โBACK TO PLASTIC!โ: Trump says heโll reverse Biden initiative to phase out plastic straws
The executive order expected to come next week is an extension of a yearslong cultural war over paper and plastic straws.
The executive order expected to come next week is an extension of a yearslong cultural war over paper and plastic straws.
State-owned Equinor becomes latest fossil fuel firm to backtrack on clean energy pledges with move to halve budget to $5bnThe Norwegian oil company fighting to open a giant new oilfield off Shetland has cut billions of pounds from its green spending pl…
Carbon farming has emerged as a crucial strategy in the European Union’s efforts to combat climate change and achieve climate neutrality by 2050.
Freeze to EUโs LIFE programme funding would deprive 30 NGOs of up to 70% of annual incomesSeveral environmental NGOs could be effectively shut down in Europe, if a defunding push by rightwing MEPs is successful, campaigners say.At the same time that ce…
Scheme backed by โฌ170m fund crucial to getting agreement from farmers, politicians and environmental groupsโPlant-based foods are the future.โ That is not a statement you would expect from a right-wing farming minister in a major meat-producing nation….
Brussels hopes simplifying green compliance rules will boost Europe’s flagging economy. Green groups fear something more sinister.
The move by billionaire Mike Bloomberg comes in response to President Donald Trump’s move to pull funding for U.N. climate programs.
Norwegian capitalโs sites were 98% free of fossil fuels last year, and it aims to increase use of electric machineryTafseer Ali felt no need to raise his voice as the pair of diggers lumbered past him, their treads weighing heavy on the rock and asphal…
EU countries are behind on most, if not all, their sustainability commitments.
Curious about how this fiesta of consumerism is impacting the environment? We have the festive details. Humbug!
EU plans to hike airlines’ green taxes are “complete bullshit,” says lobby chief Willie Walsh.
Harnessing wind, hydro and maybe geothermal power, the tiny Canary Island of El Hierro is blazing a trail for sustainable energy โ and the secret is all in the mixWords and photographs by Ofelia de Pablo and Javier ZuritaA vertiginous outcrop with more…
POLITICO brings you the new elements of Europeโs trade deal with South America struck last week.
The WEF estimates that if a fifth of EU farmers adopted regenerative farming techniques, greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture could be 6% lower a year by 2030. Improving soil health can also boost farming income.
The post Regenerative agriculture,…
The bloc’s scientific advisers say the EU should push for an international treaty regulating the controversial technologies.
Christophe Hansen says his new vision for agriculture and food will be โdifferentโ and exclude โeat it or dieโ targets.
By lowering emissions, reinvigorating depleted soils and advancing biodiversity, regenerative agriculture can pave the way to more resilient, climate-friendly farms
โI do not consider it possible to achieve those goals within the timeframe we have set,โ Nikos Christodoulides said, according to Ekathimerini.
Middle East conflict has been inescapable at the COP29 climate talks.
Donald Trump isn’t at COP29, but his rapid-fire personnel moves to dismantle Joe Biden’s climate legacy are being felt there.
Donald Trump’s return raised doubts over whether the Biden administration would still produce the plan ahead of a February deadline.
UK leader says “lesson from historyโ is that countries that seize on energy transitions reap the benefits.
A court throws out a ruling that the gas and oil giant cut its greenhouse gas emissions.
Dutch court annuls order made against energy company in 2021
Exclusive: Target is 81% emissions cut compared with 1990, but activists say it must be backed by plan of actionKeir Starmer will announce a stringent new climate goal for the UK on Tuesday, the Guardian can reveal, with a target in line with the advic…
The president-elect could act faster this time.
Europe’s top farming university is calling for smaller livestock herds and a shift toward plant-based diets.
The president-elect could act faster this time.
