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FDP and Greens – where they diverge on climate protection: soundings are being taken and a Twitter post made the rounds. Where, according to the big question of the observers, can the Greens and the FDP come together on lima protection?Since the Federal Constitutional Court has obliged every federal government to reduce emissions sufficiently quickly, the FDP and the Greens are also bound by this ruling. However, the way to achieve this is still controversial. The FDP wants to leave the investments for this almost exclusively to private companies, not to the state, the Greens rely on state investments and have allies with managers from the steel and chemical industries who confess that they cannot manage the transformation without state money. tagesspiegel.de

Climate activists want to keep fighting: Already in October, the climate activists of Fridays for Future want to take to the streets again. And this is completely independent of what colours the future government coalition will have.  Two days before the federal election, tens of thousands demonstrated for the climate on the streets all over Germany and worldwide. „We will not stop measuring the government’s actions against the Paris Climate Agreement, regardless of whether it is Jamaica, GroKo or a traffic light coalition,“ says Fridays for Future activist Luisa Neubauer.  „We will not stop.“ She does not measure the success of the movement by the Greens‘ election results. welt.de , handelsblatt.com

Arctic sea ice shrank to 4.72 million square kilometres on 16 September 2021.

A cool and cloudy Arctic summer ensured that this year’s minimum was the highest since 2014.  Ice cover was almost a million square kilometres greater than last year’s extent, where it was only 3.82 million square kilometres. But this is no reason for euphoria. This year’s extent is still the twelfth lowest sea ice extent in almost 43 years of satellite records. This is shown in a graph from the US National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC).  The scientists say the long-term trend is lower ice cover. spektrum.de

The MSC seal promises more than it delivers: Sustainable fishing was and is documented by the blue MSC (Marine Stewardship Council) label and many consumers have put their trust in it. However, the WWF criticises weaknesses in the awarding process.  Last year, MSC wanted around 20 percent of the world’s fisheries to be certified. By 2030, the target is 30 per cent. Now MSC has had to concede that only about 15 per cent will be achieved in the current year. „Our requirements have become higher and higher over the years. Nevertheless, we have to remain realistic so that the fisheries still participate,“ MSC says. welt.de

Alternative Nobel Prizes awarded: This year’s Alternative Nobel Prizes go to three activists from Cameroon, Russia and Canada and an environmental protection organisation from India, all of which are organisations that activate people to fight climate change and human rights. The Right Livelihood Foundation, announced the winners last Wednesday in Stockholm. The Alternative Nobel Prize is awarded every year. This year’s winners are intrepid mobilisers who show what grassroots movements can achieve, said Ole von Uexküll, the foundation’s director. In the face of climate and environmental crises as well as blatant human rights violations, they successfully campaigned for a better future through solidarity and targeted organisation of local communities. spektrum.de 

Green deal could fuel inflation: By 2050, the EU wants to become the first climate-neutral continent. This will not work without massive state investments and subsidies. A „green inflation“ of prices for ecological goods and shares could be the result, as the ecological and CO2 neutral transformation will not work without massive state investments and subsidies for private companies. The result is likely to be „green inflation“ – prices for ecological goods and shares will rise. focus.de

Climate change alters cultivation methods: Peanuts instead of potatoes, apricots instead of apples: In Germany, more and more exotic fruits are being cultivated on experimental plots and fields – a consequence of climate change. More and more farmers and winegrowers are experimenting on some of their land with varieties that had no chance in Germany just a few years ago. tagesschau.de

BOOK TIP OF THE WEEK:

Das Maß aller Dinge – oder wie man die Welt vergleichsweise einfach betrachtet

„We want to send parts of habitual thinking on holiday.“ M. FAIRBRASS & D. TANGUY

