Barbados has secured the world’s first “debt-for-climate” swap to finance crucial water and sewage projects that will help the island cope with the destructive impacts of climate change.

Through a deal with international funding partners, the Caribbean island nation was able to replace outstanding debt with less expensive financing, which generated a savings of $125 million to be used to increase food security while enhancing water resources management, a press release from the European Investment Bank (EIB) said.

“In the face of the climate crisis, this groundbreaking transaction serves as a model for vulnerable states, delivering rapid adaptation benefits for Barbados. With upfront funding from our partners, we are building a state-of-the-art facility to boost water management, food security, and resilience — showcasing how innovation and cooperation drive environmental and fiscal gains,” Prime Minister Mia Mottley said in the press release.

Countries have been embracing more debt swaps in order to make investment funds available for nature conservation projects, Reuters reported.

The deal sets a climate adaptation financing benchmark, those involved said. It avoids the increasing public debt burden while helping to meet the nearly $360 billion annually the United Nations has said is necessary to assist developing nations with adapting to climate change.

Water availability in Barbados for farming and other activities is far below the global average.

Mottley’s Bridgetown Initiative calls for international financial institutions such as the World Bank to make ever increasing challenges like high debt levels, slower growth and climate change a priority.

Barbados plans to improve its water supply and security by building a New South Coast Water Reclamation and Reuse Facility to provide more than twice the available water by 2050. Additional funding will be put toward mangrove conservation, agricultural resilience and water restoration.

The Green Climate Fund (GCF) and Inter-American Development Bank gave $70 million in loans to start development. An additional grant of $40 million was also provided by GCF.

Through the deal, Barbados was able to buy back nearly $300 million in domestic bonds using a loan provided by Scotiabank of Barbados, RBC Royal Bank and CIBC Caribbean Bank. The loan includes sustainability performance targets which must be met or the government will be subject to financial penalties. The loan is backed by $150 million each from the Inter-American Development Bank and EIB.

“Barbados’ initiative enhances climate resilience and sets a benchmark for sustainable adaptation for the Caribbean. CIBC Caribbean is honored to again collaborate with the Government of Barbados and multilateral agencies like the IDB and EIB in setting precedents for innovative financial mechanisms that drive environmental stewardship in our region. This partnership underscores our commitment to accelerating climate action and fostering sustainable development across the Caribbean,” said Mark St. Hill, chief executive officer of CIBC Caribbean, in the press release.

Part of the European Union’s Global Gateway project, the guarantee from EIB is an attempt to attract countries from the Global South that have been relying on China’s Belt & Road Initiative for infrastructure funding.

“Debt-for-climate conversions can support responses to two overlapping crises: constraining debt and the escalating climate emergency. The Green Climate Fund is a proud partner of Barbados in bringing a coalition of financiers together, all backing an innovative financial instrument aimed at helping the island nation achieve its development and climate goals,” said Mafalda Duarte, executive director of GCF, in the press release.

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A new report by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), in collaboration with the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), has found that global land degradation is increasing by about 1 million square kilometers per year, nearly the size of Egypt.

The report, “Stepping back from the precipice: Transforming land management to stay within planetary boundaries,” evaluated global land degradation to better understand how land use could impact planetary boundaries. By comparing land degradation within this specific scientific framework, the report authors showed how unsustainable land-system changes can impact other global systems.

In September 2024, PIK released a separate report that warned that we are about to exceed a seventh of nine planetary boundaries, putting the world at risk of surpassing tipping points and threatening the lives of humans and wildlife.

As the “Stepping back from the precipice” report notes, proper land use is essential for climate regulation, biodiversity, healthy freshwater systems and the ability to produce food and water. Further, proper land use is essential to keeping at least seven of the planetary boundaries within safe operating limits. Already, we have passed six boundaries, including land-system change.

According to PIK, original global forest cover is around 60%, while the limit for safe operation requires around 75% of forest cover. As The Guardian reported, total land degradation on Earth is already around 15 million square kilometers (5.8 million square miles), an area larger than Antarctica, which spans around 14.2 million square kilometers (5.5 million square miles). The cost of this degradation is around $6.3 trillion to $10.6 trillion each year, and around 1.2 billion people are already impacted by land degradation.

Now, the world faces continuing land degradation to the tune of an additional 1 million square kilometers (386,102 square miles) each year, PIK and UNCCD warned in the report. According to the report authors, some of the main drivers of expanding land degradation include unsustainable farming practices — which are linked to nearly 90% of forest loss — as well as deforestation and urbanization.

