REVOLVE N8 - SUMMER 2013

N°8 | SummeR 2013

Alberta’s Tar Sands II The Impact on Three Creeks In Peace River, Alberta, Canada

Croatia’s EU Accession Renewables across Europe Tokyo’s Green Initiatives

€ 8 / £ 6,5

Japan’s Whaling Wars

A photo exhibition in Brussels - Summer/Fall 2013

Renewable energies represent an annual turnover of € 137 billion and provide over 1 million jobs in Europe. ( Source : EurObserv'ER, 2013 )

Wind Hydro Solar Biomass Geothermal Ocean

A worker climbs a turbine of the Walney offshore wind farm near Barrow in Furness, Cumbria, UK. Source: Dong Energy.

Venues: Esplanade of the European Parliament during the EU Sustainable Energy Week (June 24 - 28) Park Cinquantenaire (July - August) Les Halles St-Géry (Sept. - October) Open Invitation to Cocktail: outside the European Parliament on 26 June 2013 from 6-8pm RSVP: info@revolve-magazine.com | +32 (0)2 353 0584

Special Guest Editorial N°8 | Summer 2013

Working on the Transition to Renewables When we talk about building a future based on more renewable energy, we usually think of cleaner production, replacing fossil fuels, overcoming dependency on highly volatile fossil fuel prices, fewer emissions and other issues which might sometimes seem abstract. But there is another face to the transition to renewable energies, one which witnesses the concrete benefits first hand – the human face.

However, in an industry with long investment cycles, 2020 is just around the corner and right now the EU is considering how best to move forward with energy and climate policies towards 2030. This is why EREC has just released its Hat-Trick 2030 publication [see page 45], which outlines the economic, social and environmental benefits for EU citizens of ambitious 2030 targets for renewable energy, energy efficiency and greenhouse gas reductions.

For many people across Europe, the clean-tech revolution is not just about reducing greenhouse gas emissions and developing a sustainable energy system; it’s also about having a decent job to go to each morning. To highlight this aspect of the energy transition, the European Renewable Energy Council (EREC) and Revolve cooperated on the Renewables in Action exhibition to show workers on projects around Europe.

EREC would like to thank its members for their contribution to this project and Revolve Magazine for its steadfast work. The Renewables in Action project breaks down the barriers between the conceptual and the actual by giving policies on renewable energy and climate change a tangible, real world expression.

While unemployment, particularly with youth, has steadily increased throughout the EU in recent years, the renewables sector continues to grow and provide people with new prospects in a time of economic crisis. According to latest data, the renewable energy sector employed about 1.2 million people across the Europe in 2011. This represents an increase of 3% on the 2010 figure – an achievement few other sectors can claim in the same time period.

Josche Muth Secretary General European Renewable Energy Council www.erec.org

Much of the renewable energy industry’s recession robustness can be attributed to the success of the EU’s binding 2020 renewable energy targets which have provided the sector with much needed predictability in times of uncertainty. Due to such dedicated policies, it is expected that by 2020 there will be 2.7 million people working in the renewable energy sector across Europe.

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Cover image: The Nisshin Maru rams the Bob Baker, pushing it into the Sun Laurel.

Source: Eliza Muirhead / Sea Shepherd Australia.

Charles Mahoney Edoardo De Silva Jenny Christensson Josche Muth Laura Beltrán Villamizar Lubomir Mitev Rajnish Ahuja Ruth Gamano Photographers Alan Sherrard Ana Liberato Eliza Muirhead Filipa Rosa Glenn Lockitch Massimiliano Lacertosa Monica McGivern Rafn Sigurbjörnsson Rozanne Hakala Tim Watters Graphic Design Filipa Rosa Photo | Art Editor Laura Beltrán Villamizar ENERGY | CLIMATE ANALYST Lubomir Mitev ENERGY ASSISTANT Edoardo De Silva CONTENT MANAGER Valentina Pinzuti ASSISTANT | RESEARCHER Marcello Cappellazzi EDITOR-AT-LARGE Bostjan Videmsek Managing Consultant Joelle Rizk Regional Managers Rajnish Ahuja (India | Asia) Deepshikha Sharma (India | Asia) Founding editor Stuart Reigeluth

REVOLVE Magazine (ISSN 2033-2912) is registered in Belgium, BE 0828.676.740.

Revolve Magazine is printed with vegetable-based ink on chlorine-free paper. www.revolve-magazine.com

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CLIMATE 06 | U.S. Energy Policy Charles Mahoney says that the United States has consistently ignored the real “existential threat” that climate change presents.

Contents

Contributors

ENVIRONMENT 12 | Alberta’s Tar Sands II In this sequel to last summer’s feature, photojournalist Alan Gignoux takes us to Three Creeks in Alberta, Canada, to see the effects of extracting oil.

VIEWS I 19 | Visualizing Energy Renewables are proving a positive and growing force in the energy mix: here is the human dimension of workers on projects across Europe.

FOCUS 36 | Renewables in Europe As the crisis continues in Europe, Lubomir Mitev looks at the tremendous potential for renewable energies to propel the green economy and reinforce job creation.

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Could it be, I wondered, that our need for distraction, our mania for the new, was, in essence, an instinctive migratory urge akin to that of birds in autumn?

– Bruce Chatwin, The Songlines.

GEOPOLITICS 46 | Croatia’s EU Accession After a devastating close to the 20th century, Croatia bounced back to become the 28th Member State of the European Union this summer.

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ANALYSIS 56 | Japan’s Whaling Wars The Land of the Rising Sun’s spats with China have distracted international attention from it’s illegal activities in Australian waters and in whaling reservations.

VIEWS II 56

67 | VIII Giorno (Eighth Day)

I talian photographer, Massimiliano Lacertosa, depicts the transient nature of our times with arid almost apocalyptic landscapes.

CITIES 83 | Tokyo’s Green Initiatives 67

J apan’s capital is setting an example by taking some of the most innovative measures to combat climate change in Asia.

CULTURE 96 | Recycled Art

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Canadian artist, Katherine Harvey, presents installations made of discarded plastic bottles to create waterfalls, fountains, and chandeliers.

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U.S. 21.6

World Average 4.0

CO2 emissions per capita, per annum, 2008

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U.S. Energy Policy

Ignoring the “ Existential Threat ” Writer: Charles Mahoney Ph.D., is Lecturer in International Relations at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Illustrations: Liz Throop

Rather than focus on decreasing carbon emissions and addressing the environmental changes that are very seriously affecting our world, the United States has repeatedly continued to look for other more evasive “existential” enemies, writes Charles Mahoney.

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It’s the End of the World As We Know It In the late 1980s, the band R.E.M released a single on their album Document with a somewhat confounding yet highly addictive chorus, sung by Michael Stipe in a nasally twang. It went: “it’s the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine.” To this day, the song is played at late night parties and revelers hoarsely chant it at the top of their lungs in an effort to thumb their noses at the future. This bacchanalian carousing is all in jest, of course. If actually faced with the “end of the world as we know it” it’s unlikely that throngs of people would look the other way. On the contrary, if the end was nigh, humans would try and do something about it, right?

Sadly, the answer the above question appears to be a resounding “no.” The greatest threat humanity has ever faced, global climate change caused by industri-

alization, is occurring at an alarming rate.

Nonetheless, the world’s leading country, the United States of America, has largely ignored this existential threat and instead chosen to spend vast amounts of blood and treasure on futile wars and promotion of energy policies that further the interests of large oil companies. Despite overwhelming scientific evidence that increases in global temperature will cause widespread drought, famine, coastal flooding, and extreme weather patterns, the U.S. has chosen largely to ignore the problem of climate change and pass the consequences along to future generations.

The U.S. truly has taken the ethos of “It’s the End of the World as We Know It (and I feel fine)” to heart. It could, in a manner of speaking, be the theme song for U.S. energy policy, with perhaps one small addendum to the lyrics. Rather than face the true threat of global climate change, over the past several decades the U.S. has chosen to focus its attention on illusory threats, which pose no real challenge to the “American dream.” If the effects of climate change ultimately are the undoing of the U.S., the country’s epitaph may read “it was the end of the world as we knew it, and we worried about all the wrong things.”

“It was the end of the world as we knew it, and we worried about all the wrong things.”

Bogeymen that Never Were Since the end of World War II, the phrase “existential threat” has been uttered frequently by U.S. policy-makers and strategic analysts when referring to national secur­ ity challenges. To be clear, an “existential threat” signifies nothing less than a peril which potentially can obliterate the way of life in a country. Since WWII, U.S. leaders have identified two “false” challenges to U.S. survival: communism and radical Islam.

During the Cold War, the former Soviet Union was regularly characterized as an evil-empire capable of destroying America and the free-market values it championed.

The belief that the U.S. was perpetually on the brink of a Soviet nuclear attack loomed over Americans for decades and was used by politicians to justify large increases in defense spending. However, except for a brief period during the early years of the Cold War (when the U.S. enjoyed strategic nuclear superiority over the Soviet Union), the nuclear arsenals and second-strike capabilities possessed by both superpowers

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resulted in a stable relationship based on deterrence and “mutual assured destruction” in which a nuclear attack by one side meant destruction for the other. The guarantee that the obliteration of one side meant the annihilation of the other made the probability of nuclear conflict between Uncle Sam and Comrade Nikolai zilch.

from the U.S. media and government, terrorist groups do not possess destructive capabilities that could pose existential threat to the United States. Most foiled attacks against the U.S. are small scale plots and the would-be perpetrators are pathetic bumblers rather than arch-criminal masterminds.

When the Cold War ended, the U.S. experienced a decade free from the perception of an external menace, but that changed on September 11, 2001. Since then, barely a day passes when the so-called “existential threat” posed by Islamic extremism and the potential use of weapons of mass destruction by a non-state terrorist organization is not mentioned in U.S. media.

This is not to say that American civilians will not continue to be victims of terrorism or that attacks by radicals, both foreign and domestic, will not continue to plague the U.S. The point is that these attacks are limited in the damage they can inflict, and the fanatic ideology underlying them has nothing relevant to say about the modern human condition. Devoting vast resources to fighting small extremist organizations with limited capabilities, while simultaneously starving funding for development of sustainable, alternative energy sources, may go down as one of the biggest strategic blunders in human history.

Compared to the challenge posed by the former Soviet Union, modern day Islamic terrorism does not present a large scale threat to the U.S. It is true that extremists will continue to target U.S. civilians; however, contrary to the exaggerated warnings

robust, why is the environmental movement unable to make the public perceive the threats posed by climate change to be on par or greater than the threat posed by militant Islam? There are numerous possible answers to this question, but one is that there is no consensus on what increased temperatures will do to the planet over time.

Scientists know that carbon dioxide levels are rising and that increases in carbon dioxide will increase the earth’s temperature; however, they are not entirely sure what effects temperature increases will have on the planet as a whole (other than that they are likely to be detrimental to human life as we know it). Thus, there is no clear, scientifically viable narrative to disseminate to people other than “things are going to be bleak” and the more earth’s temperature increases, the greater the adverse consequences.

Protester at U.S. Capitol, Washington DC. Source: Rozanne Hakala.

Elephant in the Room While Hollywood-style climate change is not likely to occur during the next several decades, the effects of industrialization on the environment are already apparent.

It is an indisputable fact that the earth’s temperature is rising. Over the past thirty years, average global temperatures have increased at a rate of about 0.17 degrees Celsius per decade. There is also overwhelming scientific consensus that this increase in temperature is attributable to human activity and that continued levels of current carbon dioxide emissions will result in consistent increases in temperature. It is the previous point that is most alarming.

With the spread of industrialization in the developing world and per-capita income rising, efforts to stall global carbon dioxide emissions and enforce environmentally sustainable policies have become more difficult. The governments of developing countries do not want to deny their populations the material benefits of industrialization and also blame the West for the current state of the global environment.

