Efforts made to clean up Bejing's air for the 2008 Olympics provided a striking insight into the health benefits that even a brief respite from air pollution can offer.

On Thursday 10 May 2012 the Court of Justice decided that EU rules permit public bodies to evaluate tenders for public contracts using criteria ‘based on considerations of a social nature’. In this case the Court was examining the province of North Holland’s use of fair trade criteria but the ruling has wider implications. Importantly, it confirms that there are no grounds for treating social criteria differently to environmental criteria. This will remove the legal uncertainty around how to use social criteria in public procurement – something that has been holding back aspects of sustainable public procurement. 

The key development is to allow social criteria to be used as award criteria – this will overrule EC guidance which restricts social criteria to contract performance conditions. The distinction is important. Award criteria are used to decide which tender wins the contract. They allow the purchasing authority to compare the relative advantages of different tenders according to how they score on the criteria. On the other hand, contract performance conditions are included in the contract to specify how the contract is to be performed, but do not influence the decision of who wins. 

One year after great success of Fish Fight in the UK, led by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and supported by the coalition of NGOs (including ClientEarth), the campaign arrived in Poland. At the launch event outside the Polish parliament we took part in a discussion about key challenges of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) from a Polish perspective.

The Habitats Directive protects a large variety of the UK's plant and animal species, including rare and vulnerable animals such as otters, bats and dormice, and habitats from heathlands to sand dunes to rocky caves. It puts in place systems to make sure that areas containing this precious biodiversity are not damaged by development. It plays an important role in securing the vital ecosystem services benefiting human well being that flow from the preservation of such healthy natural areas. Not all human activity is excluded from sites protected under this legislation - the idea is not to create "fenced off" no-go areas, but areas where humans and nature can co-exist. The legislation therefore provides a set of tests for activities and potential developments to ensure that those not adversely affecting sites and species may continue, whilst those which cause damage are prevented.

The European Commission has stated that the revision of the Public Procurement Directive aims to clarify how the purchasing power of Europe’s public bodies can contribute to sustainable development and environmental protection.

photo: kasperbs

On Monday, fisheries ministers from each of the EU countries will be gathering at their monthly meeting, this time to discuss discards and the common fisheries policy (CFP). It appears that a number of Member States are planning to publish a declaration on the CFP reform. As we understand it, there will be grand statements reiterating the States’ “commitment to the sustainable exploitation of fisheries resources” and an “ambitious reform… aiming at maximum sustainable yield in the framework of ecosystem based fisheries management.” The wasteful practice of discarding fish is apparently a “considerable obstacle on the road to a sustainable fisheries policy”.

Most of you will have caught wind of the recent Heartland Institute scandal, in which a prominent scientist and climate activist, Dr. Peter Gleick, leaked the climate sceptical group’s confidential strategy documents. The story has unleashed a furious response in the scientific and environmental communities and has a way to go before abating: Gleick, who obtained the documents illegally, faces severe rebuke and is poised to lose his job; the environmental blog  that first published the leaked papers may find itself the subject of legal action.

The controversy over how the papers were obtained unfortunately detracts from what they reveal: an act of high-level political obfuscation playing out against the backdrop of the US presidential race. As George Monbiot pointed out in his Guardian editorial, the Heartland Institute’s opaque funding and anti-science agenda parallel the Super PAC controversy, in which multimillionaires and companies are allowed to contribute unlimited sums to political and presidential campaigns, with little to no disclosure obligation.

The European Commission has now publicised the delegated regulation that it adopted on 23 February, which sets out rules according to which monitoring organisations will be recognised under the Timber Regulation. The role of the Timber Regulation, monitoring organisations and this delegated act, were discussed in this earlier blog.

Reducing air pollution can save lives and save the Arctic. That was the message I gave to a parliamentary committee yesterday.

image: Liberal Democrats

Last month, there was major changeup in the Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS), when the sitting Minister for Employment Relations and Postal Affairs, Edward Davey, was moved to assume the position of Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change. His replacement, a fellow Lib-Dem, Norman Lamb, will now be in charge of overseeing an important task:  reform of narrative reporting requirements under the Companies Act 2006.

image: Tech109

The EU Timber Regulation is designed to address the problem of illegal logging from a 'demand-side' perspective by restricting its access to the EU market.

