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The document details how logging activities in the Făgăraș, Maramureș, and Domogled Natura 2000 sites in Romania are causing severe biodiversity loss, including the disappearance of priority species and the destruction of old-growth forests through clear-cuts and progressive logging.

The document is an open letter to the European Commission calling for the timely publication of the Farm to Fork and Biodiversity Strategies. The signatories argue that the Covid-19 pandemic has exposed the vulnerabilities of current globalised food systems, including dependency on migrant labour and the risks of intensive animal farming, thereby increasing the urgency for a forward-looking Common Food Policy.

The document expresses support for measures ensuring the free movement of goods and labour and streamlined trade procedures to support farmers during COVID-19. However, it strongly opposes temporary exemptions from greening requirements and crop diversification, arguing there is no evidence that the pandemic affects farmers' ability to comply with environmental rules or threatens food security. The authors urge the Commission to maintain the enforcement of EU environmental legislation and carefully assess measures such as modified state aid rules, flexibility between CAP pillars, and the classification of COVID-19 as a blanket force majeure on a case-by-case basis.

The briefing critiques the European Commission's draft proposal to modernise the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT), asserting that it fails to adequately protect the EU's regulatory autonomy or shield climate policies from investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) challenges. It argues that the proposal maintains an outdated focus on investment protection and lacks binding sustainability mechanisms, a requirement to exhaust local remedies, and a specific carve-out for climate response measures. The author concludes that without fundamental shifts—such as differentiating between low-carbon and carbon-intensive investments and establishing a supremacy clause for environmental obligations—the ECT will continue to create a 'chilling effect' on essential environmental and social regulations.

The report analyzes Polish state aid for the power sector, concluding that subsidies for conventional power (mostly coal) were twice as high as those for renewables between 2013 and 2018. It highlights systemic inefficiencies in the EU ETS derogations, capacity markets, and the Energy Prices Act, while identifying RES auctions and EU funds as positive drivers of transition. A case study of the Bełchatów Power Plant illustrates how subsidies often support owners rather than environmental goals. The document compares Poland's cost-ineffective model with the more successful transitions in Germany and Great Britain.

ClientEarth argues that the European Commission must conduct a public consultation before adopting the Farm to Fork Strategy to comply with the Aarhus Convention and EU Treaties. The organization identifies several critical gaps in the current Roadmap, including the need to align the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) with European Green Deal objectives through SMART targets and to address agricultural air pollution, specifically ammonia and methane. ClientEarth also calls for an end to overfishing, the promotion of only sustainable aquaculture, and the implementation of a zero-pollution action plan for air, water, and soil. Additionally, it advocates for new legislation on Food Contact Materials to eliminate harmful chemical residues and a reduction of pesticide use by 80% by 2030.

The document argues that the energy transition requires a participatory governance approach to ensure public acceptance and the effective integration of prosumers and energy communities. It advocates for the full implementation of the Aarhus Convention and Maastricht Recommendations, highlighting that current public consultation processes, such as those for National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs), have often been ineffective. The brief provides a detailed framework for future consultations, including specific timelines and the recognition of prosumers as a distinct stakeholder group.

ClientEarth challenges the planned Belgian capacity mechanism (Planned CM), asserting that it lacks a complete design and fails to demonstrate a genuine resource adequacy concern. The organisation argues that the scheme would unfairly favour gas capacity, contradicting EU objectives to phase out environmentally harmful subsidies and hindering decarbonisation. It further contends that the Belgian electricity market's resilience and the availability of less distortive alternatives, such as strategic reserves and market reforms, render a market-wide capacity mechanism unnecessary. ClientEarth also warns that the Planned CM could strengthen the market dominance of existing oligopolistic players and lacks sufficient preference mechanisms for low-carbon resources.

The document analyzes the divergence between the EU and WTO regarding the precautionary principle (PP), highlighting that the EU treats it as a constitutional legal principle while the WTO incorporates elements of precaution implicitly and restrictively. It argues that the EU's framework provides superior environmental protection by allowing for permanent measures, a broader interpretation of scientific uncertainty, and the inclusion of societal risk tolerance. The briefing concludes that the UK must retain its EU-inherited approach to precaution to resist deregulatory pressure from trading partners.

