubbish in her mission to clean up Thailand

Mindsets have started to shift this year with the deaths of several marine mammals whose stomachs were lined with plastic, stirring emotions.

The demise last month of a baby dugong was mourned on social media, reviving discussion in the government over a proposed ban on most single-use plastics by 2022.

But critics say along with new rules there need to be enforcement mechanisms such as fines.

For now young activists like Lilly can help capture attention.

"You might be able to tune out all of the evidence and advocacy in the world, but it's very hard to ignore a child when they ask why we're trashing the planet that they have to live on," says Kakuko Nagatani-Yoshida, regional coordinator for chemicals, waste and air quality with UN Environment.

'It's up to us'

Lilly is Ralyn Satidtanasarn's nickname.

The US-Thai youngster started campaigning at the age of eight after a seaside vacation in southern Thailand where she was horrified by a beach covered in rubbish.

Whether it's for wrapping up street food, takeaway coffees or for groceries, 

Thais use 3,000 single use bags per year -- 12 times more than someone 

from the European Union

"We cleaned up with my parents, but that was not helpful because other waste was thrown out by the sea the next day," she recalls.

Then came the global movement initiated by 16-year-old Greta Thunberg, who has become a key face in the battle against global warming.

Inspired by the young Swede, Lilly did sit-ins in front of the Thai government buildings.

"Greta Thunberg gave me confidence. When adults do not do anything, it's up to us children to act," she insists.

Though she often skips class to carry out her activism, she will not be in New York alongside Thunberg for a protest on September 20 just days before the UN climate conference.

"My place is here, the fight is also in Southeast Asia," she says.

Mindsets in Thailand have started to shift this year with the deaths 

of several marine mammals whose stomachs were lined with plastic

Even if she sometimes wants to take a break and "go play" like other kids, she also takes part in cleaning sessions organised by local association Trash Hero.

Other activists praise her but say she is up against massive corporate interests.

The main obstacle is the petrochemical industry, one of the main markets for plastics, accounting for 5 percent of Thailand's GDP and tens of thousands of jobs.

"Lilly is a very good voice for the youth of this country but the lobbies are very powerful and that makes any change difficult," concedes Nattapong Nithiuthai, who set up a company turning discarded waste into flip flops.

She can also count on the support of her parents, who help her write speeches to the UN and government officials.

Her mother, Sasie, herself a former environmental activist, adds: "At first, I thought it was a child's fad, but Lilly hung on, so I decided to support her."

EU sees US being swayed by its climate change 'example'

Yahoo – AFP, September 11, 2019

At a UN Climate Change Summit two weeks from now, parties to the 2015 Paris
accord will discuss its implementation despite the US withdrawal from the pact under
President Donald Trump (AFP Photo/Wikus DE WET)

Brussels (AFP) - Europe believes the United States will end up following its lead in fighting climate change once it sees the economic benefits that carbon-cutting can bring, EU officials said Wednesday.

This incentive will be stressed at a UN Climate Change Summit two weeks from now at the United Nations in New York, when parties to the 2015 Paris climate agreement will talk up its implementation despite Washington's withdrawal from the pact under President Donald Trump.

The US exit is "a pity... that makes the fight against climate change much more difficult," European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic said, adding however that the European Union could "lead by example."

To do that, he told a news conference, the bloc must "develop not only the political or environmental narrative but also the economic one: To be green pays off. To go clean it brings you dividends. To go for clean tech brings you more jobs."

He added: "I think we have all the good figures to support this."

The argument is aimed not only at Trump, who has prioritised the US economy above environmental concerns, but other leaders too, Sefcovic said.

It is also hoped the policy could spur greater action from China which, though it invests heavily in renewable energy, remains deeply dependent on burning fossil fuels to keep its giant economy growing.

"China is still peaking emissions, and will not peak until 2030," said the EU commissioner for energy and climate action, Miguel Arias Canete, adding: "This is a global effort, otherwise we will not be able to stop global warming."

