POLLUTION

1. Weak EU air pollution standards

risk thousands of lives, says report
71,000 deaths across Europe and more than 2m child asthma
sufferers likely as a result of draft EU air pollution limits that
favour industry, study finds
Weak draft EU rules for coal plant emissions could result in 71,000 deaths and
52bn (37bn) of health costs across Europe in the decade to come, according
to new research published on Wednesday.
A Greenpeace investigation earlier this year found that the coal standards
would be more lax than those in China, and the Guardian was able to
corroborate claims by the green group that industry had helped to write the
pollution rules.
The new study commissioned by Greenpeace and the European Environment
Bureau analysed the impacts of the watered-down rules, and found that nearly
1,000 deaths and 500m of health costs a year are likely in the UK alone. But
it said they could be prevented with technologies such as selective catalytic
convertors.
Without these, thousands more cases of cardiac and respiratory illness that
disproportionately affect children are foreseen by the study.
The paper forecasts a surge in asthmatic symptoms affecting over 2m children
aged between five and 19, as well as 200,000 new cases of acute bronchitis
among 6-12 year olds.
Christian Schaible, a policy manager for the European Environmental Bureau
said: The commission is opting for the cheapest techniques to reduce
emissions but the health effects alone will be far more costly than the money
saved by coal plant operators. These effects will also be felt by many thousands
of European citizens, particularly children, in ways that money cannot
quantify.
The cost of installing plant technologies such as activated carbon injections to
abate mercury emissions associated with IQ loss in children would be less
than 0.02 per kilowatt hour, Schaible said.
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The reports findings emerged from a modelling study by an independent
consultant to the European Environment Agency, which was then combined
with emissions data.
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The paper compared draft European commission emissions standards for
pollutants such as nitrogen oxide (NOx), sulphur dioxide (SO2), particulate
matter (PM2.5) and mercury against the best available techniques.
The EUs proposed new limits are currently awaiting examination by an EU
working group later this year. After that, they are expected to be formally
adopted within the blocs industrial emissions directive in 2016.
The updated directive would cut NOx and SO2 emissions by around 70% and
50% respectively. But the most effective technologies could deliver more than
twice as much, according to the study.
Proposed emission limits for mercury are so lenient that an estimated 85% of
European plants are already in compliance and will not have to invest in
retrofitting, the report says.
The Guardian has previously revealed that despite claims by the UK to the
contrary, energy industry representatives repeatedly and forcefully pushed for
weaker pollution limits at meetings in Brussels.
Doug Parr, Greenpeace UKs chief scientist, said: EU leaders have completely
failed to stand up to the energy industrys pervasive lobbying for weak air
pollution limits. If these lax rules are adopted, hundreds of thousands of UK
and European citizens will pay the consequences for their political leaders
letting polluting industries off the hook.

2. Vietnam cities told that driving down

pollution is a matter of car-sharing
Nam Nguyen is using profits from his taxi firm to spur action on choking
traffic in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh cit
Although two-thirds of Vietnams population live in rural areas, its two major
cities, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, are increasingly choked by traffic and
pollution. By some estimates, Hanoi is the most polluted city in south-east
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Asia, with concentrations of carcinogenic particles often measuring twice the
recognised safe levels. The pollution is made worse by a huge annual increase
in numbers of cars and motorcycles, while public transport remains
inadequate. Ride-sharing is a very new concept, not only in Vietnam but also
in Japan, China, Korea, says Nam Nguyen, founder and chief executive of Di
Chung, a Hanoi-based ride-sharing website that received a Seed award in
2013.
In the three years since Di Chungs creation, Nguyen has run up against
various daunting obstacles, not least the hesitancy of the public to accept ridesharing: At first I tried to learn the model from European platforms
like carpooling.co.ukand BlaBlaCar, but it doesnt easily work here. We are not
as open with strangers as Europeans are. Private vehicles are a source of
pride for many Vietnamese urbanites, who consider cars indicators of success
and rely on them to visit their families in the provinces.
Faced with these challenges, Nguyens ambition grew. In the beginning I
intended to make a free network where people could share vehicles and
contribute to protecting the environment, he says, but I realised I must form
a business model to build it up. Nguyen quit his banking job in 2014 and
designed another arm of Di Chung: a taxi-sharing service whose profits could
support the social enterprise he initially imagined. Thats our main revenue
stream now, its a business solution to contribute to a social issue.
This profitable sideline has allowed Di Chungs ride-sharing network to
continue to grow, amassing 30,000 members and counting, though Nguyen
confesses that he has staked much of his own money to keep the vision alive.
In emerging countries like Vietnam you cannot depend on government
support, he says, and with limited resources, to turn a very new concept into
an easy service for people to accept is not easy. He is envious of the UK
governments support for social enterprise, and hopes that, with the help of
accolades like the Seed award, he will be able to campaign in future for
parking discounts and insurance breaks for ride sharers.
In the meantime, his confidence remains undented: There are plans for a
student-specific wing of Di Chung, tailored to individual universities, and
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Nguyen has already visited Malaysia and the Philippines with a view to
extending his template beyond Vietnam. Most importantly, he hopes to extend
his membership and acclimatise Vietnamese commuters to the idea of Di
Chung as a convenient and environment-friendly alternative to private
transport. It might take three or four more years, but we dont want to live in
a dirty city any more.

