to the German edition

EU supply chain law passed by Parliament:  After a nail-biter last week, the EU supply chain law is under wraps. Negotiator Lara Wolters (S&D) was still confident at the end of April when the Legal Affairs Committee adopted the compromise on which the European Parliament voted on Thursday. The compromise was also negotiated with members of the conservative EPP, the largest group in the European Parliament. One day before the vote, however, parts of the conservative group objected. Until the very end, it was not clear whether the EU directive on corporate due diligence would make it through Parliament. The relief was all the greater when 366 parliamentarians voted in favour of the directive. taz.de , faz.net , spiegel.de

Of brakemen and drivers – Environment Ministry urges adoption of Euro 7 emissions standard: Transport Minister Wissing sides with critics who demand significant changes. At the same time, the Environment Ministry wants to clear the way for the project quickly. The Federal Environment Ministry, however, insists that the controversial Euro 7 exhaust emission standard be introduced within a year. The ministry is pushing for the adoption of Euro 7 during the current legislative period of the European Parliament. The ministry does not want to join criticism of the project by other EU member states, it said. According to the EU Commission, road traffic is the largest source of air pollution in cities. According to estimates, pollution from particulate matter and nitrogen oxides from road traffic caused about 70,000 premature deaths in EU states and the UK in 2018. Euro 7, for example, is expected to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions from cars by an estimated 35 per cent by 2035, and by more than 50 per cent for buses and trucks. Eight countries, including the large industrial nations France and Italy, have made it clear in a joint discussion paper that they reject „any new exhaust emission requirements (including new test procedures or limit values) for cars and light trucks“. handelsblatt.com, autobild.de

460 million tonnes of plastic

are produced annually, according to the United Nations Environment Programme. Globally, less than 10 per cent of this is currently recycled, around 65 per cent is buried or incinerated and around 25 per cent remains in the environment. A global agreement is now to put an end to this. The EU, Rwanda, Norway, Chile and Japan are among the countries that want to greatly reduce the amount of plastic produced. dw.com

Budget deal in the USA good for the climate: Without the debt ceiling deal in the USA, a global financial crisis would have been imminent. A bad deal could also have furthered the climate crisis. The negotiators were largely able to prevent this.  The compromise negotiated between the Republicans and Democrats provides for the continued construction of a pipeline; but all other attempts by the Republicans to cut environmental programmes or water down environmental laws were fended off. This is especially true for the provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). This climate bill provides $369 billion over ten years for a large number of individual measures – from purchase bonuses for electric cars to tax breaks for household appliances, heat pumps and solar panels to money for more trees in cities. klimareporter.de

Agreement on global monitoring of greenhouse gases: An international initiative aims to promote the global observation of greenhouse gases. The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) announced that its 193 member states have agreed in Geneva on a system to bring existing measurements on Earth and measurements by satellites under one roof. According to the WMO, until now there has been no comprehensive and rapid exchange of such information at the international level. Moreover, knowledge about the flow of CO₂ between the atmosphere and natural reservoirs such as oceans, forests and permafrost soils is still incomplete. With the initiative „Global Greenhouse Gas Watch“, carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide are to be monitored worldwide in the future. spektrum.de

Despite massive protests – Europe’s first lithium mine is being built in Portugal: Europe needs lithium – but has so far been completely dependent on imports. For a long time, however, it looked as if the local projects would fail due to the resistance of the citizens. But now things are moving forward: the largest project in Portugal has received an important permit. wiwo.de

BOOK TIP OF THE WEEK:

Nachhaltigkeit im Unternehmen

A guide from practice for practice

Doing business sustainably is currently one of the biggest business challenges – not only are the requirements of governments and the EU constantly increasing, but the large retail chains are also demanding proof of care in the supply chain and climate protection from their suppliers. Those who want to act sustainably encounter a variety of hurdles, from unfamiliar technical terms to an extremely differentiated and extensive range of tasks. If companies lack the relevant expertise, there is a great danger of losing the overview.

