HIV/AIDS need billions in funding to avoid 'deep trouble'

About 1.5 million people got HIV in 2021 — a million more than predicted. Experts say AIDS programs "suffered" due to COVID and we have to get back on track.

Experts say health programs need $18 billion in funding to get HIV/AIDS, TB 

and malaria targets back on track after the COVID pandemic

The coronavirus pandemic has changed a lot in a very short space of time, including our global strategies to slow the spread of — and help treat people with — HIV and AIDS. And we were doing so well. 

"In West and Central Africa and in the Caribbean, we [saw] substantial declines in new infections," Winnie Byanyima, the executive director of UNAIDS in Geneva, wrote in an email to DW. 

"Globally, 26 million people are on HIV treatment in low and middle-income countries, which is an accomplishment that seemed unimaginable just a few years ago," Byanyima wrote. 

HIV infection rates on the rise  

UNAIDS published a report in late July showing that HIV infections were rising significantly, with 1 million more cases reported in 2021 than estimates had predicted. 

The report highlights an increase in HIV infections in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East, North Africa and Latin America. 

There were 650,000 deaths associated with AIDS in 2021 — that is more than one death every minute. 

Winnie Byanyima (center) releases the UNAIDS 2022 update on AIDS at 

an international AIDS conference in Montreal, Canada, on July 27, 2022

Pandemic contributed to higher HIV rates

UNAIDS says infection rates started to rise after global resources were diverted away from AIDS to tackle the coronavirus pandemic. 

"In many countries, the AIDS response was [redirected] to tackle COVID. This meant a more successful COVID response, but there weren't the resources to focus on both at the same time. The result was that the AIDS response suffered," said Matthew Kavanagh, deputy executive director at UNAIDS.

Staff and resources were diverted away from the AIDS response to tackle COVID-19

But gender, economic and racial inequalities continue to play their part in HIV infection rates. 

For example, new infections disproportionately affect young women and adolescent girls, mostly in African countries, where young women are three times more likely to contract HIV than young men. 

In richer countries, HIV rates are higher among people of color than white people. That is true for the US and UK, including in indigenous communities in Australia, Canada and the US. 

The UNAIDS report also found that men who have sex with men have 28 times the risk of acquiring HIV compared with men of the same age and gender who do not have sex with men. 

Some HIV prevention programs still had sucess 

Despite the setbacks during the pandemic, Byanyima said, there are examples of resilience in HIV programs and success. 

There were, for instance, successful rollouts of antiretroviral treatments in Cote d'Ivoire, Malawi and Kenya, and that contributed to a decline in new adult HIV infections. 

"South Africa and Nigeria were able to achieve large reductions in new HIV infections despite serious disruptions from COVID-19," Byanyima said. 

And, on the flip side, AIDS programs helped fight COVID-19 — "with contact tracing, laboratories and public health education," she said. "Investments to tackle the AIDS pandemic proved very effective in preparing for a new pandemic, often more so than in the world's wealthiest countries." 

A new HIV prevention drug is ready to roll

Kavanagh highlighted a new drug called long-acting injectable cabotegravir (CAB-LA). The drug can be injected every 2-3 months to prevent HIV infection.  

It works by blocking the HIV genome, which means that the virus is prevented from  integrating itself into human DNA and that stops it from replicating. So, it can't spread and take hold in the body. 

Experts hope that CAB-LA will build on the success of PrEP or pre-exposure prophylaxis. PrEP is a pill that reduces HIV transmission through sex or intravenous drug use. 

A recent study in Kenya showed how PrEP had reduced HIV incidence by 74%. But the pill only works in men.

Research suggests that, compared with PrEP, CAB-LA may be better at reducing HIV transmission and that it is effective in men and women. 

The WHO advises countries to adopt CAB-LA in their strategies to prevent the spread of HIV, but notes that it is currently too expensive for most people. 

"If the drug [becomes] affordable for low-and-middle income countries, we can roll it out across the world to reach those who need it most. It can be an inequality buster," Kavanagh said. 

Experts are also watching HIV vaccine development with renewed optimism after three new mRNA HIV vaccines began trials in March 2022.

Gathering the political will

Byanyima and Kavangh say HIV/AIDS programs need renewed support from politics. 

"We need the political will to raise funds to get HIV prevention technologies and strategies out," Kavanagh said. 