Would you have thought that the total length of the neural pathways of our brain is equal to the distance between the earth and the moon? That in just one and a half hours the sun supplies enough energy to meet the annual needs of the entire world population? And that the internet weighs just as much as an egg?
‚The Measure of All Things‘ brings together astonishing facts, some surprising, some amusing, some frightening, and makes the unimaginable conceivable – using unusual comparisons and vivid proportions.
Mike Fairbrass and David Tanguy take us from the deepest point of the world’s oceans to the infinite expanse of space. From Mount Everest to the Cheops pyramid. From the synapses in our brain (as many as there are leaves in the Amazon rainforest!) to the computing power used in „Bitcoin mining“. And thus create a better understanding of the world and the universe: of molecular and atomic size, the extent of power and wealth, the speed of our thinking or the number of stars in the Milky Way. dumont-buchverlag.de

Bundestag: More climate activists in parliament. taz.de
New nuclear power plants: FDP leader advocates research into new nuclear reactors. focus.de
Top Ranking: The Countries with the Highest CO2 Emissions. capital.de
Accident: Wind turbine collapses in Haltern am See. wdr.de
Gas price crisis: US exporters profit. tagesschau.de
Bulgaria: Coal phase-out as condition for EU accession. derstandard.at
China: Investment in environmental protection pays off. fair-economics.de
Greenwashing: This is what the whistleblower says who triggered the investigation against DWS. nzz.ch

 

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.

MOBILITY:

Researchers call for test runs for the speed limit: SPD and Greens are in favour of the speed limit. A study concludes that it would save lives. But the data situation is poor. Researchers suggest turning individual motorway sections into „real laboratories“. faz.net

Tesla with record deliveries: VW and Porsche weaken in the USA. Tesla significantly increased its production in the past quarter. But the ongoing chip shortage has also been a burden on the electric car pioneer. handelsblatt.com

Mobility ride services are not very environmentally friendly: car trips arranged by Uber, Lyft & Co. are indeed significantly more environmentally friendly than those with your own car, but in the overall balance the comparison is reversed. This is what researchers at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh (USA) have determined. Cars used for Uber, Lyft & Co. consume significantly more fuel simply because of the necessary empty runs between the paid driving services – although they are actually newer and more economical on average. In addition, they contribute more than average to traffic jams, noise and the risk of accidents due to the extra time on the road. Such additional costs would be borne by society, not by the individuals behind the wheel or even corporations like Uber. heise.de

FDP voters drive electric cars, Greens use bicycles and AfDers rarely take the train: A study shows what political preferences have to do with mobility behaviour. sueddeutsche.de

MAN calls for decarbonisation: MAN Truck & Bus has called on the political parties to get serious about climate protection in the wake of the German parliamentary elections. MAN argues that decarbonisation of the transport sector is firmly anchored in its own corporate strategy. vision-mobility.de

Tender for fast charging network launched: Electric vehicles are in vogue, but the charging infrastructure has been lacking for years. Now the first steps are to be taken for the „German network“. stern.de

Parking offences: Experts agree: the penalties for parking offences are actually far too low everywhere in Germany. And too often, parking violators get away with it. deutschlandfunknova.de

VIDEO OF THE WEEK:

The house printing machines – Construction using giant 3D printers has outgrown its infancy – in the meantime, the first residential house built in this way can be found in Germany. How ecological is the technology? And what are its limits? spiegel.de

PODCAST OF THE WEEK:

Let’s darken the sun – The idea sounds tempting: If humanity is not making any progress with climate protection, why don’t we simply give the planet a sunscreen? We know from volcanic eruptions that small particles in the atmosphere can cool the Earth considerably. Should we really dare such an intervention? deutschlandfunk.de.

HYDROGEN:

Schleswig-Holstein and Lower Saxony best suited for green hydrogen: Operators of electricity and gas grids are promoting the production of green hydrogen in the northwest. From there, it could be transported to southern Germany via existing gas grids. The electricity transmission grid operator Tennet and the gas grid operators Gasunie and Thyssengas are developing joint plans to build a hydrogen infrastructure. The three grid operators see the best exploitable potential for the production of green hydrogen in the northwestern part of Lower Saxony as well as in Schleswig-Holstein. handelsblatt.com

