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Some of you may know that I am from Brazil and I have a Bachelor of Science in Sanitation and Environmental Engineering. Among the subjects I studied was waste management. Considering we are constantly generating waste on this planet, it struck me that only in 2010 a law that concerns waste management was enacted in my home country, the Brazilian National Solid Waste Bill n. 12.305/2010. Even though it was considered a revolution at the time and perhaps even now still is—I think it shows how much we are neglecting the crucial waste management agenda.

Don’t get me wrong, this was not the first bill of its kind in Brazil. However, the absence of clear goals, instruments, principles and rules can cause the accumulation and repetition of automatic actions that may lead to substantial issues in the future. Thus, the bill 12.305/2010 was created with the goal to protect public health and environmental quality; promote non-generation, reduction, reuse, recycling, and treatment of the solid waste; and to ensure the adequately environmental final disposal of the rejects (the waste that could not be recycled, reused or recovered). One important target defined by the Brazilian National Solid Waste Bill was the eradication of dumpsters in the entire country by 2014—a goal that was not achieved and postponed to 2021. Sadly, according to the Cleaning and Special Waste Companies Brazilian Association (Abrelpe), in 2017 dumpsters increased by 1% in the country, while the volume of waste destined to such places also rose in 4%. ¹ Irony can be ironic sometimes… Even with the bill, the waste management issue is not improving in Brazil.

This was supposed to be a short introduction to my review of the documentary “A Plastic Ocean”, but here I am… And indeed, there is a lot to say regarding this “waste disease”. Nevertheless, being now in Germany, I feel impressed, happy and excited when I see how well this country manages its waste. I don’t know what your opinions are if you were born and grew up in Germany. Still, compared to my upbringing in Brazil, Germany sets a great example to several governments in how to successfully implement domestic waste separation and recycling, ultimately supporting an improved quality of life, environment, and a better tomorrow for all. Now, without further ado, I will begin my documentary review, I hope you are still with me.

The documentary “A Plastic Ocean” impacted me in so many different ways. From the start of its first frame which quoted Helman Melville’s Moby-Dick until the end of the movie, it is an honest, heart-breaking, apologizing letter to the planet and to the biota present in it. This documentary was directed by journalist, filmmaker and adventurer Craig Leeson and begins with him talking about his astonishment as an 8-year-old kid when he saw a whale for the first time in a National Geographic magazine. As we are led to the ocean by the coast of Sri Lanka, diving alongside the British diver Rich Horner, the viewer is shocked as plastic and other kinds of waste are found in that area, especially because the beaches in that region have been closed for up to 30 years.

The film continues its trajectory in the ocean presenting several different locations and the environmental problems caused by plastic—up to this point, especially on the marine fauna. It is devastating as the viewer sees footage of a dying Bryde whale that had its digestive system blocked by a 6 square meter plastic sheet. Animals including dolphins, seals and sealions are physically harmed because they had some kind of plastic wrapped around their necks. It is not possible to live having this general thinking that when we throw something away, we are free of it. As some of the interviewers stressed, which is a 100% true, there is no “away.” We live in a closed system, one planet, and at this point we are well aware that nothing simply disappears. How outrageous is it to think that in some places in the ocean there is more plastic than plankton?

“A Plastic Ocean” exhibits didactically the ocean’s function and importance for the planet, as well as how it is possible for plastic to be transported from anywhere to the ocean. With an assembly of doctors and researchers, the viewer is guided through the documentary to understand the role of the currents, the existence of gyres, what is bioaccumulation, toxicity of plastic components and effects of plastic pollution on our health. There is not a moment when the viewer is left hanging. It is an essential documentary for every human inhabitant of this Earth. It emphasizes that we live in an interconnected world; it makes us travel to different corners of the planet and reminds us of social inequalities, sustainable alternatives, technological advancements and essential, immediate action. Besides counting statistical plastic production within the time frame we are watching the movie, as production never stops.

I would say find time and watch “A Plastic Ocean” today. It is a movie that challenges and confronts us. It opens our eyes to spheres of our planet and the current reality that we either sometimes neglect or are unaware of. We are active agents of change and it is a fact that we can help planet Earth. Bit by bit. One by one. The sum of everyone’s good actions can make a huge impact. And share this documentary or suggest to friends and family because, quoting Craig Leeson, “From knowing comes caring, and from caring comes change.”

