Fight against the climate crisis in 2024:the vote in the USA and Europe, the innovations created by local communities

The weekly round-up on the climate crisis and data on carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere.

2023 will be remembered as the hottest year ever, the year of extreme weather events, heat waves, droughts, devastating fires, floods, the year of the criminalization of climate activists and one of the United Nations Climate Change most controversial ever he brought at the beginning of the end of the era of fossil fuels, without however putting their gradual elimination on paper.

The agreement reached at COP28 and our future

In early 2023, the International Energy Agency (IEA) spoke peak oil, gas and coal consumption will be exceeded for the first time before 2030.“It's not a question of 'if', but 'how soon' - and the sooner it happens, the better for all of us,” said Fatih Birol, executive director of the IEA.According to a scenario proposed by the International Energy Agency, based on the policies declared by the governments of various states around the world, emissions from fossil fuels could reach their peak as early as 2023 and 2024 before starting a slow decline.The IEA clarified that these scenarios cannot be considered a forecast.However, based on “a detailed examination of the current political landscape”, it is one of the most reliable barometers of what the future may hold, in light of what governments are doing rather than what they say they want to do.

And 2024 will be a year that could be crucial for the direction of the path taken.This year there will be very important elections that will tell us how fast the ecological transition will be and how real are the prospects of keeping the increase in global temperatures within 1.5°C, as signed in the Paris Agreement in 2015.The increase in temperature is caused by the burning of fossil fuels such as coal, gas and oil.Currently, average warming is about 1.2°C, and most models predict a rise of at least 2.5 or nearly 3°C by 2100.

We will vote in the United States, we will vote in Russia, we will vote in India, Indonesia, Mexico, we will vote on the new European Parliament.All places, for different reasons, crucial when it comes to climate change.The United States (together with China) is the main emitter of CO2 in the world, India is pursuing a major transition from coal to other energy sources, Indonesia has been put under pressure by floods and inundations and its glaciers tropical plants are on the verge of disappearing, the European Union she set herself the goal to reduce its emissions by 55% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels but the goal is very far away, we have finally seen what It has meaning from an energy point of view for all of Europe the Russian invasion in Ukraine.

The vote will tell us what type of transition it will be and above all how fast, considering that, in particular, in the United States and Europe, candidates and political forces very close to fossil fuel companies are gaining consensus and are trying to bring back gas and oil through discussed technologies (such as carbon capture and storage) and powerful lobbying.Among these, there is also Italy which, with the Meloni government, has intensified its agreements to become a gas hub.

In the United States, a possible victory for the Republicans (and Donald Trump) could put at risk the largest climate law ever approved, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which is injecting billions of dollars into the U.S. economy and catalyzing massive investments in green technologies like wind and solar.When it was approved by the Biden administration in 2022, not a single Republican in Congress voted for it.And during his four-year presidency, Trump pulled the United States out of the Paris climate agreement, rolled back environmental protections and promoted a widespread expansion of fossil fuels.The Republicans' climate strategy predicts more oil and fewer renewable sources.

The other fundamental issue of 2024 (and the years to come) is that of finance and climate sustainability.One of the issues that remained unresolved at the latest COP in Dubai is that of the transfer of technologies to developing countries, engaged in a difficult transition from coal and at the same time more exposed to the effects of the climate crisis.

The big risk is finding ourselves faced with a scenario that we have already seen for vaccines against Covid.Rich countries have accelerated the production and development of vaccines, in a race to reach agreements with pharmaceutical companies and research laboratories, when instead the path to pursue was another:the transfer and sharing of technologies and knowledge because we were faced with a global emergency from which we would only have emerged together.Even with regards to the ecological transition, the main road should be the Rio declaration of 1992, according to which green technology must be "in the public domain" and made accessible to developing countries "at affordable prices".

At the same time, there are growing calls to reform the way international financiers (such as the World Bank) work with developing countries, caught in a spiral of debt, as they attempt to rebuild after the devastating damage of weather events. extremes.The question is always the same:if we do not intervene on the debt spiral, if we do not review the financing mechanism, there is the risk of an ever greater gap between rich and poor.Climate finance will be one of the main topics of COP29, which will be held in Azerbaijan later this year.

The free market will not save us from the climate crisis

However, despite a difficult climate and political climate, there is some good news, stories from various corners of the world of communities that are working on constructive solutions to address the climate crisis and which could inspire similar projects elsewhere.

