Our environment news round-up leads this month with two landmark climate justice decisions from the EU and India, as well as the start of similar cases in South Korea and the Americas. These took place against a backdrop of ongoing extreme climate events across parts of the African continent, Asia and the Americas. In the UK, there was some hope for our troubled water bodies. The month ended with a dramatic end to Scotland’s historic Bute House Agreement between the minority SNP Government and the Scottish Green Party, which could have dramatic consequences for environmental legislation in the devolved nation. As well as our usual research round-up, we’ll also look at the latest renewables developments.
Climate Justice in the News
Two landmark climate-related legal decisions were announced this month. The first came from India’s Supreme Court in late March and was made public early on this month. In a significant move, the court expanded the legal definition of right to life to include the ‘adverse effects of climate change’. As such, the court officially recognises the threat that climate change poses to India’s constitutional guarantees of health and equality via the detrimental impact it has on air quality, temperature rises, food security and disease prevalence. Meanwhile, the European Court of Human Rights found in favour of a group of older Swiss women who claim their government violated their human rights. They said that heatwaves resulting from Swiss legislators lack of action on climate change unfairly endanger their lives. The court ruling makes clear that EU member states are obligated to protect their citizens from rising temperatures resulting from climate change.
In South Korea, hearings began in a similar litigation case brought by 200 campaigners. Plaintiffs say that they have likewise been endangered by the government’s insufficient action on climate change. The action includes petitions from a number of children and young adults, and it is the first case of its kind to be heard in Asia. The Inter-American Court of Human Rights is also debating the issue. The enquiry, part of the body’s 166th regular session, will explore the links between climate change and human rights for the first time. Instigated by Colombia and Chile, judges will hear evidence from a range of respondents including those such as fishermen who fear their livelihoods are under threat from climate change-related extreme weather events.
Extreme Heat, Drought and Floods Hit Multiple Regions
Those self-same extreme weather events continued to effect multiple regions of the globe throughout April. Kenya has been devastated by catastrophic floods over recent weeks as the El Niño climate phenomenon combines with seasonal weather conditions and climate change. The death toll rose following a dam burst towards the end of the month. Floods continue to affect southern China, as well, as a number of rivers burst their banks. Unprecedented floods also hit Dubai. Streets, shopping malls and Dubai International Airport were all affected as the amount of rain the city usually gets over 18 months fell in one 24-hour period. This was the heaviest rainfall in the United Arab Emirates in 75 years.
Ongoing droughts in southern Africa, meanwhile, led to Zimbabwe declaring a state of emergency in early April. The move followed similar announcements from Zambia and Malawi in March. A large area of the continent experienced its driest February for decades, and the situation has left millions at risk of food shortages. Extreme drought is also affecting the Venezuelan Amazon, resulting in the highest number of wildfires since records began 25 years ago. Wildfires are also devastating large areas of the United States. There are concerns for the coming year in the US as three times the normal acreage has already been destroyed by wildfires in the first three months of this year. Heatwaves are also impacting many parts of Southeast Asia. Schools closed in Bangladesh, India and the Philippines as temperatures rose above 40˚C. Thailand has also been experiencing dangerous heat levels.
Hope for UK Water Bodies
There were some big announcements from Defra this month focusing on the UK’s troubled water bodies. At the start of the month, Environment Secretary Steve Barclay announced that up to £11 million in fines levied against water companies since 2022 will be reinvested into improving England’s waterways. This Water Restoration Fund will provide grants to help stakeholders, including farmers, landowners and community groups, to improve their local water environment.
This was followed just a few days later by the launch of the River Wye Action Plan. The river has been the subject of concerted environmental campaigns in recent times due to its deteriorating condition. Much of its decline is linked to an increase in intensive poultry farms along its banks. The new plan commits to a number of measures such as investing in manure combustors to stop chicken droppings reaching the river. The Wildlife Trusts welcomed the plan but said it did not go far enough to reverse the river’s parlous state.
There was more good news as Barclay announced moves to ban wet wipes containing plastic. Campaigners have been working to have such products banned for some time to help prevent microplastics entering our rivers and seas. The UK’s devolved nations will follow suit later in the year. Although some retailers have already voluntarily withdrawn plastic wipes from sale, there has long been a demand for a total ban. The announcement was fittingly made on Earth Day, whose theme this year was Planet vs. Plastic.
