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☆ EU Parliament backs landmark law to restore Europe's nature
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-12 | by ( Caolán Magee | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —The European Parliament on Wednesday voted in favor of legally binding targets to protect and restore nature in the European Union, despite strong opposition from some policymakers. The flagship EU nature law will also require countries to introduce measures to restore nature on a fifth of their land and sea by 2030. It is the first major piece of legislation to protect biodiversity in the EU in the last 30 years, according to Greenpeace. Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg reacts as she attends a voting session on EU nature restoration law during a plenary session at the European Parliament in Strasbourg. Frederick Florin/AFP/Getty ImagesEU lawmakers and member countries will now negotiate the final text, aiming for a deal before EU Parliament elections in 2024.

Persons: what’s, Špela, Manfred Weber –, Manfred Weber, Mykhaylo Palinchak, ”, Ireland’s Frances Fitzgerald, “, ” Fitzgerald, Greta Thunberg, Frederick Florin Organizations: CNN, European Union, Greenpeace, Greenpeace’s, European People’s Party, EPP, EU Parliament’s, Twitter, Socialists, Democrats, Greens, Getty, European Environment Agency Locations: EU, Greenpeace’s Central, Eastern Europe, Europe, Swedish, Strasbourg, AFP

LONDON, July 10 (Reuters) - Thames Water has become the poster child for a British water industry under fire for its poor environmental record and financial mismanagement. After a period as a listed company, Thames Water was acquired by German utility RWE (RWEG.DE) in 2001. Thames Water said on Monday they would provide 750 million pounds, and added it had strong liquidity of 4.4 billion pounds. FINANCESNearly 60% of Thames Water's debt is index-linked, according to ratings agency Standard & Poor's, saddling it with higher repayments as inflation soars. Thames Water was fined 3.3 million pounds last week, while Southern Water was fined 90 million pounds in 2021.

Persons: Margaret Thatcher's, Australia's Macquarie, Abu, Hermes, Ofwat, Sarah Young, Chiara Elisei, Emelia Sithole Organizations: Margaret Thatcher's Conservative, Water, Thames, Ontario, BT, China Investment Corp, Thames Water, Macquarie, Yorkshire Water, Severn Trent, United Utilities, The Times, Environment Agency, Southern Water, Thomson Locations: Britain, Here's, Abu Dhabi, Thames, Southern Water, United, England

DIRTY BEACHESClean water campaign groups accuse the water companies of failing to invest in infrastructure. She was replaced by two co-chief executives, Chief Finance Officer Alastair Cochran and former Ofwat boss Cathryn Ross, who has been at Thames Water since 2021. Jefferies analysts said Britain's listed water operators Severn Trent (SVT.L), Pennon Group (PNN.L) and United Utilities (UU.L) were better capitalised than Thames Water, but the issues with the largest company meant a "heightened regulatory environment". Daily headlines about rivers and beaches polluted by sewage released by water companies look set to turn water into a major issue at the next general election, expected next year. Thames Water said in its annual report in October that it had not paid a dividend to its shareholders for the last five years.

Persons: Rishi Sunak's, Jeremy Hunt, Sarah Bentley, Alastair Cochran, Cathryn Ross, Alix, Ofwat, Australia's Macquarie, Sarah Young, Paul Sandle, Radhika Anilkumar, David Evans, Mark Potter Organizations: Company, British, Sky News, Conservatives, Thames, Times, Ontario, China Investment Corp, Water, Alix Partners, Daily Telegraph, Jefferies, Trent, Pennon, United Utilities, Environment Agency, Financial Times, Thomson Locations: England, Wales, Britain, Thames

They are to be built on some of the 33,000 hectares (330 square km) of former coal mines in Lusatia by 2030. The plans are emblematic of the drive by Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government to accelerate the phase-out of coal power towards a carbon neutral economy by as early as 2030 versus the agreed target of 2038. Many of LEAG's 8,000 coal workers are expected to retire by 2030 or retrain in renewable energy. Only 18% of locals believe politicians are doing enough to counteract the consequences of the coal phase-out, a survey published in May by broadcaster rbb showed, while 70% worry electricity could become expensive. "It is fundamentally unrealistic that the coal phase-out can be achieved in 2030," Christine Herntier, mayor of the town of Spremberg, told Reuters.

