Thursday
11th Aug 2022
Data released by the European Drought Observatory show 60 percent of Europe and the United Kingdom is currently in a state of drought, with farming, homes and industry being affected. Drought conditions have also led to an increase in wildfires.
Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro is pitching his Latin American country as the answer to the world food crisis following the war in Ukraine. The traditional wheat importer has now exported three million tonnes of the grain so far in 2022.
From food policy to climate change, corporate lobbyists are exploiting the Ukraine crisis to try to slash legislation that gets in the way of profit. But this is only making things worse.
An EU embargo on Russian coal imports came into effect at midnight on Thursday, as part of sanctions designed to starve Moscow of fossil-fuel revenue.
With the prolonged lack of rain and high temperatures, fears have emerged over water shortages and droughts decreasing crop yields — prompting calls to use less water and reuse urban wastewater for agricultural irrigation.
The EU's investment package for development, the so-called 'Global Gateway', which Ursula von der Leyen described as the "future of the EU's development cooperation", seems fixated on boosting private sector investments in energy, infrastructure and climate-smart solutions in Africa.
German chancellor Olaf Scholz also rejected Moscow's argument that gas flows were reduced due to a missing turbine, saying it was Russia that refused to take the delivery of the turbine.
A new idea, besides a windfall tax on polluting Big Energy giants, is to make them invest their profits in their own sustainable futures. After all, these companies have a large 'sustainability debt' and extraordinary transition costs awaiting them.
It comes a day after EU governments approved a watered-down plan to curb gas demand by 15 percent, aimed at lowering consumption, building storage, and sharing supplies if Russia in future cuts all exports.
The European Commission put forward a new proposal to reduce pesticides in mid-June. But experts warn that it is based on weak rules, and that European agriculture is stuck in a "permanent pesticide-dependence."
The agreement came as Russia's Gazprom said it would cut gas flows through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to Germany to 20 percent of capacity, starting Wednesday. Ireland, Malta and Cyprus secured exemptions.
The meeting comes as the Russian state-controlled Gazprom announced that supplies through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to Germany would drop to just 20 percent of capacity, starting Wednesday.
Gas flows through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline have restarted after 10 days of maintenance work, despite fears of further gas supply disruptions of a full cut-off next winter.
The European Commission will unveil a new plan to reduce gas consumption by industry and consumers in a bid to prepare for "a likely deterioration" — or a full cut-off of Russian gas flows this winter.
Europe is experiencing an extreme heatwave throughout the continent. More than 1,000 people have died because of record-breaking temperatures and devastating wildfires.
The European Commission will soon propose a legal framework allowing companies to buy offsetting carbon removals from farmers. Despite good intentions, lessons from similar projects in the US suggest that such schemes could end up doing more harm than good
The European Central Bank is set to increase interest rates in the eurozone at its governing council meeting on Thursday —amid monetary and political turmoil.
Lawmakers in the industry committee in the European Parliament voted to increase some of the EU's updated renewable energy directive targets.
Germany will end purchases of Russian coal on 1 August and quit Russian oil on 31 December, German state secretary Jörg Kukies said in Sydney.
In a signing ceremony held in Brussels EU finance ministers formally approved Croatia joining the eurozone on January 1, 2023.
MEPs in the environment committee have backed a wider scope and stricter rules to reduce global deforestation driven by the European consumption of certain commodities — pushing for more ambition in a key EU climate law.
The European Parliament greenlighted the commission's controversial proposal to include gas and nuclear investments in the so-called EU taxonomy — sparking criticism and legal threats from the climate community
The European Commission will present an emergency plan in the coming weeks to secure enough gas supplies for next winter. EU ministers are expected to meet in Brussels to discuss it shortly after.
The increasingly sharp debate over the rising cost of living exploded in European Parliament, with lawmakers from all stripes, liberal, left, green and conservative, calling on the EU to act.
Two days before Vladimir Putin launched his illegal war on my home country Ukraine, Russian energy minister Nikolai Shulginov gave an interview addressing the European Commission's taxonomy on sustainable activities — saying he was pleased it kept gas as 'green'.
Political pressure is mounting on the European Parliament to reject the inclusion of nuclear and natural gas in the EU sustainable finance plan, as a key vote approaches.
Although some assure that the collapse of the glacier could not have been predicted, climatologists, mountain experts and glaciologists agree in blaming the tragedy on climate change.
The European Central Bank decided to shift its €344bn corporate debt portfolio from polluting oil and gas companies toward more sustainable businesses.
The Czech Republic took over the EU's rotating presidency on Friday (1 July), which will be dominated by the economic and humanitarian outfall of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Dr Hans Bruyninckx the executive director of the European Environment Agency, on why — and how — Europe can cut its pollution-caused cancer rates.
German infighting and divisions between Nordic EU members and the rest over the Social Climate Fund nearly scuppered a crucial set of climate laws.
The European Parliament approved last week a non-binding resolution on illegal logging, calling to extend the EU public prosecutor's mandate to also cover environmental crime. The lead MEP on the file has called for urgent implementation.
The EU's 27 energy ministers reached agreement on a crucial set of climate laws, but worried that the economic recession weakened some provisions in the commission proposal.
