Rich nation appetites driving tropical deforestation

Each person in G7 nations drives an average loss of four trees in the world per year, according to new research 

CHAIDEER MAHYUDDIN AFP/File

Issued on: 29/03/2021 -

Paris (AFP)

Rising demand in wealthy countries for dozens of commodities ranging from coffee to soybeans has stepped up the pace of deforestation in the tropics, researchers said Monday.

Even as North America and Europe expand forest cover within their own borders, efforts to slow forest loss in the global south through offset schemes and direct payments have been overwhelmed by these appetites, they reported in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution.

The first country-by-country quantification of how rich-nation imports drive deforestation showed that each person in G7 nations accounts for, on average, the loss of four trees somewhere else in the world per year

In 2015, the last year for which figures were available across all the datasets examined, that totalled more than three billion trees, the researchers found.

In five of those G7 nations -- Japan, Germany, France, Britain and Italy -- 91 to 99 percent of their "deforestation footprint" was in foreign countries, half of that in the tropics.

That footprint has grown most rapidly in China and India, but per capita tree loss is still far below that of rich nations.

"Most forests are in poorer countries that are overwhelmed with economic incentives to cut them down," lead author Nguyen Tien Hoang, an expert in environmental modelling and mapping at the Research Institute for Humanity and Nature in Kyoto, told AFP.

"We show that richer countries are encouraging deforestation through demand for commodities."

Combining data on forest loss and global supply chains, Hoang and his colleague Keiichiro Kanemoto showed which nations were buying what commodities from where.

- Cocoa and coffee -

Cocoa consumption in Germany, for example, "poses a very high risk to forests" in Ivory Coast and Ghana, Hoang noted.

Deforestation in coastal Tanzania, meanwhile, is directly linked to Japanese demand for agricultural products.

In Vietnam, forest loss in the Central Highlands is mainly driven by coffee drinkers in the US, Germany and Italy, while in northern Vietnam the culprit is exports to China, South Korea and Japan.

Palm oil -- used in food products and biofuels -- is the main instigator of forest loss in Indonesia, while large swathes of forest in Brazil are destroyed to make way for beef, soybean and sugarcane production.

Among wealthy nations, France has the highest rate of per capita tropical deforestation, with 21 square metres (220 square feet) lost in 2015.

Germany and Norway were close behind, with Japan, Mexico and the US responsible, per capita, for about 16 square metres of cleared forest that year, whether through burning or timber harvesting.

"The richest and most biodiverse ecosystem among forests are in the tropics," said Hoang.

Forests cover more than 30 percent of Earth's land surface, and tropical forests are home to between 50 and 90 percent of all terrestrial species.

In 2019, a football pitch of primary, old-growth trees was destroyed in the tropics every six seconds -- about 38,000 square kilometres (14,500 square miles) in all, according to satellite data.

Preliminary data suggest the primary forest destruction in 2020 may have accelerated.

© 2021 AFP

UN chief calls for more pandemic debt relief for poorer nations

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the global community must "urgently provide" support to poorer nations Michael Sohn POOL/AFP/File
 

Issued on: 29/03/2021 -

United Nations (United States) (AFP)

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called Monday for greater debt relief and new creative financing to help poorer nations deal with the pandemic and prevent their economic recoveries from falling behind.

A "new debt mechanism" to provide more options -- including debt swaps, buy-backs and cancellations -- is needed, he said, as many nations have been reluctant to add debt during the global health crisis, fearing a hit to their credit ratings.

He also called on G20 nations to extend the suspension of debtors' loan payments into 2022, and expand the Common Framework for Debt Treatments to include middle-income countries that request it.

"We are on the verge of a debt crisis," Guterres said at the start of a high-level meeting with dozens of heads of state, calling for "urgent action."

Richer nations, he said, have spent an unprecedented $16 trillion on emergency health and economic measures, "preventing a downward spiral, and setting the stage for recovery."

"But many developing countries cannot invest in recovery and resilience, because of financing constraints," he said, noting that the world's least developed countries have spent 580 times less per capita terms on their Covid-19 response than advanced economies.

Guterres cited stark differences in vaccine rollouts in rich and poor nations, and the poorest facing "painfully slow" economic recoveries that risk becoming a drag on the global economy.

Six nations have already defaulted on loans, and one-third of emerging market economies are at "high risk of fiscal crisis," he said.

"Developing countries need access to additional liquidity to respond to the pandemic, and to invest in recovery," Guterres said.