Persons: LEAG, Chancellor Olaf Scholz's, Ute Liebsch, Liebsch, Knut Abraham, Abraham, rbb, Christine Herntier, Rainer Schiller, Schiller, Ben Schueppel, Ingolf Arnold, Matthias Williams Organizations: Green, Reuters, Park, Thomson Locations: Berlin, FORST, Germany, Czech, Lusatia, Brandenburg, Saxony, Spremberg, Herntier

☆ Singapore's love affair with air conditioning shows a Catch 22 of climate change
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( Heather Chen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

Thankfully, Chee said, his home has five air conditioners – one in each bedroom and a larger unit in the living room. “I drank plenty of water, took cold showers and kept the air conditioning on for the entire weekend. Indeed, in this city, air conditioning has become almost a way of life. But Singapore’s love affair with air conditioning has an enormous cost. Here are some possible solutions 02:39 - Source: CNNBreaking the loopStill, experts say there are ways to break the air conditioning doom-loop.

Persons: Chee Kuan Chew, ” Chee, “, Mo Kio, Chee, Lee Kuan Yew, Edgar Su, Suhaimi Abdullah, Matthias Roth, Roth, Radhika Khosla, ” Khosla, Heng Chye Kiang, Smart, Heng Organizations: CNN, Reuters, Economic, International Energy Agency, Urban, United States Environmental Protection Agency, National University of Singapore, United Nations, Montreal Protocol, Oxford University’s Smith School of Enterprise, Environment, Bloomberg, Getty, Singapore’s National Environment Agency, NEA, ”, National University of Singapore’s School of Design Locations: Singapore, New York City, Japan, United States, ”, Kigali, Montreal, Orchard

☆ This startup wants to curb fast fashion by helping you rent out your closet
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Cait Freda | In Caitfreda | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

By Rotation, a U.K.-based clothing rental app, hopes to eliminate the need for fast fashion by making peer-to-peer clothing rental mainstream in the United States. Individual users decide if they are willing to ship their items to users in other states. Despite the expected growth, online fashion rental and resale has proven to be a difficult business, especially on Wall Street. As the app grows, the startup is taking steps to ensure renters are trustworthy and lenders' items are protected from damage. "I wanted to wear nice clothes on my holiday and I thought about renting but there was no sort of digital fashion rental player here in the U.K. or even Europe," she said.

Persons: Eshita Kabra, Davies, Uber, we've, Kabra, Randi Wood, Wood, Martha Petrocheilos, Esther Gross, Ester Gross Organizations: Research, European Environment Agency, Marathon Asset Management Locations: U.K, United States, New York City, U.S, London, Los Angeles, Mexico, Rajasthan, India, Europe, Africa, Asia, New York

☆ Sick of sewage, Britons protest at water companies' pollution
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

To the beat of a drumming band and waving placards, the protestors called on Britain’s water companies to do more to prevent sewage discharges. "We are sick of this sewage and they need to take action," Izzy Ross, Surfers Against Sewage's campaign manager told Reuters. Public anger has been fuelled by the payment of dividends to investors and large salaries and bonuses to water industry executives. Campaigners say water companies are discharging much more often than they should, including when there has been no rain. On Thursday, Water UK, the trade body representing the UK water industry, apologised, said the public was right to be upset, and said more should have been done to address the issue of spillages sooner.

☆ England’s Water Companies Vow to Clean Up Their Sewage Dumping Act
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Isabella Kwai | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

England’s rivers and coastlines have long endured a foul problem — an astounding release of untreated sewage by water companies, some of it illegal, which critics say has sickened swimmers and polluted the country’s critical ecosystems. “It’s disgusting when you’re in the water and you see and smell sewage,” said Josh Harris, a spokesman for Surfers Against Sewage, a charity that monitors pollution and is among several groups leading an intensifying public outcry against the contamination of England’s waterways. Private water and sewage companies in England on Thursday admitted that they had not done enough to address the outpouring of sewage and announced a plan totaling 10 billion pounds, or about $12.4 billion, to modernize the country’s sewers. Last year alone, the companies sent sewage into rivers and seas for more than 1.75 million hours, amounting to 301,091 spills overall, or an average of 825 a day, according to government data, a slight reduction compared with the previous year largely because of drier weather, not preventive action from water companies, England’s Environment Agency said.

