The environment in the news thursday, 20 October, 2016 unep and the Executive Director in the News
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- Back to Menu _________________________________________________________________ AFP: Ocean fish could disappear in 40 years: UN
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- Back to Menu _________________________________________________________________ Epoch Times (US):Commercial Fishing Under Threat, UN Report
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THE ENVIRONMENT IN THE NEWS UNEP and the Executive Director in the News
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UNEP and the Executive Director in the News Guardian (UK): Saving global fish stocks would cost 20 million jobs, says UN 17th May 2010 More than 20 million people employed in the fishing industry may need to be taken out of service and retrained for other work over the next 40 years if the final collapse of fish stocks in oceans around the globe is to be avoided, the UN warned today. The UN's environment branch, UNEP, gave a sneak preview of its green economy report that will be published in October. It said that if the world remained on its current path of over-fishing, by 2050 all fish stocks could have become uneconomic to exploit or actually extinct. Pavan Sukhdev, who heads UNEP's green economy initiative, said: "That is not as absurd as it sounds, as already 30% of the ocean fisheries have collapsed and are producing less than 10% of their original ability." At the heart of the UN's analysis is the $27bn of subsidies it estimates is being injected into fishing every year, mainly by developing countries. The UN says the subsidies are huge in terms of the scale of the industry – amounting to almost a third of the $85bn total value of fish caught. Among those subsidies, the UN defines just $8bn-worth as "good" in the sense of encouraging sustainable fishing of healthy stocks. Most of the subsidies are "bad", meaning they lead to overcapacity and exploitation, and about $3bn of the subsidies are "ugly", actively leading to the depletion of fish populations. Among the most egregious practices targeted by the report are inducements to increase the size of massive trawler fleets that are among the main culprits of overfishing, and fuel subsidies on fuel for fleets. "We are paying ourselves to destroy the very resource on which the whole fishing industry is dependant. We are in the process of eroding the natural capital that underpins our economies," said Achim Steiner, UNEP's director. At stake is not just the biodiversity of the oceans, but a substantial chunk of the global economy and the livelihoods that depend on it. The UN estimates there are about 35 million people directly employed in fishing, which translates to about 120 million including their households and 500 million – or about 8% of global population – taking into account indirect businesses such as packaging, freezing and transport. It is also a huge health issue, as fish provides the main source of animal protein for 1 billion of the world's poorest people. The paradox is that there is so much overfishing going on that the industry has become increasingly inefficient. The UN believes that by switching from large trawler fleets to more sustainable local or "artisanal" fishing, fish stocks will recover and the total size of catch will grow. It is proposing an investment of $8bn a year over the next 40 years to help fish stocks recover. That would involve taking up to 13 million of the 20 million boats now actively fishing out of service, and retraining up to 22 million fishers for other work. Subsidies would be redirected from trawler fleets and fuel towards setting up marine-protected areas or no-go zones where fish could spawn in safety. Studies have shown that an adult fish allowed double in size can produce up to 100 times more eggs. The green economy report is being prepared ahead of the Rio+20 summit, to be held in Brazil in 2012. The UN hopes that governments will come under mounting pressure over the next two years over the fish crisis. UNEP refuses to name and shame the worst offenders in overfishing, though it says its final report will contain tables and statistics that will "enable any reader to figure out where the problem is". The Spanish and Japanese governments and the EU, which have been singled out by environmentalists for criticism, have been sent draft chapters of the report, alongside other leading fishing nations. "We are getting the message out that this will not remain unnoticed," Sukhdev said. Back to Menu _________________________________________________________________ AFP: Ocean fish could disappear in 40 years: UN 17th May 2010 The world faces the nightmare possibility of fishless oceans by 2050 unless fishing fleets are slashed and stocks allowed to recover, UN experts warned. "If the various estimates we have received... come true, then we are in the situation where 40 years down the line we, effectively, are out of fish," Pavan Sukhdev, head of the UN Environment Program's green economy initiative, told journalists in New York. A Green Economy report due later this year by UNEP and outside experts argues this disaster can be avoided if subsidies to fishing fleets are slashed and fish are given protected zones -- ultimately resulting in a thriving industry. The report, which was opened to preview Monday, also assesses how surging global demand in other key areas including energy and fresh water can be met while preventing ecological destruction around the