“Large-scale heavy metal pollution, coastal erosion and seawater intrusion pose an existential threat to the Nile River Delta and endanger 60 million people in Egypt who depend on its resources for every facet of life,” say Egyptian and American experts at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering of the University of Southern California who published their findings in a new study in Earth’s Future.

( Sustainability Times) – The United Nations COP27 conference has now drawn to a close, with talks culminating in a historic agreement to establish a climate “loss and damage” fund. Egyptian foreign minister and president of COP27, Sameh Shoukry, celebrated after all-night negotiations, declaring that “we rose to the occasion” and “listened to the calls of anguish and despair.”

Many details of the agreement are still to be negotiated, but the fund is expected to mobilise support from the industrialised North to the climate-vulnerable global South for losses arising from climate change-fueled natural disasters.

That this year’s summit was held in Egypt, while COP28 will be hosted by the United Arab Emirates (UAE), reflects the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region’s particularly high vulnerability to climate change, as well as the increasing attention its leaders are paying to the issue.

While ramped-up climate finance is essential to support the region’s vulnerable communities, poor governance, corruption and conflict throughout MENA threaten to curb the impact of these funds. For climate-vulnerable countries such as Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen, these barriers could mean the difference between life and death for millions of people.

A region under fire

With the continent’s rivers drying up and an agricultural sector on the brink of collapse, 80 to 90 million of the region’s inhabitants are predicted to suffer from some form of water stress by 2025. Another 19 million people in North Africa are expected to be driven from their homes over the next 30 years.

Via Pixabay.

Indeed, the MENA region is facing a wide range of climate risks, from water scarcity and desertification to food insecurity and rising sea levels, threatening economies, livelihoods and even the long-term viability of certain areas. Disturbingly, the region is projected to be one the first in the world to “effectively run out of water” as water resources are used faster than they can be replenished.

In Jordan, for example, rainfall is set to decrease by nearly one-third by the end of the century. In Iraq and Morocco, two-thirds of oases have disappeared due to increased evaporation and decreased precipitation, while Saudi Arabia and Sudan have already begun experiencing severe sandstorms.

The unfolding environmental catastrophe is a humanitarian one as well. According to recent reports, nearly one million people currently face catastrophic levels of hunger across Afghanistan, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Somalia, and Yemen – a number ten times that of five years ago. The Horn of Africa is facing its fifth failed rainy season in a row, prolonging the region’s longest drought in 40 years.

Corruption and conflict undermining climate action

In all of this crisis, there are some signs of hope. Despite regional water scarcity, MENA has the world’s lowest water tariffs and the highest proportion of GDP spent on public water subsidies, while a whopping 80% of wastewater is not recycled, meaning that opportunities for reform to meet water demands are legion.

In Iraq, politicians in the Kurdish region have been eager to outline the country’s climate reform ambitions and drum up support for energy transition plans. “Encouraged by the discussions at the COP26 Summit to accelerate action against a global threat,” Prime Minister Masrour Barzani wrote on Twitter, adding that “the time to act is now.” Climate efforts in Barzani-ruled Iraqi Kurdistan, however, have consistently been undermined by deeply entrenched corruption.

This reality is illustrated by the Korek telecom misappropriation case, in which hundreds of millions of dollars of investment from Kuwaiti logistics firm Agility and French telco Orange were seized without compensation. If strengthened anti-corruption initiatives prove unsuccessful, foreign investors in climate initiatives would be wise to expect similar treatment.

At the same time, state capture in Lebanon has seen the country’s resources plundered by the political elite. This is exemplified by its “Ponzi scheme” scandal, through which Lebanon authorities used excessive debt accumulation to give the “illusion of stability” while funds continued to flow overseas to Lebanese groups abroad.

In a scathing report released earlier this year, World Bank experts were blunt. “It is important for the Lebanese people to realize that central features of the [economy] are gone, never to return,” they wrote, “it is also important for them to know that this has been deliberate.” The resulting economic depression has plunged millions of Lebanese into a desperate situation.

The ongoing civil war in Yemen is similarly devastating lives and stalling climate action. Protracted conflict and several years of droughts have forced millions from their homes, including farmers and livestock keepers, while creating a food crisis that has only deepened instability throughout the country. Ongoing peace talks between regional and civil actors are thus critical to laying the foundation for future Yemeni climate efforts.

Reform and peace only way forward

Governments throughout the MENA region cannot hope to attract the necessary levels of foreign climate investment without implementing good governance and corruption reforms and ensuring long-lasting peace. Only then will climate funds deliver impactful, tailored climate action projects.