"The global community must urgently provide the necessary support to all developing countries in need."

© 2021 AFP

A third of global farmland at 'high' pesticide pollution risk

Nearly two-thirds of global agricultural land is at risk of pesticide pollution, a study says Money SHARMA AFP

ITS NOT JUST THE LAND THIS MAN IS NOT WEARING ANY PPE SO HE IS BEING POISIONED AS WILL BE HIS FAMILY

Issued on: 29/03/2021 -Paris (AFP)

A third of the planet's agricultural land is at "high risk" of pesticide pollution from the lingering residue of chemical ingredients that can leach into water supplies and threaten biodiversity, according to research published Monday.

The use of pesticides has soared globally as agricultural production has expanded, prompting growing fears over environmental damage and calls to cut hazardous chemical use.

Researchers in Australia modelled pollution risk across 168 countries with data on the usage of 92 active pesticide ingredients and found "widespread global pesticide pollution risk".

They highlighted several acutely vulnerable ecosystems in South Africa, China, India, Australia and Argentina, at the nexus of high pollution risk, high water scarcity and high biodiversity.

The study, published in Nature Geoscience, found that overall 64 percent of global agricultural land --approximately 24.5 million square kilometres (9.4 million sq miles) -- was at risk of pesticide pollution from more than one active ingredient, and 31 percent is at high risk.

"It is significant because the potential pollution is widespread and some regions at risk also bear high biodiversity and suffer from water scarcity," said lead author Fiona Tang, of the University of Sydney's School of Civil Engineering.

Tang said there were a number of factors that would contribute to a region becoming a potential contamination hotspot, including using excessive amounts of pesticides or those containing highly toxic substances.

Some environmental factors may also slow the breakdown of the pesticides into non-toxic substances, like cold temperatures or low soil carbon, while heavy rainfall might also cause high levels of run-off.

The study did not look directly at impacts on human health, but researchers said the leaching of pesticides into water used for drinking could pose a risk and called for a greater analysis into contamination of rivers, estuaries and lakes.

- Sustainability call -

Researchers looked at 59 herbicides, 21 insecticides and 19 fungicides.

They used estimates of pesticide application rates drawn from the United States Geological Survey data and country-based information from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.

They fed this into a mathematical model and used it to estimate pesticide residues potentially remaining in the environment.

Regions were considered to be high risk if residues of at least one of the pesticide ingredients were estimated to be at least 1,000 times greater than concentrations that would produce no effect.

"The higher the risk score, the higher the probability for a non-target species to experience an effect," Tang told AFP, adding that this may not be as severe as death.

The report found that Asia has the largest land area, 4.9 million square kilometres, at high risk, with China accounting for 2.9 million square kilometres of that.

Researchers said estimates of elevated contamination in Russia, Ukraine and Spain meant nearly 62 percent of European agricultural land (2.3 million square kilometres) is at high risk of pesticide pollution.

The researchers also broke down risks in terms of type of environment -- soil, surface water, ground water and atmosphere.

Of these, Tang said surface water is the most vulnerable because run-off can pollute waterways.

The study called for a global strategy to transition towards "sustainable agriculture and sustainable living", involving low pesticide use, reduced food loss and food waste.

In 2019 the UN's Global Environment Outlook (GEO) called for reduced pesticide use and said food production is not only the main driver of biodiversity loss, but is also a major polluter of air, freshwater and seawater, particularly when farming is over-reliant on chemical pesticides and fertilizers.

© 2021 AFP

Bookchin M. Our Synthetic Environment.pdf (libcom.org)

(PDF) An Editorial Flop Revisited: Rethinking the Impact of M. Bookchin’s Our Synthetic Environment on its Golden Anniversary (researchgate.net)

]

UK

Ministers map out Liberty rescue plan: Emergency move to save 5,000 jobs after steel giant calls for £170m taxpayer bailout

Sanjeev Gupta wrote to Government officials in a desperate bid to secure a £170million bailout from taxpayers

Troubles at the UK's third largest steel producer follow the collapse of its main financier Greensill Capital

Concerns are now rising that Gupta's British operations could slide into administration unless new financing can be arranged

By EMMA DUNKLEY, FINANCIAL MAIL ON SUNDAY
PUBLISHED: 28 March 2021


The Government is preparing to trigger an emergency plan to save 5,000 British jobs in the event of a collapse of Sanjeev Gupta's steel business.