The Global Fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria is asking global leaders for $18 billion (€17.6 billion) to tackle these health issues. 

It would be a major success if global leaders pledged the money in the coming months, with the global economy in the state that it is. 

"If [they do], we can get the HIV response back on track, but if [they don't], we will be in deep trouble. We'll face another pandemic," Kavangh said. "I can't think of a time when it's been more important."

Edited by: Zulfikar Abbany

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Japan's wildlife turns on the human population

Bears, boars, monkeys and even dolphins are becoming bolder and more aggressive as climate change affects their habitats and forces them into confrontations with humans.

There has been a sharp increase in reports of attacks by monkeys this summer

Dramatic changes in the landscape of rural Japan have caused significant changes in the behavior of the nation's wild animals, leading to more frequent — and more violent — clashes with humans.

In years gone by, bear attacks have typically accounted for the majority of the attacks on humans, along with occasional rampages by boars. But there has been a sharp increase in reports of attacks by monkeys this summer, while authorities in one coastal city have warned of dolphins becoming aggressive toward swimmers. 

And while such confrontations in the past primarily took place when humans strayed off the beaten path, with people foraging for mushrooms and other mountain vegetables attacked by bears, incidents are increasingly happening in the suburbs of some of the nation's biggest cities.

Brown bear shot dead

In June last year, hunters had to be called in to shoot a brown bear that injured four people in the suburbs of Sapporo, the largest city on the northern island of Hokkaido.

Authorities had to close the city's airport, shut down 42 schools and put a military base on lockdown before the 2-meter bear was shot.

In the six months to November 2020, a record 13,670 bears were sighted across Japan, with no fewer than 63 people mauled in attacks, two of whom died of their injuries.

In June last year, hunters had to be called in to shoot a brown bear that

 injured four people in Hokkaido prefecture

In southern Japan, residents of the tiny island of Kakara are considering evacuating as wild boars have largely taken over, destroying crops of pumpkins and sweet potatoes and becoming increasingly aggressive and territorial.

The situation has become so bad that parents no longer allow their children to play outdoors for fear they will be attacked.

This summer, Japanese media has devoted extensive coverage to a number of clashes between troops of monkeys and local people. In some cases, the rogue simians have entered people's homes by opening windows or breaking a mosquito screen, and have bitten or scratched residents.

Local authorities in Yamaguchi Prefecture, in southern Japan, reported 66 incidents in July alone and issued advice to local residents to not make eye contact with a monkey as it could be perceived as a challenge and precipitate an attack.

Authorities have set up traps and carried out patrols, with two particularly aggressive monkeys caught and euthanized.

"I think the statistics confirm that we are seeing far more cases in recent years than before," said Mariko Abe, of the Nature Conservation Society of Japan.

Impact of climate change 

"There seem to be several factors contributing to the increase in these cases, but I think one of the biggest — particularly this year — is the effect of climate change," she told DW.

"For the last decade or so, the rainy season that used to reliably last for around a month from mid-June has become shorter and delivered less rain," she said. "And this year it has been extreme." 

"There was cloud cover during June, but not enough rain and now we are seeing record high temperatures across the country." 

The result is that the food sources in the mountains and forests have not produced sufficient quantities for the monkey population, meaning they have had to go looking for sustenance. And that has brought them into areas of human habitation. 

Another factor is that suburbs are constantly edging further into animals' habitats, she added.

BLUEFIN TUNA: A DELICACY IN PERIL
Overfishing
Japan is the world's largest consumer of bluefin tuna. Surging consumption in the country and overseas has led to overfishing of the species, with experts warning it faces possible extinction.
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Kevin Short, a professor who specializes in environmental education at the Tokyo University of Information Sciences, agrees that the loss of habitat is a major reason for increasing numbers of wild animal intrusions into urban areas.

He also pointed out that due to Japan's shrinking rural populations, there are fewer hunters to cull wildlife, resulting in an explosion in the number of bears, boars and monkeys in recent years.

"In the past, these villages used to work as a sort of buffer zone between the forests and the suburbs and villagers would cull the animals that took their crops and so on," he said.

"With villages losing all their young people and gradually shrinking, there are fewer people to stop the wildlife from taking over.

'Not frightened of humans'

"I also feel that means animals are often no longer frightened of humans," Short said.

"Japanese macaques, for example, are very intelligent and once they realize that they do not need to fear humans and that they can effectively bully us, then that spreads through the troop very quickly.

