Tens of thousands of dolphins, porpoises and whales (collectively known as cetaceans) are dying every year in European waters as a result of being bycaught in fishing gear – and some populations are coming perilously close to extinction. A new EIA report released today (6 May) reveals that the degree of bycatch is so serious […]
At midnight today (9 April), the European Parliament, the Council and the European Commission reached agreement on a long-awaited EU regulation to prevent plastic pellet losses in the environment, a major source of microplastics pollution. The decision came in the wake of yet another disastrous pellet spill in European waters off the English coast due […]
Loopholes in EU regulations appear to be driving unsustainable and fraudulent palm oil trade. EIA’s new briefing The Palm Oil Black Box – EU trade loopholes analyses EU trade patterns for palm oil and reveals a significant increase in the imports of waste and residues used to make biofuels. Biofuels are renewable fuels used as […]
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 […]
This year is a big one for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (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 […]
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 […]