Climate-damaging F-gases are synthetic substances widely used in refrigeration, air-conditioning and elsewhere. Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) are the most common and are so harmful that they are to be phased down under the Montreal Protocol and phased out altogether in the EU. However, the chemical industry is pushing to replace them with a new generation of lucrative […]
Senior European lawmakers have been urged to ensure human rights and deforestation issues are kept at the heart of a new forest products risk-ranking system for countries. The proposed country risk benchmarking system will operate under the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), which seeks to prohibit trade in timber, beef, leather, chocolate, soy, palm oil and […]
The UK’s landmark Ivory Act has been extended to offer protection to an additional four species. EIA UK Executive Director Mary Rice welcomed the move, stating: “The UK Ivory Act was a long, tough fight to achieve and well worth the effort as it proved to be one of the world’s toughest and most comprehensive […]
This year is a big one for CITES, with the 78th Meeting of the Standing Committee (SC78) kicking off in Geneva, Switzerland from 3-8 February. This will be followed by the much larger 20th Conference of the Parties (CoP20) in Samarkand, Uzbekistan later in the year. EIA will be actively engaging at SC78 on a […]
A new species of pangolin has been discovered, but already it is deemed to be threatened by illegal trade. The Indo-Burmese pangolin (Manis indoburmanica ) is the tenth to be found and was identified by scientists who were conducting routine examination of pangolin scales seized in India. Some of these scales were identified as coming from […]
What was expected to be the fifth and final session of the UN’s Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee met in South Korea last month, but ultimately it failed to agree a Global Plastics Treaty. Instead of cause for celebration, our campaigners came away from the talks concerned that the process had been hijacked by vested financial interests. […]