I. Introductory Note Exploitation of forest resources plays an important role in Mozambique’s economy. In fact, Mozambique has some 57 million hectares of native forests, 36% of which show great potential for the wood industry, while the remainder has great social and ecological value, supplying food, medicinal products and building and energy materials ...
Renewable energy sources, including wind power, represent 40 percent of the total energy production in Sweden. In order to curb climate change the European Union stated, as a part of the so called 2020-decision of the 23 of January 2009, that Sweden should increase its production of renewable energy to 49 percent by the year 2020 ...
The British Property Federation (BPF) has published a guide for landlords and tenants explaining the Government's proposed Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC), and illustrating how expected additional costs might be shared. Around 5,000 large public and private organisations are likely to be full participants in CRC, and it has been estimated that energy costs will increase between 7% and 15%. The introductory phase is due to start in April 2010 ...
I. Background The need to amend the Panamanian maritime legislation, amongst others, came as an effort to incorporate long standing practices that had been developed but were not regulated in our national laws, to promote the registration of vessels in our registry by attracting new tonnage and rewarding both loyalty to the flag and compliance with safety standards of vessels already registered in Panama ...
Environmental laws sweep broadly, regulating a wide range of business activities. Environmental laws create obligations and liabilities that affect not only ongoing businesses, but business transactions as well. They also may form the basis for, or otherwise be relevant to, litigation ...
In the 18th and 19th centuries, the Industrial Revolution produced radical transformations not only in technology, including an ever increasing use of fossil fuels, but also in economic policies and social structure ...
The property industry will have an opportunity to assess the impact of the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) when a user guide and a consultation paper are issued by the Government, this month. The CRC is a UK-wide, legally binding scheme designed to reduce energy use, and a key component of the Government's strategy to reduce carbon emissions attributable to property ...
The liability to remedy contamination is not limited in time but is only limited by the Environmental Code’s transitional rules, where a business operator can be held liable to take remedial actions if the actual operation of the business has been carried out after 30 June 1969. Further, a business operator can be held liable to take remedial actions if the operator has acquired contaminated property after 1 January 1999 ...
The Supreme Court of Canada ended a lengthy legal saga on November 20th(1) when it ordered St. Lawrence Cement Inc. to compensate residents of Beauport living near its cement plant. Comments on prescription, the assessment of damages and the granting of future damages follow. The facts “Dust they are, and unto dust they shall return, yet human beings have difficulty resigning themselves to living in dust ...
Government Regulation No. 2 of 2008 regarding the Types and Rates of Non-tax State Revenue Derived from the Utilization of Forest Areas for the Development of Non-forestry Activities Applicable to the Department of Forestry ("GR No. 2/2008") introduces a new scheme of forest exploitation fees for non-forestry companies such as those engaged in mining, oil and gas, geothermal power and telecommunications companies conducting activities in forest areas ...
On September 23, 2008, the Western Climate Initiative (“WCI”) released its Design Recommendations for the WCI Regional Cap-and-Trade Program (the “Program”) ...
In its decision of 10 September 2008, the Market Court held that eight retailers of Volvo and Renault cars in southern Sweden were guilty of fixing sales prices and discounts on new cars, dividing the market for new car sales and fixing acquisition and sales prices on used cars. This behaviour was deemed to constitute such a limitation of competition as is prohibited under Section 6 of the Competition Act and Article 81 of the EC Treaty ...
Concerns over global climate change have sparked a series of legislative and policy responses on the provincial, federal, regional, and international levels. The challenge of complying with climate change policy is that different governments have invoked a number of different policy tools to respond and adapt ...
On May 27, 2008, Line Beauchamp, Minister of Sustainable Development, Environment and Parks, announced an envelope of $60 million under the Assistance program to reduce or avoid greenhouse gas emissions by implementation of intermodal projects in freight transportation, to fund new projects aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions ...
On May 9, 2008, the Ministère du Développement durable, de l’Environnement et des Parcs (MDDEP) presented its new pricing system for applications for environmental authorizations. The Order-in-Council provides for a rate grid based on the nature of the work covered by the application for authorization. The base rate is $500, unless another rate is stipulated in the rate grid ...
On April 24, 2008, the Union des Municipalités du Québec announced the launching of the Sustainable Mobility and Transport Policy. This purpose of this initiative is to develop a new culture regarding mobility and transport, reduce dependency on motor vehicles, facilitate access to affordable public transport, decrease energy consumption and reduce environmental impacts, including those related to greenhouse gas emissions ...
On April 29, 2008, the Minister of Sustainable Development, Environment and Parks, Line Beauchamp, announced the adoption of new measures to improve water quality and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. An amount of $16.4 million has been allocated to enable agricultural operations to intensify their actions favouring the preservation and improvement of water quality ...
Patents offer useful services. With them, the holder can prevent competitors from offering products using the patented technology. In addition to the rights that a patent holder has had up until now (injunction, disclosure, indemnification), now a fourth right is joining in on the action and is continuously gaining in significance. This right involves the right to inspection. It is especially important in the case of process patents and at trade shows ...
Prohibition of Certain Toxic Substances Regulations 2008 - Environment Canada Consultation DocumentEnvironment Canada hold consultations in January 2008 on modifications to the Prohibition of Certain Toxic Substances Regulations, 2005 that would prohibit the manufacture, use, sale, offer for sale and importation of certain toxic substances. The modified regulations would replace the Prohibition of Certain Toxic Substances Regulations, 2005 ...
In the autumn of 2007, the rules in the Environmental Code on liability for environmental damage in the form of pollution were made more stringent. The changes were due to the EC directive on environmental liability (1). The liability of businesses operators and property owners has thus become more extensive. Amendments have, inter alia, been made to chapter 10 of the Environmental Code ...
On Nov. 20, 2007, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officially published “Appendix A” of the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) in the Federal Register. This comes as part of the DHS’s ongoing efforts to ensure the adequate security of chemical facilities in the United States. Appendix A, which is an addendum to 6 C.F.R. § 27, identifies over 300 chemicals perceived by the DHS to create a significant threat to human life or health if mishandled ...
On certified questions from the United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire, the New Hampshire Supreme Court has decided that New Hampshire will allocate liability for long-tail environmental claims pro rata by years and limits among triggered policies. See EnergyNorth Natural Gas, Inc. v. Certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s, No. 2006-745 (N.H. Oct. 18, 2007). BackgroundEnergyNorth Natural Gas, Inc ...
The Environmental Liability Directive aims to establish a common framework of environmental liability across the EU to prevent and remedy certain types of environmental damage. The framework is based on the “polluter pays principle”. The implementation date for member states was 30 April 2007. Ireland has not complied with this transposition date and will not have transposed it as a current estimate until early 2008 ...
On May 25, 2007, the Supreme Court of Canada rendered a unanimous decision in favour of our client, Transat Tours Canada Inc., a subsidiary of the Transat A.T. Inc. group, which ranks among the ten largest tourism businesses in the world. This precedent is of crucial importance for Canadian firms carrying on business abroad ...
In accordance with its announcement in its Notice of Intent published on October 21, 2006(1), the federal government, on April 26, published the regulatory framework it favours for greenhouse gases emissions and other air pollutants.The “Regulatory Framework for Air Emissions”, despite its title, is not a restrictive regulation ...