If scientific consensus concerning global warming is unequivocal and findings discerning a clear connection between industrialization and increases in temperature are

Scientists use computer modeling to predict potential scenarios that could arise given current rates of carbon dioxide emissions.

However, the most ambitious of these models can only make accurate projections out to the year 2100. They omit the crucial time period after 2100 during which time the most damaging effects of rising temperature increases will occur. In addition, the further out these models forecast, the lower the levels of confidence they have that their findings will be accurate.

Regardless of these limitations, given current levels of carbon dioxide emissions, computer models predict some very frightening possibilities including: 20-30 foot rises in sea level that could result in damage to coastal cities and towns; acidification of oceans which could lead to widespread extinctions; migration of species to higher latitudes and altitudes; reduced food production; and widespread drought and shortages of fresh water. In addition to the alarming environmental changes projected by computer modeling, there also are surely “unknown unknowns” – challenges that will arise that have not been envisioned. The earth’s environment and ecosystems are complex and delicate. Dramatic changes in the earth’s temperature are sure to affect global ecology in negative ways that have not yet been anticipated.

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The Feeble American Response to Oblivion What policies has the U.S. adopted, and what leadership position has it taken, to address the existential threats posed by climate change? Sadly, the answer to this question is that the U.S. lags behind much of the world in implementation of progressive climate change polices. U.S. failure to lead has seriously damaged collective global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and has hurt the U.S. strategically, by allowing other countries to assume leadership roles on a global issue of central importance for humanity.

The most symbolic instance of the U.S. government’s dismissive attitude towards climate change is its failure to ratify the Kyoto Protocol – an international treaty,

approved by 191 countries, which set binding obligations on greenhouse gas emissions for developed states. In 2001, U.S. president George W. Bush withdrew U.S. support for the treaty and the agreement was never ratified by the Senate.

Without the U.S., the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases, leading the way, the Kyoto Protocol was significantly diminished in both its symbolic and practical importance.

The treaty could have served as a meaningful first step towards establishing global collective action towards reducing carbon dioxide emissions and mitigating the emerging environmental costs of climate change. However, since the U.S. did not

Sugar cane refinery, Florida. Source: Monica McGivern.

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ratify the treaty, its perceived impact was reduced, and over the following decade several other countries decided that the Kyoto Protocol is not the way forward on climate change. In 2011, three of the world’s leading industrialized nations – Canada, Russia, and Japan – confirmed that they would not adhere to further Kyoto targets. In fact, Canada withdrew completely from the treaty (without great fanfare). Had the U.S. taken the lead on the Kyoto Protocol and the implementation of emission standards, it may have been able to use its diplomatic leverage and influence to ensure that other large, industrialized countries also adhered to the agreement. However, the U.S.’ decision not to ratify the treaty permits other emitters of greenhouse gasses to also opt out if they face potential financial penalties under the treaty.

The U.S. has faltered on taking the lead in the international response to climate

change, and repeatedly failed to pass significant domestic legislation reducing emissions of greenhouse gases. In 2003, 2005, and 2007, Republican John McCain and Democrat Joe Lieberman sponsored the Climate Stewardship Acts, which would have capped U.S. carbon dioxide emissions at 2000 levels and provided government funding for clean energy research. The legislation failed each time it was introduced in the Senate. In 2007, Senators Bernie Sanders and Barbara Boxer proposed the Global Warming Pollution Reduction Act. The legislation, which called for increases in performance standards for motor vehicles and would also have provided research and development funds for alternative energy, did not even reach the Senate floor. Finally, in 2009, the Senate defeated the American Clean Energy and Security Act, a bill that would have established a “cap-and-trade” system in which companies could buy and

sell permits to emit greenhouse gases while limiting overall national emissions.

Under both President George W. Bush and President Barack Obama, the U.S. has failed to pass significant legislation addressing the issue of climate change and taken a back seat as Europe, Latin America, and even Australia lead the way on global climate initiatives. By prioritizing short-term economic gains over the longterm environmental objectives, the United States government is jeopardizing not only the future of its citizens, but also the future of the entire planet. A century from now, the policies of the U.S. government – its singular focus on preventing terrorism and the sacrifice of the environment for a few tenths of a percent of annual GDP growth – will almost certainly be viewed as an immense strategic blunder and a great shortfall of political and ethical will.

Dramatic changes in the earth’s temperature are sure to affect global ecology in negative ways that have not yet been anticipated

It’s the Environment, Stupid During the 1992 presidential campaign, political pundit and “media personality” James Carville coined a phrase that is now repeated ad nauseam during the American campaign season: “it’s the economy, stupid.” Legend has it that Carville posted the slogan at Bill Clinton’s campaign headquarters to remind the staff, and then candidate Clinton, that U.S. elections are primarily determined by the state of the domestic economy and very little else. If the United States government is to seriously address the issue of anthropogenic climate change

before irreversible damage to the earth’s environment occurs, a massive shift in voter preferences must take place. Instead of “it’s the economy, stupid,” the popular refrain must be “it’s the environment, stupid!” This evolution of popular sentiment is likely to take decades to happen, and may not come about until the effects of climate change hit North Americans in the pocketbook. By that time, temperature increases caused by industrialization may have reached precarious, unalterable levels and it really will be “the end of the world as we know it.”

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Canada’s Tar Sands Three Creeks, Peace River, Alberta

Sign 12 posted in protest by Andy Labreque on his property.

Residents of the Peace River region in the Alberta province question whether existing regulations are designed to protect human health and the environment or to facilitate the rapid and profitable development of tar sands, writes Jenny Christensson.

Writer: Jenny Christensson is a freelance art curator and journalist. She has worked with Alan Gignoux, researching photojournalism projects, writing articles, curating photography exhibitions and preparing catalogues and books.

Photographer: since 2000, Alan Gignoux has been a reportage photographer. He has explored the effects of displacement on communities in different parts of the world, including the Middle East, North Africa and Canada. More recently, he has concentrated on environmental questions, such as industrial pollution in the Russian Urals and, for the past two years, the environmental damage caused by the booming tar sands industry in Alberta, Canada. To view more of Alan Gignoux's work, please visit: www.gignouxphotos.com.

Unexplained Symptoms “I thought we lost him last night,” Carmen Langer concludes, visibly shaken by his memories from the night before. He had been called over to his parents’ house at 2:00 a.m. to help his father, Richard Langer, who had fallen seriously ill, suffering from convulsions, vomiting and a loss of bladder control. Father and son attribute this episode to regular exposure to harmful emissions from the nearby Cold Heavy Oil Production with Sand (CHOPs) mining operation run by Canadian oil producer Baytex.

Since the production facility started operating, Carmen has experienced a variety of symptoms such as difficulties breathing, stiffness in his hands, and strange dreams. During peak emissions periods, he claims: “We get gassed so bad that we cannot even function, we can no longer work.” As a farmer, Carmen has observed worrying health problems in his herd of cattle, such as premature births, birth defects and an increase in kidney and lung problems. His father has noticed that diversity within the bird population has decreased, while the deer have not produced any fawns in recent years.

The Langers are one of several families in the Three Creeks area in Peace River,

Alberta, who have complained of suffering from a range of symptoms, including headaches, sore throats, breathing difficulties and nausea. Alain Labreque made the difficult decision to abandon the home he had constructed on his father’s land when he was unable to get rid of the chemical smell that had permeated the house. He says: “Our permanent house has become an unliveable environment.”

His brother, Donald Labreque, whose house is situated across the street from 16 oil tanks, was at first reluctant to move, but uncertainty about the potential harmful effects of the emissions being pumped into the air within 500 meters of his home persuaded him to relocate with his pregnant wife and toddler. Uncomfortable with selling their properties and passing the problem on to an unsuspecting buyer and hopeful that the problems will be solved in the near future, both brothers have been forced to accept the financial burden of paying rental accommodation while the houses they own stand empty.

Both Alain and Donald Labreque approached Baytex with their concerns, expecting prompt corrective action. Donald

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Labreque met with company executives, who initially seemed predisposed to help and even offered compensation should the Labreques choose to move; however, when he and his wife Erin expressed an interest in taking up their offer, it was withdrawn, leaving them with the impression that “they were bluffing us just to see how serious we were or if we were just fishing for money.” His brother had a similar experience, at first meeting with a positive, helpful attitude and assurances that the problem would be fixed, and yet the noxious odors and their unexplained symptoms have persisted.

Donald Labreque’s house, now abandoned.

Legal Degradation?

In January 2010, concerned residents formed the Three Creeks Working Group – a joint collaboration between residents, industry and government that works towards addressing issues related to developments in the oil patch. Frank Oberle is the Peace River MLA (Member of the Alberta Legislative Assembly) and an active member of the group. He claims: “In Alberta, we believe we can develop our resources and have a clean environment.” But he acknowledges that the Three Creeks emissions problem is difficult to rectify because the oil companies do not appear to be contravening regulations. Oberle clarifies that “right now the oil companies are adhering to their licence limits – if they weren’t this would be really easy to solve.”

Oil Patch Regulators Regulation of the development of the oil patch in Alberta falls predominantly into the remit of two provincial bodies: the Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB) and Environment and Sustainable Resource Development (ESRD).

ERCB describes itself as “an independent, quasi-judicial agency of the Government of Alberta that regulates the safe, responsible and efficient development of Alberta’s energy resources.” Tasked with the

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Frank Oberle (left) and Carmen Langer.

assessment and approval of proposed tar sands mining operations and subsequent monitoring and enforcement, the ERCB is at the same time part of Alberta Energy – the ministry whose principal function is to assess and collect non-renewable resource royalties, bringing the regulator’s claim to independence into question.

desired environmental outcomes and sustainable development of natural resources for Albertans.” The ERCB publishes and enforces guidelines for industry operating practices, while ESRD issues regulations and guidelines concerning environmental impacts of oil patch activity, including air monitoring and reporting guidelines.

ESRD is a separate ministry and states that they, “as proud stewards of air, land, water and biodiversity, will lead the achievement of

Venting and Flaring versus Conservation The bitumen deposits in the Peace River

The basis of legal guidelines prioritizes the economic benefit to the operator over the health/ environmental impact of the emissions.

Richard and Audrey Langer.

to ascertain whether the company was indeed operating within guidelines. ERCB Directive 060 details operational guidelines for “Upstream Petroleum Industry Flaring, Incinerating and Venting”, which permits companies to release into the air “solution gas” that accompanies bitumen and crude if it is not economical to capture the gas. Sites flaring and venting combined volumes greater than 900 m3 per day and not conserving are required to review conservation economics once a year. The basis of these guidelines prioritizes the economic benefit to the operator over the health and environmental impacts of the emissions.

heated tanks above ground at temperatures of up to 120 degrees, producing a build-up of gasses that need to be removed. The options for disposing of these gasses are venting (releasing the gasses into the air), flaring (burning off the gasses) or conservation (capturing the gasses and re-using or selling them).

Furthermore, the ERCB relies on monitoring and financial information compiled by the operator – an approach that amounts to self-regulation. If Baytex are either emitting less than 900 m3 per day or if they are able to demonstrate that it is not economical to capture the gas, they are operating within guidelines, regardless of the impact on local residents. The guidelines do stipulate that the gasses must be conserved if the volumes emitted are greater than 900 m3 daily and the wells are within 500 meters of a residence; the Labreque house is within 500 meters of the Baytex site, but they would need to prove that Baytex are exceeding the emissions levels indicated.

