<p>A court in Japan ruled that Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) and the government are liable for negligence in a case involving compensation for the Fukushima nuclear disaster. The district court in Maebashi, north of Tokyo, ruled in favor of 137 evacuees seeking damages for the emotional distress of fleeing their homes as radiation spread from the meltdowns at Tepco's Fukushima Daiichi plant after an earthquake and tsunami in 2011. This marked the first time a court has recognized that the government was liable for the disaster.

<p>In the wake of the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, many countries are moving forward with plans to cut carbon emissions. One country, Germany, is preparing research that purports to show huge support among businesses for a transition towards a low-carbon economy. The German government plans to reveal this report, along with a plan to have a fixed carbon price, at the G20 Summit in July 2017. Germany believes that a carbon price is essential to both the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN goal of sustainable development.

<p>During a rare congress of the Indigenous People's Alliance of the Archipelago (AMAN) underway in a Sumatran village, Indonesian forestry minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar outlined initiatives to bolster indigenous rights. However, the announcement was met with much skepticism as it fell short of the campaign promises made by President Joko Widodo, which included pledges to fight for a law on indigenous rights,&nbsp;create a national mechanism for resolving land conflicts, end the criminalization of indigenous persons and more.