Crucial question for summit will be how to help developing countries cope with extreme weather caused by high temperaturesCop29 officially opens on Monday 11 November in Baku, Azerbaijan, and the conference is scheduled to end on 22 November, although …
Government must take urgent steps to change UK travel behaviour if carbon dioxide reduction goals are to be metEurope-wide research has shown Britons are more willing than most Europeans to reduce their use of cars and aeroplanes โ an essential require…
New defense commissioner warned of Russian threat, underlined America’s distraction with China, and pushed the EU to spend big on protecting itself.
Green stocks wobble as officials rush to respond and activists brace for the unknown. ‘It’s going to suck,’ one said.
Donald Trump didnโt engage in formal conversations about a potential Cabinet in the run-up to his election. But that didnโt stop him from spitballing potential contenders during his frequent plane rides to campaign events, or when he is impressed by one of his allies on television. โHe would be great at this,โ or โShe would [โฆ]
Accelerating rollout of renewable energy sources drives stunning drop.
Study says harmful gases linked to heart and lung disease shave nearly two years off a personโs lifeGas stoves kill 40,000 Europeans each year by pumping pollutants into their lungs, a report has found, a death toll twice as high as that from car crash…
Current plans and policies will lead to global temperatures rising between 2.6C and 3.1C this century, a new report finds.
If Kamala Harris wins the election, she will likely approach the task of filling out her Cabinet and West Wing much like she did when she took over Joe Bidenโs campaign operation this summer. While sheโll ensure her closest advisers and key Cabinet members are people she personally trusts, there will be some continuity with [โฆ]
Stellantis chief warns that longer transition to EVs is a โbig trapโ at Paris motor showBusiness live โ latest updatesBosses at two of Europeโs biggest car manufacturers have called an acceleration of Europeโs transition to electric vehicles as tension…
A Dodge Ram 1500 is bigger than a Panzer I tank and campaigners say heavy trucks are โlethalโ in collisionsThe engines rev, the guitars thrum and a gruff narrator lays out why the vehicle occupying the driveway is more than just a machine. โA truck is …
A decade-old environmental dispute in Limassol, Cyprus, is raising questions over Costas Kadis’ run for EU commissioner.
Those countries supporting a global price on the shipping industryโs greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) have increased following the start of final negotiations in London last week with negotiators to push for greater consensus as talks continue this week….
Campaigners criticise decision to scrap tax introduced in 2018 amid rise of โflight shameโ movementCampaigners have accused the Swedish government of doing โeverything in its power to stop climate actionโ after it cut a tax on flying, despite admitting…
Automotive lobby group warns โmultibillion-euro finesโ will punish manufacturers without relaxation of rulesEuropeโs car industry has called for the relaxation of EU emissions targets after sales of electric cars stalled further in August, adding to gr…
We arenโt reducing global emissions, just depriving ourselves of jobs, profits, raw material sovereignty and, therefore, security.
Nordic country, paradoxically a major oil producer, has set target for all new cars sold to be zero emissionElectric cars now outnumber petrol cars in Norway for the first time, an industry organisation has said, a world first that puts the country on …
He has been a prominent negotiator at the annual United Nations COP climate summits.
Legislation makes it illegal to advertise fossil fuel products and services with a high carbon footprintThe Hague has become the first city in the world to ban advertisements promoting fossil fuel products and climate-busting services.A law passed on T…
Post-Brexit uncertainty partly blamed for low rate with just half of companies surveyed measuring their carbon footprintJust 65% of UK businesses have a plan to reduce their emissions to net zero by the 2050 deadline, the largest ever industry survey h…
AI is an opportunity for Europe while common borrowing is needed to fund defense, former ECB chief says in landmark report. Read the full paper here.
Although the manufacturing sector in Germany is less carbon-intensive than its French counterpart, France benefits from its lower-carbon electricity production, according to a study by the think tank La Fabrique de lโIndustrie.
Plan to cut German factories is politically fraught but makes sense economicallyVW considers German plant closures to save billions in costsWhen Bernd Pischetsrieder attempted to cut jobs at Volkswagen in the early 2000s, he was forced out. When Herber…
Environmental groups that put Joe Bidenโs climate initiatives under a microscope arenโt giving the Democratic nomineeโs positions the same scrutiny.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the ban on lab-grown meat into law earlier this year.
