Environmental law organisation ClientEarth has issued judicial review proceedings against the UK Government. ClientEarth is bringing the case to make the government protect people's health from toxic levels of air pollution in towns and cities. In the UK, 29,000 people die prematurely every year because of air pollution – more people than die, or sustain serious injuries, in road traffic accidents.
The judicial review is a legal challenge to the failure of the UK Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) to produce plans that will bring nitrogen dioxide (NO2) within legal limits by 1 January 2015, and for refusing to consult the public on its latest plan for reducing dangerous airborne particles (PM10) in London – despite ClientEarth reminding them in April of their legal responsibility to do so.
Source: ClientEarth press release, 29 July 2011
If all the 20 planned coal-fired power plant projects in Germany are realised, they would together emit more than 140 million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually from 2050 onwards. This would make it impossible to achieve the climate targets of the German government.
Significant additional emission reductions and accompanying environmental improvements can be achieved in Europe by 2020. Health benefits alone far outweigh the extra costs for emission control.
A proposal for a revision of the EU Energy Tax Directive, launched in April by the European Commission, has triggered strong reactions from some of the EU member states, including giants like the UK and Germany.
The European Commission do not believe that their own proposal for a new Energy Efficiency Directive will be enough to meet the 20 per cent energy savings target by 2020.
The fate of the vast boreal forest belt of the northern hemisphere is crucial for global climate. A new AirClim-report looks into our possibilities to protect and manage these forests for climate mitigation. Reducing paper consumption turns out to be an option.