Blog entries

Olympic hopes are in the air

Alan Andrews — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 08:10:01 +0100

The 2012 Olympic Games will open in exactly two years' time. London is set to put on a dazzling display, and just a couple of miles away from the Olympic stadium in Stratford, we’ll be cheering the action on from our office in Hackney.

We have been promised that the games will be ‘the greenest games in history’ and that one of its key legacies will be to encourage 2 million people to take up spoRead More...

Killing the Messenger: The UK Government is wrong to dissolve the Sustainable Development Commission

James Thornton — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 12:52:12 +0100

Among the first strategic moves by the new UK government is to kill the Sustainable Development Commission. This is deeply misguided.

The Commission was founded ten years ago to talk sense within government about sustainability. Its work already saves the government £60-70 million annually through environmentally friendly moves, with the potential to save £300-500 million over the next fiRead More...

US seeks to shine light on corruption in the extractive industries

Ben Bundock — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 10:39:55 +0100

photo: wallyg

This week in the United States, a new law called the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protections Act (or the 'Dodd-Frank Reform Act' for short!) passed both the House of Representatives and the Senate, and is expected to be enacted by the President later this week. Ground-breaking 'anti-corruption' provisions in this new legislation will have big implications for the extractive induRead More...

Avoiding environmental Enrons

Ben Bundock — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 15:40:57 +0100

ClientEarth successfully held its first event in the UK parliament earlier this week, co-hosted with FairPensions. The topic for discussion was company transparency on environmental and social issues; the event title 'Avoiding environmental Enrons: Environmental and social issues as financial risks, and the future of company reporting'.

The event was particularly timely in light of the UK governmRead More...

On Track to the Future

Lewis Merdler — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 13:50:12 +0100

Shortly before joining ClientEarth I found myself standing on a verge in Germany, hiding behind a tree, dressed as a carbon emission. To the average onlooker, I was a young man who had lost his mind. To the trained eye, however, I was protesting against loopholes in the Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry strand of the UN climate negotiations that would allow developed nations to ‘hide&rsquRead More...

BP and Bigger Pictures

Ben Bundock — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 15:06:48 +0100

photo: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center/Reto Stöckli

Deepwater Horizon has spelled out in no uncertain terms the risks that extractive companies take with the environment and people's lives on a daily basis, and the impunity with which they are used to doing so. It is long overdue that this recipe for disaster gets the degree of attention Read More...

First rumblings of a seismic shift? - First optional event on black carbon at EU parliament

David Holyoake — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 23:00:00 +0100

I put to you that it is very difficult to overlook the following two implications from recent climate science:

Greenhouse gases are not the only anthropogenic emissions that strongly interfere with the global and regional climate
We are already in the danger zone, and given that CO2 lives in the atmosphere for hundreds of years, CO2 reductions alone are very unlikely to help us avoid near-term tipping pRead More...

Deepwater disaster hits BP's pocket hard

Ben Bundock — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 13:38:22 +0100

pic: DigitalGlobe

The Deepwater Horizon disaster has been, and will continue to be, an environmental catastrophe of epic proportions. But it is also a disaster for BP’s business, for all those who directly hold its shares, and for many more besides.

Devastation to BP's business

BP’s market value has now dropped somewhere in the region of £43 billion since the Read More...

Afterlife - A film by Matthew Appleton and Denzil Armour-Brown

Gordon Langley — Wed, 12 May 2010 16:05:38 +0100

ClientEarth has had a busy few days building up to our biannual board meeting. While staff from across all of our European offices came to visit us in London, I had a great opportunity to meet everybody in person. It was also a chance for us to try capturing their work on film to help promote everything they do.

Although I have lots of experience in editing, I asked my good friend and film maker Denzil Armour-Brown if there was any chance he might be able to help us out witRead More...

AGM season

Ben Bundock — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 14:49:24 +0100

Right now we're in the middle of what is often called the UK's 'AGM season' - the spring months in which many of the largest multinational companies in the world hold their Annual General Meetings here in London.

AGMs are a place for shareholders to engage with the business of the company in which they holdRead More...