Having observed that Baytex were venting gasses from the tanks on a continuous basis, Donald and Erin Labreque decided

MLA Oberle acknowledges that regulations need to be enhanced and that companies need to have greater social responsibility

Richard (left) and Carmen Langer.

area are too deep for surface mining and are extracted using in situ extraction techniques. Some deposits can be recovered by using steam injection, which heats the bitumen so that it can flow to a well and be pumped to the surface. The Baytex operation in Three Creeks uses an alternative, cold production method known as Cold Heavy Oil Production with Sand (CHOPs), which pumps bitumen together with sand to the surface from 600 meter deep deposits. The bitumen is stored in

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to address emissions complaints: “From a legal standpoint they’re correct, they’re operating within their limits, but from a social standpoint it’s often horrible out there.” Can companies be expected to ignore profits in favor of behaving in a socially responsible manner?

According to ERCB statistics, flaring has increased 66% since 2009. The ERCB attributes this to an increase in crude oil and crude bitumen production combined with low gas prices “which makes the economic viability of conservation more challenging.” ( For statistics on venting and flaring in Canada, please refer to the ERCB’s Upstream Petroleum Industry Flaring and Venting Report: www.ercb.ca )

Cold Heavy Oil Production with Sand (CHOPs) pumps bitumen together with sand to the surface from 600 meter deep deposits.

Air Quality Venting and flaring are only half of the equation for emissions regulations: the other half concerns the monitoring of air quality combined with evaluating the impact of hazardous compounds in the air on human health. Concerned about the potential harmful effects of the CHOPs emissions, the Three Creeks Working Group demanded to know what was in the “solution gas” and what it might do to them.

For several years, scientist Ian Johnson, has been trying to find answers, carry-

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Shell air quality monitoring station operated by Maxxam Analytics.

The family room in Alain Labreque’s abandoned house.

ing out different independent studies into emissions from heated bitumen storage tanks based on samples from local sites.

His 2007 report identified many potentially hazardous compounds, including: Biphenyls, Benzenes, Carbazoles, Dibenzothiophenes, Fluorenes, Naphalenes and Phenanthrenes. These chemicals belong to a group known as aromatic hydrocarbons, which are potentially harmful to human health.

With the exception of benzene, none of the compounds that Johnson identified are listed in the Alberta Ambient Air Qual-

ity Objectives and Guidelines, published

by ESRD – which means that there are no official limits set for these compounds.

Johnson notes that “most of the chemicals of concern […] have not undergone extensive toxicological testing” – making it difficult to gauge the potential harm. He was able to demonstrate that vapor concentration is very sensitive to temperature and that lowering tank storage temperatures reduces the concentration of hazardous compounds.

Johnson carried out another study in 2012 using the condensate of vapors from a

Carmen Langer measures out medicine for his cows.

“From a legal standpoint they’re correct, they’re operating within their limits, but from a social standpoint it’s often horrible out there.”

– Frank Oberle, Member of Alberta Legislative Assembly Carmen Langer administers medicine to a sickly calf.

heated bitumen storage tank at Royal Dutch Shell’s Cliffedale operation. His study confirmed the presence of alkylated naphthalenes in significant measures. When research carried out later in the year for ESRD did not discover these compounds, Johnson reviewed the government study finding that the method had been modified in such a way that would “prevent the detection of these compounds.”

Johnson alleges that the tests carried out

by ESRD and Alberta Technology Futures follows one of the methods recommended by the U.S. Environmental Protection

Agency, but substitutes the XAD-2 resin called for with Polyurethane Foam, which results in the under recovery of certain compounds, including naphthalene. Similarly, Johnson’s independent analysis of discrete air samples collected during high emissions periods (March 2011 – October 2012) detected significantly higher levels of reduced sulphur compounds than the regulation AMD continuous monitoring system in place.

Johnson outlined his discoveries to Minister Diana McQueen, in charge of ESRD, who forwarded his concerns to Alberta Health.

Fred Horne, Minister of Health, responded by reiterating the government position: “To date, the reviews have indicated that there is no immediate or long-term risk to health or safety posed by the chemical concentrations detected.” He points out that Minister of Energy, Ken Hughes, has requested a review of regulations governing emissions and promises that the review is to “outline potential alternatives for best management practices and best available economically achievable technology to reduce those emissions.”

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“Stop Baytex” According to the Peace River Record Gazette, the ERCB has responded to more than 600 complaints, 400 inspections and 1,300 investigations in the Three Creeks area over the last two years with little perceived change in emissions.

Residents are frustrated by existing venting and flaring regulations that seem to favor the interests of the oil producers and the apparent lack of regulations governing air quality standards. They are unable to reconcile their experience of living with the health effects caused by the foul-smelling emissions with the Alberta government’s findings that there is “no immediate or long-term risk to health or safety.” They are more convinced by Johnson’s research and find the province’s response to his allegations inadequate. Their frustration is compounded by the knowledge that the technology exists to capture the “solution gas” that is in use nearby at one of Shell’s facilities.

Even Johnson’s analysis demonstrating that temperature reductions in the tanks greatly reduce the concentrations of harmful compounds has not been acted on – Baytex continues to heat the bitumen at temperatures of up to 120 degrees. Residents are continuing their campaign to “Stop Baytex” until a “closed system” that captures the harmful gasses is introduced at the facility.

The predicament facing the residents of Three Creeks has the potential to spread to other communities in Alberta as in situ development continues at an accelerated pace. In the words of Frank Oberle: The problem that we have is a cumulative effect between the number of individual operations for each company and the number of different companies operating on this landscape and that has greatly increased in the last two years here.

The ERCB would be in a position to ameliorate the situation by issuing fewer licences

Carmen Langer’s herd grazes in the shadow of bitumen storage tanks.

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or by tightening regulations or insisting on more thorough compliance, but thus far they have shown no signs of pursuing these courses. It was announced in early 2013, the head of the ERCB will be Gerry Protti, an oil industry veteran and founder of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, a move that does not inspire confidence that circumstances are likely to change in the near future.

Vi ws

The innovative Gemasolar tower collects energy reflected from mirrors. Source: Torresol Energy.

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Working on one of Europe’s largest wind farms in Whitelee, Scotland. Source: Iberdrola.

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According the EU’Observ’ER, the different renewable energies – including biomass – represent together an annual turnover of €137 billion and provide over 1 million jobs across Europe. For some, including biomass is controversial since it is basically just organic material used as a fuel: cow-dung patties in India are considered biomass; sugar-cane in Brazil is used to make biofuels; wood remains the largest biomass energy source, from dead branches and dry leaves to stumps and chipping that can be burned. Despite some controversy, biomass is included as a renewable by EU policy.

Besides our use of wood, humans have relied on water and air and the sun as really the most basic sources of sustenance. Now we are discovering new ways to harness these natural energies in more efficient ways. We are finding ways to collect more renewable energy and to connect such energies with more people in more places. We are also learning to maximize returns for our growing energy needs while diminishing our impact on our surrounding environment. With pioneering technological advances, we are moving towards hybrid uses of renewables, such as using solar energy to power desalination plants to bring clean water to the arid regions of Arabia for example.

Such innovation and technology are the driving forces behind the energy transition that irrevocably includes a greater portion of renewables in the energy mix. Nuclear and coal remain constants in countries like France and China, respectively, but in both we see a growing trend towards more investments in more projects creating more jobs and ‘greener’ development. As leading global investor in renewables, Europe is at the forefront of such financial disbursements.

This photo essay complements our special report and unique photo exhibition – Visualizing Energy | Renewables in Action – on display outside the European Parliament during the EU Sustainable Energy Week and throughout this summer and fall at different venues in Brussels. Revolve presents the human dimension of renewables by showing workers in action on different projects around Europe to encourage investing in a more sustainable future.

To learn more, visit: www.revolve-magazine.com

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Tommy Karlsson and Magnus Igefjord inspecting a hydro turbine. Source: Turab Turbin / ESHA.

22

Michael, engineer, assembles a hydropower turbine in Niederranna, Austria. Source: Global Hydro Energy / HEA.

23

The highest situated solar plant in Zugspitze, Germany, hold up under extreme conditions. Source: Aleo Solar.

24

25

Johan Dagman, a Swedish forestry contractor, invented the Forest e-Beaver to collect smaller wood.

Source: Alan Sherrard / AEBIOM.

26

Geothermal power plant in Hellisheiรฐi, Iceland. Source: Rafn Sigurbjรถrnsson.

27

The Pelamis Wave Power machine near the Orkney Islands, Scotland, September 2011. Source: Steve Morgan.

28

29

Lab research in France on crystalline silicon solar cell electrical characterization. Source: Patrick Avavian / EUREC.

30

Klaus Pottler tests a solar parabolic with photogrammetry technology in Almeria, Spain. Source: CSP Services / ESTELA.

31

Assembling solar thermal evacuated tube collectors, Germany. Source: Ritter Group / ESTIF.

32

33

Vianden Pumped Storage Plant with an upper reservoir capacity of 723,000 cubic meters, Luxembourg. Source: HEA.

The Smøla wind farm in Norway. Source: Statkraft.

34

Connecting Renewables

across Europe Writer: Lubomir Mitev is energy | climate analyst at Revolve.

36

A worker climbs a turbine of the Walney offshore wind farm near Barrow in Furness, Cumbria, UK. The Walney project consists of 102 turbines (3.6 MW each), giving a total capacity of 367.2 MW, enough to power 320,000 homes. Source: Dong Energy.

The European Union’s common market is based on the free movement of goods, services, people and capital but when it comes to energy we still speak about 28 individual markets. In tandem with the ambitious single market for electricity and gas project, EU leaders hope to increase the use of renewable energy production.

The economic and social aspects have tremendous potential for pan-European energy security.

37

The Pelamis Wave Power machine near Orkney Islands, Scotland. Source: Steve Morgan

In April 1951, the establishment of the European Coal and Steel Community paved the way for France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg to create a free trade area for basic raw materials: coal, iron, coke, steel and scrap. The result was the first European inter-state organization with supranational characteristics that would lead to the consolidation of the European Union (EU).

The creation of the internal EU market to facilitate the free movement of goods, services, people, and capital amongst the 28 Member States (including Croatia’s accession in July 2013) has allowed growth and prosperity to dominate in Europe after the devastation of the Second World

38

War. Although national leaders agreed in 1985 that the internal market should be integrated into the European Community by 1992, there are still some areas where this has not been achieved, most notably in the energy sector.

Unlike the free movement of goods and services, it is much harder to ensure the free movement of energy due to infrastructural challenges with lack of connections. Electricity is not a commodity that can be easily stored and thus must be used immediately after it is produced, so suppliers have to input as much electricity into the network as customers use at a given moment.

Consumers are then charged by network operators if imbalances occur. The result is

a highly complex system that is difficult to control or predict.

In the 1990s, electricity markets in EU Member States were strict monopolies – a single supplier provided the service to all consumers.

In 1996, Brussels decided that the monopoly must be broken and the market liberalized.

Two initial Directives were introduced to address the electricity and natural gas markets. These led to two more Directives being adopted in 2003 with a Third Energy Package in 2009 that sets a target to complete the energy market by 2014.

Apart from the break-up of monopolies within the Member States, the common market also requires new cross-border

connections. It is not easy to integrate electricity grids across borders, especially in a changing policy environment. While the EU is self-sufficient in electricity generation, more than half of the primary fuels used for the process are imported, thus creating a sense of insecurity due to an overreliance on foreign fuel supplies. The fact that the Member States use these highly-polluting fossil fuels has led to greater integration of energy and environment policies. “Reliable energy supplies at reasonable prices for businesses and consumers and with the minimum environmental impact is crucial to the European economy”, the European Commission claims. This adds to the complexity of the internal market for electricity by also setting priorities for the development of new systems of energy generation and consumption.

