In 2019, a group of major companies from around the world agreed to form the Alliance to End Plastic Waste (AEPW), an alliance that set out to reduce the amount of plastic flowing into the environment by around 15 million metric tons by the end of 2023. 

But according to a new report by Unearthed, a Greenpeace investigative journalism team, the initiative members have actually produced more than 1,000 times the amount of plastic than they’ve cleaned up in the 2019 to 2023 timeframe.

The report found that the initiative was established by American Chemistry Council (ACC), a trade association, and a PR company. According to Unearthed, the project aimed to “change the conversation – away from short-term simplistic bans of plastic.”

The Unearthed team examined data provided by Wood Mackenzie, a consultancy firm, and found that five companies that are major players in the alliance, including Shell, ExxonMobil, TotalEnergies, ChevronPhillips and Dow, were producing more plastic in just two days than the total amount of plastic the alliance has cleaned up since 2019. 

As Mother Jones reported, these companies produced 132 million metric tons of polyethylene and polypropylene alone in the 2019-2023 timeframe, not including other types of plastics or the plastic produced by other member companies in the alliance. 

“The recycling schemes they’re promoting can barely make a dent in all the plastic these companies are pumping out,” said Will McCallum, co-executive director at Greenpeace UK, as reported by Mother Jones. “They’re letting the running tap flood the house while trying to scoop up the water with a teaspoon. The only solution is to cut the amount of plastic produced in the first place.”

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AEPW got rid of its target to divert 15 million metric tons of plastic waste last year. According to Packaging Insights, the alliance achieved only 0.2% of its targets and said that the 15 million metric ton benchmark “was just too ambitious.” 

As a Planet Tracker spokesperson told Packaging Insights, the alliance’s goal to invest $1.5 billion in plastic waste cleanup over a five-year timeline was just a drop in the bucket compared to the $400 billion going toward expanding plastic manufacturing. So far, members have only invested around $375 million, Unearthed reported.

“It’s hard to imagine a clearer example of greenwashing in this world,” Bill McKibben, environmental campaigner, told Unearthed. “The oil and gas industry — which is pretty much the same thing as the plastics industry — has been at this for decades.”

The Unearthed investigative report comes during the latest round of global plastics treaty negotiations in Busan, South Korea. Alliance members, along with the ACC, have been present for the negotiations and have argued against plastic bans, saying that plastic waste, not plastic production, was the problem.

A 2023 report estimated that without a strong global plastics treaty, plastic consumption could increase from 261 million metric tons in 2019 to 451 million metric tons by 2050. Plastic production already doubled from 2000 to 2019, and the amount of plastic waste could triple by 2060, a 2023 study by the World Economic Forum found.

Aileen Lucero, an EcoWaste Coalition campaigner, told Unearthed, “To fix this planetary health crisis, we need to address the underlying problems of hazardous chemical inputs in plastic manufacturing and the unbridled production of disposable plastics.”

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Many animals — from bees to bats and lizards to lemurs — are pollinators, but have you ever seen a wolf happily licking the cone of a flower?

Ethiopian wolves have been observed foraging for nectar from the Ethiopian red hot poker flower, with some of the canids visiting up to 30 blooms in one round, a press release from University of Oxford said.

It is a newly documented behavior for the wolves, and when they partake of the unusual treat, their muzzles get covered in pollen, which could potentially be transferred from flower to flower.

The process is possibly the first known interaction of a plant and pollinator involving a large predator. Ethiopian wolves are also the only large carnivore predators to have ever been seen feeding on nectar.

“These findings highlight just how much we still have to learn about one of the world’s most-threatened carnivores. It also demonstrates the complexity of interactions between different species living on the beautiful Roof of Africa,” said lead author of the study Dr. Sandra Lai, a University of Oxford-based senior scientist with the Ethiopian Wolf Conservation Programme (EWCP), in the press release. “This extremely unique and biodiverse ecosystem remains under threat from habitat loss and fragmentation.”

The rarest of the world’s wild canid species, the Ethiopian wolf is Africa’s most threatened carnivore. Only found in the highlands of Ethiopia, fewer than 500 of these beautiful creatures remain, restricted to 99 packs living in six Afroalpine enclaves.

During the study, EWCP researchers discovered evidence of the wolves using social learning, with juveniles accompanying adults to the flower fields.

“I first became aware of the nectar of the Ethiopian red hot poker when I saw children of shepherds in the Bale Mountains licking the flowers. In no time, I had a taste of it myself — the nectar was pleasantly sweet. When I later saw the wolves doing the same, I knew they were enjoying themselves, tapping into this unusual source of energy,” said Professor Claudio Sillero, founder and director of EWCP, in the press release. “I am chuffed that we have now reported this behavior as being commonplace among Ethiopian wolves and explored its ecological significance.”

The study, “Canids as pollinators? Nectar foraging by Ethiopian wolves may contribute to the pollination of Kniphofia foliosa,” was published in the journal Ecology.

