A $100 million gift for national parks in America
The US National Park Service will receive the largest grant in its history, allowing it to protect fragile ecosystems across more than 400 national park sites. The funding will support a range of priority initiatives, including restoring coral reefs at Biscayne National Park in Florida and recovering trout species in western national parks. AP
Senegal park removed from List of World Heritage in Danger
Over the past seven years, Niokolo-Koba National Park has made an incredible turnaround thanks to an ambitious action plan to combat wildlife depletion, poaching, and mining on site. The park’s gallery forests and savannahs are home to a wealth of wildlife, such as giant elands, lions, and large populations of elephants, birds, reptiles, and amphibians. UNESCO
Did we actually manage to save the whales?
After 80 years of managing global whale populations, the International Whaling Commission may have put itself out of a job. Thanks to its groundbreaking agreement for a moratorium on commercial whaling in 1985, the populations of many whale species are rebounding. 'By exiting with dignity, the IWC would set a powerful example for the international environmental community.' Nature
A land management scheme is helping wildlife in the UK
Since it was introduced in 2021, Britain's environmental land management scheme has paid farmers for planting hedges, sowing wildflowers, and leaving corners of their land wild for nature. And it’s worked! The populations of wildlife like butterflies, bees, and bats have increased, and an average of 25% more breeding birds have been found in areas utilising the scheme. The Guardian
New Indigenous reserve in the Peruvian Amazon
After a two-decade campaign, the Sierra del Divisor Occidental Indigenous Reserve will protect 515,114 hectares of forest and several isolated Indigenous communities that live within the reserve. It’s a welcome victory 'not only for the Indigenous people who call it home, but also for those who defend human rights and the environment in Peru.' Mongabay
Berlin is becoming a sponge city
To combat rising temperatures and drought, the city is adopting measures to absorb rainwater—like a sponge—and then release it when water is needed. Nine underground overflow basins have been completed, with one still in the making. At 30 m deep, the basin will hold nearly 17,000 m3 of rainwater, the equivalent of almost seven Olympic-size swimming pools. Deutsche Welle
Eight island-ocean ecosystems confirmed for rewilding initiative
The Island-Ocean Connection Challenge is almost halfway to reaching its goal to begin the holistic restoration of 40 island-ocean ecosystems by 2030. They have just confirmed eight new islands across the Dominican Republic, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Ireland, France, and the US Virgin Islands, bringing the total to 17 confirmed projects. Sea Shepherd
These new projects represent a significant step forward in our efforts to restore and rewild island-ocean ecosystems across the globe.
Dr. Wes Sechrest, CEO of Re:wild.
New scheme to make Dutch livestock farming more sustainable
The EU commission has approved a €700 million scheme to promote more sustainable and environmentally friendly production in the livestock sector. Farmers with small- and medium-sized livestock operations who voluntarily close farming sites will be compensated for costs directly linked to the closures. The scheme applies to priority areas, including peatlands, sandy soils, and stream valleys. EU Reporter
A film about Indigenous fire practices: Burnt Country
This short film was the second-place winner of the 2024 Yale Environment 360 Film Contest, and it’s well worth 20 minutes of your time. It focuses on Tasmania’s Melukerdee people, who have long used low-temperature fires to protect the land. 'One of the cultures that humanity needs to learn from in the coming years if we’re actually going to stabilise this planet.'
More music for those who will listen
- Rangers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo are transforming the ‘triangle of death’ into a thriving wildlife reserve.
- An ambitious restoration project in Cornwall will protect marine habitats in St Austell Bay, including maerl beds that have existed for more than 4,000 years.
- A tree-planting project in China has afforested more than 26,000 hectares of Shigar Mountain, with an additional 133,000 hectares planned over the next six years.
- Dam removal is restoring Michigan rivers.
- Native forests are making a comeback on Huapi Island in Chile, thanks to the restoration efforts of its Indigenous community.
- Water temple priests in Bali are using 'ritual technology' to create sustainable rice production.
- The Willamette Valley Conservation Area in Oregon will protect oak and prairie habitat of iconic species like the western monarch butterfly.
- Scientists in Germany have identified plastic-eating fungi that could help clean up the world’s oceans.
- Taiwan has banned live performances by wild animals held in captivity, including dolphins and tigers.
- Sockeye salmon are returning in record numbers to the waters of North Central Washington.
- Engineers are using massive Dutch-inspired sand sculptures to protect West Africa’s Gulf of Guinea.
- An endangered fish species has been 'reborn' in China’s Yunnan province after a 40-year absence.
Saving the world is cheaper than ruining it
Battery storage is creating a paradigm shift in clean energy
Seven months ago, we said that 2024 was going to be the year of the battery. That prediction has come true. Batteries are less than half the price they were just 18 months ago, and multiple energy analysts are now saying their impact could be just as big—if not bigger—than solar. This article in the (increasingly excellent) English-language version of El País provides a great overview. Believe.
