How worse can the economic crisis get? Much worse, as the developments of this past month prove…  Spain and Cyprus officially submitting formal requests for bailout of their banks and Italy’s economic outlook not the least improving, the future of the € indeed looks uncertain. ...

Could the International Monetary Fund become a strong voice for carbon pricing? Yes, if the statement of its managing director, Christine Lagarde, on the occasion of Rio+20 is to be included in the IMF’s main financial and monetary policy agenda. “Getting the prices right means using fiscal policy to make sure that the harm we do is reflected in the prices we pay. I am thinking about environmental taxes or emissions trading systems under whi...

NGOs, including WWF Italy, Legambiente and Greenpeace Italy, issued a joint statement saying that the Italian Government is yielding to pressure from oil companies and aims to free the drilling exclusion area of 12 miles of coastal marine protected areas for offshore oil drilling.   The abolition of the no-drill coastal zone would critically threaten coastal habitats, settlements and important economic sectors important for Italy, such as touri...

The Portuguese Government is taking environmentally risky steps to reduce the overall cost of electricity.  Constituting a commitment towards the IMF-EC-ECB bailout package, Portugal is expected to cap energy subsidies for an anticipated cutback of...

The financial crisis has made owners of large commercial and public buildings more cautious about spending on energy efficiency improvements, according to Euractiv.com. ...

The Euro-area Summit of 29 June 2012 included the Financial Transactions Tax (FTT) or “Robin Hood Tax”, in its conclusions. Based on a February letter of nine EU member states (Italy, France, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Spain, Finland, Greece and Portugal) to the Danish Presidency, the Summit included the FTT in its agenda. However, no clear conclusion was reached, primarily due to the reaction of a block of member states led by the UK....

“To   sustain   fiscal   consolidation,   several   Member   States   are   raising   taxes.   The  Commission has called for a shift in taxation away from labour towards environmentally-harmful practices, consumption and real estate, while ensuring that the burden does not fall  disproportionately  on  the  poorest  sections  of  society.  While a  number  of  Member States have significantly increased consumption taxes a...

Accompanied by a package of 70 measures, the Irish government announced its sustainable economic recovery national plan.  The areas covered by the plan include the sustainability of public finances and economic resilience, natural resources, agriculture, climate change, transport, public health, education, innovation and research, education, skills & training, and global poverty. The plan also foresees an environmental tax reform and the dev...

The period June 2011 – June 2012, which is covered in WWF Greece’s 8th annual review on the status of environmental legislation and policy in Greece, was marked by an avalanche of serious environmental losses....

Eurogroup statement on Spain | 9 June 2012...