DeSmogBlog

SEPTEMBER 27, 2023

They are conducted in private, documents are often confidential, and both awards and negotiated settlements may never be publicly revealed. Boyd is calling on states to reform or leave these treaties. Despite their impacts, ISDS cases are cloaked in secrecy. Even the existence of a claim can be concealed.

Fossil fuels 123

Fossil fuels Climate change Law Investment 123

DeSmogBlog

DECEMBER 21, 2022

Veteran sustainable food and farming experts welcomed the strategy as one that just might have a genuine shot at transforming the agriculture sector and result in better public health, contribute to ending the vertiginous decline of biodiversity, and lower greenhouse gas pollution. Big Ag’s Delay Tactics. The EU Targets Ignore Science’.

Europe 94

Europe Sustainability Agriculture Biodiversity 94

Grist

MARCH 27, 2024

The effects were immediate; the next year they documented increased conception and weaning rates in their cows and calves. Terra Fondriest via FERN Hamilton and Steele have decided to bet on biodiversity. Instead of a year-round monoculture of fescue, they have a biodiverse mix of warm- and cool-season grasses, along with wildflowers.

Soil 145

Soil Cooling Climate change Agriculture 145

Business Green

JULY 20, 2020

Tackling environmental challenges requires a long-term approach and political commitment to that journey - even when the political cycle can be short term. When I asked what the purpose of the document was, the answer came back that 'it's just a requirement of EU law'.

Biodiversity 89

Biodiversity Law Policy Health 89

DeSmogBlog

DECEMBER 23, 2022

It was a tough call to select the highlights, but here you have my Editor’s pick of our Top 10 – in no particular order – chosen for going deep, originality, capturing the political moment, scoring victories for the climate movement or straight-up popularity…. North Sea Gas Profits Going Direct to the Kremlin. My personal take?

Fossil fuels 71

Fossil fuels Global warming Climate change Natural gas 71

Business Green

FEBRUARY 1, 2023

To its credit, what Defra has delivered this week is one of the most comprehensive and holistic environmental policy documents from any UK government to date. This will help safeguard the environmental ambition of the schemes and strengthen the political case for maintaining the farm budget after 2024."

Government 40

Government Biodiversity Policy Agriculture 40

Business Green

AUGUST 24, 2021

With net zero and COP26 so high up the political and media agenda, the progress of the Environment Bill through parliament has become a bit of a backwater. Sometimes, this is because the target is arbitrary, set to signify a political position or intent, but never sufficiently backed up by policy.

Policy 36

Policy Pollution Health Politics 36

Planet Pulse

APRIL 14, 2023

As we heard over the last two days, we are living in an unprecedented era of geopolitics in which governments, researchers, the media, and citizens can access information to illuminate and document the actions of governments and the changing planet.

Building Energy Monitoring 106

Building Energy Monitoring Energy Monitor Business Energy Monitoring Solar Energy Monitor 106

DeSmogBlog

DECEMBER 9, 2021

Like many corporations, the global COVID-19 pandemic and lack of usual in-person events meant they had to get creative about how to shape the political debate and find new allies to support their agendas. The European Biodiversity strategy, which is another core plank of the Green Deal, includes similar goals.

Building Energy Monitoring 98

Building Energy Monitoring Business Energy Monitoring Home Energy Monitoring Sustainability 98

Business Green

DECEMBER 16, 2022

However, Environment Secretary Thérèse Coffey, who announced the new goals today at the critical COP15 UN biodiversity summit currently taking place in Montreal, insisted the targets were "ambitious" and would be "challenging to achieve". "We Charles Watson, chairman at campaign group River Action, was similarly unimpressed. "We

Biodiversity 36

Biodiversity Pollution Government Waste 36

DeSmogBlog

FEBRUARY 1, 2022

The Assembly is a network of social, environmental, and political groups that have banded together to oppose offshore oil drilling along Argentina’s Atlantic coast. There is no way that the oil industry can guarantee a low ‘risk’ or impact on biodiversity and, consequently, on the population,” he said.

Law 96

Law Government Politics Fossil fuels 96

DeSmogBlog

JANUARY 25, 2022

The European Union’s scientific and political communities are locked in a battle over whether gas and nuclear can be considered green investments. I think that’s the typical example of that political exchange that went on.” Many — including the Platform on Sustainable Finance — say that’s where it falls short.

