About the film "I Am Greta": Learning Courage, Protecting the Climate

Greta Thunberg: She is idolized by some, criticized by others as a hype icon. She can be seen as an important beacon of hope or as a media chameleon. One thing is clear: the young Swedish climate activist polarizes and yet she is an average Swedish girl. "I am Greta" will also be shown in Swiss cinemas from October 16, 2020.

Greta Thunberg is the icon of the climate movement, became globally known in a very short time and is now respected not only by the "Fridays For Future" movement. But what kind of person is Greta, what really drives her? Whether at demonstrations or on ballots, whether at conferences and congresses or simply during discussions with her neighbor: Greta is present, in the minds and hearts of many.

She is a young personality who has definitely moved the world a bit within a few months and yet she is also an introverted girl who struggles under Asperger's Syndrome. So it also becomes clear in the new documentary of the former photo reporter of Rolling Stones magazine and now celebrated director Nathan Grossman ("Kristallen Award for Current Events"): With the worldwide fame of the young Swede are also limitations.

Behind the spotlight

Nathan Grossman shows the climate protection activist not only in the limelight, he is especially close to her in many private moments: on exhausting trips, in the circle of her family, in hotel rooms or between grueling appointments with moments of homesickness, exhaustion, overload. The director accompanies Greta with his camera for two years: during her 2018 school strike as a 15-year-old in Stockholm - from which the international "Fridays for Future" movement develops - at meetings with politicians and business people, who also meet in Switzerland, among other places.

One senses that Greta is not a speech artist: her interactions are socially "broken," her communication at times "wooden. "I Am Greta" offers surprising insights into the fascinating and fragile personality of the seventeen-year-old Swedish girl. It's an open secret: not everything in the media productions is based on Greta's own ideas, but the documentary shows the irrepressible will, a mission and the circumstance of a still young girl to be inspired by the elusive idea to save the world.

In the documentary, which will also be released in Switzerland in October 2020, there are several lessons and moments of light where you can visibly feel how a courageous girl articulates herself unwaveringly even in front of supposedly important people and radiates incredible stamina. She doesn't just talk the talk, but actually takes on a lot of unpleasantness. She shows up, is on the spot, keeps her word, stirs up conflicts and tries to solve them again.

"I Am Greta" had its world premiere at the 77th Venice International Film Festival 2020, and its Swiss premiere was at the Zurich Film Festival 2020.

 

Win tickets with Environment PERSPEKTIVEN

Win 2 tickets for "I Am Greta", the fascinating and insightful documentary about the young Swedish environmental activist. Film release date: 16.10.2020. The tickets are valid for screenings in all Swiss cinemas. Just write us a E-mail with your postal address and you might be one of the first eight winners. Good luck.

 

 

 

 

Airbus to build hydrogen aircraft in 2035

Airbus has announced that it will be investing heavily in hydrogen propulsion in the future. By 2035, the aircraft manufacturer wants to bring a hydrogen-powered aircraft with zero emissions to market. In fact, Protolabs' recent Horizon Shift study shows that environmental factors are critical to the aerospace industry's post-Covid-19 recovery.

Aviation is under pressure from various sides. That's why Airbus is also looking for a way out in low-emission aviation. (Image: Unsplash)

Airbus plans to launch a hydrogen-powered aircraft with zero emissions as early as 2035. As the Airbus-According to Grazia Vittadini, head of technology at Airbus, at a press conference in Toulouse, a first demonstrator is to be designed in just under three years, which is to fly for the first time in 2025. In the recent past, Airbus had focused primarily on electric aircraft powered by e-motors or hybrid systems. The company has since switched to hydrogen "because it's incomparably lighter than batteries," said Glenn Llewellyn, vice president of the Zero Emissions Project at Airbus. The energy density is as high as kerosene, with much less weight, he said. However, at the same temperature, the volume of stored hydrogen is four times higher.

Cleaner fuels and less bureaucracy

The pressure on the aircraft industry to reduce CO2 emissions is increasing. Along with the consequences of the Covid 19 pandemic, this is one of the biggest challenges for manufacturers. Bjoern Klaas, VP and Managing Director of Protolabs EMEA, in a comment, "For the aerospace industry, the Corona crisis meant a significant downturn. Many other industries were and still are affected by its impact. However, the aerospace industry in particular is showing signs of fundamental change. The industry is not only concerned with the fact that flights are currently operating at low capacity. The industry is also increasingly focusing on efforts to reduce emissions as much as possible. To meet the demands of both society and politics, developers and engineers are specifically looking for lighter materials, cleaner fuels and other innovative alternatives."

