4 November 2013
Negotiations held in Hobart, Tasmania by the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources failed to reach an agreement to protect the ocean ecosystem in the Antarctic. The United States and New Zealand proposed a 500,000 square mile reserve in the Southern Ocean around Antarctica. Australia, France, and the European Union proposed a network of protected areas in the eastern Antarctic region. Both proposals were blocked due to the resistance of Russia, China, and Ukraine. Agreement between twenty-four members of the Commission and the European Union is required for the adoption of a proposal.
The resisting states argue that such reserves would cut off their access to fish stocks and undermine the fishing industries. However, fisheries scientists state that the reserves would help protect and restore the ecosystem from depletion caused by overfishing, pollution, and climate change. Yuri Onodera, climate adviser for Friends of the Earth Japan and attendee at the conference, stated, ‘once again, national interests and politics are a hurdle to the international interest of protecting the environment.’
Source: New York Times | Talks on Antarctic Marine Reserve Fail to Reach Agreement
17 October 2013
Broken and drifting sea ice melting in the heat of the Arctic summer, Greenland. © Greenpeace
On 27 September 2013, Dutch NGO Urgenda announced it will institute legal proceedings against the Dutch state in order to address its allegedly failing climate change policy. This announcement was made on the same day that Working Group I of the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published its fifth report on climate change, concluding amongst others that scientists are 95 per cent certain that humans are the ‘dominant cause’ of global warming since the 1950s. Urgenda has published the draft court summons on its website (Dutch only), which may still be subject to revision. The final court summons will be presented to the Dutch state on 23 October 2013. Claimants will ask the Court: (more…)
30 September 2013
Dutch foundation Urgenda is planning to sue the Dutch state for its failing climate change policy. The court summons (Dutch only) will be presented to the state on 23 October. The plaintiffs claim there rests an obligation upon the Netherlands to reduce its CO2-emissions with 25-40 percent by 2020 compared to emission levels in 1990, in order to prevent damage to the global environment and violations of international human rights law. Various reports suggest that a 25-40 percent reduction is required of all industrialised states in order to have a real chance at limiting the global temperature rise to 2 degrees Celsius.
Urgenda will ask of the Dutch courts to declare that the Netherlands is acting wrongfully by failing to take the necessary measures to achieve a reduction percentage of 25-40 percent, and to order the Netherlands to (i) take the necessary measures to achieve this reduction percentage and (ii) inform Dutch citizens about the risks of climate change.
Source: NOS | Klimaatorganisatie klaagt staat aan (in Dutch)
Source: Wij willen actie | Over de rechtszaak (in Dutch)