planet. UNEP director Achim Steiner said the world was "drawing down to the very capital" on which it relies. However, "our institutions, our governments are perfectly capable of changing course, as we have seen with the extraordinary uptake of interest. Around, I think it is almost 30 countries now have engaged with us directly, and there are many others revising the policies on the green economy," he said. Environmental experts are mindful of the failure this March to push through a worldwide ban on trade in bluefin tuna, one of the many species said to be headed for extinction. Powerful lobbying from Japan and other tuna-consuming countries defeated the proposal at the CITES conference on endangered species in Doha. But UNEP's warning Monday was that tuna only symbolizes a much vaster catastrophe, threatening economic, as well as environmental upheaval. One billion people, mostly from poorer countries, rely on fish as their main animal protein source, according to the UN. The Green Economy report estimates there are 35 million people fishing around the world on 20 million boats. About 170 million jobs depend directly or indirectly on the sector, bringing the total web of people financially linked to 520 million. According to the UN, 30 percent of fish stocks have already collapsed, meaning they yield less than 10 percent of their former potential, while virtually all fisheries risk running out of commercially viable catches by 2050. Currently only a quarter of fish stocks -- mostly the cheaper, less desirable species -- are considered to be in healthy numbers. The main scourge, the UNEP report says, are government subsidies encouraging ever bigger fishing fleets chasing ever fewer fish, with little attempt made to allow the fish populations to recover. The annual 27 billion dollars in government subsidies to fishing, mostly in rich countries, is "perverse," Sukhdev said, since the entire value of fish caught is only 85 billion dollars. As a result, fishing fleet capacity is "50 to 60 percent" higher than it should be, Sukhdev said. Creating marine preservation areas to allow female fish to grow to full size, thereby hugely increasing their fertility, is one vital solution, the report says. Another is restructuring the fishing fleets to favor smaller boats that -- once fish stocks recover -- would be able to land bigger catches. "What is scarce here is fish," Sukhdev said, "not the stock of fishing capacity." Back to Menu _________________________________________________________________ Canadian Press (Canada): UN warns of empty oceans, water shortages unless nations adopt green economies 17th May 2010 U.N. environment officials say nations must build "greener economies" or risk emptying oceans of fish and creating water shortages for two-fifths of the planet in coming decades. A new report previewed by United Nations environment chief Achim Steiner says virtually all commercial fisheries could collapse by 2050 unless the world scales back $27 billion a year in fishing subsidies down to $8 billion a year. It says water supplies could be 40 per cent less than what are needed by 2030 if no improvements are made in water use — one of 11 areas the U.N. targets for improvement. Scientists last year revised a 2006 study warning of a collapse in the world's seafood stocks by 2048, saying the news isn't quite as bad as predicted. Back to Menu _________________________________________________________________ Voxy (New Zealand): Turning The Tide On Falling Fish Stocks - UNEP-Led Green Economy Charts Sustainable Investment Path 18th May 2010 Investing around US$8 billion a year in rebuilding and greening the world's fisheries could raise catches to 112 million tonnes annually while triggering benefits to industry, consumers and the global economy totalling US$1.7 trillion over the next 40 years. These are among the findings of a new, landmark report being compiled by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and economists entitled the Green Economy-- part of which was previewed today in New York. The investment, some of which can be covered by phasing down or phasing out some of the US$27 billion-worth of fishing subsides currently in place, is needed to dramatically reduce the excess capacity of the world's fishing fleets while supporting workers in alternative livelihoods. Funding is also required to reform and re-focus fisheries management, including through policies such as tradable quotas and the establishment of Marine Protected Areas, in order to allow depleted stocks to recover and grow. Such measures, backed up by bold and forward-looking investments, would not only generate important economic and environmental returns. They would also assist in fighting poverty by securing a primary source of protein for close to one billion people. Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and UNEP Executive Director, said today: "Fisheries across the world are being plundered, or exploited at unsustainable rates. It is a failure of management of what will prove to be monumental proportions unless addressed." "The lives and livelihoods of over half a billion people, linked with the health of this industry, will depend on the tough but also transformational choices Governments make now and over the years to come," he added. "The Green Economy preview report presented today offers a way of maximizing the economic, social and environmental returns from rebuilding, reforming and sustaining fisheries for current and future generations. The scenarios recognize that millions of fishers will need support in retraining and that fishing fleets must shrink. But this needs to be set against a rise in catches, an overall climb in incomes for coastal communities and companies, improvements in the health of the marine environment and ultimately hundreds of millions of people whose incomes and livelihoods are linked to fishing," he added. The final Green Economy report, which will cover 11 sectors from agriculture and waste to cities and tourism, will be published in late 2010. Today's preview, launched during the meeting of the Preparatory Committee for the Rio+20 meeting in Brazil in 2012, covers marine fisheries, water and transport. FisheriesFacts and Figures * It is estimated that there are currently 35 million fishers and more than 20 million boats actively engaged in fishing. * Fisheries directly and indirectly support 170 million jobs and US$35 billion in incomes to fishing households annually. * If post-fishing activities are factored in, along with an assumption that one fisher has three dependents, then about 520 million people or eight per cent of the global population are supported by fisheries. Mismanagement, lack of enforcement and subsidies totalling over US$27 billion annually have left close to 30 per cent of fish stocks classed as "collapsed"in other words yielding less than 10 per cent of their former potential. * Only around 25 per cent of commercial stocksmostly of low-priced speciesare considered to be in a healthy or reasonably healthy state. * On current trends, some researchers estimate that virtually all commercial fisheries will have collapsed by 2050 unless urgent action is taken to bring far more intelligent management to fisheries north and south. The report estimates that of the US$27 billion-worth of subsidies, only around US$8 billion can be classed as 'good' with the rest classed as 'bad' and 'ugly' as they contribute to over-exploitation of stocks. FisheriesA Green Economy Strategy Under a Green Economy response, aimed at reducing the global fishing effort to a 'maximum sustainable yield', an estimated reduction of excess capacity is required, because current capacity is 1.8 to 2.8 times what is needed. These reductions could be achieved through careful targeting of the most ecologically damaging surplus capacity, so that of the estimated 20 million vessels and 35 million fishers deployed in this sector, the livelihoods of those that are artisanal and poor are treated equitably. The report estimates that an investment of between US$220 to US$320 billion world-wide is required and equal to around US$8 billion a year but that this investment would:- * Raise total income of fishing households, including those engaged in artisanal fishing, from US$35 billion to around US$44 billion a year; * Increase annual profits for fishing enterprises from US$8 billion to US$11 billion annually; * Increase the marine fisheries catch from about 80 million tonnes to 112 million tonnes a year worth US$119 billion annually versus the current US$85 billion. "Discounting this flow of benefit over time at three per cent and five per cent real discount rates, gives a present value of benefit from greening the fishing sector of US$1.05 trillion and US$1.76 trillion, which is three to five times the high-end estimate of US$320 billion as the cost of greening global fisheries," says the preview report. WaterFacts and Figures 'Global water stocks are in decline and demands on them are growing. Water scarcity is becoming a global phenomenon that will challenge the security of nations. Addressing this gap provides an opportunity for investments and for water to become a major economic sector in a Green Economy," says the preview report. Water supply is expected to be 40 per cent less than what will be needed in terms of demand by 2030 if there are no improvements in the efficiency of water use. It argues that attaining the Millennium Development Goals as they relate to water and sanitation would lead to global economic gains of nearly US$750 million a year as a result of less working days lost to illness among adults. Improved access to water and sanitation would also lead to global gains of US$64 billion linked to less time spent accessing such services. Investments are needed in not only increasing supply through low cost measures such as rainwater harvesting but also through reforms of the sector and investments in ecological infrastructure including forests and wetlands that perform important hydrological functions. * The report cites an innovative policy and 'micro-infrastructure' development in Western Jakarta, Indonesia. Here, a private utility called Palyja is providing water to informal homes via community-based organizations with water connection support from the NGO MercyCorps and USAID's Environmental Service Programme. The community signs a supply contract with the water company which in turn supplies water to multiple households via a single community metre at discount prices. "The community gets reliable access to an affordable water supply, while Palyja supplies a large number of houses with water at much lower overhead and administrative costs," says the Green Economy preview report. Green EconomyTransport The environmental, social and economic impacts of transport can amount to around 10 per cent of a country's GDP, according to the preview report. * Transport currently consumes more than half of global liquid fossil fuels; * Transport emits nearly a quarter of the world's energy related CO2 and generates more than 80 per cent of developing country cities' local