3, Brazil struggles with drought and

pollution as Olympics loom large
Pollution in Guanabara Bay, where Olympic sailing and
windsurfing contests are scheduled to be held, is so bad that
competitors have described it as an open sewer
Amid what is normally considered the rainy season, Brazil, the home of the
Amazon River, is suffering from a historic, punishing drought.
In a country accustomed to ample water supplies, neighbors are turning
against neighbors and hoarding water as taps run dry while businesses close
andprotesters take to the streets. Some have even speculated that So Paulo,
one of the worlds largest cities, is failing.
The costs of a drought are many water rationing, fines for consumption and
constraints on agriculture and industrial production. But for Brazil, a water
shortage also leads to another problem: more than 75% of Brazils power
comes from hydroelectric sources, making it second only to China in reliance
on hydroelectric power.
The water crisis is pushing Brazil to take extreme measures to save water even
as low water levels are decimating its hydropower supplies, leading to rolling
power cuts across the country.
With its rainforest, favelas and megacities, Brazil is a huge piece of the puzzle
for many of the worlds biggest sustainability goals, and the country has
loomed large in environmental discussions since it held the Rio+20 climate
talksin 2012.
Water courses through many of Brazils biggest sustainability challenges. Not
only does water rationing exacerbate the divide between rich and poor in the
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highly stratified country, but water pollution and water quality issues are
threatening the countrys next turn on the world stage: the 2016 Olympics in
Rio de Janeiro, which arrive just two years after the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
Pollution in Guanabara Bay, where Olympic sailing and windsurfing contests
are scheduled to be held, is so bad that competitors have described it as an
open sewer. More than 40 tons of dead fish have been removed from a lake
slated to host the rowing contests.
Preparations for the Olympics are suffering from widespread
dissatisfaction after last years FIFA World Cup. The massive investments to
build stadiums and host as many as a million football tourists for the soccer
blowout sparked large protests from city residents left out of the economic
boom, who complain they are payinghigher costs of living without seeing
increased services.
Brazil is in many ways an island nation unto itself its practically its own
Portuguese-speaking continent amid the sea of Spanish Latin America. But it
also faces challenges that are familiar across the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India
and China) countries: social inequality, human rights, energy, water, and
climate change are all taking a toll on the countrys present and future.
Add to these the importance of caring for the Amazon rainforest the lungs
of the planet, which stores more carbon dioxide than anywhere else on Earth
and it becomes clear why social and environmental progress in Brazil is at
least as important as its economic growth.
Deforestation in the Amazon Basin has long been a thorn in Brazils side. Not
only do numerous human rights and indigenous peoples rights threats arise
from deforestation, but researchers recently directly connected Amazonian
deforestation to the horrific drought in southern Brazil.
Fortunately, there is some good news. Over the past decade, Brazil has
lowered its carbon dioxide output more than any other country through a
historic effort to slow forest loss: it reduced deforestation 18% last year. Now,
other countries are trying to follow Brazils lead in the war on tropical
deforestation.
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Why Brazil's megadrought is a

Wall Street failure
Amy Larkin
Read more

During Cop 20, the UN climate change conference in Lima last year, Brazilian
authorities announced a plan to develop a monitoring system in partnership
with the Amazon Cooperation Treat Organization. Around $8m will be spent
in satellite data analysis, training, and equipment to be used for monitoring
deforestation in all seven countries that are part of the group.
Brazils megacities also have become home to many of the innovations and
disruptions taking root in the US and Europe. Startups working under the
banner of the sharing economy such as Uber and Airbnb have found a home in
Rio and So Paulo. The B Corporation social and environmental business
certification launched in Brazil in 2012 as Sistema B, and just two years later
became the home of the worlds first publicly traded B Corp as cosmetics
maker Natura earned Sistema B certification.
While environmental stewardship is a less-than-common commitment among
large Brazilian companies or multinationals doing business in Brazil, the
country is host to a thriving social entrepreneurship sector. A number of social
entrepreneurship funds operate across Brazil, bankrolling small operations to
fight poverty, inequality, and expand educational and economic opportunities
among the poor and disadvantaged.
Brazil casts a big shadow across South America, despite its continental size
and generally inward focus. As Brazils development bank invests in more
projects across its borders, it brings the promise of more economic
opportunity to its less-wealthy neighbors but also the risk of stepping on
toes and stirring anti-Brazilian anger. Road-building projects in Guyana and
Bolivia, a mining project in Argentina, and Brazilian emigration into Paraguay
for agricultural projects have all recently incited opposition from neighboring
governments and citizens.

