The Netherlands: Amsterdam to become first city in the world to ban advertising by fossil fuels companies

Amsterdam is set to be the first city in the world to ban ads from fossil fuel and aviation companies in a bid to reduce the ‘excesses’ of fossil fuel advertising.

This means that fossil-fuelled vehicles, such as petrol cars and flights, will no longer be advertised in Amsterdam subway stations or the city centre.

The new law follows mass movements in and around the capital which were headed up by the Reclame Fossielvrij (Fossil Free Advertising) initiative. The group co-ordinated a letter from over 50 local organisations demanding Amsterdam to go fossil free.

“The decision to ban fossil fuel advertising from subway stations comes at a crucial moment in the fight against climate change. Adverts that portray fossil fuels as normal worsen climate disruption and have no place in a city − or a country − that has complied with Paris,” says Amsterdam Mayor Femke Sleegers, coordinator of Reclame Fossielvrij.

Read more at: Amsterdam to become first city in the world to ban this type of advert | Euronews

The Netherlands: Burqa ban, face mask laws frustrate Dutch Muslims

On August 1 it will be one year since the Dutch government approved a controversial law prohibiting clothing that "completely covers the face." It followed similar, albeit stricter, bans in France and Belgium.

The Dutch ban prohibited such clothing from being worn in public transport or in public buildings such as schools, hospitals and government buildings. Unlike in France and Belgium, the burqa is still permitted to be worn in the streets.

Read more at:
Burqa ban, face mask laws frustrate Dutch Muslims | Europe| News and current affairs from around the continent | DW | 01.08.2020

Pollution - The Netherlands to ban many single-use plastics by next summer - by Victoria Séveno

Good news for the environment! The Netherlands will ban a number of single-use plastic products from July 2021, in an effort to protect our beaches and oceans.

Read more:
The Netherlands to ban many single-use plastics by next summer

White Supremacy banned: Facebook bans white nationalism from their platform after pressure from civil rights groups - by David Ingram and Ben Collins

Facebook is banning white nationalism and white supremacy from its social network following criticism that it had not done enough to eliminate hate speech on its platform

The social media giant said in a blog post Wednesday that conversations with academics and civil rights groups convinced the company to expand its policies around hate groups.

 “Today we’re announcing a ban on praise, support and representation of white nationalism and separatism on Facebook and Instagram, which we’ll start enforcing next week,” the company wrote in the post. “It’s clear that these concepts are deeply linked to organized hate groups and have no place on our services.” Scrutiny of Facebook reached new heights in the past two weeks after a gunman in Christchurch, New Zealand, used Facebook to livestream his attacks on two mosques that killed 50 people.

 Note EU-Digest: Bravo, let's hope Twitter does the same, which would ban Donald Trump and his Populist buddies in Europe and other areas of the world from using both Facebook and Twitter, to spread their white supremacy nationalist ideology.

 Read more at: Facebook bans white nationalism from platform after pressure from civil rights groups

Pollution: EU Commission plans ban on plastic plastic waste

EU Commission plans ban on plastic waste

Read more at:

http://flip.it/wGsMXB

USA - Transgenders: Donald Trump’s transgenders ban announcement is met with swift backlash - Michael Glassman

Immediately after President Donald Trump tweeted Wednesday that he was barring transgender Americans from serving in the military, the head of the U.S. armed forces was met with stunned disbelief over the slap in the face to thousands of service members.

Read more: Donald Trump’s transgender ban announcement is met with swift backlash - Salon.com

Islam; Banning the Burqa in Europe

List of countries which have banned the Burqa in Europe.

For complete report click here

Climate change - alternative energy: Netherlands on brink of banning sale of petrol-fuelled cars - by J. Staufenberg

Europe appears poised to continue its move towards cutting fossil fuel use as the Netherlands joins a host of nations looking to pass innovative green energy laws.

The Dutch government has set a date for parliament to host a roundtable discussion that could see the sale of petrol- and diesel-fuelled cars banned by 2025.

If the measures proposed by the Labour Party in March are finally passed, it would join Norway and Denmark in making a concerted move to develop its electric car industry.

It comes after Germany saw all of its power supplied by renewable energies such as solar and wind power on one day in May as the economic powerhouse continues to phase out nuclear energy and fossil fuels.

And outside Europe, both India and China have demanded that citizens use their cars on alternate days only to reduce the exhaust fume production which is causing serious health problems for the populations of both nations.