air pollutants; * More than 127 million fatal traffic accidents, mainly in developing countries, are linked with transport; * Chronic congestion is resulting in time and productivity losses. Unless urgent action is taken to seize a different development and investment path, these costs will grow as the global vehicle fleet climbs from around 800 million to between two and three billion by 2050. The report cites multiple choices countries and cities can make, including investment in public and non-motorized transport; alternative fuels and a substitution of physical transportation with telecommunications technology. The Green Economy report says the stimulus packages, triggered by the financial crisis of 2008-2009, have begun a shift towards green transport. Transport is one of the major recipients of this extra spending amounting to roughly 12 per cent of the just under US$3.2 trillion spent by all surveyed Governments. Of this, rail and public transport represent 45 per cent; low carbon vehicles, five per cent; roads 33 per cent and airports, 14 per centin other words 50 per cent of the global transport stimulus spending could be termed 'green'. "Funding for non-motorized transport such as sidewalks and bicycles is explicitly mentioned in the stimulus packages of the Republic of Korea and Norway," says the preview report. Back to Menu _________________________________________________________________ Epoch Times (US):Commercial Fishing Under Threat, UN Report 17th May 2010 Commercial fishing activities could end by 2050 without action, said a Green Economy preview report published Monday by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). "Fisheries across the world are being plundered, or exploited at unsustainable rates,” Achim Steiner, UNEP executive director, said in a press release. The UNEP reports 30 percent of fish stocks are at less than 10 percent of former potential. At this rate the fishing sector would disappear in 40 years, the report said. Current government subsidies increase fishing fleets to a 50 to 60 percent overcapacity, leaving no room for fish to recover. The report notes that investing US$8 billion a year could help the sector recover. Marine preservation areas allowing female fish to grow to full size is necessary, along with restructuring the fleet to emphasize smaller boats. Over half a billion people depend on the fishing industry. "We believe solutions are on hand, but we believe political will and clear economics are required," Pavan Sukhdev, head of the Green Economy initiative, told reporters. The U.N.’s final report will cover 11 sectors from agriculture to tourism providing the clear economics to eventually test the political will at the Rio+20 meeting in Brazil 2012. Back to Menu _________________________________________________________________ Metro News (Canada):UN warns of empty oceans, water shortages unless nations adopt green economies 17th May 2010 U.N. environment officials say nations must build "greener economies" or risk emptying oceans of fish and creating water shortages for two-fifths of the planet in coming decades. A new report previewed by United Nations environment chief Achim Steiner says virtually all commercial fisheries could collapse by 2050 unless the world scales back $27 billion a year in fishing subsidies down to $8 billion a year. It says water supplies could be 40 per cent less than what are needed by 2030 if no improvements are made in water use — one of 11 areas the U.N. targets for improvement. Scientists last year revised a 2006 study warning of a collapse in the world's seafood stocks by 2048, saying the news isn't quite as bad as predicted. Back to Menu _________________________________________________________________ International Rivers (Blog): Can We Save the Sturgeon – and the Planet? 17th May 2010 Sturgeons can live for up to 100 years, and grow to 5 meters in length. The majestic fish have been around for 250 million years, and are one of the oldest inhabitants of our rivers and lakes. Because sturgeons migrate, dams cut them off from much of their spawning grounds. After they have adapted to dramatic upheavals through the ages, sturgeons are now driven to extinction by a few decades of human intervention. The Chinese Paddlefish has for example most likely been extinct by dam building in the last few years. Overall, sturgeons are the most threatened group of animals on IUCN’s Red List of Threatened Species. Eighty-five percent of them are at risk of extinction, with 63 percent of species listed as critically endangered. The new Global Biodiversity Outlook, an in-depth review of the planet’s biodiversity, shows that sturgeons stand for a global trend. We continue to lose biodiversity at a rate which is up to 1000 times higher than historical rates. “Natural systems that support economies, lives and livelihoods across the planet are at risk of rapid degradation and collapse,” the new report finds. According to the IUCN’s Red List, 17,291 out of the 47,677 assessed species are threatened with extinction. Seventy percent of plants, 37 percent of freshwater fishes, 30 percent of all known amphibians, 28 percent of reptiles, 21 percent of all known mammals, and 12 percent of all known birds are under threat. The five principle pressures driving the loss of biodiversity are habitat change (for example through dam building), overexploitation (through over-fishing), pollution (such as pesticide run-off), invasive alien species and climate change. The report warns that if these factors are not addressed immediately, ecosystems