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Just as Brazil weighs heavily across Latin America, it too lives in the shadow of
China. Economically, the mid-2000s were Brazils golden years. The nation
averaged a healthy 4% growth, propelled by high exports particularly to
China as well as a spike in domestic consumption. During these boom times,
Brazilians saw a bright future just over the horizon. Then came the 2008
global market crash.
As their export partners slowed their demand, Brazils economy followed suit:
in 2009, the economy shrank for the first time since 1992, sending shockwaves
throughout the country.
The rise and fall and rise again of Brazils economy is taking place during what
may turn out to be the pivotal moment in the global environmental
movement. As Brazil responds to extreme drought, high-stakes deforestation,
and pollution and human rights challenges, and as the country steps up to the
world stage for the Olympics, its decisions will ripple not only to neighboring
countries and the BRICs, but throughout the world.
One example of this economic muscle-flexing is the recently proposed
development of a new BRICs-led global development bank. Offered as an
alternative to the World Bank and IMF, the New Development Bank proposed
by China, Russia, India, Brazil and South Africa would emphasize sustainable
development around the world without the punishing restrictions required by
World Bank loans. While the aim of the NDB is to free BRICs and other
developing economies from the status quo, observers caution that if the bank
truly wants tochange the course of sustainable development it must put
human rights and the environment at the center of its charter.
Government, business, environmental and civil leaders will be watching
closely to find out whether the country will end up being a model for
sustainable development or a cautionary tale.
Siri Srinivas and Ana Athayde contributed reporting to this article.

4. For the youngest and oldest, air

pollution may have serious health
consequences
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The effect of air pollution on climate change is well-documented,
but two new studies show that it may also pose surprising dangers
to public health
On Wednesday, California Governor Jerry Brown announced an ambitious
plan to reduce the states carbon emissions. His proposal which would cut
emissions by 40% below 1990 levels within the next 15 years is aimed at
curbing the potentially catastrophic effects of global warming, such as rising
sea levels and super droughts. But while air pollution is bad for the planet, two
studies released this week show that its also having a detrimental effect on
public health.
One report, released on Wednesday, studied the impact of air pollution on
fetal development. Researchers found that women who were in their final
stage of pregnancy during the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics when China
drastically cut down on air pollution gave birth to heavier babies than those
born during the same period a year earlier or later.
According to the study, babies of women who were in their eighth month of
pregnancy during the event, which was held in August 2008, were on
average 23 grams larger at birth compared to those born in 2007 and 2009.
There werent any significant differences in weight for babies of women who
were in their first seven months of pregnancy during the games.
The study credits cleaner air for the bump. Beijing, which the studys authors
described as one of the most heavily polluted cities in the world, was forced
to combat air pollution as a condition for hosting the Olympics. The city
temporarily closed down factories, halted construction, and reduced the
number of cars on the road. As a result, air pollutants like nitrogen dioxide
and sulfate decreased between 18% and 59% during the 47 days of the games,
the report found.
The results of this study demonstrate a clear association between changes in
air pollutant concentrations and birth weight, David Q Rich, an
epidemiologist with the University of Rochester Medical Center and lead
author of the study, said in a statement. These findings not only illustrate one

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of the many significant health consequences of pollution, but also demonstrate
that this phenomenon can be reversed.
Growing old on smog
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But smog isnt just putting societys youngest members at risk: another
study has found that long term exposure to air pollution can lead to premature
aging of the brain.
The report, published in the May issue of Stroke, analyzed data on 943 men
and women over the age of 60. It found that those exposed to a form of
pollution called PM 2.5 a fine particulate matter that enters the lungs and
blood had smaller total cerebral brain volume, a sign of brain atrophy.
People naturally lose cerebral brain volume as they get older, but these
findings indicate that air pollution may speed up the process.
The results suggest that exposures to air pollution may be associated with
subtle but potentially harmful effects on the aging brain, said Elissa H Wilker,
the studys lead author, and a researcher at Bostons Beth Israel Deaconess
Medical Center.
Wilker added that more studies are needed to investigate the effects of long
term exposure to air pollution over time. But with 3 million deaths worldwide
each year attributed to air pollution, Jerry Browns push to reduce carbon
emissions is more pressing than ever.
5.