Founded in 1995, EWCP is Ethiopia’s longest-running conservation program, with the purpose of protecting the wolves and their habitat. The program — a partnership between University of Oxford’s Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, Dinknesh Ethiopia and the Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Authority — aims to preserve natural habitats for wildlife and humans in Ethiopia’s highlands.

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In Switzerland, highway noise barriers surrounding the Oberland Autobahn near Wangen-Brüttisellen will soon provide solar power.

Last year, Switzerland’s Federal Roads Office made the surfaces of highway noise barriers free and set out to cover 350 of them in solar panels. Swiss officials estimated that the arrays could generate 100 gigawatt hours of clean energy per year, CleanTechnica reported.

The project is now kicking off with the first two privately owned solar arrays for the A15 Oberland motorway, which will be completed over the first half of 2025. As TA Zurich reported, these photovoltaic installations are expected to provide about 500,000 kilowatt hours of electricity per year.

The first solar arrays will be operated by Lima Solar AG, which has had to overcome several hurdles before starting the installation, including finding low-cost, low-glare panels that won’t distract drivers.

However, despite the hurdles, the company has now paved the way for other noise barrier solar projects to move forward at a faster pace.

One ongoing challenge involves connecting the private solar arrays to the electric grid, particularly in more rural areas, and establishing a marketplace for the generated power. As TA Zurich reported, covering the noise barriers alone would only provide a limited amount of clean energy for residents.

However, Switzerland passed a law in 2023 requiring new buildings with 3,300 square feet (300 meters) or more of roof space to install solar panels. In 2024, Zurich passed a law requiring solar panels on buildings, new or old, with roofs at least 3,300 square feet by 2040.

By installing more panels in already developed spaces that are otherwise unused, Switzerland is incorporating more efficient and affordable ways to install solar.

There has been promising research on the benefits of adding photovoltaic installations along highways to power local communities and support EV charging infrastructure.

A study published in November 2023 found that deploying solar panels on highway noise barriers along highways in the Netherlands could provide around 200 gigawatt hours per year of energy. Further, the study determined that solar energy along highways, both on noise barriers and on public lands around highways, could supply enough power for highway EV charging stations to charge more than 300 electric vehicles per day, which would meet about 80% of expected demand by 2030.

According to a study published in August 2024, installing solar panels overtop of highways could be an effective way to reduce both emissions and traffic accidents. The report found that installing highway solar panels globally could reduce carbon emissions by about 28%. By putting solar arrays over highways, the researchers of that study estimated a reduction in global traffic deaths by about 10.8%, because the solar panels would protect the highways from precipitation.

As the project along the Oberland Autobahn revealed, there are still challenges to low-glare solar panel costs and delayed governmental approval processes, but as more companies work to establish these types of systems, the cost and time to complete the projects is expected to decline.

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A new UNICEF report released on Wednesday to coincide with World Children’s Day has found that eight times more children will experience extreme heatwaves globally by 2050.

According to The State of the World’s Children 2024, three megatrends will have powerful impacts on the lives of children between now and midcentury, including the environmental and climate crises; demographic shifts; and “frontier technologies,” a press release from UNICEF said.

In the report, researchers model the ways in which potential pathways could influence how children experience our world in 2050.

“The demographic trends of today will shape tomorrow’s population patterns. The carbon we pour into our atmosphere today will shape tomorrow’s climate. The technologies we develop and govern today will influence not only how future generations learn, work and communicate, but also the well-being of children for years to come,” the report’s executive summary said.

According to the United Nations, three times as many children will be impacted by flooding rivers in comparison with the 2000s, based on the continuation of current trends, reported The Guardian. Wildfires will affect almost two times more children, with many others expected to experience tropical cyclones and droughts.

There will be notable regional variation in climate and environmental crises impacting children by the 2050s. By then, the largest numbers of children are expected to be living in south Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.

The Pacific; east and south Asia; west, north and central Africa; and the Middle East are expected to see the biggest increases in children being affected by extreme heatwaves. The same regions are projected to experience river floods, with the addition of east Africa.

The executive summary said the Convention on the Rights of the Child treaty must be a guiding light as we navigate the road to a better future.

“By 2050, we need empathy, communication and policies that promote new activities and sustainable jobs. Leaders, build an inclusive and prosperous future,” said a 16-year-old female U-Reporter from Ecuador.

The report said artificial intelligence (AI) and other technologies will bring both risks and benefits to children, The Guardian reported. Many currently interact with AI through games, apps and learning software. In high-income countries, nearly 95 percent of people have internet access, while just 25 percent of those in low-income countries are connected.

“Children are experiencing a myriad of crises, from climate shocks to online dangers, and these are set to intensify in the years to come,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell, as reported by The Guardian. “The decisions world leaders make today – or fail to make – define the world children will inherit… Decades of progress, particularly for girls, are under threat.”

Children are at increased risk of diseases due to the climate crisis. Mosquito populations have risen, along with the illnesses they carry and transmit, such as dengue, malaria, Zika and West Nile virus.

Extreme weather can prevent children from having access to a healthy diet. Hurricanes, tornadoes, heatwaves, floods and earthquakes have also been associated with a number of mental health issues, like depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

“The world already knows what it needs to do to limit the worst impacts of climate change,” Russell said. “Youth leaders have been forceful – and rightly so – in urging national leaders to stick to their climate commitments. To ignore those calls is to betray the futures of children and young people. We cannot allow that to happen.”