Together, China and the United States account for nearly half the planet's carbon emissions, making them the key countries needed to get behind urgent efforts to battle climate change.

For the EU the issue has been thrown into stark relief over the past five years.

Growing public concern was expressed in recent European parliamentary elections in which green parties did well.

The new European Commission to take charge in November has made it one of its top priorities.

It plans to boost its climate change fight by aiming for carbon neutrality across the bloc by 2050. And it has pledged to plough a quarter of its 1.3 trillion euro ($1.4 trillion) budget plan for 2021-27 into climate mitigation efforts.

Related Article:

EU climate chief appoints fellow Dutch Labour man to top job

Big Oil investments bet on failure to meet climate goals: report

Yahoo – AFP, Marlowe HOOD, September 6, 2019

Many projects will only be profitable if climate goals are missed (AFP Photo/
JONATHAN NACKSTRAND)

Paris (AFP) - Oil and gas projects approved by major fossil fuel companies over the last 20 months threaten both shareholder value and efforts to keep Earth from overheating, according to an analysis released Friday.

Eighteen major investments totalling $50 billion would only become profitable if the world exceeds the Paris climate treaty targets for capping global warming, Carbon Tracker, a non-profit financial think tank, concluded.

Similar infrastructure projects worth $21 billion dollars are waiting for a greenlight in the rest of 2019, the report noted.

Across all business sectors, global companies responding to pressure from society and shareholders are scrambling to lay out low-emissions pathways that are "Paris-compliant".

The Paris Agreement calls for blocking the rise in Earth's temperature to "well below" two degrees Celsius compared to preindustrial levels, and 1.5C if possible.

On current trends, the planet will warm about 4C by century's end.

For fossil fuel majors, that transition is especially fraught because the main driver by far of global warming has been the burning of their products: oil, gas and coal.

Even under the less ambitious Paris target, the more costly projects highlighted could become economically unviable, the new report found.

ExxonMobil's $2.6 billion Aspen oil sands project in Canada, for example, would require an oil price of over $80 a barrel to deliver a 15 percent return.

"Investors may or may not be concerned about stopping climate change, but they are worried about the risk to their investment," said Carbon Tracker's Andrew Grant, a senior analyst and co-author of the report.

World electricity production by energy type (2000 and 2018)
(AFP Photo/Jonathan WALTER)

"There's a danger that the fossil fuel companies will misread demand trends and invest in projects that are both bad for the climate and bad for investors," he told AFP.

Some oil and gas giants -- notably Shell, BP, Equinor (formerly Statoil) and Total -- have sought to reassure investors that new investments fit within a low-carbon future, both in terms of profitability and greenhouse gas emissions.

"BP has supported the aim of the Paris Agreement, with its call to rapidly reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the context of sustainable development and eradicating poverty," BP said in a statement, responding to the report.

Stranded assets

The company aims to become "a much broader energy company so that we are best equipped to help the world get to net zero while meeting rising energy demand."

A major UN report last year concluded that global CO2 emissions must reach "net zero" by 2050 to cap temperature rise at 1.5C.

Allowing the planet to warm beyond that threshold would at the same time extend the net zero deadline.

The new investments show that fossil fuel companies -- effectively betting against the Paris targets being achieved -- have plotted a course that assumes higher temperature increases and that their products will continue to dominate energy needs for many decades to come.

The new report is the first to assess individual projects undertaken by the global oil and gas industry for compatibility with the Paris Agreement.

Chart showing the annual growth in global energy demand (AFP 

Photo/Laurence CHU)

The researchers measured their climate impact against two possible futures outlined by the International Energy Agency (IEA), an intergovernmental organisation with 30 members.

The most ambitious, known as "beyond 2 degrees", or B2DS, would cap global warming at 1.6C -- close to the Paris 1.5C goal.

