A window into what we are reading at the Wilson Center’s Environmental Change and Security Program

Shedding Light on Imperial Oil’s Dark Waters (Mongabay) 

Canada has the fourth-largest tar sands (oil deposits) in the world. Separating the bitumen used in industries and construction creates large volumes of toxic wastewater, which is stored in tailings ponds that now cover a staggering 270 square kilometers. Unresolved infrastructure mishaps at one such site in Alberta operated by Imperial Oil means that contaminants have polluted nearby waters so significantly that it has affected public health and the livelihoods of indigenous communities in downstream areas.

The Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation depends on these water resources for drinking, hunting, fishing, and gathering traditional foods. And powerful evidence of damage has come to light. In January 2023, the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) posted an Environmental Protection Order that reported an overflow of 5.3 million liters of toxic water filled with mining waste from a drainage ditch. Another drainage leak let toxic water seep into groundwater reserves for nine months.  

The AER has been widely criticized for favoring oil industry giants over human health and environmental impacts. And the failure of AER and Imperial Oil to notify local communities left residents scrambling to access clean water. before getting locked in the winter months. Now the Athabasca-Chipewyan peoples have sued the AER, citing this evolving crisis as a “clear regulatory failure.” 

READ | Two-Spirit People Reclaim Their Place as Water Protectors 

Climate Change is Greening Drylands Out of the Blue (Yale E360) 

Scientists and ecologists had anticipated that the combination of climate change-induced growing aridity and increasing human activities would lead to the loss of vegetation that would accentuate desertification. Yet contrary to this presumption, researchers are increasingly seeing arid lands turn green globally as a result of the excess CO2 in the air. 

Increased GHGs, especially CO2, are drivers of climate change. But the gas also spurs photosynthesis in plants. And while access to water limits vegetation growth in arid lands, higher concentrations of CO2 in the air ease photosynthesis and lead to plants using less water. Accelerated carbon capture processes also mean that unexpected vegetation in arid lands acts as natural defense mechanism of the environment. 

The ambiguous causes and consequences of this global phenomenon defy decades-long projections, and experts expect this greening to rise until mid-century. Yet it also may adversely affect dryland ecosystems, giving rise to invasive species that are more adept at surviving in atmospheres with increased CO2. Excess vegetation in dry climates also poses a risk of bushfires places such as in Australia. Thus, the unexpected greening should not slow the pace of and deter climate action, but instead inform and aid climate science. 

READ | The New Arctic: Amid Record Heat, Ecosystems Morph and Wildlife Struggle 

Germany’s Strenuous Path to Net Zero (Reuters) 

Germany aims to reach net zero by 2045, with its emissions moving to net negative after 2050. To meet these goals, the country has launched several actions in alignment with the European Union. Policies such as CO2 emissions pricing and mandatory trading in CO2 pollution permits are that allow companies to buy climate-carbon certificates from the government and sell excess carbon credits are perhaps the most effective mechanism. Germany also has put a fuel tax in place to help people switch to electric vehicles, but planned climate rebates for poor households have been delayed by budget constraints. 

The power grid in Germany is also a focus. A renewable energy surcharge (2000) that provides feed-in tariffs paid to RE plant operators has led to over 50% of power production from zero-carbon production facilities. Additional levies on power price to support the costs of renewable energy-based power. The most innovative of all these measures, perhaps,  is building a finance mechanism (or “amortization account”) to plan a country-wide hydrogen network to replace natural gas. 

Germany’s 2025 budget boasts record-breaking investments into renewable power, industrial decarbonization, electric mobility, and heating upgrades. Yet it also has a $18.58 billion gap between projected spending and revenue, making the costly task of reducing emissions in industries and agriculture extremely difficult. The government must find a way to divide costs for the public at large and energy customers while seeking private investments to address this shortfall. 

READ | China’s EV Power Grid-lock: A Coin Toss for Decarbonization?