Month: March 2024

The latest figures released by the International Energy Agency (IEA) have revealed that worldwide energy-related CO2 emissions hit a record high of 37.4 billion tonnes in 2023, due in part to drought-stricken regions’ inability to rely on hydropower.  

Scientists have been warning for years that drastic cuts in greenhouse gas emissions will need to be made if the global community is to reach its climate change goals.  

With a vast amount of these gases coming from fossil fuel usage, countries have increasingly looked to alternative and renewable sources in order to power homes and businesses, but Mother Nature doesn’t always see things the way governments do.  

Last year, extreme droughts caused a 40% decrease in hydropower output worldwide. This in turn caused a 170 million tonne rise in emissions as affected regions were forced to turn back to traditional forms of power production. 

“Without this effect, emissions from the global electricity sector would have fallen in 2023,” says the report from the IEA. 

SOME GOOD NEWS 

Despite the drought factor, however, some of the world’s bigger polluters were able to achieve reductions in emissions in 2023.  

The European Union’s 9% fall in emissions was the biggest success story of the year, with the slow but steady shift to renewable energy generation coupled with a plunge in coal and gas power production leading the charge.  

The United States was also a winner, with a 4.1% decrease, thanks in large part to its electricity sector.  

China, normally a huge emissions culprit, also turned it around last year, offsetting its 5.2% emissions rise by becoming a massive contributor to the alternative power industry. Around 60% of new solar panels, wind turbines and electric vehicles came from China last year, meaning that the future there could see some steep drops in overall yearly emissions.  

The IEA has said that, without alternative technologies, the global increase in energy-related CO2 emissions over the last five years would have been three times larger than the 900 million tonnes registered. The agency has also revealed that, for the first-time, at least half of the power produced by developed nations came from low emission sources in 2023.  

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Photo source: Marek Piwnicki, Unsplash  

In the wake of the large-scale farmers’ protests that rocked France earlier this year, the French government has announced a plan to strengthen the national livestock sector as well as the wider agricultural industry. 

On 25th February, France’s Minister of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty, Marc Fesneau, unveiled his plans to better support those growing the nation’s crops as well as its livestock breeding sector. 

Fesneau hopes his plans will alleviate the fears of farmers who say that their livelihoods are in jeopardy due to cheaper imports and a growing number of regulations placed on the nation’s agricultural industry. 

The plans aim to bolster France’s ability to “produce what it consumes” in terms of crops and meat products, with a particular goal of meeting livestock sovereignty.  

“Breeding is essential in France and holds part of the solutions to the great challenges of our century,” reads a statement released by the Ministry. “The Government has decided to put breeding at the heart of its concerns by strengthening the plan to regain our sovereignty over breeding announced last October on the occasion of the 32nd Livestock Summit.” 

To that end, the government has enacted a €150 million benefits fund to support those raising cattle and has earmarked €400 million in guaranteed loans for the livestock sector, which will become available in July 2024.  

There will be €30 million available each year to support investment in agricultural equipment that contributes to significantly reducing greenhouse emissions and another packet of €15 million to strengthen the fight against tuberculosis and other diseases affecting livestock. 

The government is also publishing a decree to protect what can be designated as foods of animal origin, a requirement by restaurants to integrate 100% sustainable meat and fish products into menus, and to ask for an EU-level ban on synthetic meat, arguing that these cultivated products go against tradition and negatively impact livestock farming.  

Another element of the plans is to build interest in farming as a career choice and encourage generational farming within families.  

Finally, the mantra “produce what we consume” will be the battle cry henceforth, following the public confirmation of the Ministry’s mission to ensure food security and self-sufficiency in France, whilst continuing to improve standards and reach climate goals.  

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Photo source: Fabien Bazanegue, Unsplash