Viessmann: Achieving climate targets with hydrogen. By 2045, all buildings must be „climate neutral“, i.e. operate without carbon dioxide emissions. Hydrogen could make a decisive contribution to converting the energy system in Germany to renewable resources and achieving this climate target, says Dr. Manfred Dzubiella, Head of Development for Combustion Systems at the heating and air conditioning technology company Viessmann. hna.de

Aircraft: Aviation expert Tobias Grosche believes it is more likely that aircraft will one day be powered by hydrogen than by electricity. Nevertheless, there are still a few hurdles to overcome – for example, in the airport infrastructure and the design of the aircraft, because hydrogen needs more space than paraffin. Airbus plans to bring the first hydrogen aircraft to market in 2035 at the earliest. Until then, the industry is focusing on sustainable fuels. businessinsider.de

Hydrogen production: Conversion by electrolysis and subsequent electricity production by fuel cell are real energy guzzlers and therefore not particularly efficient. All climate-friendly energy sources are needed for the energy transition. Scientists from the Fraunhofer Institute for Machine Tools and Forming Technology IWU are now heading for the open sea, because they want to produce H2 in places where energy losses during production do not really matter, because there is always enough green electricity available. ingenieur.de

Hydrogen storage: Science and industry are currently working on storage and transport systems for hydrogen. The basis for this is to precisely describe and assess the behaviour of metallic materials, especially steels, in contact with hydrogen. fair-economics.de

LAST WEEK IN THE BUNDESTAG

The election campaign is over and the new Bundestag is scheduled to be constituted in its new session on 26 October. However, the parliamentary groups have already met last week and elected chairpersons depending on the political situation. Nevertheless, parliamentary business continues, for example in answering parliamentarians‘ questions.

Parliaments in the pandemic: The role of parliaments in the Corona pandemic was the subject of the general debate of the Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in May this year. This is stated in a briefing (19/32593) by the German delegation. The Assembly had also adopted the draft resolution entitled „Parliamentary strategies to strengthen peace and security in the face of threats and conflicts arising from climate disasters and their consequences“. In addition, the virtual meeting adopted the draft resolution entitled „Integrating digitalisation and the circular economy into all policies to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, in particular sustainable consumption and production“.

LITERALLY

„Whether the Greens‘ climate protection programme is really strong, reality must show. However, the crisis communication for the climate was quite weak. Annalena Baerbock in particular answered almost every question with climate change. For most people, this was probably too monothematic.

Frank Roselieb, Executive Director and Spokesperson of the Kiel Institute for Crisis Research, said that the Greens had relied too much on disaster rhetoric, and instead should have picked up people’s tangible problems and offered solutions: They would expect functioning hospitals, long-distance travel by plane and to get to work without problems. That’s where they should have started and shown why exactly these things were endangered by climate change. zeit.de

Yes, LPG is cleaner than heavy fuel oil or diesel for ships. Emissions of nitrogen oxides, sulphur and soot are lower. Emissions of climate-damaging carbon dioxide are also lower. On the negative side, however, methane escapes during extraction, transport or combustion, which causes even greater climate damage than CO2. Here it is important, among other things, to further improve ship engines and to enable the use of synthetic gas.

Ralf Brauner, Professor of Maritime Studies and Logistics at the Jade University of Applied Sciences in Elsfleth, says that synthetic gas and electric diesel can be produced with hydrogen as a starting product. In the future, both could be used as fuel in ship engines if they are designed for it. I think that is a promising option. However, a lot of development work is still needed. klimareporter.de

AFRICA

ECJ declares EU agreement with Morocco invalid due to Western Sahara conflict: The European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled on Wednesday in Luxembourg on the legal case T-279/19: „Front Polisario v. Council of the European Union (EU)“ and declared two EU decisions null and void. At the centre of the case was the question of whether the EU was allowed to negotiate an association agreement with Morocco, which also concerned fishing rights off the coast of the former Spanish colony of Western Sahara. Also affected was the import of agricultural products from Western Sahara, which the EU wanted to regulate within the framework of an agricultural agreement with Morocco. The liberation movement Frente Polisario filed a lawsuit against the agreements, which in its view were contrary to international law, and prevailed before the ECJ. zeit.de

Egypt: Cairo tramples on human rights. For nineteen months, Egypt has imprisoned the student and human rights activist Patrick Zaki. He had written about the poor treatment of the Coptic minority and criticised state repression. nzz.ch

Awet Tesfaiesus: Green Party politician Awet Tesfaiesus is the first black MP of African descent in the German parliament, the Bundestag. Tesfaiesus, who fled Eritrea with her family at the age of four, was elected as a member of parliament for the Werra-Meißner constituency in central Germany in Sunday’s election. face2faceafrica.com

Guinea: Analyst on the coup. „Elections do not solve the problems“. Does the recent coup d’état in Guinea plunge the whole region into crisis? No, says analyst Gilles Yabi. Each country has to be considered individually. taz.de

Congo: World Health Organisation – Investigation confirms sexual exploitation during Ebola mission in Congo. International aid workers were supposed to fight the Ebola epidemic in Congo. Dozens of them apparently abused or raped the people they were supposed to protect. This is shown by an investigation report. spiegel.de

Mali: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has confirmed that the government in Mali has turned to a Russian military company to „fight the terrorist“. In France and other Western countries, reports of a possible deployment of troops from the Russian mercenary company Wagner in Mali had recently caused great concern. nzz.ch

Mozambique: Praise for Rwanda’s intervention in the civil war. Presidents Nyusi and Kagame have visited Mozambique’s civil war zone together. The Islamist rebels have been pushed back. taz.de

Tunisia: Tunisia’s new prime minister: Najla Bouden Romdhane is thrust into the limelight. The 63-year-old geologist will be the first woman to lead the affairs of state in Tunisia. derstandard.at

Sub-Saharan Africa broadband expansion: Sub-Saharan Africa has significantly reduced its mobile broadband coverage gap in recent years, but is still the region with the largest coverage gap, according to a new report from the GSMA. The report defines this gap as people living in areas not covered by a mobile broadband network. qz.com

MORE KNOWLEDGE

More extreme weather events in a human lifetime: If a person is born today, they will experience more extreme weather in an average life expectancy than someone born in 1960. According to one forecast, twice as many forest fires, three times as many floods and crop failures and seven times as many heat waves will occur in the expected lifetime. This all happens on the premise that states maintain their strategies to reduce climate-damaging emissions.  But if countries were to make an effort to meet the 1.5-degree target, it could make a big difference. Scientists compared existing data on global temperature trends and projections for extreme weather events with population data and life expectancy figures. zeit.de

No going back to normality: People are not very good at adapting to the new normality, because they would have to renounce the ideal of rigid stability, comfort and continuity. Rather, it should be characterised by dynamism and a willingness to change – forward-looking, active and reactive instead of backward-looking, passive and reactionary.And Corona is – in view of the climate crisis, species extinction, migration, population pressure, social division, the threat of new pathogens and environmental hazards from microplastics to nuclear waste – only a finger exercise. tagesspiegel.de

Sufficient maize with little thirst: If the right genes are active in the maize genome, the plants are able to manage with little water. This is an important step towards food security for regions where climate change may lead to more drought. Plant researchers in Cologne are currently learning from plants from dry regions which genetic material they need to activate so that the plants also yield in dry conditions. deutschlandfunk.de

Recycling: How a jacket becomes a jacket. fair-economics.de
Indonesia: Fighting a reputation as an environmental sinner. handelsblatt.com
UN: Want to bring clean electricity to half a billion people. tagesspiegel.de
Whales: At least 50 pilot whales die on Iceland’s coast. spiegel.de

THE LAST:

Cat videos destroy the world’s climate – Well, at least with streaming. Cute online dog or cat videos destroy the world’s climate. The users of YouTube, Sex.com, Netflix and Co. produced 300 million tonnes of carbon dioxide worldwide in 2018. These 300 million tonnes are equivalent to the annual CO2 emissions of Spain. Or just under one per cent of total global emissions.
theshiftproject.org

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