Environment | WPN World People News

Plans for more ambitious national caps on emissions of key pollutants by 2030, including NOx, particulates and sulphur dioxide, were informally agreed by MEPs and the Dutch presidency of the Council on Thursday. Air pollution causes about 400,000 premature deaths in the EU per year. The agreement now needs to be endorsed by the Environment Committee and Parliament as a whole.

Greenpeace condemns the Swedish government’s decision to allow state-owned Vattenfall to hand over its lignite mine assets in Germany to the Czech company EPH. The decision announced this morning risks catastrophic consequences for the climate.
Annika Jacobson, Program Manager for Greenpeace in Sweden, said: “This is a political collapse. The government and parliament have failed to stand up for the most crucial issue in our time. Prime Minister Stefan Löfven had the chance to make a historic contribution to the climate and to show true leadership. The decision will seriously hamper international climate work and implies a direct subversion of the Paris Agreement.

Today, the U.S. Forest Service released its long-awaited proposal for amending the Tongass Land Management Plan and the results are disappointing. We will continue to work with the Obama administration to correct the pervasive mistakes in this plan.

The World Bank Groups’ Board of Executive Directors on 30 June approved US$ 100 million in additional financing from the International Development Association (IDA) Crisis Response Window (CRW) to the Productive Safety Net Project 4 (PSNP 4). The funds will help support the Government of Ethiopia’s (GoE) efforts to respond to the ongoing drought.

With algae outbreaks turning South Florida’s coastal rivers and beaches a fluorescent green and No Swimming signs posted as we approach the Fourth of July holiday, the Florida Department of Agriculture is proposing to wipe out a state requirement that local governments use to monitor fertilizer use.

Wednesday, the Public Utility Commission of Ohio (PUCO) Staff proposed a new rider in FirstEnergy’s refiled bailout case that could essentially force customers to pay $131 million per year to bail FirstEnergy Corp. out for its bad coal investments. While the Staff frame their proposal in terms of grid modernization, the apparent absence of any requirement that FirstEnergy invest the money on modernizing the grid means that this new proposal is effectively just another corporate bailout. Represented by Earthjustice, Sierra Club will continue to oppose such a bailout.

The World Bank Group on 30 June signed an agreement with the International Solar Alliance (ISA), consisting of 121 countries led by India, to collaborate on increasing solar energy use around the world, with the goal of mobilizing $1 trillion in investments by 2030.

Seeds distribution in Doro refugee camp, in Maban, South Sudan. The conflict has displaced hundreds of thousands of people.