The Timber Regulation was adopted in 2010 and established the framework for how it would work but left certain key details to be developed by non-legislative acts. To give time for these to be produced and for all stakeholders (government, industry and civil society) to prepare, its full impact was delayed until March 2013.

The House of Commons’ Environment Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) Committee has published a report today on EU proposals for reform of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). The report should be urging  the UK government to improve the European Commission’s proposals for CFP reform, so that it provides urgently needed environmental protection for EU fisheries. However, rather than pushing for improvements to the Commission’s proposals, which are much needed, the EFRA Committee’s recommendations in some crucial areas would significantly weaken the Commission’s proposals.

Picture credit: Datu Arellano

A scientific report released this week by the European Commission demonstrates that there is growing evidence that endocrine disrupting or “gender bending” chemicals are contributing to a variety of adverse human and environmental health effects.

Last year in Durban, the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) failed to provide significant additional clarity and positive incentives on issues relating to Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD) and the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks in developing countries. Let me first give you the context and a brief overview of what happened in the lead to Durban.

The New Economics Foundation (nef) has just published a report whose findings back up everything that we’re working for during the current review of Europe’s disastrous Common Fisheries Policy (cfp). nef explain that the “value of restoring fish stocks is worth £2.7 billion (€3.2 bn) per year to all countries. It is worth £1.5 billion (€1.8 bn) per year to the EU27, or almost three times its annual fishing subsidies.”
 
ClientEarth have long argued that biological sustainability (Maximum Sustainable Yield) makes economic and social sense and here are the figures that prove it – taking more fish out of the sea than can biologically reproduce damns fishers to empty nets.  

Those who undermine sustainable fishing limits are not just creating an environmental calamity but are also talking economic nonsense. In a key year for the reform of the CFP we need to make sure that this message is heard loud and clear from coast to coast.
To find out more about ClientEarth's work on the cfp, click here

ClientEarth has set up an Aarhus centre focusing on the implementation of the Aarhus Convention by the EU institutions.   The new EU Aarhus Centre offers NGOs and citizens’ groups top-level legal advice on their rights to information, participation and justice in environmental matters provided under the Aarhus Convention. The Centre supports the development and enforcement of these rights by providing training and advice, monitoring the practices of EU institutions, bodies and agencies and creating a space for dialogue between NGOs and the EU institutions as well as organising events and publish materials on the issue.

This week, the European Commission published the Staff Working Paper Analysis of options to move beyond 20% greenhouse gas emission reductions: Member State results. The paper provides concrete data showing that an increased push to a 30% emission reduction target by 2020 will deliver financial, health and environmental benefits for member states. It complements the Communication adopted in May 2010 which outlined the costs and benefits at EU level of a higher emission reduction commitment by 2020.

image: dezz

This week began with some fantastic news as we read in the Guardian about the sharp rise in the sale of sustainable seafood products in the UK throughout 2011. This shows that people really do care about where their food is coming from and what effect that has.

Consumers have the power to help avoid an ecological disaster by choosing to buy sustainably caught or sustainably farmed fish. This seems relatively simple, but it’s not always clear which fish really have been sustainably caught, or responsibly farmed, or otherwise. Harmonised labelling for these kinds of terms, which are often used but are not regulated, is crucial to help consumers take action.

image: Flickr/CIFOR

Forests are key to ensuring that the climate remains stable enough so that life on Earth can continue as we know it. The ability of a forest to hold (or sequester) carbon is one of the key functions it provides globally. This function is undermined by increasing temperatures in tropical forests as well as by forest degradation and deforestation. The Amazon forest has already started to emit increasing amounts of carbon dioxide as the region becomes drier, thus contributing further to climate change. A resilient forest has a greater adaptability to changes in climatic conditions, e.g precipitation, temperature etc.

image: NS Newsflash

This blog originally appeared on Huffington Post on 25 December 2011

Why aren't we seeing more coverage of climate change in the media? The issue is hardly going away. And now that world governments after Durban are not planning to take action 'til 2020, we need more coverage, not less.

