Tag: oceans

The European Chemical Agency (ECHA) has published its expert opinions in support of bloc-wide restrictions on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS, also known as ‘forever chemicals’), including climate-harming fluorinated refrigerant gases. The long-awaited opinions were drawn up by its Risk Assessment Committee (RAC) and Socio-Economic Analysis Committee (SEAC) on the proposed EU universal PFAS restriction. […]

The International Whaling Commission effectively banned commercial whaling from 1986 and yet the world’s amazing and environmentally essential whales are still being hunted for their flesh and blubber. EIA has joined forces with several partners to launch a new global petition calling on the last three whaling nations to join the 21st century and to […]

Despite the critically endangered vaquita porpoise still teetering on the brink of extinction, the Government of Mexico is considering a proposal to reduce its protected habitat by more than 85 per cent. Scientists estimate that as few as 10 vaquita may remain in Mexico’s Gulf of California, the only place in the world they are […]

A major pollution incident has occurred along the UK’s East Sussex coast, where millions of plastic biobeads have washed up on the shoreline at Camber Sands and neighbouring beaches following a failure at Southern Water’s Eastbourne wastewater treatment works. The company has admitted the spill was caused by a screening‐filter failure during heavy rainfall, which […]

EIA and 53 environmental and civil society organisations from around the world have written to the UK Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to urge the Government to commit to a full and immediate ban on all UK plastic waste exports. The joint letter to Emma Reynolds MP – sent ahead of […]

The UK’s action to prevent whales, dolphins, porpoises and other marine mammals dying as a result of being caught in fishing nets – bycatch – has spared it from US Government trade sanctions on fish products. However, despite the UK’s actions to date, ongoing bycatch in British and European waters remains a significant concern. The […]