Bret Csencsitz’s Post

Last year, REDD+ was at the forefront of environmental discussions, raising questions and sparking debate. Originating from the Coalition for Rainforest Nations (CfRN) in 2005, REDD+ aimed to bolster national efforts towards mitigating tropical deforestation under the UNFCCC, aligning with Article 5.2 of the Paris Agreement. Despite its critical role, REDD+ has been caught in a whirlwind of controversy, particularly within the voluntary carbon markets (VCM). Reports by reputable sources like The Guardian, Science Journal, and Bloomberg have highlighted issues of environmental integrity and financial irregularities within the VCM. It's crucial to note that these voluntary forestry carbon projects, though they use the name "REDD+," lack any methodological or legal ties to the Paris Agreement's REDD+ framework and the UNFCCC. These projects, often private sector initiatives, cover only small areas of rainforest, leading to questions about their actual impact. Furthermore, they frequently operate without the necessary oversight and approval from the host governments of rainforest nations, diverging significantly from the structured and accountable approach of the UNFCCC REDD+ framework. As discussions around environmental integrity and carbon market reform continue, it's essential to distinguish between the pioneering work of CfRN and the unrelated practices within the voluntary carbon markets. Our commitment remains unwavering: to support rainforest nations in their efforts to slow, stop, and reverse deforestation, driving meaningful environmental progress under the robust framework of UNFCCC REDD+.

🌱 The Greens Xmas Plea to Albo — End Logging to Save Nature Laws ⏰ With just 14 days left for negotiations, the Australian Government faces a pivotal moment regarding the Nature Positive Act, a critical piece of environmental legislation to protect the country's native forests and biodiversity. 🔎 Key Highlights: 1️⃣ Urgent Negotiations: The Greens have given Prime Minister Anthony Albanese a deadline to renegotiate the Nature Positive Act in exchange for stronger protections against logging and deforestation. This legislation represents a significant shift in Australia's environmental policies, and the Upper House has faced delays due to disagreements over its provisions. 2️⃣ Focus on Forest Protection: The Greens are advocating for removing Regional Forest Agreements (RFAs) and Continuous Use exemptions, which currently allow for large-scale native forest logging without thorough environmental assessments. This move aims to close loopholes threatening critical habitats and endangered species, including the koala and swift parrot. 3️⃣ Call to Action: Senator Sarah Hanson-Young emphasises the urgency of protecting Australia's forests, urging the government to take decisive action before it’s too late. The proposed changes could substantially impact conservation efforts across Tasmania, NSW, and Northern Australia, where deforestation rates are alarmingly high. 🗣️ #questionforgroup: How can Australia balance the need for economic development with the imperative to protect its unique ecosystems? What role should legislation play in ensuring sustainable land use practices? 🔗 To learn more about the Nature Positive Act and its potential impacts, click here: https://lnkd.in/gxu9ZKcJ #naturepositive #greens #australia #environment #sustainability #biodiversity #logging #conservation #climateaction #publicpolicy

CONCRETE EU ACTIONS FOR THE ENVIRONMENT IN 2024 2024 turned out to be a crucial year for the EU's commitment to fighting climate change and protecting the environment. Through a series of new regulations and directives, the EU has strengthened its commitment in an increasingly concrete way. - Regulation on Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF): This new regulation sets an ambitious target for the EU to absorb 310 million tons of CO2 equivalent in 2030 through sustainable forest and land management. - Communication on industrial carbon management: The Commission published a communication to support EU action to achieve climate neutrality by 2050 and to achieve negative emissions thereafter. - New rules on waste shipments, nature restoration and environmental protection: The EU has introduced new directives and regulations to strengthen the prevention and combating of environmental crime, promote the restoration of ecosystems and improve waste management. #sustainabletradeandfinance #doganerbek #EU #ecosystems #environment (by Doğan Erbek and STF Team) https://lnkd.in/dMm57fU

