Virginijus Sinkevičius former, a former top environment official has said the EU’s credibility on its climate commitments has been damaged by plans for a one-year delay to a law to combat deforestation that followed intense lobbying from companies and governments around the world. According to him postponing the deforestation regulation would be “a step backward in the fight against climate change”.
In a sharp rebuke to the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, Sinkevičius, who drafted the legislation that was agreed in 2023, said the 12-month delay would put 80,000 acres (32,375 hectares) of forest at risk each day, fuel 15% of global carbon emissions, break trust with the EU’s global partners and damage its credibility on its climate commitments.
The European Commission proposed a 12-month delay to the law, which has been hailed by its advocates as the most ambitious in the world to combat deforestation. The law will ban the sale in the EU of commodities linked to deforestation such as cocoa, coffee, soya, palm oil and rubber, as well as products including chocolate, leather and furniture. Companies are required to use satellite monitoring and other checks to ensure their products have not been produced on land deforested or degraded after 31 December 2020.
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6 w
The issue of destroying trees shouldn't be debatable.They have to be protected by all means as they are too important to be lost.
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7 w
They honestly have to be serious as trees are very crucial esp when it comes to the issue of climate change .
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8 w
Such setbacks jeopardize biodiversity and signal a retreat from international commitments, potentially exacerbating environmental degradation and diminishing global leadership on sustainability.
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8 w
This is a frustrating and regressive move that undermines the urgency of climate action.
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8 w
Application of new and low-cost methods for watering trees in the desert As the world's population increases, desert agriculture has become more important than ever. Countries and regions that do not have water security are not exempted from the increase in population and as a result the demand for food. The Middle East and North Africa are perhaps the biggest examples of developing countries struggling with little or no water and food security. It is estimated that by 2025, 1.8 billion people will live in countries or regions with severe water scarcity. Desert agriculture is a type of agricultural development in the desert. Since agriculture is dependent on irrigation and water resources, agriculture in arid regions where water is scarce is classified as a major challenge. However, desert agriculture has been practiced by humans for thousands of years. In the Negev desert, there are evidences showing the existence of desert agriculture around 5000 years before Christ. Today, examples of modern desert agriculture are being practiced in the Imperial Valley of Southern California, Australia, Saudi Arabia, and more. Water efficiency is very important for plant growth in desert agriculture. Water recycling, desalination and drip irrigation are all modern methods that these regions and countries have used to expand their agriculture despite being in a dry climate. Here are three new and low-cost methods. Of course, there are many methods for it, but I think the suggested methods will be affordable and cheap. 1- Irrigation by absorbing soil moisture, like the method of plastic crops such as watermelon, cucumber, and tomato. Here the greenhouse method is used. Due to the sunlight, soil moisture collects under the plastic and falls as water droplets on the soil surface. Its cost is very cheap; you only need a very thin 0.5 square meter plastic. Implement it by creating one or two 25 cm holes around each tree. (Picture No. 1) 2- Irrigation method with a dropper attached to water bottles A- By connecting a drip head that has the ability to regulate and control water, trees can be watered. B-In this method, you can use a plastic bottle. For this purpose, you should first make a hole in the bottle cap and then install a cork there and fasten it with glue to act like a dropper and deliver the required water to the plant. (Pictures No. 2-A and B) 3- Irrigation with small clay jars In this method, which I think is very appropriate and practical, it is done by Osmosis method of watering trees. You can prepare a small clay jar for each tree. The required equipment can include clay jar, narrow hose, 10 or 20-liter water source. With a 10-liter tank, you can supply the water needed by a tree for 1 month. (Pictures No. 3)
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9 w
This is a ticking time bomb posed to our forests, it is sad to see European commission delay such an important law that is meant to safeguard the environment.