Environment | WPN World People News

Despite the ongoing and overwhelming COVID-19 crisis, the U.S. Forest Service has not slowed its push to allow a new wave of logging in Alaska’s Tongass National Forest. On Sept 24, the agency announced a Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) advancing its proposal to eliminate the Roadless Rule in the Tongass, opening vast swaths of irreplaceable old-growth temperate rainforest to clearcut logging.

The report assesses the consumption emissions of different income groups between 1990 and 2015 – 25 years when humanity doubled the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

The Baltic states have a good starting point for integrating more circularity into the clothing and textile industry. Consumption levels of new textiles are significantly lower than, for example, in the Nordic countries and the purchase of second-hand clothing is an established element of household consumption. Second-hand textiles make up 29% of total consumption in Latvia and Lithuania and 16% in Estonia.

UNESCO is launching the Trash Hack campaign to encourage young people to learn about sustainability through tackling waste.

Earthjustice, on behalf of Clean Air Council, Fort Berthold Protectors of Water and Earth Rights (POWER), and Sierra Club, filed lawsuits challenging the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) final rules on methane emissions standards. Last month, as cases of COVID-19 continued to rise across the country, EPA gutted vital methane emissions standards for oil and gas companies that reduce toxic pollution and protect public health.

OECD countries have agreed to update rules on the export of hazardous plastic waste for recycling in line with international changes so that advance consent from destination countries will be required ahead of shipping. However, they did not reach consensus on updated arrangements for the export of non-hazardous plastic waste. OECD countries have agreed to review the situation for non-hazardous plastic waste in 2024.

On Sept.3, the leaders of 43 prominent progressive, climate, and environmental groups called on newly-announced debate moderators Chris Wallace, Steve Scully, Kristen Welker, and Susan Page to make climate change a central issue in the upcoming presidential and vice-presidential debates.