The Sustainable Development Scenario would result in a 1.7C to 1.8C world, equivalent to "well below" 2C.

The IEA has also laid out a third pathway consistent with current national carbon-cutting pledges that would see temperatures rise 2.7C above preindustrial levels.

Carbon Tracker found that at least 30 percent of investments made by publicly traded oil majors -- including ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell, BP, Total, Eni and ConocoPhillips -- were incompatible with the IEA's most ambitious scenario.

ExxonMobil showed the greatest risk of "stranded assets" in a low-carbon world, with more than 90 percent of potential spending over the next 12 years positioned outside a 1.6 C future.

For Shell, the figure was 70 percent, followed by Total (67 percent), Chevron (60 percent), BP (57 percent) and Italy's Eni (55 percent).

"The oil and gas companies are certainly not aligned with Paris, and they are investing in projects that -- if we are successful with the Paris goals -- will not deliver value," Grant said.

Carbon Tracker also singled out projects including Shell's $13 billion liquefied natural gas project in Canada and BP's $4.3 billion deepwater oil project in Azerbaijan as vulnerable to a future economy in which market prices will not justify the costs of development.

Related Articles:

Oil industry under pressure to respond to climate change
Shell to link carbon emissions targets to senior executive pay

"Recalibration of Free Choice"– Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth, 4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical) 8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)

“… 4 - Energy (again)

The natural resources of the planet are finite and will not support the continuation of what you've been doing. We've been saying this for a decade. Watch for increased science and increased funding for alternate ways of creating electricity (finally). Watch for the very companies who have the most to lose being the ones who fund it. It is the beginning of a full realization that a change of thinking is at hand. You can take things from Gaia that are energy, instead of physical resources. We speak yet; again about geothermal, about tidal, about wind. Again, we plead with you not to over-engineer this. For one of the things that Human Beings do in a technological age is to over-engineer simple things. Look at nuclear - the most over-engineered and expensive steam engine in existence!

Your current ideas of capturing energy from tidal and wave motion don't have to be technical marvels. Think paddle wheel on a pier with waves, which will create energy in both directions [waves coming and going] tied to a generator that can power dozens of neighborhoods, not full cities. Think simple and decentralize the idea of utilities. The same goes for wind and geothermal. Think of utilities for groups of homes in a cluster. You won't have a grid failure if there is no grid. This is the way of the future, and you'll be more inclined to have it sooner than later if you do this, and it won't cost as much…

Water

We've told you that one of the greatest natural resources of the planet, which is going to shift and change and be mysterious to you, is fresh water. It's going to be the next gold, dear ones. So, we have also given you some hints and examples and again we plead: Even before the potentials of running out of it, learn how to desalinate water in real time without heat. It's there, it's doable, and some already have it in the lab. This will create inexpensive fresh water for the planet. 

There is a change of attitude that is starting to occur. Slowly you're starting to see it and the only thing getting in the way of it are those companies with the big money who currently have the old system. That's starting to change as well. For the big money always wants to invest in what it knows is coming next, but it wants to create what is coming next within the framework of what it has "on the shelf." What is on the shelf is oil, coal, dams, and non-renewable resource usage. It hasn't changed much in the last 100 years, has it? Now you will see a change of free choice. You're going to see decisions made in the boardrooms that would have curled the toes of those two generations ago. Now "the worst thing they could do" might become "the best thing they could do." That, dear ones, is a change of free choice concept. When the thinkers of tomorrow see options that were never options before, that is a shift. That was number four.”

Germany plans to ban single-use plastic shopping bags next year

Yahoo – AFP, September 6, 2019

Disposible plastic shopping bags may disappear from German stores next year
under a government proposal unveiled Friday (AFP Photo/Sebastian Gollnow)

Berlin (AFP) - Germany plans to ban single-use plastic bags from next year, joining a growing movement to fight global pollution, the environment minister said Friday.