Trumpโs recent change in tone reflects a softening in rhetoric about EVs on the campaign trail.
Continent is reportedly warming at much faster rate than other parts of world, Nature study saysHot weather inflamed by carbon pollution killed nearly 50,000 people in Europe last year, with the continent warming at a much faster rate than other parts …
The European Commission approved Diederik Samsom’s job with a gas network operator, albeit under “clear conditions.”
Cop29 host Baku has cleaned up since its Black City days โ but this summit needs to do more than whitewash the facade of a petrostateJust a few miles from the site of the next UN climate conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, is a district that for more than …
As it rapidly adopts clean technologies while drilling furiously for oil and gas, the Nordic nation is a paradoxThe average Norwegian, better known for loving nature than destroying the planet, is more likely than anyone else to drive to work in an ele…
Activists are asking Europe’s top rights court to fault Russia for creating a “climate catastrophe”, saying Moscow’s war on Ukraine is contributing to a spike in its greenhouse gas emissions.
From creating an EU-wide money market to protecting kids online, POLITICO looks at what lies ahead for lawmakers.
Report says member states poured $1.34tn into their militaries last year โ an increase of $126bn from 2022As leaders from member countries gather to mark the 75th anniversary of Nato in Washington DC, researchers are warning that their military budgets…
We need to change how the EU packages food and beverages to transition to a low-carbon circular economy.
Worldโs first emissions tax on agriculture will require farmers to pay for greenhouse gas pollution from livestockFarmers in Denmark will have to pay for planet-heating pollutants that their cattle expel as gas, after the government agreed to set the w…
A group of 112 cities aiming to eliminate their net greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 will need a combined 650 billion euros in investments to deliver the pledge, a European Union initiative said on Wednesday (26 June).
Five years ago this week, in the teeth of the Brexit wars, an outgoing Tory prime minister was looking for a legacy. Theresa May settled on net zero โand now itโs on Labour to keep that target alive.
Paris event organisers pledge to halve greenhouse gas emissions from London and Rio levels
Emissions trading was supposed to save the planet. But fraudsters quickly learned how to rip the system off, making themselves spectacularly rich. Then some of the major players started turning on each otherโข A longer version of this piece first appear…
Seventeen years ago the European Council made a commitment to construct up to twelve carbon capture and storage (CCS) demonstration plants by 2015. Heads of government agreed that greenhouse gas emissions could not be reduced to the extent needed witho…
Joe Biden’s decision to pause new LNG projects rattled Europe, which is increasingly reliant on the US product.
Politicians have been quick to celebrate France’s 5.8% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions in 2023 from a year earlier, but environmental NGOs questioned whether the progress can be sustained without additional policy measures.
The European Commission identifies buildings in the EU as the primary energy consumer, accounting for 40% of our energy consumption and 36% of greenhouse gas emissions.
Fossil-fuel dependent country hopes to provide bridge between wealthy global north and poor south at November gatheringOil is inescapable in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. The smell of it greets the visitor on arrival and from the shores of the Caspi…
Government, including far-right leader Geert Wilders, announces it will abandon key green policies in strategyThe Netherlandsโ new right-wing coalition government aims to reintroduce daytime speeds of 80mph on motorways as part of a number of proposed …
The first in a series exploring the myths and realities surrounding heat pumpsEvery year about 130 million households across Europe burn almost 40% of the continentโs total gas consumption to heat their homes. Those boilers contribute more than a fifth…
Exclusive: Wopke Hoekstra says EU must press ahead with cutting greenhouse gases and use policy to bring about economic benefitsEuropeโs climate chief has warned against politicians trying to use the climate crisis as a wedge issue in the forthcoming E…
Coal is the worst. If accounts for a fifth of global greenhouse gas emissions. Every year, anthracite, bituminous coal and lignite do significant damage to the worst damage to the climate. Are we finally getting out?
