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Moving mining back to Europe

EU clean energy targets will need 35 times more lithium and seven to 26 times the amount of rare earth metals in 2050 compared with today. Critical raw materials are a key ingredient in any green transition, but now the question is: can mining go hand in hand with nature protection laws?

From waste to resource: the rise of urban mining

Mining isn’t the only way to extract the critical raw materials needed for the green transition. Soon, they could increasingly be recovered from waste, reducing the need for virgin materials and the dependence of EU from the import.

Copper

The Critical Raw Materials Act: digging in the dirt for a sustainable future

The European path to meet the goals for a clean, green, and renewable energy future leads to a growing demand of critical metals supply. A recent agreement proposes a response mechanism to the risks of critical raw materials supply shortage or disruption, working towards a more independent and resilient Europe, while negotiating with strict environmental regulations.

What is environmental intelligence?

It can leverage new technologies including artificial intelligence and machine learning to greatly improve the selection, processing and use of the vast amounts of climate data we currently have. The result? More informed and effective decision making from the local to the global level. Scientists, startuppers and representatives of EU institutions dialogue on funding opportunities, innovation and applications.

A cyclone

Climate intelligence at work: the case of Cyclone Freddy

It is the most intense tropical cyclone in terms of energy released by a tropical cyclone during its lifetime and the third-deadliest tropical cyclone ever recorded in the Southern Hemisphere: scientists at work with machine learning and climate intelligence to allowing an optimal response and preparedness to events like Freddy.

An explosive affair: volcanoes and climate

The year without a summer showed the world how volcanoes can affect climate with severe consequences on human societies and economies. Today – while climate deniers use eruptions as a tool with which to cloud the truth about anthropogenic causes of climate change – volcanoes remain important monitors of “our impacts on the climate (which) are so large they even have the potential to affect volcanic eruptions themselves”.

Who believes in green promises?

A team of scientists analyses the interaction between heterogeneous expectations, investment decisions and climate mitigation policymaking, examining how firms invest in low versus high carbon capital based on their beliefs about future carbon prices.

No need to exclude any food

More of this, less of that: there is no need to exclude any food. By adjusting eating habits, Europeans can prevent cardiovascular diseases while halving the EU carbon footprint linked to food consumption. A visual guide to how Europeans can adopt eating habits that are both healthy and halve emissions.

IPCC press release: Urgent climate action can secure a liveable future for all

Official press release by the IPCC on the publication of the Synthesis Report – AR6 —-
There are multiple, feasible and effective options to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to human-caused climate change, and they are available now, said scientists in the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report released March 20.

A survival guide for humanity: the IPCC’s latest synthesis report

From science to policy: a matter of urgency, action, and hope. The latest IPCC synthesis report lays out the harsh truth on the current state of the climate. But, it also shows us that we have the tools to invert our current trajectory and that the decisions and measures we take today will have a lasting effect on the world of tomorrow. A collection of media reactions.

Ocean waves (1878-1940) vintage Japanese woodcut prints by Uehara Konen

“A historic moment for the ocean” – international reactions to the new High Seas Treaty

Top ranking representatives of international institutions, opinion leaders, diplomats, scientists and civil society: from emotional reactions to pragmatic comments, the international community hails the Marine Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBJN) treaty. After almost two decades of negotiations, a two-week-long conference, more than 48 hours of talks, international efforts led to an agreement for the conservation and protection of ocean areas that fall beyond national borders.