Announced in 2008, the 20-20-20 strategy states that by the year 2020, the EU should have reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 20% compared to 1990, should produce 20% of its energy consumption from renewable sources and increase its energy efficiency by 20%. The Member States have to liberalize their energy markets further and create new inter-state infrastructural connections while making sure that prices stay affordable and they have to accommodate the development of renewables – a clean but irregular source of energy which also requires large investments and expensive technologies. It is a gamble that could end up securing affordable prices for consumers, giving them more freedom to choose through liberalization, as well as protecting the environment.

Undulating Financial Landscapes According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance, new investments in renewable energies in Europe were $18.6 billion in 2004 and by 2012 had increased to $101 billion. With a compound annual growth rate of 27%, the EU is currently the largest investor in renewable energy in the world, with China and the United States second and third respectively. The Clean Energy Trends 2012 – an annual report by the think-tank Clean Edge – states 2012 as a record year for the installation of renewable energy systems mainly due to the

lower prices of both goods and services.

The report predicts that clean energy growth will continue, despite the ongoing economic and financial difficulties, and will double in total value by 2022.

A low-carbon economy and dominance of renewably produced energy is becoming a reality. The issue has been to make these technologies competitive with conventional production capacity. Both the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) point out

New investments in renewables around the world (2004-2011, $BN) 2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

US

7.4

11.2

27.2

28.5

37.7

Brazil

0.4

1.9

4.3

9.3

12.7

2009

2010

2011

22.5

32.5

50.8

7.3

6.9

7.5

Europe 18.6 27.7 37.4 57.8 67.1 67.9 92.3 101 0.3

0.4

1.6

China 2.2

Middle East

1.9

3.7

3.1

6.7

5.5 52.2

5.4

10

14.9

24.3

37.4

44.5

India

2

2.9

4.7

5.6

4.7

4.2

7.6

12.3

Total

39.5

60.8

96.5

132.8

166.6

160.9

219.8

257.5

Source: Bloomberg New Energy Finance, 2012.

39

RENEWABLE ENERGY

No

Projects across Europe

LONDON ARRAY is the largest offshore wind farm in Europe with 175 wind turbines, 2 offshore substations, nearly 450km of offshore cabling, generating enough power for nearly half a million homes a year and saving 925,000 tons of CO2 a year

ICELAND

WITH A CAPACITY OF AT LEAST 50 MW

Geothermal activity in the Hengill area is connected with three volcanic systems

303 MW

North Sea

Wind IRELAND

Tidal

North Atlantic Ocean

1 GW

UK

NETH Hydro

BELGIUM

Channel

Opened in 1966, LA RANCE BARRAGE is operated by EDF with 24 turbines that generate an annual output of approximately 600 GW.

LUX.

240 MW Biomass

FRANCE

Bay of Biscay Geothermal

Solar

LARGEST PROJECTS IN EUROPE

PORTUGAL

SPAIN

Sector

Installed capacity

150 MW

MOROCCO

Covering over 2,471 acres, the SOLUCAR COMPLEX will create 1,000 jobs during the manufacturing and construction phases, as well as nearly 300 plant operation jobs and another 50 for research and development.

ALGERIA

SWIT

orwegian Sea

FINLAND

NORWAY

Gulf of Bothnia

SWEDEN

Jakobstad, also called Pietersaari, is considered the largest single-unit biomass power plant in the world.

240 MW

RUSSIA ESTONIA

Prior to the launch of the COGEALACFÂNTÂNELE ONSHORE WIND FARM in 2010, Romania had an installed capacity of 14 MW; now the energy capacity of 600 MW will contribute significantly to fulfilling Europe’s 2020 targets.

LATVIA DENMARK

Baltic Sea LITHUANIA

BELARUS

H.

Commissioned in October 2012, the NEUHARDENBERG SOLAR PARK has 3 photovoltaic power stations with a total capacity of 145 MW.

GERMANY

145 MW

POLAND CZECH

Inaugurated in 1972

by Romania and Yugoslavia, the IRON GATE I DAM on the Danube River is one of the largest hydroelectric power stations in the world with 12 units generating 2,052 MW, divided equally between Romania and Serbia now.

UKRAINE

SLOVAKIA

HUNGARY

AUSTRIA

TZERLAND

MOLDAVIA

ROMANIA SLOVENIA

CROATIA

BOSNIA/ HERZEGOVINA ITALY

Adriatic Sea

Black Sea

SERBIA

2,160 MW

BULGARIA

MONTENEGRO MACEDONIA ALBANIA GREECE

Tyrrhenian Sea

Ionian Sea TUNISIA

600 MW

Aegean Sea

that 2011 was the first year on record when global investment in clean energy (excluding large hydropower) surpassed net investment in fossil fuels. Yet, while a record 43.7% of global power capacity installed in 2011 was “green”, the world continues to add more conventional thermal power plants than renewables, diminishing any hopes of reducing carbon emissions. In fact, only 6% of current global power generation is from renewable sources.

Until 2008, there was a constant increase in financing, which plummeted in the first quarter of 2009, only to make a comeback to record levels in 2011 and decrease again in 2012. These fluctuations may not have had a direct effect on the regulation or promotion of renewables, but it caused

uncertainty to surface – if the economic and financial crisis can cause such instability, then the perception of risk rises, making investors more cautious. Government support for renewables in the form of feed-in tariffs, for example, was also slow to be adjusted when the technological and installation costs fell, especially for photovoltaics. This caused a surge in new installations, especially in Germany and Italy which both experienced 7 gigawatts (GW) of new capacity in 2011, due to higher-thanintended returns for such projects. In Spain, subsidies were cut entirely for new projects.

Renewable energy technology requires artificial financial support (state subsidies) in order to make it competitive with wellestablished and cheaper sources of energy,

such as coal and gas. With the reduction of these government subsidies, it should come as no surprise that renewables are finding it difficult to thrive. However, a 2012 report by the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management states that in 2011 photovoltaic (PV) module prices decreased by 50%, while onshore wind turbine prices fell between 5-10%. Factoring in the detail that PV panels and wind turbines remain the largest share of the cost for an installation, this is a major development. “These changes brought these two leading renewable power technologies closer to competitiveness with fossil-fuel alternatives,” concludes the report.

The largest sectors within the global renew­able energy market are wind and

Workers checking the Majadas concentrated solar power plant in Extremadura, Spain. Source: Acciona/ESTELA. 42

solar power. In 2011, wind held $82 billion worth of assets and solar $62 billion.

Clean Edge emphasizes that these renewable power sources have the most potential for future growth: global wind power generation expanded by 44.7 GW in 2012, with Europe adding 12.4 GW while the U.S. and China added more than 13 GW each. Due to falling new installation capital costs, the market is expected to double in the next 10 years.

each in 2011, contributing to an EU total installed capacity of 51.2 GW. Germany’s demand was so high throughout the year that suppliers (especially Chinese manufacturers) could not keep up with demand and effectively restrained the market. In Italy, due to a slow political adjustment to the support schemes, the market ‘overheated’ in 2011 and may do so again unless the government proposes a supplementary budget.

The solar PV sector is equally interesting. Due to a substantial decrease in PV module prices, the net worth of the market went down in 2012 despite continued growth in annual installed capacity. Germany and Italy added a staggering 7.5 and 9.3 GW of PV installations

On the whole, the combined growth of wind and solar PV accounted for roughly 60% of the $257 billion global renewable energy market. Add biofuels and the result is 95% of the total. It is obvious that renewables have huge potential for further investment, but what are the social effects?

Visit Revolve's photo exhibition!

Brussels, Summer/Fall 2013

Opening cocktail reception: Esplanade of the European Parliament on June 26, 6 - 8 pm

Exhibition venues: JUNE 24 - 28 : Esplanade of the European Parliament during the EU Sustainable Energy Week July - August : Park Cinquantenaire Sept. - October : Les Halles St-Géry

Direct Current Employment The green economy has one positive side that remains extraordinarily underappreciated: job creation. The Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century (REN21)’s 2012 Global Status Report estimates that 5 million people worldwide are either directly or indirectly employed by the renewable energy industry. Direct employment refers to the people who hold the wrench – those that are involved in the manufacturing, installation and maintenance of green energy-producing equipment. The indirectly employed are the contractors and suppliers, for example an agricultural worker whose primary activity is farming but produces biomass for energy as a secondary activity. As with investments, total employment continues to grow, but some countries, especially in Europe, are experiencing substantial cut-backs.

In Europe, there were an estimated 1.1 million jobs in the renewable energy sector in 2011. Germany, Spain, France and Italy

are leading in renewable energy employment figures. Germany is not only the lead employer in renewable energy, but also the lead producer of renewable energy. Estimates show that 25% of primary energy in the country is produced from renewable sources and that 361,000 people were employed in the green energy sector in 2011. This figure has increased since 1998 when only 66,600 people worked in the sector. Whereas green job creation increased by 16% in 2008, it only grew by 8% in 2010 and 4% in 2011. This is consistent with the slow-down in investments and the European austerity measures promoted by Chancellor Merkel. This indicator should be monitored closely because it could signal the true stagnation or growth of the German economy.

In contrast to Germany’s continued ‘green’ growth, Spain has experienced a substantial increase in unemployment. Particularly hard hit are the wind and solar PV sectors,

43

La Rance Dam, Brittany, France. Source: LondonLooks/Flickr.

which laid-off roughly 6,000 and 12,000 workers respectively between 2008 and 2010. Remarkably, the solar thermal sector created 2,500 jobs in the same timeperiod. This can be attributed to the large amounts of investment in concentrated solar power stations in the south of Spain, 36 of which have been brought into operation between 2007 and 2012. Uncertainty in the overall job market will continue until the debt crisis eases off, which is optimistically expected to happen in 2014. Job creation is, and should continue to be, a top priority for the Spanish government.

Developing renewable energy is a positive way to increase productivity, employment and sustainability.

Such problems and policy challenges are not endemic to Germany or Spain.

With spending cuts in the U.S. half of the employees in the wind industry will soon be unemployed (approximately 37,000 peo-

44

ple). Meanwhile, some developing countries have also begun to track the progress of their renewable energy employment.

India reported having 350,000 direct and indirect green jobs in 2009, which is close to Germany’s total, and Brazil’s gigantic biofuels sector has a workforce of around 890,000. In Bangladesh, the installation of rural solar home systems created 60,000 jobs in 2011, while a UNDP-supported program in Nepal has added 3,850 fulltime employment positions in the small hydropower sector since 1998. Facing the task of growth and job creation, many countries across the world, especially in Europe, should look at the green economy as an opportunity to promote sustainable, profitable development.

Much like the debate between Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla on whether direct current or alternating current is more efficient, the ongoing disagreement between pro-

austerity and pro-growth policy-makers is mostly rhetoric. President of the European Council, Herman van Rompuy, stated that “if there really was a simple, binary choice between ‘austerity’ and ‘growth’, then of course, no leader would hesitate for a second in choosing growth!” But growth is not achieved through the flick of a switch, and neither is the integration of 28 electricity markets into one. Energy is an essential part of the modern society, just as much as coal and steel were in post-World War II Europe. It is time that the Member States recognize the potential economic, employment and environmental benefits that the development of renewables and the integration of their electricity markets could bring across Europe.

EREC2013

Europe’s Renewable Energy Policy Conference 28 November 2013, Brussels, Belgium Join Europe’s leading biennial Renewable Energy Policy Conference, EREC2013, that has grown since its first edition in 2004 to become Europe’s major occasion for exchange and interaction between industry, research and policy.

EREC2013 will feature: • boosting jobs, growth and innovation by investing in renewable energies • the question of whether Europe is on track to meet its 2020 targets • the ambitious 2030 framework to provide stability for investors

Why join EREC2013?

EREC2013 is a unique platform to reach key decision makers in the renewable energy sector. Partners gain exposure in a high level environment and enhance their company’s image as a key actor in the renewable energy market.