In a fascinating but worrying article, The Guardian writes about a citizen science programme has revealed the decline of one of the country’s most significant chalk streams after claims by Environment Agency officials that it had not deteriorated. The SmartRivers programme run by the charity WildFish, which surveys freshwater invertebrates, reported “strong declines in relation to chemical pressure” on the River Avon in Wiltshire. It said its data indicated a decline in the condition of the river over the last five years. The charity compiled a report on its findings after the conservation groups say they were told at a meeting by the Environment Agency in August that “the Avon has not deteriorated in water quality in the last five years”. David Holroyd, head of water quality for Wiltshire Fishery Association, said the numbers of invertebrates collected in spring and autumn samples from 2019 and 2023 at 11 sites on the upper Avon had shown a decline. He said the invertebrates were “the canary in the coalmine” and data suggested they were being “poisoned by chemicals in the river”. +++ Several points here. 🦈 First point. Excellent that Citizen Scientists are working on the Avon and producing data of quality. 🦈 Second point. Worrying that the Environment Agency has maintained that the Avon had not deteriorated under the water framework directive classification in the meeting [cited] in August. 🦈 Third point. Disparity of data. 🦈 Fourth point. How do we move forward when we know that the Environment Agency is underfunded. 🦈 Fifth point. A recent analysis by WildFish reported that every river sample in the Windermere catchment for the SmartRivers programme was affected by United Utilities wastewater treatment works. It found that pollution-sensitive riverfly species showed declines of up to 76% compared with appropriate upstream habitat. United Utilities said the plants operated in line with environmental permits. What can we do? Support local citizen scientist networks, either by getting involved or financially. I would like to do this for my stretch of the Kennet and Avon. I have yet to do this... #riverpollution #citizenscience #environmentagency #Avon #Wiltshire https://lnkd.in/dS3PbABX

Lula Announces Environmental Measures And Calls For Responsibility With The Planet "We want to make Brazilian society aware that the environmental issue is no longer an activist issue (...) the environmental issue is a call to responsibility for humans, who are considered the most intelligent of all animal species on the planet, so that they don't destroy their house, so that they don't destroy their boat, so that they don't destroy the air they breathe, so that they don't destroy the water they drink", said the Brazilian President at a ceremony commemorating Environment Day. "We have to take advantage of this moment to make a call to Brazilian society, to the humans of planet Earth, that we have a chance [to save the planet] and the chance depends only on us," he added. At the event, which was attended by Brazil's Minister of the Environment, Marina Silva, governors of the country's states and other authorities, Lula da Silva highlighted that, for the planet to offer quality of life to humanity, it is necessary to maintain forest reserves and biomes and, to this end, pointed to tourism as a way to encourage regional development in the South American country, mainly in the north and central west, where forests and native vegetation have been replaced by plantations and pastures. Marina Silva presented an overview of the actions of the Brazilian Government, in which she highlighted the change in the government budget for the environment by 18.6%, and commented on the results in combating deforestation, attracting investments and recomposing public servants. who work in the area. The minister also announced and explained the content of 14 new decrees, which were signed by Lula da Silva at the ceremony. Among the actions announced are a program that focuses on metropolitan regions in municipalities with high social and climate vulnerability, a pact with states for actions to prevent, prepare and combat forest fires, create new conservation areas, create a program for the conservation and sustainable use of mangroves (coastal ecosystems that occur in the transition between dry land and the sea) and a national bioeconomy plan. The decrees refer to changes in the regulation of the Public Forest Management Law to allow the commercialization of carbon credits in forestry concessions, updates to the functions of the Interministerial Committee on Climate Change and the creation of an extraordinary advisory body for COP 30 in Ministry of the Environment to assist in the preparations for the United Nations Climate Conference that will take place in the Brazilian city of Belém in 2025. At a press conference held after the announcements, Marina Silva valued the 50% reduction in logging rates in the Amazon, but admitted that there is still a lot of work to achieve the goal of zero illegal deforestation by 2030 and reduce degradation rates in other areas. Brazilian biomes such as the Cerrado. The minister warned of the high risk of fires in t...

