ETV2 will air seven environmental documentaries in May, the first of which is Helde's "Vertical Money" (Estonian: "Vara küps").

The film shows the state of Estonia's forest now and gives an honest insight into what will happen in 30 years if we don't take immediate action. It is a reflection of our time and portrays us, the Estonians, as merciless forest people, Helde told the Estonian Film Institute (EFI) news portal.

"The movie has a single message: 'Protect the protected areas!' The Supreme Court has finally ruled that logging in internationally protected forests is no longer permissible. Environmentalists have spent more than €35,000 on 11 appeals in this court case. So this is the situation with Estonia's protected forests at the moment," he said.

Until now, the RMK has automatically issued forest clearance notices, or logging permits, for what is essentially illegal logging under European protection.

The documentary brings the forest industry, RMK, and the scientists involved in the debate in front of the camera to find out what has happened to Estonia's forests and what kind of legacy we are leaving.

Shot in more than 60 different locations across Estonia, the nature film reveals the critical state of Estonia's forests and shows how political decisions have affected the use of this resource.

The film also proposes solutions to break the stalemate and highlights the complex issues hidden beneath the managed communication about the topic. But it also raises the question of how the nine governments that have succeeded each other since the beginning of the forest war have treated the country's national asset, the forest, with reckless disregard.

The Environment Month films focus on modern consumption and economic choices, as well as the consequences of climate change and environmental disasters. In addition to the film program, ETV2 shows the three-part documentary series "Greta Thunberg: A Year to Change the World" (2021).

Beginning on May 1, Jupiter screens all of this year's Environment Month films along with a selection of other environmental documentaries.

Environmental films 2024 on ETV2 or Jupiter

May 4 "Vertical Money"

May 6 "Ikea, the tree hunter"

One tree every two seconds. That's how much wood Ikea uses every year to make its furniture, which is sold at low prices in over 60 countries. In recent years, the Swedish company has stepped up its commitment to sustainable forest management. But what is the reality? For Disclose, filmmakers Marianne Kerfriden and Xavier Deleu traced the multinational's supply chain. Their investigation took them from Sweden to New Zealand, via Brazil and Poland, to meet timber industry experts, activists and citizens committed to protecting their forests. This documentary sheds new light on the insatiable appetite of the forest ogre.

May 6 "The Frontline Victims of Climate Change"

The program takes a look at the devastating impact of climate change on many professions, and the widening gap between those who can protect themselves from climate change and those who cannot.

May 13 "Holy Shit!"

What happens to the food we digest after it leaves our bodies? Is it waste to be discarded or a resource to be reused? Looking for answers, director Rubén Abruña embarks on an investigative and entertaining quest through 16 cities across 4 continents. He follows the poop trail from the long Parisian sewers to a huge wastewater treatment plant in Chicago. The presumed solution to use the semi-solid remains of the treatment process as a fertilizer proves to be a living nightmare, because they contain heavy metals and toxic PFAS chemicals. Can excreta be used to grow food and ease the imminent fertilizer scarcity? He meets the Poop Pirates from Uganda who through work and songs teach people how to turn feces into safe fertilizer.

May 18 "Paradise"

In the summer of 2021, Russian forest fires devastated up to 19 million hectares of land in northeast Siberia. The village of Shologon lies in the heart of Eastern Siberia's vast taiga, on the edge of a so-called 'control zone'. This means that the sparsely populated area will get no help from the government if the cost of combating a wildfire exceeds the cost of the damage done by it. The human cost doesn't seem to be factored in here. So when massive fires erupted from an extreme heatwave last summer it was up to local villagers to save themselves and their homes.

May 20 "Deadly Flood: A Climate Disaster"

In July 2021, a flood disaster nearly erases a small valley in Western Germany. 134 people die along the Ahr River, which is normally an idyllic tourist destination. What happened on that night and what are the reasons for this unexpected event? Cutting edge science shows how a regional disaster is closely linked to global climate change and why this could happen anywhere else in the world.

May 27 "Cobalt, l'envers du rêve électrique"

The European Union has set a target to switch to electric cars as one of the means to mitigate the climate crisis and reduce carbon emissions. This will require a large number of batteries made from cobalt. This mineral, which is essential for batteries, is mined mainly in the Congo. But at what price? The exploitation of the local workforce, but also the pollution generated by the extraction, are totally invisible to European consumers, who only see the result: a vehicle that does not emit CO2 when it is driven, but ignore the dramatic conditions of its manufacture.

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