For sponsorship opportunities, please contact Marianne Rygaerts from Downtown Europe: +32 2 732 35 20.

www.erec.org

If you want to lower costs, create jobs, replace fossil fuel imports and drive innovation, competitiveness and investment, then a hat-trick of climate and energy goals works best.

Launched in April 2013 at the Renewable Energy House in Brussels, this EREC report sets out the reasons why European climate and energy policy should be based on a hat-trick of targets for renewable energy, energy efficiency and greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction.

To download the publication, visit www.erec.org

Croatia’s

Road to Joining the EU 46

Island of Cres, Croatia, 2012. Source: Filipa Rosa.

Writer: Edoardo De Silva is energy assistant at Revolve. He worked at the European Commission for the Directorate-General for Enlargement in the Croatia & Montenegro Unit.

After 10 years of negotiations, Croatia becomes the second former-Yugoslav state (after Slovenia) to join the European Union on 1 July 2013. In a people’s referendum on 22 January 2012, an overwhelming 66.27% of Croats supported accession to the EU; then on 9 March 2012, the Croatian Parliament unanimously (136/0) ratified the Treaty for Accession to the European Union. One of the most enthusiastic countries to join the EU, Croatia has a lot to gain from the single European market and could be a very positive example for further EU enlargements in the Balkan.

47

The territory comprising Croatia today was first settled by Slavic speaking populations between the 6-7th centuries. An independent kingdom in the early Middle Ages, Croatia entered into a personal union with the Kingdom of Hungary in 1102. In later times, Croatia was a frontier region divided between the Habsburg and Ottoman Empires. During the Hungarian Revolution in 1848, although part of Hungary, the Ban (ruler) of Croatia sided with Austria against the Hungarian rebels. After the First World War and the dissolution of the old Austro-Hungarian Empire it became part of Kingdom of Yugoslavia.

During the Second World War, the Axis invasion in 1941 caused the dismemberment of Yugoslavia and the creation of the Independent State of Croatia, a satellite state ruled by the right-wing, ultra-catholic and xenophobic Ustase Movement.

After the defeat of the Axis and the victory of Marshall Tito’s (himself half- Croatian) communist partisan movement, Croatia became part of newly formed Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. After Tito’s death in 1980, nationalism and separatist tendencies reemerged again and led to the disintegration of Yugoslavia.

From the initial break-up, it became apparent that Croatia and Slovenia were the most developed and wealthy territories of the former Yugoslavia and were the first to become independent. In stark contrast to Slovenia, where secession was achieved quickly and was relatively bloodless, Croatia’s attempt to gain independence sparked the Croatian War of Independence in 1991, lasting until 1995 with the victory of Croatia against Yugoslav and Serbian separatists. This war belongs to the series of conflicts known as Yugoslavian Wars that tore Yugoslavia apart and revived the horrors of World War II. The struggle for Croatian independence resulted in over 20,000 casualties and more than a quarter of a million displaced persons. After the conflict, Croatia moved firmly, although not without obstacles in the way, towards European integration, following in the footsteps of bordering Slovenia and Hungary towards EU accession.

48

Persistent Border Rivalries Croatia will now return to a position similar to its old role when it was part of the so-called military frontier of the Austrian Empire. In the past, the country had numerous problems with neighboring nations and Croatia's EU accession will affect relations in the Balkans where some issues regarding national borders remain open. Of special concern are the borders between Croatia and Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Also, once it is officially an EU member, Croatia will have to abandon the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA) - a trade agreement between non-EU countries in South-East Europe in favor of the EU’s bilateral trade agreements with the rest of the Balkan countries and the EU. Perhaps another major change will be that Croatia will now have to guard the EU’s southern border from the other ex-Yugoslav states.

The possibility of further border disputes was dreaded by many in Croatia. Due to a disagreement with Slovenia mainly related to the area around the Gulf of Piran and its waters that caused Ljubljana to block Croatia's accession from December 2008 until October 2009. In May 2011, the two countries decided to submit an arbitration agreement to the UN to solve their dispute and a formal decision is expected to be reached by 2014. However, the trouble with Slovenia did not end at lines on a map.

Another dispute existed between the two countries regarding the “Ljubljanska Banka issue” on money owed by a Slovenian bank to Croatian depositors dating back to 1991.

Croatia's EU accession will affect relations in the Balkans where some issues regarding national borders remain open.

The two countries reached an agreement to resolve the issue before Croatia’s accession that EU Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy, Štefan Füle, welcomed as “a good deal for both countries and for enlargement. This is also a very good example how joint efforts in the area of good neighborly relations bring benefits for both sides and provide basis to solve open issues”.

Croatia also had a dispute with Italy regarding the possibility for Italian citizens to purchase land in Croatia, especially in Istria, which was once a part of the Kingdom of Italy and ceded to Yugoslavia after WWII. The fact that Italians were not allowed to own land in Croatia was considered discriminatory and demanded a solution for the problem. In 2006, an agreement was reached between the two countries allow-

ing Italians to buy land in Croatia and viceversa. Because of the quick resolution and Croatia’s open attitude to negotiations, Italy was one of the first EU countries to ratify Croatia’s accession treaty in March 2011.

Such resolutions of disputes are important lessons for Croatia’s other neighbors.

Bosnia-Herzegovina, for example, shares a significant part of its border with Croatia. This will have serious consequences since Bosnia’s agriculture is based mainly on exports to Croatia and now Croatia will accept only goods and services complying with European standards. Many Bosnian Croats also have dual passports, and could take advantage of their Croatian citizenship to enter and work in the EU. In light of the ongoing debates surrounding Bulgaria and Romania’s Schengen accession, other Member States might implement new measures to make sure this type of migration from Bosnia is limited.

Dubrovnik, the Pearl of the Adriatic British romantic poet, Lord Byron, called Dubrovnik, the “Pearl of the ­Adriatic”. Also known as Ragusa, this old port in Southern Dalmatia is since 1979 on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites. As a prosperous maritime republic, Dubrovnik was a great rival of the Republic of Venice in the Adriatic.

After long defending its independence, a decline ensued, followed by Napoleonic and then Hapsburg rule. In the 1990s, the port city was heavily bombarded by Serbian/Yugoslav forces. Dubrovnik’s fame is due to its incredibly well preserved old city and by its even more impressive protective wall (almost 2 km).

Apart from these ramparts, buildings and palaces of its glory days remain, such as Saint Blaise’s Church (the patron saint), the Sponza Palace and Rector’s Palace built in Renaissance style and the Franciscan monastery with a library housing about 30,000 volumes, 216 incunabula, ­1,500 valuable handwritten documents.

Dubrovnik. Source: Croatian National Tourist Board.

Border between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2013. Source: Ana Liberato.

49

View of the historic town and harbour of Trogir, (UNESCO's World Heritage Site) , Croatia, 2013. Source: Ana Liberato.

Hotel in Split, Croatia, 2013. Source: Ana Liberato.

50

Zadar, Croatia, 2012. Source: Filipa Rosa.

Island of Pag, Croatia, 2012. Source: Filipa Rosa.

51

Croatia and the Yugoslav Wars

Reconstructed Mostar bridge, Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2013.

Source: Ana Liberato.

Croatia’s birth as an independent state occurred during the series of conflicts that led to the dissolution of Yugoslavia in the period between 1991 and 1999. Then led by President Franjo Tudjman, Croatia was involved in the conflict known as Croatian War of Independence (19911995) and in the Bosnian War (1991-1995). In the first case, Croatia battled against Serbian and Yugoslav forces with the aim of achieving independence and preserving its borders, while in multi-ethnic Bosnia the conflict was fought between separatist Serbs backed by Belgrade and local Croats and Bosnian Muslims (Bosniaks). However, fighting between Croats and Bosniaks also occurred, one most prominent example was the destruction of the old Ottoman bridge in the city of Mostar

by Croatian forces. Around 140,000 people died and about 4 million were displaced and according to the International Center for Transitional Justice acts of ethnic cleansing and war crimes were committed by all sides. Cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was a prerequisite for Croatia to start accession negotiations with the EU.

Cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was a prerequisite for Croatia to start accession negotiations with the EU.

Island of Pag, Croatia, 2012. Source: Filipa Rosa.

52

Entry via The Hague One of the criteria Croatia had to fulfill to join the EU was to address the legacy of the Yugoslav Wars. Croatia had to cooperate with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), a body of the United Nations, to deal with the prosecution of war crimes committed during that period. Repeatedly, Croatia received requests from the ICTY for the extradition of some of its citizens and cooperation to fulfill these requests has often been considered insufficient. On one occasion, the fact that the ICTY considered efforts by Croatia to capture general Ante Gotovina, accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity, insufficient, brought to a postponement of the commencement of negotiations with the EU, one day before they were set to begin. Only after his arrest by Spanish police with assistance from the Spanish and Croatian governments in the

Canary Islands, and his delivery to The Hague, could negotiations resume.

further objections to membership came with regards to this issue.

This connection between accession and cooperation with the ICTY, especially demanded by countries like the Netherlands, was often negatively perceived by sectors of Croat public opinion that caused episodes of Euro-skepticism. In 2011, when General Gotovina and his colleague General Markač were given extended prison sentences which were considered as unjust, there was a definite feeling of anti-Westernism in Croatia.

However, the two generals were acquitted by the appeal chamber of the ICTY in November 2012 and released. Upon their return to Croatia, they were greeted as heroes by thousands of people. Croatia had fulfilled the condition to hand over war criminal suspects to the ICTY and no

The event was viewed negatively by Serbians who perceived the ICTY as hypocritical, anti-Serbian and not interested in obtaining a just and impartial verdict for all the parties involved in the conflict.

The arrest and delivery to the ICTY of prominent Serb and Bosnian-Serb war criminals such as Radovan Karadžić in 2008 and Ratko Mladić in 2011 was considered a pre-condition for Serbia being awarded candidate status for EU membership. Former Serbian president Milošević was also arrested, but died in prison in 2006 in The Hague before the end of the process. What is sure is that the acquittal of Gotovina and Markač will not ease Serbia’s willingness to further cooperate with the court.

In the case of Chapter 27 (Environment), the Croatian legislation was considered totally incompatible with the acquis communautaire when negotiations commenced.

Remaining Hurdles Croatia’s accession to the EU has brought and will continue to bring several changes to the country’s internal politics. During the negotiation process, Croatia had to align its legislation to the 35 chapters of the acquis communautaire, the accumulated legislation, legal acts, and court decisions which constitute the body of European Union law.

However, total alignment is considered too demanding to achieve for the candidate country and is not necessarily achieved by present member states.

In the case of Chapter 27 (Environment), the Croatian legislation was considered totally incompatible with the acquis when

negotiations commenced. Particularly bad was the situation of the rivers such as the Danube, Drava and Neretva that risked extensive damage caused by channeling projects and industrial and domestic waste, while substantial air pollution was caused by metallurgical plant emissions.

The trans-boundary UNESCO Biosphere Reserve “Mura-Drava-Danube” that also includes Slovenia, Austria and Hungary could face serious damages to their fragile ecosystem as will other Croatian rivers and its biodiversity.

Improving the environmental situation has been among the most difficult challenges

53

to be implemented by other countries, like Slovakia and Bulgaria, respectively part of the 2004 and 2007 enlargements. In those countries, the environmental legislation and policy was also considered totally incompatible with the aquis when the chapter was opened. The situation is the same for countries from south-east Europe which figure among the candidates for EU membership, such as Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia and Turkey. Also in their case radical improvements in environmental issues is needed.