Investment 90

Investment Sustainability Fossil fuels Carbon-neutral 90

Business Green

JULY 7, 2022

Fluctuating temperatures and extreme weather events are creating an ever-increasing cocktail of risk for companies, including volatile commodity and energy prices, stranded assets, increased political and litigation risks and distinct new demands. These factors influence how business is conducted and, consequently, how lawyers must practice.

Climate change 36

Climate change Soil Waste Waste 36

Grist

FEBRUARY 28, 2022

Region by region, the document describes “widespread, pervasive impacts” to ecosystems, people, settlements, and infrastructure. Preserving biodiverse forests and soggy peatlands has the added benefit of keeping some of the world’s biggest carbon sinks intact.

Climate change 135

Climate change Global warming Fossil fuels Biodiversity 135

Business Green

JANUARY 31, 2023

Moreover, the document includes England and Wales' first ever target to expand hedgerow protection, promising to create or restore 30,000 miles of hedgerows a year by 2037. The goal must be for us to exceed the current targets for air quality, biodiversity, water and resource efficiency and to do it more rapidly.

Government 36

Government Biodiversity Policy Health 36

Grist

MARCH 27, 2024

The effects were immediate; the next year they documented increased conception and weaning rates in their cows and calves. Terra Fondriest via FERN Hamilton and Steele have decided to bet on biodiversity. Instead of a year-round monoculture of fescue, they have a biodiverse mix of warm- and cool-season grasses, along with wildflowers.

Soil 52

Soil Cooling Climate change Agriculture 52

Business Green

JANUARY 31, 2022

But critics have been quick to point out that document fails to set out how many of the net zero or environmental 'wins' set out in the report can be attributed to Brexit, or improve upon measures that exist or are being drawn up by the EU.

Government 36

Government Policy Plastics Waste 36

Business Green

JUNE 14, 2022

Even the author of the independent review that led to the government's strategy, Leon founder Henry Dimbleby, was quick to criticise the document, telling the Guardian it had not really earned the right to be called a Strategy. "It As such, it smacks of political cowardice as much as ideological intransigence.

Government 36

Government Agriculture Carbon-negative Policy 36

Business Green

OCTOBER 26, 2020

There are not many uncontested benefits arising from Brexit, but there is a wide consensus that leaving the EU presents a once in a generation opportunity to improve the agricultural subsidy regime, providing a massive boost to UK biodiversity and sustainable farming practices in the process.

Government 66

Government Agriculture Soil Policy 66

DeSmogBlog

NOVEMBER 12, 2021

We found that degradation in water quality progressed to potentially lethal levels for aquatic life — documenting thousands of instances in which chronic and acute water quality thresholds were exceeded between 1985 and 2015,” the researchers wrote. For one thing, central Appalachia is stunningly high in biodiversity.

Energy Monitor 92

Energy Monitor Fossil fuels Building Energy Monitoring Home Energy Monitoring 92

Business Green

FEBRUARY 28, 2022

These include a growing world population, unsustainable consumption, a rapidly increasing number of people living in cities, significant inequality, continuing poverty, land degradation, biodiversity loss due to land-use change, ocean pollution, overfishing and habitat destruction as well as a global pandemic. billion and 3.6

Global warming 101

Global warming Climate change Resilience South America 101

Business Green

NOVEMBER 18, 2022

But it remains significantly longer - and has been published much later - than previous COP cover texts, meaning negotiators have a major task ahead of them in whittling down options to deliver political consensus. The cover document does retain some of the key breakthroughs delivered at last year's COP26 Climate Summit in Glasgow.

Fossil fuels 36

Fossil fuels Packaging Climate change COP 36

Business Green

APRIL 28, 2022

Meanwhile, fears are growing that these various pressures will serve to distract from the ongoing climate and biodiversity crises, as the momentum built up around the COP26 Climate Summit contiuning to dissipate. We must deliver on our promise to achieve net-zero by 2050," he writes.

Government 40

Government Investment Energy Energy 40

DeSmogBlog

DECEMBER 11, 2022

Like a chicken and egg dilemma, who came up with these goals first, politics or science? Political Origins of 2°C. The next key moment in the 2°C story is no longer scientific, but political. And we reached the political tipping point around the two-degree mark. But why are both numbers so important? Another time jump.

COP 91

COP Building Energy Monitoring Politics Global warming 91

Business Green

JULY 30, 2021

The crucial COP15 UN biodiversity summit in Kunming, China, which had been set to take place in October is now facing yet another delay, with Covid-19 concerns now likely to now push back the critical nature talks into early 2022, according to reports. COP15 biodiveristy summit braced for third Covid-19 delay.

