As societies in Europe turn against the austerity recipes prescribed for the ongoing economic malaise, the overall environmental policy outlook does not show signs of improvement. ...

While low industrial activity is reflected in declining coal consumption trends, the share of cheap coal in the overall power mix of multiple EU countries has risen (Germany, UK etc.). This is mainly attributed to the collapse of carbon prices in the EU ETS (linked to the increased allocation of emissions permits)...

A human chain of protesters dressed in black marched against the plans for offshore oil exploration in the Canary Islands, on Saturday May 26th, in Lanzarote (see CrisisWatch 2)....

Greece: In a last-minute amendment submitted in Parliament in the context of a draft law on the acceleration of the procedures of justice administration, the penalty for illegal logging was reduced from felony to misdemeanour status. The financial penalty remained low. In combination with the inability of the...

Fuel consumption in crisis stricken Portugal is dropping. In February, sales of car fuel showed a reduction of 7.2%, according to the National Energy Agency....

Due to the economic crisis, an increase in the budget of the LIFE+ financial instrument is highly unlikely, as stated by MEPs during a discussion by the European Parliament’s Environment Committee on the EC’s funding proposal for 2014-20. In its proposal of December 2011, the Commission had announced its intention to spend €3.2bn on LIFE+....

Plans by the European Parliament to send a delegation of MEPs to the Rio+20 UN Conference on Sustainable Development (June 2012) are cancelled due to the high rates charged by the hotels in Rio....

A decision signed jointly by the Ministers of Finance and Environment, Energy & Climate Change, sets an upper limit of 40,000 kilometres of travel for inspections for the year 2012. This decision seriously limits the capacity of the Hellenic Environmental Inspectorate authority to respond to the increasing needs for inspections in all Greece. The individual monthly upper limit per Inspector is reduced to 1,000 klm, from 1,200 in 2011....

European Commissioners Olli Rehn (Financial Affairs) and Janez Potočnik (Environment) replied to WWF’s letter on the environmental impact of the structural adjustment programme for Greece. The initial WWF letter was addressed to IMF’s Managing Director Christine Lagarde and the European...

From Portuguese daily Publico: Translation:  - According to WWF, the earth’s resources are being over-consumed. - We live as if we have an extra planet at our disposal - You see? Even at the environmental level there is the habit of spending more than you have. - How about an austerity plan?   For more information, please contact Theodota Nantsou, Policy Coordinator, WWF Greece, This email address is being protected from spambots. Yo...