Once part of socialist Yugoslavia, after Croatia’s independence the country slowly strode towards a market economy hindered by the damages caused by the war (particularly hit was its highly remunerative touristic industry) and by inefficient administration and widespread corruption, which had to be addressed. As a new EU member, Croatia will receive approximately €10 billion in EU grants through 2020 and the government

plans to use the funds for infrastructure and energy projects and to attract foreign investors. In the absence of structural reforms and increases in efficiency, these benefits will be wasted. Croatia’s small- and medium-sized enterprises could initially suffer when attempting to compete within the European single market.

Overall, there will be a re-orientation of Croatian trade from the Balkans and CEFTA towards the EU, which will cause numerous problems with increases in tariff rates. To give an example one of most profitable Croatian companies, tobacco

Another concern for EU countries is due to the difficult situation of Croatia’s economy, which was badly hit by the economic downturn in 2008 and the effects of the Eurozone crisis, experiencing four years of recession and an unemployment rate of around 20%. In such a situation, to be part of the EU is considered in Croatia to be the only feasible option.

As a new EU member, Croatia will receive approximately €10 billion in EU grants through 2020 and the government plans to use the funds for infrastructure and energy projects and to attract foreign investors.

Baranj harvest, Croatia. Source: Croatian National Tourist Board.

54

factory Rovinj, exports largely to neighboring Balkan countries and tobacco exports are expected to be hard hit by the process with an increase of prices and an indirect strengthening of the black market.

Transit Hub Croatia’s privileged position as a regional transit hub for goods and people will be enhanced with about €10 billion in EU grants by 2020 to boost public investment in infrastructure and energy. French construction company, Bouygues, will build a new terminal at the Zagreb International Airport. The project will cost €190 million in the first phase and is expected to boost Croatia’s tourism industry. EU accession does present some inconveniences in the energy sector since Croatia will have to open its market to European competition which will most likely lead to an increase in energy prices. Russia is also still very much present: as agreed between Gazprom and Croatia’s state-owned company, Plinacro, 2016 should see the realization of 62-mile long extension to Gazprom’s South Stream gas pipeline that will deliver natural gas through Croatia to European gas markets. Together with the pipeline, a 500-megawatt power plant is expected to be built

by Gazprom near the town of Osijek to maintain the domestic market for the fuel.

Last in Line?

The long path of Croatia’s EU accession seems to be almost complete and the country will be able to reap the benefits of its new status with its responsibilities and its many advantages, such as access to EU funds. The sector that will benefit the most from accession is tourism, which currently makes up 20% of the country’s GDP and will greatly enjoy the advantage of acceding into a larger market and the free flow of goods, capital and people.

Croatia could be a positive example for the other countries of the region, such as Serbia or Bosnia. Montenegro’s accession is strongly supported by Croatia and the two countries have signed an economic and tourism cooperation agreement in February 2013 that aims to improve cooperation in tourism, industry, environment, energy and agriculture. The prospect of joining the EU should encourage these countries to enhance important reforms and improve cooperation with their neighbors.

As seen with the border dispute between Croatia and Slovenia, old rivalries between Balkan states can be obstacles for further admissions. Croatia, once in the EU, could, for example, oppose or hinder negotiations with Serbia as in the case of Greece’s opposition to Macedonian membership. Candidate countries in the process of negotiation such as Turkey, where negotiations have been on indefinite standby are not expected to join anytime soon. In fact, after Croatia, no other country will join the EU this decade.

Perhaps this is for the best given current economic distress. Certainly Brussels will consider further enlargements, but for the next years better to consolidate the new entry of Croatia.

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Japan’s

Whaling Wars

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While embroiled in a diplomatic face-off with China over disputed islands in the East China Sea during the winter of 2012-13, Japan was also waging war of a different kind in an ocean far from its own shores. Ruth Gamano examines the current state of affairs in the annual battle between the Japanese whaling fleet and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.

Writer: Ruth Gamano is an independent contributor to Revolve.

Operation Zero Tolerance: The name is as punchy as the attitude behind the campaign launched by Sea Shepherd aimed at preventing the Japanese whaling fleet from killing any whales during their 2012-13 hunting season. To this end, when the whaling fleet set out at the end of December 2012 not far behind came the Sea Shepherd fleet of four ships, one helicopter, military-quality drones and more than 120 volunteer crew members from around the world. They planned to accompany and thwart the efforts of the Japanese fleet until the hunting season finished at the end of March 2013.

The Nisshin Maru rams the Bob Baker, pushing it into the Sun Laurel.

Source: Eliza Muirhead / Sea Shepherd Australia.

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Are Japan’s whaling activities illegal?

All whaling activities are governed by the International Whaling Commission (IWC), the intergovernmental body charged with the conservation of whales. The IWC sets catch limits and promotes the recovery of depleted populations by addressing issues such as ship strikes, entanglement and environmental concerns.

All commercial whaling has been illegal since a global moratorium came into effect in 1986. However, the moratorium has loopholes which allow limited subsistence whaling by certain aboriginal communities and for Scientific Permit Whaling.

Iceland and Norway simply contravene the moratorium by continuing commercial whaling within the waters of their own exclusive economic zones. They set their own catch limits, but provide information and scientific data to the IWC. Russia registered an objection to the moratorium, but does not contravene it.

Under the guise of the Japanese Whale Research Program under Special Permit in the Antarctic (JARPA) and JARPA II studies, Japan has issued whaling permits every year since the moratorium began. The latest

Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. Source: WWF

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permit was issued on 20 December 2012 and allowed for the catching of 850 Antarctic Minke whales, 50 fin and 50 humpback whales. The permit was valid until 31 March 2013 that marked the end of the whaling season. As the whales are caught under permit, such activities are not apparently illegal, but the location of the catches is also important.

In addition to the moratorium, the IWC established two whale sanctuaries in which whaling is prohibited in order to protect breeding, calving and feeding grounds. The Indian Ocean Sanctuary was established in 1979 and the Southern Ocean Sanctuary around Antarctica was established in 1994.

In 2000-2004, Australia and New Zealand repeatedly proposed creating a South Pacific Sanctuary. However, despite achieving a simple majority every year, the three quarters majority required for adoption by the IWC was never achieved. A proposal by Brazil, Argentina and South Africa to establish a South Atlantic Sanctuary is currently on the IWC agenda.

Conversely, Japan has proposed removing provisions for all the sanctuaries from the IWC schedule and continues to whale within their boundaries. The IWC concedes that “whaling continues on an industrial scale within the sanctuaries.” Nor is the IWC free from controversy. Of its 89 member countries, few have ever been involved in whaling and 8, such as Mali and Mongolia, are even land-locked. Japan has for years been accused of encouraging small nations to join the IWC and buying their votes with overseas development aid in an attempt to gain the majority necessary to overturn the whaling moratorium. Such corruption is very difficult to prove, but in 2005 government officials from the Solomon Islands admitted to accepting bribery in exchange for their vote. In 2006, when the IWC passed the pro-whaling “St. Kitts and Nevis declaration”, two-thirds of the countries which voted in support of the declaration had received fisheries aid from Japan.

The Institute of Cetacean Research (ICR) Established in October 1987, in response to the international whaling moratorium, the ICR is a Japanese governmental non-profit research organization. Officially, its mission is to research the life cycles, physiology, pathology, populations, genetics and ecosystems of whales and other cetacean species. One main target is to determine

Minke whale is loaded on to the slipway of the whaling fleet’s factory vessel, the Nishin Maru, as the Yushin Maru No. 2 watches. Source: Glenn Lockitch / Sea Shepherd Australia.

cetacean fish consumption to calculate competition in fishery areas. The research comprises many techniques such as sighting surveys, biopsy sampling, acoustic surveys and oceanographic data collection.

Most controversial is its Lethal Research, which the ICR claims is necessary for the examination of internal organs such as ovaries, earplugs and stomachs. This results in the deaths of almost 1,000 whales each year. The IWC rules that the body parts of any whales killed during lethal research should be used as far as possible. This allows Japan to claim that whale meat is a by-product of the research rather than a commercial product caught specifically for profit. Despite appearances, the Japanese

government denies that the ICR is simply a cover organization for commercial whaling.

before falling to 15,000 tons in 1985, the year before the moratorium began.

The card that the Japanese government most often plays in its defence of whaling is that of tradition, citing its long history in Japanese culture. While the Japanese have been whaling for over 1,000 years, this was only by a few communities and few Japanese people ever tasted the meat. This changed during World War II when whales were exploited as a valuable and plentiful supply of protein. In 1947, half of all meat consumed in Japan came from whales.

Consumption continued to increase and peaked in 1962 when, according to the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, 233,000 tons were sold,

The governmental claim that whale meat is an integral part of the Japanese diet is debatable. A survey by Nippon Research Center in 2006 found that 95% of the population never or rarely ate whale. The majority of those who did eat whale had it in their school meals during the 1950s and 1960s. There is little appetite for whale meat now and the Dolphin and Whale Action Network reports that 75% of the 1,200 tons which the ICR put up for auction in 2012 remained unsold. The growing whale meat mountain is used in dog food and the Japanese government encourages its use in school lunches once again, both as a way of

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consuming stocks and also to encourage a taste for it in a new generation.

The Japanese public may not have a great desire to buy and eat whale meat, but the majority of them support the hunt. Many resent the international interference in their national affairs. The Japanese government plays on this support, not least as a distraction from other domestic issues.

The Japanese government also feels it necessary to maintain whaling to protect

its fishing industry. If Japan capitulated to demands to cease whaling, their concern is that activists would turn their attention to other Japanese fishing activities such as the catching of endangered Bluefin tuna. Such moves would have a far greater impact on the Japanese economy, diet and culture due to the universal consumption of this fish. The Japanese public would find limits to their consumption hard to swallow, so the government cannot allow this to happen.

SSS Steve Irwin stops attempts by Sun Laurel to refuel the Nisshin Maru.

Source: Glenn Lockitch / Sea Shepherd Australia.

The Nisshin Maru fires water cannons at the SSS Steve Irwin as it blocks the factory ship’s attempts to refuel. Source: Tim Watters / Sea Shepherd Australia.

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Nisshin Maru rams the Bob Barker.

Source: Tim Watters / Sea Shepherd Australia.

Japanese whaling fleet's harpoon vessel, Yushin Maru No. 2, with a slaughtered Minke whale in Mackenzie Bay. Soucre: Glenn Lockitch / Sea Shepherd Australia.

Policing the Oceans The IWC established the moratorium in 1986, but lacks the capacity to enforce it. The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, guided by the United Nations World Charter for Nature is the only organization whose mission is to enforce the whaling ban. Since being established in 1977 by Greenpeace co-founding director, Paul Watson, Sea Shepherd has worked to protect and conserve ocean species and ecosystems by investigating, documenting, exposing and confronting illegal activities.

Commercial and other illegal whaling activities are a major priority for Sea Shepherd and the battle over this is hard-fought,

dangerous and at times downright dirty.

Sea Shepherd denies ever having injured any members of the Japanese whaling crews, but admits to using tactics such as ramming, disabling, and scuttling when confronting and opposing whaling vessels.

Japanese whalers accuse them of illegally boarding vessels and throwing chemicalfilled projectiles, smoke bombs and incendiary devises. In return, they face equal resistance and aggression from the Japanese whalers who ram Sea Shepherd boats, use water cannons and have even been known to use grappling hooks as weapons, injuring Sea Shepherd crew members.

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SSS Bob Barker Captain Peter Hammarstedt and quarter master Benjamin Panel spot theJapanese fleet Nisshin Maru and Shonan Maru 2 on the radar. Source: Glenn Lockitch/ Sea Shepherd.

Profile: Paul Watson Co-founder of Greenpeace and founder of Sea Shepherd In 1999, he was awarded President George H.W. Bush’s "Daily Points of Light" Award and in 2000, he was named one of Time Magazine’s “Top 20 Environmental Heroes of the 20th Century.”

In 2012, he became the second person ever to be honored with the Jules Verne Award for environmentalists and adventurers.