Sincerely,

Éverton Souza da Silva

P.S.: “A Plastic Ocean” is available on Netflix.

1 https://ecocircuito.com.br/legislacao/

The post The Waste Disease: “A Plastic Ocean” Review appeared first on Global Change Ecology.

First things first. In the year 2016, the European Commission took legal action against Germany. The reason: The country did not show increasing effort to reduce the water pollution by nitrate. If the limiting value is passed, this affects the nitrate values in ground water, rivers, lakes and oceans as well. The limiting value is 50 mg per liter water – according to a 2016 report of the German government, this limit has been passed in 28% of the sampling sites for ground water.

Where is the nitrate coming from? Mostly from agriculture where it is an integral part in many  fertilizers – these fertilizers can be natural or industrially produced. Plants do need a certain amount of nitrate for growing and normally, the substance is not dangerous for humans. But due to chemical processes, nitrate can become nitrite – which can have negative effects on human health. Too high nitrate values can lead to disturbances in the blood flow in adults, babies can suffer from alterations of oxygen in their cells.

This is the necessary background to understand the case of the EU Commission against Germany. The EU Commission blames the German government for violating the nitrate limits and the water value rule, using values from the year 2012. The German government and the farmers’ institution argue that since then, a lot has been done to improve the situation, for example new laws on fertilizing which are giving new limiting values for nitrate fertilization, time spans for prohibition of fertilizing and “no-fertilizing” areas close to watersheds. Not long before the sentence of the European Court, the farmers institution (Deutscher Bauernverband) announced a decrease of livestock breeding. The German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung published an interview with Deutscher Bauernverband’s president Joachim Rukwied who admits that „some regions have reached their limit with lifestock breeding” and “the number of animals is likely to decrease”. He also said that the high values of nitrate must decline – according to Rukwied, the new laws on nitrate limitations will lead to a decrease of nitrate in the future. “It is just a question of time”.

However, these arguments were not enough for the European Court: The efforts have been too small. The sentencing of the German government may lead to another, even more drastic step: payments of billions of Euros as a penalty are definitely an option.

Why did I say “finally Germany has been sued”? The answer is quite simple: Germany acts like a role model when it comes to protecting the environment – we talked about that in our articles about waste  for example. The reality looks different as it is one of the countries that use the highest rates of fertilizer in the EU. Instead of talking, Germany should finally take action. The new laws on fertilizing are one step into the right direction though. As the government apparently will not start to change the current agricultural system which is polluting soils and water, this decision of the European Court could maybe overturn the first domino in the chain.

The post European Court sues Germany for exceeding nitrate limits in water appeared first on Global Change Ecology.

The Landesnaturschutzverband Baden-Württemberg e.V. (LNV)

In Baden-Württemberg, one of the 16 German states, there are 3 large nature conservation organizations: the BUND, the NABU and the LNV. LNV is an umbrella organization with 33 member organizations including nature conservation organizations, fishing, hunting and hiking organizations.

“Sometimes there are conflicts between freetime activities like mountain biking, climbing, diving and nature conservation”, explains Gerhard Brönner, director of the LNV in Baden-Württemberg.  “The LNV tries to find solutions together with all stakeholders. Nature conservation is successful only when it follows the principle “use it or lose it”. For this reason, it has to provide benefits to everybody, otherwise it is not effective in the long run.”.

Since those associations have different opinions and ideas, the LNV mediated the creation of agreements consisting of position papers followed by the 33 organizations. These position papers are important for county working groups as they serve as a directing line for working volunteers. Brönner deplored the recent difficulty to find new volunteers:

“Most of the work is done by volunteers. That is why it is essential for us to find dedicated people. Sometimes we have the chance to be in contact with relevant persons and try to get them to volunteer at the LNV, retired public servant for instance”, he says. According to Brönner, the LNV  is recently facing difficulties to engage young people in nature conservation.

“I guess it’s due to new technology distractions, a lack of commitment or a change in generation mindset and interests”, he says.

