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Environmentalists on alert: there is a threat of gas drilling off Borkum!
Lower Saxony is planning gas production off Borkum, Environment Minister Meyer warns of environmental damage and lawsuits from environmental protection groups.
Environmentalists on alert: there is a threat of gas drilling off Borkum!
The federal government's haste when it comes to gas production is causing quite a stir. A planned international agreement with the Netherlands on gas production off the North Sea island of Borkum is under discussion. How az-online.de reports, Lower Saxony's Environment Minister Christian Meyer (Greens) is heavily criticizing the project. He refers to pending legal proceedings and emphasizes that such far-reaching decisions should not be made without legal clarification.
Meyer sees the danger here that the new federal government will let its own climate goals fall by the wayside. An alliance of environmental protection organizations, together with the island of Borkum, is suing against gas production because they fear significant environmental damage to the UNESCO Wadden Sea World Heritage Site. In this context, the federal government should ask itself whether it is really prepared to put nature at risk for short-term economic interests.
Controversial gas production
The company One-Dyas has already started producing gas on Dutch territory and plans to also become active on German territory. Loud duh.de The first funding phase is expected to start in 2024 and include up to 13 billion cubic meters of fossil gas, which would cover less than 1% of Germany's annual gas demand of around 90 billion m³. Meyer, however, argues that Lower Saxony wants to become climate neutral by 2040 and sees no need for new gas projects.
Concern about the Wadden Sea is not unfounded. The planned natural gas drilling is located just 500 meters from this valuable ecosystem, which is already suffering from various threats. If gas production were to occur, CO2 emissions could further increase global warming and have massive impacts on the maritime ecosystem. In addition, there are concerns about potential earthquake risks and damage to the seabed from gas production.
The protection of the Wadden Sea
The Wadden Sea is internationally valued as a unique natural heritage. Since 1978, Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands have been working together to protect this area. It was recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1991 and the impact of this collaboration is clearly visible. There are positive developments such as the re-blooming of salt marshes and the protection of waterfowl. WWF.de highlights that despite these successes, new threats are affecting the world's natural heritage, in particular from unsustainable practices such as natural gas extraction.
The challenges are diverse: sea level rise, overfishing and now the threat of gas extraction are on the agenda of environmentalists. Meyer and numerous organizations, including German Environmental Aid and various citizens' initiatives, are fighting against the approval of the new gas drilling and have taken legal action.
In summary, the future of gas production off Borkum is in jeopardy, and with it the health of the Wadden Sea. The discussion currently taking place in the offices could have far-reaching consequences for the entire ecosystem and the federal government's climate policy goals. It remains to be seen whether the voices of environmentalists and the local population will be heard and whether it will be possible to protect our natural resources.