With the previous answer of reducing the consumption of gas turbines by making the rotors ever larger, the EU climate targets no longer seem achievable. At the same time, the technology is reaching its limits because of the extremely high speeds of the rotor ends. "Only through fundamental work on these adjusting screws can the far-reaching goals in the fight against climate change also be achieved. But we can also see that manufacturers and companies would like to see far-reaching concessions from governments. Only through additional bureaucracy reduction and more flexibility with regard to the manufacturing process can the necessary progress be made in a short time," explains Klaas from Protolabs EMEA.

That's why Airbus is also working on the use of liquid hydrogen. This would have a much smaller volume, but would have to be cooled to minus 253 degrees Celsius. The rocket manufacturer Ariane Group, creator of the Ariane rocket, already cooperates with the utility Engie and Airbus on the subject of hydrogen liquefaction.

More effective air quality monitoring: New NABEL station in Dübendorf

In order to continue the long-standing series of measurements of air pollutants in Dübendorf (ZH), the federal government has opened a new station in its NABEL (National Air Pollutant Monitoring Network) monitoring network.

The new NABEL station in Dübendorf. These two partners, the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) and Empa, inaugurated it on September 23, 2020. (Image: FOEN)

The new NABEL station represents a new type of measuring station. The historic Dübendorf measuring station, which had been in operation on the site of the Research Institute of Materials Science and Technology Development (Empa) since 1980, had to make way for a modern station on the site of the Eawag water research institute. The aim is to continue to have reliable data available in the future and to obtain a complete overview of air quality in Switzerland. These measurement data are a basic prerequisite for assessing whether measures are actually reducing emissions.

Air quality: Better, but not yet good enough

Although air pollution has decreased markedly in recent years, limit values are still being exceeded in some cases, as the recently published NABEL Annual Report 2019 shows (see box). Reducing ozone concentrations in summer and particulate matter in winter, as well as nitrogen compounds - especially ammonia - therefore remains a challenge.

The new NABEL station Dübendorf is located in the Glatt valley between Dübendorf and Wallisellen and represents the site type "suburbs or smaller cities". The area surrounding Dübendorf is densely populated, has a lot of commercial activity and is crossed by a network of busy roads and railroad lines. The measuring station is used for Empa's research activities on air quality issues. Thanks to a porthole, this measuring station is the only one in Switzerland that also allows the public to look inside.

New research areas, consolidated collaboration

The early identification of new problems and needs in air pollution control is an important joint task of the FOEN and Empa. For example, mobility habits are constantly evolving. This influences air quality, and new questions and research areas emerge.

On the technical side, the aim is to test metrological developments for the most efficient and meaningful determination of air pollutants. Here, for example, state-of-the-art laser spectrometers are used, or miniaturized and cost-effective instruments for flexible and spatially condensed measurements are tested. Newly emerging research questions concern the area of pollutants for which there are no legal immission limits, or the atmospheric dispersion of microplastics.

With the new NABEL measuring station in Dübendorf, air quality monitoring keeps pace with technological developments to protect the population. (Source: FOEN)

 

The NABEL Annual Report 2019
Since the end of the 1980s, the concentrations of particulate matter and heavy metals contained therein have decreased significantly. The just published NABEL annual report 2019 shows a decrease in air pollution for all pollutants. Today, for example, there is about fifty times less lead in particulate matter than thirty years ago, and pollution with other heavy metals is also declining. The air has therefore become cleaner - but not yet for all pollutants.
For ozone, for example, the limit values were exceeded at all NABEL stations in 2019. For respirable particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5) and nitrogen dioxide, the immission limits were exceeded in some cases directly on busy roads. At all NABEL stations, the limit values for other air pollutants such as sulfur dioxide or carbon monoxide were complied with.
These measurements confirm that further measures are needed to reduce pollutant emissions. In particular, emissions of ammonia, nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds, respirable particulate matter and carcinogenic substances (e.g. diesel soot or benzene) must be further reduced. In doing so, the technical possibilities for reducing emissions from all sources are to be exhausted.

