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A joint response from twelve NGOs urging the European Commission to adopt a fully precautionary, ecosystem-based approach to setting 2025 fishing opportunities, arguing that current Total Allowable Catches (TACs) fail to prioritise the rebuilding of depleted stocks and ignore critical ecosystem dynamics.

The letter, sent by ClientEarth, Fossielvrij NL, and Reclame Fossielvrij to airlines at Amsterdam Schiphol, details the legal boundaries for climate-related advertising following a court ruling that KLM's claims about 'sustainable' flying and CO2 compensation were misleading. It argues that aviation growth is incompatible with the Paris Agreement and warns that the industry's 'licence to grow' communication strategy likely violates the EU Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (UCPD).

The policy brief argues that current EU biodiversity financing is insufficient and inefficient, with funding needs estimated at EUR 48.15 billion per year. It proposes the creation of a dedicated biodiversity conservation and restoration fund, the strengthening of biodiversity mainstreaming through legally binding spending targets and reduced administrative barriers for small projects, and the implementation of a mandatory methodology to identify and phase out environmentally harmful subsidies. The brief emphasizes that the EU's current 'mainstreaming' approach often deprioritizes nature in favor of short-term infrastructure projects and calls for a revised tracking methodology to prevent greenwashing.

The briefing analyzes the European Commission's 'essential use' criteria for most harmful substances (MHS), which define a use as essential if it is necessary for health, safety, or critical for society and lacks acceptable alternatives. ClientEarth argues that while the Communication fulfills Chemical Strategy for Sustainability (CSS) commitments, it lacks direct legal effect and may be undermined by existing technical and economic feasibility assessments. The document proposes a three-stage approach to implement essential use in REACH: immediate adoption in restriction and authorisation procedures, the creation of implementing legislation for legal clarity, and a full REACH reform where essential use replaces socio-economic analysis (SEA).

The memorandum examines the ITLOS advisory opinion, which establishes that anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions constitute marine pollution under UNCLOS. It highlights the 'stringent' due diligence required of States to protect the marine environment, the role of the best available science (IPCC), and the principle that the Paris Agreement does not supersede UNCLOS obligations. The document further discusses the necessity of environmental impact assessments that account for cumulative and socio-economic impacts, and cautions against the use of marine geoengineering if it transforms pollution types.

The document is a formal request from a coalition of NGOs for the European Commission to provide a detailed inventory of infringement proceedings against Member States failing to enforce the landing obligation, citing a Commission assessment that illegal discarding remains prolific and undermines the Common Fisheries Policy.

The document calls for the appointment of a European Commission Vice-President for People and the Environment to oversee the European Green Deal, the cessation of public funding for harmful activities like fossil fuels, increased resources for environmental law enforcement, and the strengthening of environmental democracy.

The report evaluates the alignment of national laws in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia with EU environmental standards. While some progress in transposition is noted, the analysis identifies systemic failures in enforcement, inadequate institutional capacity, and significant gaps in the implementation of the Water Framework, Nature, and Environmental Liability Directives, which hinder the protection of rivers from hydropower development.

The report evaluates the alignment of national laws in six Western Balkan countries with EU environmental directives (EIA, SEA, ELD, WFD, Habitats, and Birds). While some progress in transposition is noted, systemic failures persist, including a lack of secondary legislation, inadequate institutional capacity, and poor data quality in environmental reports. Key issues include the exclusion of small hydropower plants from screening in some countries, restricted access to justice for strategic assessments, and the failure to designate Natura 2000 sites. Montenegro is the only country with functioning environmental liability regulations.

The document argues that current EU public procurement policy, particularly the voluntary approach of the 'Classic Directive', is ineffective at achieving sustainability goals. It recommends a dual approach: introducing binding targets, procedural requirements, and monitoring in horizontal legislation, while implementing sector-specific mandatory minimum requirements in sectoral legislation. The briefing highlights that public procurement represents 14% of EU GDP and 15% of its global greenhouse gas emissions, making it a critical lever for the green transition.

ClientEarth and Carbon Tracker Initiative argue that the PRMS 2018 framework is 'climate-blind' and fails to account for the energy transition, risking the accumulation of stranded assets. They propose introducing an 'atmospheric viability' test to determine if reserves are compatible with a 1.5°C warming limit and suggest comprehensive updates to 'defined conditions' and 'commerciality' criteria to include physical and transition climate risks.

