It's All Her Fault, Said the Serpent

I offered her an apple, and she accepted the gift. . .the rest is history...

Eve and I, Photo by Martha E. Ture

Being tired of all the bad news, let’s look at some relatively better news about our friend the planet.

Here are some notes from various sources.

Argentina judge halts deforestation of Chaco forest in rare move. An Argentine federal judge ordered a three-month suspension of deforestation in northern Chaco province, a rare step to protect one of the world's woodland ecosystems that is most rapidly being destroyed to make way for farmland. The move comes amid an investigation into an alleged public-private corruption scheme involving profiteering from illegal land clearance.

In the UK, the Labour government ordered the immediate ban on new North Sea oil and gas licenses.

Britain reversed a decision to grant permission for an oil drilling operation and dropped its defense to a legal challenge over a disputed new coal mine, campaigners said, after a landmark ruling on fossil fuel projects.

The move comes in response to a major judgment last month from Britain's highest court on the climate effects of fossil fuel projects, which activists said could profoundly impact new fossil fuel projects in Britain.

“The writing is on the wall for the fossil fuel industry,” said Jamie Peters, climate coordinator at Friends of the Earth.

“This announcement from the Energy Secretary Ed Miliband is testament to the breadth and strength of those who have long been calling for an end to new oil and gas exploration, from individuals and grassroots movements to climate scientists and the UN Secretary General,” he added.

The Supreme Court ruled that planning authorities must consider the impact of burning, rather than just extracting, fossil fuels when deciding whether to approve projects.

Some long-awaited good news for Scotland’s coastal waters, which host some of the world’s richest and most diverse marine life, including bottlenose dolphins, porpoises, minke whales and otters.

In August, the Scottish government proposed banning trawling, a highly destructive type of fishing that drags weighted nets along the seabed, in parts of the country’s offshore waters, to protect and restore damaged marine ecosystems.

This type of fishing scoops up a high proportion of non-target species, has a negative impact on marine biodiversity and contributes to greenhouse gas emissions. Early-stage research on the disturbance of seafloor sediments caused by bottom trawling globally estimates that it could release more carbon than the aviation sector.

And finally, from DW:

Could Russia be prosecuted for environmental war crimes?

Tim Schauenberg

08/20/2024August 20, 2024

Ukraine wants to hold Russia accountable for the environmental destruction caused by its ongoing war. A war crime conviction for ecological damage at the International Criminal Court would be unprecedented.

The devastating photos stunned people worldwide. In the early hours of June 6, 2023, an explosion tore through the Kakhovka dam on the Dnipro River in southeastern Ukraine. Soon after, the dam gave way, unleashing a massive flood that spread rapidly downstream.

Thousands of people lost everything in the disaster, some their lives. But the collapse of one of the world's biggest dams also took a huge environmental toll.

Ukraine's government estimates that its destruction caused some 600 metric tons of crude oil to spill out of damaged industrial areas. The oil, municipal waste and chemicals from destroyed factories have harmed plants and animals and have polluted water, soil, and agricultural land. UN experts fear lasting damage.

Now the dam explosion could be part of a potentially groundbreaking legal case. Ukrainian authorities are collecting evidence case against Russia in the hope of bringing the country before the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague for environmental war crimes — a legal first if successful.

"The environment should no longer remain a silent victim of war," Ruslan Strilets, Ukraine's Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources, told DW. "Humanity must understand that war is expensive. Every state must understand that war is expensive. Destroying the environment is expensive."

Russia denies being behind the dam's destruction.

The devastating impact of the flooding following the dam explosion is just one potential environmental crime Ukraine is investigating as part of the case it is building against Russia. The country's chief prosecutor, Andriy Kostin, hopes to complete the framework for a potential indictment this year. It would be a significant step toward a possible trial.

The country's environmental authorities have recorded more than 5,000 cases of destruction to Ukraine's forests, soils, air and water directly connected to the Russian invasion, now in its third year. They estimate the damage totals more than €57 billion ($62.1 billion). As of December 2023, around 500 of the country's sewage treatment plants had been destroyed, and at least 20% of nature reserves were threatened.

"The extent of contamination and damage can only be estimated in many areas, as it is extremely difficult to collect data," said Oleksii Vasyliuk, head of the Ukrainian Nature Conservation Group, a network of environmental experts.

Ecoaction, another Ukrainian environment NGO, was able to take soil samples in certain areas. The NGO said analyses of soil from the embattled Donbas region revealed extensive contamination with highly toxic heavy metals as a result of the fighting.

Ukraine is Europe's breadbasket and is rich in fertile soil but agricultural land is being destroyed and contaminated because of the warImage: Diego Herrera Carcedo/AA/picture alliance

In some areas, single sample measurements for mercury, vanadium and cadmium were more than a hundred times the usual levels. Heavy metals are highly poisonous when absorbed through food or water in high concentrations, as they accumulate in the body and often can't be broken down.

Vasyliuk believes the environmental damage will persist for decades after the war ends, rendering farming in the former battlefields nearly impossible.

"When every living thing is simply burned up over such a large area, it's the definition of ecocide," he said.

Ukraine's environment minister Strilets said his country wants Russia to be held accountable before the ICC and to set a "precedent for … environmental damage caused by war," adding that his country wanted to "create conditions to prevent the use of methods and means of warfare that can destroy nature with impunity."

Aaron Dumont, an international environmental law expert at the Ruhr University Bochum in Germany, said if the ICC accepts Ukraine's case, any eventual environmental crime proceedings against Russia would take several years and likely involve Ukraine seeking financial reparations.

When is environmental destruction a war crime?

The ICC's Rome Statute states that ecological destruction can be considered a war crime when an attack is launched with the knowledge it will cause "widespread, long-term and severe damage to the natural environment which would be clearly excessive in relation to the concrete and direct overall military advantage anticipated."

In February, the international court's chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, said he intended to prosecute crimes against the environment more aggressively.

Still, to date, no country or individual has been found guilty of a war crime under that definition. Dumont said this is partly due to its vagueness as set out in international law.

Dumont told DW that for a case to be successful, the data needed to show that environmental destruction caused by the poisoning of a river or shelling of a forest, for example, would persist for years after the conflict.

"In the past, this has been very hard to prove," he said.

He highlighted the 1991 Gulf War between Kuwait and Iraq. During their retreat, Iraqi troops set fire to oil storage installations and more than 700 of Kuwait's oil wells, causing an environmental disaster throughout the region.

Even a casual observer would say these acts qualified as an environmental war crime, said Dumont.

"But back then, in the 1990s, it was very difficult for geologists to prove that the outcomes of these fires would still be measured 10 years later. Methodologically, it just wasn't possible," he added.

Oil wells on fire during the first Gulf War Oil wells on fire during the first Gulf War

US oil well firefighters try to contain a fire in Kuwait after Iraqi troops set oil installations ablazeImage: AP

The situation is different today. Thanks to satellite imagery and the new scientific tools, Dumont believes the chances of success against Russia are promising, at least in certain instances, including the destruction of the Kakhovka dam.

What impact would a ruling against Russia have?

A ruling in favor of Ukraine at the ICC would be historic.

"It would really be a breakthrough, a groundbreaking moment in environmental law," said Dumont.

However, the real impact it would have and whether reparations would ever be paid out is uncertain. Russia is not party to the Rome Statute that established the ICC and does not recognize its jurisdiction.

But it is not only compensation that Ukrainian authorities seek, added Dumont.

"We know from research that it is very important for people to have these crimes recognized, For example, farmers and other people that are dependent on the environment so that their motives are also part of the proceedings," he said.