June 20, 2024 - By MARC HELLER- E&E News, "The agency will take public comment for 90 days on a draft environmental impact statement on conserving old-growth areas of #nationalforests. -- E&E NEWS PM | The #Bidenadministration stepped closer Thursday to tighter limits on logging in old-growth areas of national forests, saying it will take public comment on plans to conserve those landscapes. The Forest Service posted (https://lnkd.in/eiuySn3F) the draft environmental impact statement for the old-growth proposal ahead of Friday's publication in the Federal Register. The plan includes a nationwide amendment to forest plans throughout the 193-million-acre system. The draft will be open to public comment for 90 days. “Recent scientific analysis shows us that many #oldgrowthforests are under significant threat from climate change,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a news release. “The Forest Service’s plan will help safeguard these iconic stands of trees through science-based management and #conservation strategies that can be adapted to unique local circumstances on national forests.” The draft adheres broadly to earlier signals from the administration that national forests should more closely consider the impact on old-growth forests from a wide range of projects, including thinning to reduce wildfire risk, prescribed fire and timber harvesting. The draft calls for “stewardship of existing and recruitment of future old growth forest” that is resilient over time. But the draft EIS doesn’t contain the specific carve-out for the #TongassNationalForest in Alaska that the administration floated several months ago, though the administration says it remains committed to the Southeast Alaska strategy, including small sales of old-growth timber in certain circumstances. That provision, which appeared in a notice of intent to pursue the environmental impact statement, said limits on commercial old-growth harvesting wouldn’t apply if they’re part of the administration’s “Southeast Alaska Sustainability Strategy” aimed at diversifying the region’s economy. The draft EIS is the next step in a process that began in earnest in 2023 with an inventory of old-growth and mature areas of national forests, and a definition to more clearly indicate what those terms mean. The definition — and the means to conserve those areas — aren’t the same everywhere, given a variety of landscapes and types of trees, the Forest Service has said. The administration proposed new protections for mature and old-growth forests as part of its response to #climatechange, beginning with an executive order from President Joe Biden in 2022. Forests are a top carbon sink, scientists say, absorbing much of the greenhouse gas emissions put out by various industries But debates continue to swirl around how intensely #forests should be managed — including through logging — to protect that status. Although the proposal steers forest policy away from commercial..." Continue reading

"Ireland consistently ranks among the lowest within the European Union (EU) across a range of environmental indicators. The country is not on track to meet its commitments under the Paris Agreement, and emissions are increasing rather than decreasing in some key areas, including agriculture and transportation. In addition to GHG emissions, Ireland has multiple other troubling environmental indicators. It holds the dubious record of being the country with the worst wetlands depletion of any nation in the world over the past three centuries. Ireland also scores below the EU average on multiple metrics including air quality, the percentage of river water that is unpolluted, and the proportion of land that is protected. "A small European island-nation with a population of just over 5 million, the Republic of Ireland has a comparatively small fossil fuel industry and a strong cultural tradition of agriculture and burning high-carbon-emitting peat for home heating in rural areas. Ireland also has a long history of eco- logical exploitation and extraction derived from its colonial past as part of the British Empire. This legacy continued post-independence with successive national policies that incentivized draining wetlands to intensify food production and planting non-native monoculture forestry." A great read from one of my DCU CASTeL research centre colleagues Orla Kelly et al.

Protecting Endangered Grasslands: A Business and Environmental Imperative The recent court ruling against Jam Land Pty Ltd, part-owned by Angus Taylor, highlights the critical need for responsible land management. The illegal clearing of endangered grasslands not only threatens biodiversity but also poses significant legal and financial risks. As professionals, we must advocate for sustainable practices and compliance with environmental regulations. Let’s engage in this important conversation and work towards a greener future. Read more: https://lnkd.in/gKMWPNyP #Sustainability #EnvironmentalLaw #BusinessEthics #Conservation

Analysis from Michael Slezak Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on the effectiveness (?) of existing environmental regulations: "Remarkably, there's only one case of the call-in power being used for agricultural deforestation. And, that was initiated while there was no minister in place at all. "In June 2016, with the government in "caretaker mode" prior to the federal election, there were no sitting ministers — including in the environment portfolio. "In that brief window, a deputy secretary of the environment department began the process of "calling in" the planned clearing of 560 hectares of native forest in Queensland, on Kingvale Station. "The owners planned to grow food for beef cattle on the cleared land. "If a farmer wants to clear land they need to make an assessment about whether that action will have a "significant impact" on threatened species or protected environments like the Great Barrier Reef. "But by using the call-in powers, the department forced it to be assessed. That assessment revealed it would likely have unacceptable impacts on a range of protected species. "The clearing was stopped. And it was departmental staff who raised the alarm, rather than any publicly elected officials. "Might that suggest relieving politicians of the duty to "call in" private land clearing might be in the best interests of, say, the koala? Well, we may be about to find out."

#Wetlands perform a huge range of valuable services, from soaking up floodwaters to filtering out pollutants and providing habitat for thousands of species of mammals, fish, reptiles, insects and birds…the U.S. is losing wetlands, mainly to development and agriculture, at an accelerating rate….private environmental governance can protect wetlands. This approach uses private agreements, certifications and other practices such as monitoring and dispute resolution to foster sustainability. https://lnkd.in/eGpWz5iY