UK should quit ‘climate-wrecking’ energy treaty, say official advisers
The UK should quit a controversial energy treaty to stop it delaying vital climate action and triggering huge taxpayer payouts to fossil fuel companies, according to the government’s official advisers.
The energy charter treaty (ECT) is a system of secret courts that enables companies to sue governments over policies that would cut their future profits. Companies have sued over phasing out coal-fired power stations, ending offshore oil drilling and banning fracking. The UK’s Climate Change Committee said Britain should withdraw from the ECT because recently proposed reforms did not go far enough.
The UK and Japan are the only major economies not to have committed to exiting the ECT. France, Germany, Spain and others have already said they will leave and the EU is set to pull out en masse after saying that staying would “clearly undermine” climate targets.
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Heatwaves Sweep Across Europe
Italy is preparing for a fierce heatwave this week as an anticyclone named Cerberus brings temperatures close to breaking the European record. The high pressure system will cause temperatures to exceed 40C (104F) across much of the country by Wednesday, with Sicily and Sardinia expected to reach 47-48C.
This is the first major heatwave to hit Italy this year, following a spring and early summer marked by storms and flooding. The record for the highest temperature in European history was broken on August 11, 2021, when Floridia, a town in the Sicilian province of Syracuse, registered a high of 48.8C.
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A heatwave is also sweeping across France, Germany, Spain, and Poland. In Spain, where temperatures could reach up to 44C in some southern parts of the country, the Red Cross has urged people to take extra care and check on those most vulnerable to high temperatures.
The organization is calling on people to stay hydrated, avoid caffeine and alcohol, and watch for signs of heatstroke. Spain’s state meteorological office, Aemet, said temperatures could reach 38C across many parts of the Iberian peninsula on Monday.
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Campaigners launch legal action over government’s ‘unlawful’ climate plans
https://leftfootforward.org/2023/07/campaigners-launch-legal-action-over-governments-unlawful-climate-plans/
‘Despite having nine months to come up with a lawful strategy, we believe this revised action plan still falls far short of the government’s legal obligations under the Climate Change Act.’
In 2022, the Good Law Project teamed up with Friends of the Earth and ClientEarth to launch a legal bid to force the government to rewrite its ‘woefully inadequate’ net zero strategy.
A landmark ruling by the High Court found that the government’s original net zero strategy did not meet its obligations under the Climate Change Act to produce detailed climate policies that show how the UK’s legally binding carbon budgets will be met.
However, the new plan that the government came back with – the Carbon Budget Delivery Plan published in March – still isn’t up to scratch and is unlawful, state the three organisations. As such, they have filed papers at the High Court requesting a judicial review.
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