ClientEarth

Major investment firm BlackRock is marketing funds to investors as ‘sustainable’, despite the funds having poured over a billion into fossil fuel companies like Shell, TotalEnergies, Chevron and BP. We think this is misleading, #greenwashing, and a breach of EU directives and regulations, so we’re filing a complaint to the French financial regulator. We want BlackRock to reassess how it names funds, and to reallocate ‘sustainable’ investment away from fossil fuel companies. We also want the French regulator to ensure transparency and protection for investors. “There is a high consumer demand for sustainable investment products, but it’s an open secret within the finance industry that greenwashing is rife. “Our analysis shows that through BlackRock’s so-called ‘sustainable’ funds, investors are unwittingly being exposed to investments worth over a billion in fossil fuel companies, predominantly those expanding their fossil fuel businesses. “Ultimately, exaggerated sustainability claims create a competitive advantage for these BlackRock funds, distorting competition in the market, diverting capital flows away from genuinely sustainable products.” Alex Bennett, ClientEarth lawyer Read the full story here 👉 https://brnw.ch/21wNQDQ

Today’s UK budget announcement raises real concerns. Pouring billions into carbon capture makes no sense when it's at the expense of support for effective solutions like home insulation and improved public transport.   The High Court has made it clear: the government’s climate strategy is unlawful, and a new plan is due by May 2025. We need urgent and full support for proven actions that not only cut emissions but also tackle the cost-of-living crisis and create jobs.  Read our statement: https://shorturl.at/wvLM9 Read about the High Court ruling: https://shorturl.at/Y3PtJ #UKBudget2024 #CarbonCapture

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We’re calling for an investigation into three of the biggest meat producers in Germany for possible links to human rights abuses through their soy supply chains. The companies all use soy from Brazil’s Cerrado, where human rights and environmental abuses are rife, to feed livestock. The Cerrado is an immensely important tropical savanna - of which around half has already been razed to make way for industrial agriculture. Under Germany’s Supply Chain Law, the companies’ potential exposure to human rights risks should be addressed through due diligence practices but our legal analysis shows no indication of this taking place. If confirmed, this lack of action would be illegal - and it’s up to German authorities to sort it out. Almost 80% of the world’s soy is fed to livestock and it’s often linked to huge environmental destruction.

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BREAKING ⚠️ We're taking the Spanish government to court to stop destructive bottom trawling in Marine Protected Areas. We’ve already taken the French government to court over illegal bottom trawling this year but that wasn't the only EU country sadly flouting the rules. EU law forbids damaging activities like bottom trawling in certain MPAs. But the Spanish government is flouting those laws by systematically allowing bottom trawling in its MPAs. It’s time for EU countries to respect these laws and protect precious marine life. So we're taking them to court with our partner Oceana to make sure that "Protected” means “Protected”.

Right now, UK government representatives are in Colombia for key global biodiversity talks at #COP16. Two years on from the last nature COP, progress towards meeting the targets agreed has been slow, and we need action to tackle the biodiversity crisis now. That is why now, at COP16, we need to see strong laws that protect our environment and that are enforced; ‘protected’ must mean protected. Lend your voice, and ask the UK Environment Secretary, Steve Reed, to demand the government takes action 👇#NatureIsOurFuture

At #COP16, attendees are hard at work attempting to pave the way for the implementation of the historic agreement meant to safeguard nature on our planet - Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KM-GBF), agreed at COP15. Part of the agreement is the target dubbed '30x30', which calls for 30% of terrestrial, inland water, and marine areas to be conserved through ecologically representative, interconnected, well-managed, and equitably governed systems of protected areas. But how can we make sure that protected nature areas are actually being protected effectively? 👇#NatureIsOurFuture

The new UNEP #EmissionsGap report highlights that unless global emissions are brought below the levels implied by existing nationally determined contributions (NDCs), it will be impossible to limit global warming to 1.5°C. Small island states are facing an existential threat and if we miss this target many will be overwhelmed by unthinkable climate impacts.   Framework climate laws play a crucial role in translating ambition into action, turning global promises into real, enforceable actions. They create a clear legal foundation for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and make sure that commitments to address climate change are promises that are kept. They also protect people’s rights, ecosystems, and all the different forms of life on our planet. https://lnkd.in/eN68Wmwp

The 16th Conference of the Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity is taking place these days in Cali, Colombia.  Two years after the historical Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework was agreed by world leaders, biodiversity decline continues at an unprecedented rate. Ecosystem collapse caused by climate change-induced extreme weather events, #extractivism and industrial #agriculture hasn't brought the much needed transformation of global economic and legal systems. Simultaneously, nature is still viewed as an acceptable trade-off (even more so in recent years, through the EU's #simplification and #competitiveness agenda). COP16, with its mass attendance, will hopefully stir much needed action on the following: - a robust, comprehensive mechanism to track individual and global progress, making sure that data and information included in such assessments are verified and multi-stakeholder - adequate resources to deliver the #KMGBF Targets, rejecting any financial mechanisms that would lead to #offsetting (ie #biodiversitycredits) or delay substantial #conservation action. Additional funding should be allocated primarily to #indigenous peoples and other rightsholders serving as stewards on the ground.  During my attendance as part of ClientEarth 's delegation, I am happy to reconnect with old contacts and meet new experts to discuss - conservation/#restoration (esp. in EU and South America), - biodiversity impacts from the energy transition (critical raw materials, renewable energy)  - #KMGBF implementation mechanism (incl national legal reforms as a policy response to its adoption) - Biodiversity Credits So feel free to reach out! #COP16#COP16CALI