Lawyers acting for plaintiffs suing Chevron over pollution in Ecuador plan to pursue the American company with legal actions in other countries after an Ecuadorean court upheld an $18 billion damages award. Pablo Fajardo, an Ecuador-based lawyer representing the 30,000 plaintiffs suing over environmental damage in the Amazon region, said: “It’s not going to be easy to enforce this judgment, but even if hell freezes over we’re going to do it.” The legal saga, which has had plenty of twists and turns since the first action was launched back in 1993, appears to have still more to come.
British nuclear industry passes ‘stress test’ in wake of Fukushima
Stress tests carried out in the wake of the Fukushima disaster have given the UK’s nuclear sites the thumbs up. In its report the Office for Nuclear Regulation says UK sites have found and made improvements to boost safety, following events in Japan. All the findings are contained in the UK national ‘stress test’ report submitted to the European Council. However, the report while finding ‘no major weakness’ also states improvement must be on-going and focuses on the need to protect coastal power stations from possible future flooding.
Government appeals against ruling that solar subsidy cuts were illegal
The government lodged an appeal yesterday against a judge’s ruling that its cuts to solar power subsidies were illegal, arguing that the cuts were essential to encourage as many homeowners as possible to install renewable energy. The government will also argue that the judge’s ruling was premature, as the final decision to slash the solar subsidies had not been taken at the time. The proposal in October by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) to cut the support for solar panels by 50% caused uproar in the industry, who claimed thousands of jobs would be lost, and that it deeply undermined the government’s claim to be the “greenest ever”.
Top China airlines to ignore EU carbon tax, body says
China’s biggest airlines will not pay a new EU tax aimed at cutting carbon emissions, their trade body has said. On 1st January, the EU brought airlines under its Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), which levies a charge on flights based on their carbon emissions. Chai Haibo of the China Air Transport Association said that its members would not cooperate with the ETS. The China Air Transport Association (CATA) represents companies including Air China, China SouthernAirlines,China Eastern Airlines and Hainan Airlines. Airlines which do not comply with the new EU tax can be fined and even prohibited from flying into the region.
Resource-efficient SMEs set to be rewarded under EU scheme
Small and medium-sized businesses that are working to become more resource-efficient and reduce their waste are to be supported under a new EU eco-innovation action plan (EcoAP). Under the plan, subsidies, training and funding will be made available to companies driving products, techniques, services or processes which aim to reduce environmental impacts, or contribute to the optimal use of resources. Examples include helping to increase the use of recycled materials, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and to use resources such as water and raw material more efficiently.
Mitsubishi is creating what it claims is the UK’s largest dealer network for electric cars, in order to help meet growing demand for green cars and prepare for the launch of its new plug-in hybrid. The company confirmed this week that all of its franchised dealers will become fully functioning Mitsubishi Electric Vehicle Centres from this month and by the end of March each will have two trained EV sales personnel as well as after sales technicians. The Japanese manufacturer launched the all-electric iMiEV supermini worldwide last year, while also debuting the MINICAB-MiEV, a light commercial electric van, on the Japanese market in November.
Carbon Trust launches new tool to empower green employees
The Carbon Trust will today launch an online service designed to boost employee engagement with the green agenda, arguing that embracing environmental best practices could potentially save large UK businesses and public sector bodies £500 million a year through energy and waste reductions alone. The company will today launch the so-called “Empower” tool, which can be downloaded by public bodies and businesses free-of charge. The interactive application allows employees to take a virtual tour of a typical office building to learn how to make environmental improvements, such as turning off unused equipment or avoiding unnecessary corporate travel.
COMMENTS