This book provides a remedy: it briefly describes the most important sustainability topics from climate protection to sustainability in the supply chain to sustainability marketing. Step-by-step instructions provide quick orientation for implementation. Effort estimates and clarification of whether specialist support is needed round off the chapters, and valuable practical examples from committed companies complement the theory. With contributions by Lothar Klatt, Georg Kleiser, Michael Kühl, Andrea Lippert, Martin Müller, Markus Reinwald, Gabriele Renner, Birgit Schäfer-Oelmayer, Hans-Ulrich Streit, Magdalena Ulmer, Gert Walz and Kai Weinmüller. oekom.de

Record: Forest fires in the northern hemisphere have increased sharply. spiegel.de
Tübingen: City gets tailwind on packaging tax from Federal Administrative Court. taz.de
Record number of renewables: In Germany, 66.2 percent of electricity was generated from renewable energy sources in the past month of May. zeit.de
Largest increase ever expected: Due to the energy crisis, an increased expansion of renewable energies is expected.wiwo.de
Green doubters: In the expansion of LNG infrastructure. stern.de
Critical infrastructure: Concepts are still lacking on how to protect wind turbines in the North Sea against sabotage and attacks. handelsblatt.com
Sustainability as a salary issue: How much money the executive boards of Dax companies earn depends more and more on sustainability issues. cio.de
IW: Without expansion of renewables, electricity can no longer be financed. n-tv.de
Raid on Last Generation: What the UN says. utopia.de

The seventeeen goals magazine tells inspiring stories about how people move the world and shows how everyone can make a contribution to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

PODCAST OF THE WEEK:

Dear Eckart von Hirschhausen, how do we save the world?

Eckart von Hirschhausen has ended his stage career to dedicate himself to saving the climate. Host Juan Moreno asks himself and him in the podcast whether this was a wise decision. Hirschhausen studied medicine and science journalism. He is a cabaret artist, best-selling author, television presenter and founder of the foundation „Healthy Earth – Healthy People“. A few months ago, the 53-year-old ended his stage career and is now an activist for climate protection. For him, climate protection is first and foremost also health protection. In an interview with Eckart von Hirschhausen, Juan Moreno tries to find out whether society really has a „knowledge problem“ when it comes to climate change and needs more information to be convinced. Or whether the problem is not rather that there is a big difference between environmental awareness and environmental behaviour. spiegel.de

COMMENT OF THE WEEK:

by Georg Seeßlen

The new narrative of climate change adaptation: Don’t be like that!

Who is still talking about catastrophe? Adaptation is the new trend in the climate narrative. A trend that has many schoolmasters. So the narrative of the great crisis is now followed by the narrative of the great adaptation, which, if you get to the bottom of it, is nothing more than a new edition of fascised pseudo-Darwinism. Only those who have the means can adapt to the fundamentally changed environmental conditions. For example, the adaptation economists in Spiegel wrote: „The damage caused by heat, wind, storm surges and rising sea levels is huge in absolute terms (…). But relative to economic output, according to the vast majority of studies, they will only amount to about two to six percent in 2100 without particularly harsh climate policies.“ After explaining to us that we shouldn’t be so bothered about human suffering and loss of flora, fauna and habitat when the economy isn’t doing so badly, the idea of adaptation is propagated according to the old techno-solutionist principle: „Since the modelling used mostly records the previous effects of rather short-term and local climate and weather changes and then extrapolates them to climate scenarios, they also tend to underestimate the adaptation of humans and technology to long-term and global climate change.“ freitag.de

MOBILITY:

Fleet target: The traffic lights want car sharing to become largely climate-neutral by 2026. Stationary car sharing fleets may then only consist of climate-neutral cars. Providers are critical. tagesschau.de

World Cycling Day: Cycle paths too narrow, network too patchy: If you want to get from A to B by bike in Germany, it’s not easy. Safe cycle paths are not a matter of course in Germany. Not surprisingly, the population is dissatisfied with the cycling infrastructure in Germany. However, there are also problems that could be solved with simple political measures, so-called low-hanging fruits. One of these is the Road Traffic Regulations (StVO). Because: It prioritises the car. Whenever a cycle path is planned where there is currently a lane or parking lane for cars, a justification is needed that it is absolutely necessary to build the cycle path. Every cycle track is considered to be an interference with „moving traffic“. Traffic means only car traffic, bicycles only obstruct it. In order to justify an intervention, there must be a „danger to safety“. Municipalities have to carry out elaborate traffic counts or submit accident statistics. Critics criticise the latter in particular: first there has to be a crash before anything changes. zdf.de