In Lebanon, the World Bank has informed leaders that the country will need to implement large-scale reform and financial stabilisation programmes to find its way out of its current socioeconomic crisis, warning that “the cost of inaction is colossal, not only on daily lives of citizens but also on the future of the Lebanese people.”

Meanwhile, the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) will need to match recent commitments with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to bolster its anti-corruption frameworks with concrete action over the coming years.

Finally, in Yemen, where the government has respected the terms of the current truce – unlike the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels – the international community, notably the EU and US, must complement vital humanitarian aid programmes with diplomatic pressure on Iran and hard security guarantees for Yemeni government-supporting Saudi Arabia.

Implementing these urgent reform and conflict resolution measures would give the MENA region the long-term stability and investment it needs to start truly tackling its climate crisis before time runs out.

Via Sustainability Times

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( Sustainability Times ) – Universities, governments, faith groups and others are changing their investment policies to better align with Paris Agreement climate goals, but they’re also doing so to limit the risk of financial exposure — and that’s been met with political pushback over stranded assets, particularly in Britain and the United States.

The most recent example comes from HSBC, the banking institution based in London. Stuart Kirk, global head of responsible investments for HSBC, presented a talk earlier this month called “Why Investors Need Not Worry About Climate Risk” at a Financial Times Moral Money summit. In it, he dismissed the climate threat by saying it was just another hyperbolic “sky is falling” scenario, similar to Y2K fears at the turn of the millennium.

“The more we’re ‘doomed,’ the higher prices go,” Kirk said, while presenting data framed to demonstrate that the more that public discourse focuses on climate catastrophe, the “higher and higher and higher risk assets go.”

Kirk’s remarks drew widespread media coverage from news outlets including the New York Times, which then published a May 27 article on how oil and gas interests, alongside politicians, are placing pressure on firms like BlackRock in order to curb their responsiveness to climate when managing assets and evaluating financial risk.

BlackRock holds $259 billion in fossil fuel-invested client assets, with significant holdings in Exxon Mobil, ConocoPhillips and Kinder Morgan, among others, the Times reported. BlackRock also issued a May 2022 investment stewardship policy statement that places limits on the types of climate-related proposals it will consider from its stakeholders.

“We are not likely to support those that, in our assessment, implicitly are intended to micromanage
companies,” the statement said. “This includes those that are unduly prescriptive and constraining on the decision-making of the board or management, call for changes to a company’s strategy or business model, or address matters that are not material to how a company delivers long-term shareholder value.”

Ownership chain of stranded assets by OECD/non-OECD geography and major institutional categories. Each bar represents $1.4 trillion in losses from medium expectations realignment at successive ownership stages, divided into OECD and non-OECD losses, and within each geography into major institutional categories.

It’s a troubling trend, considering what’s at stake in moving the global community forward in an energy transition that leaves fossil fuels behind. New research, from a team led by economist Dr. Gregor Semieniuk of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and British-based colleague Philip B. Holden, assessed the potential losses associated with stranded assets in the oil and gas sector and found that US$681 billion could affect financial companies, with $1.4 trillion in stranded assets overall.

“The U.S. and UK financial sectors display much larger losses than other countries,” the authors said in the paper, published last week in the journal Nature Climate Change. The models were based on a moderate warming scenario of 3.5 °C during this century.

Among their calculations, the researchers note that private persons own over half the risk and losses would exceed equity in some 239 companies, leaving them technically insolvent. That means that multiple players, including municipalities and people with pension funds invested in BlackRock and other financial firms, are potentially exposed to future climate losses.

Meanwhile, politicians who oppose climate action and the financial institutions themselves appear to be moving even further from the consensus on an urgent energy transformation needed to cut carbon emissions.

Kirk has been suspended for his remarks pending an investigation, according to the Financial Times on Sunday, in a piece that explores insights drawn from the controversy over the speech and its assessment of “the intensity of the ESG culture war.” That environmental, social and governance investment (ESG) war isn’t new but it appears to be entering a new phase at a critical time for evolving climate policy.

Via Sustainability Times

( Sustainability Times) – Microplastics have permeated the environment from mountain tops to the seafloor and are posing a threat to human health as well because we unwittingly ingest considerable quantities of it.

It turns out that microplastics, which are minute particles often invisible to the naked eye, can even get into our bloodstream. As a result, they can potentially accumulate in our organs.

