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All major road building projects in Wales have been scrapped over environmental concerns.
The planned third Menai bridge will not go ahead and neither will the controversial "red route" in Flintshire. The move is part of the Welsh government's National Transport Plan and follows a year-long review. Environmental campaigners called it "world-leading and brave" but some in the construction industry warned the announcement could put jobs at risk. It comes as the Welsh government is accused of endangering bus services as a senior minister said industry subsidies have yet to be confirmed beyond summer. The Welsh government said all future roads must pass strict criteria which means they must not increase carbon emissions, they must not increase the number of cars on the road, they must not lead to higher speeds and higher emissions, and they must not negatively impact the environment. Deputy Minister for Climate Change Lee Waters told the Senedd the approach of the last 70 years was not working. "We will not get to net zero unless we stop doing the same thing over and over," he said. "None of this is easy but neither is the alternative." To reach net zero by 2050, he said, the Welsh government must "be prepared to follow through". The deputy minister insisted new roads would be built in future, but said the government was "raising the bar" to ensure any new road was "the right response to transport problems".
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The ongoing drought in the western US depleted reservoirs and reduced hydropower generation. Fossil fuel power plants filled the gap but that has led to increased air pollution. Water levels at reservoirs in the western US have hit record lows, diminishing the amount of energy generated at dams. Fossil fuel power plants are filling the gap – leading to increased greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution during the region’s megadrought.
Both sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions contribute to a harmful type of pollution called PM2.5. These particles can penetrate deep into lung tissues and are responsible for most deaths from air pollution. 35% increase in electricity from fossil fuels during dry spells in California. The two-year trial of e-scooters in the BCP Council area has been declared a success, with a 31 per cent increase in journeys made this way in 2022.
The Beryl e-scooters arrived in the conurbation two years ago, in January 2021. Riders have made more than 600,000 journeys, clocking up more than two million kilometres of travel. According to the Department of Transport’s national evaluation, BCP’s e-scooters are the second most utilised out of 32 areas in the country, generating four trips per scooter, per day. This equates to more than 90 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions saved – the equivalent of around six million kettles boiled or almost 527 flights from London to Edinburgh. The scheme has now been extended until May 2024. Beryl CEO and co-founder Phil Ellis said: “We know the demand is there and believe that legalising the use of e-scooters would make them more accessible, boost their popularity and normalise their presence on our roads. “This would amplify calls for better infrastructure, which would not only improve safety, but also the perception of safety, and encourage even more people to leave their car keys at home.” “Ultimately, that will help reduce traffic congestion and carbon emissions while improving air quality and public health.” During the trial period, e-Scooter riders are required to provide a valid UK Driving Licence to participate. A research project led by Bournemouth University (BU) will explore how natural capital investment markets could contribute to a successful rural economy.
The Carbon Exchange: Mapping the drivers and impact of the carbon market on rural enterprises in the UK (REINVEST) project will identify the opportunities, limitations and barriers of voluntary carbon markets for rural enterprises. Carbon markets are a tool for putting a price on carbon emissions, allowing the buying and selling of carbon credits or allowances. This can be used by buyers to offset their own emissions or sold to someone else who needs to offset their emissions. The project has been funded by the National Innovation Centre for Rural Enterprise (NICRE) and will be led by Dr Rounaq Nayak, a Lecturer in Sustainability at BU. Professor Jian Chang from the National Centre for Computer Animation (NCCA) and Ehtzaz Chaudhary, Post-Doctoral Researcher in Geometric Modelling, are also working on the project, developing a short animation explaining carbon markets to a wider audience, including stakeholders of the rural economy. The project will be undertaken in partnership with academics from the Countryside and Community Research Institute, Harper Adams University, and land agents Strutt and Parker. Dr Nayak said: “While voluntary carbon trading opportunities have been identified as a way for the agriculture sector to help reduce net emissions, claim carbon neutrality and purchase credits, there is limited understanding of how these carbon markets can benefit rural enterprises.” “This project seeks to identify how rural enterprises such as farm businesses, SMEs, and land agents navigate, understand and exploit these opportunities, and how they overcome the potential limitations and barriers of voluntary carbon markets.” Project outputs will include the animated video and infographics explaining carbon markets and helping rural enterprises to better understand how they work and how to use them. A cutting edge eco hub, made from old wooden seaside defences and wood from a German shipyard has opened on Bournemouth seafront.