The UK's new bank: what shade of green and how much investment?

Rowan Ryrie — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 16:17:46 +0100

Chancellor Darling's green investment bank promise this week was well received by the majority of the green lobby and the other parties. But enthusiasm for the scheme needs to be tempered with caution if it is to avoid the pitfalls of its forebears.

The government’s latest green proposal, to create a ‘green investment bank’, has been welcomed by a host of green groups including Friends of the Earth, Read More...

A brave new European World Bank?

Rowan Ryrie — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 09:55:41 +0100

It has become clear over the past week that the EU is hoping to reform its existing lending to developing countries through the European Investment Bank (EIB), European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and other budgetary funds into a new international financial institution that would have a similar international profile to the World Bank. The EU wants a new institution that can do for Europe’s Read More...

Keeping the crisps coming - convincing the man in the pub on climate change

Michael Haines — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 11:10:33 +0100

Recent controversy over the handling of climate data has been seized upon by those intent on preserving their own financial interests, with potentially catastrophic results for us all. The upsurge in doubt among the general public is concerning - but it is lack of understanding that allows doubt and fear to thrive. What messages best help the man in the pub see the sense in tackling climate change?

It'sRead More...

Black Carbon – a glimmer of hope?

David Holyoake — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 10:02:33 +0100

Like most people, you’ve probably heard about it, but are not entirely sure what it is. You are not alone.

While eminent scientists have been sounding the alarm over Black Carbon as a powerful climate-forcing emission for more than a decade, only recently has the world woken up to the scale of its devastating impacts, backed up by an increasRead More...

Vedanta follow-up: New Amnesty International report slams UK company's impacts in India

Ben Bundock — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 16:53:18 +0100

Amnesty International yesterday released a major new report on the human and environmental impacts of Vedanta Resources' alumina refinery in Orissa, India.

You can read Amnesty's release here, and find the full report below:

Amnesty International, 'Don’t mine us out of existence'

On the day of release, Vedanta circulated a statement to the press in response to the report, making various claims as to the report's accuracy, and the legitimacy of Amnesty's actions.

The Jackson Review: Justice for the planet?

Sandy Luk — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 14:46:01 +0100

The Jackson Review is intended to address the significant financial risks that come with bringing a case in UK courts. ClientEarth lawyer Sandy Luk explains why it has missed the target for environmental cases.

Lots of individuals and organisations work untiringly to protect and improve the environment - a task now probably more needed than eveRead More...

Vedanta Resources cut from Church investments over human rights concerns

Ben Bundock — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:19:01 +0100

Late last week the Church of England announced that it is to divest its £3.8m stake in controversial mining company Vedanta Resources.

In recent years Vedanta has been the subject of ongoing criticism on account of its operations and plans in Orissa, India. Its operations in Orissa threaten the traditional way of life of the indigenous Dongria Kondh people, and have been associated wiRead More...

Tarred with the same brush – is blackwashing a temptation green groups should resist?

Michael Haines — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 18:04:44 +0100

Twisting facts. Massaging data. Conjuring confusion, or pushing good, old-fashioned lies.

Such accusations are regularly levelled at irresponsible businesses and industries, and the damning finger is often pointed by green groups. Those committed to protecting our planet are keen to expose organisations that try to hoodwink the public. They waste no time in denouncing institutions that miRead More...

As close as the US gets to saying No to coal

Rowan Ryrie — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 18:34:53 +0100

The US Treasury Department has released guidelines calling on the World Bank and other Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) to significantly reduce the funding they grant to coal power stations, encouraging them to ‘ensure full consideration of no or low carbon options ...’ before approving funding to coal-fired power generatRead More...

Tar sands: a sticky situation for Shell

Ben Bundock — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 17:10:17 +0100

Royal Dutch Shell will face scrutiny on its controversial investments in the Canadian tar sands at its next Annual General Meeting. A shareholder resolution announced this week calls on Shell to have an external review carried out of the business risks associated with its huge investments in oil extraction from the tar sands. The motion will be debated and voted on at the company's AGM in May.

TheRead More...