A round-the-world scientific expedition

will use drones to study plastic pollution

Scientists circumnavigating the globe on a spartan racing catamaran will

spend the coming year deploying drones to collect better data on plastic
pollution
Race for the Water, a Swiss marine research expedition focused on plastic
pollution, last week announced its plan to collect and analyze samples of
plastic found on the worlds most remote island beaches. Over a trip of 40,000
nautical miles, the crew will use drones to conduct its work. Those drones will
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fly over beaches to collect information on how much plastic has collected
there.
In the coming year, the team hopes to collect information that could stem the
flow of plastic debris into the worlds oceans. By creating a repeatable research
protocol, it hopes to address three research needs laid out by the Honolulu
Strategy, an international framework for addressing global marine plastic
pollution adopted in 2010 by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA) and the United Nations. These include: standardized
research protocols for marine debris, repeatable and comparable studies, and
data-based solutions.
The use of drones could be helpful for NOAA, according to Nancy Wallace, the
director of the agencys marine debris program. Wallace says she needs a
time-lapse look of micro debris on the beaches and that right now the only way
to get it is to have people comb beaches and count a costly and timeconsuming affair. Sending drones to perform the task instead would save time
and money, in addition to providing more data.
Funded primarily by Marco Simeoni, a Swiss entrepreneur turned
environmental crusader, Race for the Water is also determined to inject a
spirit of adventure into an otherwise depressing issue. We say OK, this is a
problem we have to solve together, lets make it an adventure, ServanShcreiber says. Its about being human and facing problems together. Thats
why we like [our] boat.
The boat is a racing catamaran that Servan-Schreiber describes as incredibly
uncomfortable, with no toilet onboard, no lighting in the hallways, two bunk
beds for six people, and only two small gas burners for preparing food. Its not
a logical choice for such an expedition, but thats the point.
These guys have to wear mining lights on their heads to walk down the
hallway, and Marco never believed the boat could make it around the world
he gets sea sick on it constantly, but hes sticking with it, Servan-Schreiber
says. These guys are really gladiators for the environment, and the expedition
is a great human story.

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Beaches versus blue water

While several groups have taken to the seas to both raise awareness and
gather information about plastic pollution including 5 Gyres, Project Kaisei,
Plastiki, Algalita and the Clean Oceans Project one of the issues spotlighted
in the Honolulu Strategy is the fact that each research expedition tends to
employ different protocols, and there is often quite a bit of time between
samples taken, which makes it difficult to both compare the results of various
studies, and to replicate the results of any one study.
In some ways, that inconsistency is just the nature of the beast, or rather, the
ocean. In addition to the fact that each expedition needs to find funding for
tools, boats, staff, and laboratory analysis most have also focused on
collecting samples from the open ocean, which is challenging, especially when
weather and currents dont cooperate. 5 Gyres has run more expeditions more
frequently than most organizations, and has documented the presence of
approximately 268,000 tons of plastic in all five of the worlds ocean gyres
(large circular networks of ocean currents), and maintains an updated map of
global plastic pollution. Still, co-founder and research director Marcus Eriksen
says hes had challenges over the years collecting data on various boats in
every ocean condition imaginable.
By focusing on beaches rather than the open water, and using the drones to go
back frequently and map changes over time, Servan-Schreiber hopes Race for
the Water may be able to close the research gap.
We think going to the islands gives us a very good way to study the five gyres
without having to do the same as everybody else and get samples from blue
water, he says. We think what we find on the beach, well find in the water.
And the good thing about the islands is that we can come back again and again
and get a sense over time of how the problem is evolving.
Finding solutions
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The team plans to send samples to a lab in Lausanne, Switzerland Race for
the Waters home base to determine which chemicals have accumulated in
the plastic and at what levels. The fact that plastic in the ocean attracts and
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accumulates chemicals is well established, but the Lausanne lab will attempt
to pinpoint how this process happens over time, and what level of chemical
toxicity should be expected in the worlds oceans over time. Thats important
because fish and birds consume microplastics, which can poison not only the
animals, but also the humans who eat them.
Its even a concern for people who might consider themselves fairly removed
from the ocean ecosystem, Servan-Schreiber explains. This week Im in
Miami and last week I was in Rio, and every beach I go to, all over the world,
there are tiny bits of plastic in the sand, he says. And yet kids are playing on
it and its shocking, in a way, that we are letting kids play on beaches that are
actually contaminated.
Over time, plastic on beaches could potentially leech not only the chemicals
used to make the plastic in the first place, but also any additional chemicals
accumulated in the ocean. While short term exposure has not indicated any
health issues related to ocean plastic, Servan-Schreiber points out that we
dont know what long term exposure may do.
Servan-Schreiber says the team rejected the idea of recycling the plastic they
collect because recycling marine plastic pollution requires a lot of fresh water
to clean off the salt, making it inefficient and wasteful. Instead, the team is
focusing its energy on identifying large-scale solutions. Cigarette butts, for
example, are coated in plastic and thus never break down they make up
more than 40% of the debris found on beaches. So maybe thats an argument
for e-cigarettes, Servan-Schreiber says.
Plastic bottle caps are another issue. Although beverage bottles are ubiquitous,
their caps tend to be a bigger issue because they are colorful and just the right
size for birds, fish, and marine mammals to eat. So the Race for the Water
team is looking at whether a new sort of top could be designed for plastic
bottles.
They are also finding inspiration at home in Lausanne, where a factory in the
middle of the city burns plastic debris to generate energy. The factory is
equipped with a filter that keeps any related toxins out of the air.