The consensus-oriented parties of the Netherlands are set to consider a total ban on petrol and diesel cars in a debate on 13 October.

Richard Smokers, principle adviser in sustainable transport at the Dutch renewable technology company TNO, said the Dutch government was committed to meeting the Paris climate change agreement to reduce greenhouse emissions to 80 per cent less than the 1990 level. The plan requires the majority of passenger cars to be run on CO2-free energy by 2050.

"Dutch cities still have some problems to meet existing EU air quality standards and have formulated ambitions to improve air quality beyond these standards," he told The Independent, adding that the government had at the same time been reluctant to implement strict policies on the environment.

"The current government embraces long term targets and strives at meeting EU requirements, but is hesistant about proposing 'strong' policy measures.

"Instead it prefers to facilitate and stimulate initiatives from stakeholders in society."

If the law to ban the sale of new fossil-fuel cars by 2025 passes, a significant move will have been made towards phasing out all petrol and diesel cars by 2035, added Dr Smokers.

Read more: Climate change: Netherlands on brink of banning sale of petrol-fuelled cars | Climate Change | Environment | The Independent

EU Parliament - Chemical Industry - Monsanto: Glyphosate -- Crushed it!! and Avaaz made it happen

Europe just took an extraordinary vote, refusing to grant Monsanto a license for its main product and cornerstone of its empire - the cancer-linked weed killer glyphosate.

Monsanto thought renewal of glyphosate was a done deal. But now, after over 2 million of us joined the biggest global petition against glyphosate ever and massive targeted public pressure, the future of the Monsanto model is more in question than ever before.

Together we forced this from a formality for a new 15-year license into a heated political debate that ended up as a vote on an 18-month emergency extension. This week, European nations rejected even that.

Leading EU parliamentarian Pavel Poc just said: “Avaaz is indisputably the driving force of the fight for glyphosate discontinuance." Here’s what we have done together to make what seemed impossible, possible:

When it came down to the final vote, all our work paid off - leaders representing half the EU population refused to authorise glyphosate, even for the trimmed down 18-month proposal we had helped reduce the license to!

All of this effort was funded by over 86,000 Avaazers worldwide who donated generously to make this campaign mega.

Throughout this fight, Avaaz was joined by great allies and partners who played invaluable roles. Our view is only partial, but here’s our top list to express gratitude to:

• The Socialists and Democrats, and Green parties in the EU Parliament were crucial in this fight. Particularly Bart Staes and Pavel Poc who were instrumental.
• French Environment Minister Ségolène Royal, who was a central leader in this fight.
• Pesticide Action Network, a great coalition of national action networks that has long campaigned on glyphosate and provided great advice and insight to Avaaz.
• Greenpeace, always a wonderful force on these issues, which did a lot of lobbying and media work on glyphosate.
• Campact ran a brilliant campaign in Germany, and matched massive open letters, polling and bird-dogging to play a key role in flipping the German government on glyphosate.
• And many others! Like HEAL, WeMove.eu, Global 2000, and a great coalition of Italian NGOs on this.

Note EU-DigestL Once again the above result shows that people, once they can get out of their comfort zone and join together in a common cause, can still make a difference and overcome just about any hurdle that is politically, economically ,industrially, environmentally dangerous to their health or lifestyle. 

EU-Digest supports Avaaz  and recommends AVAAZ  - a global web movement to bring people-powered politics to decision-making everywhere
 
Read more: Avaaz - Glyphosate -- Crushed it!!

GM Foods: EU Commission proposes GM opt-out for member states "why not total ban?"

The European Commission has proposed a new law which would allow individual EU countries to restrict or prohibit imported genetically modified (GM) crops – even if they have been approved by the bloc as a whole. The US says the move is "not constructive."

According to EU Food Safety Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis, the plan would "grant member states a greater say as regards the use of EU-authorized GMOs in food and feed on their respective territories."

It will now go to the European Parliament and member states for further consideration. There is concern that giving nations the opportunity to opt out from EU laws goes counter to many EU initiatives which traditionally seek a common stance on EU policies.

The proposal – which covers human food and animal feed – comes as a knock to the US, which wants Europe to fully accept its GM crops as part of an EU-US free trade deal.

Note EU-Digest: This EU Commission proposal is not a solution - the EU must ban the use of genetically modified foods throughout the EU period.

Read more: EU Commission proposes GM opt-out for member states — RT News