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environment

MoEF officials give nod to carbon-trading deal with Japan without political clearance
18-Jun-2014 Business Standard
Indian Ministry of Environment officials have agreed in-principle to a bilateral carbon-trading climate change deal with Japan without a formal approval from the political leadership, putting the BJP government in a corner ahead of PM Modi’s trip to the country.
US states demand more say in TTIP negotiations
13-Jun-2014 Chemical Watch
Fears that provisions under discussion at the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership talks could impede their ability to regulate chemical safety, environmental protection and public health, have prompted several US states, led by Vermont, to demand a "seat at the table".
New environmentalists taking bold actions and it’s working
26-May-2014 Dissident Voice
Through trade agreements, Big Energy is trying to weaken environmental protections and increase their power to subvert democracy but people are stopping these too.
In Chevron case, Ecuador says new tests prove long-standing pollution
23-May-2014 Reuters
This week, for the first time, the Ecuadorean government disclosed the results of water and soil testing conducted in 2013 by its experts — the US environmental, engineering and infrastructure consultant Louis Berger Group — at five sites once operated by Chevron predecessor Texaco.
178 groups demand answers about TTIP’s climate impact
15-May-2014 EcoWatch
Will the US and Europe consider the climate and environment during their next round of TTIP negotiations? Nearly 200 civil society organizations hope so, and wrote about their concerns in a letter to trade representatives from the U.S. and Europe.
Doctors warn TPPA takes away our climate protection tools
13-May-2014 Voxy
The New Zealand Climate and Health Council warns that negotiations over the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) threaten New Zealand’s ability to protect our climate and health.
Must we link trade to social and environmental standards?
29-Apr-2014 Srfood.org
The inclusion of "sustainable development" chapters in bilateral trade agreements has generally met with resistance from the EU’s trading partners.
TTIP debate - Brussels
19-Apr-2014 TNI
Frank exchange of views between the EU Commission and civil society representatives on the introduction of special rights for companies in the TTIP, through the mechanism of investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS).
Leaked: US and EU chemical lobbies fighting to “freeze” industry regulation
18-Mar-2014 Mint Press News
Newly leaked documents from the chemical industries in the United States and European Union depict a joint effort to guide bilateral trade talks in a way that legal and public interest analysts warn would irreparably weaken the ability of governments in both continents to regulate toxic chemicals.
Chemical industry secretly manipulating US-EU trade negotiations (TTIP)
10-Mar-2014 CIEL
A report published today by ClientEarth and CIEL shows that a leaked proposal from lobby groups, the American Chemistry Council and the European Chemical Industry Council, to the US-EU trade negotiations would damage future protective legislation on toxic chemicals.
New report: No fracking way How the EU-US trade deal risks expanding fracking in Europe and the US
6-Mar-2014 FOEE
A trade deal between the EU and the US risks opening the backdoor for the expansion of fracking in Europe and the US, reveals a new report released today.
TTIP ‘challenged’ by environmental critics, EU says
27-Feb-2014 EurActiv
Plans for a sweeping EU-US free trade deal known as TTIP risk being blown off course by civil society fears about the damage it could wreak on environmental and social protections, according to a leaked EU document seen by EurActiv.
EU-Canada free trade deal ‘opens door to environmental lawsuits’
11-Feb-2014 EurActiv
Multinationals will have wide-ranging powers to sue EU states that enact health or environmental laws breaching their "legitimate expectations" of profit, according to a leaked ‘investment chapter’ from the Canada-EU free trade agreement. A separate ‘nature and scope’ document for EU-US free trade talks, which EurActiv has seen, makes clear that similar parameters are foreseen for TTIP.
Free trade deal with Japan took priority over whaling dispute, says Trade Minister Andrew Robb
10-Feb-2014 Sydney Morning Herald
Australia’s federal government has prioritised a free trade deal with Japan before a dispute between the two countries over whaling in the Southern Ocean, says Trade Minister Andrew Robb.
Investor-state dispute settlement under TTIP - a risk for environmental regulation?
6-Feb-2014 HBF
New report from the Heinrich Boell Foundation reviews the implications of an investor-state dispute settlement provision in TTIP for environmental policies and standards
European Commission announces composition of TTIP expert group
1-Feb-2014 http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-14-79_en.htm
Last Monday the Commission launched a special Advisory Group of experts representing a broad range of interests, from environmental, health, consumer and workers’ interests to different business sectors to provide EU trade negotiators with high quality advice in the areas being negotiated in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) talks.
Environmental scientists join anti-TTIP tirade
31-Jan-2014 Chemical Watch
The Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership could spell an increase in lawsuits against governments which would not only discourage enforcement of existing environmental regulations, but also diminish the role of environmental scientists, predicts an academic opinion piece.
NAFTA & environmental laws: Ethyl Corp. v. Government of Canada
30-Jan-2014 Global Policy Forum
Chemical firm uses trade pact to contest Environmental Law
EEB: “Regulatory rollback: how TTIP puts the environment at risk”
27-Jan-2014 EEB
European Environmental Bureau position paper on the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP)
Pacific trade talks fall short on environmental protection: groups
16-Jan-2014 Reuters
Documents released by the whistle-blowing group WikiLeaks show countries negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) did not plan to sanction trading partners who break environmental promises — an issue that has caused a rift between the United States and others in the bloc and is an obstacle to finalizing the deal.