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],
Last Wednesday, while convening at a green finance summit organized by the French government, 450 public development banks released a joint statement, pledging to refocus their investments in alignment with the Paris Climate Accords (Reuters, Deccan Herald).
On October 28, in an address to the National Assembly, South Korean President Moon Jae-in announced that South Korea will be carbon-neutral by 2050. The announcement comes just two days after Japan’s declaration of the same goal and just over a month following China’s promise to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060 (Financial Times).
The new Japanese Prime Minister, Yoshihide Suga, is set to declare Japan’s intention to become carbon-neutral by 2050 in his first general policy address to the Diet, Japan’s parliament. This is a large shift from the country’s previous goal of achieving 80% emissions reduction by 2050 and carbon neutrality at some undecided date in the latter half of the century (Nikkei, Fortune).
On October 15, European Union (EU) leaders agreed that they should move to increase their climate emissions reduction goal but have yet to commit to a specific target. Currently, the EU has pledged to achieve full carbon neutrality by 2050, with an interim goal of cutting emissions by 40% (compared to 1990 levels) by 2030.
The International Finance Reporting Standards Foundation (IFRSF), which is responsible for setting accounting rules used in over 140 countries, has released a consultation paper to gauge interest in creating a global standard for sustainability reporting (Reuters).
Last Tuesday, while addressing the United Nations General Assembly, President Xi Jingping shocked global observers with a bold announcement: China has promised to strengthen its commitments under the Paris Climate Accords, declaring that it will achieve peak emissions before 2030 and full carbon neutrality by 2060 (Reuters).
New South Wales was rocked this week by a dispute Australian newspapers have dubbed the “koala war” (Sydney Morning Herald). The state’s coalition government threatened to come apart following disagreements over the State Environmental Planning Policy (SEPP), a conservation law passed to help protect koalas and their dwindling habitat this past December following the country’s historic bushfires.
New South Wales was rocked this week by a dispute Australian newspapers have dubbed the “koala war” (Sydney Morning Herald). The state’s coalition government threatened to come apart following disagreements over the State Environmental Planning Policy (SEPP), a conservation law passed to help protect koalas and their dwindling habitat this past December following the country’s historic bushfires.
Seventeen former employees of the United Nations Green Climate Fund (GCF), the world’s largest funder of global climate projects, alleged in an anonymous letter that they had witnessed and/or experienced harassment by senior staff members. The Financial Times broke the story on August 25 (Financial Times).