NABEL - National Air Pollutant Monitoring Network
The NABEL (National Air Pollution Monitoring Network) with its 16 measuring stations, operated by FOEN and Empa, serves to survey the status and development of air pollution throughout Switzerland. The measurements of NABEL cover the most important air pollutants that can harm human health or the environment, whether they are in gaseous or particulate form or contained in precipitation. Primarily, those air pollutants are measured which are regulated in the Swiss Air Pollution Control Ordinance or which have to be collected within the framework of international air pollution control agreements (e.g. nitrogen dioxide, ozone, particulate matter, ammonia, etc.).

Public transport helps save energy and reduce CO2 emissions

The Federal Office of Transport (FOT) is committed to ensuring that public transport makes a substantial contribution to energy saving and CO2 reduction. To this end, it has launched 100 projects over the past seven years. The goal is to save around 600 gigawatt hours per year - electricity for 150,000 households.

Innovation and energy issues don't have to be mutually exclusive. (Image: Unsplash)

Since its launch in 2013, 100 projects have been launched as part of ESöV; 46 projects have already been completed and 54 are still in progress. The federal government provides funding for research projects that create the basis for energy-saving measures by transport companies. The federal government covers up to 40 percent of the costs of the research projects. So far, research projects with a total volume of almost 35 million Swiss francs have been triggered. Of this, just under 23 million has been raised by the transport companies. "This testifies to the industry's commitment to energy-saving, innovative and sustainable public transport," said Rudolf Sperlich, vice director of the Federal Office of Transport (FOT), at a media event in Biel today. The FOT promotes projects in all means of public transport: Railroads, streetcars, buses, cable cars and ships.

Exemplary transport companies

An exemplary project is the recovery of braking energy on the Biel-Magglingen funicular railroad. Verkehrsbetriebe Biel (VB) installed a battery storage system and adapted the system control. Thanks to recuperation, up to 80 percent of the braking energy is stored and is then available for the next journey. The project was realized with the companies Frey AG Stans and Doppelmayr-Garaventa Group under the supervision of the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Technology and Architecture. In addition, a photovoltaic system has been in operation on the roof of the top station since the beginning of September. Its energy production can also be stored in batteries for rail operations.

The FOT contributed 80,000 Swiss francs for the corresponding research work. In total, up to 3 million Swiss francs per year are available for ESöV projects for further research work. In the coming years, the main focus will be on making the knowledge gained so far more widely known and driving forward implementation. (Source: FOEN)

Review of WASTEvision 2020 on the topic "Urban Mining - Resources from Waste

On September 18, WASTEvision 2020 counted a round anniversary, however, the symposium once again revolved around the core of the matter, the processing and disposal of "waste in the environment".

This year, the Eventhouse Rapperswil served as the location for WASTEvision 2020. Due to the measures against COVID-19, the number of participants was limited. (Image: zVg)

On September 18, 2020, Umtec Technologie AG in cooperation with the Institute for Environmental and Process Engineering UMTEC of the OST - Ostschweizer Fachhochschule held the WASTEvision 2020 for the tenth time. After a short introduction, Reto Vincenz, Managing Director of Umtec Technologie AG, gave the floor to the first speaker, Rainer Bunge, from the Raw Materials and Process Engineering Department of the Institute UMTEC. He used plastic mass flows in Switzerland to explain where avoidable and where unavoidable leakages of plastic into the environment exist. It became clear that a distinction must be made between "nuisance / unsightly" and "toxicologically relevant" in the case of these leakages.

Psychological causes of littering 

Ralph Hansmann, an environmental psychologist at ETH Zurich, then shed light on the problem of littering and showed how complex the psychological causes behind it are. As measures against littering, humorous and environmentally oriented campaigns produce a significantly better effect than those with authoritarian content.

After the coffee break, Dominik Egli, Head of Stadtreinigung Basel, gave a presentation on the day-to-day littering situation at hotspots in the city of Basel. Although the amount of littered waste can be very large, the problem is nevertheless manageable for Stadtreinigung, and the cleanliness index for the city of Basel is good. However, there is a conflict of goals when it comes to illegal household waste, some of which is disposed of in public. Nora Steimer, managing director of the IG Saubere Umwelt (Clean Environment Union), outlined what effective measures against littering could look like.