Supermarkets and other retailers will be barred from offering lightweight plastic carrier bags at their checkouts, including those now marketed as being biodegradable or being made from renewable sources instead of petroleum.

"The vast majority of Germans want this ban," said Environment Minister Svenja Schulze of the centre-left Social Democrats, introducing the initiative that she hopes to soon turn into law.

Breaches of the ban, set to take effect in the first half of next year, would threaten businesses with fines of up to 100,000 euros ($110,000), according to a report by Bild newspaper.

Plastic pollution, especially in waterways and oceans, is a major ecological hazard as it injures or kills marine and bird life, fouls beaches and creates giant floating garbage patches in oceans.

Scientists warn that, as plastic slowly breaks down, the micro-particles enter food chains and end up in humans, with studies showing toxic traces in the waste of people in Europe and Asia.

Germany's planned move follows the 2016 introduction of a voluntary commitment by the retail industry to no longer give plastic bags away for free.

Plastic waste, including single-use bags, is a growing ecological hazard 

(AFP Photo/Johannes EISELE)

This helped drive a decline in use from 68 plastic bags per capita then to 24 last year, said the ministry.

This is already better than the EU's target of 40 bags per person per year by 2025.

Many retailers have already phased out plastic bags altogether as consumers have learnt to bring their own sturdy multi-use bags or nets when they go shopping.

The trade association HDE immediately criticised the planned ban, with its managing director Stefan Genth slamming it as "a clear breach of trust" by the government.

Environmental groups, meanwhile, argued the prohibition doesn't go far enough and demanded state surcharges on all disposable bags.

This should also cover paper bags, which degrade faster but still use up vast resources and energy in their production, green activists say.

The planned ban in 2020 does not cover the very thin tear-off plastic bags commonly found at supermarket fruit and vegetable counters.

The fear is that banning them would lead growers to pre-package fruits and greens in bulk in plastic, which could ultimately lead to more food wastage, the ministry said.

Under Germany's planned law, a six-months transition period would allow retailers to reduce their remaining stocks before the prohibition takes effect.

Climate activist Thunberg joins hundreds of teens at UN protest

Yahoo – AFP, August 30, 2019

Great Thunberg (2nd L in pink) joins a protest by climate activist near the
UN headquarters on August 30, 2019, in New York. (AFP Photo/Bryan Smith)

New York (AFP) - Swedish climate change campaigner Greta Thunberg joined hundreds of other teenagers protesting outside the United Nations Friday in her first demonstration on US soil since arriving by zero-carbon yacht.

"When we knew Greta would be here, we knew we could not miss it. She is our inspiration," said 17-year-old Atara Saunders, who traveled to New York from the Philadelphia area.

Thunberg, 16, has spurred teenagers and students around the world to gather every Friday under the rallying cry "Fridays for future" to call on adults to act now to save the planet.

"Stop denying the earth is dying," and "We vote next," chanted the several hundred demonstrators, who included a few children as young six, outside the UN headquarters.

Some youngsters were attending a climate protest for the first time.

"I knew there would be celebrities like Greta here. I think it's a really good idea. You have to change something," said 13-year-old New Yorker Gabriel Kunin.

Thunberg attended the protest briefly before heading into the UN where she had an impromptu meeting with the president of the General Assembly, Maria Fernanda Espinosa of Ecuador.

Thunberg demanded "actions not words" during the ten-minute meeting, a spokesman for Espinosa said.

The Swede has become a symbol for climate action since she began sitting outside the Swedish parliament in August 2018 calling for politicians to cut carbon emissions and curb global warming.

She has also received criticism and abuse for her uncompromising attitude, however.

Thunberg will attend a UN summit on zero emissions on September 23 but refused to fly because of the carbon emissions caused by planes.

She sailed into New York on Wednesday after a 15-day journey across the Atlantic on an emissions-free boat.

Thunberg has said she does not yet know how she will return to Europe.