"They have also learned that the suburbs of Japan's towns and cities provide attractive and easy sources of food," he said. 

And while people have had more run-ins with bears, boars and monkeys in recent years, reports of dolphins biting swimmers off the central city of Fukui have come as a surprise to many Japanese.

The local authority has introduced beach patrols and buoys that emit ultrasonic sound waves to keep dolphins away from beaches, and posted signs warning people not to approach the creatures.

"The bottom line is that these are wild animals in their natural habitat," said Abe. "Humans are intruding into their spaces, they are not pets and people cannot just play with them. People need to learn to stay away from wildlife."

Edited by: Srinivas Mazumdaru

Berlin plays safe after fire at explosive site in forest

A highway in Berlin remains blocked as firefighters continue to tackle a blaze in in the city's Grunewald forest.

The German army has been providing support, including the deployment of heavy firefighting vehicles

Firefighters were seeking to fully extinguish the blaze at Berlin's city ordnance disposal area on Monday, days after fire broke out caused by an explosion at the site.

The goal was to reduce the size of the area at risk, officials said, adding that the situation was stable but not yet fully under control.

What's the latest on the fire?

A spokesperson for the fire department said people would start working on the site once it was certain that it was safe. The presence of explosives at the compound meant the operation has been treated with a higher degree of caution than normal.

"We hope to be able to cool down further there with robots and firefighting tanks so that we can then go into the area," the spokesperson told the AFP news agency.

Berlin Fire Brigade spokesman Mario Witt had said on Sunday that the plan was to get closer to the fenced-off blasting site area at the heart of the blaze. Although the main fire is out, many small blazes continued, he said.

According to estimates, the fire department operation will continue for days with firefighters — using high-tech surveillance equipment — looking for still-smoldering embers.

BERLIN GRUNEWALD THREATENED BY FIRE AND EXPLOSIONS
Explosions in a dry forest
A police ammunition dump in a Berlin forest was shaken by explosions Thursday morning. After an especially long dry spell this summer, the forest was bone-dry and immediately caught fire.
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Fire officials were expected to say later on Monday whether a section of highway known as the AVUS could reopen.

Train services along a stretch of rail, parallel to the road but slightly further from the heart of the fire, started operating again on Saturday.

What happened at the site?

Berlin's fire department deployed an array of specialized equipment to the forest, where a blaze, thought to have been sparked by an explosion in the early hours of Thursday, ripped through tinder-dry woodland.

An initially affected area of some 1.5 hectares spread to about 50 hectares (about 123 acres) by Thursday evening, before firefighters were able to get close enough to properly extinguish the fire.

The site was set up in Cold War-era West Berlin in 1950; 25 metric tons or more of fireworks, World War II ammunition and other explosive ordnance had been stored there before the fire began.

The 200 by 200 meter compound is used by Berlin's explosive ordnance disposal service to store, defuse and detonate munitions — primarily those still being discovered to this day and dating from World War II. It's also used for the storage and disposal of confiscated fireworks.

Rhine's low water levels hit German shipping, minister touts dredging

Industrial production tends to decrease when the Rhine River remains as low as it currently is, challenging Germany's industry to deal with heightened tensions around supply chains and other resources.

Due to a lack of rain, the Rhine is currently at very low water levels

Low water levels on the Rhine River are threatening further problems for the German industry, which is troubled by high energy costs, disrupted supply chains and inflationary prices.

The water levels on the Rhine have recently continued to drop due to soaring hot temperatures and lack of rainfall in the region. 

Minister touts dredging plan as water levels sink

As some ships were unable to traverse the key waterway fully loaded, Transport Minister Volker Wissing called for the river to be dredged to allow for more freight to travel along it. Long term, he said it was necessary "to shift more traffic from road to rail and waterways." 

He said that the planned dredging of the Rhine was the project from a recent German government study into long-term travel strategy "with the best cost-benefit ratio."

"We need to eliminate bottlenecks on the Rhine at certain points. We need the waterway," Wissing said. Completion of the "giant project" would take until the early 2030s, he said. 

The investment would amount to about €180 million (roughly $183 million), of which around 40% would be for accompanying ecological measures. 

As transport minister in Rhineland-Palatinate, Wissing had already campaigned for the deepening of the Rhine between St. Goar and Mainz. This would allow ships to carry around 200 tons more of cargo. "That's equivalent to 10 to 15 loaded trucks," he had said at the time. 

