The dramatic increase in the price of heating oil, following the imposition of a huge tax increase, has led Greek households to seek other means, such as burning wood and lignite in fireplaces and stoves. Since 2011, heating oil prices have gone up by 40%, which has lead to a more than 70% drop in demand, forcing many distribution businesses to close down. The high oil price has in some cases led public services, especially schools in N. Greece,...

You remember the environmentalist’s mantra from well over a decade ago – governments should be taxing public “bads” like pollution and resource wastage and not over-relying on raising revenues from public “goods” like jobs and income. This was part of our strategy to get the environmental agenda onto the desks of Prime Ministers and Ministers of Finance and not to stay stuck in the environmental ministries....

As the economic crisis is driving crisis-hit Mediterranean states to a frantic quest for new oil and gas deposits, areas of exceptional ecological significance are placed under serious threat. In Spain, the pristine marine and coastal environment of the Columbretes islands (Castellón) is about to host a new oil exploration survey. Early in January 2013, the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism gave its initial consent for the project, which...

The draft law on coasts, which was submitted by the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture, Nutrition and Environment Miguel Arias Cañete to the Congress of Deputies, has caused angry reactions by environmentalists and the parliamentary opposition. The draft law aims at loosening the existing coastal legislation, in order to “support coastal protection with economic sustainability”, according to the words of Minister Cañete. The Minister also exp...

Political and economic uncertainty, primarily in key EU renewable markets such as Spain and Italy, appear to be the main drivers of the global decline in renewable energy investments. According to research by Bloomberg New Energy Finance, the rate of new investments in climate friendly energy fell worldwide by 11% during 2012. In the same time, global demand for oil continued along a slow growth path (88.9 million barrels per day in 2011 vs 89.7...

At the Council of January 22nd, the EU’s Economic and Finance Ministers endorsed the Commission’s proposal and gave a “green light” for enhanced cooperation among 11 EU member states for the establishment of a tax on financial transactions (FTT). According to the Commission’s proposal of 2011 (Making the financial sector pay its fare share - IP/11/1085), “[t]he financial sector has received substantial financial support from governme...

Irish Presidency of the EU: Programme of the Irish Presidency of the Council of the European Union 1 January - 30 June 2013 (9 January 2013) European Commission: December 2012: Economic sentiment improves in the euro area and remains broadly stable in the EU (8 January 2013)...

Six Top Environment Stories to Watch in 2013 | Bloomberg (18 January 2013) Merkel’s Offshore Wind-Power Dream for Germany Stalls | Bloomberg (17 January 2013) Greece's Latest Fiscal Solution: Create an Ecological Crisis! | Mother Jones (14 January 2013)...