Biden administration aims to cut US carbon emissions in half by 2030
US President Joe Biden announced Thursday at the Leaders Summit on Climate that the US will aim to reduce carbon emissions by 50 to 52 percent by 2030. Climate experts have urged world leaders to cut carbon emissions in order to limit the warming of the planet to 1.5 degrees celsius. Scientific research has shown [...]
Federal appeals court dismisses NYC environmental suit against Chevron
The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed the Southern District of New York’s ruling on Thursday dismissing New York City’s suit against Chevron. The court held a state tort lawsuit could not be brought against Chevron for environmental protection reasons because federal law, not state, applies. The suit stems from environmental protection [...]
EPA finalizing airplane emissions rules to bring US in line with international standards
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Monday announced that the agency is in the process of adopting its final greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions standards that will apply to certain new commercial airplanes manufactured in the US, including all new large passenger planes and commercial jets. The rule will apply to “new-type design airplanes” whenever [...]
The Teitiota family from a little-known Pacific island didn’t intend to become a catalyst for expanding the concept of asylum—but they became one anyway. In 2015, New Zealand denied the family’s asylum claim and deported them, despite the parents’ plea that their three children’s health and well-being were at risk amid crop failure, withering coconut [...]
The top administrative court in France, the Council of State, gave the French government three months Thursday to show progress towards meeting its climate change commitments under the Paris climate accord. Under the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement and the Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), France and [...]
Vermont passes Global Warming Solutions Act, overriding governor's veto
Vermont’s Senate voted Tuesday to override the governor’s veto of the Global Warming Solutions Act to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. While both the Senate and House had already passed the act, Governor Phil Scott vetoed the bill. Scott claimed the bill would lead to “inefficient spending and long, costly court battles.” Vermont requires a two-thirds [...]
On May 22, 2020 Bombay High Court said that the Right to a Decent Burial is a facet of the Right to Life. This decision was based on a plea which contested burial of COVID-19 patients in burial grounds surrounding the residential areas. The court dismissed the petitions and quoted from Oscar Wilde: “Death must [...]
Switzerland’s Supreme Court denied an appeal on Wednesday by the Senior Women for Climate Protection, finding that it is too early to claim fundamental rights violations based on climate change. The Senior Women for Climate Protection alleged that Switzerland’s government was failing to reduce the country’s greenhouse gas emissions in a way that would correspond [...]
UN releases bleak report on temperature change projections based on global carbon emissions rates
The UN Environment Program has released its tenth annual report on emissions gaps, having found that the current rate of global carbon emissions will lead to an average temperature rise of 3.5 degrees Celsius over preindustrial levels by 2100. The report was completed by international scientists and specialists that assess where countries are in terms [...]
The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg rejected a request for referral under article 43 of the European Convention on Human Rights (Convention) by Italy last week making the Chamber’s October 7th decision in the case Marcello Viola v. Italy a final judgment. The ECHR has decided that an “irreducible [...]