They are stories of projects, even daring ones, such as the idea tested in the Netherlands of generating heat from sewers;of communities that are taking action, such as the inhabitants of Bude, in the United Kingdom, who are doing their best to cope with rising sea levels, or a group of female entrepreneurs in sub-Saharan Africa engaged in a sort of "solar revolution ”, or the attempt of the Cocopah tribe which is trying to recover the habitat of the Colorado River.

We have collected some of these stories.They all have in common the involvement of the inhabitants in the conception, planning and implementation of the tested solutions and for this reason they can be a source of inspiration, trust and hope.

The solar revolution started by a group of women entrepreneurs in sub-Saharan Africa

In the heart of sub-Saharan Africa, a community of 10,000 women is sparking a revolution silently and almost unnoticed.While more than 600 million people across the continent still lack access to electricity, these determined entrepreneurs, known as Solar Sisters, they are spreading solar energy and clean energy stoves in their communities.

At the center of this initiative is Katherine Lucey, founder and CEO of Solar Sister.Katherine was working on energy access at the national level in Uganda and saw the impact of energy poverty on rural communities.For these families, cooking dinner in the dark, trying to study in the evening or going to the outdoor bathroom after dark were daily challenges.

But there was a glimmer of hope on the horizon:the appearance of small portable solar lamps.These devices could have been a game-changer, offering a viable and economical alternative to kerosene lamps, which have long posed a burden on rural families' finances and a health hazard.

This was enough to inspire Katherine to found Solar Sister, an organization whose mission would be to bridge the gap between the availability of these solar products and the communities that needed them most.

Solar Sister supported women in individual communities to start local businesses and sell solar products and clean energy stoves.This trust-based approach created desperately needed local distribution.

In addition to promoting better health and safety by eliminating indoor air pollution and the threat of accidental fires associated with kerosene lamps, solar lamps also extend study and work hours, thus promoting educational opportunities and economic growth.Reducing your carbon footprint obviously contributes to a cleaner environment and a more sustainable future.

Many female entrepreneurs apply the skills acquired through the Solar Sister experience to other ventures as well.For example, the Solar Sisters in the Lake Victoria region pooled their earnings to purchase boats, which they then rented to other women who were thus able to enter the local fishing sector, traditionally reserved for men - without venturing into the water in first person.

“The training program is specifically designed to be accessible to everyone, even those who have not had the opportunity to go to school,” explains Katherine Lucey.Here they learn basic business skills, the use of technology and so-called 'soft skills', such as building self-confidence and self-awareness.Now that some female entrepreneurs have been with Solar Sister for a decade, the organization also offers advanced training opportunities on topics such as expanding services, formalizing businesses and achieving financial stability.

The story of the Spanish city that is eliminating the use of cars

While in the 1970s many European cities were expanding and designing new spaces and areas around cars, building larger roads with greater capacity, Vitoria-Gasteiz, a rural center in the Basque country, in northern Spain, immediately chose a road against the grain and unimaginable at the time:the pedestrianization of the city centre.

Imagine a city without cars

Today, Vitoria-Gasteiz, which has gone from 52 thousand inhabitants in 1950 to 253 thousand today, is considered a world leader in urban green policy.In 2012 it was named European Green Capital by the European Commission and in 2019 the United Nations awarded it the title of Global Green City for its efforts in achieving the sustainable development goals of Agenda 2030.

In recent years, Vitoria-Gasteiz has built the so-called green ring, a series of 30 km of parks and cycle paths and Spain's first network of cycle paths, which today extends for 180 km, one of the largest in the country.The city boasts 50 square meters of greenery per inhabitant, compared to 31 in London and 17 in Barcelona.

Since 2006 the city has also created gods “superblocks” similar to those of Barcelona, sections of the city closed to through traffic.Overall, these measures increased the city's pedestrian-friendly areas from 31 to 71 percent.

Now Vitoria-Gasteiz is coordinating the NetZeroCities project, a network of 53 cities in 21 European countries that aims to create a total of 112 smart, climate-neutral cities by 2030.

Cities and cycle paths:We don't lack space, but imagination

How the people of Bude in the UK united to fight rising sea levels

The town of Bude, in north Cornwall, is one of the UK's most popular surfing destinations.In early 2023, residents were shocked when the Environment Agency showed a picture of the impact of rising sea levels that left no doubt:if nothing is done, by 2050 the rise in sea levels will force the community of inhabitants to retreat inland.

