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Earthjustice reports that the EPA has proposed a rule to gut the 2015 and 2024 coal ash regulations, which would exempt hundreds of dumps from regulation and allow companies to delay or avoid cleaning up toxic contamination. The briefing details specific proposed rollbacks, such as removing safety standards for waste piles and permitting higher levels of heavy metals in contaminated water. Earthjustice intends to challenge these actions in court and urges members of Congress to oppose the proposal.

The EPA has finalized a rule requiring commercial sterilization facilities to install control technology to reduce ethylene oxide emissions, which could eliminate an estimated 90% of such emissions. This action follows lawsuits by Earthjustice after the EPA missed multiple Clean Air Act deadlines to update air toxics standards. Ethylene oxide is a known human carcinogen that poses significant health risks, particularly to workers and low-income communities of color living near facilities.

ClientEarth brought a derivative action against Shell's Board of Directors in the High Court of England and Wales, arguing that the company's Energy Transition Strategy was inadequate and breached sections 172 and 174 of the Companies Act 2006. The claim alleged failures in setting Scope 3 targets, over-reliance on carbon capture and nature-based solutions, and non-compliance with a Dutch court order. Despite support from institutional investors managing over half a trillion USD in assets, the High Court refused permission to continue the claim, citing a lack of formal expert evidence and the wide discretion afforded to directors in management decisions. The Court of Appeal subsequently refused permission to appeal this decision.

The Biden administration has announced a plan to restore endangered salmon and steelhead in the Pacific Northwest, committing over $500 million in federal funding and support for clean energy projects to replace the services of four dams on the lower Snake River. This plan aligns with the Columbia Basin Restoration Initiative (CBRI), which calls for breaching the dams within two fish generations. Earthjustice and several Native tribes and states have paused litigation against the government to allow for the implementation of these commitments, though final dam breaching will require Congressional action.

On August 8, President Biden designated the Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni – Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument, providing permanent protection for nearly a million acres of land against uranium mining and industrial threats. This designation replaces a temporary 20-year ban on new mining claims that was set to expire in 2032. The monument protects ancestral homelands of multiple Native Tribes, safeguards the Colorado River watershed—which provides water for 40 million people—and preserves biodiversity, including the critically endangered California condor. While the designation prevents new claims, some existing mines in the region may still operate.

The document details the transition from the EU Timber Regulation (EUTR) to the new EU Deforestation Regulation, specifying that Member States must designate competent authorities with adequate powers, functional independence, and resources within six months of the Regulation's entry into force. It further describes the necessity of establishing effective, proportionate, and dissuasive sanctions—including fines of at least 4% of annual EU turnover—and the requirement to implement annual risk-based compliance plans and customs controls within 18 months.

The revised General Block Exemption Regulation (GBER), approved on 9 March 2023 and applicable until the end of 2026, allows EU Member States to grant State aid for green transition projects without prior European Commission notification if specific conditions are met. While it introduces new support for clean mobility, biodiversity restoration, and renewable energy communities, it also maintains loopholes for fossil gas through high-efficiency cogeneration, gas-fired district heating, and carbon capture, use and storage (CCUS). The regulation significantly raises financial notification thresholds and aid intensity rates to accelerate the Green Deal Industrial Plan, though it lacks an explicit 'energy efficiency first' principle and faces criticism for poor transparency in aid reporting.

The CEEAG guidelines, effective from January 2022, streamline public financial support for decarbonisation, renewables, and nature restoration while introducing new categories for clean mobility and coal phase-out. While they promote technology-neutral competitive tenders, the document highlights concerns regarding continued support for fossil gas, the lack of a clear definition for 'low-carbon hydrogen', and the limited ambition of energy efficiency commitments for energy-intensive users.

ClientEarth is supporting five Polish citizens in lawsuits against the Polish government, claiming that the state's failure to address climate change violates personal rights under the Polish Civil Code and human rights under the European Convention of Human Rights. The claimants seek a legally enforceable right to a healthy environment and a commitment from Poland to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 61% by 2030 and reach net zero by 2043 to align with the Paris Agreement's 1.5 degree goal. The document highlights Poland's heavy reliance on coal, with 70% of electricity coming from coal and significant public subsidies for fossil fuels, as well as the specific climate-related impacts—such as droughts, floods, and wildfires—experienced by the claimants.

The briefing examines two European Parliament reports: the Deforestation Report and the Corporate Governance Report. It argues that while both utilize due diligence, they serve different purposes—one being product-specific for forest-risk commodities and the other being a horizontal framework for all large undertakings. The author contends that these two approaches are complementary and that deforestation should be included as an adverse environmental impact in the horizontal corporate due diligence proposal to cover sectors not captured by the product-specific rules.

The document argues that EU decision-makers must move beyond single-stock assessments to integrate broader ecosystem dynamics, environmental factors, and multi-species interactions when setting catch limits, as mandated by the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). It highlights that uncertainty should trigger the precautionary approach—leading to more protective limits—rather than serving as a justification for inaction. The briefing identifies specific tools for implementation, such as ICES mixed fisheries scenarios and ecosystem overviews, while warning against practices that prioritise commercial value over ecosystem function, such as setting 'bycatch TACs' above scientific advice to avoid 'choking' fisheries.

