The biodiversity hit to economies is estimated at up to US$25 trillion a year, according to The Financial Times (behind a paywall). This is equivalent to one-quarter of global GDP lost annually because industries fail to factor in the damage their operations cause across systems. “Tackling biodiversity loss, climate change, water scarcity, food insecurity and health risks in isolation was not only compounding those issues but also driving spiralling economic costs, the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) said. The body established by 94 countries is the equivalent of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, bringing together authoritative global agreement on science.” One of the co-authors, Pam McElwee of Rutgers University, said: “By treating these as individual problems, we are wasting money, we’re duplicating efforts. And if we were actually able to bring policy sectors together, there would be significant cost savings.” As 2024 comes to an end and we look to what needs to be done in 2025, reflect on how we can take a more holistic approach.
There were also reports this week that US president-elect Donald Trump has warned the EU that it must commit to buying “large scale” amounts of US oil and gas or face tariffs, in his first trade salvo against Brussels since his election victory. No one said this energy transition was going to be easy.
In planning travel over the upcoming weeks, here is some useful ideas to help you along:
- Lonely Planet’s train expert provides his top 5 rail journeys in Europe for 2024. Hopefully they will let us know about 2025 soon.
- Much Better Adventures provides us with 10 of the best winter walks in Europe.
- For those who want to combine hiking with food and wine in Europe and Australia, check out the Hedonistic Hiking website.
- The European Best Destinations website provides the best Christmas holiday destinations in Europe in 2024. It’s not too late to go!
- This week the European Commission adopted a Regulation putting in place a Flight Emissions Label (FEL), which offers a clear and trustworthy methodology for calculating flight emissions. This label which will be fully operational as of July 2025.
Naguib Mahfouz (1911-2006), an Egyptian writer who won the 1988 Nobel Prize in Literature, provides his views on wisdom: “ You can tell whether a man is clever by his answers. You can tell whether a man is wise by his questions.”
EiD welcomes your views about this week’s selection of posts on the zero-carbon energy transition:
- New EEA briefing benefits from extending product lifespans
- Examining the role of AI to tackle climate change
- Coal use still increasing
- Time to recognise ‘earth’ as a valid and sustainable construction material
- Our energy transition: “Balcony power is another piece in the puzzle”
- Cities around the world, including in Canada, have lost weeks’ worth of winter ski, skate and snow days each year due to climate change
- France says it is time bring nuclear power into the centre of EU decarbonisation policy
- New EEA briefing on monitoring water quality in Europe
- Blog by Ellie Gabel: The impact of evolving environmental regulations on the energy sector
Please send your comments on any of the posts. Please recommend EiD to your friends and colleagues.
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Energy in Demand - Sustainable Energy - Rod Janssen 
Nice post Merry Christmas 🎅