It is particularly effective to take measures again and again, using an appropriate mix of different measures. Richard Nyffeler from Entsorgung St. Gallen then reported on the life of a waste controller. The spectrum of his experiences ranges from consciously or unconsciously incorrectly disposed of household waste to illegal dumping in nature. As very special experiences, he was able to report on a boat that had been disposed of in a forest ravine and on a refrigerator that had been hung on a highway bridge...

The lunch break was used not only for refreshments, but also for lively discussions among the participants and the speakers, of course taking into account the COVID 19 protection concept. Subsequently, Thomas Bucheli, head of Agroscope's Environmental Analysis Research Group, reported on plastic flows in Swiss agriculture. These are often intended applications with an added benefit, in contrast to littered plastic, which is absolutely undesirable.

The presentations were concluded by Andreas Utiger, Managing Director of Biomasse Suisse. He explained how plastics get into our biowaste and what measures can be taken to increase the quality of green waste. The interesting technical contributions of the speakers laid the foundation for an engaged discussion to round off the conference. Various questions of the participants were discussed and answered by the experts.

WASTEvision 2020 was a complete success. Therefore, the organizers are already looking forward to WASTEvision 2021 on September 24 next year

www.wastevision.ch

For the first time, a bank wins the Swiss Ethics Award

The Swiss Ethics Award was presented for the 9th time by the Swiss Excellence Forum on September 23, 2020. The award honors projects that set new ethical standards in the field of business.

ABS (see center) won with its project "Climate-Active ABS" against the co-nominated Arbofino AG (left), Forma Futura Invest AG (right), Reckhaus AG (missing on picture) and Vatorex AG (second from right). (Image: ernstkehrli.ch)

For the first time, a bank has received the Swiss Ethics Award. Alternative Bank Switzerland (ABS) demonstrates that banking can be successful with a high level of ethical commitment. The socially and ecologically oriented bank was founded in 1990 and is today supported by over 7500 shareholders. The winning project of ABS aims at climate protection and shows the important role of financial flows.

The operation of a bank causes only few direct CO2 emissions. The money flows managed by banks, on the other hand, have a massive impact.

Transparency 

The ABS has addressed this issue and shows how climate protection can be applied and implemented in the banking business. In its investment and credit guidelines, it has defined exclusion and eligibility criteria for areas in which it does not want to invest. For example, companies that contribute significantly to climate change are excluded. Industries that are harmful to the climate are excluded. Securities from countries that disregard climate protection and are not committed to international climate targets are not considered. On the other hand, business areas that have a positive impact on society and the environment are promoted.

In 2016, ABS became the first Swiss bank to publish the CO1 footprint of its investments and transparently demonstrate how it contributes to a climate-friendly economy through its investment business. For this extensive commitment to climate protection, it was honored by the jury with the Swiss Ethics Award.

www.swiss-excellence-forum.ch

 

AefU reject wood storage in the forest

The Doctors for Environmental Protection AefU are strictly against the use of insecticides in the forest. The planned amendment of the Forest Ordinance provokes the exact opposite. It wants to allow large roundwood stockpiles in the forest. However, felled, unpeeled softwood logs in the forest are susceptible to the bark beetle.

Doctors for Environmental Protection see risks in spraying cleared trees lying around with insect repellent as a preventive measure. (Image: depositphotos)

As can be seen from the AefU media release, in many places felled tree trunks (so-called polters) are already stored along forest roads until it is their turn to be processed in the sawmills (especially spruce). The forest is therefore already a free storage area for the timber industry, which thus saves space and costs. An adjustment in the forest ordinance is now to allow large roundwood storage facilities in favor of the timber industry. "This in the knowledge that this can make the (additional) use of insecticides necessary," the statement continues. 

Unpeeled spruce logs stored in the forest are an invitation to the bark beetle (book borer), especially in dry summers. Therefore, they are often preventively sprayed with insecticides (so-called log spraying). This is sometimes even done with prohibited agents (see OEKOSKOP 1/19, "Highly toxic insecticides in the Swiss forest").