Yet environmentalists reported a drop off in climate change reporting in 2009 and 2010, and we may well see this again when we look back at 2011.

image: nick hobgood

In the Republic of Congo, the civil society platform for the sustainable management of forests has just held a three day workshop, (from 19-21 January 2012). It was facilitated by Client Earth (Nathalie Faure), Well-Grounded (Cath Long), FERN (Indra van Gisbergen) and international forest legislation expert Robinson Djeukam, financed by the European Forest Institute and co-organised by FERN and the Observatoire Congolais des Droits de l’Homme (OCDH).

image: indiana public media

Yesterday saw the end of the consultation on the new levels of support for different renewable electricity technologies proposed by the UK Government under the Renewables Obligation scheme. According to the proposal, more than £850m per year will be handed out to new large-scale biomass plants as well as to coal plants that convert to biomass or to co-fire it with coal, with the aim of achieving 30 to 40% of large-scale electricity generation from biomass in 2020.

image: heathbrandon

Access to information is a human right. It is also a great lever for the implementation of other rights and underlies any other activities civil society aspire to conduct. Without access to information there is nothing the NGO community may achieve. That is why the current review of  the laws on access to documents held by EU institutions is so important.

A few weeks from now, the European Parliament’s Committee for Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) will vote on the Commission's proposal for an Energy Efficiency Directive (EED). The proposal is based on a review of two overlapping pieces of legislation: the Cogeneration Directive (2004/8) and the Energy Services Directive (2006/32).

ClientEarth met with two Fang communities in the north of Gabon to study the land tenure regime in the Woleu-Ntem province’s rural areas. What is striking is that so few people have so far secured legal ownership over their lands. Why?

ClientEarth is engaged in working with forest communities and civil society in Africa to offer legal and strategic support to secure communities’ rights and promote fair and sustainable management of forests and land. We are working closely with local partners in Gabon, Ghana and the Republic of Congo.

Yesterday (7 December) the Committee on Climate Change, an independent advisory body to the UK Government, published a report stating that burning biomass could result in emissions “significantly higher than alternative forms of low-carbon power generation, and only slightly lower than those from gas-fired power generation”. The report comes at a time when the UK Government is consulting on its proposals to review public support levels for renewable electricity technologies under the Renewables Obligation scheme.

This post appeared on the Collaborative for Health and the Environment Blog in 17 November 2011.

The smallest car in the world is one billionth of a metre. 60,000 times smaller than the thickness of a hair. And is self-propelled. Instead of carrying people or freight, it could transport molecules and atoms and be used to reconstruct damaged cells.

Nanoparticles can perform tasks that were previously never thought possible.

Yesterday’s article in the Guardian revealed fresh grounds for concern that the government may fail to deliver a real bank with powers to borrow from the capital markets. The State Aid application sighted by the Guardian is indeed a good indication of critical design features of the Bank and once lodged with the European Commission, certain features will not be easy to revise. In particular, the article mentioned further uncertainty that the Green Investment Bank (GIB) will ever be allowed to borrow any time soon – with roll back on the dates previously announced in the official May update for the design of the GIB. 

Last year in Cancun, the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) agreed on a set of 7 social and environmental safeguards to ensure that REDD+ activities do not adversely affect human rights and biodiversity and promote multiple benefits. In addition, a mandate was given to the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) to provide guidance for the establishment of a Safeguards Information System (SIS), which would serve as means to ensure that the implementation of the REDD+ safeguards is monitored and reported on.

Image: freeimagesarchive

COP17 is undoubtedly a ‘big deal’, with major publications covering up to date news coverage, the factual breakdown of the talks in Durban is easily accessible.

ClientEarth's senior lawyer on marine issues Sandy Luk has written an op-ed for the website www.cfp-reformwatch.eu. In the piece Sandy explains that although Commissioner Maria Damanaki has said she wants an ambitious CFP reform that ends overfishing, as a legal document, the CFP reform proposal does not define clearly enough the terms and provisions to realise its goal.

Read the piece HERE

Image: Tech109

Daniela Rey, Climate and Forests Lawyer for ClientEarth, shares her views on what are the sticking points on the current REDD+ safeguards negotiations at Durban. Below are her recommendations for ensuring that the design of the Safeguards Information System (SIS) is transparent, participatory and accurate.

