Abstract
In this brochure, we present the winning policies of our Future Policy Award 2017. In partnership with the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), this year’s award celebrates laws and policies that successfully tackle land degradation, and contribute to the protection of life and livelihoods in the drylands.
In this brochure, we present the winning policies of our Future Policy Award 2017. In partnership with the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), this year’s award celebrates laws and policies that successfully tackle land degradation, and contribute to the protection of life and livelihoods in the drylands.
Policies score highly in the Future Policy Award evaluation not only by advancing the sustainable use of resources but also by addressing equity, the eradication of poverty, community participation, and the peaceful resolution of conflicts.
We seek to inspire lawmakers worldwide with these exemplary, award-winning policies, and hope to see their key elements being spread and implemented in the months and years ahead.
Press release – for immediate release
An estimated 90 percent of sub-Saharan Africa’s population depend on firewood and charcoal for cooking. Greening the charcoal value chain can potentially allow nations to meet their energy commitments for cooking and heating in a sustainable manner while smoothing the way for a gradual transition to ‘modern’ cooking technology. We must begin to talk about charcoal, not as a fuel on it’s way out, but rather as a fuel with the potential to transform lives today while protecting our forests.
An estimated 90 percent of sub-Saharan Africa’s population depend on firewood and charcoal for cooking. Greening the charcoal value chain can potentially allow nations to meet their energy commitments for cooking and heating in a sustainable manner while smoothing the way for a gradual transition to ‘modern’ cooking technology. We must begin to talk about charcoal, not as a fuel on its way out, but rather as a fuel with the potential to transform lives today while protecting our forests.
This publication features success stories that were presented at the regional forum in Cebu in May 2014, where over 100 practitioners and policy-makers from 17 countries in the Asia-Pacific region gathered to exchange experiences and share knowledge in marine and coastal management and governance.
In addition to measures for enriching farmland and pastures with ‘conventional’ organic matter, a potentially important additional option is available in the form of ‘Biochar’. Biochar can be produced by pyrolysis (low-oxygen combustion) of organic materials – forest thinnings, sawdust, agricultural wastes, urban organic wastes or sewage solids – and the resulting charcoal-like substance can be incorporated into farmland as a long term carbon storage option. These are ways of producing ‘sustainable biochar’ as opposed to its production from monoculture tree plantations, which is rightly vigorously opposed by an international coalition of environmental groups.
Use of charcoal as a soil conditioner has ancient origins, and is best documented with reference to the ‘terra preta’ soils found in parts of the Amazon. Much evidence now exists that charcoal was mixed by Amazonian Indian cultivators with food- and human wastes to enrich poor and acidic soils. The predecessors of today’s Amazonian Indians left behind ‘terra preta’ soils rich in organic matter in some 10 per cent of the Amazon territory. Research has shown that charcoal incorporated in this way can last in the soil for hundreds to even thousands of years.
Biochar is a more stable nutrient source than compost and manure. The porous quality of the biochar particles can improve soil structure, and harbours a vast variety and quantity of micro-organisms and associated plant nutrients, enhancing fertility and life in the soil, and also helping it to retain moisture – which is very important in an age of climate change.
By ‘pyrolysing’ one tonne of organic material which contains half a tonne of carbon, about half a tonne of CO2 can be removed from the atmosphere and stored in the soil whilst the other half can be used as a carbon-neutral fuel (this equals a quarter of the CO2 absorbed by the plant during its growth). Biochar has the potential to lock the mineral carbon it contains safely away in the soil for centuries. Professor Johannes Lehmann of Cornell University and others have calculated that biochar applications to soil could remove several billion tonnes of carbon from the atmosphere per year.
Bio-char can be produced from many different organic materials, including sewage and urban biomass. At the sewage works in Bingen, Germany, semi-dried sewage sludge is pyrolysed and turned into black granules: the sewage is turned into charcoal. This can then be buried in farm soil and the carbon it contains can thus be prevented from entering the atmosphere. There is no doubt that the billions of tonnes of sewage and green wastes that accumulate in cities every year, if turned into biochar and buried, could greatly benefit the world’s soils soil as well as the atmosphere.
Incorporation of sustainably produced bio-char could be used to reward farmers as carbon stewards, enabling them to enhance their yields whilst also increasing our ability to deal with climate change.
