<p>In the first case of its kind against a government department, Chinese prosecutors successfully sued a county environmental agency for not adequately punishing a sewage firm that was producing dye without the necessary safeguards. On June 20, China's top prosecutor, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, announced that prosecutors had proved the environmental protection department in Eastern Shandong dealt with the Qingshun Chemical Technology Company illegally. In 2014, it was found that the firm produced dye without adequate safeguards.

<p>The coalition government in Germany agreed to ban fracking for shale gas. According to the decision, only test drilling will be allowed, with permission of the relevant state government. Industry in Germany would like to keep the option of fracking open, arguing that it lowers energy costs, but Germany has a strong green lobby opposed to fracking. If the law is approved by the German parliament, Germany will join France, which has already banned fracking.

<p>The coalition government in Germany agreed to ban fracking for shale gas. According to the decision, only test drilling will be allowed, with permission of the relevant state government. Industry in Germany would like to keep the option of fracking open, arguing that it lowers energy costs, but Germany has a strong green lobby opposed to fracking. If the law is approved by the German parliament, Germany will join France, which has already banned fracking.

<p>More than 7,100 cities in 119 countries joined the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy on Wednesday, June 22. This alliance, the world's largest, intends to make ground-breaking change to slow global warming. According to the United Nations Environment Programme, cities consume 70 percent of global energy and are responsible for approximately 75 percent of carbon emissions. The group is a merger of the European Union's Covenant of Mayors and the U.N.-backed Compact of Mayors. The alliance represents eight percent of global populuation.