The Danish government is pressing ahead with plans to introduce a carbon tax on agriculture despite the Danish Climate Ministry’s annual report showing that the country is on track to meet its 2030 target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 70% com…
EV sales have plateaued economic headwinds and weaker state subsidies but the glut might just be a temporary rutElon Musk became the worldโs richest man by evangelising about electric cars โ and delivering them by the million. Yet in recent months his …
Scotland’s governing coalition has fallen apart โ and a stalled drive to cut carbon emissions played a major role.
As the world prepares for the fourth round of negotiations to create the first treaty to end plastic pollution, a dedicated global business coalition shares its insights with negotiators.
Co-authors say โno-regrets policyโ would save consumers โฌ2.8bn a year while cutting emissions by 48m tonnes Healthier ready-to-eat meals could cut EU emissions by 48m tonnes annually and save customers โฌ2.8bn (ยฃ2.4bn) each year, as well as reducing dis…
Europe is complicit in the destruction of ecosystems and should regulate its funding of companies associated with deforestation.
Brussels called the 15.5 percent reduction in 2023 a “record.”
Shell is battling to persuade judges in The Hague to reverse a court ruling ordering significant reductions in climate-warming greenhouse gas emissions.
As EU transport ministers gather for an informal meeting in Brussels on Wednesday (3 April), the sector remains the “problem child” of the bloc’s climate efforts and could account for 44% of all greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, according to latest pro…
The highway speed limit is a controversial debate in Germany.
The EU replaced Russian energy with U.S. supplies after Moscow launched a war. Now people are wondering: Is Europe too dependent on America?
Healthier, more sustainable food systems are integral to climate-neutral ambition โ and flagship EU law is essential to support farmers in transition to low-carbon, high biodiversity and fairer farming practices.
Romania is seeking to deploy โSmall Modular Reactorโ (SMR) technology as part of its drive to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and its energy minister Sebastian Burduja said this week that a final investment decision will be taken in 2025 for a new nucl…
Operator also found by Amsterdam court to have painted โoverly rosy pictureโ of sustainable aviation fuelThe Dutch airline KLM has misled customers with vague environmental claims and painted โan overly rosy pictureโ of its sustainable aviation fuel, a…
Greenhouse gases from sector could make up 44% of continentโs total output by 2030, says transport groupThe failure to tackle Europeโs โrunawayโ transport emissions could lead to the sector pumping out nearly half of the continentโs planet-heating poll…
The European Parliament formally approved a deal on revised emissions rules for cars, trucks and buses on Wednesday (13 March), tightening microplastic emissions from brakes and tyres but leaving other emissions from cars unchanged from the current exh…
In March 1989, the European Community agreed to a complete ban on the production of a range of chlorofluorocarbon industrial gases By John Palmer3 March 1989 Continue reading…
More than 90% of new cars sold in Norway are electric. And it all started with some pop stars driving around in a jerry-rigged Fiat PandaIโm kneeling on the snow outside the kingโs house, impersonating a 1980s heart-throb, with a man named Harald and a…
Exclusive: Incoming UN summit president calls on governments to stay on track, as majority of global population go to the pollsAt Cop29 bridges must be built between the diverging north and south to keep 1.5C in reachThe governments that assume power a…
Britain spent about ยฃ26bn in three years on low-carbon measures, less than Italy, Germany, France and Spain, Greenpeace findsThe UK spends less on low-carbon energy policy than any other major European economy, analysis has shown, despite evidence that…
After drought devastated prized arborio and carnaroli harvests in the Po valley, new rice varieties offer a glimmer of hope. But none are yet suitable for use in the traditional recipePhotographs by Marco Massa and Haakon SandFor most of winter and spr…
The shift is a win for European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, who championed the landmark green policy even as her own political family opposed it.
There’s a growing backlash rooted in overall desperation, compounded by many votersโ perception that their grievances are being shrugged off.
The EU is getting more dependent on China in its quest to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and switch to green technologies, the EUโs climate chief Wopke Hoekstra has warned, saying this is becoming โproblematicโ going forward.