A team of scientists in the Netherlands realized this after examining the blood samples of 22 healthy volunteers and found that nearly 80% of them had microplastics in their blood.

Photo: Pixabay/swiftsciencewriting

Half of the collected blood samples, they explain in a study, had traces of PET plastic, which is used to make drink bottles. More than a third of the samples, meanwhile, had polystyrene, used in the manufacture of disposable food containers and other products.

It is plausible that other kinds of microplastics circulate in our blood too, but they were not detected because of their very small sizes, the scientists note.

The Dutch experts’ study, the first of its kind in the world, has demonstrated that “plastic particles are bioavailable for uptake into the human bloodstream,” as they put it, although it remains to be examined what the health consequences of this will be for us.

“This is proof that we have plastics in our body — and we shouldn’t,” explains Dick Vethaak, an ecotoxicologist at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam who was a member of the research team.

“Where is it going in your body? Can it be eliminated? Excreted? Or is it retained in certain organs, accumulating maybe, or is it even able to pass the blood-brain barrier?” the scientist wondered.

How microplastics enter the bloodstream is not yet understood either, but the scientists postulate that they could do so through contaminated air, water or food. Products such as toothpastes and lip glosses could also be conduits.

Be that as it may, the consequences of mircoplastics entering our organs could be dire.

“[P]lastic particles have not just pervaded throughout the environment,” observed Alice Horton, a scientist at the National Oceanography Center in the United Kingdom, “but are pervading our bodies too.”

Tibor Krausz, who writes under the penname Daniel T Cross, is an experienced writer and editor who has worked for several prominent newspapers and magazines worldwide, including The Christian Science Monitor, The Washington Post, The National Post, The Guardian, The Jerusalem Report, The South China Morning Post, The Bangkok Post and The Sydney Morning Herald. As a journalist, he has covered numerous environmental issues in depth.

Via Sustainability Times

( Sustainability Times) – Most people know it as fracking, a process of drilling for gas and oil using methods like hydraulic fracturing to inject water or chemicals into rock layers so that the fossil fuels can be extracted.

It’s long been opposed by climate activists, but now a new study suggests that it raises the risk of early death in the elderly. That’s according to scientists at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health who published their work in the journal Nature Energy.

The research team sifted through data on more than 2.5 million oil and gas wells in the United States. Among them were at least 100,000 wells that relied on “unconventional oil and gas development” methods, or UOGD. They included both hydraulic fracturing and directional, nonvertical drilling practices.

“Although UOGD is a major industrial activity in the U.S., very little is known about its public health impacts,” said senior study author Petros Koutrakis, a professor of environmental sciences. “Our study is the first to link mortality to UOGD-related air pollutant exposures.”

To do this, the Harvard University scientists also studied the records of more than 15 million people aged 65 or older who are enrolled in the U.S. Medicare plan for senior health benefits. These people all lived in major U.S. fracking zones from 2001 to 2015.

The researchers used two different statistical methods to assess the impacts of either living too close to a fracking operation or downwind from it. After adjusting for socioeconomic and other factors, including other environmental exposures, the study results showed that the closer to a UOGD well that people lived, the greater their risk of premature death.

The seniors who lived closest to the wells had a 2.5% higher mortality risk when compared with those who didn’t. When the people lived both close to and downwind from the wells, they were at a higher risk than those who lived close to but upwind from the wells. Both groups were compared with people who had no exposure.

The results, the authors said, point to air pollution linked to fracking as the cause of the public health threat to seniors.

They note that some 17.6 million people in the U.S. currently live within one kilometer of an active fracking well. Previous studies have found links between fracking and harmful pollution, with specific connections to heart and lung health, cancer outcomes, and prenatal impacts. But little has been known about impacts to the elderly, or exactly how fracking may contribute to a mortality risk.

“Our findings suggest the importance of considering the potential health dangers of situating UOGD near or upwind of people’s homes,” said postdoctoral fellow Longxiang Li, the lead author of the study.

Laureen Fagan is a freelance journalist covering international affairs, politics and technology. She is trained in conflict resolution and diversity, and has special interests in science and medical reporting, and culture and religion issues.

Via Sustainability Times

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( Sustainability Times) – Various industries are searching for emission reduction tactics as eco-consumer rates in the United States rise. The agricultural sector is a significant polluter, requiring technological advancement to enhance sustainability. Environmentalists are exploring the cross benefits of using solar power to support farming.