Biodiversity 90

Biodiversity Carbon-neutral Lithium Hydrogen 90

DeSmogBlog

JUNE 28, 2022

While advocates promote it as a “carbon negative” climate solution, experts and campaigners have argued that BECCS is technically unproven, and that the practice poses risks for biodiversity, land and food security. In a submission on Thursday to California’s Draft 2022 Scoping Plan – the state’s climate strategy – Drax argued the U.S.

Carbon-negative 86

Carbon-negative Carbon Biodiversity Waste 86

Grist

JUNE 29, 2022

The Environmental Defense Fund, the American Forest Foundation, American Forests, and TNC are also members of the Forest-Climate Working Group, a political advocacy organization, alongside scores of wood product companies, including Enviva and Drax, biomass energy behemoths whose carbon-intensive operations have polluted U.S.

Logging 98

Logging Carbon-neutral Climate change Biodiversity 98

DeSmogBlog

NOVEMBER 16, 2023

With the climate and biodiversity crisis, we can’t take food and farming for granted. The union DBV told DeSmog, it has: “repeatedly signalled German farmers’ support of the Green Deal and Farm to Fork objectives” while also offering “constructive criticism and recommendations on the regulatory approaches to implement political objectives.”

Agriculture 96

Agriculture Law Politics Europe 96

Business Green

JUNE 5, 2022

There was a gruelling two year process, with several preparatory meetings in Nairobi, Geneva and New York, the latter producing 24 million pages of documentation. The environment was a marginal issue politically and environmentalists were people to make jokes about. Officials flew to meetings laden with papers in the pre-digital age.

Sustainability 90

Sustainability Government Biodiversity Politics 90

Business Green

MARCH 30, 2023

The official title given to the strategy at the heart of today's announcements is Powering Up Britain: Energy Security Plan, but it is accompanied by a flurry of further documents, consultations, and funding competition announcements that continued to emerge throughout the morning. Updating these critical documents is years overdue.

Government 40

Government Policy Investment Carbon 40

Envirotec Magazine

JULY 6, 2021

Finance will obviously be the enabling factor in making the kind of transition that is required, so it’s a problem if accounting systems continue to act as if nature is “free to use”, a key issue pinpointed earlier this year by The Dasgupta Review , hailed at the time as a landmark document.

Building Energy Monitoring 246

Building Energy Monitoring Business Energy Monitoring Energy Monitor COP 246

Green Market Oracle

JULY 17, 2020

To all but the willfully ignorant there is more than ample scientific evidence to indicate that we are facing a biodiversity crisis and a climate emergency. China has begun drafting its next five year plan (FYP), this top-level policy blueprint has been called, "one of the most important documents on the planet" for global sustainability.

Fossil fuels 75

Fossil fuels Climate change Biodiversity Policy 75

Green Market Oracle

OCTOBER 19, 2019

Canada is also home to the tar sands , some of the most carbon intensive forms of energy on Earth they and a deadly threat to biodiversity. As documented in an Environmental Defense report the oil and gas industry are the single biggest barrier to climate action in Canada.

Fossil fuels 45

Fossil fuels Climate change Biodiversity Education 45

Green Market Oracle

SEPTEMBER 3, 2020

By focusing on how these institutions are sites of coproduction of knowledge and policy, this work brings to light the politics of science advice and details how these committees are contributing to an emerging global environmental constitutionalism. Many questions about who ordered and paid for the killing remain unanswered.

Climate change 95

Climate change Ethics Sustainability Health 95

Business Green

NOVEMBER 15, 2021

For the first time in 25 years of UN climate talks, coal and fossil fuel subsidies have been singled out in an official document. The announcement has been widely celebrated as a major coup for both the climate and biodiversity, given the staggering rate of deforestation around the world and its ability to undermine climate goals.

Fossil fuels 67

Fossil fuels Business Energy Monitoring Methane Building Energy Monitoring 67

Business Green

NOVEMBER 16, 2021

As such, the document stresses that the world needs to deliver "accelerated action in this critical decade". Nations which fail to come up with the goods in 2022 will have some explaining to do, both to their own citizens and the global political and business community. Nature and biodiversity. The same goes for businesses.

Fossil fuels 54

Fossil fuels Climate change Carbon Methane 54

Business Green

NOVEMBER 26, 2020

Greenpeace UK's head of politics Rebecca Newsom argued it would "sour the UK's diplomatic relationships in the run-up to the crucial Glasgow climate conference next year". And Shaun Spiers, executive director of Green Alliance, bluntly lamented a decision that "stinks".

Policy 82

Policy Government Investment Climate change 82