☆ Brazil environment agency rejects Petrobras' request to drill at Amazon
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BRASILIA, May 17 (Reuters) - The Brazilian environmental protection agency Ibama said on Wednesday it had rejected a request from state-run oil company Petrobras (PETR4.SA) to drill a well at the mouth of the Amazon river. The much-awaited decision follows a technical recommendation by the agency's experts to reject the proposal. A technical report from Ibama had previously advised against the request, citing discrepancies in environmental studies, inadequate measures for communicating with indigenous communities, and insufficiencies in Petrobras' plan to safeguard the region's wildlife. Petrobras had several opportunities to solve controversial points of its project, but it was still presenting "worrying inconsistencies" for the operation in a new exploratory frontier of "high socio-environmental vulnerability," Ibama said in a statement. Petrobras did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

LONDON, May 17 (Reuters) - Britain is accelerating plans to protect London from flooding caused by a warming climate and rising sea levels, bringing forward its scheme of work to protect the city centre by 15 years. The government statement said the change was based on improved climate change models which showed the "heightened risk of flooding from a warming climate and rising sea levels." Rising sea levels, in part caused by melting glaciers and record ocean temperatures, are a global threat posing existential risk to some low-lying island states and coastal cities. In April, the World Meteorological Organization said global sea levels were rising at more than double the pace they did in the first decade of measurements in 1993-2002 and touched a new record high last year. ($1 = 0.7923 pounds)Reporting by William James, Editing by Angus MacSwanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Southeast Asia hit with record-breaking heat and heavy air pollution
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Emma Newburger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Several cities in Southeast Asia experienced sweltering temperatures over the weekend, with some areas hitting new all-time highs as global climate change intensifies both heat waves and air pollution in the region. Luang Prabang, a city in Laos, saw a record-high temperature of 110.3 degrees Fahrenheit (43.5 degrees Celsius) Saturday, according to the Thai Meteorological Department. Bangkok, the capital city of Thailand, also experienced a record-high temperature of 105.8 degrees Fahrenheit (41 degrees Celsius) over the weekend. Singapore hit 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit (37 degrees Celsius) Saturday, matching its all-time record, which was recorded 40 years ago, the National Environment Agency said. Southeast Asia is one of the regions most vulnerable to climate change, which has fueled more frequent and severe heat waves and worsened the region's air pollution.

Sembcorp, which is 49.3% owned by Singapore's state investor Temasek Holdings, has hired HSBC (HSBA.L) to run the sale of SembWaste, according to the sources. First-round of non-binding bids are due by early June, said one of the sources, declining to be named as the matter is private. Last year, SembWaste's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization was S$50 million ($37.75 million), one of the sources added. Last year, Singapore's asset manager Keppel consortium bought a 80% stake in environmental services firm 800 Super Holdings for S$304 million. SembWaste is one of three public waste collectors appointed by Singapore's National Environment Agency to provide waste and recyclable collection services to residential, schools and trade premises in the city-state, according to its website.

☆ Retailers to tackle sustainability at key conference
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

They will discuss the challenges facing their businesses as inflation causes consumers in Europe and elsewhere to reduce spending. The European Commission is drawing up new rules on textile waste that will make companies responsible for managing the waste their products create. Decathlon, the world's biggest sporting goods retailer, sells repair services, spare parts and tools for people to repair their own bicycles, tents, and kayaks. Retailers are working with local authorities ahead of an EU law that will require member states to separately collect textile waste by Jan. 1, 2025. Firms including Decathlon, Mango, Inditex, and IKEA recently created an association in Spain for the management of textile waste.

☆ Perenco UK says 60% of oil spill in southern England recovered
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/4] General view of Poole Harbour after about 200 barrels of reservoir fluid leaked into the water in Dorset, Britain, March 27, 2023. REUTERS/Peter CziborraMarch 29 (Reuters) - Anglo-French oil company Perenco's UK unit said on Wednesday it had recovered about 60% of the estimated oil leaked on Sunday at one of its well sites in Wytch Farm in Dorset, southern England. The location of the leak was identified and operations at Wytch Farm remain suspended, the company said in a statement. Perenco UK said it was investigating the cause of the spill, in consultation with the environment agency and local authorities. Perenco UK produces about 40,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day, with Wytch Farm accounting for about 14,000 barrels.

The rules would apply to fridges, vacuum cleaners, televisions, washing machines and other goods that are deemed "repairable" under EU law. The EU is negotiating rules that would extend the requirement to smartphones and tablets. Under the EU rules, companies would have to repair a defective product for free within the two-year legal guarantee period, if the cost of repair is cheaper or equal to replacing the product. After that date, companies must still offer repairs, either for free or for a charge. A second law, proposed by Brussels on Wednesday, would force companies to verify claims that their products are "green" or "eco-friendly".