Why Germany is promoting e-mobility: 15 million fully electric e-cars by 2030. That is the ambitious goal of the traffic light coalition in the coalition agreement. But why e-cars of all things? Why this technology? For years now, the German government has favoured and promoted e-mobility, even though e-cars bring with them a number of still unsolved problems and their contribution to climate protection is the subject of controversial scientific debate. Especially under the Grand Coalition, extensive funding measures were launched. Externally, this is usually justified with the climate targets and the necessary CO₂ reduction. Significant CO₂ savings in the transport sector can only be achieved with alternative types of drive in motorised private transport (MIV). The relevant future technologies and alternative drive types include the e-car with battery-electric drive, hydrogen and fuel cell drive and synthetic fuels. But why is e-mobility in particular being promoted so specifically and massively in Germany? Is this an effective strategy in terms of climate protection? elektroauto-news.net

European countries call for tougher laws on private jets over climate impact: Because of the high per capita CO2 emissions from private jet flights, four European countries are calling on the EU to tighten the laws. First major airports ban private jets – but for completely different reasons. airliners.de

Deutsche Bahn: Even more roadworks, even more delays. sueddeutsche.de

Deutsche Bahn II: Needs almost 90 billion euros by 2027. Unpunctual, dilapidated, overloaded: To change this, the railways will need a lot of money very soon. The German government agrees. Nevertheless, financing is only secured for half of the sum. spiegel.de

HYDROGEN:

The German government and the EU Commission are turning H2Global into a European hydrogen project: EU Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson and Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection Robert Habeck agreed yesterday in a bilateral meeting to dovetail the new European Hydrogen Bank (EHB) with the H2Global instrument developed by Germany for the market ramp-up. The agreed cooperation is a major step towards securing hydrogen demand in Germany and Europe and for the global market ramp-up for green hydrogen. As part of the so-called „Team Europe“ approach of the international pillar of the EHB, H2Global will be open to all EU governments interested in conducting hydrogen tenders. In addition, H2Global will also work together with the European Hydrogen Bank on joint European tenders in order to make a visible contribution to international hydrogen imports. bmwk.de

Study: Urgent need for action on hydrogen tank infrastructure in long-distance transport: A study published by the H2BW truck shows „urgent need for action“ on standardisation, norming and cost reduction for hydrogen tank infrastructure in long-distance transport. H2BW bundles competences and activities in the field of hydrogen and fuel cell technology in Baden-Württemberg. „Hydrogen-powered trucks are an important lever for reducing CO2 emissions in long-distance road haulage,“ says Thekla Walker, Baden-Württemberg Minister for the Environment, Climate and Energy Management. „At present, commercial vehicles are responsible for 35 percent of CO2 emissions in transport, half of which are generated in long-distance transport. In order to increase the climate protection potential of heavy commercial vehicles, suitable hydrogen filling stations, storage facilities and refuelling technologies are needed. The new study by the H2BW truck shows which options are available from a technological perspective and what is needed for rapid introduction.“ ecomento.de

Criticism of French hydrogen strategy: France’s national hydrogen strategy, to be updated at the end of June, is to turn its attention to industry. Hydrogen lobbyists warn that they believe the reform threatens to destabilise the sector. In the wake of the European Commission’s push to promote green industries in Europe, the French government presented its „green industry“ bill on 16 May. The bill aims to decarbonise heavy industry by using CO2-free hydrogen to halve the sector’s greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. In 2022, industry was responsible for 17 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions in France. To support the new approach, the government presented a national strategy in September 2020 to produce 6.5 gigawatts (GW) of CO2-free hydrogen by 2030. The strategy covers three main areas: Industry, Heavy Mobility and Research and Development. According to Paris circles, an updated strategy will be presented in the first half of 2023, probably on 20 or 25 June. While the 2030 production targets remain untouched, the updated strategy is intended to „enable rapid implementation to ensure the use of abundant competitive hydrogen in all the country’s main industrial sectors after 2030“, according to the French Ministry of Economy website. euractiv.de

Coal, of all things, could support the energy transition: Is coal, which has a reputation for being unclean, making a comeback? Researchers see it as a storage option for hydrogen. They want to use coal as a kind of battery to store hydrogen. Coal can store methane gas well. The gas sticks to the material through a process known as adsorption. „Many people define coal as a rock, but it’s really a polymer,“ says Shimin Liu, associate professor of energy and mineral engineering at Penn State. „It has a high carbon content with many small pores that can store much more gas. So coal is like a sponge that can hold a lot more hydrogen molecules compared to other carbon-free materials.“ t3n.co.uk

