Brussels/The Hague, January 30, 2013 - A Dutch court has ruled today that Shell is responsible for not preventing the pollution of farmlands at Ikot Ada Udo, Akwa Ibom State in Nigeria. The case brought by Friends of the Earth Netherlands and four Nigerian farmers is an important victory for Nigerian people and the environment.
This is the first time that Shell has been ordered by a court to pay compensation for damage caused by its operations. The Nigerian justice system has never been able to accomplish this.
Ahead of discussions this week about how the next one trillion euros EU budget will be spent, EU ministers are being urged to get rid of provisions that would allow public money to subsidise the fossil fuels industry.
The open letter [1] endorsed by more than 20 leading environment groups comes in response to the draft negotiating text for Tuesday's General Affairs Council. At this meeting EU Members States will make decisions on the investment priorities under the next 2014-2020 Cohesion Policy funds [2], building on a proposal prepared by the European Commission last year [3].
A coalition of environmental and health NGOs warned the European Parliament today that hydraulic fracturing ('fracking') of shale gas, shale oil, and coal bed methane represent an dangerous experiment on the environment and human health.
Brussels/Paris/Amsterdam, February 23, 2012 – Representatives from European governments met today to vote on plans to keep tar sands out of Europe, but intense lobby pressure from Canada and the oil industry has brought about a stalemate, according to Friends of the Earth Europe. [1]
Abstentions and rejections from a number of European governments means the final decision will be taken by the Environment Council in June.
Brussels/Paris/Amsterdam, February 22, 2012 – European governments must say no to the dirtiest forms of unconventional oil tomorrow, and defy pressure from both the Canadian and big oil lobbies, according to Friends of the Earth Europe. Representatives from European governments will decide tomorrow on plans to keep tar sands out of Europe.
Brussels, Tuesday October 4 – Friends of the Earth Europe has welcomed a decision by the European Commission to take steps to prevent oil from tar sands entering the European market.
The European Commission has announced it will assign higher carbon emission values to oil from tar sands than to other sources of fossil fuels in the Fuel Quality Directive - the EU initiative aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels. [1]
Brussels, 5 August 2011 - The government of Canada is engaging in an unprecedented lobby effort to open up the European market to oil from its devastating tar sands, an investigation by Friends of the Earth Europe reveals. [1]
A detailed 'diary' compiled by Friends of the Earth shows the extent of Canadian efforts to block EU plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels.
Brussels, 12 July – More than 73,000 EU citizens and 140 elected representatives and MEPs have signed a petition, to be delivered to the European Commissioner for Enterprise and Industry, vice president Antonio Tajani today, calling on the Commission to hold companies operating in the EU legally accountable for any harm they cause to people and the environment around the world [1].
Brussels, March 16, 2011 – The EU will today come under renewed pressure to effectively ban the world's most climate polluting transport fuel from Europe. A coalition of environmental organisations has been campaigning for the European Union's Fuel Quality Directive to address the significantly higher greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) resulting from tar sands oil, which would effectively stop the controversial fuel, primarily produced in Alberta, Canada entering Europe.
Brussels, January 17 – European and Canadian civil society groups joined together today outside Canada-EU free trade talks to give a clear warning to the public and negotiators that increasing Europe's involvement in the Canadian tar sands is unacceptable.