He is also the subject of two Interpol Red Notices, international arrest requests, due to his being accused of endangering the crew of a fishing vessel in 2002. He was arrested in Germany in August 2012, at the request of the Costa Rican government, but jumped bail.

Watson claims that the charges were filed due to pressure from the Japanese government and that he would have been extradited to Japan. Watson spent the “Zero Tolerance” campaign on board the Steve Irwin, Sea Shepherd’s flagship. He claimed to be observing the goings-on in the Southern Ocean rather than actively participating, but his arrest seemed inevitable when he eventually returned from international waters to dry land. In his absence, campaigners petitioned the U.S. government to grant him safe haven from extradition.

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This violence has not gone unnoticed, and Australia, New Zealand and the Netherlands have joined the United States in calling on Sea Shepherd to refrain from endangering anyone on either side. This culminated in 2012 with the ICR going to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in the U.S. and filing for an injunction against Sea Shepherd, Paul Watson and “anyone acting in concert with them.” They are banned from attacking any Japanese research vessels and from navigating dangerously around them, as well from coming within 500 yards.

In order to comply with this ruling without giving up the fight to prevent any whale deaths, the leadership of Operation Zero Tolerance was transferred from Sea Shep-

Steve Irwin and Brigitte Bardot near iceberg. Source: Tim Watters / Sea Shepherd.

herd International and Captain Paul Watson to Sea Shepherd Australia and former Australian Senator Bob Brown.

The Sea Shepherd fleet includes one boat, which caused significant embarrassment to the Japanese government: the 56-meter spotter ship, originally named the Seifu Maru, used to sail with the Japanese whaling fleet. Putting it up for sale, the Japanese government came to an agreement with a U.S. company who apparently planned to convert it into a pleasure boat.

The vessel was renamed the New Atlantis, registered in Tuvalu and delivered to North Queensland by a Japanese crew. However, it was then revealed that the Japanese government had been tricked and that the real

buyer was Sea Shepherd, who moved the boat to Hobart under the Australian flag and renamed it after the creator of The Simpsons television series, who had donated the money used to buy it. The Sam Simon and the rest of the fleet departed Australia in pursuit of the Japanese whalers.

On 29 January 2013, Sea Shepherd announced that their fleet had succeeded in finding and dispersing the Japanese whaling fleet before any whales had been killed. This was the first time the end of January, the peak month for the whalers, had ever been reached without any whale deaths. The political stakes rose when, on 31 January, the Australian government officially notified the Japanese government

that their security ship, Shonan Maru No. 2, with armed Japanese Coast Guard on board must remain outside Australian territorial waters, but this was ignored as it entered around Macquarie Island.

The Sam Simon spent much of the season tracking the Sun Laurel, the Korean-owned refuelling tanker of the Japanese fleet successfully obstructing several attempts for it to refuel the Japanese ships. The Sun Laurel is accused of acting illegally by carrying heavy fuel oil in the area, which is prohibited under MARPOL (the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships). Sea Shepherd claims to have evidence of fuel spillage from the tanker.

Throughout their time at sea, the animosity

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The Brigitte Bardot near an iceberg. January 15 2013. Source: Eliza Muirhead/ Sea Shepherd.

between the two fleets continued unabated with each accusing the other of various crimes on their respective websites: “This entire affair down here is like a giant game of battleship over hundreds of thousands of square nautical miles,” said Sam Simon Captain Luis Manuel Pinho. “There's blocking, intercepting, bluffing, manoeuvring for positions and advantages, cutting and maintaining supply lines, avoidances and precautions. The objective of the Japanese whalers is to kill the whales and our objective is to make sure they don’t.”

Throughout February 2013, the two fleets were involved in many altercations, mainly involving Sea Shepherd attempts to block and obstruct fuelling operations and the transfer of catches from the whaling ships to the factory ship, the Nisshin Maru. Some of these clashes were violent and resulted in rammings and damage to boats on both sides, each party blaming the other.

Having failed to refuel, the Japanese

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fleet turned north at the end of February, apparently abandoning the hunt early and heading home with far less than their allotted catch. Sea Shepherd declared Operation Zero Tolerance a success, but this was premature. On 4 March 2013, Sea Shepherd realized that the Sun Laurel, accompanying the Nisshin Maru, had turned south again, back towards the deteriorating weather and increasingly treacherous conditions of the Southern Ocean. This can be seen not so much as a realistic attempt to catch as many whales as possible before the end of the season, but more as a statement of defiance by the Japanese fleet, demonstrating its refusal to be forced into abandoning the hunt early by Sea Shepherd.

As their fleet made its way back to port in Melbourne in mid-March 2013, Jeff Hansen, Sea Shepherd’s Australian Director declared Operation Zero Tolerance a “historic victory”. He praised the bravery of the Sea Shepherd fleet’s crews and captains, and said he was “disgusted with the whale

poachers and the Japanese government’s complete lack of respect for any life and Australian and International law.” If Sea Shepherd reports of the whaling season are to be believed, it certainly seems a fair assessment. In April, the ICR published the official numbers of whales caught by the Japanese fleet. From their quota of 50 Humpback, 50 Fin and 935 Minke whales, they achieved a catch of 0 Humpback, 0 Fin and 103 Minke whales, only a 9.96% success rate. These are the lowest catch numbers ever achieved and are being celebrated by Sea Shepherd as “932 Whales Saved!”. Despite this and all the international pressure, the Japanese show no indication as yet of being prepared to give up their whaling activities. The annual battle will recommence at the end of the year for the 2013-2014 whaling season.

Sea Shepherd will doubtless be ready.

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MODERN. CONTEMPORARY. ABU DHABI ART. 20 - 23 November 2013 UAE Pavilion and Manarat Al Saadiyat Saadiyat Cultural District Abu Dhabi, UAE

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Organised by:

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VIII Giorno

Massimiliano Lacertosa

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“Art is an attempt to interpret the world,” says Massimiliano Lacertosa.

His project VIII Giorno (Eighth Day) is a journey in time, where time is a desert. The cycle of a day, the eighth day is represented not in real time, but as almost mythical. Time by no means travels in a straight line here; it is not linear, but rather extremely relative. VIII Giorno is a personal quest for finding continuity between a past, a present and a future in different related spaces. Much like Paul Klee’s Angelus Novus “flying toward the future facing backwards” as described by Walter Benjamin, humanity’s presence here is represented in this series as ephemeral and by its absence.

Born in Potenza (1980), Massimiliano Laertosa now lives in Bologna. He studied Arts, Music and Performing Arts, majoring in Theater. His project VIII Giorno is part of a bigger work in progress that he started in 2008 in Basilicata, Italy. To view more of his work, please visit: www.cromostudio.com All photos are printed digitally on baryta paper, 65x125 cm.

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Tokyo has pledged to cut greenhouse emissions by 25% by 2020.

TOKYO Japan’s Green Capital 83

Tokyo Railway, Japan Density. Source: Christophe Caudroy

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Housing some of the largest multinational corporations, Tokyo is Japan’s commercial capital and a leading Asian financial hub. Apart from being the most expensive city in the world, Tokyo is setting an example for becoming a sustainable city by taking some very innovative measures to combat climate change in Asia.

Writer: Rajnish Ahuja is regional manager for India | Asia at Revolve.

TOKYO: GENERAL FACTS Population: 13.189 million (2011) - Tokyo is the 15th most populated city in the world - Density: 6,029/ km2 - 10% of Japan’s total population - Largest population of Japan's 47 prefectures Surface area: 2,188 km2 - Tokyo Metropolis consists of 23 wards, 26 cities, 7 towns, and 8 villages.

Climate: - Average annual temperature: 16.7°C - Average annual precipitation: 1,294.5mm GDP for Japan: $36,200 38th highest in the world Sources: Geohive, 2010. Asian Human Network.

CIA World Fact Book, 2012.

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In 2011, Tokyo was named the greenest city in the Asia-Pacific region

by Solidiance

Bullet Train at Ginza District, Tokyo, Japan.

Tokyo’s 10-Year Plan In 2007, Tokyo’s Metropolitan Government (TMG) published its project “The ten year project for a carbon-minus Tokyo”, outlining initiatives for climate change mitigation measures in a number of environmental areas. Tokyo also rolled out a carbon emission reduction program in 2005 to engage the private sector where businesses emitting green house gases had to submit a 5-year carbon reduction plan.

Previously, the Environmental Collateralized Bond Obligation (CBO) Program introduced the promotion of energy conservation measures in smaller business organizations. The CBO program has been carried out since March 2003 to provide small enterprises with new means of raising funds in accordance with the Tokyo Metropolitan Bond Market Initiative.

The campaign for eliminating incandescent lamps from households and replacing them with compact fluorescent lamps is helpful in reducing CO2 emissions from homes. Other such measures include using photovoltaic

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power generation systems and regenerating the solar thermal market.

TMG encourages the widespread use of solar thermal technology via mechanisms that provides systematic cooperation among solar thermal equipment manufacturers, housing manufacturers and energy suppliers, formulating clear performance standards to promote commodity development, and carrying out a strategy designed to improve the image of solar thermal systems as environmentally sound products.

To reduce emissions from vehicles, the rules for using fuel-efficient vehicles have been formulated so that hybrid cars are diffused into the market. Under the 2007 carbonminus Tokyo plan, it was decided to implement a project to encourage the introduction of green vehicle fuel conducive to CO2 reductions and to create a mechanism of support for voluntary activities such as the Eco-Drive Campaign, which essentially promotes the energy efficient use of vehicles to reduce fuel consumption and pollution from transport.

Cap and Trade System Tokyo has been a forerunner in designing programs that reduce carbon emissions, such as the 2010 “Cap and Trade system” which sets a cap on large-building emissions by trading CO2 reduction units. The guidelines for reporting emission are designed and specified by the TMG and the reporting is mandatory so as to set fair baseline emission standards. TMG also has undertaken a multi-sector climate change strategy which involves a number of regulatory, coordinating, educational, and private-sector strategies. The target goal of the TMG’s climate plan is a 25% reduction in the city’s baseline 2000 carbon emissions by 2020.

Tokyo has its own mechanism to support activities in respective sectors like the Emission Trading System, and different programs to encourage and support small businesses and households to save energy.

Tokyo’s Emission Trading System is applicable only to businesses whose annual usage of fuels, heat and electricity is 1,500 kiloliter or larger on a crude oil equivalent basis. Tenants using a large floor area or a large amount of electricity are also required to submit their own emission reduction plans via the building owner.

In 2010, Tokyo launched Asia’s first carbon trading initiative.

View from Daiba, Rainbow Bridge, Tokyo, 2009. Source: Filipa Rosa

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Since 2001, Tokyo requires all new construction projects greater than 1,000 m² (250 m² for public facilities) to green their rooftops and wall surfaces.

Green Building Program To construct a new large building that covers more than 5,000 square meters in total floor area, one has to comply with the Tokyo Green Building program. The owner has to employ environmentally-friendly design principles as set out in guidelines by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.

Before applying for a building permit, the owner or the applicant is required to submit a “Building Environmental Plan”. The environmental performance is assessed by focusing on items in four categories: energy, materials, environment and the heat-island effect.

Tokyo’s C02 reduction targets by 2020: Industrial and commercial sectors: reduce between 7-10% overall Household sector: reduce around 20% Transport sector: reduce around 40% Renewable energy: increase by 20% in energy consumption

Eternity and a Day - To regain the irreparable - Wald, 2012, oil and acrylic on canvas, 75x100cm. Source: Toshiya Kobayashi

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View from skyscraper at Ebisu, Tokyo, 2009. Source: Filipa Rosa

“Umi-no-Mori” (Green Island) Development of “Umi-no-Mori (green island)” in cooperation with residents and companies “Umi-no-Mori” is a new park to be developed at the disposal site in the Inner Central Breakwater Landfill Site. It will be the central base for the creation of a wind belt from the sea. To develop Umi-no-Mori, an individual small fund-raising mechanism will be established promptly and TMG will request the participation of residents in every opportunity. TMG will employ new project methods where residents, companies and NPOs collaborate on a variety of initiatives.

