International Update Volume 48, Issue 26
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<p>ClientEarth, an environmental campaign group, has filed a second complaint with a court in Sweden to block construction of a gas pipeline through Swedish waters. The group is arguing that Sweden's Ministry of Enterprise and Innovation failed to consider the project's impact on wildlife in the Baltic Sea when it approved the pipeline in June. Construction of the pipeline involves detonating World War II bombs on the sea floor along the project's 510-kilometer route in Sweden.

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<p>On September 13 at its biennial meeting in Brazil, the International Whaling Commission (IWC) passed a declaration to safeguard marine mammals in perpetuity. The non-binding Florianopolis Declaration, which was proposed by Brazil and no longer recognizes whaling as a necessary economic activity, was supported by 40 countries and rejected by 27 pro-whaling states. The 89 member countries of the IWC also voted to renew quotas for limited hunts for indigenous communities in Alaska, Russia, Greenland, and the Caribbean on account of their cultural and subsistence needs.

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<p>China's transport and environment ministries are drafting a plan to replace heavy-duty diesel trucks with vehicles that burn cleaner fuel. The proposals being considered include replacing vehicles with more modern trucks using a higher grade of diesel called National Five and using electric trucks or ones that run on liquefied natural gas. The plan is expected to take effect in 2020 and be implemented in the country's smoggiest northern regions.

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