Sustt: Canada's 80 million tonne carbon accounting blackhole
?? Chart of the week
?? Two scorching studies – As global satellite data analysis published last week revealed that extreme wildfire frequency has more than doubled worldwide in the past two decades, a separate study released on 27 June reported that Canada's 2023 wildfires caused unprecedented damage and emitted approximately 3 billion tonnes of CO2, surpassing global aviation emissions four times over. The chart above tells you all you need to know about how extreme last year's wildfire season was in Canada.
???? Canadian under-reporting? – Despite their massive emissions impact, most of Canada's wildfire emissions are not reported in UN global inventories due to current accounting methods. Canada excludes wildfire-related emissions from its "managed" lands in official emissions reports, focusing instead on anthropogenic sources. This approach has been questioned, as it could underestimate the country's GHG emissions by 80 millions tonnes per year. The blurring lines between natural and human-caused fires highlight the need for more comprehensive emissions accounting to accurately assess progress towards climate goals. (World Resources Institute)
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?? Bite-sized insights – hand-picked stories from the ESG world
?? The perfect sustainable Glasto accessory? – Just in time for Glastonbury, DS Smith and EnviroTent have developed a recyclable cardboard tent to reduce festival waste. The tent, made from recycled materials and free from coatings, can reportedly withstand four weeks of winter weather. The initiative aims to address the issue of tent waste, with an estimated 250,000 tents going to landfill annually in the UK with both companies collecting and recycling the tents from festival sites after use. With 52% of respondents in a recent OnePoll survey admitting they would buy a tent for an event, use it once, then bin it, could this development mark the beginning of a more circular future for these landfill-congesting shelters? (edie)
?? ?Bovine accountability – Denmark has announced plans to become the first country to tax farmers for the carbon emissions of their livestock, starting in 2030. The tax will see charges of about $43 per tonne of CO2 equivalent emitted by cows, pigs, and, sheep. Denmark's move comes after New Zealand scrapped a similar "burp tax" proposal due to industry pushback. While some Danish agricultural groups have expressed concerns about competitiveness, the government sees this as a necessary step in reducing emissions and preserving habitats given agriculture accounts for around a quarter of Denmark's GHG emissions. (Fortune)
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? ?A rocky week for renewables – BP's new CEO Murray Auchincloss is shifting the company's focus back towards oil and gas and pausing new offshore wind projects, marking a reversal from his predecessor Bernard Looney's attempted transition away from fossil fuels. The company is reassigning staff from renewables to existing projects and prioritising investments in oil and gas assets, particularly in the Gulf of Mexico and US shale basins. The move comes amid investor discontent over the company's energy transition strategy and underperforming shares. In other discouraging news for low-carbon energy, Europe's largest renewable power producer Statkraft announced it would scale back plans to construct new wind and solar plants, citing low electricity prices and high costs.?(Reuters)
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?? In-depth insight
Lower shipping pollution linked to rising ocean temperatures: study
?? Written by Claire Pickard : This story really caught my intention as it seems so counter-intuitive at first glance. However, the fact that reducing pollution can actually increase climate impacts shows just how complicated tackling environmental issues can be. This story also really emphasises the fact that, regardless of all the technological innovations currently being pursued, cutting emissions still remains the most important action we can take to tackle climate change.
What’s happening??Regulations on shipping fuel introduced in 2020 may have increased ocean warming by decreasing cloud cover, according to research published in Communications Earth & Environment. The analysis found that International Maritime Organization (IMO) rules forcing shippers to reduce fuel sulphur content from 3.5% to 0.5% have led to an 80% reduction in sulphur dioxide (SO2) pollution. However, SO2 also creates aerosols that intensify clouds, reflecting the sun’s rays into space and combatting global warming. The study estimates that IMO fuel standards could have been responsible for 80% of total net heat uptake since 2020.?(Reuters)?
Why does this matter??Exposure to SO2 can be harmful to the human respiratory system and is?linked?to asthma and chronic bronchitis. The gas is also detrimental to the environment as it can combine with water vapour to form acid rain, which is damaging to ecosystems such as forests and freshwater habitats. SO2 can also contribute to ocean?acidification.?
Clean up operation –?The IMO regulations, which came into effect on 1 January 2020, have brought about a significant?reduction in total sulphur oxide emissions from shipping. To achieve the emissions reduction, companies have switched to compliant fuels such as very low sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO) and marine gas oil (MGO)...