Peel or get out of the forest

Environmentally hazardous substances are generally prohibited in the forest. At most, the Environmental Protection Act provides for exceptions if alternative measures have been exhausted. These are simple: If the bark is peeled off the logs, they are no longer attractive to the beetle. Or the logs are stored outside the forest. The industry shies away from both for reasons of cost and space. Insecticides are then often used without the necessary authorization, as AefU research has shown. There is a major deficit in the enforcement of the ban.

Black Box Log Storage

Furthermore, the proposed log storage facilities are not defined in any way. Neither with regard to location, traffic volume, area nor volume are there any binding specifications. All this would remain at the discretion of the municipalities as licensing authorities. The storage areas may be sealed - in the middle of the forest. This could even be done with tar, a toxic material that is hardly used elsewhere. Such storage areas would obviously be industrial areas, but these are prohibited in the forest.

 

Background Information:

-        More poison in the forest in the future? (OEKOSKOP 3/19) http://www.aefu.ch/fileadmin/user_upload/aefu-data/b_documents/oekoskop/Oekoskop_19_3.pdf#page=4

-        Insecticides harm the forest - and its image (OEKOSKOP 2/19) http://www.aefu.ch/fileadmin/user_upload/aefu-data/b_documents/oekoskop/OEKOSKOP_19_2.pdf#page=4

-        Highly toxic insecticides in the Swiss forest (OEKOSKOP 1/19, in German) http://www.aefu.ch/fileadmin/user_upload/aefu-data/b_documents/oekoskop/OEKOSKOP_19_1.pdf#page=4

Swiss building program saves 5.4 billion kWh and 1.2 million t CO2

The federal and cantonal building program is an important funding instrument of Swiss energy and climate policy. In 2019, around 265 million Swiss francs in subsidies were disbursed, a quarter more than in the previous year.

 

The building program not only motivates people to save energy. (Source: "obs/Das Gebäudeprogramm von Bund und Kantonen")

The building program again generated a positive employment effect of 2100 full-time equivalents and about 82 million Swiss francs of additional domestic value added in 2019.

Most of the contributions went to thermal insulation projects (Fr 133 million). The biggest growth in the reporting year was in system renovations (+70 to 60 million Swiss francs). Over their lifetime, the measures implemented in 2019 thanks to subsidies will reduce the energy consumption of the Swiss building stock by 5.4 billion kilowatt hours and CO2 emissions by around 1.2 million tons of CO2.

Building envelope and system renovations most in demand

In total, around 265 million Swiss francs in subsidies were paid out in the reporting year (2018: 211 million). Thermal insulation projects accounted for the largest share with CHF 133 million. In second place, with CHF 60 million, are system renovations, whereby the comprehensive renovation of the building envelope is often accompanied by a change in the heating system. Building services projects, including heating system replacements, solar and ventilation systems, were subsidized to the tune of 35 million Swiss francs. 4100 fossil systems were replaced by heating systems with renewable energy, most frequently by a heat pump. Indirect measures in the areas of information/communication, education and quality assurance were supported with 10 million Swiss francs in the reporting year.

Energy consumption and CO2 emissions reduced

The measures promoted in the year under review save 5.4 billion kWh and 1.2 million t CO2 over their lifetime. At 205 Fr./t CO2, the impact achieved declined compared to the previous year (159 Fr/t CO2). This is partly due to the fact that higher subsidy rates have been granted since 2019 in order to increase the currently low renovation rate. A higher renovation rate is necessary for Switzerland to achieve its energy and climate targets in the building sector. However, the higher subsidy rates reduce the impact per subsidy franc over the lifetime of a measure. Another reason is the increase in system renovations. Because of the higher investment costs, the effect of system renovations per franc of funding is lower than for individual measures. And finally, more subsidies were distributed for indirect measures. No direct effect can be calculated for these.

The details on the results and impacts of the Buildings Program as well as the distributions in the individual cantons can be found in the new 2019 Annual Report at: www.dasgebaeudeprogramm.ch/jahresbericht

 

About The Building Program

Buildings are responsible for around 40 percent of Switzerland's energy consumption and a third of its CO2 emissions. More than one million houses are not or barely insulated and thus in urgent need of energy renovation. In addition, two-thirds of Swiss buildings are still heated by fossil fuels or electricity. With the Building Program, which has been in place since 2010, the federal government and the cantons aim to significantly reduce the energy consumption and CO2 emissions of the Swiss building stock. The Buildings Program is thus an important pillar of Swiss energy and climate policy.

