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Debate over banning short-distance flights takes off, but the cons outweigh the pros
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Swedish schoolgirl activist Greta Thunberg would already have been worn out when she arrived, after two weeks on a solar-powered yacht crossing the freezing north Atlantic and then a 10-hour journey by train from Lisbon to Madrid – and now, she says, she is 'tired' and 'needs a rest'.
The 16-year-old who started the Fridays For Future movement over a year ago as a one-girl protest outside Stockholm's national Parliament has done wonders for raising awareness of climate change worldwide, both among her supporters and dissenters – for many, this global phenomenon was about something happening in rainforests and polar regions thousands of kilometres away and which would not be noticed in most adults' lifetimes or, indeed, until their children were very elderly. But Greta's passionate campaigning and demonstration-leading has led to millions of members of the public googling 'climate change' out of curiosity – and being left stunned by what they found.
In the 12 solid days the COP25 Summit has been running in Madrid, leaving country representatives and young adult activists exhausted, solutions have been proposed and rejected, issues raised, unfairness aired, determination to make changes voiced and, in some cases, will become like a New Year's resolution – full of passionate in the moment, but forgotten before the month is out.
Spain, the host country – thanks to president Pedro Sánchez's offer after Chile was forced to pull out due to cost-of-living protests in Santiago – is one of Europe's most dedicated and concerned nations on the climate change issue, although also, one of its most realistic.
We take a look at some of the latest news, views and reviews that have come out of Madrid's COP25.
Sustainable tourism? Blowed if I know...
A straw poll by the Spanish Federation of Large Families (FEFN) shows a whopping 90% of Spaniards have no idea what 'sustainable tourism' actually means – so they cannot be sure whether they are taking part in it when they go on holiday.
And in reality, few of us, of any country or nationality, have much of a clue.
Despite this, the UN's Sustainable Development Objectives (SDOs) state that 'sustainable tourism' is now no longer simply a 'green option' for the 'planet-conscious' – it's an absolute necessity.
Greta boycotted air travel years ago and challenged her parents to do likewise – meaning her mum, a successful Swedish opera singer, ended up giving up her career – but tourism, as most would agree, should be encouraged: some regions or entire countries live off it, many countries which cannot do so because of political instability, public health or conflict, would be much wealthier if they could, and humans arguably learn more and open their minds when they see how communities other than their own live.
But with 700 million people on earth – 10% of the planet's population – travelling every year, often to more and more remote places, and a figure that has multiplied by 28 in the last 50 years, their impact on local culture and the environment is likely to be huge. 'Sustainable tourism' aims at reducing this impact as much as possible.
Every tourist Spain welcomes generates 25 kilos of carbon dioxide and 1.5 kilos of rubbish, 300 litres of waste water, and consumes two kilos of food, 300 litres of water and 11 litres of fuel.
Hotels and restaurants recycling everything they can, foodstuffs being from sources as local as possible and portions served being 'just enough' to prevent waste, organised tours using 'green' transport methods, public transport being readily available in tourism hotspots and urban areas made safe for walking around in, are just a handful of 'micro-sustainable' actions holiday hotspots can take.
For decades now, tourism's environmental impact has been a hot topic in Spain, especially in terms of protecting its nature reserves, National Parks, beaches and historic monuments – and in almost every hotel in the world you enter now, you'll find a sign in the bathroom urging you to reuse towels as often as you can to save water.
Corporations – enemies or allies, depending upon company policy
As far back as the 1980s, companies were being called out publicly for wasting paper and children in schools were learning about recycling and writing letters to councils calling for paper banks to be set up in their towns, and being encouraged to boycott aerosols with CFC ozone-destroying gases. Corporate social responsibility (CSR), at least in environmental terms, is not a new concept.
But firms large and small are being thrust into the spotlight now that scientists have proven climate change is happening and documenting its known impact.
Large companies, especially those in manufacturing, energy, distribution, and other industrial sectors, are, after transport (cars, in particular), the biggest pollution culprits and it is these which tycoon Michael Bloomberg and Greta herself have demanded responses and action from.