With so many different stakeholders it takes a long time and effort to develop a common position paper — the last one took about 1 year to be written. LNV was facing difficulties with a hunting regulation, but it finally found an agreement pleasing everybody. Some of these positions are very sensible and if one of the member organization has a different opinion it cannot speak about it in the name of the LNV. It has to stay in a “grey zone” with its own opinion. However, most of the time the 33 organizations cooperate and stay united to defend their view in front of the politicians.

Budget, funding and subvention

The LNV is mainly financed by the local state subventions and organization membership fees. “The state budget varies and has to be approved annually, it is rarely sufficient”,  complains Brönner.

Each of the 33 organizations belonging to the LNV pays a membership fee based on their size, which means based on the  number of individuals in the organization. Usually only NGOs can be members, nonetheless individuals can support the LNV by paying an annual membership fee of 300€. “Those supporting individual members don’t have any voting rights. In addition, they have to be approved by the LNV’s executive board to avoid any conflict of interest. For the same reason, the LNV refuses money from companies and corporate. Unlike famous international foundations such as WWF and Greenpeace sponsored by rich donors and organizations, we prefer to be as independent as possible. Even if we received two third of our budget from state subventions, we would still criticize it openly and freely”, the director of the LNV says.

For specific projects requiring extra expenses, the LNV raises fundings through donation campaigns. “Although donations vary, most of the fundings are constant over time as public subvention and membership fees are fixed”, says Brönner. All this money is used by the LNV to act politically as a lobbyist,  so that they can pay their office staff and defray their volunteer expenses.

LNV’s role at the state level

The LNV is a consulting organization, it doesn’t deal with practical environmental protection but gives detailed opinions about projects impacting nature and organizes lobbying legal actions. Currently, there is one court case against a windmill built in an area of the red kite (Milvus milvus).

Although the planning process was done by the company together with the public and the local authorities, the planning documents were never made public. Since the windmill was composed of less than 20 turbines, the LNV had access to the planning documents only at the court. The windmill project documents contained weaknesses and the LNV asked the court to review its decision about the construction project.

The LNV aims to  mediate conflicts between renewable energy and nature conservation. The organization ensures that wind turbines don’t harm migrating birds, bioenergy land doesn’t compete with food production and hydroenergy doesn’t disturb aquatic wildlife…

“On the one hand, we don’t have enough space in Baden-Württemberg to produce all the energy we need. On the other hand, in the north-western states of Germany there is more electricity produced than needed. To solve our energy problem, there is a project to bring electricity from Morocco with windmill on the coastline and solar panels in the Sahara. Only 5–10 % of the electricity would be lost during the transport and it could provide energy to all Europe” says Bronner.

The LNV helps county administrations create landscape conservation unions and mediate nature conservation actions between towns, farmers and conservationists. It also tries to convince the state government to provide funding for every county to have his union. Since there is an increasing demand of space for infrastructures and settlements, the LNV ensures the efficient use of the scarce urban land and abundant cheap rural land. “In the countryside, we try to integrate agriculture with nature conservation. We try to make farmers have a more biodiversity friendly and still economically viable management. We need to change the policy and get away from the current agri-environment scheme which subsidizes farmers on a hectare based evaluation”, Brönner says.

To control the implementation of impact compensation in the state of Baden-Württemberg, the LNV is also creating a system where all compensation measures are documented.

Once per year, in autumn, the LNV holds the “Zukunftsforum” or translated “Forum of the Future”. The aim is to bring different stakeholders together to discuss about pressing issues: last year’s conference, for example, they discussed about the declining insect diversity. Two years ago, the forum was about environmental education and the LNV tried to convince the local government to put back the basic identification of plants and insect families into the school curriculum.

“In the forum we promoted so called Naturpark schools which are primary schools in the south of the Black Forest where children go outside and learn practical subjects about nature. Pupils also meet rangers, foresters and carpenters to widen their view on the world”, says Brönner. “Nonetheless it is difficult to create these schools because teachers lack training about nature. Thus, they are afraid to go out of the school because of security and responsibility issues. Not to mention the difficulty to get parent permission and logistic funding. Another problem is the lack of experts in various conservation fields, people who know the insect or plant species. This is mainly due of the low wages in this sector.”

LNV’s role at the national and European level

As mentioned before, the LNV is a state run organization. Nonetheless, at the federal level, the LNV is part of the “Deutscher Naturschutzring” (translated German nature conservation ring) organization which assesses and shares the most efficient policies and practices among states.

