Insurers in UK and US lagging behind in divesting from coal, report finds

UK and US insurers are lagging far behind European firms when it comes to divesting from coal-heavy businesses and refusing to insure them, campaigners have warned.

Chelyuskintsev mine, Donetsk, Ukraine. Europe’s four
biggest insurers have restricted insurance for coal. 

At least 19 major insurers holding more than $6tn in assets – a fifth of the industry’s global assets – have now divested from coal, according to a report from the Unfriend Coal campaign, which represents a coalition of a dozen environmental groups including Greenpeace, 350.org and the Sierra Club.

This is up from $4tn – equivalent to 13% of global assets – that were covered by coal exclusion policies a year ago. The study rates 24 of the world’s biggest insurers on their efforts to distance themselves from the fossil fuel industry.

Read the story from The Guardian by Julia Kollewe - “Insurers in UK and US lagging behind in divesting from coal, report finds.”

Is the revolving door syndrome harming Europe's climate change fight?

Campaigners have sounded the alarm over climate change policy in Europe after uncovering evidence about the closeness of the relationship between governments and major energy firms.

The "revolving door" and the closeness of the relationship
 between governments and major energy firms is hurting
Europe's climate change policy position.

Greens-European Free Alliance, the political grouping in the European Parliament that commissioned the research, says it opens the door to fossil fuel-friendly firms having an influence on Europe’s climate change policy.

It’s part of a wider ‘revolving doors’ issue in Brussels that sees former European Commissioners and other high-ranking staff move into the private sector to work for firms lobbying to shape EU legislation.

The report calls for safeguards to be put in place to help prevent conflicts of interest arising because climate change is "the greatest and most urgent challenges of our time”.

Read the story by Chris Harris from Euronews - “Is the revolving door syndrome harming Europe's climate change fight?”

Colombia’s top court orders government to protect Amazon forest in landmark case

BOGOTA (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Colombia’s highest court has told the government it must take urgent action to protect its Amazon rainforest and stem rising deforestation, in what campaigners said was an historic moment that should help conserve forests and counter climate change.

In their ruling on Thursday, the judges said that Colombia - which is home to a swathe of rainforest roughly the size of Germany and England combined - saw deforestation rates in its Amazon region increase by 44 percent from 2015 to 2016.

“It is clear, despite numerous international commitments, regulations ... that the Colombian state has not efficiently addressed the problem of deforestation in the Amazon,” the supreme court said.

The ruling comes after a group of 25 young plaintiffs, ranging in age from seven to 26, filed a lawsuit against the government in January demanding it protect their right to a healthy environment.

Read Anastasia Maloney’s story from Reuters - “Colombia’s top court orders government to protect Amazon forest in landmark case.”