The Buildings Program is financed by partially earmarked funds from the CO2 tax and from cantonal subsidies. It supports measures to reduce the energy consumption or CO2 emissions of properties. Funding is provided, for example, for thermal insulation of the building envelope, replacement of fossil or electric heating systems with heating systems using renewable energies or by connection to a heating network, comprehensive energy-efficient renovations or renovations in larger stages, and new buildings to the Minergie-P standard.

The cantons determine individually which measures they support and under which conditions. The basis for this is the Harmonized Funding Model of the cantons (HFM 2015).

UBS recommends sustainable investments in the future

UBS will henceforth prefer to recommend sustainable investments to globally investing private clients. The pandemic has underscored that sustainability aspects can no longer be ignored, UBS said. In addition, the bank expects such investments to perform better than traditional ones.

Sustainable investments UBS
UBS sees higher returns in sustainable portfolios. (Image: Unsplash)

UBS, the world's leading asset manager and steward of sustainable investments, today announced it will henceforth offer sustainable investments as a preferred solution to globally investing clients. UBS manages core sustainable investments with a total value of USD 488 billion (source: 2019 UBS Sustainability Report). It is the first leading global financial institution to make this recommendation, according to the Sept. 10 media release.

and clients investing globally offers strong diversification, although traditional investments will remain the most appropriate solution in certain circumstances. Accordingly, the main sustainable indices have outperformed traditional equivalents since the beginning of the year.

Sustainability aspects no longer to be ignored 

"The preference shift toward sustainable products and services is just beginning," said Iqbal Khan, co-president of UBS Global Wealth Management. "We believe that sustainable investments will prove to be one of the most attractive and long-term investment opportunities for private clients this decade and for decades to come."

COVID-19 "put an exclamation point behind the most significant shifts in the financial services sector this generation," commented Tom Naratil, co-president of UBS Global Wealth Management and president of UBS Americas. "The pandemic has brought the vulnerability and interconnectedness of our societies and industries into focus for investors and demonstrated that sustainability issues cannot be ignored going forward."

UBS wants to help its clientele "seize new opportunities and manage 21st century risks more intelligently," says Huw van Steenis, Chair UBS Sustainable Finance Committee and Senior Advisor to the CEO. "Sustainable business practices are now standard practice and are a key component of both our clients' and UBS' strategic growth opportunities."

www.ubs.com

Review of the 1st Circular Economy Conference of Kyburz

Martin Kyburz, founder and CEO of the Zurich Unterland electric vehicle manufacturer KYBURZ Switzerland AG, wants to build bridges for the circular economy. There was also another premiere at the first interdisciplinary Circular Economy Conference on September 4. 

 

Renowned physician and author Christian Larsen applied medical findings to the ecosystem. (Image: Kyburz)

The conviction of Martin Kyburz, managing director of KYBURZ: "Positive changes towards the circular economy can only prevail if people from the most diverse walks of life come together and discuss complex interrelationships across disciplines." This is why Martin Kyburz created the Circular Economy Conference.

The entrepreneur wants to contribute to a happy coexistence in a healthy environment. The interdisciplinary event in Freienstein is aimed at everyone interested in sustainable living and a resource-conserving economy.

At the premiere on September 4, the number of participants was limited to 100 people from different disciplines due to the corona virus.

Effectiveness trumps efficiency

The first presentation of the conference made clear that radical measures are necessary for positive change. Renowned physician and author Christian Larsen applied medical findings to the ecosystem. "We can turn the wheel back, but only if the measures are radical enough," Larsen said. Since we cannot perform emergency surgery on the planet, he said, it is high time to develop therapeutic methods to combat climate change and restore balance. In doing so, Larsen stressed that effectiveness gets us further than efficiency. It's not about doing as much as possible in as little time as possible, but doing the right thing at the right time.

Chemist and process engineer Michael Braungart agreed with Christian Larsen on this point: "Nature is not efficient, but it is effective," said the Swabian scientist in his humorous but also very critical presentation. A cherry tree, for example, produces around 100,000 blossoms, of which only one in a hundred becomes a cherry. This supposed waste, however, is amazingly useful: The blossoms form humus, allow the tree to grow - and thus contribute a lot to the ecological cycle.