☆ Low dissolved oxygen levels behind mass fish death in Australian river
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Thousands of dead fish have been found this week in the Darling River near the town of Menindee, around 1,000km (620 miles) west of the state capital Sydney. The NSW Department of Planning and Environment's water division said on Twitter that "dissolved oxygen levels remain a concern for fish health" in the area. "There is a large number of fish deaths (predominantly Bony Herring) in the Darling River between Lake Wetherell and Menindee township," the agency said on Friday. Footage posted to Twitter by SBS showed a boat navigating through thousands of dead fish blanketing the entire surface of the river. The state planning and environment agency warned river oxygen levels could fall futher this weekend as temperatures rise, before cooler conditions return next week.

☆ Elon Musk's Starlink is aiding criminal mining efforts in Brazil's Amazon
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Grace Mayer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Starlink kits are being used for illegal mining efforts in Brazil, per the Associated Press. In Brazil, Starlink internet terminals have done just that. "You can manage hundreds of mining sites without ever setting foot in one." Before Starlink's internet service, illegal miners relied on heavy, stationary antennae, but the internet connection was often unreliable, per the AP. As Musk's Starlink service becomes more and more widespread, cases of misuse are to be expected.

☆ Britain's Thames Water pledges $1.92 billion to cut sewage discharges
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Feb 27 (Reuters) - British utility Thames Water plans to invest 1.6 billion pounds ($1.92 billion) in the next two years to cut discharges into rivers and tackle pollution, after UK water firms faced a backlash over sewage outflows into waterways. England and Wales water regulator Ofwat and Britain's Environment Agency are investigating several water companies that admitted they might be illegally discharging sewage. Last year Ofwat served formal notices to Thames Water and others over concerns about the firm's responses to its queries on their sewage treatment operations. Water companies in the UK who are caught creating illegal pollution could face having to pay compensation for damages, or legal prosecution. Thames Water, which provides services to 15 million customers across London, the Thames Valley and surrounding areas, said it was committed to reduce its yearly discharges by 50% by 2030.

☆ Column: Europe's industry to feel the sting of high & rising carbon costs
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Gavin Maguire | Thomson Reuters | Gavin Maguire Is The Global Energy Transition Columnist. He Was Previously Asia Commodities | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

EU carbon credit pricesTwo-thirds of Europe's emissions stem from just three sectors: energy supply (24.2%), domestic transport (20.7%) and industry (20.7%), according to European Environment Agency (EEA) data from 2020, the latest available. Industry accounts for 25% of Germany's total energy consumption, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), so any successful retooling of Germany's energy systems will likely set trends across Europe. That would mark a 42% drop in only 8 years, and compares to an 18.7% reduction in total emissions from 2010 to 2022. However, given the expected shuttering of Germany's remaining coal plants and least efficient gas-fed power stations, the energy sector's target may be reachable. Germany industry energy use by power sourceCertain sectors are banking on the roll-out of clean hydrogen for use as a fuel instead of natural gas.

☆ EU considers ban on 'forever chemicals', urges search for alternatives
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Ludwig Burger | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

"A ban on PFAS would reduce quantities of PFAS in the environment over the long term. Once the ban is in force, companies will be given between 18 months and 12 years to introduce alternatives to the more than 10,000 PFAS affected, depending on the availability of alternatives, according to the draft proposal. The FPP4EU group of 14 companies that make and use PFAS has said that finding alternatives is a long and difficult process. Within the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), two scientific committees for Risk Assessment and for Socio-Economic Analysis will now review whether the proposal to ban PFAS conforms with wider EU regulation of chemicals known as REACH, followed by a scientific evaluation and consultation with the industry. In August, the United States government said it will propose designating certain forever chemicals as hazardous substances under the U.S. Superfund programme.

☆ German speed limit could cut more CO2 than previously thought -study
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Riham Alkousaa | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

In an earlier study, with a different methodology, the agency expected such limit to result in 2.6 million CO2 cuts. To meet its 2022 greenhouse reduction target, the sector's emissions should have not exceeded 138.7 million tonnes of CO2-equivalents. In 2021, transport in Germany emitted some 148 million tonnes of CO2, missing its target by around 3 million tonnes. The transport ministry says its programme will cut some 13 million tonnes in the coming years, compensating for the 2021 missed target. Germany's ruling coalition has failed to agree on a speed limit due to opposition from the FDP.

