Courtesy of IASS Potsdam Whether the air that we breathe will be cleaner or dirtier in the future will largely be determined by two key factors: pollutant emissions and climate change. In a new publication, the authors analyze projections of future air quality and compare their various effects on human health, crops, and ecosystems. The […]
Tag: environment
Where is the policy response to air pollution deaths?
By Dr. Erika von Schneidemesser, courtesy of IASS The current death toll from Covid-19 is just over 800,000 people worldwide. This is likely to be a conservative estimate. To provide some perspective, in 2017, around 56 million people died, with the largest cause of death being cardiovascular diseases, which accounted for about 32% of deaths. 4.2 million people […]
When the “Plastic-Free” Ethos Meets Reality
By Christian Josi, TES Contributor As a person fortunate enough to live and work in a place where my front yard is a marina and my back yard the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, a part of just about every day involves plucking litter–mostly plastic based things doing demonstrable harm to oceans and […]
A Green New Deal for Amazonia?
“Market Pressure and the Amazon — First Steps towards a Brazilian Green New Deal?” By Karina Marzano and Artur Sgambatti Monteiro, courtesy of IASS In the past few weeks, a series of open statements by private actors made headlines. Major European asset management firms threatened to divest from beef producers, grains traders and government bonds in […]
Does Europe Stimulus Support Green Goals?
“Is the EU Council agreement aligned with the Green Deal ambitions?” By Grégory Claeys and Simone Tagliapietra, courtesy of Bruegel After 91 hours of negotiations, EU leaders agreed on 21 July on a €1.8 trillion package that will contribute to the EU’s economic reboot after the COVID-19 fallout, as well as to the advancement of the […]
EU’s green push should leverage digitalization
“Towards a green, competitive and resilient EU economy: How can digitalisation help?” By Annika Hedberg & Stefan Sipka, courtesy of the European Policy Centre EU leaders stress the importance of the green transition and digital transformation and consider it crucial to the EU’s recovery from the coronavirus crisis. Rightly so. Aligning the EU’s green […]
Public needs to learn about negative emissions technology
“Mobilizing the ocean for climate protection” Courtesy of IfW Kiel Humanity cannot limit global warming to 1.5 degrees unless action is taken. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has shown this in its special report from 2018. In addition to reducing emissions to nearly zero, humanity must actively remove greenhouse gases from […]
Europe needs a plan to redevelop coal regions
By Christian Egenhofer, Jorge Núñez Ferrer, and Irina Kustova, courtesy of the Center for European Policy Studies The economic slow-down caused by the pandemic will aggravate the existing stress in some regions, especially those relying on lignite, coal and peat as their main economic activity. But efficient and effective use of COVID-19 recovery funds […]
Does COVID-19 pose a threat to the EU’s climate neutrality efforts?
By Sofia López Piqueres, courtesy of EPC There is a real danger that the COVID-19 crisis will derail the Union’s climate efforts. But rather than use the current situation as an excuse not to act, EU leaders need to show statesmanship now more than ever by daring to tackle the climate, health and […]
Attach green conditions to recovery aid, say environmentalists
“A Green Recovery” By Dirk Schoenmaker, courtesy of the Bruegel Institute Governments have multiple goals including economic growth, social inclusion and environmental preservation (Schoenmaker, 2020). The COVID-19 pandemic has had a sharp negative impact on the economic and social fronts (deteriorating health, reduced income and job losses). By contrast, environmental performance […]