Change starts with the individual

"We don't need climate-neutral solutions, but solutions that are good for the climate," Michael Braungart pointed out. Many sustainable initiatives are simply about avoiding waste, but that is not enough, he said. Instead, products must be consistently produced for recycling. This is also the thrust of the cradle-to-cradle principle, which Braungart developed at the end of the 1990s. The idea behind it is to return as many raw materials as possible to the cycle as biological or technical "nutrients. Today, however, this is rarely the case: "The 46 steel alloys of a Mercedes become simple reinforcing steel," says Braungart.

Bestselling author Matthias Binswanger then questioned the success principle of growth. The professor of economics pointed out the driving forces behind the capitalist economy. The following presentations made it clear once again that change for the better starts with the individual: Nutritionist Laura Koch demonstrated how we influence not only our health but also that of our planet with our diet. Energy psychologist Reto Wyss gave the audience a recipe for stress reduction. Finally, Rolf Widmer and Marcel Gauch from the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research (Empa) provided impressive facts on the consumption of raw materials and energy in private transport.

Wide range of workshops

Finally, in the afternoon, there were seven workshops to choose from. While some participants built sensors for measuring fine dust, others rode KYBURZ tricycle scooters to the vineyard of Prisca and Andreas Schwarz to learn more about nature-oriented viticulture. Gault-Millau chef David Krüger introduced culinary enthusiasts to the "Age Food" concept, and KYBURZ project manager Olivier Groux's workshop inaugurated the new in-house facility for recycling lithium-ion batteries.

Thus, KYBURZ celebrated two premieres on the same day: the first edition of the Circular Economy Conference and the new battery recycling plant. Both the organizer and the participants thus came a good deal closer to the circular economy.

kyburz-switzerland.ch

IFAT: Environmental expertise from around the world digitally networked

Three days full of business contacts and knowledge transfer - that was the first completely digital IFAT impact Business Summit from September 8 to 10, 2020. Diverse technologies from recycling to water management were presented, virtual 1:1 conversations were held, and ways to a true circular economy were discussed.

A picture of the opening of the IFAT impact Business Summit 2020. (Image: IFAT)

 

"The corona pandemic is forcing us all to break new ground - we have now realized the first digital IFAT impact Business Summit," explains Stefan Rummel, Managing Director of Messe München. The three days of the event were packed with B2B networking and knowledge transfer for the international environmental industry. "We want to offer digital formats again in 2021. In addition, preparations for IFAT 2022 are starting, and companies can register as exhibitors again."

Digital interaction on many levels

The foundation of the digital summit was the IFAT exhibitor portal with more than 3,000 listed companies and their products and solutions. During the event, 154 product presentations took place and more than 1,400 1:1 meetings could be booked. A conference program with 20 sessions and around 70 speakers ran in parallel. A large part of this was realized by IFAT's partners and IFAT spin-offs from China, India and Africa. Around 2,100 participants from 104 countries took advantage of the Summit's various offerings.

Of Yogurt Cups, Africa Insights and Artificial Intelligence

Ways to achieve a circular economy were a key topic, as was the case at the "From yogurt cup to new recycled product" solution tour. The experts identified three top measures: designing products to be more recyclable, raising end-user awareness for better presorting, and setting quotas on the part of (EU) policymakers so that more recycled goods can be incorporated into new plastic products. "Plastic is necessary for our lives. The only question is how we deal with it," said Michael Perl of SeSoTec GmbH.

In addition, there were numerous insights into international markets, including Africa: "Africa is not suffering from a water shortage," said Sylvain Usher, executive director of the African Water Association (AfWA). "The problem is that water is not reaching the consumer because of many leaks or illegal discharges. So fighting water losses is one of the key concerns of African water management."

Statements on artificial intelligence in the environmental sector were also interesting: "Artificial intelligence has the most immediate and strongest impact in the greentech sector in managing climate change and in the circular economy," said Dr. Philipp Gerbert, director at appliedAI, Germany's leading artificial intelligence (AI) initiative. However, he said, AI must first eliminate its own carbon footprint through emissions from data center power consumption. Prof. Dr. Ralf Boris Wehrspohn, board member at the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, pointed out, among other things, the many potential applications in water management, be it online monitoring of drinking water, more economical and resilient sewage treatment plants or sustainable water management in cities.

