Global Briefing: UN summit confronts global biodiversity crisis

All the top green industry news from all over the globe this week, such as VW’s electric vehicle investment from China, electrical ferries from Thailand, along with Denmark’s ambitious climate goal

UN summit confronts Global biodiversity crisis

Global leaders assembled virtually this week to discuss the environmental catastrophe that is devastating the world’s ecosystems, in the UN Summit on Biodiversity, an occasion made as a primer for its delayed, critical COP15 Biodiversity Summit in Kunming, Chinathe following year.

More than a hundred heads of state and government presented statements calling for actions to protect nature and avert the climate collapse. “Much greater ambition is needed,” United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres mentioned during the day-long summit’s opening speech. “Degradation of nature is not purely an environmental issue. It spans economics, health, social justice, and human rights.”

Chinese leader Xi Jinping gave a much-anticipated address coming soon after his surprise announcement that China would aim to attain net-zero emissions by 2060. “We need to find a way for man to live in harmony with nature,” he said.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, meanwhile, used a pre-recorded address to underline the plight of the pangolin.

The event occurred in the middle of intense focus on the crisis facing international biodiversity. Earlier in the month, the UN published a report concluding that the entire planet had missed every one of the flagship biodiversity targets agreed by governments in 2010 in Aichi, Japan. The stark effects of such failures were portrayed in a brand new WWF analysis estimating that wildlife populations have declined by nearly 70 per cent in less than 50 decades.

New UN targets for the forthcoming decade is going to have been discussed and agreed at a biodiversity conference following year, which was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic – itself partly a result of humanity’s encroachment in the natural world.

On the other hand, the UN this week also cautioned that far more resources are essential to offset the decline of the natural world, highlighting a funding gap of  $700bn that governments, businesses and NGOs have to bridge if significant progress is to be produced in restoring nature.

Denmark to cut CO2 70 per cent by 2030

Denmark this week revealed its objective to slash CO2 by 70 per cent by 2030, confirming that it might so without undermining the country’s market or famously generous welfare system.

Last calendar year, parties from around Denmark’s political spectrum supported a law committing Denmark to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 70 per cent by 2030 from a 1990 baseline. On Tuesday, the country published a climate program detailing a roadmap with this objective. It estimated that delivering the transition to a more affluent market is going to result in annual price tag of between $2.5bn and $3.7bn up to one per cent of Denmark’s GDP.

“Our ambitious climate goals are not without costs, but with a wise approach, the bill can be made smaller and managed so that we can afford both climate and welfare,” Denmark’s Climate Minister Dan Joergensen said in an declaration.

Poland simplifies coal mining period out with unions for 2049

The Polish government has for the first time establish a deadline for end coal power generation from the Central European country, agreeing a 2049 deadline with all the sector’s powerful trade unions.

The deal marks a major shift for the Polish coal business, which now supplies around 75 per cent of the country’s energy requirements. It followed intense discussions which had seen hundreds of miners attack by staying underground in protest at possible mine closures. The arrangement sets deadlines for its conclusion of coal production in person mines and determines social and financial guarantees for employees.

However, while analysts predicted the progress declared by the deal, they additionally cautioned that there might not be a location for coal in Europe’s energy mix that late to the century.

Poland has been the one remaining member of the EU which hasn’t yet dedicated to this bloc’s 2050 web zero goal, mentioning the societal and financial costs of this transition.

VW revs up electric vehicle race using $15bn investment in China

German vehicle maker VW is lining up a huge investment in electrical vehicles in China, planning to invest €15bn over the next four decades.

The investment would drive the design and development of 15 electric vehicle models such as the Chinese market by 2025, the company said, announcing that it’s making the investment together with its three Chinese spouses, SAIC Motor, JAC Motors along with FAW Group.

China is the world’s biggest market for both electrical vehicles and passenger automobiles more generally, making it a keystone for any business seeking to direct the electrical transition. Last month, VW began dedicated electric vehicle production in two brand new Chinese factories using a production capacity of 600,000 units per year, as it gears up to take on Tesla at the battle to be the world’s biggest electric vehicle maker.

Electric ferries put sail in Thailand

Fully electric ferries will reach the waters of Bangkok before the end of this calendar year, transforming traveling across the city’s Chao Phraya River. 

Two electrical ferries are now undergoing testing and therefore are expected to achieve operatores prior to the end of 2020. A additional 25 vehicles are also in development, using a fleet of 27 catamarans anticipated to start sailing within a year. Each catamaran is 24-metres extended and capable of transporting up to 200 individuals. Drivetrain technology is being supplied with Danish company Danfoss, with engines providing a constant power output of 174-192kW.

The ferries are a part of the Thai government’s attempts to clean Bangkok’s atmosphere. The Thai funding is the most visited town on earth, receiving 23m traffic every year. But overcrowding, traffic, building, industrial emissions  and seasonal weather generate air quality that is regularly listed as Poor.

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