?? Winter heat challenges EU farmers ??

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Across Europe, farmers have jammed roads, burned tyres ?? and dumped manure in protest at a host of pressures threatening their livelihoods and way of life.?

In the province of Asturias, Spain, farmers face additional tension with authorities this winter over their traditional practice of burning scrub, which authorities say amid climate change-driven warmer temperatures ??? could cause tinderbox conditions.

Ancestral practice vs warm weather

Alejandro Calvo Rodriguez, head of Asturias' fire prevention and extinction department ??, told Reuters the region has increased its budget to avert and quench wildfires by almost 20%, to 70 million euros ($75.7 million), and hired more firefighters and foresters to establish 24-hour surveillance systems.

At the root of the problem, the authorities say, is the farmers' ancestral practice of intentionally burning scrub ??.

Vegetation left unchecked grows chaotically over grasslands, limiting access for cows, which can't digest woody or thorny plants. A carefully timed blaze can clear the area, generate new swathes of pasture and deter predators.

But bureaucracy and warmer weather ?? have changed that story.

Permits and public awareness

Since 2004, a permit is legally ?? required to carry out controlled burns: Acquiring one involves presenting a detailed plan, a topographical map of the area and documents proving land ownership, among other restrictions.

And Rodriguez says the region has seen a consolidated increase in average temperatures of two degrees over the past decade ?? – part of a broader trend across Spain confirmed by the meteorological office – making traditional fire-setting more dangerous.

Fire chief Calvo, 49, knows the old methods of fire management from experience. The son of a cattle-farming family who grew up in the area, he said he would watch farmers set fires to fight back overgrowth. He remembers how as a child, he would help collect ferns to reduce the risks, and help extinguish the blazes himself ??.

But now, he said, as more and more young people move to the cities, there aren't enough people in the region to clear the brush or keep an eye on fires when they start to smolder.?

Instead, his department is running public awareness campaigns about the dangers of intentional burning ??.

Warm winter in Europe

Over in Catalonia, the Spanish region has been experiencing its worst drought on record, but the hope for some light rain will be enough to avoid further emergency curbs on water use, a regional official said.

"We need very little rain to avoid entering phase two," David Mascort, the Catalonian regional government's environmental chief, told Reuters.

Under a first phase of restrictions, residents have to cut their water usage by 5% ?? and farmers by up to 80%. Mascort raised the possibility of easing some of these, such as lifting the ban on filling swimming pools in the case of communal facilities.

This comes as the Italian island of Sicily is grappling with severe drought as a lack of winter rainfall has strained reservoirs and inhabitants are having to stock up on drinking water.

The island, which set a European heat record in 2021 at 48.8 degrees Celsius (119 degrees Fahrenheit), has declared a state of emergency, with dozens of towns rationing water for agricultural and residential use and making supplies available only every other day.

Additionally, this winter was the hottest on record for Greece, according to data analyzed by Greek scientists, threatening the viability of crops and raising fears of another summer of devastating wildfires ??.

In Conversation

Yishan Wong, founder and CEO of Terraformation, a global reforestation company, shares his thoughts on rising temperatures and wildfires:

“We need decisive intervention to break the vicious wildfire cycle.

The average global temperature has, for the first time, surpassed 1.5C above pre-industrial levels over 12 months. Climate conditions in South America to Canada are worsening wildfires, releasing carbon into the atmosphere while destroying the very forests that would absorb it.

Large-scale restoration is the most scalable, reliable, and proven solution to this crisis, but it requires immediate financing.

?There are people and communities all over the world who are ready today to plant forests, but the programs designed to equip and accelerate them need funding now. That funding is catalytic, as each successful project begets more - once people learn, they teach others.

Investing in large-scale reforestation can break the cycle of wildfires and carbon emissions.?

The key advantage to reforestation is that it is decentralized and can be done by many people everywhere, in parallel, all over the world. The time for action is now: our children and future generations are counting on it.”

ESG Spotlight

Today’s spotlight showcases recycling initiatives in the fashion industry ?? in France.

Stella McCartney drew her audience to a giant greenhouse in a Paris park for her winter runway presentation, where she showed a collection made from recycled wool, nylon, cotton and polyester under bright sunlight ??.

Images of melting icebergs ?? flashed on screens as Olivia Colman's voice rang out on the soundtrack, meant to represent Mother Earth, asking "what will be left of me, after you?"

Questions focused on the environment, and McCartney said she preferred positivity to anger when it came to messaging.

"It is one of the most harmful industries on the planet and we're acting like it isn't," she said of the fashion industry, noting the idea was to relay a "polite reminder" and offer some solutions.

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