Levels dropping earlier than usual

Normally, when water levels fall below a critical mark for a 30-day period, industrial production decreases, Nils Jannsen, an economic expert at the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW), explained.

"In 2018, when navigation on the Rhine was last hampered by low water for an extended period, industrial production decreased by about 1.5% at its peak," Jannsen said. "It could be an additional burden that shipping is a relatively important means of transporting energy commodities."

The low water levels are also emerging earlier than is typical, with the lowest water levels typically recorded later in the year, in September or October.

The water level is particularly low at a narrow part of Kaub near Koblenz, currently at roughly 56 centimeters (less than 2 feet) in depth. However, ships need about 1.5 meters to be able to sail fully loaded. 

"We continue to sail, but can only load about 25 to 35 percent of the ship's capacity," said the director of the DTG shipping cooperative, Roberto Spranzi, which operates about 100 ships on the Rhine. 

"That means customers often need three ships to move their cargo, instead of just one."

The authorities do not close the river at low water. They leave it up to ship operators to decide whether or not they want to continue navigating the Rhine.

 "We will continue as long as it is possible to navigate," Spranzi said. 

Vessel capacity is already tight, he said, as demand has increased. 

One reason, he said, is that Germany wants to increase the generation of power from coal to prepare for reduced gas supplies from Russia.

Heavy impact on industry giants 

Ships cannot be loaded with full capacity, making the cost of transport go up

The Rhine is an important shipping route for raw materials such as grain, chemicals, minerals, coal and oil products including fuel oil.

Companies are keeping a close eye on its water levels and the potential impact on their operations. 

A spokesperson of BASF stated that the chemical corporation might have to slow down production of certain assets in the coming weeks. 

The chemical group Evonik and steel conglomerate ThyssenKrupp said that they took measures to ensure their production isn't at risk for the time being, by loading up on materials that could be impacted by the impossibility of freight traffic. 

Energy concern Uniper says there could be irregularities in the production of electricity through the coal power plants in Staudinger in Hessen and Datteln in North Rhine-Westphalia up until the beginning of September as the supply of coal isn't guaranteed. 

los/msh (dpa, Reuters)

Europe's hedgehog numbers in decline due to habitat loss

Conservationists have reported dramatic reductions in Western Europe's native hedgehog populations. They say that saving them from extinction will be a challenge.

THIS HEDGEHOG 'HOSPITAL' IS SAVING HUNDREDS OF LIVES
The downtown hedgehog sanctuary
Located in the western city of Wuppertal, Netzwerk Igel e.V. is one of a shrinking number of nonprofit organizations in Germany that cares for sick and injured hedgehogs. It takes in between 400 and 500 hedgehogs every year and provides them with food, medicine and shelter as they recover.
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Hedgehogs are a common sight in gardens in some parts of Europe. But the first time Monika Thomas saw one was at a friend's medical practice, where a person had brought one in for treatment. Now she sees these tiny animals every day.

Thomas, who is trained in medicine, established a hedgehog sanctuary called Netzwerk Igel in 2006. It's a nonprofit association located in Wuppertal, Germany, that provides care, food and shelter for nearly 500 orphaned or wounded hedgehogs every year.

2022 is a year in which hedgehog populations in Europe appear to be in steep decline.
Hedgehogs are a 'vulnerable species'

There are indications that hedgehog populations are in decline in Germany, as well as other European countries. But statistics are scarce and experts say they can only estimate the true extent of the decline.


The Netzwerk Igel hedgehog sanctuary cares for about 500 injured hedgehogs every year

One sanctuary in France described hedgehogs as "the polar bear in our gardens" and said climate change was affecting their ability to find food.

In February 2021, a British conservationist group reported that the local countryside hedgehog population had shrunk by an average of 8.3% per year over the past two decades.

Another British report classified the species as "vulnerable to extinction."
Hedgehog population decline linked to loss of habitat

There may be more than one reason for the decline in hedgehog populations, and that may be making the problem harder to address.

Carsten Schiller, who heads the German conservation group Pro Igel, lists the destruction of natural habitats among the top causes.

Take, for example, Europe's native species Erinaceus europaeus, also known as the West European hedgehog or common hedgehog.

Erinaceus europaeus have lived on Earth for nearly 60 million years, making them one of the oldest surviving mammals. They tend to live in open landscapes.