Content from the conference will soon be available on the IFAT website:

www.ifat.de

 

 

Swiss Green Economy Symposium 2020: With Dialogue and Stubbornness to Sustainability

The focus at the 7th Swiss Green Economy Symposium 2020 was on strategy development, digitalization, the circular economy and the sustainable way out of the crisis.

 

Always objective: the presenters at SGES 2020 Sonja Hassler and Dominique Reber. (Image: Michael Merz)

In his welcoming speech to the Swiss Green Economy Symposium 2020, the mayor of Winterthur showed how the second largest city in the canton of Zurich interprets sustainable urban development: "A lot of inspiration, curiosity and interest in cooperation. We need all of this for successful innovations," Michael Künzle rang in the Swiss Green Economy Symposium. As the next item on the program, representatives from business, science, politics and administration discussed how digitalization and visionary thinking can be used for sustainability.

For example, it showed how companies can use blockchain technology to operate more sustainably and what opportunities 5G offers - keyword CO2 reduction (see also a comparison at "Diverging risk assessments in mobile communications.") - offers. The participants agreed that events like the Swiss Green Economy Symposium are important to overcome silo thinking and to develop innovative ideas together.

 Prizes go to EMPA wood team and ZHAW students

Professor Ingo Burgert from the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research Empa illustrated the fascination that can be associated with wood as a material. He and his WoodTec team at Empa received the SDG Company Award of the Swiss Green Economy Symposium. In awarding the prize, the Swiss Green Economy Symposium recognized the researchers for their achievements in the field of sustainable construction with wood. Other prizes went to ZHAW students for their outstanding bachelor's and master's theses. On stage, the young people were visibly delighted with the award and the laudation given by Professor Jean-Marc Piveteau, Rector ZHAW.

After a short film on the topic of food waste and a networking break, the next item on the morning's agenda was "Get started now with the circular economy". In the presentations and panel discussions, participants used specific examples, such as waste-to-energy plants, plastic recycling and cement production, to show how circular economy can be a growth opportunity. If implemented correctly, it can create new jobs and help reduce environmental pollution.

Sustainably out of the crisis

Before heading off to a well-deserved lunch, the participants once again showed their full attention. On stage - and later in personal discussions - they discussed how sustainable ways out of the crisis can be found. It was clear, for example, how technology can be used to improve the healthcare system and how wood can sustainably complement other materials such as concrete on the construction site.

In the afternoon, the visitors split up. They chose between numerous innovation forums, where they could discuss in depth topics as diverse as high-tech food, impact investing, cinder-blocks and autonomous vehicles. In the innovation forum on smart cities, briefly presented here as an example of one of these forums, the focus was first on pilot projects from Winterthur (e.g. climate simulation Lokstadt, data generation through pedestrian/velo traffic promotion campaign, electric collection vehicle). The participants were also able to learn a lot about activities from other Swiss and foreign cities, the economy and international organizations, and to engage in lively discussions.

Popular topic: "Smart Cities 

Due to the great interest in the topic of Smart Cities, the Innovation Forum also extended to the following day, which was opened by the Dutch Embassy, thus underlining the cooperation with the partner country. The second day of the Smart Cities Innovation Forum provided a dialogue platform for the national associations Smart City Hub Switzerland and Smart City Alliance and valuable networking opportunities for their members, who shared concrete experiences with the attendees.

In addition, international initiatives such as "United for Smart Sustainable Cities" of the ITU-UN and the Global Smart City Partnership Program of the World Bank as well as on-site export opportunities of Switzerland Global Enterprise and funding instruments of SNF, Innosuisse and SwissEnergy for municipalities were also discussed. In smaller workshops, many smart city topics were discussed in greater depth and further developed in partnership.

As the last presentation of the main day, government councilor Martin Neukom showed, among other things, why solar facades will be standard on buildings in the future and why the future clearly does not belong to combustion engines. After an intense but exciting and inspiring day, it was then time to move on to the more informal program: At the networking aperitif, the participants could review everything again and discuss open points.

Musically accompanied by the JazzChur-Haustrio they ended the main day of the Swiss Green Economy Symposium 2020.

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