Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL)

Red flag: Today, the European Scientific Board on Climate Change released a report on scaling up carbon dioxide removal with recommendations that, while well-intentioned, risk legitimizing dangerous technologies and distracting European Union policymakers from much-needed real climate solutions. "The report's emphasis on scaling carbon dioxide removal (CDR) technologies is akin to hoping for carbon-sucking aliens to visit Earth – a convenient scenario, but not a reliable strategy. We cannot build our climate policies on speculative and risky technologies or those with a track record of failure, such as Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS)," commented CIEL's Lili Fuhr. "As warming approaches and exceeds 1.5 degrees Celsius, the necessity to halt the production and use of fossil fuels, correct course, and provide remedy remains paramount. The EU must double down on strategies that reduce energy and resource demand, center people’s needs and rights, and protect and restore ecosystems,” she added. #SayNoToCDR #RealClimateSolutions #ClimateAction

Webinar alert ?? Together with World's Youth for Climate Justice (WYCJ) and?Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change, we are organizing a panel discussion to reflect on the arguments presented by countries and organizations during the historic hearings at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on States' responsibility to tackle the climate crisis. ?? More info ??

The 58th session of The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) started this week in Geneva. The HRC58 will address critical human rights issues worldwide, including the release of a report on oceans and human rights and one on climate finance. Check out CIEL Francesca Mingrone's post below with more information on what to look for in the next four weeks ??

We are excited to host GELC's first webinar of 2025 on the topic of ''The Climate Crisis before the Bench: Unpacking the ICJ's Advisory Opinion Proceedings and the Future of State Responsibility for Climate Change' with Joie Chowdhury as our speaker. Join us online on 6 March 2025 at 16:00 SAST. Follow this link to register: https://lnkd.in/dXMJpCmY University of the Western Cape Law Faculty UWC

Today, the European Commission unveiled the Clean Industrial Deal, a controversial strategy intended to support struggling European industries while supposedly cleaning them up to make them fit for the green transition. “Behind the ‘clean technologies’ wording, the Clean Industrial Deal hides ineffective and costly techno-fixes such as carbon capture and storage and increased support for ‘low carbon’ hydrogen. These measures risk justifying the expansion of new fossil fuel infrastructure and jeopardizing the energy transition," commented CIEL's Silvia Pastorelli. "The European Commission's Clean Industrial Deal risks echoing Trump's 'drill, baby, drill' mentality with a misguided 'produce, baby, produce' approach. This Deal should be the EU's opportunity to strategically support industries central to the green transition while managing the phasedown of declining sectors such as petrochemicals and plastics. Instead, the European Commission seems to be ignoring urgent climate and pollution warnings, crafting plans that neither serve the workers they claim to champion nor propel Europe toward a toxic-free, climate-safe future," she added. Read the full statement below. #CleanIndustrialDeal #PeopleOverProfit #ClimateAction

Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) is hosting The Risks of Ammonia a Marine Fuel. Make sure to attend it tomorrow.

Join us tomorrow! Register: https://lnkd.in/gWe6PbCG Speakers: Taylor Hodge Jane Patton Bryan Comer Lucy Gilliam, PhD Paul Wolfram Nora Wissner Oeko-Institut The International Council on Clean Transportation Pacific Northwest National Laboratory One Planet Port

The?Council of Europe remains the only regional human rights system in the world that has yet to recognize the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment.?The responsibility now lies with the CoE Committee of Ministers to take decisive action and advance towards a legally binding instrument to protect this right. ?? At this week’s meeting of the Rapporteur Group on Human Rights (GR-H), States will discuss the next steps to move forward. ??? Recognizing this right through an Additional Protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights would: ? Strengthen domestic environmental policies ? Provide legal certainty and access to justice ? Better protect vulnerable communities from the triple planetary crisis ? Reinforce protections for environmental human rights defenders ? Strengthen the European Court of Human Rights’ role in environmental matters ?? 500+ civil society organizations & 200+ academics?have already called on the Council of Europe to put the right to a #HealthyEnvironmentForAll into law.?Now, it’s time for States to act! ?? ?We call on all Council of Europe member states to show leadership?by supporting the recognition of a binding, enforceable right to a healthy environment at the upcoming GR-H meeting. ?????Read the case for a protocol (link in the first comment).

We're #hiring a new Temporary Communications Campaign Specialist (6mo) in Geneva, Geneva. Apply today or share this post with your network.

Betting on large scale technological carbon removal is like waiting for carbon-sucking aliens to show up ? It is not breaking news, but it is newsworthy - the European Scientific Advisory Board on Climate Change (ESABCC) today released a report on scaling up carbon dioxide removals: https://lnkd.in/eEChxher. The rationale: “To achieve its climate targets, the EU must quickly scale up carbon dioxide removals while pursuing deep emissions cuts.” (Prof. Ottmar Edenhoder, Chair of the Advisory Board). What sounds logical at first glance? is actually deeply problematic. As the absurdity of such dangerous distractions often gets lost in technical jargon , I will attempt to illustrate it by exchanging ‘CDR’ for ‘carbon-sucking aliens’. Both are extremely necessary in theory but unlikely to be available in the foreseeable future. Here we go: 1. "Our Models Say Aliens Are Coming!" The plan is based on computer models that predict carbon-sucking aliens will be cheap, effective, and available by 2050.? 2. "Innovation Will Solve It!" Governments should give scientists and companies more money to invent and build better alien traps now - because without those early investments, we will never be able to catch them when they come. 3. “Carbon-sucking aliens are expensive.” Governments won’t be able to pay for it alone. But no worries: we can get the market to pay for it by offering polluters to offset their real emissions by investing in alien carbon capture schemes that may or may not materialise.? 4. "It Will Be Different This Time!" We know the old traps we managed to build so far have mainly captured politicians and not aliens or carbon, but we promise that it will be different this time. We just need more money and more time.? 5. "The Aliens Are Not Distracting Us From Cutting Emissions Now, We Swear!" The hope for a future alien invasion won't stop us from actually reducing emissions and applying the real solutions that are available at scale today. Promise ?? .?? ? But while we are waiting for those friendly aliens to visit planet Earth, eat all the CO2, and solve climate change for us, the planet is on fire and the 'joke' is on us. By the way - The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and government delegates will meet in Hangzhou, China, from 24 to 28 February to take a number of foundational decisions that will shape the scope and outcomes of the IPCC’s 7th Assessment Report. On the agenda: A methodological report on CCS and CDR. On the eve of the 62nd IPCC Session, over 100 organisations are calling on the IPCC to Center Equity, Real Solutions, and End Reliance on Highly Speculative Technologies: https://lnkd.in/e6TPh-Tv ?