Analysis and opinion on environmental issues. Updated first of each month.

EEA, European Climate Risk Assessment

The EEA has published the first ever European Climate Risk Assessment (EUCRA) to help identify policy priorities for climate change adaptation and for climate-sensitive sectors.

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Michael Northrop, “The most courageous climate action isn’t national”

While the big GHG emitters, including the United States and China, shunned their responsibility at the Madrid talks, cities, states, regions, businesses, and especially the youth showed courage.

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1 Feb 2020

PIVOTAL, “Climate and Biodiversity in Northern Ireland”

Current status of Northern Ireland’s climate inaction

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1 Jan 2020

Jean-Pierre Schweitzer (EEB) and Melissa Zill (ECOS), Climate Action Needs Better Products

A new EU law obliging manufacturers to make home appliances easier to repair has caught global attention

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1 Dec 2019

Faig Abbasov, “LNG remains a deadend for decarbonising maritime transport”

LNG requires massive investment in bunkering infrastructure and LNG-compatible ships, which cannot deliver carbon-free transport but run the risk of creating stranded assets some of which will be publicly funded.

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1 Nov 2019

Joe Romm, “One of the world’s largest banks thinks the writing is on the wall for the oil industry”

We think the economics of renewables are impossible for oil to compete with.

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1 Oct 2019

Frank Convery, Economics and Environment over the past decade – a global perspective

Global progress in the past decade in renewables for electricity production, plus good news from China and EU and bad news from US and Brazil

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1 Sep 2019

European Commission, “Going Climate Neutral by 2050: A Strategic Long-Term Vision for a Prosperous, Modern, Competitive and Climate Neutral EU Economy”

The Commission’s long-term strategic vision to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, showing how Europe can lead the way to climate neutrality – an economy with net-zero GHG emissions

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1 Aug 2019

Joe Romm, “Renewables are winning the economics battle against new coal and gas, stunning study shows”

By 2030, wind and solar will undercut existing coal and gas almost everywhere.

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1 Jul 2019

“Weakening the EU Water Law: Industry’s Wish List”

In Europe, only 40 percent of EU rivers, lakes, streams and wetlands are healthy today, largely due to pressures from industrial agriculture and hydropower, as well as other sectors, such as mining.

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1 Jun 2019

Joe Romm, “Earth Day founder thinks we’re close to political breakthrough on climate”

Denis Hayes, a principal organizer of first Earth Day, predicts the 50th anniversary in 2020 will be “the largest, most diverse action in human history.”

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1 May 2019

Dan Gearino, “100% Renewable Energy Needs Lots of Storage. This Polar Vortex Test Showed How Much”

Energy analysts used power demand data from the January deep freeze and wind and solar conditions to find the gaps in an all-renewable power grid

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1 Apr 2019

Laurie Laybourn-Langton, Lesley Rankin and Darren Baxter, “This Is a Crisis: Facing Up to the Age of Environmental Breakdown” (Institute for Public Policy Research)

The historical disregard of environmental considerations in most areas of policy has been a catastrophic mistake

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1 Mar 2019

Michael Northrop, The Global Climate Action Summit (GCAS): Actions and Possibilities

How “sub-national leaders” (local, regional and corporate decision makers) are taking concrete actions on climate change as national and international actors falter

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1 Feb 2019

Joe Romm, “Rapidly disintegrating Arctic sea ice leaves scientists ‘shocked’”

And that means faster sea level rise, faster global warming, and more extreme weather for us.

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1 Jan 2019

Clemmer, Richardson, Sattler and Lochbaum, “The Nuclear Power Dilemma: Declining Profits, Plant Closures, and the Threat of Rising Carbon Emissions”

The Union of Concerned Scientists’ assessment of the current status, and usefulness, of nuclear power in US

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1 Dec 2018

Max Muenchmeyer, Ireland’s Energy And Climate Plan: Consolidation, Cohesion, Consultation (IIEA)

Challenges for Ireland to meet obligations under the EU’s Energy Union Flagship Project

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27 Oct 2018

Water in the city – from EEA Signals (2018)

The challenge: ensuring a reliable clean water supply, treating waste water and preparing for floods or scarcity

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1 Oct 2018

Emily Macintosh, “Local communities work to stop Northern Irish mining boom”

A focus on Northern Ireland where 5 companies currently hold 10 mineral prospecting licences for different locations

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1 Sep 2018

Joe Romm, “The argument for fracking as a climate solution just went down in flames: Methane leaks from natural gas production wipe out any climate benefit”

New study of methane leaks in the oil and gas industry is the final piece of evidence that natural gas is not part of the climate solution.

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1 Aug 2018

Catherine O’Toole, “Case Study: Creating change through the Public Participation Network”

On effective community participation in environmental projects and policies at the local level in Ireland

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1 Jul 2018

Joe Romm, “Paul Krugman explains why there’s no future for the coal industry”

Bringing back coal jobs is ‘about as practical as bringing back the buggy whip industry’, explains Krugman.

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1 Jun 2018

Florent Grelier, “Carmakers delaying more efficient models until 2019 to maximise profit, but most remain on track to meet 2021 CO2 targets – report”

Carmakers complain they can’t meet their CO2 targets, blaming declining diesel sales, while pushing old, inefficient, high-performance SUVs to maximise their profits

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1 May 2018

Transport & Environment, “How to get rid of Dirty diesels on city roads: Analysis of diesel restriction measures in European cities to date”

Local access restrictions can succeed in removing polluting vehicles from city centers and encourage cleaner alternatives

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1 Apr 2018

Joe Romm, “Trump’s infrastructure plan is ‘a whole lot of waste’ just like his border wall”

On the folly of Trump’s infrastructure plans to spend billions of dollars on developing projects that will likely be ruined by the impacts of a rapidly changing climate

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6 Mar 2018