ELR® INTERNATIONAL UPDATE

July 26, 2010

DUTCH COURT FINDS FIRM GUILTY OF EXPORTING TOXIC WASTE

Trafigura, a Swiss-based multinational trading in base metals and energy, was fined one million euros by a Dutch court for transporting waste from Amsterdam to Cote D'Ivoire, where it is reported to have caused death and severe burns to the skin and lungs among Abidjan residents. Trafigura initially contested the nation's dumping report, saying the waste caused only flu-like symptoms, but eventually agreed to pay $200 million to the Ivoirian government and $45 million to 30,000 Abidjan residents. In the firm's first criminal case since the 2006 dumping, the Dutch court found that Trafigura had attempted to pass off the waste as "harmless slops" to an Amsterdam waste treatment facility, and was given a much higher rate for treatment than the firm expected. Trafigura then shipped the waste to Cote D'Ivoire, where it was given a much cheaper rate. Presiding Judge Frans Bauduin said that the firm "should never have agreed to its processing at such a price." For the full story, see http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-10735255

EU AND UK TO END GREEN AND BROWN FUNDING

As the United Kingdom (UK) announced an end to funding for its Sustainable Development Commission amidst a massive budget crisis, the European Union (EU) announced that all noncompetitive hard coal mines in the Union would have to close within the next four years. The UK cuts came on the heals of a Sustainable Development Commission report that the government had saved £60-70 million by introducing green measures. The Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs, the largest source of its funding, was mandated to cut more than 25 percent of its budget. The Sustainable Development Commission has a budget of £3 million. In the EU, more than half the coal used in coal-fired power plants is imported. In 2008, as aid began to drop to German and Spanish mines, the proportion of aid used to cover social and environmental costs of mine closures began to increase, while the proportion used for mine production began to decrease. For UK cuts, see http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-10725394. For EU cuts, see http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-10713164.

PACIFIC GOVERNMENTS WEIGH CARBON AND ECONOMIC COSTS

The governments of Australia and Japan appear to sit in opposite camps on climate legislation. To the south, Prime Minister Julia Gillard confirmed that the Australian government will delay an introduction of a price for carbon pollution until at least 2012, in a move that many Australian citizens see as an effort to ensure re-election in August. Meanwhile, to the north, Japan will be adopting a utility plan currently in effect in Germany and Spain in which utility companies will be required to buy a certain percentage of electricity from renewable sources of power and in which the cost is passed on to consumers. Renewable sources account for six percent of Japan's energy. The nation aims to raise it to ten percent by 2020. For Japan, see http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE66M1GW20100723. For Australia, see http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE66M03Y20100723.

Note: To request additional information, please call (800) 433-5120 or (202) 939-3844. Documents may also be available free or at a nominal charge from the applicable court or agency. Copyright© 2010, Environmental Law Institute, Washington, D.C. All rights reserved.

ELR STAFF

Leslie Carothers, Publisher
Scott Schang, Editor-in-Chief
Rachel Jean-Baptiste, Managing Editor
Erin Webreck, Associate Editor
William J. Straub, Desktop Publisher
Clare Shepherd, Web Editor