Search Results for: greenhouse gases

Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen Wednesday announced the passage the Climate Change Response Act, codifying the nation’s goal to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. The act passed its third reading in January and aims to establish a more well-rounded coping mechanisms in response to climate change while minimising and monitoring the emission of greenhouse gases. [...]

The EU Thursday agreed on new air pollution legislation that includes stricter CO₂ emission standards for cars and a goal to phase out CO₂ emitting vehicles by 2035.  The legislation was proposed as part of the revised Ambient Air Quality Directives by the EU Commission on October 26, and a provisional agreement between the Council [...]

A German court Tuesday rejected a lawsuit filed by environmental group Deutsche Umwelthilfe intended to bar Mercedes-Benz from selling cars with combustion engines that emit greenhouse gases after 2030. Deutsche Umwelthilfe claimed that Mercedes-Benz must comply with the Paris Climate Protection Agreement and the German Climate Protection Act regarding reduction in its vehicles’ CO2 emissions. Deutsche [...]

The US Supreme Court Thursday ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) does not have the authority under section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act to enforce proposed power plant emission limitations in West Virginia v. EPA. The majority relied on the Major Questions Doctrine, a doctrine that has never been used in a Supreme [...]

The US Supreme Court in a one-sentence order Thursday denied an application by Louisiana and other Republican-led states to prevent President Joe Biden’s administration from continuing to take account of the “social costs” of increasing greenhouse gas emissions when federal agencies draft new regulations. The social costs, according to a January 2021 executive order that the 10 states sought to block, are [...]

The French Council of State (Conseil d’Etat) ordered the government Friday to repair the environmental damages caused by the state’s failure to meet greenhouse gas reduction targets. The ruling also ordered the Prime Minister to take immediate action to prevent further aggravation of damage. The court gave a deadline of December 31, 2022, for damage compensation. [...]

The South Pacific Ocean nation Vanuatu announced Saturday its intention to seek an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice on the rights of present and future generations to be protected from the adverse consequences of climate change. Speaking at the UN General Assembly on Saturday, Vanuatu’s Prime Minister Bob Loughman warned that the climate crisis is [...]

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a new regulation Thursday, greatly limiting US production and use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), greenhouse gases commonly used in refrigerators and air conditioners that are thousands of times more potent than carbon dioxide. In a press release, EPA Administrator Michael Regan called the new rule “a significant step forward [...]

The arguments made by the autonomous vehicle (AV) industry for limited regulation and rapid deployment of self-driving car technology bear a striking resemblance to the discussion about the US regulatory response to Covid-19 vaccines. Both appeal to exigent circumstances as a reason for rapid action to save lives, even if that means throwing some precautions [...]

In October 2020, the World Trade Organization (WTO) representatives from India and South Africa submitted a proposal for the waiver from the “implementation, application and enforcement” of certain sections of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement) in relation to prevention and treatment of COVID-19. Further to this, some countries have [...]