Batteries — the icing on the renewable cake — will be the grave of oil, coal and natural gas, the fossil fuel troika responsible for the climate crisis.
The best is yet to come for clean energy in the United States
The second half of 2024 is projected to see the fastest rate of clean power additions in US history by a huge margin, with massive amounts of solar farms and battery storage facilities scheduled to come online. Leading the charge is Texas: 32% of new batteries, 27% of new solar, and 23% of new wind coming online in the next year are in the Lone Star State. Believe.
China officially reaches solar and wind goals six years early
Less than four years ago, when Xi Jinping announced the goal of reaching 1,200 GW of wind and solar capacity by 2030, China had 446 GW of solar and wind. Most observers thought that was too ambitious to achieve in a decade—and not a single energy expert in the world, barring perhaps Tony Seba, predicted that they would get there by July 2024. Believe.
Germany makes serious inroads on permitting reform
Two years ago, a single wind energy project in Germany, with just three turbines, required 36,000 pages of documentation. Then Russia invaded Ukraine, Germany's leaders realised the red tape was insane, and they made a bunch of permitting reforms—and now they're deploying more renewables than any other European country. 'We’re quite pleased.' Bloomberg 🎁
India installed 15 GW of solar in the first half of 2024
Year-on-year, this is a 282% increase compared to the first half of 2023, topping all previous half-yearly and annual PV installations. The country's cumulative installed solar capacity is now almost 90 GW, with utility-scale projects contributing nearly 87% and rooftop solar over 13%. PV Magazine
South Africa has a huge pipeline of renewable energy projects
A new survey has shown a combined capacity of 133 GW of wind and solar at various stages of development across the country—more than double the capacity of 12 months ago. Of those projects, 66 GW are at an advanced stage, with environmental approvals secured and feasibility studies completed, with the potential for commercial operation within three years. Engineering News
Charging infrastructure expanding rapidly in Europe and the US
The number of fast chargers for Europe’s electric vehicles has grown sixfold in three years, reaching 89,000, which is around 15% of the public charging network. In the United States, the number of publicly-available EV chargers has doubled during the Biden-Harris administration—there are over 192,000 across the country, with approximately 1,000 being added each week.
BYD overtakes Honda and Nissan by sales volume
The Chinese electric carmaker sold 980,000 vehicles in the second quarter of 2024, an increase of 40% year on year, overtaking Honda and Nissan for the first time to become the seventh-largest automaker globally. Two years ago, BYD wasn't even in the top 15. It now has its sights set on Ford, which sold 1.14 million vehicles in the second quarter of this year. Electrek
Shanghai unveils plans for solar farms in the ocean
While everyone scrambles to catch up, China's second-largest city already has one foot in the future with a recently unveiled plan to build offshore solar next to its offshore wind farms. This comes off the back of last month's approval for 29 GW of new offshore wind capacity, more than exists in any single country outside of China. Bloomberg
Meta signs agreement to develop up to 150 MW of geothermal
It's not much in comparison to the gargantuan solar and wind numbers we've covered this week, but geothermal is one of the most promising things happening in clean energy right now, and 150MW is actually quite a big deal. The proposed Meta development would use a type of geothermal energy that is basically fracking, but clean. NYT 🎁
What's the opposite of doom-scrolling?
- BloombergNEF just revised its 2024 predictions for global solar deployment upwards again, to almost 600 GW. It's probably an underestimate.
- Good news from our own backyard: the Australian state of Victoria has laid out plans to reach 95% renewables by 2035.
- One of the unexpected benefits of the Sun Cable? By requiring cooperation among 11 Asian countries, it could promote peace.
- Poland is launching a nearly-€5 billion programme financed by the EU to provide loans to builders of offshore wind farms in the Baltic Sea.
- China's once-barren Tengger Desert now has almost 25% green cover, thanks to the shade created by a sea of new solar panels.
- Ukraine has approved a $20-billion plan to increase renewable energy production by 2030.
- The lifetime carbon footprint of an EV in China is 37.8% lower than that of a car powered by dinosaur juice—and as electricity gets cleaner, that will fall further.
- Kia and Hyundai have taken America's EV market by storm this year, with the former seeing a doubling of sales and the latter closing in on Tesla.
- One of the biggest players in the US self-storage industry is rolling out solar panels across 790,000 m2 of its rooftop spaces.
- And finally, a reminder that scaremongering and FUD are nothing new, and that technology transitions are always resisted by incumbents.
That's it for this edition—thanks for reading! We'll see you next week :)
With love,
Gus and Amy