A „global blueprint for green hydrogen“: A mega project for the global energy transition is to be built in Namibia with German participation. Investments equivalent to the country’s annual gross domestic product are planned. Job guarantees are also to dispel concerns about „green colonialism“. fr.de

Investment race for green hydrogen: The list of planned projects for green and low-carbon hydrogen is growing fast: More than 1,000 large-scale plants have now been announced worldwide, the sum of promised investments has risen by 35 percent since last year, especially in Europe. However: In terms of concrete projects, the USA is now in first place ahead of the EU – also thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act. wiwo.de

LAST WEEK IN THE BUNDESTAG:

Impact of CO2 pricing on private households: The Federal Government will present the second progress report on the Fuel Emissions Trading Act (BEHG) to the Bundestag in November 2024, which will also consider the effects of CO2 pricing on private households. This was announced by the Federal Government in its answer (20/6931) to a small question on the Kimageld by the Left Party (20/6685). In its first progress report, it had come to the conclusion that the BEHG currently accounts for only a small share of the end-customer prices for energy and that burdens for refund measures, such as the abolition of the levy according to the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG levy), are largely cancelled out. Furthermore, the German government points out that all revenues from the CO2 price already flow into the Climate and Transformation Fund. The fund would be used, for example, to finance the reduction of the EEG surcharge and measures to promote investments in climate protection, such as in the building sector. The coalition agreement stipulates that a social mechanism will be developed to compensate for a future CO2 price increase and to ensure the acceptance of the market system beyond the abolition of the EEG levy (climate money).

Coming to terms with colonial crimes in „German East Africa“: According to the Federal Government, there is no written agreement between the governments of Germany and Tanzania on coming to terms with colonial history and no official demand by the government of Tanzania for negotiations on reparations. This is stated in the answer (20/6943) to a small question (20/6551) of the parliamentary group Die Linke, which had asked, among other things, about the crimes committed by Germans in the colonial period on the territory of present-day Tanzania („Maji-Maji War“). As the German government writes, it is currently not planning to appoint a special envoy for Tanzania to deal with colonial crimes as in the case of Namibia. „With regard to the repatriation of human remains and the restitution of cultural property, offers of negotiations have been made and the Federal Government is in favour of a dialogue with the Tanzanian government in this regard,“ it continues.

Compliance with the European CO2 limit for official cars: The number of official cars of the federal ministries and downstream authorities that comply with the European CO2 limit of 95 grams of CO2 per kilometre is a topic of the federal government’s answer (20/6884) to a minor question of the parliamentary group Die Linke (20/6514). According to this, this number is 4,594 passenger cars in total.

Further development of the Advisory Council on Sustainable Development: The Parliamentary Advisory Council on Sustainable Development should be formally anchored in the Rules of Procedure of the Bundestag and at the same time upgraded to a standing committee. This was the view of Michael Rose, research assistant in the Governance, Participation and Sustainable Development Department of the Faculty of Sustainability at Leuphana University of Lüneburg on Wednesday evening during a public meeting of the Advisory Council on the topic of the further development of the body. The fact that a sustainability committee, of all things, is not institutionalised in the long term, but has to be set up again and again, is difficult to convey, he said. more on bundestag.de

Positive effects of sport in development cooperation: According to experts, sport can make an important contribution to strengthening social cohesion in developing countries, promoting gender equality and increasing the employability of young people in the course of development cooperation. Studies have impressively confirmed that sport, used correctly, has „enormous potential“, Karen Petry, deputy director of the Institute for European Sport Development and Leisure Research, emphasised on Wednesday in a public expert discussion of the Development Committee. It has a positive impact on central goals of development cooperation such as the promotion of girls, conflict resolution and the prevention of violence, and imparts important skills on a personal level. Sport is therefore also listed in the 2030 Agenda as an important tool for sustainable development. Numerous UN organisations have been working with this approach for decades, and recently a significant increase in the number of actors has been observed. more at bundestag.de

LITERALLY:

Dragging out the energy transition will have fatal economic consequences for Europe. In view of the current heat pump debate, for example, one could get the impression that we are far ahead in this area. But that is not the case at all. In China, 55 times as many heat pumps were installed last year as in Germany. European manufacturers are toy companies compared to those in China. It is only a matter of time before Chinese manufacturers massively penetrate our market.