Panasonic built an eco-village using renewable energy and high efficiency appliances outside Tokyo.

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Energy and Transport The rate at which energy is consumed in a city reflects the sustainability of its metabolism. Tokyo’s per capita electricity consumption is lower than North American counterparts, with a figure of 69 mega joules consumed by each person. Low consumption rate per capita accounts for the large number of multinational headquarters in the city, rather than heavy industries which consume more power. The green initiatives designed

by Tokyo’s government aim to increase the share of renewables in electricity generation and thus diminish carbon emissions.

Tokyo generates about 5% of its electricity from renewable sources, but a large chunk of its electricity generation is from natural gas, at 45%, and nuclear power, at 28%.

The Ukishima solar power plant on the Tokyo Bay launched by Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) powers 2,100 homes. Most energy needs (around 67%) of the average household in Tokyo are concentrated in four categories: air conditioner (25.5%), refrigerator (16.1%), lighting (16.1%) and television (9.9%). Given that Tokyo is a tertiarysector-based economy, most of the energy consumption per unit of surface occurs in computer buildings and then hospitals, schools, and homes. Due to these factors,

Tokyo is the most sought after destination for trade and housing.

To increase the share of renewables in the energy mix, some of Tokyo’s green initiatives undertaken include: • Development of wind power generation facility by Euros Energy Holdings Corporation with a power generation equipment of 323,000 kW. Similarly to TEPCO’s approach, wind power generation of about 180,000 kW has been planned in Higashiizucho and Kawazucho, Shizouka Prefecture.

• Photovoltaic power generation will be done at Ohgijma photovoltaic power station generating 20,000 kW of electricity. One such example is the new international freight terminal at Haneda Airport.

• Plans have been made to build a geothermal power station in Hachijojima Island with a capacity of 3,300 kW; and to build a 1,000 kW Tochikawa hydroelectric power station.

Tokyo is covered by a network of trains and bus lines operated by a number of companies and most of the commuting is done by railways. It includes more than 1,000 kilometres

Tokyo will plant one million roadside trees.

Ukishima Solar Power Plant. Source: Flickr

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Elevated roads, Tokyo, 2009. Source: Filipa Rosa

of train and mono-rail lines with reasonable prices. There are tax breaks and subsidies on purchase of electric and hybrid vehicles.

Tokyo suffers from traffic congestion and has introduced initiatives like Eco-driving and car-sharing program under “Ten-Year Project for a Carbon-Minus Tokyo”. Prepaid IC cards are convenient for those who would like to use a bus or train and avoid any tussle to buy tickets every time. You just need to swipe them over the card reader. One of the major additions to the surface transport is the logistics industry and Tokyo has centralized public distribution centers for the same.

Tokyo’s Haneda Airport has hybrid electric shuttle buses that are more environment friendly than conventional buses.

The Tokyo 2008 Environment Master Plan has measures to promote sustainable transport. Retrofitting urban transport is one of the approaches towards a low carbon future.

Under the improving approach, the use of fuel efficient vehicles is supported; under the avoiding approach, unnecessary travel demand is decreased.

Tokyo will host a sustainable Olympics and Paralympics in 2020.

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Gardens, Tokyo, 2009. Source: Filipa Rosa

Since 2002, the Super Eco-Town Project aims to solve waste problems, foster environmental industry and recycling.

Tokyo, 2009. Source: Filipa Rosa

Tokyo, 2009. Source: Filipa Rosa

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Tokyo, 2009. Source: Filipa Rosa

Green Spaces As an economic hub, Tokyo’s buildings, corporate houses and increasing urban growth have led to a relatively low number of green spaces. Numerous plans were formulated and implemented over the years, starting in 1939 with the “The Tokyo Green Space Plan” where the base section of the green belt was set in the city plan and preparations were made through city purchases. The First Capital Region Plan in 1956 and the Second Capital Region Plan in 1968 introduced further improvements to add green spaces.

Eco-building policies are there and Tokyo is very active in terms of setting environmental standards for private and public buildings. In 2006, Tokyo’s Municipal Government committed to “regenerating Tokyo into a beautiful city surrounded by a corridor of water and greenery”.

Tokyo aims to create 1,000 hectares of new green space under its 10-year-plan.

The Environmental Master Plan 1. Change travel behaviour (shift from overdependence on vehicles) • Promote public transport and biking • Introduce new public transport system 2. Control traffic volume • Introduce economic instruments and regulatory instruments 3. Shift to more environmentally-friendly vehicle usage • Promote eco-driving and fuel efficient vehicle usage • Strengthen vehicle emission reduction program 4. Enhance environmental performance of vehicles • Development and diffusion of fuel-efficient vehicles 5. Measure fuels • Promote biomass fuel usage in metropolitan buses

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Create a green island in Tokyo as large as the Imperial Palace’s grounds ( Development of Umi-no-Mori )

Double roadside trees in Tokyo to 1 million. TMG will plant and maintain abundant and diverse species of roadside trees to match the character of the region, such as planting tall trees along new roads and planting medium height trees between the existing tall trees when renovating existing roads.

The 10-Year-Project for a Green Tokyo

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Wage a “green movement”, a Tokyo-wide campaign to encourage “greening” action

“Environmental axes” are designed to create connected corridors of lush greenery that cannot be achieved with urban facilities, by combining parks, roads and rivers with greenery created through urban development.

Create a green space with a size of 1,000 hectares (equal to the total area of 1,500 football fields)

All utility poles along metropolitan roads within a central core area will be removed by the end of 2015. Utility poles along metropolitan roads mainly in commercial districts outside the central core area will also be removed. After removing the poles, trees will be planted to create a beautiful urban landscape and to form a corridor of abundant roadside greenery.

Greenery tended by residents: a possible system for “memorial trees”: to plant a tree in celebration of joyous events in people’s lives, such as the birth of a child, marriage or longevity celebration, and to provide many opportunities to grow greenery with residents.

Tokyo optimizes the use of its own resources to actively promote greening. For example, when Tokyo leases its unused land to a third party as a parking lot, the government will include greening requirements in the leasing contract.

Using the “Evaluation and Recognition System for Green Areas” that certifies and commends outstanding greening plans and achievements, Tokyo aims to create improve the landscape and alleviate the heat island phenomena.

For waterfront greening, Tokyo will promote riverbank greenery with development projects. The government will also undertake environmental management projects for already renovated rivers and with canal development in the Tokyo Bay. This should achieve 90% green coverage of embankment length by the end of 2015.

Using a system of public green areas, Tokyo will examine whether it is possible for public entities to lease homestead woodland areas and parts of farmlands as centers for use by residents; and will review the use of the privately-established park system to secure farming space as an important aspect of urban planning.

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Recycled art:

Installations of Trash

Waterfall, 2013, recycled plastic, monofilament, 18 x 34 x 2 feet (Bank of America Building, Los Angeles, California).

Writer: Laura Beltrán Villamizar is photo| art editor at Revolve.

Toronto-based artist, Katharine Harvey, creates impressive art installations from plastic bottles and other used objects, writes Laura Beltrán Villamizar.

Drawing the line between art and kitsch can be complex. What we understand as kitsch are mainly those spurious imitations that appear flattering and meaningful at first but end up merely perpetuating consumerism. David Hume wrote about the concept of kitsch, even when the term was unavailable to him in the 18th century. He recognized its inherent mediocrity as: “A species of beauty, which as it is florid and superficial, pleases at first; but […] soon

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palls upon taste, and then is rejected with disdain, or at least rated at a much lower value.” (Of the Standard of Taste, 1757).

This pseudo, parasitic art overwhelms us with fake attractiveness. All this mewling, cute plastic rubbish, this souvenir-shop and one-dollar-store junk that fulfils a void desire to consume, again and again…

Objects whose sole purpose is to be used for a limited period of time and that only

please at first and then are discarded. Such objects are the key elements to Harvey’s large sculptural installations. The objects in Harvey’s works are ever-present in our society: they evoke a sentiment of decay when assembled and displayed as a form of organized waste.

For her work Waterfalls – a curtain made from recycled plastic bottles and containers, strung from large-scale rods – she

Waterfall in detail (Rodman Hall), 2006, recycled plastic, dollar store items, monofilament, 10 x 11 x 2 feet (Rodman Hall, St. Catharines, Ontario).

went to dollar stores to find whatever material she could find that resembled water.­ “I bought a bunch of stuff and since the budget wasn’t very big at the time, I ended up looking for things around my house.”

Harvey’s fascination with objects evoking water is no coincidence. Water, as both a nourishing and annihilating element, transmits a sense of tranquillity and tragedy in her works.

For Harvey, water is “an ambiguous element constantly morphing into myriad forms both continuous and transparent.” Consequently, her attraction to water and the banality of objects reminiscent of water, such as plastic bottles, have served as the perfect catalyst to make us, as viewers of her works, renew our sense of what water means to us as humans.

Chandelier, 2009, recycled plastic, monofilament, aluminium hoops, 21 x 15 x 15 feet (Allen Lambert Galleria, Brookfield Place, Toronto)

Her approach of collecting and putting together mass-produced plastic merchandise of multi-colored and recycled objects grew with the demand for bigger installations. Congruently, the options of items also expanded to include food containers, salad boxes, eggs cartons, and muffin containers that were all free and available in high quantities.

“I just thought I could use a lot of those and started collecting my own recycled stuff, cleaning it, de-labeling it and using it in my sculpture. For me it was just a cheap material,” says Harvey. The City of Toronto even introduced her to their recycling partners: “After numerous visits to recycling depots, the City of Toronto was able to rent 6,000

pounds of plastic bottles in four dumpster loads from a local depot.” What came about from such an abundant amount of plastic was a 30-foot tall, 74-foot wide suspended quilt of re-used plastic suggesting a frozen waterfall.

The greens and blues of Tupperware and bottles made impressionistic assemblages out of translucent packing material. The banality of the elements used is impressive and shocking; for example, in the massive chandelier. Typically, a chandelier is a “status symbol of luxury and opulent, yet the oversized metamorphosis seemed both wondrous and horrific,” says Harvey. “From far away, it looks like something really precious and it draws people in with lighting.

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Fountain in detail (Making Room), 2006, recycled plastic, monofilament, 12 x 10 x 12 feet (Making Room, 224 Wallace warehouse, Toronto)

Waterfall in detail, 2010, recycled plastic, fishing net, 20 x 27 feet (Ontario Pavilion, 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games)

‘Look at that beautiful thing!’ they would say and then they look at what it is made of and they go: ‘oh my goodness’.”

It is this state of shock that reminds us of the superficiality of materialism. We are confronted with an incredible amount of debris; a sea of unusable materials and that is when a sense of hollow takes over.

When looking at a work like Waterfalls we enter a void, an emptiness that is never filled by consumerism; that is actually cre-

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ated by the waste of consuming more. Harvey’s installations present the reality of the incredible amount of waste inherent in our contemporary consumerist behavior.

Bearing in mind that plastic is more durable than organic materials, and that plastic simply will not decompose, we are left to wonder what will remain when we are gone. The average North American consumes 197 bottles of water each year and the majority of those bottles are thrown in

the trash and end up in landfills, or worse, in the oceans. Some of them get eventually melted into more plastic, which is then disposed of in the trash and ends up in a landfill or an ocean or turned again into even more plastic.

To view more work by Katherine Harvey, please visit: www.katharineharvey.com

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