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The vast array of Earth’s plants and animals is what makes our world so exciting and beautiful. When it comes to forests, having a diversity of tree species comes with an added bonus that benefits the entire planet: a higher rate of carbon sequestration.

A new study has found that forests with greater tree diversity are more productive, which potentially means extra efficiency in capturing carbon from the atmosphere.

An international team of researchers has found that faster-growing trees that capture carbon more quickly tend to be on the smaller side and have shorter lifespans. This means they store less carbon and release it back into the atmosphere at a faster pace as well, a press release from University of Birmingham said.

On the other hand, trees that grow more slowly are larger, live longer and tend to capture more carbon, especially in an exceptionally diverse forest.

“At the community level, we find that more diverse forests, which include a wider mix of fast-growing short-lived and slow-growing long-lived species, sequester more carbon. This result suggests that more demographically diverse forests are better able to tap into a larger resource pool within a given environment (e.g., include tree species that acquire nutrients from different soil profiles), which minimizes direct competition for limited resources,” lead author of the study Dr. Lalasia Murphy, a lecturer in the department of environmental systems science at ETH Zurich, told EcoWatch in an email. “Alternatively, this emergent trend could be due to positive facilitation among species. Either way, this result emphasizes the importance of forest biodiversity.”

More specifically, certain types of trees have the ability to capture higher amounts of carbon than others.

“Forests with diverse tree species can capture carbon more effectively, meaning that promoting forest biodiversity in forests can help capture more carbon. Understanding how these factors are linked can guide restoration and conservation projects. By selecting the right mix of tree species, we may be able to maximize carbon storage and develop strategies that enhance forest resilience to climate change,” said co-author of the study Dr. Adriane Esquivel-Muelbert, a Birmingham-based researcher from Brazil, in the press release.

The research team analyzed 3.2 million tree measurements from 1,127 species growing in forests from northern Canada to southern Brazil, and mapped the life expectancies of trees that were from 1.3 to almost 3,200 years old.

“Slow-growing long-lived species capture carbon at slower rates but also store that carbon for substantially longer periods (100s to 1,000s of years). Keep in mind that species growth-longevity relationships have different implications than community-level trends,” Murphy told EcoWatch.

In the study, the researchers identified four primary types of tree life-cycles: three clusters of slow-growing tree species and those that are fast-growing but have shorter lifespans.

On one end of the growth cluster are species that have small maximum sizes and high life expectancies. On the other end are tree species with large maximum sizes and low life expectancies.

“Tree growth and lifespan trade-offs are crucial for the planet’s carbon balance. The positive relationship between trait diversity and productivity suggests that maintaining diverse forests is crucial for ecosystem health and climate change mitigation,” Esquivel-Muelbert said in the press release.

The team discovered that all four demographic functional types were found in tropical regions, while species located in non-tropical areas were part of two clusters of mostly slow-growing tree species. They found the mean life expectancy of the trees tended to be longer outside the tropics.

The research team mapped the life history traits of species across the Americas and found a strong correlation between tree growth and temperature, with cooler climates being associated with slower growth.

They also found that tropical forests exhibited higher diversity in comparison with boreal and temperate forests.

Murphy clarified why tropical forests have a higher diversity of tree species. “There are several possible explanations for this emergent pattern. Cold temperatures in the boreal regions likely constrain the range of strategies that can persist over evolutionary time, acting as an environmental filter that excludes fast-growing short-lived species. At the same time, more productive tropical forests are thought to have higher levels of competition among species. Theoretically, this should lead to strong selective pressures over evolutionary time, causing species to differentiate to avoid direct competition and coexist (e.g., adopt fast- and slow-growth strategies),” Murphy told EcoWatch. “Basically, we find a wider range of fast-growing short-lived species and slow-growing long-lived species in the tropics and a narrower range of predominantly slow-growing long-lived species in the boreal north.”

If they are not subjected to deforestation, wildfires or other interruptions to their life cycle, tropical forest tree species can have similar life spans to those in boreal forests. 

“In the absence of human disturbance, the oldest trees in tropical forests live as long as the oldest trees in boreal forests,” a press release from ETH Zurich said.

The study, “The pace of life for forest trees,” was published in the journal Science.

“This study provides a broad-scale assessment of tree life expectancy for species across the Americas, with estimates ranging from tens to thousands of years,” Murphy said in the press release. “These findings provide new insights that can be used to inform biodiversity conservation and climate change mitigation.”

To help make forests more diverse, Murphy suggested protecting remaining intact forests and supporting restoration efforts that “prioritize native biodiversity conservation.”

For the study, the scientists used the largest dynamic tree information dataset to date.

“Such large-scale analysis is only possible with large collaborative efforts involving hundreds of researchers monitoring these forests for many years,” said co-author of the findings Dr. Thomas Pugh, an environmental scientist who splits his time between Lund University and the University of Birmingham, in the press release.

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