But the expansion of monoculture — or single-crop — farming, the development of human settlements and the use of insecticides are said to be displacing hedgehogs from the foothills, grasslands and fields they typically inhabit.

"Based on the destruction of natural habitats by [human] activities, including soil sealing, we expect that the hedgehog population will reduce up to 50% in the span of a decade," said Schiller.

Hedgehogs feed off insects, and shouldn't be fed any food made for human consumption

Soil sealing is when porous ground is sealed by laying concrete, for instance. That cuts off access to food in the soil for many species, including hedgehogs.
Victims of climate change

When food is scarce, hedgehogs move from one territory to another. They can cover distances of up to 8 kilometers (5 miles) during a single night, the time of day when hedgehogs are most active.

Drought also affects hedgehogs as they feed on insects (they have an insectivore diet). "Because of drought, the soil gets very hard. The plants that [host] these insects tend to retreat into the ground," said Thomas.

Pesticides also kill insects and invertebrates that are part of a hedgehog's diet.

Hedgehogs are also exposed to multiple risks when changing territories. They can end up on busy roads or get bitten by a dog — these are some of the most common emergencies that Thomas sees at the sanctuary in Wuppertal.
Need for more statistics and resources

The conservationists said lack of data and poor funding are making it harder for them to tailor an appropriate response to the situation.

They called for more up-to-date statistics, but neither Germany nor any of its federal states have any historical data that could serve as a point of comparison for any monitoring conducted today.

Then there is the issue of funding. Another hedgehog sanctuary near Wuppertal had to close its doors after operating for 35 years, leaving Netzwerk Igel to receive more emergency cases than ever before.

Overworked and lacking sufficient resources, the sanctuary survives on donations and a helping hand from volunteers. "I'm only able to hire one person full time. We don't have any municipal support," said Thomas.
We can all help the hedgehogs

Despite the situation, Thomas says she remains positive: "I'm an optimist."

When hedgehogs are forced to leave their habitats in search of food, they often cross busy, dangerous roads

At Pro Igel, meanwhile, Schiller said environmental authorities should engage more in the issue and design initiatives to keep track of native wildlife statistics.

"The conservation of our native species relates to the preservation and creation of natural habitats," he said.

But we can all help the hedgehogs. If you see a hedgehog during the daytime, it's likely that this nocturnal animal is hurt or vulnerable.

So if you find a hedgehog during the day, contact a local sanctuary or a conservationist group. They will know if it's an emergency and act accordingly.

But be mindful of the fact that hedgehogs cannot eat human food. They require an insectivore diet, and human foods in large quantities or over long periods can harm them, Schiller explained.

Most of the emergencies received by Igel Netzwerk arrive during the summertime. This happens because hedgehogs often seek refuge in residential backyards. But this is also a time when people like to mow their lawns.

Thomas recommends leaving some of your lawn to grow wild, so that hedgehogs can make a nest. And take a look at the yard before mowing it, to see if you have any hedgehogs living there, especially if you use a robot lawnmower, as these tools can hurt them.

Edited by: Zulfikar Abbany

Meet the pilot who quit flying because of the climate crisis

Not many pilots climbing steadily up the ranks retire their wings in the name of environmental activism. But Todd Smith did just that at great expense. He spoke with DW about this life transition.

'To go out and fly passengers was a dream come true'

Born into a family of modest means on the outskirts of London, Todd Smith didn't grow up taking much for granted. Except, perhaps, his father's repeated insistence that he should choose a job he loves. For many, that's the challenge of a lifetime. Not for Todd. 

From the moment he was taken to a watch a local Royal Air Force aerobatics display, he knew his future was written in the skies. "I was just in absolute awe of these nine aircraft flying wing to wing. That was the beginning of my journey." He was 5.

It could have been a passing phase, but his young mind had been captivated. As he got a little older, he started playing flight simulator games and by the age of 11 he was knocking on the door of the nearest branch of the air cadets asking them to bend their minimum age rules to let him join the squadron. Surprisingly, they agreed. 

He went twice a week for years, and though his enthusiasm remained very much alive, with an RAF career out of reach and without the €150,000 ($162,000) necessary to train as a commercial pilot, by the time he was 16 his dream of flying started to "feel like a distant reality."

A family effort to find the necessary money

Instead, Todd went to London to become an apprentice electrician, and spent a few years moving from job to job — none of which came close to flying. "I feel very at home in the air. It gives me this feeling of freedom and tranquility," he told DW.

