Italy’s electric car market tripled in 2020
With over 32,000 full electric cars sold, the Italian BEV market tripled in 2020, surging to 2.3% market share.
Europe
VW opens a recycling plant for batteries at the end of their lives
Volkswagen expects this process to yield the raw materials needed for new battery production, such as copper, aluminum, lithium, manganese, cobalt and graphite.
Court makes “historic” ruling that France is responsible for climate inaction
The court gave the French government two months to take appropriate steps before ordering it to lower emissions or compensating for the effects of its inaction, The New York Times reported.
Dutch court orders Shell Oil to pay for harm done to Nigerian farmers
Royal Dutch Shell’s Nigerian subsidiary must pay punitive restitution to Nigerian villages for oil spill contamination that brought death, illness, and destruction to Nigerian farmers and communities.
Finnish hockey club aims to become world’s first carbon-neutral team
Lahti Pelicans, a Finnish ice hockey club, is championing for a carbon-free world. In celebration of Lahti’s crowning as the 2021 European Green Capital, the Pelicans set a goal of becoming the first carbon-neutral hockey club in the world.
Sweden to build reindeer bridges so the animals can safely cross highways
Work will begin this year on the first of the Swedish renoducts over the E4 motorway north of the city of Umeå, Vetenskapsradion reported.
U.K. supports climate action in the Global South with $4 billion plan
The U.K. government has announced it will commit at least US $4 billion to climate change solutions in developing countries, helping to protect and restore nature and biodiversity over five years.
64% say climate change is an emergency in world’s largest-ever climate poll
The UN Development Program and the University of Oxford surveyed 1.2 million people across 50 countries through ads distributed in mobile gaming apps. Only 10% think world leaders are doing enough to address climate change.
Renewables surpassed fossil fuels in Europe for the first time in 2020
A new report found that renewables delivered 38% of electricity in Europe last year while fossil fuels delivered 37%. Solar and wind power have nearly doubled since 2015.
German scientists make paralyzed mice walk again
German researchers have enabled mice paralyzed after spinal cord injuries to walk again, re-establishing a neural link hitherto considered irreparable in mammals.