An international court in France on Tuesday ruled Switzerland’s failure to adequately tackle the climate crisis was in violation of human rights, in a landmark climate judgment that could have a ripple effect across the globe.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg, France delivered its ruling in a case brought by more than 2,000 Swiss women, the majority of whom are in their 70s, against Switzerland’s government. They argued that climate change-fueled heat waves undermined their health and quality of life, and put them at risk of dying.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) ruled on Tuesday in favour of a group of elderly Swiss women who had argued that their government's inadequate efforts to combat climate change put them at risk of dying during heatwaves.

The European court's decision on the case, brought by more than 2,000 women, could have a ripple effect across Europe and beyond, setting a precedent for how some courts deal with the rising tide of climate litigation argued on the basis of human rights infringements.

The European Court of Human Rights has made a landmark ruling that governments have a duty to protect people from climate change.

In a case brought by a group of elderly Swiss women, the Strasbourg judges ruled that Switzerland was not doing enough to tackle climate change.

The ruling is binding and can trickle down to influence the law in 46 countries in Europe including the UK. The court found that the Swiss state had violated Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which guarantees the “right to respect for private and family life.”

If you're looking for an electric car bargain and you're braver than the average bear, you might want to check out Hertz, the car rental agency. After announcing big plans to purchase tens of thousands of EVs from Tesla and then Polestar, it's now liquidating a third of that fleet, the company told investors.

The rental car company Hertz will be selling about one-third of the electric vehicles in its fleet after they lost value more quickly than expected, the company said on Thursday. The drop in value is a blow to the company’s efforts to replace gasoline vehicles with cars that do not produce tailpipe emissions.

The electric vehicles the company owned were also more likely to be involved in collisions, Hertz said, and they proved costly to repair. The company said it planned to buy more gasoline-powered vehicles to replace the 20,000 battery-powered cars it was selling.

Rental giant Hertz on Thursday said it will sell off about 20,000 electric vehicles from its fleet and buy more gas-powered cars – a stunning reversal after tapping NFL legend Tom Brady to tout its transition to EVs.

The company said the high costs to repair electric vehicles and a lack of demand among renters led to its decision to abandon those plans.

Brady starred in a series of buzzy Hertz commercials in 2021, with Hertz vowing it would order 100,000 Tesla vehicles by the end of 2022 — before Thursday’s sudden U-turn.

Azerbaijan has selected its minister of ecology — a former state oil executive — to helm the United Nations climate talks later this year, in a move that stands to fuel debate about the oil and gas industry’s role in international negotiations aimed at reducing fossil fuel use.

Mukhtar Babayev worked for the country’s state-owned oil company SOCAR for nearly 25 years before taking his current post as minister of ecology and natural resources in 2018.

Fossil fuels are ending 2023 with a bang.

On Wednesday, one week after world governments agreed at COP28 to “transition away from fossil fuels,” oil companies including Shell and Hess bid a collective $382 million for drilling rights in the Gulf of Mexico, the most for an auction there since 2015. The auction closely followed the release of data showing that U.S. oil production is now higher than in any country at any time in history, reaching about 13.3 million barrels per day in the fourth quarter.

United Nations climate change negotiators came to an agreement Wednesday to "transition away" from fossil fuels during the COP28 annual summit hosted in the United Arab Emirates. 

Acting quickly, leaving no time for critics to engage in floor debate, COP28 President Sultan al-Jaber, who is also CEO of the UAE’s oil company, swiftly gaveled approval Wednesday of a central document that takes aim at the burning of coal, oil and gas without asking for comments. 

More than 190 governments at the United Nations climate conference approved an agreement Wednesday calling for the world to transition away from fossil fuels, sending an unprecedented signal to the global economy that governments are intent on cutting back on coal, oil and natural gas in the fight against global warming.