ClientEarth argues that Poland's market reform plan is insufficient and should be expanded to address distortions in the capacity market, illegal subsidies for high-emission power, and the lack of legal frameworks for energy storage and onshore wind development.

ClientEarth argues that Barclays PLC faces systemic economic, reputational, and legal risks by continuing to finance fossil fuel companies. The organization urges the bank's directors to support a shareholder resolution to phase out financial services for energy and utility companies that do not align with the Paris Climate Agreement, noting that Barclays is currently the largest European financier of fossil fuels and lags behind competitors like Standard Chartered and RBS in its strategic climate response.

ClientEarth argues that Greece's proposed extension of its flexibility and interruptibility schemes is unjustified because a recent resource adequacy assessment indicates no supply concerns for 2020-2030. The organization contends that these schemes act as a disincentive for Greece to implement the 'Target Model' market reforms and may violate the recast Electricity Market Regulation (EMR), which positions such measures as a 'last resort'. ClientEarth highlights that the interruptibility scheme disproportionately impacts solar power producers through its levy formula and notes ongoing legal challenges against both schemes in the Greek Council of State.

The briefing outlines how the Court of Justice of the EU has consistently upheld ECHA's decisions regarding the identification of substances of very high concern (SVHC) under Article 57 of the REACH Regulation. It emphasizes that SVHC identification is based on intrinsic hazardous properties rather than substance use, and that ECHA possesses broad discretion in evaluating evidence, including the use of non-guideline studies and the assessment of 'equivalent level of concern'.

The report evaluates the use of EMFF funds in three EU Member States, identifying a tension between subsidies that support conservation and those that enhance fishing capacity or artificially maintain profitability. It argues that the future EMFF should prioritise small-scale fishers, invest in safety training and marine restoration, and strictly prohibit capacity-enhancing investments to meet international sustainability goals.

The document contends that the 4th PCI list is legally and environmentally flawed, specifically regarding gas projects. It argues that the selection process failed to meet TEN-E Regulation standards for cost-benefit and sustainability assessments. Furthermore, it asserts that investing in natural gas infrastructure creates stranded asset risks and is incompatible with the 1.5°C warming limit of the Paris Agreement and the EU's own Green Deal and climate emergency declaration.

The document outlines a step-by-step process for accessing environmental information from EU bodies, covering the definition of environmental information, request formulation, submission methods, and the legal process for challenging refusals through confirmatory applications, the EU General Court, or the European Ombudsman.

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 argues that green investments in the Bełchatów region, primarily funded by the EU's Just Transition Mechanism (JTM), can generate significantly more employment than is currently provided by the Bełchatów Power Plant complex. It highlights that the lodzkie voivodeship could access up to PLN 45 billion in EU funds for 2021-2027, though this amount depends on a government pledge to reach climate neutrality by 2050. The highest job creation potential is identified in thermal retrofitting, solar, and onshore wind, with the potential to create 61,000 jobs from JTM funds alone.

The document assesses the progress of transposing the RED II and Electricity Directives in Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, and Spain as of September 2020. It finds that while most countries have focused on legal definitions, they have largely neglected the 'enabling framework' and the mandatory assessment of barriers and potentials required by EU law. The brief argues that simple 'copy-paste' transposition of EU definitions is insufficient and recommends a holistic approach that includes public consultation, political engagement, and specific support for vulnerable households and local authorities to ensure the success of energy communities.

The document serves as a guide for the public, NGOs, and legal professionals on how to exercise the right to environmental justice in Slovakia. It details the three pillars of environmental democracy—access to information, public participation in decision-making, and access to justice—explaining how these are implemented through the Aarhus Convention and EU directives. The manual specifically outlines Slovak national laws, such as the Administrative Court Procedure Act, and provides practical instructions on filing lawsuits, appealing decisions, and utilizing international remedies like complaints to the European Commission.