China: Authorities have given courts the powers to hand down the death penalty in serious pollution cases, state media said, as the government tries to assuage growing public anger at environmental desecration. (Reuters)
Law enforcement officers have been given powers to crack down on polluters
US: President Barack Obama says a “grim alternative” awaits the world if rising greenhouse gas emissions are not addressed. Speaking in Berlin, Obama called for “bold action” around the world, praising Germany and the EU for its climate leadership. (RTCC)
Europe: The European Parliament’s Environment Committee has backed a gradual phase out and ban on the use in refrigerators and air conditioners of fluorinated gases – greenhouse gases that are many thousands of times more damaging than carbon dioxide in warming up the earth’s atmosphere, by 2020. (Eur Activ)
Australia: A report commissioned by the Australian Coal Association argues that anti-coal lobbyists are creating investment uncertainty to disrupt and ultimately destroy the Australian coal industry. The report states that environmentalists are ignoring rising worldwide demand for energy. (The Age)
Costa Rica: Costa Rica’s climate change negotiator for the country at UN talks, Monica Araya, has been sacked for criticising a $1bn loan from China to upgrade an oil refinery. The controversy over Araya’s removal from the delegation is a sub plot to the bigger story about the refinery and the pattern of investment that the China loan could lock the country into. (RTCC)