The connection between renewables and agriculture also supports President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better plan. His administration hopes to achieve national carbon-neutrality levels by 2040 using clean electricity. When farmers install solar panels, they can increase food production and power the emission-free electric grid.

Currently, 80% of America’s energy supply comes from fossil fuels. During the combustion process, the elements release greenhouse gases into the environment.

Photo: Pixabay/RoyBuri

These gases alter the atmosphere’s composition. The planet relies on a strategic atmospheric consistency to produce and regulate specific surface temperatures supporting the global ecosystem. As the composition changes, Earth struggles to maintain life-sufficient conditions.

Naturally, Earth absorbs infrared radiation and produces heat, warming its surface. Then, the atmosphere gathers extra energy and sends it to space. Greenhouse gases change the process by raising the atmospheric sunlight-to-heat conversion rate.

Emissions also trap excess energy on Earth, refiltering it through the heat production process. Over time, the gases increase the planet’s temperature. Solar power decreases these adverse effects by producing an abundant energy supply without releasing emissions.

Another contributing factor to the enhanced greenhouse effect is agricultural processes. Raising cattle increases the rate of methane emissions polluting the atmosphere. Methane is a more potent air pollutant than carbon dioxide.

The farming industry also affects Earth’s ecology by exploiting natural lands and resources. The overproduction of crops uses excessive quantities of water, erodes soil and depletes the ground’s nutrient levels. Covering regions of farms and water sources with solar panels can increase clean energy production and support land conservation for agricultural development.

Covering low-light plants

Farmers struggle to produce many light- and heat-intolerant crops as the global temperature increases. High-demand vegetables like tomatoes, broccoli, leaf lettuce, spinach, squash and more require shade to reach optimal growth cycles. Farmers can utilize solar panels to shade their low-light plants, increasing the abundance of their yields.

Environmentalists coined the term agrivoltics, signifying farming processes using solar panels. The panels protect the crops from light-related damage, as the plants cool off the solar systems when they perspire. Renewable devices decrease in efficiency when they overheat so low-light crops can preserve their production rates.

Floatovoltic-covered canals

The agricultural industry is also using solar panels to conserve necessary natural resources. Farming requires vast quantities of fresh water. The evaporation rate follows as the global temperature rises, leaving regions in extended droughts.

Environmental engineers and scientists developed a sustainable solution by placing panels over canals. Agricultural professionals plan on installing solar systems over the water sources supporting California’s farms. Researchers predict the project may save nearly 65 billion gallons of water annually by reducing evaporation effects.

Other engineers developed photovoltaic (PV) panels that float, helping protect all water sources from the effects of climate change. PV technology works by converting solar radiation into a direct current of emission-free electricity. Because the panels float on water surfaces, professionals named them floatovoltic systems.

The floatovoltic panels can increase the national clean energy supply and the abundance of fresh water for agricultural development. Together, the industries can minimize harmful ecological effects and improve resource conservation efforts.

The enhanced greenhouse effect also limits agricultural production due to animals overheating. Grazing livestock like cattle and sheep require shade when temperatures rise. Farmers can utilize solar panels in their fields to provide their animals with sufficient shelter.

Production limitations

While solar panels seem simple to support agricultural production, many farmers resist adopting the technology. Many agricultural professionals can’t see the benefits of placing systems on their open fields. They believe the panels take up too much land and limit production rates.

Other professionals in rural areas view solar as a political statement. Researchers found that fewer Republican citizens support renewable energy systems because they fail to recognize their environmental values.

The US can support the cross between solar and agricultural production by creating effective educational programs. When individuals better understand the benefits, they may feel compelled to adopt the system. The program can highlight the financial advantages of using solar power on farms.

Solar is the most affordable energy source in the country, helping farmers minimize their utility costs. Agricultural professionals can also sell excess clean electricity to the grid and develop a form of passive income. Farmers may additionally support their livestock’s health by strengthening local air quality with renewables.

Finally, people can teach farmers about the production benefits of using panels to increase shade in their fields. While the transition may take time, it can effectively improve crop yields and decrease atmospheric degradation.

When farmers are ready to shrink their carbon footprints and utility bills, they can purchase and install solar panels. Agricultural professionals can apply for the solar investment tax credit (ITC) to financially support their purchases, minimizing initial costs. They may also locate a manufacturer specializing in agricultural installations to increase the efficiency and longevity of their systems.

—
April Miller is a senior writer at ReHack.com who specializes in sustainable technology. As a researcher and technical writer, she seeks to educate audiences on the importance of sustainable living and eco-friendly practices in the technological age.

