ClientEarth

Football has long been called the beautiful game, and it brings joy to billions worldwide.

But FIFA is giving the world’s biggest corporate polluter access to fans and viewers everywhere, through its sponsorship of the Men’s World Cup.

Even as climate pollution makes football more dangerous for both players and fans.

Tell FIFA: Kick big polluters out of football.

Sign now >> https://brnw.ch/21x3g0t

Sources:
https://brnw.ch/21x3g0u
https://brnw.ch/21x3g0s

🫨 The world’s largest banks provided $906bn in finance to the fossil fuel industry last year. 🫨

📈 This is up nearly 8% since 2024, and locks in dependence on coal, oil and gas production for years to come.

But continued fossil fuel financing comes at significant legal risk to banks:

👉 BNP Paribas and ING are facing landmark lawsuits in France and the Netherlands over their fossil fuel financing and climate strategies.
👉 In 2023, following a complaint from our lawyers, UN human rights experts warned that bankrolling fossil fuel expanding companies could violate human rights law.

🤔 What do banks need to do? At a bare minimum, banks must set out clear red lines on what they finance, and rule out bankrolling any fossil fuel company that refuses to stop business-as-usual.

More here: https://brnw.ch/21x3cOH

🩵 Good ocean news 🩵

The Azores has just created the largest Marine Protected Area in Europe‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍.

The islands are incredibly rich in marine biodiversity, providing habitats for dolphins, whales, manta rays, endangered turtles and tropical fish.

Half the new MPA is fully protected, meaning no fishing or extractive activities are allowed. In the other half activities like fishing are also restricted.

🙌Win for UK nature🙌

The beloved River Wye has now formally been granted its own rights, in a UK first.

This applies to the entire catchment of the river, formally recognising it as a living ecosystem with intrinsic rights in a charter. The rights include:

💚The right to flow
💚The right to biodiversity
💚The right to be free from pollution
💚The right to regenerate
💚The right to be represented

It's a meaningful step towards protecting one of the UK's most well-known rivers, which has been suffering from pollution due to industrial farming run-off and sewage spills.

More here: https://brnw.ch/21x2VFj

🎉Huge news for climate justice🎉

Countries have voted YES to turning the world’s highest court’s decision on climate change into political action!

With an overwhelming majority, a UN resolution was passed yesterday that builds on the ICJ opinion that States MUST ACT to avoid climate catastrophe.

This is the next step in taking last year’s historic climate change opinion from the International Court of Justice forward.

“Much of the world right now is experiencing price shocks and supply shortages of fossil fuels because of the war in the Middle East.

"In the face of this ongoing energy crisis and countless consequences of climate change, this resolution could not be timelier.

"It’s a rallying call for a better future – and it’s up to all of us to answer it.” Lea Main-Klingst, ClientEarth lawyer

This result is a huge boost for all of us in the climate movement. 🦾

Now we must keep pushing for leaders the world over to translate this progress into meaningful climate action. 💚

👏 Ghana has declared its first ever Marine Protected Area (MPA). 👏

It's taken more than 15 years to secure but this will protect over 700 square kilometres in the greater Cape Three Points area.

It's a critical fish breeding and nursery ground, while mangroves, wetlands and reefs providing habitats for many marine species.

The MPA will mean a partial ban on fishing that will allow sensitive areas to recover while permitting regulated fishing in certain zones, to help fish stocks restore while supporting livelihoods.

😠New Zealand is planning to change its law to limit climate lawsuits😠

New Zealand's government has said it is planning changes that would stop courts finding companies liable in private cases for climate harms caused by GHG emissions. This will apply to future and current cases.

This includes the High Court case brought by Māori elder Michael Smith against six major emitters, set to go to trial next year. The case alleges that Smith’s land, interests and cultural rights have been harmed by climate change, and holds the companies liable owing to their high emissions.

“New Zealand is respected the world over for its democratic institutions and rule of law – and for its clean and green image. But the Government’s proposed amendments to limit climate change claims risk undermining both." Laura Clarke OBE, ClientEarth CEO

We just won a landmark case to protect one of Europe’s most important marine sanctuaries: the Dogger Bank. 💫

The court ruling sets a precedent for governments across Europe and sends a clear message: protected must mean protected.

The Netherlands still allow destructive bottom trawling to continue in the Dutch section of the Dogger Bank - a key nursery and Natura 200 recovery area for fish stocks. But without healthy fish stocks there is no fishing.

EU law is clear: governments must protect sensitive areas from destructive human activities.

Yet Dutch bottom trawlers are still allowed to fish there, even without permit, and that is unlawful.

So, we’ve taken the Dutch government to court with Doggerland Foundation, ARK Rewilding Nederland and Blue Marine Foundation - and won.

For the first time in Europe, the judges have confirmed that governments are responsible for properly regulating the impact of bottom trawling on Marine Protected Areas.

We’re demanding full closure of the area to bottom trawling to give this ecosystem a real chance to recover. This will support small-scale and low-impact fishing on the long term.

Keep supporting our legal fight for an ocean full of life, click here: https://brnw.ch/21x2nyW

Because of David Attenborough, the world can see what he understood long before most of us, that the natural world isn’t just beautiful, it’s essential to all life on earth.

Very few people can change how the whole world sees something. Because of David Attenborough, millions of us can see that the natural word isn't just beautiful, it's essential to all life on Earth.

His commitment to the planet - and to communicating about it to all of us has been unwavering.

On his 100th birthday, the best way to honour that is simple: act to protect it.

Happy birthday Sir David Attenborough. And thank you for all that you have done for our planet.

⚖️Legal action alert⚖️

Consumer goods giant Unilever is the subject of a complaint by Filipino communities, on account of the enormous pollution in the country caused by the company's non-recyclable plastic sachets.

This is a landmark pollution complaint before the Pollution Adjudication Board of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in the Philippines.

The sachets are overwhelming waterways and causing numerous harms, including flooding and health risks for fisherfolk and waste-workers.

Filipino communities are demanding reparations, administrative fines for Unilever, and an immediate cease-and-desist order.

🏭Big corporations are all too often causing devastating pollution like this through their business practices, and should be held to account.