Climate Action, ESG, Sustainable Finance Archives

Spain Says Climate is National Emergency

22Jan

By Patti MohrNo Comments

Climate Action, ESG, Sustainable Finance, Types of News: Brief

Spain Says Climate is National Emergency

January 22, 2020-Spain's new socialist government declared that climate change is a national "emergency." The government plans to make it a cornerstone issue for all ministerial departments and government actions. That adds Spain to a list of more than two dozen countries that have declared climate change an emergency. The coalition government led by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who took office on 13 January, plans to bring legislation to the parliament to reduce greehouse gas emissions to a net zero by 2050, according to reporting by Euractiv and AFP. If parliament approves the bill, it would require "all urban areas with a population of more than 50,000 to create low-emission zones," Reuters reported.

Coal Can’t Compete With Gas & Renewable in Europe, Study Says

October 24, 2019-In a sign that renewable energy and natural gas are increasingly gaining market power, a study released today by the Carbon Tracker Initiative finds that 79 percent of coal generators in the European Union are running at a loss. "Owing to relentless competition from ever lower-cost wind and solar, and gas, these losses could be sustained for the foreseeable future," according to the Carbon Tracker Initiative, a London-based think tank focused on climate change. The new study suggests the coal industry cannt survive, unless it is supported by heavy government subsidies, due to sustained competition from wind and solar power and temporarily cheap natural gas. "EU coal generators are haemorrhaging cash because they cannot compete with ever-cheaper renewables and...

Trade in Plastic Waste is Coming to A Halt, in Part

May 28, 2019--Amid a decline in trade of plastic waste, Malaysia announced it would return 3,000 tons of plastic trash to exporting countries, including Australia, Canada, Japan, the United States and Saudi Arabia. "Malaysia won’t continue to be a dumping ground for the developed nations and those responsible for destroying our ecosystem with these illegal activities are traitors," Malaysia Environmental Minister Yeo Bee Yin, told reporters on Tuesday, according to a report in the South China Morning Post. "We will fight back. Even though we are a small country, we will not be bullied." The problem, the Malaysian ministry said, is that countries are shipping low-quality plastics that cannot be recycled -- a move that is against the country's laws. “Garbage is traded under t...