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Europe’s green transition will only happen with the engagement and involvement of communities that produce and consume energy locally.

Luckily, across the continent, there are signs it is happening.

From solar panels in the Netherlands to biomass burners in Spain, communities across Europe are increasingly making, consuming and selling their own energy, a trend that's vital if the EU is to meet its climate targets.

According to the latest data, 2 million Europeans are now involved in 7,000 local energy communities across the continent, with numbers growing rapidly since EU directives promoting clean energy and energy communities were introduced in 2018 and 2019.

They will be key to Europe’s green transition because, as heat pumps replace gas boilers and electric vehicles supplant internal combustion engines, highly centralised electricity production and distribution systems – power stations and grids – will simply not be able to adequately handle the huge increase in demand.

The only way forward is “energy citizenship” and to decentralise more and more, produce and consume more energy locally with sources like solar and wind – and boost storage and smart solutions for efficient energy management. All of which means involving “ordinary citizens“.

As things stand, Europe is nowhere near meeting its target of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 55% in the next eight years, unless we work urgently on the role everyday citizens will have to play. And to get there, we need to explicitly recognise the social side of the energy transition.

All the research on peer-to-peer energy-sharing models showed they were far more accessible, democratised, collaborative and socially just than traditional top-down energy markets.

Fundamentally, they thrive on social interconnectedness among end-users, rather than being based on competing economic self-interests. They reinforce positive social values, and really strengthen empowerment and social engagement.

Do you also see energy citizenship and decentralized community-powered energy production as pivotal areas for powering Europe's green transition?

Bedrijven die hun onvermijdelijke CO2-uitstoot willen compenseren, kunnen aankloppen bij Sven Jense van non-profitorganisatie Climate Cleanup . Hij koppelt ze aan natuurprojecten.

It took a while, but the people at the COP now realize that climate and biodiversity are deeply intertwined.

The COP finally recognizes the interlinked crises of climate change and biodiversity loss, and the critical role of nature in delivering benefits for both adaptation and mitigation.

The outcome of #cop27 will be crucial not just in terms of tackling the climate crisis but to help ensure a future for nature, the UN’s head of biodiversity has said, outlining plans for “a Paris moment for biodiversity” at Cop15 in Montreal in December.

“Clearly the world is crying out for change, watching as governments seek to heal our relationships with nature, with the climate,” said Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, executive secretary of the convention on biological diversity (CBD), at a media briefing on Thursday.

“Scientists have told us in no uncertain terms … that climate change and biodiversity loss are intrinsically connected and that’s why we are looking at the [Cop15] framework as, basically, a Paris moment for biodiversity.”

In Paris in 2015, governments agreed legally binding targets to limit global temperature rises for the first time, pledging to hold global heating to well below 2C, with an aspiration not to breach 1.5C above pre-industrial levels.

“We’re seeing more and more biodiversity agenda appearing in the discussions under the climate Cop,” Mrema said. “The outcomes from Cop27 will be instrumental, and will influence a lot the discussions and specific targets under the framework.”

David Cooper, deputy executive secretary of the CBD, said the climate crisis is one of the main drivers of biodiversity decline. “If we don’t have successful outcomes in the climate process, then we cannot hold and reverse biodiversity loss … we depend on the success of the climate conference, but they also depend on the success of the biodiversity conference,” he said.

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The most insightful session I attended during #COP27 was on new research on natural climate solutions (NCS) by legendary scientist Johan Rockström. Was it as groundbreaking as the planetary boundaries? 🛟

Scientists from Conservation International and the PIK - Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research released “The Exponential Roadmap for Natural Climate Solutions”, a first-of-its-kind blueprint for maximizing nature’s role in tackling global warming 📜

The original Carbon Law, proposed in 2017, focused on the energy, industry and transport sectors only. The "Carbon Law for Nature" finally includes solutions from land and nature 🌱

It finds that to avoid catastrophic climate change, the land sector — including agriculture and forestry — must reach net zero emissions by 2030, and it offers guidance to get there 🌳

Essentially, we need to turn working lands from vast emitters of greenhouse gasses to enormous stores of carbon, and build up the carbon storage in existing ecosystems, forests, wetlands, peatlands and grasslands 🔽

One of the most important findings is that the roadmap shows a transformation of food systems is at the heart of land-sector climate solutions — approximately 80% of natural climate solutions (NCS) mitigation opportunity is tightly linked to food systems! 🥕

While the most cost-effective opportunities for reducing emissions and removing carbon from the atmosphere all directly involve food production systems, a full food systems approach, incorporating action across production, consumption and loss and waste is required 🔁

It is a critical step toward providing communities with resources to support land stewardship, countries with the knowledge to identify and activate the climate potential of their domains, and companies and financiers with clear paths to invest in climate solutions 💰

Alongside the Roadmap’s transformative climate benefits, it also offers multiple co-benefits: increased biodiversity, clean air and water, human health and wellbeing, rural jobs, environmental justice, and biosphere resilience ✨

And to me, this is what nature-based solutions and natural climate solutions are all about. Let's bring carbon back home ❤️

What was a pivotal moment for you during COP27? 💡

#naturalclimatesolutions #naturebasedsolutions #foodsystems

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Are There Emerging Alternatives to Palm Oil?!

Palm oil is a significant driver of deforestation in the tropics–an estimated 47% of Indonesia's forest was lost to palm oil between 1972 and 2015–and production is expected to triple by 2050.

However, researchers are tapping into a World War II-era solution to find an alternative: oils made from yeast and microbes that retain palm oil's chemical properties.

Thus far, most synthetic oils have been produced with yeasts that feed on cane sugar, but the process could be rendered even more sustainable by utilizing a yeast that ferments potato peels as well as a fungus that feeds on corn harvest leftovers.

With companies racing to scale up production and the first microbial oil product expected to be launched by the startup C16 Biosciences as early as the first months of 2023, researchers are optimistic that lab-grown palm oil alternatives could become a key tool in preventing tropical deforestation within the next 5 years.

Do you know about other alternatives to palm oil?

#palmoil #regeneration #deforestation #climatechange

From Claire Krummenacher