Carbon Labelling is supported in the framework of the Intelligent Energy Europe programme
It has been shown that the carbon footprint of food products (‘foodprint’) can vary substantially. Depending on its production method (organic versus chemical), its content (meat versus vegetarian or vegan), transport routes (air freight, sea freight or local), processing method (fresh versus deep-frozen) and disposal of residues (use as organic fertilizer versus waste), each food item is responsible for a certain amount of GHG emissions during its life-cycle.
Making this information available to the consumer increases transparency in the food market, raises awareness of the consumer, creates incentives for the industry to lower its carbon footprint, and rewards climate friendly products. Consumers should know whether the organic kiwi from New Zealand or the home grown chemically fertilized apple does more harm to the climate. In general, environmental labelling has been a success story since the 1980s. Labels, such as the Energy Star, energy efficiency ratings or the Nordic Swan label have changed the behaviour of consumers and manufacturers. An Eurobarometer survey showed that for an overwhelming majority of Europeans (83 percent) the impact of a product on the environment plays an important aspect in their purchasing decisions.
An evaluation of the specific circumstances of the political and regulatory environment will determine the best choice in each case. Whereas a mandatory label ensures a broad participation, voluntary schemes might have a better acceptance in the industry. A food label should be based on total lifecycle emissions, as opposed to considering only the use-phase. Possible are both, comparative labels which provide consumers with product information through use of a specific number (e. g. ‘1 kg CO2’) or rating (e. g. A–F or 1–5 stars), or endorsement labels which prove that the product meets certain criteria (e. g. below average carbon footprint).
Implementing new labelling schemes necessitates conformity assessment procedures involving testing, inspection, certification, accreditation and metrology. These processes are essential for the effective implementation and acceptance of the scheme.
The EU Commission has taken a first look at this issue but, not surprisingly, has received opposition from the food industry. However, the example of the UK Carbon Label and the Swedish climate labelling initiative show that the concept can be implemented and, with the assistance of governments and industry, can be established on a larger scale.
In Sweden, the two major certification bodies, KRAV and Swedish Seal, have developed a climate label for food. As the project has been joined by several major food and agriculture companies, the Swedish climate labelling initiative has become the first comprehensive and country wide policy of its kind in Europe.
The climate label covers the food chain from farming to the sale of the produce. So far, criteria for meat, fish, milk, greenhouse vegetables and agricultural crops have been set. Food produced and distributed with at least 25 percent less GHG than comparable products can be labelled with a respective note. In this way the label focuses on the climate friendliest products within a group, but does not help the consumer to choose between meat and beans.
The climate label is accompanied by an information and education campaign, which resulted in recommendations for climate compatible nourishment. In addition, the initiative works with the industry to implement measures to reduce the GHG emissions of food production.
According to press reports (Spiegel-online of 7th Nov. 2009) the climate label increased the sale of Max burgers by 20 percent. Experts are cited to expect a 50 percent reduction of GHG emissions in the Swedish food industry, if the population would switch to climate friendly alimentation. The labelling initiative maintains that 60 percent of consumers would like to see a climate label on products.
Anna Richert, climate expert of the label initiative, says: “The strength of the label is that reductions in climate impact have been made wherever possible. The producer participates in making the food chain more sustainable.”
Click here to access Klimatmärkning homepage.
Biodiversity is essential to the functioning of the ecosystems that provide us all with health, wealth, food, water and other vital services that our lives depend on. However, due to habitat destruction, pollution and climate change, we are facing a severe biodiversity crisis and witnessing the loss of biodiversity at an unprecedented rate. The international community has agreed upon ambitious biodiversity targets (the Aichi Targets) under the Convention on Biological Diversity. National governments are urged to take strong action to safeguard the highest standards for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.
Comprehensive biodiversity legislation at the national level are indispensable to reaching global biodiversity targets. This study presents and compares comprehensive biodiversity laws from eight countries. It aims to serve as inspiration and guidance for legislators around the globe to advance biodiversity legislation within their own political processes. GLOBE’s international network of legislators is a meaningful tool in sharing this knowledge and information.
This study consists of an extensive evaluation of marine and coastal policies worldwide. The aim of this publication is to present already existing, sustainable solutions to decision makers and other experts. It provides them with helpful tools to inspire them to draft and implement policies and laws that protect and sustain oceans and coasts for current and future generations.
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