Renault to invest more than €1bn in French electric car plants
Renault will invest more than €1bn into four plants in France to increase its electric car production in the country.
Europe
Scottish greenhouse gas emission rates ‘halved since 1990’
Government statistics show levels in 2016 were 49% below the 1990 baseline, with a 10.3% drop on the previous year.
Temple University researchers successfully reverse cognitive impairments in mice with dementia
New research shows, for the first time in an animal model, that tau pathology — the second-most important lesion in the brain in patients with Alzheimer’s disease — can be reversed by a drug.
IKEA to use only renewable and recycled materials by 2030
IKEA, the world’s biggest furniture retailer, plans to use only renewable and recycled materials in its products by 2030.
Royal Bank of Scotland to stop financing new coal plants, oil sands or arctic oil projects
RBS said it would no longer directly finance new coal-fired power stations or thermal coal mines, oil sands or Arctic oil projects and unsustainable vegetation or peatland clearance projects.
Ireland votes to end abortion ban
Ireland voted decisively to repeal one of the world’s more restrictive abortion bans, dealing the latest in a series of stinging rebukes to the Roman Catholic Church.
Scotland sets target of cutting greenhouse gases by 90% by 2050
The Scottish government also said it would have a new interim target for 2020 of a 56 per cent cut compared with the existing goal of 42 per cent.
Pivot Power to build ‘world first’ battery network in the U.K.
Pivot Power unveiled plans to build the world’s first national network of grid-scale batteries and rapid-charge stations across the U.K. to accelerate electric vehicle adoption.
The Church of Scotland has voted to allow ministers to conduct same-sex marriages
The Church of Scotland has voted to draft new laws that would allow ministers to conduct same-sex marriages.
Two thirds of E.U. cities have climate change plans
66% of EU cities have a mitigation or adaptation plan in place. The top countries were Poland — where 97% of cities have mitigation plans — Germany (81%), Ireland (80%), Finland (78%) and Sweden (77%).