The beach-based venue at Durley Chine, which has been designed to be as sustainable as possible, includes six toilets and a waste management hub to handle the 2,000 tons of rubbish removed from our beaches every year. The building reuses 45 tons of timber recycled from the seafront’s old groynes and seven tonnes of timber reclaimed from a German naval shipyard. The main building is built to Passivhaus standards, an internationally recognised standard for buildings that are highly energy efficient and features a green roof to support greater biodiversity. Visitors are now welcome to buy hot and cold drinks, snacks and ice cream from the kiosk and toilets from 10 February and take a seat in the decked area, which can be used for events or exhibitions. To reduce plastic waste on site the kiosk will not sell any products wrapped in single use plastic and will use returnable cups instead – a model the council will trial to then roll out across its other seafront catering sites if successful. The long-term aim remains to develop the venue into an education space for residents, visitors, schools and families to drive a step change in behaviour and build environmental guardianship of our coastline. BCP Council’s Waste Transfer Yard, licenced by the Environment Agency, sits to the east of the main building, and will be used to as a holding yard for litter and debris collected from the beaches every year. Welfare facilities will be provided for the cleaning team, who start on site at 3am in the summer months to rake the beaches on tractors and litter pick before visitors arrive. At Creating Tomorrow's Forests, we want people to join us on our journey to restore our wild spaces and reconnect with nature. We want to educate and inspire individuals and businesses into wanting to recreate our lost biodiversity.
Creating Tomorrow’s Forests specialises in planting trees, creating habitats, and restoring biodiversity throughout the UK. We enable businesses and individuals to actively invest in our natural environment, by channeling their funding into high quality biodiversity restoration and afforestation projects. Our UK based projects allow businesses and individuals to experience restoration in action and invest directly in natural capital. Join us and you will receive regular updates on how your investment is progressing and how you are helping to restore our lost wild spaces. Freshwater Lake Ecosystem
If you notice footballers wearing green armbands during Premier League, EFL and Women's Super League games on Saturday and Sunday, it's all part of the Green Football Weekend - with some clubs, players and fans involved in tackling climate change by reducing their environmental impacts.
It is expected the many small actions by fans, clubs and players across Green Football Weekend will combine to make a significant cut in emissions, and the hope from organisers is there will be a legacy which sees that continue. Green Football Weekend's Sarah Jacobs said: "This isn't a one-off. It's about driving ongoing conversation and action on climate, galvanised by an annual moment that brings together the whole footballing community - a moment we want to see grow in ambition and scale." Man Utd top of fan leaderboard for actions for the planet. Scoring 17545 green goals. The State of UK Butterflies 2022 report published by Butterfly Conservation charity based in Dorset4/2/2023 (https://www.dorsetbutterflies.com/2023/02/state-of-uk-butterflies-2022/#more-20727)
Fox R, Dennis EB, Purdy KM, Middlebrook I, Roy DB, Noble DG, Botham MS & Bourn NAD (2023) The State of the UK’s Butterflies 2022. Butterfly Conservation, Wareham, UK. The “State of UK Butterflies 2022” report. This looks at the incredible range of data collected on butterflies in the UK up to 2019. Headline findings include:
Butterfly Conservation report reveals 42% decline in distribution of 58 native species since 1976.
The distribution of 58 native species has fallen by 42% as butterflies disappear from cities, fields and woods. Those that are only found in particular habitats, such as wetlands or chalk grassland, have fared even worse, declining in distribution by 68%. Scientists for Butterfly Conservation, which produced its State of the UK’s Butterflies 2022 report from nearly 23m butterfly records, said there needed to be a “massive step-change” to reverse what it described as disastrous declines in insect populations. The report shows that many of the most endangered species have been revived by targeted conservation action or successfully reintroduced in specific places, but butterflies and other flying insects continue to vanish from much of Britain. Projects to encourage active travel across the region have been given a £287,000 boost with a new support grant awarded to BCP Council by Active Travel England (part of the Department for Transport – DfT) from Central Government’s Capability and Ambition Fund.
The School Streets campaign in the BCP Council region, temporarily closed some roads outside of Schools entrances to reduce pollution outside the schools and encourage active travel by the children and parents. The scheme has been widely welcomed as a success.Projects to encourage active travel across the region have been given a £287,000 boost with a new support grant awarded to BCP Council by Active Travel England (part of the Department for Transport – DfT) from Central Government’s Capability and Ambition Fund. The award will be used to fund a number of initiatives across the conurbation, which will help encourage local people to change their travel behaviour and consider adopting active travel. One such project is the design and planning of more secure cycle parking facilities across the BCP Council area. Fear of bike theft is one of the main reasons preventing people from cycling and providing more secure bike storage could help encourage more people to cycle for everyday journeys. Funds from the grant will also be used to continue the popular and successful ‘Active Travel in Schools’ work, which includes ‘School Streets’ and the ‘Bike It Plus’ projects. Both are aimed at improving the safety of school children whilst encouraging them and their families to take up cycling, walking, wheeling and scooting to school. But it is not just the short-term initiatives which this grant will help. Last year BCP Council adopted its Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP) which sets out a long term strategy for sustainable transport infrastructure. The Council team will soon start working on a large project to consider active transport modes alongside all other types of transport, incorporating the LCWIP into an overall transport plan for the BCP Council area. On top of this, the grant will help fund our work with Dorset Police on the security tagging programmes. You can follow Dorset Police on social media to find out where and when their next cycle tagging events will be taking place. |
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