The document emphasizes that community forest management (GCF) cannot exist without organized communities and the protection of their cultural and spiritual ties to their territories. It highlights the right of association as a fundamental human right, supported by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and UN declarations on indigenous peoples and peasants. The text argues that cultural rights—including traditional knowledge, language, and spirituality—are inextricably linked to land tenure; therefore, protecting the territory is the primary means of safeguarding these cultural rights. It calls for the integration of biocultural heritage into global biodiversity frameworks to combat the collapse of biodiversity and the loss of traditional knowledge.

The Public Law Project and ClientEarth oppose clause 26(1)(b-d) of the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Bill, arguing that allowing lower courts to depart from Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) case law undermines legal certainty. They contend that such power creates unpredictability for businesses and individuals and risks a proliferation of inconsistent legal decisions, advocating instead for the authority to depart from EU case law to remain with Parliament and the UK's highest courts.

The document highlights the critical threat of bycatch to cetaceans in EU waters, specifically targeting the Baltic harbour porpoise and the Northeast Atlantic common dolphin. It asserts that numerous Member States have failed to implement the monitoring and protection mandates of the Habitats Directive 92/43/EEC and Regulation 812/2004. To address this, the authors propose emergency spatial and temporal closures of fisheries, mandatory on-board observations, and the use of acoustic deterrent devices (ADDs). Furthermore, the briefing warns that the EU must align its bycatch prevention procedures with the US Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) by January 1, 2022, to avoid import prohibitions on fish products.

The briefing note examines the ongoing negotiations regarding Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, highlighting the risk that poorly designed carbon market and non-market mechanisms could lead to human rights violations. It advocates for the inclusion of rights-based safeguards, meaningful stakeholder consultation (including free, prior, and informed consent for indigenous peoples), and independent grievance redress processes to avoid repeating failures seen in the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism.

The document explains that Law 13.887/2019 transformed the Rural Environmental Registry (CAR) into a permanent instrument with an indeterminate registration deadline. However, it establishes a critical deadline of December 31, 2020, for registration to maintain the right to join the Environmental Regularization Program (PRA) and benefit from flexible rules for regularizing consolidated rural areas. Failure to register in the CAR prevents access to rural credit and environmental licensing, while failure to join the PRA exposes producers to stricter Forest Code rules, civil and criminal lawsuits, and market sanctions.

The Higher Administrative Court of Münster scheduled a two-day evidence hearing on 9-10 May 2019 featuring science and health experts to resolve debates over air quality rules and diesel restrictions in Germany. This follows legal actions in 35 German cities supported by ClientEarth and Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH) to enforce air quality limits. While some officials and specialists have questioned the science linking nitrogen dioxide (NO2) to health issues, the briefing notes that the majority of researchers, the European Commission, and Germany's environment minister maintain that limits are based on sound science. The hearing aims to provide the evidence necessary to adjudicate appeals regarding diesel restrictions in 14 cities in North Rhine-Westphalia.

The Achmea ruling establishes that ISDS provisions are incompatible with EU law when they sideline domestic courts and undermine the EU's judicial system. While the ruling explicitly applies to bilateral investment treaties (BITs) between EU Member States, the briefing argues that the same reasoning likely renders agreements with third countries impermissible if the tribunals are not part of the EU judiciary, may interpret EU law, and lack full judicial review by Member State courts. This creates significant legal uncertainty, potentially making awards unenforceable and hindering the negotiation of new treaties containing investment arbitration.

The Achmea judgment establishes that ISDS provisions are incompatible with EU law when they sideline domestic courts and undermine the EU's judicial system. While the ruling explicitly applies to bilateral investment treaties (BITs) between EU Member States, the briefing argues that the same reasoning likely renders agreements with third countries impermissible. This is because such tribunals are not part of the EU judicial system, may resolve disputes relating to EU law, and their awards lack sufficient review by Member State courts. Consequently, this creates significant legal uncertainty, potentially making awards won by non-EU investors unenforceable and hindering the negotiation of new agreements containing investment arbitration.

The EU Timber Regulation (EUTR) requires operators to exercise due diligence to prevent illegally harvested timber from entering the EU market. Because absolute certainty regarding legality is often unattainable due to remote harvest points and inaccessible laws, the EUTR employs a risk-based approach. This framework consists of three mandatory steps: accessing information on the supply chain, assessing the risk of illegality, and implementing risk mitigation measures if the risk is greater than negligible. Timber can only be placed on the market if the risk is 'close to zero (negligible)'. While the framework's parameters are fixed, the specific measures an operator takes must be proportional to the context, such as the degree of risk, available information, product complexity, and the reliability of certification. Certification is not a proxy for compliance; operators must still conduct due diligence and evaluate the veracity of certification tools.