Europe

EU backs new circular economy measures

Thursday - The EU has taken a significant step towards principles which make an asset out of waste.

Dutch group threatens take Shell to court

5 Apr 18 - Campaigners are threatening to take Royal Dutch Shell to court in the Netherlands unless it takes major climate action.

Europe's electric cars herald march of the gigafactories

4 Apr 18 - Across Europe a wave of gigafactories are coming online, ready to meet the battery demands of a continent-wide switch to electric cars.

Europe's carbon market finally doing its job

28 Mar 18 - Europe’s $38 billion a year carbon market is finally starting to work the way it was intended, reining in pollution with a minimum of squealing from industry.

Macron pushes for EU minimum carbon price

26 Mar 18 - Europe must set a minimum price for carbon, says French President Emmanuel Macron, something that would require a new tax on imports from non-EU countries that are not doing enough to tackle climate change.

BIRDS EMBATTLED; Europe faces biodiversity oblivion

23 Mar 18 - Intensive farming and pesticides could turn Europe’s farmland into a desert that ultimately imperils all humans, say the authors of report on the decline of bird numbers.

Europe goes for two-speed approach to sustainable finance

19 Mar 18 - Europe is quickly adopting an imbalanced, two-speed approach to sustainable finance, in which the “green” is moving much faster than the “social”.

Nervous about nukes? Don't worry, just swallow this pill

16 Mar 18 - Belgian pharmacies will provide radiation-busting iodine tablets free of charge to anyone as part of the country’s new nuclear strategy,

Germany’s new government deal fails Paris test

14 Mar 18 - With the coalition agreement for a new German government under Angela Merkel, a major opportunity to realign German climate policy to the challenges of the Paris climate change agreement has passed.

Europe, too, likes the look of circular economy

13 Mar 18 - As the EU doubles down on its waste management efforts and sets its sights on tackling plastic waste, the idea of a circular economy and internal market for recycling is gathering momentum.

EC unveils new action plan on sustainable finance

13 Mar 18 - The European Commission has produced its strategy to make sustainability a key component of the financial sector within Europe for years to come.

Luxembourg home to half world’s green bonds

9 Mar 18 - Luxembourg and its very international stock exchange are well positioned to become the standard bearer that leads the green and sustainable finance industry of the future.

Spanish bank announces €100 billion climate plan

8 Mar 18 - The second-largest bank in Spain has launched a 100 billion euros initiative to support sustainable development and combat climate change.

Ban on bee-killer pesticide likely after new study

6 Mar 18 - A new study from the EU has found that the widespread use of a controversial pesticide on crops is harmful to the bee population.

Brussels eyes free transport on bad air days

1 Mar 18 - Brussels has moved to make the city’s public transport and bike share system free on the smoggiest days in a bid to drive down pollution levels.

German court rules cities can ban vehicles to tackle pollution

28 Feb 18 - Germany’s highest administrative court has ruled that diesel and other vehicles can be banned from some city streets as part of efforts to improve air quality,

China must sign up to climate rules, says EU

28 Feb 18 - EU foreign ministers have set a collision course with China in a statement calling for the same rules to bind all countries under the Paris climate deal.

German carmakers nervous on eve of court's diesel ban ruling

21 Feb 18 - A court will decide tomorrow whether German cities can ban heavily polluting cars, potentially wiping hundreds of millions of euros off the value of diesel cars on the country’s roads.

New apartment block will look like a forest

20 Feb 18 - Apartments to be built in the Dutch city of Eindhoven will be a 75m high skyscraper, which will include space for 125 trees, and 5200 plants.