Last year in Cancun, the Parties to the UNFCCC agreed on a set of 7 safeguards to ensure that REDD+ activities do not adversely affect human rights and biodiversity and promote multiple benefits. In addition, a mandate was given to the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) to provide guidance for the establishment of a Safeguards Information System (SIS), which would serve as means to ensure that the implementation of the REDD+ safeguards is monitored and reported on.  Leading up to Durban and as we write this blog, Parties have been sharing their views with regards to the design of the REDD+ Safeguard Information System.

As the negotiations progress in Durban, there are several major issues being negotiated. These include:

Two very different  fishy stories in the news this week. Firstly, from the USA, further evidence that mis-labelling of fish is still rife, with 48% of fish DNA tested as part of an investigation by the Boston Globe labelled as a different species. Secondly, Fish2Fork (the UK campaigning fish restaurant guide which marks restaurants based on where their fish comes from and their approach to sustainable sourcing) have published the results of their first major review since launching in 2009, with over 45% of restaurants improving their rating in this time; a hugely encouraging sign of change in the food service sector.

As State Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Kyoto Protocol (KP) prepare to meet at the Conference of the Parties in Durban, South Africa, from November 28 to December 9, we expect they will be moving forward towards a decision on REDD+ that offers the opportunity to ensure the effective implementation of the REDD+ safeguards. Daniela Rey and Josh Roberts from our Climate and forests team discuss.

This week, ClientEarth’s Sandy Luk and Susie Wilks gave a presentation to European politicians in Brussels on whether the European Commission’s reform proposal for the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) will achieve sustainable fisheries. The event, hosted by Chris Davies MEP and Struan Stevenson MEP, who are both working actively on the CFP reform proposal, was well attended by a cross-party audience of UK MEPs and MEPs’ assistants.

Image:triplepundit

Last night saw the Parliamentary launch of ClientEarth’s legislative proposals for the legislation establishing the Green Investment Bank. It was the culmination of nearly a year’s work by ClientEarth in collaboration Transform UK. We joined the fight for a strong and effective Green Investment Bank because we immediately recognised the huge potential for the GIB to be game changing.

Worrying signals from Europe on maintaining sustainable fish stocks: in recent days the UK's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs released this statement. It supports the Commission’s decision to abandon plans to limit fishing in areas where there is currently inadequate data about fish stocks. The plans would have seen an automatic cut in total allowable catches (or TACs) in such areas.  TACs are the the limits on the amount of fish that can be taken from any particular fish stock, and the cancelled plans would have applied across the board - offering vital protection for stocks about which too little is known to confidently fish sustainably.

photo: ALBOWIEB

Good access-to-information news! This year we helped NGO TransparentSea in an access to documents case regarding EU Fisheries Partnership Agreements (FPAs) with third party states. We requested access to all the reports held that provide evaluations and audits of EU fisheries agreements with non-EU countries.  TransparentSea had originally been refused access on the grounds that the documents are confidential to protect commercial interests of the European fishing fleet and preserve the international relations of the EU.

photo: funkypancake

Today the government submitted its official report to the European Commission on levels of air pollution in the UK for 2010. It makes for pretty grim reading. The report confirms that 40 of the 43 air quality zones in the UK breached the annual limits for nitrogen dioxide. No other EU country has a higher proportion of non-compliant zones.

Nathalie Faure and Feja Lesniewska report from Douala, Cameroon, about the workshop ‘How can community control of forest lands be secured, delivered and maintained?’ This is a collaboration with ClientEarth’s partner organisations FERN, Forest Peoples Programme (FPP) and the Cameroonian-based Centre for Environment and Development (CED).

photo: ozgurmulazimoglu

Grow a tree, burn a tree, grow a tree, burn a tree – in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, it all evens out, right?  Wrong.

photo: dbgg1979

This blog originally appeared on Huffington Post on 29 August 2011.

Today I'm writing about one of the most important cases before the U.S. courts this year. Called Coalition for Responsible Regulation v. EPA, it is being argued before the federal Court of Appeals in Washington. It will decide whether the U.S. Government can regulate greenhouse gases.

Angus Hanton, of the newly established Intergenerational Foundation, describes how he hopes current unfairness towards the younger generation might be used to help future generations.

photo: keoki seu

ClientEarth's Feja Lesniewska and Nathalie Faure describe arriving in Cameroon for a workshop on forest law in Africa.

photo: St. Mary's

photo: rumpleteaser

photo: Push Europe