“The Deutscher Naturschutzring regularly publishes reports and organizes meetings, so there is a communication between Federal states. A good example is a recent study searching for the best conservation regulations among states. We submitted the best ones to the Ministry of Baden-Württemberg and some were added in the state law.”, Brönner says.

The organization reminds the state government about their commitment to European environmental laws such as the Habitat, Birds directives and Natura 2000, in extreme cases it can complain to the European court of justice in Brussels.

To conclude, I would like to remind all of us that “alone we go faster, but together we go further “.

If we want our Earth and people to go far, we will need to strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize partnerships. Organizations like the LNV are already doing this, enhancing cooperation between different stakeholders and acting for sustainable development and use of Central European landscapes.

Written by Thuan SARZYNSKI

The post Inside a German Organization of Nature Conservation appeared first on Global Change Ecology.

Since May 2017 the Natural History Museum of Berlin, Germany, showcases a special exhibition focusing on Macaws (Aras). Right after passing by gigantic dinosaur skeletons in the entrance of the museum, the visitor enters a room with a South American atmosphere and dozens of colorful specimens of Macaws.

From fact sheets pinned to the walls we learn that macaws face several threats. Habitat loss due to the clearing of woodland for the means of tropical wood harvesting, grazing grounds, arable land, and mining, is the most severe threat. Especially in the Amazonian and Cerrado region, where the natural habitat of the birds is lost at an immense speed. Being highly adapted to certain trees for feeding and nesting, macaws cannot easily find new homes.

Another reason for the decline in macaw populations is illegal trade and poaching. The pretty birds are very popular as pets, especially because of their intelligence and social personality. Sadly, the typical human friendly behavior of macaws is based on the lack of alternatives after the birds are taken away from their families.

As a result, many of the macaw species are listed in the IUCN red list of threatened species. The Blue-throated Macaw and the Spix’s Macaw for example are categorized as critically endangered.

Threatened macaws: How does this relate to us – to you?

The destruction of the Ara’s habitat is largely triggered by the global need for soy. Germany, for example, imports more than 6 million tonnes of soy each year and the vast majority is grown in South America where the macaws live. An estimated 2.2 million hectares of land is dedicated to the production of soybean for Germany.

Now, people assuming only vegans with their tofu and other soy based items are responsible for this high demand, are wrong. In fact, soy for tofu comes mainly from organic productions from within the European Union.

The quoted number is used to feed pigs, cows and poultry. One meal of traditional roast pork alone destroys two square metres of potential macaw habitat. According to the fact sheets at the exhibition, the entire German Federal State of Thuringia would need to be converted to arable land with soybeans to satisfy the meat industry’s demand for this fodder.

As a logical conclusion, less meat in your daily life helps to protect the lives of the beautiful macaw species in South America!

More information on the exhibition can be found here. The Natural History Museum in Berlin is definitely worth a visit. It showcases earth history, evolution, dinosaur skeletons, minerals and much more in a very informative way – and with special student price of only 5 €.

The post Macaws in Berlin: how our food choices threaten the popular exotic birds appeared first on Global Change Ecology.

1. What is the World Climate Simulation?

Developed by the think tank Climate Interactive, in partnership with the MIT School of Management and the University of Massachusetts Lowell, the World Climate simulation is a simplified UN negotiation. The model uses C-ROADS – a climate policy software – where agreed climate policies are entered and climate patterns get projected until the end of the century. Having had so far an astonishing success, this simulation has been carried out since 2008 over 800 times with over 38000 participants worldwide.

“Education is our strongest weapon to fight Climate Change”

When I first heard about World Climate, I was captured by the convincing arguments – such as the one above – shared during the Education Side Events at COP23 in Bonn. Motivated by the positive impacts this simulation has had and as a Global Change Ecology Master student, I decided to share with young future Latin American leaders this learning experience as well.

2. Game participants: Latin American young graduates

With the support of the KAAD (Catholic Academic Exchange Service) and as part of the Latin American Seminar for scholarship holders held from 2nd-4th February 2018, the World Climate simulation was carried out with 32 participants from 13 different countries.