“If we fail to acknowledge the pivotal role of land and take appropriate action, the consequences will ripple through every aspect of life and extend well into the future, intensifying difficulties for future generations,” Ibrahim Thiaw, executive secretary of UNCCD, told The Guardian.

As part of the report, the organizations included several recommendations for urgent actions to minimize and reverse land degradation, such as restoring forests, grasslands and savannahs; investing in sustainable agriculture practices; more sustainably managing freshwater sources; increasing public and private investments in sustainable land use; using sustainable frameworks including the planetary boundaries in policymaking; and pursuing equity and justice in all land use changes.

“These transformative actions hold great potential for addressing land degradation, but their implementation will require an enabling environment, conducive policies, significant investments and an integration of principles of fairness and justice across multiple sectors and scales,” the report concluded.

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Norway agreed on Sunday to stop the first round of licensing for Arctic deep-sea mining following pressure from the Socialist Left Party (SV), reported The Guardian.

The small leftwing party refused to support the government’s budget if it did not halt deep-sea mining exploration licenses scheduled for next year.

“This puts a stop to the plans to start deep-sea mining until the end of the government’s term,” said SV party leader Kirsti Bergstø, as The Guardian reported.

The announcement came after over a year of pressure from scientists, environmental activists and the international community, a press release from Greenpeace said.

HUGE WIN – Norway agreed to stop deep sea mining in the Arctic This is a win for global mobilisation and a huge step forward to protect the Arctic This fragile ecosystem is safe from deep sea mining at least until the end of 2025 – and we won’t stop there #StopDeepSeaMining

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— Greenpeace International (@greenpeace.org) December 2, 2024 at 8:43 AM

“This is a huge win! After hard work from activists, environmentalists, scientists and fishermen, we have secured a historic win for ocean protection, as the opening process for deep sea mining in Norway has been stopped. The wave of protests against deep sea mining is growing. We will not let this industry destroy the unique life in the deep sea, not in the Arctic nor anywhere else,” said deep-sea mining campaigner Haldis Tjeldflaat Helle with Greenpeace Nordic, in the press release.

At the beginning of 2024, Norway became the first nation to approve commercial deep-sea mining.

According to the country’s coalition government, preparatory work — such as setting regulations and conducting environmental impact assessments — would continue while the licenses were suspended, reported The Guardian.

“This will be a postponement,” Prime Minister of Norway Jonas Gahr Støre, a member of the Labour party, told private broadcaster TV2.

Norway is being sued by WWF over its plans to allow companies to mine an area of more than 100,000 square miles for deep-sea minerals without taking proper measures to adequately investigate the consequences.

The Norwegian Environment Agency said the impact assessment did not provide a sufficient legal or scientific basis for deep-sea mining.

A worldwide moratorium on deep-sea mining has been called for by over 900 ocean scientists.

Earlier this year, Europe’s parliament expressed concern over Norway’s decision to allow the destructive activities and called on Norwegian member states to back a moratorium.

“There will be no announcement of exploration rights for deep-sea mining in 2024 or 2025,” SV said in a statement, as AFP reported.

Norway’s government said a study confirmed that a substantial store of minerals and metals — including copper and rare earth elements — were discovered on its continental shelf. These metals are necessary for the transition away from fossil fuels, it argued.

A 32-member coalition, including France, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Canada and Germany, has called for a deep-sea mining moratorium in international waters.

“Millions of people across the world are calling on governments to resist the dire threat of deep sea mining to safeguard oceans worldwide. This is a huge step forward to protect the Arctic, and now it is time for Norway to join over 30 nations calling for a moratorium and be a true ocean champion,” said Louisa Casson, campaigner for Greenpeace International Stop Deep Sea Mining, in the press release.

Deep-sea mining is devastating to marine ecosystems, producing toxic sediment plumes that choke the unique sea life that lives on the bottom of the ocean floor while creating disruptive noise pollution and turning the seabed into a barren wasteland.

“Stopping the Norwegian deep sea mining plans is an important step in stopping this industry from destroying life at the bottom of the sea. Any government that is committed to sustainable ocean management cannot support deep sea mining. It has been truly embarrassing to watch Norway positioning itself as an ocean leader, while planning to give green light to ocean destruction in its own waters,” Helle said in the press release.

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If you’re looking to keep your indoor air cleaner over the holidays, a new study has found that air fryers emit just a small portion of the indoor air pollutants produced by other cooking methods like pan and deep frying.

Most people spend most of their time — 80 percent — indoors, and cooking is a big contributor to indoor air pollution. The energy efficiency of air fryers has been amply studied, but less is known about their environmental benefits, a press release from England’s University of Birmingham said.