will reach “tipping points” with massive, irreversible loss of biodiversity and their related services to human society. “The arrogance of humanity is that somehow we imagine that we can get by without biodiversity,” says Achim Steiner, the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Yet biodiversity is the foundation of our agriculture, our health, our safety and our economy. Losses due to deforestation alone may already amount to $4.5 trillion per year. Rivers and lakes are close to my heart. The new report finds that “rivers and their floodplains, lakes and wetlands have undergone more dramatic changes than any other type of ecosystem, due to a combination of human activities.” The reasons include pollution, drainage of wetlands and water abstraction for agriculture and industrial development, and dam construction. Two thirds of the world’s large river systems have become fragmented by reservoirs and dams. The new biodiversity report warns: “A single freshwater ecosystem can often provide multiple benefits such as purification of water, protection from natural disasters, food and materials for local livelihoods and income from tourism. (…) More than 40% of the global river discharge is now intercepted by large dams and one-third of sediment destined for the coastal zones no longer arrives. These large-scale disruptions have had a major impact on fish migration, freshwater biodiversity more generally and the services it provides. They also have a significant influence on biodiversity in terrestrial, coastal and marine ecosystems.” The Global Biodiversity Outlook was prepared by the Convention on Biological Diversity and UNEP, as one of the milestones of the International Year of Biodiversity. The report includes a strategic plan, which will be discussed by the UN General Assembly in September and the annual meeting of the Biodiversity Convention in October 2010. The plan proposes measures such as expanding and strengthening protected areas, preventing pollution, restoring ecosystems, and improving the efficiency in the use of land, energy, freshwater and materials. The new report argues that for a fraction of the money mobilized immediately by governments to avoid an economic meltdown, we can avoid a much more serious and fundamental breakdown in the Earth’s life support system. Will governments muster the political will to take the necessary actions? We owe it to the majestic sturgeon – and quite possibly to ourselves. Back to Menu _________________________________________________________________ Just Means (Blog):Clean tech depends on recycling performance, says UN 17th May 2010 A recent UN Environment Programme release looks to specialty metals recycling as the key to a performance boom in the clean tech sector. Maybe full cycle manufacturing and refining is the key to getting more performance out of our specialty metals. According to UNEP, "Moving the global economy towards environmentally-friendly, clean technologies will increasingly hinge on rapid improvements in the recycling rates of so called "high-tech" specialty metals like lithium, neodymium and gallium. Such metals, needed to make key components for wind turbines and photovoltaics to the battery packs of hybrid cars, fuel cells and energy efficient lighting systems, exist in nature in relatively small supplies or in discreet geographical locations. Yet despite concern among the clean tech industry over scarcity and high prices, only around one per cent of these crucial high-tech metals are recycled, with the rest discarded and thrown away at the end of a product's life. Unless future end-of-life recycling rates are dramatically stepped up these critical, specialty and rare earth metals could become "essentially unavailable for use in modern technology", warn experts. These are among the preliminary findings of a new report entitled Metals Recycling Rates to be issued by the International Panel for Sustainable Resource Management hosted by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). " UNEP also takes a look at precious metals like Palladium. Palladium, used in auto-exhaust catalyst, petroleum refining and other industrial catalysts, dentistry and jewelry has recycling rates up to 90% in some industrial applications, approximately 55% in auto catalyst and less than 10% in electronics applications. What can we learn from Palladium that will help improve performance on recycling rates in specialty metals? First, vertical integration is a plus. Take petroleum catalyst. One company (say BASF) will sell the catalyst to the company operating the petroleum refinery (say Exxon), accept spent catalyst back for refining in its own metals refineries and credit the amount of Palladium recovered from the spent catalyst back to Exxon. Exxon gets full cycle service, doesn't need to repeatedly sell and repurchase platinum at gyrating market prices. Recycling is incentivized and made easy. Not every battery company will want to go into the lithium recovery business, but contractual "partnerships" can be used to achieve some of the same benefits. Now consider auto catalyst. Vertical integration still applies, BASF will supply Ford with both catalyst and refining, but recycling rates are only 50-55%. Why? Partly because the retail customer enters the picture. Exxon's catalyst never leaves its refinery, but Ford's catalytic convertors are going out the showroom door with the cars and some never make it back to the refinery, despite extensive collection networks. 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