Where are we on the environment? #14

October’s global events in five headlines, for those interested in the environment, sustainability and ecological transition.

1.

The Australian government has announced a plan for the country to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, where for each tonne of carbon dioxide (CO2) or other greenhouse gas emitted into the atmosphere, the same amount must be removed. Australia is the fourth biggest coal producer in the world, and one of the most polluting countries.

2.

The Turkish parliament has ratified the Paris Climate Agreement, the most important international treaty in recent years to counter global warming: it was the last G20 country to do so; in this way, the contents of the agreement become binding for the country.

3.

Google has announced that from November 2021, distributors of content that “contradicts well-established scientific consensus around the existence and causes of climate change” cannot make money from its services, through advertising or the other revenue systems offered by the company to content producers.

4.

From January 2022, the French government will ban the use of plastic packaging for the sale of most fruit and vegetables. In France around 37 percent of these products are sold in plastic: the new measure will seek to eliminate more than one billion of them per year. At least 30 types of fruit and vegetable will no longer be able to be sold.

5.

More than 50,000 residents in Berlin have signed the Berlin Autofrei initiative, which aims to create a vast restricted traffic zone in the centre of the German capital, reserved for pedestrian use, bicycles and public transport. If the initiative is successful and goes on to become law, Berlin would have the largest urban area free of privately owned cars ever created in the world.