When he decided to take out a bank loan to train for his private pilot's license, his family saw what it meant to him and rallied to raise the money for commercial training. 

Over five years, through a combination of his grandmother selling her house to move in with Todd's parents, them remortgaging their home and Todd using his own wages, he officially became a commercial pilot.

'Getting your hands on an actual jet was... nothing can ever really compare to be honest'

"The examiner said to me afterwards 'you're a credit to aviation and you're going to go very far in your professional career.' My mum and dad were there. It was incredible really."

The last thing on his mind at that moment — or over the next three years as he flew vacationers across Europe and began climbing the ranks of his profession — were the greenhouse gas emissions the aviation industry generates annually.

Slow burn of an environmental epiphany

But that began to change in 2018, when a gut inflammation forced Todd to take a break from the pilot's cabin. It was the last thing he wanted and he was so "desperate to get back to flying as soon as possible" that he accepted a doctor's challenge of trading his meat-eating habits for an almost exclusively plant-based diet.  

During this time, he watched a couple of documentaries that highlighted how animal agriculture damages the climate and environment.

"It really hit home." Hard enough to make him commit to veganism and start "reading up on climate science." When, in a strange twist of fate during his medical leave, a tick bite in a London park left him with Lyme disease and grounded for even longer, he began to dig deeper. 

'It was a bittersweet moment. The guide told us that Peru was one of the first places to be hit by climate change'

As he dug, he had a retrospective dawning of realization. He recalled a bittersweet moment from a couple of years earlier when he had stood on the brightly colored Rainbow Mountain in Peru. "There were people walking up and down it like ants. It was so beautiful, but we shouldn't have been able to see it at all." 

Its glorious colors had previously been hidden under a blanket of snow, melted by warming temperatures. He had, in seeing the mountain, been a "firsthand witness to the impacts of climate change and mass tourism."

Becoming immersed in climate action

Todd could no longer deny that he'd been in denial. And that changed everything. He delved deeper into climate science and the carbon footprint of flight. He learned that the industry is responsible for more than 2% of global emissions and that of the 80% of people who have never been on a plane, many are disproportionately affected by climate change.

"I was struck by the injustice of it all. Especially since half of those emissions are generated by 1% of the population," he said. 

He started trying to explain his new insights to colleagues in the aviation industry, but didn't find many willing listeners. "At the time, Greta Thunberg was the focus of all these vile comments. I actually think the industry felt really threatened by her. She was walking the walk."

'Action on climate change means coming back to community, reconnecting with nature and an economic system that values health and well-being over GDP'

As Todd continued to walk his own walk away from the job that had been his whole identity, he felt a sense of "responsibility and morality" that meant he couldn't return to living the way he had before. He joined the Extinction Rebellion protest movement, for whom he is now a spokesperson, and started "taking climate activism really seriously."

At the same time, he still also owed his family a lot of money. But flying to pay them back was off the cards. "I couldn't even go on a plane as a passenger now. Let alone fly one," he said. 

Getting his parents to understand his change of heart and conscience has taken time, empathy, reassurance that he will pay them back and their own foray into climate action. This spring, they joined him for their first protest event.

"It was a really incredible moment. And they really do get it now, so we can share in conversations about oil companies and stuff like that."

Trying to change the aviation industry from the inside 

Through his activism, Todd also met fellow aviation workers who echo his climate worries. They initially formed a casual group that has since become Safe-Landing, an organization trying to change the sector from within by challenging industry leaders to "conform with climate science and reject dangerous growth."

'We want to empower aviation workers to understand the limits of technology to solve this problem'

"With the remaining carbon budget we have, we can't continue to double air traffic every 15 years, like we have historically. We want to empower aviation workers to understand that we need to fly less if we want to ensure a long-term future in the industry," he said.

He still loves flying and misses being up in the skies. But he won't return until the industry takes its obligations seriously. In the meantime, he plans to continue honoring his own.

"As pilots, we're trained to think, free from bias, to mitigate risks, to preserve life. I'm simply following my training and trying all that I can to get the industry to mitigate its risks. After all, safety is our No. 1 priority." 