Spain's biggest corporations have been taking centre stage at the COP25 in Madrid and explaining their plans to improve their impact on the planet.
Electricity board Iberdrola's chairman Ignacio Sánchez Galán said his company is aiming for 'practically nil emissions' by the year 2030 and total carbon neutrality by 2050.
It has already achieved carbon neutrality in many countries it operates in, including Germany, the UK and Portugal.
And its annual investments in renewable energy, efficient storage and smart networks to maximise the energy produced has grown to around €10 billion a year.
Utility board Endesa made similar pledges.
Spain is in an ideal position to be able to, eventually or mostly at least, ditch fossil fuel, given that most of the country, irrespective of actual temperature, enjoys around 300 days of sunshine a year, and its mountainous terrain and thousands of kilometres of coast mean some very windy altitudes and shorelines, in winter at least – solar and wind energy are pouring down from the skies year-round and waiting to be exploited.
Energy giant Atlántica Yield's CEO Santiago Seage says that to achieve the aim of almost 100% of electricity being produced through renewable sources, it is crucial to focus investment, not just in these sources alone, but in better storage and transmission systems. After all, wind and sun energy are little help if they cannot be stockpiled and are wasted, or the grid network is not wide enough to extend this form of energy to as many consumers as possible.
Main high-street banks also spoke out at the summit. Spain's most international personal finance entity, Banco Santander, wants to see a 'universal flat price' for CO2 emissions units so that 'the same rules are in place for everyone', according to its chairwoman Ana Botín.
Bankia, Santander and others agreed to reduce their carbon footprint through their credit portfolios and investments, and a deal to this effect was struck by the Spanish Banking Association (AEB), the Spanish Building Societies' Confederation (CECA), and the Official Credit Institute (ICO).
Technology firms such as Indra and Telefónica advocated 'correct use' of new technological advances, saying these could become a 'key asset' in the fight against climate change if 'focused properly'.
Insurance companies, such as MAPFRE, said they would encourage sustainable practices amongst their policyholders – which could relate to correct waste disposal and recycling, for example, or energy-efficient cars and buildings, attracting discounted premiums.
Third world bites back
Sadly, some of the countries responsible for the greatest air pollution turned out to be the ones least willing to take action to cut emissions and help curb climate change – those with a huge fossil fuel industry, and those led by climate change deniers.
The USA, China, India and Russia were among those countries which had not presented plans for cutting carbon emisions – and who, together, are responsible for 55% of the world's greenhouse gases – and only 84 countries were willing to do so, among them Spain, the UK, Germany and France.
This is what has largely led to the Summit's being extended for another two days in order to reach a firm, blanket agreement on strategy – and what has led to uproar from representatives of the world's least-developed countries (LDCs).
Most of these did not send their own delegate since the cost of the air ticket alone would have been prohibitive, meaning the Summit was missing the voices of those most affected by climate change.
The LDCs collectively sent representatives, pooling their resources, and group chairman Sonam P. Wangdi said they were all 'extremely disappointed' with the lack of cooperation by many large countries and corporations in the fuel industry.
“Our people are already suffering the impact of climate change. Our communities worldwide are being ravaged,” Wangdi stormed.
“Global emissions need to be drastically and urgently reduced to limit the worst of the impact, and financial support needs to be extended so our countries can better tackle climate change and its effects.”
Emissions, as well as causing deadly air pollution where they happen, trap heat within the earth's atmosphere and increase its average temperature.
This means hotter weather becomes hotter – leading to drought and crop failure in countries closest to the equator – poles melting, leading to rising sea levels and greater salt content in the soil, which prevents many vital crops from flourishing, those in third world countries having to walk further to seek out water sources every day, livestock dying through lack of food and water, and eventually, given that third world countries are more likely to rely 100% on what they grow to sell for their income or to feed their families, climate change is already making life harder.