☆ Four countries urge EU to set end date for new CO2-emitting trucks
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Kate Abnett | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The European Commission is set to propose tougher CO2 standards next month for heavy goods vehicles to comply with the bloc's climate change goals. It has already set more ambitious targets for cars, including a 2035 deadline for all new cars sold in Europe to have zero CO2 emissions. Next month's EU proposal should set a 100% zero emissions target for heavy duty vehicles, the four countries said. They did not specify a target date but said it must comply with the EU's goal to have zero net greenhouse gas emissions across its economy by 2050. Growing demand for freight transport raised CO2 emissions from heavy duty vehicles each year from 2014 until the COVID-19 pandemic brought a temporary reduction in 2020, the EU environment agency says.

☆ Germany's 2022 renewable power production rises but still behind 2030 target
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-11 | by ( Riham Alkousaa | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Dec 12 (Reuters) - Germany's power production from renewable energy rose in 2022, but it is still below the threshold needed to reach the target of generating 80% of electricity from renewables by 2030, the Environment Agency said on Monday. Renewable energy is expected to account for around 46% of German power consumption this year, up from 41% a year earlier, the agency said in its annual report. Only around 0.8% of land in Germany is currently designated for onshore wind power. Photovoltaic power generation rose 23% in 2022 year-on-year to 61 TWh, the agency said, citing a jump in installations and "very sunny weather". Heating from environmental heat and near-surface geothermal energy also rose 13% year-on-year.

☆ Abandoned Greek airport to be transformed into a 600-acre coastal park
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( Nell Lewis | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +16 min

Tegel Projekt GmbH/Atelier Loidl Kai Tak International Airport, Hong Kong -- With a runway that protruded into the sea, Kai Tak International Airport in Hong Kong once had one of the most arresting approaches in the world. PHILIPPE LOPEZ/AFP/AFP via Getty Images Hellinikon International Airport, Athens, Greece -- Hellinikon was once the only international airport in Athens, Greece, before Hellinikon was once the only international airport in Athens, Greece, before closing down in 2001 . Developer LAMDA is looking to complete the first phase of construction in 2025 courtesy LAMDA Development Stapleton International Airport, Denver, Colorado -- A photo of Stapleton International Airport from 1963. The grounds of the old airport became the 125-hectare (309-acre) Quito replaced its main airport with another bearing the same name. RODRIGO BUENDIA/AFP/AFP via Getty Images Downsview Airport, Toronto -- Downsview Airport in north Toronto was once a Canadian Air Force base.

Persons: Sasaki, ”, Michael Grove, Eero Saarinen, Kai, Kok, FREDERIC J . BROWN, Kai Tak, PHILIPPE LOPEZ, Hellinikon, Milos Bicanski, Ken Tillis, Lisa Martine, Sean Gallup, Maja Hitij, RODRIGO BUENDIA, Eleni Myrivilli, …, Aleksandra Kazmierczak, it’s, we’re Organizations: CNN, Ellinikon International, Games, Charleston Waterfront Park, Newcastle University, Tegel Airport, Tegel Projekt, Kai Tak International Airport, Kai Tak International, Getty, Foster + Partners, AFP, Stapleton International Airport, Denver International Airport, Denver, Getty Images, Airport, CNN Galeville Army, Galeville, United States Military Academy, West, Wildlife Refuge, Fish and Wildlife, Wildlife, Nazi, Maja, Mariscal Sucre International Airport, Old Mariscal Sucre International, Downsview, Canadian Air Force, Downsview Airport, City, Resilience, European Environment Agency, Development, Ellinikon Locations: Athens, Greece, Ellinikon, Boston, Charleston, Beijing, American, Grove, Berlin, Hong Kong, AFP, Europe, Hellinikon, Denver , Colorado, Central, New York, Ulster County , New York, Germany, Quito, Ecuador, Toronto, Downsview Park, Canada, Downsview, City of Athens, ”

☆ 'Every breath you take': Air pollution stifles Europe's health targets
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( Juliette Portala | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"Air pollution is still the largest environmental health risk in Europe," the EEA said. "While emissions of key air pollutants and their concentrations in ambient air have fallen significantly over the past two decades in Europe, air quality remains poor in many areas." Air pollution aggravates respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, with heart disease and stroke cited as the most common causes of related early deaths. "Further efforts will be needed to meet the zero pollution vision for 2050 of reducing air pollution to levels no longer considered harmful to health," the EEA said. The European Commission proposed in October to set stricter thresholds for air pollution but also to enhance the right of citizens to clean air.

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