Edited by: Jennifer Collins

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Skyrocketing temperatures sweep country
A girl uses sunglasses, a mask, a long cloth and an umbrella to protect herself from the sun on her way to school in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. In April, northwest and central India recorded average maximum temperatures of 35.9 and 37.78 Celsius (96.6 and 100 Fahrenheit) respectively, the highest since the Indian Meteorological Department began keeping records 122 years ago.
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Germany's energy U-turn: Coal instead of gas

Berlin has realized it will never again import as much energy from Russia as before the Ukraine war. So the challenge is to wean Germany off its dependence on Russian energy sources, and quickly. The question is how.

On August 1, the coal power station in Mehrum became the first to be reactivated

Starting this week, German hard coal-fired power stations are restarting operations, which were being phased out because of the hugely detrimental climate impact on a world already ravaged by global warming. Germany's goal had been to phase out all coal-generated electricity by 2038.

But now, the government is swallowing the bitter pill of allowing coal-fired power back onto the grid. It is hoped that this will replace the gas-fired electricity that currently makes up some 10% of Germany's overall energy mix.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke of temporary emergency measures "imposed for a very short period of time that don't take anything away from our climate targets." 

"What must not happen is that we slide into a global renaissance of fossil energy, and coal in particular," the chancellor warned.

But at first glance, last year's global data seems to suggest that is precisely what is happening: Never before has the world used so much coal to generate so much electricity. And the International Energy Agency (IEA) warns that the same pattern of high demand and high production will be repeated this year.

Import ban on Russian coal

Alexander Bethe, chairman of the Board of the Berlin-based Association of Coal Importers, is sure of that: "This winter, we will certainly import over 30 million tonnes (33 million US tons) of hard coal to keep our power stations in operation. That would be 11% up on 2021."

Before the war in Ukraine, 50% of the coal for Germany's power stations was imported from Russia. But on April 9, the EU hit Russia with a sales and import ban on coal and oil — yet not with immediate effect. Oil will be delivered until the end of the year, while coal shipments may only be delivered and offloaded through August 10.

Finding other suppliers is not the problem, say German coal importers. These include sources in South Africa, Australia, the US, Colombia and Indonesia, says Bethe. But these various kinds of coal each have different characteristics and qualities, he explains. It's important to see which mix is the best for the German power stations. And tests are underway.

More difficult perhaps, according to Bethe, are the transport routes for coal. The big sea ports like Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and Antwerp are all booked out. Inland shipping routes taking coal by ship or train from the big ports to the power stations are at their limit. This is also in part due to Germany's shortage of skilled labor.

The workforce had already been cut back in line with German's goal of phasing out coal by 2038. Inland waterways were frantically reducing their capacities in line with expectations.

One-third of Germany's coal imports come up the River Rhine. But at the time of summer drought, the water levels there are so low that ships can only sail at 30% to 40% of their loading capacity.

Coal transport infrastructure is maxed out in Germany

Coal price hikes

At the beginning of 2021, a tonne of hard coal would go for $64 (€63) on the world market. Now, the price has risen close to $400. Some 7.4 billion tonnes of hard coal were mined last year, half of it in China. But coal-mining countries meet their own needs first, and only 1 billion tonnes end up being traded on the global market.

Given the fact that electricity prices are rising dramatically, there are huge incentives for operators of decommissioned plants to make every effort to get them back on the grid. The first operator to do so was the Mehrum plant in central Germany, which belongs to Czech energy concern EPH and had been closed down at the end of 2021. Others say they intend to follow suit.

German energy supplier EnBW only wants to keep one plant in operation longer than previously planned. Five other plants that had been turned off for good are too old and out-of-date to be reactivated.

Brown coal comeback as well?

But it is not only hard or black coal-fired power plants that are to be brought back online: The German government is also preparing a regulation for the beginning of October to restart lignite-fired power plants that have been shut down.

This also affects the Jänschwalde power plant in Brandenburg, where two units had been switched off to so-called "safety standby." If they were to be restarted, they could supply as much electricity as a regular nuclear power plant.

Bad news for climate activists: Lignite power stations are likely to see a renaissance, too

But if they were to be restarted now, 13 million cubic meters of water would be needed to drive the steam turbines, says environmental network Green League. According to the network, this would further exacerbate the water shortage in the Spree River.

Another problem is that the old units do not comply with emissions regulations, as the operator did not consider it necessary to upgrade them in view of the complete shutdown.

Moreover, there is a lack of skilled personnel; the workers have long since been deployed elsewhere.

This article was originally written in German.