FRANCE, SPAIN, AND PORTUGAL TO BUILD UNDERSEA “GREEN ENERGY CORRIDOR”
Last Thursday, leaders of France, Spain, and Portugal agreed to construct a maritime pipeline to transport hydrogen and other renewable gases between Barcelona and Marseille (AP News).
FRANCE UNVEILS ENERGY CONSERVATION DRIVE TO AVERT WINTER SHORTAGES
Last Thursday, the French government rolled out an energy-saving drive pushing the most dramatic conservation measures the nation has undertaken since the 1970s oil crisis. The drive is a response to Europe’s intensifying energy crisis as Russia continues cutting off Europe from its natural gas supplies, the bloc’s main source for heating. By encouraging citizens and businesses to conserve energy, the French government aims to avoid a bleak winter of enforced energy rationing or rolling blackouts.
FRANCE’S HIGHEST ADMINISTRATIVE COURT ORDERS GOVERNMENT TO INCREASE CLIMATE MITIGATION EFFORTS
On July 1, the Conseil d’Etat, France’s highest administrative court, found that the French government has not taken sufficient legislative action to meet its carbon emissions reduction goals, and ordered the government to take “all necessary measures to curb the curve of greenhouse gas emissions” (Politico).
FRENCH COURT RULES FRENCH STATE RESPONSIBLE FOR CLIMATE INACTION
Last Wednesday, the Administrative Tribunal of Paris ruled that France’s failure to meet its greenhouse gas reduction commitments have caused “ecological damage.” In order to meet its emissions reduction targets under the Paris Climate Accords, France had passed domestic laws promising to decrease emissions by 1.5% annually and 3% annually beginning in 2025. However, according to France’s High Council on Climate, these goals have yet to be achieved.
FRENCH COURT GIVES MACRON THREE MONTHS TO JUSTIFY LACK OF CLIMATE ACTION
Last Thursday, France’s highest administrative court, the Conseil d’Etat, ruled that the French government would have three months to show that it is enacting policies to ensure it will meet its carbon emissions reduction requirements (Conseil d’Etat [FR], https://www.conseil-etat.fr/en/press-releases/greenhouse-gas-emissions-…
COUNTRIES GRAPPLE WITH SURGE IN PLASTIC WASTE POLLUTION DUE TO COVID-19
The coronavirus pandemic has dramatically increased reliance on single-use plastics, resulting in a plastics pollution crisis faced by many countries around the world. A French environmental nongovernmental organization recently released a video showing masks and gloves littering the seabed of the Mediterranean Sea.
CENTRAL AMERICAN WORKERS SUE U.S CHEMICAL COMPANIES IN FRANCE
In the 1980s, banana plantations in Nicaragua and other parts of Central America sprayed a powerful pesticide called Nemagon, sterilizing workers on a mass scale. Victims are now suing Dow Chemical, Shell Oil, and Occidental Chemical in France to recover $805 million in unpaid damages awarded to them by courts in Nicaragua. The case follows decades of suits in the United States and countries in Central America. In the past, Dow and Shell have declined to pay the damages, and U.S. courts have repeatedly ruled in favor of the companies.
FRANCE INTRODUCES NEW "ECOTAX" ON PLANE TICKETS
On July 9, France's transport minister announced plans to introduce a new "ecotax" on all flights from French airports beginning in 2020. The tax, which will cost between 1.50 euros and 18 euros, is expected to raise over 180 million euros that will be used to invest in eco-friendly transport infrastructure, such as rail. The tax will not apply to flights arriving in France. For the full story, see https://www.apnews.com/be0605b81b214502b2fce419869ea09e.
FRENCH COURT HOLDS STATE RESPONSIBLE FOR PARIS AIR POLLUTION
In a lawsuit brought by a resident arguing that air pollution in Paris caused her respiratory problems, the administrative court of Montreuil held that the state had repeatedly failed to take sufficient measures to prevent pollution from rising above government-set thresholds between 2012 and 2016, when the resident contracted bronchitis.