Three climate activists were jailed for an anti-fracking protest in the UK. They were jailed for blocking Caudrilla trucks carrying drilling equipment. The activists’ lawyer said this was the first time environment activists were given a jail sentence since 1932. The activists deserve gratitude, not prison, Greenpeace said.
No trade deals with countries that reject Paris agreement, says Macron
French president, Emmanuel Macron, said France won’t sign trade with countries who do not “respect” Paris climate accord (read the US). And while the US remains adamant to backtrack from the accord, 12 of its neighbours in Latin America and the Caribbean signed a landmark treaty to protect environmental rights, giving more say to people over development projects.
New York hosts back-to-back climate conferences
New York played host to two back-to-back climate conferences, the 9th annual Climate Week and 2nd annual One Planet summit. Canada, Denmark, Spain and the UK joining the Carbon Neutrality Coalition (CNC), at the One Planet Summit, which aims to go carbon neutral by 2050 . Whereas, French and German governments, Hewlett Foundation, IKEA and Blackrock were among those pledging finance for the Climate Finance Partnership, to be set up next year.
While at the New York Climate Week, Grupo Bimbo and Gürmen Group become the first companies from Latin America and Turkey respectively to join the RE100 program.
In another part of the city, American billionaire Mike Bloomberg was appointed UN envoy to lead the green finance drive (with a $100 billion target by 2020), prompting critics to question if businesses will fund flood and drought defence in the future.
EU’s business lobby plans to oppose raising region’s climate targets
A leaked memo from Europe’s main lobby group, BusinessEurope, shows it’s preparing to resist a stronger EU 2030 emissions target, ahead of COP24 summit in Poland later this year. The document suggests EU’s climate policy should be ‘rather positive, as long as it remains a political statement with no implications” on the EU’s existing commitments under the Paris Agreement.
Experts punch holes in UN’s plan for climate migrants
An internal report says the UN lacks a plan to help climate migrants, and called on the UN chief to respond. The report recommended better data collection and analysis on climate migration trends along with finance to help those displaced by natural calamities such as floods, droughts and storms.
G7 shines spotlight on Canada’s climate contradictions
A recent three-day G7 meeting in Halifax, Canada, called for a global joint action for healthy oceans, seas and resilient coastal communities., but also put the spotlight on host Canada as environmentalists demanded its environment minister to resign, than be an “apologist” for her government’s support of the fossil fuel industry.
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