Gupta, founder of Liberty Steel and its vast parent company GFG Alliance, wrote to Government officials on Thursday in a desperate bid to secure a £170million bailout from taxpayers.

Troubles at the UK's third largest steel producer follow the collapse of its main financier Greensill Capital, which counted former Prime Minister David Cameron as a paid adviser.

Plea: Sanjeev Gupta wrote to Government officials in a desperate bid to secure a £170million bailout from taxpayers

Concerns are now rising that Gupta's British operations could slide into administration unless new financing can be arranged.

Gupta's call to Ministers for help comes just months after he forked out £42million – nearly a third of the bailout request – on a house in Belgravia.

Liberty owns a dozen steel plants in Britain, including sites at Newport and Rotherham. Private equity firms are understood to be assessing parts of GFG's global empire.

In its letter to the Department for Business GFG asked for the money to cover working capital and operating losses.

But Whitehall is thought to be concerned that bailout money might be used in other parts of Gupta's global empire instead of supporting UK jobs. There are also fears the firm could then require further financial support.

Boris Johnson has taken a personal interest in the situation, industry sources said. The Government is already thrashing out emergency plans in case the situation rapidly worsens, The Mail on Sunday understands.

It is thought the preferred route would be to wait for Liberty Steel to enter compulsory liquidation, at which point the Government would step in and keep the company running until a new buyer could be found.

This would be similar to the rescue of British Steel which collapsed in May 2019. Around 3,000 jobs were saved by an intervention which cost taxpayers nearly £600 million. The Official Receiver, a state agency, took control of the firm with the backing of the Government until it was sold to Chinese metals company Jingye last March.

Another option could see the Government support administrators to find a new buyer if Liberty Steel, which is thought to comprise seven different companies, collapses.

Dame Margaret Hodge, former chairwoman of the Public Accounts Committee, said: 'You need to save the jobs, not the man.'

She said there was a lack of transparency over 'where his money has come from, where it goes', adding: 'But what you don't want to do is sacrifice the jobs.'

The union Unite said it 'is urging the Government to do everything necessary' to save Liberty, adding: 'The loss of Liberty Steel and the specialist products it manufactures for the aerospace, automotive and oil and gas sectors would have damaging consequences beyond the steel sector.'

One industry source said it would be difficult for the Government to step in without GFG Alliance first becoming insolvent, because the company is 'a sprawling beast' with huge debts. Another source said: 'It's messy, it's very, very messy.'

And with private equity firms understood to be eyeing parts of GFG, one source in the sector said: 'It's an asset-backed bet, potentially Lone Star and Cerberus [are interested].'

Cerberus declined to comment. Lone Star did not respond.

Advisers to GFG Alliance are working on a private restructuring plan called 'Project Battery'.

Liberty Steel employs 3,000 people in Britain. Another 2,000 UK jobs span other divisions of GFG Alliance including aluminium firm Alvance and renewable energy business Simec.

Liberty Steel was forced to halt production at some sites earlier this month to preserve cash. It owes Greensill an estimated £3.6 billion, according to the Financial Times.

A GFG Alliance spokesman declined to comment on the letter, but said: 'GFG Alliance as a whole is operationally strong and benefiting from strong markets in steel, aluminium and iron ore.

'While Greensill's difficulties have created a challenging situation, we have adequate funding for our current needs. Discussions to secure alternative longterm funding continue to make good progress.

'In the UK speciality steel business, where weakness in the aerospace market has cut demand for some products by 60 per cent, we have been taking specific actions to stabilise the business and improve cash flow.'

These include 'reducing steel stocks ... and working with customers to achieve terms that will bring in cash as early as possible'.

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ISIS IS NO MORE D.J.TRUMP POTUS

Islamic State group claims control of northern Mozambique town of Palma

OIL GAS REFINERY

Issued on: 29/03/2021 - 

A woman, called Elsa by UK-based aid group Save the Children, walks with a child in a displacement camp in the northern Mozambique province of Cabo Delgado on January 26, 2021. © Rui Mutemba/Save the Children/REUTERS

Text by:FRANCE 24

The Islamic State group said Monday it had seized the coastal town of Palma in northern Mozambique, after days of fighting.

“The caliphate’s soldiers seize the strategic town of Palma” following a three-day attack against military and government targets that killed dozens, the group said in a statement on its Telegram channels.

The jihadist group’s claim came after thousands of survivors of coordinated jihadist attacks in the town fled on boats to the provincial capital, Pemba, according to sources in the city.

