Climate

Record-breaking prison sentences have been imposed on climate activists in England who complained they were denied the opportunity to explain their motivation to the jury. Just Stop Oil co-founder Roger Hallam was sentenced to five years' imprisonment — believed to be the longest sentence ever

New EU rules on corporate sustainability reporting have come into effect in Ireland. The European Union (Corporate Sustainability Reporting) Regulations 2024 require that all large companies and all listed companies (except listed micro-enterprises) report sustainability information in accordance w

In a landmark ruling welcomed by climate campaigners, the UK Supreme Court has ruled that a decision to grant planning permission for a fossil fuel project was unlawful because it failed to consider the impact on greenhouse gas emissions. Campaigner Sarah Finch, supported by Friends of the Earth, br

Nearly a third of organisations have not yet implemented green procurement practices and a fifth do not feel prepared to do so, a new survey by Mason Hayes & Curran suggests. The business law firm's survey sheds light on the barriers organisations face in embracing the green transition as Irelan

The European Greens have urged EU governments to approve the Nature Restoration Law which was backed by MEPs in February but has since stalled. Irish environment minister Eamon Ryan is spearheading a continent-wide effort to have the law approved at the Environmental Council meeting on 17 June, with

A&L Goodbody has committed to reducing its carbon footprint by 50 per cent by 2030. The firm's emissions reduction targets were submitted to the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) earlier this year and have now been approved.

Ireland will withdraw from the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) following the EU's decision to do the same, environment minister Eamon Ryan has said. A meeting of EU energy ministers last week formally adopted a decision for the EU and Euratom to withdraw from the treaty, which climate campaigners say is

A private member's bill on the protection of hedgerows, drawn up with the help of the Climate Bar Association, has been introduced to the Dáil. The Protection of Hedgerows Bill 2024 was drafted by the Hedgerows Legislation Project, a working group of Comhshaol, the Climate Bar Association, an

Arthur Cox has named Jarlaith Brady and Thomas Walsh as the recipients of the 2024 Niamh Burke Memorial Bursary. Established in memory of late Arthur Cox partner Niamh Burke, the bursary fosters and supports study and research in the field of renewable energy through an annual award of €10,000

Ireland and Germany have secured the backing of nine other EU member states in a bid to have the proposed Nature Restoration Law (NRL) approved next month. France, Spain, Denmark, Luxembourg, Czechia, Lithuania, Slovenia, Estonia and Cyprus have signed up to approve the NRL ahead of the next Environ

Proposals on how a global agreement on biodiversity will be monitored risk undermining the rights of indigenous peoples, Amnesty International has said. Current plans regarding how to measure progress towards the Global Biodiversity Framework – a conservation agreement which involves guarantee

Dr Filippos Proedrou and Dr Maria Pournara highlight the shortcomings of the EU's new ecocide law. The EU recently passed a law that criminalises actions “comparable to ecocide”. It’s a revolutionary legal development — the first law of its kind to be adopted by a political e

The climate action plan devised by the UK government is unlawful, the English High Court has ruled. There is not enough evidence of policies in place that would actually reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the court said.

The European Commission has launched action against 20 airlines for allegedly spreading "vague or false" claims about the environmental impact of their flights. The airlines, which have not been named, have been told to bring their practices in line with EU consumer laws within 30 days.

A judge has thrown out the attempted prosecution of a woman for holding a placard on jury rights outside of a climate trial. Mr Justice Saini said there had been no basis for the prosecution of Trudi Warner, 69, for criminal contempt for holding a placard outside the trial of climate activists that