The document outlines the categories and procedures for obtaining mineral rights in Ghana, while critiquing the current system for allowing mineral rights to be awarded before environmental impact assessments are conducted. It highlights a lack of precautionary environmental management, specifically regarding the timing of Environmental Management Plan submissions and the absence of mandatory parliamentary ratification for mining lease extensions.

The document examines Ghana's mineral revenue system, where the Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF) manages state earnings and distributes 20% to the Mineral Development Fund (MDF). It details the allocation of these funds to entities like the Office of the Administrator of Stool Lands (OASL) and the Mining Community Development Scheme (MCDS), while highlighting critical failures in transparency, the inadequacy of community funding, and legal ambiguities in the 1992 Constitution that allow for the misappropriation of royalties by traditional authorities.

The document analyzes Ghana's mechanisms for stakeholder engagement in mining, including parliamentary ratification and public hearings, and evaluates dispute resolution options such as Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) and judicial recourse. It highlights critical gaps, such as the exclusion of environmental disputes from ADR and the lack of prosecutorial power for the Minerals Commission.

The briefing examines L.I. 2462, a 2022 regulation that allows mining in Ghana's forest reserves. It argues that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) lacks the constitutional mandate to manage natural resources, a role reserved for Natural Resource Commissions. The document further contends that L.I. 2462 lacks a proper legal foundation under the Environmental Protection Agency Act, 1994, and cannot supersede the protections of forest reserves established by Executive Instruments or Acts of Parliament. Additionally, it highlights weak sanctions, a lack of stakeholder consultation, and the absence of gender quotas as significant shortcomings.

The document outlines Ghana's position as a leading gold exporter and the resulting economic benefits, contrasted with severe environmental and health impacts caused by mining, particularly illegal 'galamsey' operations. It details the legislative framework, centered on the Minerals and Mining Act 2006, and the institutional roles of entities like the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources and the Minerals Commission. The briefing introduces a series of thematic papers focusing on mineral rights, benefit sharing, stakeholder engagement, and mining in forest reserves.

The report argues that labelled transition finance is currently stalled by 'transition-washing'—where finance is provided to entities without a credible plan to reach net zero. It identifies root causes such as a lack of scientifically robust, geography-specific emissions pathways and the prevalence of non-binding voluntary standards. Using sustainability-linked bonds (SLBs) and Japanese transition-labelled bonds as case studies, the author highlights issues like unambitious targets, immaterial penalties, and reliance on non-credible technologies like ammonia co-firing. To address this, the report recommends six guardrails: preparing national Paris-aligned pathways, establishing robust classification standards, building external verification capacity, implementing mandatory regulatory thresholds for protected labels, empowering regulators to penalise transition-washing, and enacting systemic reforms such as mandating transition plans for large firms.

The report contends that PVC poses unmanaged risks to human health and the environment throughout its life cycle, from toxic manufacturing emissions and accident risks to the release of microplastics and hazardous additives. It argues that the ECHA's 2023 investigation provides a sufficient technical basis for a broad ban, as alternatives are available for all assessed uses. The authors criticize the ECHA report for having a narrow scope—analyzing only 13% of PVC additives—and for underestimating the true costs of PVC by ignoring end-of-life disposal and health remediation expenses. It concludes that targeting only a few additives would lead to 'regrettable substitution' and that a full material restriction is the only effective way to prevent the steady increase of PVC and its toxins in the environment.

The European Parliament elections, held June 6-9, 2024, determine the legislative representation for 27 EU Member States, with the number of seats increasing from 705 to 720. The document emphasizes the role of the European Parliament in shaping the EU Green Deal and achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, while warning against the weakening of environmental requirements in the Common Agricultural Policy and the dropping of chemical regulations like REACH. It advocates for closing the 'implementation gap' of environmental laws, which could save the EU economy EUR 55 billion annually in health and environmental costs, and calls for universal access to justice rights for citizens and NGOs to challenge environmental law-breaking across all Member States.

ClientEarth recommends that the European Commission establish a single 'do no significant harm' (DNSH) guidance for the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) to serve as a legally binding minimum requirement for all EU funds. The organization proposes the inclusion of an explicit exclusion list—specifically targeting fossil fuel activities—and suggests linking the guidance to the methodology on environmental harmful subsidies (EHS). To ensure effectiveness, ClientEarth advocates for the application of the precautionary principle, increased transparency in assessments, and the extension of the DNSH principle to EU state aid policy to prevent the shift of harmful spending to national budgets.