Volker Quaschning, Professor of Renewable Energy Systems at the University of Applied Sciences HTW Berlin, The lack of willingness to innovate on the part of industry and unambitious political targets will cost Europe dearly.  There will be a price war. Equipment would become massively cheaper and Europe’s companies would come under heavy pressure. The same can be seen in the automotive sector. In China, from 2030 onwards, it will be difficult to sell combustion cars because of the strict limits. However, 40 per cent of the cars produced in Germany go to China. If this market were to disappear, the consequences would be fatal. We would lose technological ground. In science, we would see that the solutions to the climate crisis are clearly on the table. At the same time, the public debate often goes in the wrong direction due to false facts and disinformation. Science must try to objectify the discussion. But when he gives a scientific lecture, hardly anyone listens. Therefore, the facts have to be packaged in such a way that they reach many people. derstandard.at

AFRICA:

Africa wants to ramp up its own vaccine production: Billions of COVID-19 vaccines reached Africa only after the populations of rich countries had been vaccinated. However, building production capacity in Africa could ensure that African countries are not left behind. euractiv.de

Africa’s „Silicon Savannah“ is booming – Kenya’s skilled workers can strengthen the German IT sector: In Kenya, unlike in Germany, paying by mobile phone has long been part of everyday life. Nairobi is now sometimes even referred to as „Silicon Savannah“ because of its start-up scene. Can the German IT sector also benefit? Kenya is an important economic partner for Germany in East Africa. Almost five million people live in the capital Nairobi alone, which is also the economic centre of the country. There are high-rise buildings, co-working spaces and a large start-up scene here. The IT industry is even so strong that it has long attracted international attention: In reference to the US original, Nairobi is sometimes referred to as „Silicon Savannah“. n-tv.de

Colonial hair – Why African lawyers still wear white-blond wigs today: Colonial heritage or status symbol? The British gave up their colonies in Africa 60 years ago, but what remained were blond wigs in courtrooms. Now a culture war is raging. spiegel.de

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, unloved in Europe, prophet in Africa: diplomatically, Turkey weighs much more than at the beginning of the century: the country now has 43 embassies in Africa. That is 31 more than in 2002. „Erdoğan’s re-election symbolises the continuation of this partnership policy between Africa and Turkey. With Kılıçdaroğlu, African presidents did not really know who they would be dealing with,“ says an observer of Turkish political life. Mohamed Bazoum, the president of Niger, is not mistaken: at the head of state, Erdoğan will „contribute to further strengthening the fruitful relations between our two countries“, the head of state declared „beautiful lesson of democracy“ of the Turkish people. The same goes for Umaro Sissoco Embaló, head of ECOWAS, who sees Erdoğan’s re-election as „a great sign of confidence of the Turkish people“. Beyond the diplomatic aspect, it is also a fruitful economic policy for Africa that will continue. Turkey has established itself in Africa, with Turkey’s trade with Africa amounting to US$28.3 billion in 2021. Ankara also hopes to double its foreign trade with Africa by 2026. Several countries that were once very close to China are starting to turn towards Turkey: Ghana and Angola, for example. But also countries close to France, such as Togo, whose president Erdoğan also congratulated. lejournalafrique.com

Morocco: Africa’s first gigafabri is being built in the North African country. It will attract over USD 6.5 billion in investment. northafricanpost.com

Nigeria: Instability and conflict are perennial themes in Nigeria, but no transition of power since the return to democracy 24 years ago has left the world’s largest black nation looking into the abyss as much as this one – even literally. „We stand on the precipice of a new era,“ said Vice President-elect Kassim Shettima on Saturday in a speech at the inauguration of newly elected President Bola Tinubu last Monday, promising: „The ideals of democracy will lead us to sustainable development.“ Tinubu’s swearing-in follows a highly contentious presidential election with contestations and unrest in a country with a struggling economy and ethnic tensions. Just last Friday, the Supreme Court cleared the way for this by dismissing the latest lawsuit filed by the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The PDP, which ruled Nigeria from 1999 to 2015, had challenged the dual nomination of Kassim Shettima as vice president and at the same time as senator for the troubled Borno province and wanted the court to annul both Shettima and Tinubu. taz.de

MORE KNOWLEDGE:

Too little water for the Panama Canal: Last year, the Panama Canal counted 14,239 ship passages, with almost 300 million tonnes of goods being transported via the waterway. That is about five percent of world trade. But every time a ship passes through the structure, around 200 million litres of fresh water flow into the oceans. Currently, however, there is far too little water. This has consequences for container shipping. In the long term, the problem at the canal could be solved by tapping new water resources, for example with the help of a dam. But in case of doubt, this would mean that less water would be available for the local population, which could lead to other conflicts. spiegel.de

How coasts can protect the climate: Coastal areas in different regions of the world make an important contribution to climate protection. A study by researchers at Southern Cross University in Australia shows that most coastal ecosystems absorb more greenhouse gases from the atmosphere than they release. Tropical coastal wetlands with mangrove forests and seagrass meadows are particularly effective, but so are polar fjords, for example. Only the coasts of Europe and Russia emit net greenhouse gases – mainly through many estuaries that bring nutrients from the land. The findings can contribute to the inclusion and sensible design of coastal protection in climate protection strategies. wissenschaft.de

How policy could promote environmentally friendly living: None of us consciously wants to destroy the environment – but we do it all the time in our daily lives. Yet our governments could make it easier for us to live sustainably – especially in developed countries. It is important that governments help people reduce their carbon footprint, otherwise it will be too much of an uphill struggle for too many,“ says Stuart Capstick, deputy director of the Centre for Climate Change & Social Transformations, a collaboration of several UK universities. „The low-carbon option should always be an easy, normal and cost-effective option.“ Some governments have already taken action to promote green lifestyles. In Austria, the government pays half of the repair costs for defective electrical appliances. This is to avoid new purchases – and thus climate-damaging emissions from the production and transport of new appliances. In the first year of the programme, more than half a million electrical appliances were repaired – a quarter more than had been expected by the end of 2026, the Austrian climate ministry reported in April. dw.com

Power production: Clean energy from the air. fr.de
Vietnam: Ha Long Bay: From tourist paradise to plastic waste dump. stern.de
Tourism industry: Trouble about national tourism strategy because of CO2 savings. focus.de

CALENDAR:

6.6.2023, 19:00 – 21:00 Uhr Berlin

at the Hopfingerbräu at the Brandenburg Gate, Ebertstraße 24, 10117 Berlin.

Energy supply security for the coming winter

Much is currently being discussed about the issue of security of supply this winter and about liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports.
Are the LNG import quotas agreed by the German government oversized, just sufficient or even too low?

The fact is that as a result of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, the European Union and Germany were forced, among other things, to significantly increase their imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and to expand the necessary infrastructure. The EU is now the world market leader in LNG imports.
What are the scenarios for the coming winter, and what are the geostrategic and geopolitical contexts of these imports? What does an overall view look like, also in the sense of a pan-European energy and supply policy?

Discuss with you over beer, cold drinks and Pretzl

Dr. Frank Umbach
Head of Research of the European Cluster for Climate, Energy and Resource Security (EUCERS) at the Center for Advanced Security, Strategic and Integration Studies (CASSIS) at the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn and one of the most distinguished experts on the subject.

We warmly welcome you
on Tuesday, 6 June 2023 at 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at
Hopfingerbräu am Brandenburger Tor, Ebertstraße 24, 10117 Berlin.

As always, cold drinks, Pretzl and Obatzter will be provided.

We ask for binding registration by 4 June 2023. To do so, please register with this LINK

THE LAST:

Cycling into the forest: what impact this has on nature

Off-road bikes remain in vogue – especially e-mountain bikes. This is not always a benefit for nature, say researchers from the University of Bayreuth. In their review, the researchers therefore used the results on conventional mountain biking to discuss to what extent the changes in riding behaviour when using electric assistance lead to an intensification of the effects. Since the electric motor makes it possible to travel faster, longer and further – and also supports the overcoming of a greater difference in altitude and the negotiation of technically more difficult passages – they see a potential for electrified mountain biking to take place in more sensitive, previously untouched systems. This would mainly have negative effects when riding off trails, which is easier with an electric motor than without. At the same time, electrification opens up the sport of mountain biking to other groups of people than before and one can see that sales figures are increasing enormously and in some cases more e-MTBs are being sold than conventional MTBs. This could also be an indication that more people would use natural systems for mountain biking. Unfortunately, it is difficult to say whether there is a kind of stress limit for ecosystems or individual species. This can hardly be separated from other influences and depends on how stable the population is in each case and how tolerant the individual species is to disturbances. heise.de

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