Rising sea levels and melting poles mean more water in the atmosphere which turns into clouds and leads to more heavy storms, and rising air temperature clashing with polar air causes turbulence which leads to natural disasters.
Also, the clash of warm air with polar air causes the latter to disperse to regions closer to the equator, leading to extreme and often deadly cold snaps, winter weather in meteorological summers, snowdrifts, and deaths in countries where housing is basic and not conducive to keeping the cold out.
Going round in circles
The COP25 has clearly shown how creating a circular economy could be the greatest engine for real change.
This is already happening on a micro-level, especially in Spain where fishermen are paid to 'catch' plastic waste in the sea, which is then 'bought' and turned back into the everyday plastics we would still struggle to do without, and even into household decorative items and clothing.
Some industries are now seeking to recycle and purify their waste water for reuse, and a project set to go live next year in the Costa Blanca area involves collecting up Mediterranean Tapeweed, or Posidonia Oceanica, which is washed up in heaps on beaches, and turning into compostable packaging.
The Anglo-Dutch giant Unilever says its brands based upon sustainability and circular economy grew 46% in the last year independently of the rest of the business, and contributed 70% to the company's global growth.
One of its strategies has involved reducing the weight of its plastic packaging by 15% and its plastic waste by 30%.
AquaService, a market leader in mineral water distribution with over 300,000 corporate and household clients who supply 1.5 million people with drinking water a day, provides a door-to-door collections service for its plastic water-cooler containers, meaning none of these ends up in landfill; they are all cleaned, refilled and redistributed and, once their life-cycle ends, 100% of the material can be recycled.
This reduces the need for manufacturing and using up to 200 million 1.5-litre plastic bottles a year, cutting annual plastic waste by 60 tonnes.
Low-emission and ultra-sensitive methods are used for extracting water from natural springs and aquifers, or underground water pockets, and 'high-efficiency delivery routes' are used, enabling AquaService to cut distances by 40% in the last three years.
It recycled 113,011 kilos of plastic in 2019 alone and generated 90,200 kW/h (kilowatts per hour) thanks to its use of solar panels for electricity.
What was agreed in the end
The initial strategy drawn up by Friday was considered insufficiently ambitious, and has since become more demanding, requiring greater commitments from countries and companies in line with the Paris Agreement on emissions reductions.
The COP25 recognised that climate change prevention policies needed to be updated constantly based upon scientific research, that the fight against global warming requires commitment from all types of industries right down to financial services and science, but also and mainly from the transport, forestry, agriculture, energy and manufacturing sectors.
One of the biggest stumbling blocks was the clause on seas and use of land in the context of global climate – Brazil's far-right leader Jair Bolsonaro, who has been accused of destroying huge swathes of the Amazon and displacing indigenous communities, was reluctant to put his signature to the document, but eventually agreed for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) scientists' reports published this year to be debated in a Climate Convention next June focusing on land use and oceans.
It was agreed that women's participation in international climate-linked negotiation would be encouraged and that steps would be taken to tackle the fact that women and girls are the most likely to be affected by global warming – as an example, families in third world countries made poorer by crop failure are more likely to marry off their daughters at increasingly younger ages to save money, and as girls tend to be the ones to fetch water every day, extra time employed in walking to sources and back means less time they can spend in school, and being out in the rural vastness alone for longer means they are more vulnerable to attacks.
A 'climate fund' has been established to finance repair and recovery and adaptation to global warming – such as rebuilding island nations in particular devastated by hurricanes, floods and tsunamis, creating clean water supplies, and distributing seeds for crops which tolerate salty soil, among other moves.
The value of international cooperation was acknowledged, as well as the need for fairness in tackling the climate crisis and making it as people-centred as possible, and recognising the vital rôle of non-government entities in this international quest.
But regulation of fuel markets caused so much controversy that it threatened to scupper the entire Summit and all it had hoped to achieve – in fact, in the end, this issue was never resolved and had to be given a separate slot on the agenda to return to at a later date.
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