International aid agency sources said between 6,000 and 10,000 people are waiting to be evacuated to safety following the raid on Palma that began last Wednesday.

Extremist militants raided Palma, a town of around 75,000 people in the province of Cabo Delgado that is home to a multi-billion-dollar gas project being built by France’s Total and other energy companies.

The government said dozens were killed in the attack, including seven people caught in an ambush during an operation to evacuate them from a hotel where they had sought refuge.

A South African is among those killed, his family said.

The attack is the closest yet to the major gas project since an Islamist insurgency broke out across Mozambique’s north in October 2017.

The attack forced expatriate workers and locals to seek refuge temporarily at a heavily guarded gas plant located on the Afungi peninsula – 10km (six miles) from Palma, on the Indian Ocean coast south of the Tanzanian border.

Operations are under way to move them to Pemba, around 250 kilometres south of Palma.

Sea Star, a large passenger vessel, arrived in Pemba on Sunday with around 1,400 people, mostly workers including Total employees.

Another ship arrived in Pemba on Sunday afternoon and was released on Monday morning, according to an official from an international aid agency operating in the city.

“Authorities indicate that there will be a boat that will arrive during the day,” the source told AFP.

Thousands of other people were still stuck at Afungi, with some expected to have arrived in smaller boats overnight Sunday and early Monday.

Police and military have cordoned off the zone, hampering access to the area where the boats were landing.

UN agencies were due to hold emergency talks in Pemba to coordinate the evacuation and humanitarian aid for the new arrivals.

The defence ministry said late Sunday that the security forces have “reinforced their operational strategy to contain the criminal attacks of terrorists and restore normality in Palma, having carried out operational actions focused primarily on the rescue of hundreds of citizens in the last three days”.

Pemba is already packed with hundreds of thousands of other people displaced by the Islamist insurgency, which has uprooted nearly 700,000 from their homes across the vast province.

‘Shot while fleeing’

The armed attackers fired on civilians in their homes and on the streets “as they tried to flee for their lives”, according to Human Rights Watch.


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The violent, calculated raid broke a three-month hiatus in Islamist attacks widely attributed to counter-insurgency tactics and the rainy season from January through March.

Although the extremist fighters launched their campaign in 2017, experts say they had begun mobilising a decade earlier as disgruntled youths started to practise a different type of Islam, drinking alcohol and entering mosques dressed in shorts and shoes.

The violence has now taken root and claimed at least 2,600 lives, half of them civilians, according to the US-based data-collecting agency Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED).

“We are extremely concerned about the impact that this new outbreak of violence is having on already very vulnerable people who have been affected by years of conflict,” said medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders).

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

Catholics call for Sri Lanka ex-leader to face prosecution over Easter bombings

Issued on: 29/03/2021

Sri Lanka's Catholic church called for the former president Maithripala Sirisena to be prosecuted for failing to prevent the suicide bombings two years ago 

LAKRUWAN WANNIARACHCHI AFP

Colombo (AFP)

Sri Lanka's Catholic church called Monday for the former president and his officials to be prosecuted for failing to prevent the suicide bombings two years ago that killed 279 people.

An investigation ordered by ex-leader Maithripala Sirisena soon after the April 21 bombings found that he and his intelligence officials had precise information from India about the impending attack 17 days earlier, but failed to prevent it.

The report, parts of which were released last month, held Sirisena -- now a member of successor Gotabaya Rajapaksa's party -- criminally liable.

"It is absolutely necessary to prosecute without any hesitation and further delays all those political leaders and officials... seconded for prosecution in the report," Archbishop Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith said in a statement, without directly naming Sirisena.

He said such individuals must be held accountable "for shirking their duty so callously and doing absolutely nothing to prevent the massacre".

The statement -- signed by 12 other Sri Lankan church leaders -- warned they would organise a national demonstration next month if those named in the report were not prosecuted.

In March, the church had asked the faithful to wear black and attend Sunday Mass as a sign of protest against the delay in ensuring justice for the victims.

The church also called for an ongoing investigation to cover military and intelligence officers said to have had contacts with the local jihadist who led the coordinated suicide bombings.

The inquiry heard testimony from officials who claimed that jihadist Zahran Hashim had dealings with security forces during the country's Tamil separatist war that ended in May 2009.

Church leaders urged a further investigation.

Sri Lanka has arrested over 200 people in connection with the attacks, but is yet to prosecute a single individual.

However, the US Justice Department in January charged three Sri Lankans with supporting terrorism for their alleged participation in the attacks, which were claimed by the Islamic State group.