Renewables Latest
New research published early this month highlighted the increasingly detrimental effect of mining connected to the renewables industry on Africa’s great apes. Many of the minerals required for the boom in renewables technology, including electric car batteries and wind turbine components, are mined in West Africa. Researchers found that this overlaps with some of our most vulnerable ape populations. Not only does increased mining lead to habitat loss, but it also exposes apes to more pollution and disease. New roads also make it easier for hunters to enter previously inaccessible areas. While the researchers acknowledge we need to embrace renewable energy production, the study highlights one of the many conservation conflicts faced by environmentalists and the need for a considered approach to renewable energy implementation.
In the US, Joe Biden used Earth Day to announce the provision of $7 billion in grants to help deliver solar power to over 900,000 low-income homes. The move aims to help disadvantaged Americans save substantial money on their energy bills via cheap power, as well as create thousands of green jobs and help combat climate change. Sixty successful applicants for the grants will now begin to deliver funding to individual projects nationwide.
Budget Hungarian airline Wizz Air has invested in a Bristol-based company producing sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) from human waste. The company, Firefly, hopes its SAFs will be less expensive and easier to use in existing aircraft engines than those made from used cooking oil and other food waste products. Wizz Air says it is committed to making SAF central to its operations by 2030 and believes that investing in Firefly will help realise this. Once the fuel has passed regulatory testing, Firefly plans to expand their operations.
Dramatic End to Bute House Agreement
April ended with drama in Scotland as the power-sharing deal between the SNP and the Scottish Green Party collapsed. First Minister Humza Yousaf said the agreement had served its purpose and was no longer necessary, despite reaffirming a commitment to it just days beforehand. Signed in 2021, the agreement gave vital support to the SNP’s minority government in Holyrood. Tensions had been rising for some time between the two parties over a number of policies, including the government’s decision to pause puberty blocker prescriptions for under-18s. The Greens were already due to vote on staying in the agreement following the SNP’s decision to abandon its commitment to reduce carbon emissions by 75% by 2030. Some SNP MSPs have been concerned that green policies, such as the Muirburn Bill and Marine Protection Areas, were alienating land managers and the fishing industry. Environmental groups, however, were dismayed by the collapse. In further developments, with a vote of no confidence hovering, Mr Yousaf resigned as First Minster on 30th April.
Research Round-up
Our research round-up begins with a report from the Campaign for National Parks on the health of the 13 national parks in England and Wales. The study found that just 6% of the land contained in the parks is managed effectively for nature. Key points include their findings that no water bodies in England’s parks are in good overall health. They also found that 70 – 80% of peatlands within the parks are damaged. This is particularly concerning as they contain 38%, a significant proportion, of England and Wales’ peatlands. There has also been no change in tree coverage within the parks over the last five years despite ambitious plans to increase woodland areas. In addition, many of the SSSIs within the parks are in poor condition as a result of over-grazing, pollution or human impacts. The body is calling for a series of reforms, including enforcing protective laws more effectively, to rescue the parks.
Meanwhile, a collaborative study involving the Universities of Oxford and Reading amongst others and led by the Green Finance Institute has revealed the costs of nature degradation to the UK economy. The research explored the effects nature depletion in both the UK and overseas could have here. It found that degradation in the UK could reduce the country’s GDP by 12%, more than either the 2008 financial crash or the COVID-19 pandemic. While more bodies are accepting the financial costs of climate change, the report’s authors said that not enough analysis was being done into the financial impacts of nature degradation issues such as decreased soil health and increased pollution.
The latest results from ongoing Bugs Matter citizen science project shows further declines in the UK’s flying insects. Run jointly by Kent Wildlife Trust and Buglife, the project asks volunteers to record insect splatters on car number plates. First run in 2004, the new report shows a worrying level of decreases in insects across the UK between then and 2023. England saw a decline of 83%, Scotland 76% and Wales 79%. There was more hope, though, from a Butterfly Conservation study that shows how easy it is to help our insects. Their research found that letting a garden grow wild with longer grass increases butterfly abundance by up to 93%. It also increases the number of species visiting. In particular, the report highlighted the importance of gardens as proxy nature reserves in both urban and intensively farmed rural areas.
We finish with two bird-related stories. The results of the RSPB’s annual Big Garden Birdwatch were published this month. More than 610,000 people took part in the event, recording 9.7 million birds in their gardens or local parks. Top of the sightings this year was the house sparrow. Despite worrying declines, the species is still our most common garden visitor in the UK. Blue tit was second, with starling third. There were no major changes to the top ten birds recorded excepting great tit leapfrogging goldfinch to move into seventh place. Elsewhere, scientists have produced the most detailed avian family tree yet. Using cutting edge computer technology, they examined genetic data to explore birds’ evolution and diversification over 93 million years. The study found that modern bird groups appeared during a period of just 5 million years after the dinosaurs became extinct 66 million years ago. It also highlighted how rapidly early species evolved and diversified.