Via Sustainability Times

Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 SA International license.

( Sustainability Times) – Major oil-producing countries in the Arabian Gulf have lately committed to reducing their carbon emissions in the face of global climate change. In 2015, five major governments pledged to reduce carbon emissions, but none of those nations were major oil producers. This August, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) officially claimed it may hit a “net-zero” target for carbon emissions, according to Forbes.

The Middle East is already in the midst of a climate crisis and remains one of the most water-stressed regions in the world. Temperature increases have made and will continue to make many Middle Eastern cities, particularly those in the Arabian Gulf, unlivable and could send them into further drought.

Yet, climate action has not been a priority for oil-producing countries. Until now, that is.

Across the planet, nations have seen the effects of climate change. Greece, Turkey, and Italy were devastated by wildfires this year, preceded by wildfires across Australia in 2020. Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands faced major flooding, killing hundreds of people. And most recently, southern states in the US experienced a devastating hurricane on the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

While many other nations have made pledges to reverse the effects of climate change, the UAE’s pledge would be a first for the Arabian Gulf. Yet, some observers speculate that the UAE’s target of “net zero” emissions is unrealistic as over 30% of the nation’s gross domestic product is directly based upon oil exports and revenues. Today, the nation produces 2.9 million barrels of oil each day and is the third-greatest producer of CO2 emissions in the world, according to the World Bank.

The nation’s “net zero” approach also uses a production-based calculation, meaning that greenhouse gases emitted during oil and gas drilling are not counted toward its overall emissions. The UAE’s claims have also raised questions because of the high energy demands of Gulf nations themselves as they have some of the highest electricity demands per capita. Many of the region’s cities are built around car dependency, and 84% and 100% of people in the Gulf region live in cities.

However, Abu Dhabi’s Department of Energy has affirmed its dedication to “net zero” emissions, starting with its new clean energy certificate program to promote clean energy sources to combat climate change.

“These certificates serve as proof of electricity produced from a renewable source, declaring that each renewable energy plant generated and added 1-megawatt hour of electricity to the grid,” explained the National News. Abu Dhabi companies and individuals can then use these certificates to claim social or environmental benefits through the department.

Abu Dhabi, which is the largest producer of UAE oil, has likely not made this decision for the greater good of reversing climate change but as a geopolitical power play. After the sharp decline in oil prices and the disastrous economic results of the Covid-19 lockdowns, Persian Gulf nations saw a need to diversify their economies which rely heavily on oil. When the demand for oil decreased, oil-producing nations took a massive hit.

Since then, nations like the UAE and Saudi Arabia have been working to attract foreign investment. With 44 countries worldwide committing to reduce their carbon emissions, the UAE and Saudi Arabia have likely identified a need to make their energy-rich economies more palatable to climate-positive nations. As a result, these countries are making the push toward renewable energy sources, such as solar energy.

Mohammad Fawaz, director of Gulf Policy Research Group, stated that “despite the Gulf being some of the world’s heaviest energy users, there have been significant advancements showcasing signs of reaching ‘net-zero’ goals. Indeed, solar farms, renewable energy projects, and energy strategies will ensure the Gulf improves its current state whilst also diversifying its economies.”

One investor in the UAE’s renewable energy is China, a nation that would be hard hit if the UAE cut oil production, as much of the Persian Gulf’s oil exports head east. China has recently acquired Alcazar Energy, one of the largest renewable energy companies in the Middle East and North Africa, headquartered in Dubai.

“The acquisition gives Chinese business a foothold in the Middle Eastern renewables market, which is projected to have $175 billion (£127bn) invested in it globally over the next decade,” said Energy Live News.

Last year the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) also cut a deal with the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), in which the ADNOC agreed to grow its oil production capacity overall and increase exports to China, with projections of growth into 2030.

The Middle East’s supposed interest in reducing carbon emissions will likely fall short of both projected goals and a true, meaningful climate pledge. The UAE and Saudi Arabia have no vested interests in cutting economically viable oil production, but they do have interests in diversifying their economies.

If the alternative is greater oil production, their pledge to renewable energy is at least offsetting further expansion into oil. For the time being, anyway.

Anna Schneider is a Berlin-based geopolitical and economic analyst specializing in MENA and EU bilateral relations.

Via Sustainability Times

Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 SA International license.

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Bonus video added by Informed Comment:

A Message from Masdar CEO Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi