Positive climate stories in July
With fires raging across Europe and scientists warning that we could breach the 1.5°C threshold by 2027, it hasn’t been an easy month to think positive about the climate.
But compiling this month’s round-up of positive climate stories has helped boost our spirits at OG. There’s still a lot to feel hopeful about, from blocks to airport expansion proposals to significant drops in deforestation in South America…
1. Airport expansion takes two steps backwards
July has been a great month for resisting airport expansion. The first good news came when the Dutch Court of Appeal ruled that the Dutch Government can reduce flight numbers at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport next year, from 500,000 to 460,000.
As our Legal Manager David Kay commented in our recent blog on the Schiphol flight cap, this is an important win for the environment and the local population.
“The inescapable reality is this: with proper decarbonisation still decades away, we have to reduce rather than increase flying,” he said.
Later in in the month, plans to increase passenger numbers and expand weekend operations at London City Airport were rejected by councillors. The proposals outlined an increase in annual passenger numbers from 6.5 million up to 9 nine million. They were rejected on the grounds of noise pollution, with concerns about increased carbon emissions also being raised.
It’s encouraging to see decision makers waking up to the reality of airport expansion – but this must only be the start. Now we need to see airlines reconsidering their priorities.
“For too long the industry has focussed on cost and profit and assumed a narrative of continuous expansion,” says David. “Now we need to see airlines focus on how the industry can decarbonise and meet the Paris Agreement goals.”
2. Moving towards zero deforestation in South America
Back in May’s positive climate stories blog, we reported on how deforestation in Brazil had fallen by 68% on the previous year. And government figures released this month revealed more good news: deforestation fell 26% in the Columbian Amazon last year.
The Guardian reports on drops in deforestation in Columbia
And we could be looking forward to even bigger and better things: South America could pledge to end deforestation by 2030.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has set this ambitious pledge and in August, he is hosting the presidents of the eight nations that make up the Amazon Rainforest – Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela – with a view to getting it signed.
There’s said to be growing consensus for a pledge on zero deforestation, and it has already been included in the draft declaration. We’ll be keeping a keen eye on developments and covering them in future positive news round-ups.
3. Big boost for nature recovery
It was a narrow victory, but the EU passed a new law to protect nature this month, meaning that recovery measures will be placed on 20% of the EU’s land and sea by 2030. This will increase to cover all degraded ecosystems by 2050.
The idea behind the law is to reverse the trend of destroying natural ecosystems and introducing measures that boost biodiversity and restore nature.
Alongside this announcement, the UK has unveiled six new nature recovery schemes across England to boost wildlife and improve climate security. The schemes are being funded by £7.4m from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and cover 176,000 hectares of land in the Tees Estuary, South Downs and the Lost Wetlands in Cheshire and Lancashire.
The BBC reports on the new nature recovery schemes.
The schemes follow the success of projects like the G7 legacy project in Cornwall and five nature recovery projects launched last year in the West Midlands, the Peak District, Somerset, Norfolk and Cambridge.
This is a huge boost to nature restoration that will help to improve water quality, climate resilience and water sequestration and experts predict that it will help once common wildlife, such as water voles and lapwings, to thrive again.
4. Water companies to clean up or pay up
Let’s start with the bad news. In 2022, UK water companies discharged sewage more than 9,200 times over a 12-month period. On top of that, they were accused of discharging sewage more than 160 times when there had been no rain, despite this being against the law.
This kind of activity has polluted the UK’s waterways beyond belief and most are now considered too polluted to swim in. According to a report on water quality in UK rivers by the House of Commons Committee last year, there is no river in England that is free from chemical contamination.
So, what’s the good news?
This month, the Environment Agency was given new powers to issue unlimited fines to water companies found to be pumping sewage into our waterways. Previously, it was only able to hand out fines of up to £25,000 and it’s hoped that these uncapped fines will toughen up enforcement and reduce the number of offences taking place.
Let’s look forward to a positive round-up next summer that includes a story about wild swimming in our clean rivers…
Edie reports on the new powers to fine water companies.
5. Consultancy firm McKinsey under legal crossfire
At the end of June, Oregon County filed a lawsuit against fossil fuel companies, oil and gas industry trade associations, and – a first – the consulting company McKinsey.
The lawsuit seeks damages for a deadly heatwave in 2021. It alleges that the defendants have significantly contributed to the heatwave through the greenhouse gas emissions produced by those companies.
The lawsuit notes that McKinsey has worked for at least 43 out of 100 companies that have pumped substantial amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere since the 1960s. It also argues that these top fossil fuel clients were responsible for a substantial share of the greenhouse gas emissions from the fossil fuel industry in the past few decades.
This lawsuit highlights the urgency of addressing so-called “advised emissions”: the emissions linked to the advice that firms (such as law firms and consultancy firms) provide.
For example, a recent report by Law Students for Climate Accountability revealed that 55 law firms facilitated £1.48 trillion in fossil fuel projects. This is more than 2.5 times the amount these firms facilitated for the renewable energy industry (£546 billion).
Our Legal Officer Isa says: “It’s encouraging to see that the link between advice that consultancy – or even law – firms give and the emissions of their clients and business partners is receiving increasing scrutiny. Such advice actively enables and facilitates ongoing contributions to the climate crisis.”
What positive climate stories have lifted your spirits this month? Share it with us on Twitter or LinkedIn and we’ll help to spread the word.
