The Environmental Digest is a short daily newsletter that delivers the hottest climate change news directly to your inbox.
As much as I love reporting on current issues in the United States, sometimes it is fun to venture out and see what’s happening “across the pond.”
Politics & Environment
Nairobi hosted Africa’s first Climate Summit
Notable Quote
"We must see in green growth, not just a climate imperative but also a fountain of multi-billion dollar economic opportunities that Africa and the world is primed to capitalize," Kenyan President William Ruto told delegates at the grand opening of the continent’s first climate summit on Monday.
What is it for?
African leaders are pushing for the investment into carbon credits, market-based financing instruments, that could help offset emissions coming from projects in developing countries.
Carbon credits can then be bought by companies to offset emissions they are unable to cut from their own operations to help meet climate targets. One credit is equivalent to saving or avoiding one ton of carbon dioxide.
Organizers of the three-day summit in Nairobi say they aim to showcase that Africa as a destination for climate investment rather than a victim of floods, drought and famine per Reuters.
A win for the books
So far, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) committed to buying $450 million of carbon credits from the Africa Carbon Markets Initiative (ACMI), which was launched at Egypt’s COP27 summit last year.
Climate Crisis
Severe storms trigger flooding in Greece, Turkey, and Bulgaria
Overflowing rivers caused severe damage to roads and bridges. The area also suffered power blackouts, and authorities warned residents not to drink tap water due to contamination from floodwaters, per Guardian.
How bad is it?
Greece’s weather service said a Pelion region village received 75.4cm (nearly 30 inches) of rain late on Tuesday – by far the highest level recorded since at least 2006. It noted that the average annual rainfall in the Athens region is about 40cm.
In Istanbul, Turkey’s largest city, heavy rain flooded streets and homes in two neighborhoods, leaving at least two dead. About a dozen people were rescued after being stranded inside a library, while some subway stations were shut down. Davut Gül, the governor of Istanbul, urged motorcyclists to stay home.
In Greece, police banned traffic in the central town of Volos, the nearby mountain region of Pelion and the resort island of Skiathos as record rainfall caused at least one death, with thigh-high torrents sweeping cars away.
The storm comes on the heels of major summer wildfires that hit Greece over the past few weeks, with some burning for more than two weeks and destroying vast tracts of forest and farmland. More than 20 people were killed in the fires.
Environment and Science
Invasive species are taking over the plant life around the world
What is it about?
A scientific report published by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services for the United Nations on Monday. on global invasive species It assessed that the costs accrued and caused by invasive species has cost the global economy billions of dollars, per NYT.
Over the last few centuries, humans have intentionally and unintentionally introduced more than 37,000 species to places outside their habitats. A good amount of them are considered invasive to their new ecosystem.
The losses accrue by harming nature, damaging food systems and threatening human health. They have at least quadrupled every decade since 1970, based on 2019 data. Researchers warn that the cost figures were conservative estimates because of it was hard to account for everything.
They also played an important factor in 60% of recorded extinctions of plants and animals, according to the report, produced by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services for the United States.
The report is the most comprehensive study into how invasive nonnative species are driving biodiversity loss. It was compiled by 86 experts from 49 countries, drawing on thousands of scientific studies and contributions from Indigenous people and local communities.
Environment and Water
Global warming could push India towards a groundwater crisis
The warming climate and demand for water could drive India to use up its groundwater much more rapidly in the coming decades, according to projections published Friday in the journal Science Advances.
India already pumps up more underground water than any other country, largely to irrigate staple crops like wheat, rice, and maize. However, hotter temperatures are drying out fields and leaving less moisture for the soil, not even talking about replenishing aquifers below.
Unless major preventative steps are taken to promote water efficiency, underground supplies could shrink between 2041 and 2080 at three times the present rate, the new estimates suggest.
This can potentially have big consequences since farmers in India depend on groundwater. The greater evaporation and higher temperatures, increased rainfall during the summer monsoon season and decreased rain in winter.
Climate Tidbits
Congo raised $70 million in international funds this year to build solar powered microgrids in Congo.
Great Read from Guardian. How to use less water: 15 essential tips – from beef burgers to megabutts to cutting back on clothes.
Oil steadied near the highest since November. Its recent gains pose a headwind for much of Asia and put upward pressure on inflation, which in turn keeps policy interest rates high and drags on economic growth per Bloomberg.
Thank you for your support! Find us in your inbox tomorrow!