In view of the global crisis

  

In many countries there is now a plea to cancel the measures to reduce greenhouse gases that, just a few weeks ago, were prioritized. This is very understandable in view of many industries, the tourism sector, agriculture, etc., which want to make up their losses resulting from the shutdown as quickly as possible. In order to be able to conduct this discussion internationally as well, we have translated the latest press release of the German Federal Environment Minister Svenja Schulze.

Here are some quotes: 

Schulze: "... Good nature conservation policy, which protects diverse ecosystems, is an important health precaution against the development of new diseases. …" 

Settele: "... We humans are dependent on functioning, diverse ecosystems. …" 

(Josef Settele is Professor at Helmholtz-Center for Environmental Research.)

As called for in the quoted report of the World Biodiversity Council, it is a matter of "no less than a fundamental, system-wide reorganization across technological, economic and social factors, including paradigms, objectives and values. 

Fundamental, in my view, is ... reorganization of waste or resource management and reformulation of goals and values. Let us: 

- preferably close all landfills and dumps, before 2030, 

- tackle the necessary measures of energetic AND material recovery, 

- recognize the connections between the global destruction of the environment (see illegal trash dumps), mass animal husbandry and the global spreading of viruses threatening humanity, 

- consider what each individual in the WtERT network can contribute. 

We will continue to collect prominent examples of international waste management, which work sustainably in terms of the above points. As a most recent example, I refer to the case studies of the recycling center in front of the waste-to-energy plant Neu-Ulm and the conversion of a lignite-fired power plant to a waste to energy plant in Schwandorf, Germany. 

Once again, I invite you to contribute your knowledge and actively participate in the WtERT sharing community.

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