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Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / Chemical pollution · Poland · 2022

German ministry links Oder fish die-off to salt discharges and toxic algae

Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
What the record lacks: 3 none on record · 1 not measured See the gaps

About 1,000 t of aquatic life died in the Oder in 2022, which the German environment ministry linked to salt discharges that fed a toxic alga. In 2023 AP reported that Germany alleged Poland had not stopped the pollution, and the sources reviewed give no measured recovery of the river.

What?
About 1,000 t of aquatic life died in the Oder, which the German ministry linked to salt discharges. Federal Ministry for the Environment (BMUV)
Where?
Oder river, Poland and Germany. Federal Ministry for the Environment (BMUV)
When?
The die-off occurred in 2022; AP reported the dispute in 2023. Federal Ministry for the Environment (BMUV)
Who?
Gained
None on record
Lost
None on record
Harmed
Why?
The ministry says salt discharges caused a mass growth of a toxic alga. The reason for the discharges is not stated in the sources reviewed. Federal Ministry for the Environment (BMUV)
How?
Greenpeace reported that the salt load rises sharply as the Oder passes the Silesian coal basin. Greenpeace Deutschland
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

The German environment ministry (BMUV) said salt discharges caused a mass growth of a toxic alga, which led to fish dying in the Oder.

The ministry put the dead at about 1,000 t of aquatic life.

Greenpeace Deutschland reported in March 2023 that the Oder's salt load rises sharply as it passes the Silesian coal basin.

AP reported in 2023 that Germany alleged Poland had not stopped the pollution.

    In court and with insurers

    Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

    Lawsuits and rulings

    No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.

    Insurers

    No insurer decision on record.

    What we don't know

    Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.

    Nature

    • Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.

    Record

    • None on record The sources reviewed do not say whether any party has paid for the die-off.
    • None on record The sources reviewed do not give a measured recovery of the Oder's fish stock.
    • None on record The sources reviewed do not record Poland's response to the allegation.

    Did the harm stop?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Who paid?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Sources

    Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations✓ Communities and civil society— Researchers

    Press and investigations

    Communities and civil society

    1. Oder report
      Greenpeace Deutschland · 2023-03

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