All three are in custody in Sri Lanka but have not been charged locally. The Justice Department said it would support their prosecution in the country.

At least 45 foreigners, including five Americans, were among those killed.

© 2

 The Ever Given was refloated Monday and the Suez Canal reopened to traffic, almost a week after the megaship got stuck, the Suez Canal Authority said as local TV images showed it moving slowly up the canal. FRANCE 24's Eduard Cousin tells us 

What is a ferret badger?

Issued on: 29/03/2021 - 

Ferret badgers are a member of the mustelidae, the family of mammals that includes weasels, badgers, ferrets, otters, and wolverines Sam Yeh AFP

Hong Kong (AFP)

A number of animals have been suggested as the intermediary carrier of the coronavirus that has wracked the world for more than a year; most of them are familiar, but you might not have heard of the ferret badger. Here are some facts about this lesser-known creature.

- What's in a name? -

The ferret badger's name is actually fairly self-explanatory.

It's a member of the mustelidae, the family of mammals that includes weasels, badgers, ferrets, otters, martens, minks and wolverines.

Visually it looks very much like a cross between a ferret and a badger.

With an average length of 33 to 43 centimetres, its small size and thin shape is reminiscent of a ferret.

But they also have white facial markings and a stripe down their back, traits seen in many badger species.

The ferret badger looks quite similar to the palm civet cat which -- while not a mustelidae -- was identified as the intermediate host between bats and humans for the 2003 SARS outbreak.

- Where would you find it? -

The ferret badger has five identified sub-species, the Bornean, the Chinese, the Javan, the Burmese and the recently classified Vietnamese.

Chinese ferret badgers -- melogale moschata -- are the most widespread and can be found as far west as Assam in India, throughout southern China and as far east as Taiwan.

It has a diverse stomping ground and is found in tropical and subtropical forests as well as grasslands.

- What's it like? -

It is most active at dusk and during the night, eating an omnivorous diet of seeds, fruits and nuts as well as insects, earthworms and small amphibians.

It has sharp claws allowing it to climb -- and sleep -- in trees.

It also fiercely defends itself from threats, emitting a powerful smelling secretion from its anal glands when alarmed.

- Is it endangered? -

No, it is currently listed in the "least concern" category on the UN's Red List.

While it is sometimes hunted for its pelt, the ferret badger does not appear to be under any major population pressure.

Unlike many species, it may cope quite well with human encroachment onto its habitat.

A study of ferret badgers in the mid-1990s near a village in southeastern China found the animals often made use of firewood stacks and rock piles to rest and hunted for food in rice paddies, soybean, cotton, or grass fields.

Farmers usually liked the animals as they got rid of pests and did not tend to attack chickens or livestock.

© 2021 AFP

Pollution forces Nepal schools to close for the first time

Issued on: 29/03/2021 -

Kathmandu is currently ranked among the most polluted cities in the world

 Prakash MATHEMA AFP

Kathmandu (AFP)

Nepal on Monday ordered schools to close as choking smog enveloped the capital Kathmandu, in the first-ever shutdown of the country's education sector because of pollution.

Kathmandu is currently ranked among the most polluted cities in the world, with the air quality index (AQI) readings well above 300, the highest level of concern, during the weekend.

"It has been decided that educational institutions will be closed until Friday. As far as we are aware, this is the first time schools have been closed because of pollution," Deepak Sharma, the Ministry of Education spokesman, told AFP.

The government has also urged people to stay indoors and to avoid construction and burning trash.

Experts say that raging wildfires in several parts of the country combined with stagnant atmospheric conditions have caused the thick smog to cover many districts.

"There is not enough movement in the atmosphere right now so pollutants, contributed also by the wildfires, have been trapped to cause the air quality to deteriorate," said Min Kumar Aryal, a meteorologist at Nepal's Meteorological Forecasting Division.

On Twitter, Kathmandu residents complained of "stinging eyes" and "itchiness" because of the pollution.

Low visibility caused by the smog has disrupted flights at Kathmandu airport, leaving passengers facing hours-long delays.

The country's only international airport was temporarily closed on Friday as visibility dropped to 1,000 metres, according to an airport official, before reopening on the same day.

© 2021 AFP

Heard NFTs are bad for the environment? Here's what that means

Related to the cryptocurrency craze, NFT stands for nonfungible token.

