A sustainable future requires shifting the sustainability focus towards better technology and policy. The European Innovation Council (EIC), within the Greenhouse Gas Programme (GHG) initiative, carries on its mission of providing another round of dedicated news that brings you the latest and trendiest pieces of information on climate-related matters.
For this edition, we’re addressing the news that cover matters related to climate change, its consequences, and the best solutions to fight it. We invite you to keep reading to know more about what we’ve put together this time.
Extremes of 40C above normal: what’s causing ‘extraordinary’ heating in polar regions?
It’s no surprise that Antarctic and Arctic temperatures are on the rise. However, unusually high temperatures in those areas in recent days have shocked researchers, who have warned that extremes will become more common because of the climate crisis.
How unusual are they? Concordia station, high on the Antarctic Plateau, reached a record temperature of -11.8C on Friday (more than 40C warmer than seasonal norms), while Vostok station registered a temperature of -17.7C (beating its record by 15C).
In addition, the Antarctic continent on Friday was about 4.8C warmer compared to the baseline temperature between 1979 and 2000, the Associated Press reported. On the same day, the Arctic was 3.3C warmer than the 1979 to 2000 average.
It’s been reported that the cause of these high temperatures is related to strong winds coming from Australia that contribute to these unusual temperatures in Antarctica. Named ‘atmospheric river’, this intense phenomenon pumped and diffused moisture across the East Antarctic plateau, trapping heat over the continent, resulting in warm surface temperatures.
Apart from temperature rise, the consequences of this occurrence involve the weakening of ice shelves – resulting in ice sheets floating over the ocean – that can cause sea-level rise.
War in Ukraine and Climate Change could combine to create a food crisis
With Russia’s war in Ukraine comes a decrease of food supplies in countries that depend on the two nations for important grains and cooking oils. The halt in agricultural shipments out of the Black Sea has increased the price of wheat and fertiliser, prompting growing concerns of a global food crisis.
Russia, the world’s leading wheat supplier, recently banned grain shipments abroad, and sanctions are likely to affect future exports. Ukraine is a top supplier of sunflower oil and a major wheat producer. It has suspended port activity. Together, the two countries produce about 12% of the food calories consumed globally.
For instance, in Turkey, people are buying cooking oil in anticipation of further price hikes; Thailand is facing surging costs for fertiliser and feedstock; Egypt – the biggest importer of Russian wheat – has banned exports of homegrown grain; and Indonesia has restricted exports of palm oil, a potential substitute for other vegetable oils.
At the same time, the global food system is already dealing with supply chain constraints due to the Covid-19 pandemic and climate-charge weather events – such as droughts, heatwaves, or floods. Which is destabilising, even more, the food system. Hence why – and to respond to the current crisis – many countries are looking for supplies from other countries. Adding to this, rising fuel costs are also a problem for fertiliser.
However, a big question coming out of the current war situation is whether other countries will be able to boost the production of wheat to compensate for shortages from Russia and Ukraine. Should that scenario occur, high energy prices could also lead to increased production of biofuels, which also have an impact on land use.
A 10-point plan to cut oil use
On that same note, in times of exponentially increasing energy prices that were triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, it proves pivotal to take action to help reduce oil demand while putting it onto a more sustainable path in the long term. With significant strains showing in the global oil market, compounding difficulties in natural gas markets create a potential emergency for global energy security.
The International Energy Agency’s (IEA) 10-point plan to cut oil use proposes ten actions to do so that comprise: 1) Reducing speed limits on highways by at least 10km/h, 2) Working from home up to three days a week where possible, 3) Car-free Sundays in large cities, 4) Making public transport cheaper; incentivising micro-mobility, walking and cycling, 5) Alternating private car use in large cities, 6) Urging car-sharing and practices that decrease fuel use, 7) Promoting efficient use of freight trucks and goods delivery, 8) Preferring high-speed and night trains to planes where possible, 9) Avoiding business travel when alternatives exist, and 10) Hastening adoption of electric and more efficient vehicles.
With several governments introducing measures to help consumers and businesses by reducing prices, the ones presented by IEA signify a way to help balance the market and reduce the stresses caused by high oil prices – thus decreasing oil demand.
As we look ahead, countries need to put oil demand into structural decline in the medium term, building on measures already included in economic recovery packages introduced to deal with the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Adopting the immediate and longer-term recommendations would put countries on track for a decline in oil demand, consistent with what is required to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, and sustainability.
Showcase statistics for the European Green Deal
Lastly, Eurostat released a new interactive visualisation tool showcasing relevant statistics for the European Green Deal. It is one of the six European Commission priorities for 2019-2024. This tool aims to assist users of European statistics and help them know the statistical indicators attractively and intuitively.
With an overview of 26 indicators for the EU, the Member States, and EFTA countries, these indicators are divided into three main topics: 1) Reducing our climate impact, 2) Protecting our planet & health, and 3) Enabling a green & just transition. In addition, the 26 indicators cover topics such as Greenhouse gas emissions, Primary energy consumption, Exposure to air pollution, or Environmental tax revenues – among others.
With multiple functionalities available to tailor the interactive visualisation to your needs and interests, showing up-to-date data once it becomes available in the Eurostat database, you’re also able to:
- Customise your selection of countries and the length of the time series to be displayed;
- Choose between interactive lines or bar charts;
- Display indicators using different units of measurement or breakdowns;
- Access underlying source datasets in the Eurostat database by using the links below each visualisation;
- Share the tool or customised interactive graphs on social media.
Actively harnessing critical information that goes in line with the ‘global evolution towards a more sustainable economy’ when the need to preserve modern society for future generations proves to be pivotal is key. Having said that, these are just a few of the articles that made the headlines in the past months, which reflect the importance of current matters and the need to address them.
As an EIC-funded SME, you can join the initiatives of the EIC GHG programme, be it the co-creation activities, the badges & CO2 neutral label, the resource library or by using the EIC GHG Tool. Being a journey towards carbon neutrality, with a set of unique steps that you can benefit from, this programme will aid you in making your green contribution towards a cleaner and safer planet.
About the EIC GHG programme
With the EIC GHG programme, part of the Business Acceleration Services, the EIC offers its beneficiaries a dedicated GHG tool, the GHG Badges & CO2 Neutral Label initiative, and further resources.
In addition, co-creation activities with corporates, industrial associations, regions in carbon transition and other EIC beneficiaries are planned. More information on the EIC GHG programme can be found here.
DISCLAIMER: This information is provided in the interest of knowledge sharing and should not be interpreted as the official view of the European Commission, or any other organisation.