*[Enwl-eng] 🌏CAN EECCA Newsletter: Exchange of debts for green projects, Waterlight cooperation, 33% wind and solar
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Tue Jul 18 14:36:49 MSK 2023
CAN EECCA weekly digest
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Climate Action Network
Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia
Digest of news on climate change, energy
issues
www.caneecca.org
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Regional Climate News
Officials, experts seek to calm Georgians'
Black Sea safety fears
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: Workshop on how to register in
the UNFCCC
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 offered to exchange state debt for
green projects in Kyrgyzstan
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.
In Central Asia, female leadership is key to
climate and drought resilience
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.
Drastic negative impacts of small and middle
size hydropower plants
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.
OSCE Scholarship Program for Young Women in
Renewable Energy
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.
Watertight cooperation between China and
Central Asia vital
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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World Climate News
EU to push for fossil fuel phaseout ‘well
ahead of 2050’ at COP28
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.
Global warming is supercharging weather
events, say scientists
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.)
Living near a green space can reduce your
biological age by 2.5 years
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.”
Climate Change Committee says UK no longer a
world leader
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.
How Cities Can Get Relief From Extreme Heat
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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