Save the Right Whale

The European Commission is about to incentivise one of the main threats to the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale, by eliminating taxes on the import of lobster from the east coast of the US. Entanglements in vertical lines connecting buoys to lobster traps on the ocean floor in east coast fisheries are the leading…

Westerners Don’t Believe Climate Change is Critical

New research in Europe and the United States shows that large portions of the public still do not accept the urgency of the climate crisis, and only a minority believe it will impact them and their families severely over the next fifteen years.  The survey, which was commissioned by the Open Society and the European Policy Institute, forms…

Vodafone Aims for Net Zero Emissions by 2040

Vodafone, the largest mobile and fixed network operator in Europe, says it has committed to reducing the company’s total global carbon emissions to ‘net zero’ by 2040. It also confirmed on 23 November that its 2030 carbon reduction targets have been approved by the Science Based Targets initiative as in line with reductions required to keep…

Carbon Neutral Investments

Finnish interest groups say the EU sustainable financing package threatens to raise emission-free electricity generation costs and therefore erode export industry competitiveness. The European Commission will publish in the coming days a draft of sustainability criteria for climate-critical investments. The sustainability criteria will be the subject of an extensive round of consultations over the next…

Making the Single Market Sustainable

The Socialists and  Democrats in parliament have tabled a position paper on the Sustainable Single Market for Consumers and Businesses.  In the paper, they call on the Commission to present ambitious legislative proposals necessary to adapt the Single Market to the challenges of climate and degradation of the environment, and describe why it is a social question to…

As opposition in the US to mineral wool factory persists, European concerns also grow

The mineral wool factory planned for Jefferson County, West Virginia, is close to opening despite opponents campaigning to stop the Rockwool insulation plant from being built. The situation in the United States will be watched closely by those in France concerned about a similar plant planned in the Soissons region. Local US media WTOP News…

#Transform Transport

Greenpeace Germany activists projected the slogan “Stop driving the climate crisis #TransformTransport” onto the Germany Ministry of Transport in Berlin early this morning to stop the expansion of freeways and invest in infrastructure for climate-friendly alternatives such as rail, bus and bicycle transport. Under the leadership of the German presidency of the European Union (EU),…

Save the Dolphin!

NGOs warn that thousands of common dolphins in the Bay of Biscay face horrific deaths in fishing nets this winter if the EU Commission does not step in with emergency measures to reduce bycatch, the single largest cause of harm and death to these dolphins today. Despite the legal requirement to protect this species and…