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We have to find ways to make value out of marine debris, Servan-Schreiber
says. It could sound good to recycle it, but it isnt. Once we looked at it,
turned out burning it to create electricity and heat is probably the best option.
But thats just one of the ideas out of this, and were just at the beginning.
Ultimately, the goal is to find viable solutions and put as many of them in
place as possible.
Because plastic never goes away, at some point, the beaches will be more
plastic than sand, Servan-Schreiber says. So its better to realize that very
early and try to mitigate the problem.

6. California governor calls for drastic

reduction in gas emissions by 2030
Jerry Brown pushes beyond states previous target, as well as
Obamas national plan, to get carbon dioxide output 40% lower
than 1990 levels in next 15 years
California would aggressively reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 under
a plan announced on Wednesday that steps up the states previously
established target, which has cut emissions partly by forcing companies to pay
for their carbon pollution.
Governor Jerry Browns executive order is loftier than a federal goal that also
aims to curb global warming, but it gives the state more time to achieve it.
Browns plan lacks specifics, but he previously has cited increasing renewable
electricity sources, reducing petroleum use in vehicles, doubling the energy
efficiency of existing buildings and make heating fuels cleaner as ways to
reduce emissions.
Brown set a target of reducing emissions to 40% below 1990 levels over the
next 15 years and called it the most aggressive benchmark enacted by a
government in North America.
With this order, California sets a very high bar for itself and other states and
nations, but its one that must be reached for this generation and
generations to come, Brown said in a statement.
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President Barack Obama announced a plan earlier this year to cut carbon
dioxide emissions by 26% to 28% by 2025, with 2005 levels as the starting
point.
California has already moved on its environmental goals, partly through a
program that puts a monetary value on carbon emissions. In 2006, then
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the states landmark global warming
law, and Brown has aggressively enforced it. It called for reaching 1990
emissions levels by 2020 and 80% below that by 2050.
The states cap-and-trade program, launched nearly three years ago, offers one
of the few real-world laboratories on how to reduce carbon emissions. It
expanded this year to fine companies that produce gasoline and other fuels,
prompting predictions that consumers will see a spike in prices to cover the
costs.
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Brown said on Wednesday that climate change would factor into government
planning, and he ordered state agencies and departments to implement
measures to reduce emissions. He also called for the state to identify how
climate change will affect infrastructure and industry and what actions
California can take to reduce the risks of climate change.
The order aligns Californias greenhouse-gas reduction targets with those of
leading international governments ahead of the United Nations climate
change conference in Paris later this year. The European Union has set the
same target for 2030.
The latest proposal comes just months after Brown, at his inauguration,
challenged the nations most populous state to increase renewable energy use
to 50% in the next 15 years.
Browns action comes amid aggressive efforts aimed at fighting the states
historic drought, which has been Californias primary environmental concern
in recent months.
The governors order was praised by climate researchers and politicians,
including the former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg.

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Californias 2030 goal to reduce carbon emissions is not only bold, its
necessary for the economy and our future, Bloomberg said in a statement
released by Brown.
Despite being a political hero to the environmental movement in his first stint
as governor in the 1970s, Brown has received harsh criticism from
conservationists for his refusal to ban hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, for oil.
David Braun, a member of a group called Californians Against Fracking, said
the governors goal was commendable but insufficient.
To really address climate change in a meaningful way, Brown must ban
fracking and other oil drilling methods that endanger our communities
health, our water and the environment, the group said in a statement on
Wednesday.

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