45 hydropower projects were planned for the Vjosa’s delicate ecology for years—But, last week, after a nearly decade-long struggle by environmental NGOs, Vjosa was designated as Europe’s first wild river national park.
Under the law, which is being hailed as the most ambitious maritime fuel legislation in the world, ship emissions will be reduced by 2% as of 2025 and 80% as of 2050.
Final approval is expected to be given by March, meaning the world’s largest trading bloc will soon officially be on track to almost completely phase out vehicles powered by combustion engines.
The Green Deal Industrial Plan will simplify regulation to help get proposed green projects up and running faster, accelerating access to investment, developing programs to train skilled workers in green industries, and more.
Record additions of new wind and solar in 2022 helped Europe survive a “triple crisis” created by restrictions on Russian gas supplies, a dip in hydro caused by drought and unexpected nuclear outage.
Hunting and habitat loss drove many large mammals in Europe close to extinction. New data shows that many are now flourishing again.
Starting in 2024, shipping companies will have to buy E.U. carbon permits to cover 40% of their emissions, including methane and nitrogen oxides, rising to 70% in 2025 and 100% in 2026.
The levy aims to prevent European industry from being undercut by cheaper goods made in countries with weaker environmental rules and incentivize trading partners to decarbonize.
Sales of the climate-friendly heating technology are set to hit record levels, especially in Europe where some countries are seeing sales double in the first half of 2022 compared with the same period last year.
The law will require companies to produce a due diligence statement showing that their supply chains are not contributing to the destruction of forests before they sell goods into the EU – or they could face hefty fines.
