Review 2023: Climate-relevant setbacks
After an eventful year, we take stock: 2023 was a year of extremes. The effects of the climate crisis were visible worldwide - heatwaves, droughts, torrential rain, hurricanes, forest fires. A quarter of all species are threatened. Plastic is everywhere, even in clouds. At a political level, 2023 saw some major setbacks in the fight against climate change and species extinction - including the re-approval of glyphosate and the lack of a pesticide regulation.
Effects of the climate crisis worldwide
This year saw the highest temperatures and the highest greenhouse gas emissions worldwide since measurements began. That is why we are dedicating a separate article to this major topic tomorrow. The effects of global warming were felt everywhere this year.
"An unprecedented drought in the Amazon, heavy rainfall in Libya and Brazil, forest fires in Greece, heatwaves in India and China, among others, and disastrous flooding worldwide: the climate crisis showed its teeth globally in 2023. This makes it all the more important that we are uncompromising and courageous in our efforts to protect the climate and biodiversity. Some groundbreaking decisions for the environment have already been made in 2023. At the World Climate Conference in Dubai, for example, all countries recognized for the first time that we need to move away from fossil fuels. This is a good first step. Now politicians around the world must actually put the pedal to the metal when it comes to phasing out coal, oil and gas," says Marc Dengler, climate and energy expert at Greenpeace.
Drought in the Amazon
In 2023, the planet's largest rainforest experienced the worst drought since records began. The water level of the Amazon River dropped by 17 meters. Due to the low river levels, hundreds of river communities throughout the Brazilian Amazon were isolated and only had a limited supply of drinking water. Plants and animals - including the pink river dolphin - also suffered from a lack of water. Greenpeace Brazil delivered food, water and other basic resources by plane to the affected communities in the Amazon region.
Global extreme weather events
Several heatwaves rolled across Europe this year, putting a heavy strain on both people and nature. This was followed by heavy rain in many places. Not only here. This devastated areas in Libya and Brazil, while fires raged on the Hawaiian island of Maui, in Canada and in the Mediterranean region, among others. China recorded both the highest (plus 52 degrees Celsius) and the coldest (minus 53 degrees) temperature ever recorded in 2023. and severe flooding hit Carinthia, Slovenia and Italy, among others. Numerous Italian villages and towns such as Grado, Lignano and Venice were affected by Adriatic flooding, in Slovenia several villages were cut off from the outside world by flooding and in Carinthia the fire department was also in constant use for days.
Thousands of people lost their lives worldwide.
Species extinction: The number of endangered plant and animal species increased
There is bad news for environmental and climate protection: the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has updated the Red List of Threatened Species and has come to the conclusion that more species are threatened than previously thought, as many as 25 percent in total. Of these, amphibians and freshwater fish are particularly threatened.
Updated Red List: More than a quarter of all species threatened
Plastic pollution is on the rise
In addition to plastic pollution in general, microplastic pollution is also increasing worldwide - international researchers have found the small particles in clouds, in agricultural soils and in organs such as the heart and brain in 2023. Greenpeace tested seven bathing lakes in Austria for microplastics in the summer. Here, too, microplastics were found in all water samples in the laboratory. Despite the immense pollution, the plastics industry wants to double its annual production by 2040. The UN states are currently working on a global agreement to combat the plastic crisis, which is due to be concluded in 2024.
Soil: Our soil consumption is a disaster
According to calculations by the environmental protection organization, up to 13 hectares of natural soil are built on and used every day in Austria, including forest roads. In 2022, this amounted to 4,755 hectares - more than the area of Lake Attersee. Environmental protection organizations are calling on the federal government, provinces, cities and municipalities to adopt an ambitious soil protection strategy this year with a clear target of 2.5 hectares per day by 2030. This has not yet happened.
World Soil Day: We urgently need to limit our soil consumption
Pesticides and herbicides remain
Glyphosate: re-approval for another ten years
In November 2023, the EU Commission decided to approve glyphosate for a further ten years - after the member states were unable to agree on a common position on glyphosate during the vote. Glyphosate is a total herbicide: it destroys weeds and robs pollinators and other insects of their food sources. However, the spray not only kills plants on the surface, but also affects fungi and microorganisms in the soil. The plant toxin therefore interferes with the soil ecosystem and has been shown to affect living organisms in the soil, especially if the product is used frequently. Glyphosate can also cause massive damage to bodies of water and has a toxic effect on amphibians, which are already endangered. According to the WHO, glyphosate is also potentially carcinogenic, studies have shown that it can promote neurological disorders, damage the endocrine system and fertility and cause severe eye damage.
Pesticide regulation does not come
After months of negotiations, the European Parliament failed to reach a position on the Sustainable Use of Pesticides (SUR) Regulation on Wednesday, November 22, 2023. The motion to refer the proposal back to the Environment Committee was also rejected. Many EU citizens have spoken out in favor of a complete phase-out of synthetic chemical pesticides by 2035, but the conservative, right-wing and liberal forces in Parliament successfully prevented this. A decision that endangers the health of the population and is tantamount to a blow to biodiversity.
Non-profit law
In December, the non-profit law in Austria was reformed: However, the fundamentally welcome package also contains passages that impose severe restrictions on activist organizations. This is because administrative violations can lead to the withdrawal of the deductibility of donations at any time and thus to financial ruin. As a result of the new law, tax officials will be able to destroy the existence of non-profit organizations at the stroke of a pen without any proper legal proceedings. Leading social and environmental protection organizations as well as top lawyers such as Irmgard Griss and the former justice spokesman of the Austrian People's Party, Michael Ikrath, warn of an attack on civil society through the tax back door.