The weekend-long seminar offered cross-sectorial training for Latin Americans studying in Germany. The seminar focused on the topic “El Buen Vivir” or “good living”, an alternative development concept that gathers South American indigenous wisdom to deliver sustainable answers to current social and environmental challenges.

Within this framework, the World Climate simulation aimed to put participants in the spotlight and give them the responsibility to take political decisions that affect mankind’s and nature’s future with the goal of achieving the good common life.

3. Let the game start

The 32 graduate students from 13 different nationalities were divided for the World Climate Simulation into 6 regional groups to represent China, India, European Union, USA, Other developed countries and Other developing countries. The simulation was carried out in the following way: As a facilitator I welcomed participants, introduced them to the C-ROADS model and World Climate simulation. I also made participants aware of the realistic (scientific facts and emotions) and unrealistic (simulated negotiation) elements of the simulation.

The simulation started when I (as facilitator) adopted the role of Patricia Espinosa (UNFCCC) and participants adopted their respective roles as nation’s delegates.

Photos courtesy of: Yasuo Matsuzaki

Overall, the workshop took about 2.5 hours. Key scientific facts about the Climate Change problematic were introduced first with a slide presentation and handouts to participants (materials available here).

There were two negotiation rounds, each of 20 minutes, after which proposals by delegates were collected on a flipchart and then entered in the C-ROADS software. In the first round the negotiations led to a projected temperature by the year 2100 of about 3.1°C, after the second round, negotiations improved the climate outlook with a 2.9°C temperature increase, thus not meeting the expected Paris agreement goals.

After the negotiations the role-play session concluded. Participants gathered in a circle to give their impressions of the session.

A 2.9°C warmer world, can we do better?

The impressions of the session focused on three key questions: (1) How did you feel during the simulation? Weak or powerful? (2) What were your most important learnings? (3) How do you think we could achieve the ambitious climate action?

Participants highlighted the powerful impact the simulation has left on them, as they experienced directly the need for more ambitious political and civil society initiatives. Participants also brainstormed on solutions from their own professional backgrounds, starting with sustainable consumption, trade and markets, education for sustainability and legal and fiscal mechanisms so implement political action.

There is space for improvements

Here I list some aspects for further improvements when running the World Climate simulation

1. Briefing statements could contain more concrete economic facts for region delegates to negotiate better. Sending reading material in advance may also help.
2. Having “developing countries” delegates sitting on the floor to metaphorically refer to unbalanced geopolitical relations may not be the best call. Ask in advance, as participants may take this personally. Alternatively find milder ways of representing power relations in the simulation.
3. Adapt examples of climate change impacts to your audience backgrund. I used Latin American cases, to engage Latin American audience with at-home ongoing issues.

Emotions were key, audience became aware, goal was achieved

As an individual aiming to spread the word for climate action outside the scientific circles, the opportunity to run the World Climate simulation with a very diverse audience was deeply motivating, empowering and touching.

It was truly fantastic to see how, regardless of the professional background, participants would engage and discuss the urgent need to limit global warming by the end of the century in our small simulated world that day.

Professionals from different fields such as international business, history, medicine, law and even philosophy would leave their “comfort zones” for two hours and experiment in the roles of politicians and advocates to decide for what is good for one or for all nations.

Personally speaking, it was touching to see how the message of climate action can and must spread outside the barriers of natural science. I closed that day’s World Climate session by reminding the participants that having a more powerful role in society was in fact not needed, as our position as organized and aware citizens in society is in fact powerful enough.

The World Climate simulation is a strong tool that beyond a climate action narrative, sends out a message of strength and empowerment, especially important for youth leaders from the global south.

Within the framework of the good common life or “Buen vivir”, the lesson learnt as professionals, regardless of the role or position we may have, is that we shall never forget that life on this planet is our highest responsibility and main goal. That is what Climate Action stands for.

Special thanks

The World Climate simulation was possible thanks to the KAAD Catholic Exchange Service support and thanks to the facilitator advices provided by Eduardo Fracassi (ITBA Instituto Tecnologico de Buenos Aires, Argentina).

References

• World Climate simulation website
• Facilitator Resources and Materials here
• To play around: C-ROADS online
• KAAD press release here

The post 13 countries, one game – A call for Climate Action appeared first on Global Change Ecology.