“As expected, oil-based cooking methods produced much more [particulate matter (PM)] and [volatile organic compounds (VOCs)] in the indoor environment than water-based methods,” the authors wrote in the study. “The air fryer generated the least PM emissions.”

Indoor pollutants are a significant health concern and can cause a range of symptoms and chronic conditions like respiratory, cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases.

As their test kitchen, the scientists used a well-controlled campus research kitchen as a compromise between experiments measuring pollution produced by various cooking methods conducted in a laboratory, and testing in the less regulated environment of a domestic kitchen.

For the experiments, the researchers used five different methods to prepare chicken breast: pan frying, deep-fat frying, stir-frying, boiling and air-frying. They then measured the levels of VOCs and PM emitted by each cooking method.

For PM, the research team used micrograms for each cubic meter of air to measure peak concentrations. The peak concentration for pan frying was 92.9, deep frying measured 7.7, stir-frying had a peak concentration of 26.7, boiling came in at 0.7 and air-frying 0.6.

The measurements for VOCs were “parts per billion,” or ppb. Pollution levels were relatively similar to the PM emissions across the variety of cooking methods. The team also identified and quantified certain VOCs emitted most during each activity.

“There are a number of factors that will affect the levels of pollution from cooking alongside the method used, including the amount of oil used, and the temperature of the stove. What we can say with certainty, however, is that improving the ventilation in kitchens by opening windows or using extractor fans, will help to disperse polluting particles and reduce personal exposure,” said lead author of the study Christian Pfrang, a professor of atmospheric science at University of Birmingham, in the press release.

The team kept measuring the pollution emitted for both VOCs and PM following the conclusion of the cooking process. They found that substantially higher pollution levels remained in the kitchen for more than an hour after cooking, even though the preparation only took about 10 minutes.

“It’s also really important to understand that particles will remain in the air for quite some time after you have finished cooking, so continuing to ventilate, or keeping extractor fans turned on for a period of time will really help to avoid the build-up of this indoor pollution and reduce the potential for the pollutants to be transported and distributed throughout the house with the associated higher personal exposures,” Pfrang added.

The study, “Impact of Cooking Methods on Indoor Air Quality: A Comparative Study of Particulate Matter (PM) and Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) Emissions,” was published in the journal Indoor Air.

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According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) 50th annual Automotive Trends Report, model year (MY) 2023 electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles have led to an 11% decline in carbon dioxide emissions from new vehicles.

The report noted that fuel economy reached a record high and greenhouse gas emissions from new vehicles reached a record low for MY 2023 vehicles, in part thanks to EVs. 

Further, the report found that all 14 of the major automotive manufacturers were meeting the light-duty greenhouse gas program requirements set by the EPA for the MY 2023 vehicles. The program requires MY 2023 through MY 2026 vehicles to prioritize vehicle technology that reduces pollution and emissions. According to the EPA, the light-duty greenhouse gas program could save more than 3 billion tons of emissions by 2050.

Already, clean vehicle technology, including fully electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles, has made a substantial difference to emissions, the EPA Automotive Trends Report revealed. New MY 2023 vehicles led to a decrease in carbon emissions to 319 grams per mile, a record low. Compared to 20 years ago, the report found that carbon dioxide emissions have declined by 142 grams per mile or around 31%. EVs and plug-in hybrids have been particularly helpful, reducing carbon emissions by 38 grams per mile.

The reduction in carbon emissions has also been accompanied by an increase in vehicle fuel economy, which has risen 40% since MY 2004. For MY 2023 vehicles alone, new vehicle fuel economy reached a record high of 27.1 miles per gallon, according to the EPA.

“This report provides a critical data-driven affirmation that strong, technology-neutral standards can underpin environmental progress while saving drivers money at the pump,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan said in a statement. “Manufacturers continue to innovate and are bringing technologies to market which will directly improve air quality, better protecting people’s health and saving lives.”

The EPA revealed that these vehicle upgrades have made significant improvements in pollution and public health since the agency began recording data in 1975. According to the agency, today’s light-duty vehicles are about 99% cleaner for common pollutants, such as carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides.

These trends are expected to continue as the EPA estimated an increase in electric, plug-in hybrid, and fuel cell vehicle production for MY 2024. According to the report, these vehicles increased to make up 11.5% of vehicle production in MY 2023 from just 6.7% of production for MY 2022, and they could increase again to 14.8% of production for MY 2024.

Although the report brings good news for the EV market, the EPA warned that light-duty vehicles are still contributing a significant amount, around 17%, to total emissions in the U.S. As such, officials said there will need to be more efforts to improve fuel economy and reduce emissions from vehicles.

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