But rather than wait for the intervention of the Sunak government, which does not consider climate action a priority, the citizens they formed the Bude Climate Partnership to tackle the threat head-on.In less than a year, the citizens' network managed to raise £2 million from the National Lottery's climate action fund.

“Politicians don't do much to demonstrate that they're keeping their climate promises, let alone make crucial decisions about the existential adjustments that communities like ours must make.We can't afford to wait, so we're mobilizing a community response to make our views and resulting decisions clear and obvious,” said Robert Uhlig, the partnership's program director.

Over the summer, the partnership distributed flyers to 8,500 families in the area and asked individuals to serve on a panel to assess the climate threat, weigh options and choose a path forward.

In the end, thanks to the help of the Sortition Foundation, an organization that accompanies the processes of creating citizens' assemblies around the world, a jury of 43 people was selected who, during several meetings in autumn, collected the opinions of experts and witnesses.In early 2024, the panel will release a report with a series of recommendations that could range from building natural or man-made defenses, such as vast dune systems or a sea wall, to moving bricks and mortar wholesale, to place them elsewhere.

“These are decisions that the community needs to make together and arrive at collectively,” Uhlig continues.“Our work has taught us that citizens, when given a range of information, are able to address very complex issues and identify recommendations for the public good,” adds Peter Bryant, of Shared Future, a community interest company that helped facilitate the work of the climate jury in Bude.

Cornwall Council is committed to receiving and considering the jury's submissions.

Generating heat from sewers:experimentation in the north of Amsterdam

Generate heat to heat homes from wastewater. This is what Lieven de Key is trying to experience, a real estate company from Amsterdam, which will draw on a sewer pipe in the main district to heat 1,600 public houses, intended for social housing and student residences.

After initial skepticism, the company was slowly won over by the idea of ​​district heating, explains development manager Rienk Postuma.They spoke to a company called Liander, which builds underground connections, and to the water company, “and then the idea was born of putting water-powered heat pumps in buildings, recovering heat from collective sewers for this part of Amsterdam ”.

“The heat comes from the showers, the toilet, the wastewater from washing, the dishwasher, the washing machine,” explains Postuma.“Together, all this allows us to reach a temperature between 15 and 18 degrees throughout the year.We will make a bypass around the main sewer, put a heat exchanger around it and bring it into the houses in insulated pipes.Then we will put it in an electric heat pump and the water will be heated to 60 or 70°C, an average temperature.”

Experts believe wastewater heat could play an important role in the transition away from fossil fuels.In the Netherlands there are other projects that typically use sewage treatment plants or raw wastewater pipes, such as in Rotterdam and Eindhoven.

“We calculated that 8% of Amsterdam could be heated with wastewater systems:10,000 homes,” explains Harry de Brauw, energy transition consultant at Waternet.

'River Keepers':How the Cocopah Tribe is trying to restore 23-year-drought Colorado River habitat

The Colorado River flows in southwestern Arizona, between Mexico and the lands of the Cocopah Native American tribe.The region has been in an intense drought for 23 years he brought to rationing and caused a 20% decrease in the river's flow.A University of California, Los Angeles study estimated that the river has lost more than 40 trillion gallons due to climate change since 2000.

Last April, on Earth Day, the tribe's Environmental Protection Office he started a two-year project to remove invasive reeds and plant more than 1,000 native trees, restoring the riverbank to the way it looked decades ago.The project is called “Final Keepers of the River”:a clear reference to the Cocopah tribe, the last Native American tribe along the Colorado River, believed to be the custodians of the river.

The Cocopahs' goal is to restore more than 161 acres along the river in the West Cocopah Reservation, starting in 2024, with the support of $5.5 million in grants from federal and nonprofit groups.

By restoring the habitat, the tribe aims to preserve their cultural traditions for generations to come.Since settling the area more than three millennia ago, the tribe has relied on the river for fishing and the delta's fertile soil to grow grains, beans, pumpkins and watermelons.However, due to invasive plants and low water levels, farming along the river is becoming more difficult.

The Cocopah Tribe lived along the river long before the first dam (followed by 14 others) was built in 1909 in Colorado.These dams prevented the natural flooding needed to spread native nutrients and seeds, decimating riverine habitat and making agriculture more difficult.To offset the impact of dams on water sources, the “Final Keepers of the River” project installed 1,219 meters of drip lines to irrigate newly planted native trees.

Carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere

Preview image:Cornwall Live video frames via YouTube