By Austa Somvichian-Clausen | March 24, 2021

Story at a glance

The world of blockchain is currently abuzz with the introduction of NFTs, or nonfungible tokens.

Like the signature on an original painting, owning an NFT ensures the new owner exclusive rights to a piece of digital property.

Most NFTs utilize the blockchain Ethereum, whose energy consumption has come under scrutiny as of late.

According to estimates, the annual energy usage of Ethereum is enough to rival that of small countries like Bahrain.

This Monday, Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey combined past and future when he sold his first-ever tweet as an NFT, or nonfungible token, for $2.9 million. A simple introduction to what grew to be one of the largest social media platforms in the world, the tweet read: “just setting up my twttr.

That small piece of social media history is now owned by Sina Estavi, the chief executive officer of Malaysian blockchain service Bridge Oracle. Estavi, who likened his new internet real estate to Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, is just one of the growing number of savvy investors getting involved in the confusing world of NFTs. In fact, the market for NFTs is already being valued at $1 billion.

NFTs draw upon the same blockchain technology that digital currencies rely upon, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, to both ascribe ownership to the digital works and authenticate purchases. So, while we can all still see, read, embed and screenshot Dorsey’s tweet, Estavi has digital proof of ownership over it.

For digital artists, the newly emerging world of NFTs is a fever dream — a new, highly lucrative way for them to monetize their works. Even lesser known digital artists have been cashing in on thousands of dollars thanks to the quick-paced sales and current high demand for NFTs, and a bonus of the model allows ownership to be extended to resales of that token. That means artists continue making money, even as the NFT is resold multiple times.

Sound too good to be true? That’s yet to be seen, and many financial advisors are cautioning their clients against hitting the gas on NFTs just yet. Besides the mystique of the NFT market, rumors have also been swirling about their environmental impact, throwing even more confusion into the mix.

Earth pays a hefty price for the art

While NFTs hold promise for artists and investors alike, its critics say that the blockchain mining that makes them possible is perhaps one of the most direct examples of cashing in on the pollution of this planet.

The problem is that many creators, especially those who jumped on the NFT bandwagon in its earliest stages, are separated from that energy-consumption process. Many do not realize that creating the NFTs they are now profiting from required an enormous amount of raw computing power. Ethereum mining consumes about 26.5 terawatt-hours of electricity a year. To put that into perspective — that is nearly as much energy used annually by the entire country of Ireland.

Theoretically, mining energy could come from renewable sources in the future. For now, though, the major marketplaces for NFT art such as MakersPlace, Nifty Gateway and SuperRare conduct their sales through Ethereum. Ethereum’s developers have planned a shift to a less carbon-intensive form of security, called proof-of-stake, via a blueprint called Ethereum 2.0. But this has been in the works for years, and while they have promised a launch of the new system in 2022, nothing is certain.

“That would essentially mean that Ethereum’s electricity consumption will literally over a day or overnight drop to almost zero,” Michel Rauchs, a research affiliate at the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance, told The Verge.

When picturing how the world of blockchain works, many overlook the physical, real world aspects of the practice of “mining.” Since crypto first began to boom, miners have taken over basements and warehouses, filling these vast spaces with air conditioning and endless rows of high powered computers running software.

These cryptocurrency operations have sprung up anywhere from Texas to Iraq to Inner Mongolia, and even smaller mining operations can overload local grids. Some mining hotspots that have gained popularity for cheap hydropower have even had to ban new operations over concern that the intense energy usage needed for mining would push neighboring energy users to dirtier energy sources.

Fortunately, those concerned about the environmental impact of NFTs are already working on a number of solutions to the issue. While there are some buyers against the idea of purchasing works not backed by Ethereum, others are looking into the possibilities associated with private blockchains, which allow them to sidestep some of the issues with cryptocurrencies. For environmentally conscious digital creators, users on platforms like Github have already begun creating guides on creating more eco-friendly NFTs.

“I realized that the issue of sustainable platforms not only needs to be part of the crypto conversation, it is the conversation — into which systems, functional applications, and power structures are all enmeshed,” said artist Memo Akten in a recent interview with Flash. A digital creator himself, Akten revealed through his own research that the carbon footprint of an average single-edition NFT is equivalent to driving a car for 1,000 kilometers, and for higher editions, the figures are equivalent to dozens of transatlantic flights.

“Digital artists absolutely should be able to earn a living making the work they love. But this should not involve the immense footprint it does presently nor the current lack of transparency. New businesses and platforms must align with the values we are hoping to carry into the future.”