Latest news with #Reisch
Euronews
04-07-2025
- Politics
- Euronews
Countries must protect human right to a stable climate, top court says
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights on Thursday issued a landmark advisory opinion linking governments' human rights obligations to their responsibility to address the threat of climate change. It is a move expected to shape policy and litigation across Latin America and the Caribbean. The opinion is the first of its kind from the region's top human rights tribunal and responds to a 2023 request from Colombia and Chile. It says states have a duty under international law to prevent, mitigate and remedy environmental harm that threatens human rights, including through laws, policies and actions aimed at curbing climate change. 'We are in a climate emergency' The court outlined a series of legal standards, including the recognition of a human right to a healthy climate, the obligation to prevent massive and irreversible environmental harm, as well as the duty to protect the rights of current and future generations. 'The Court has declared that we are in a climate emergency that is undermining the human rights of present and future generations and that human rights must be at the centre of any effective response," Nikki Reisch, program director at the Centre for International Environmental Law Climate and Energy, told The Associated Press. The opinion states that countries have a legal duty not only to avoid environmental harm but also to protect and restore ecosystems, guided by science and Indigenous knowledge. 'This is a historic opinion,' said Reisch. 'It's not just a legal milestone - it's a blueprint for action. This opinion will guide climate litigation at the local, regional, and national courts, and provide a foundation for climate policymaking, grounding local legislation and global negotiations in legal obligation, not just in the Americas but around the world.' Court findings could bolster climate lawsuits Though not binding, the court's opinions carry legal weight in many member countries of the Organization of American States and often influence domestic legislation, judicial rulings and international advocacy. The court's findings are expected to bolster climate-related lawsuits and human rights claims in the region, and to influence negotiations ahead of COP30 - the next major United Nations climate summit, set to take place in November in Belem, Brazil. 'States must not only refrain from causing significant environmental damage but have the positive obligation to take measures to guarantee the protection, restoration, and regeneration of ecosystems,' said Court President Judge Nancy Hernández López. 'Causing massive and irreversible environmental the conditions for a healthy life on Earth to such an extent that it creates consequences of existential proportions. Therefore, it demands universal and effective legal responses,' López said. Growing Indigenous momentum for climate justice The opinion comes amid growing Indigenous momentum in the region, including a summit in Ecuador's Amazon last month where hundreds of Indigenous leaders gathered to demand enforcement of court victories recognising their land and environmental rights. The Inter-American Court of Human Rights, based in San Jose, Costa Rica, is the region's top tribunal for interpreting and enforcing the American Convention on Human Rights. Its rulings, though often challenged by weak enforcement, have played a key role in advancing Indigenous rights and environmental protections across Latin America. In recent years, the court has condemned governments for allowing mining projects on Indigenous land without proper consultation, and advocates have increasingly turned to it as a forum for climate-related accountability. The advisory builds on the Court's 2017 advisory ruling that recognised the right to a healthy environment as a standalone human right, deepening its application in the context of climate breakdown.
Winnipeg Free Press
03-07-2025
- Politics
- Winnipeg Free Press
Latin America's top human rights court says states have duty to act on climate crisis
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — The Inter-American Court of Human Rights on Thursday issued a landmark advisory opinion linking governments' human rights obligations to their responsibility to address the threat of climate change — a move expected to shape policy and litigation across Latin America and the Caribbean. The opinion is the first of its kind from the region's top human rights tribunal and responds to a 2023 request from Colombia and Chile. It says states have a duty under international law to prevent, mitigate and remedy environmental harm that threatens human rights, including through laws, policies and actions aimed at curbing climate change. The court outlined a series of legal standards, including the recognition of a human right to a healthy climate, the obligation to prevent massive and irreversible environmental harm as well as the duty to protect the rights of current and future generations. 'The Court has declared that we are in a climate emergency that is undermining the human rights of present and future generations and that human rights must be at the center of any effective response,' Nikki Reisch, program director at the Center for International Environmental Law Climate and Energy, told The Associated Press. The opinion said states have a legal duty not only to avoid environmental harm but also to protect and restore ecosystems, guided by science and Indigenous knowledge. 'This is a historic opinion,' said Reisch. 'It's not just a legal milestone — it's a blueprint for action. This opinion will guide climate litigation at the local, regional, and national courts, and provide a foundation for climate policymaking, grounding local legislation and global negotiations in legal obligation, not just in the Americas but around the world.' Though not binding, the court's opinions carry legal weight in many member countries of the Organization of American States and often influence domestic legislation, judicial rulings and international advocacy. The court's findings are expected to bolster climate-related lawsuits and human rights claims in the region, and to influence negotiations ahead of COP30 — the next major United Nations climate summit, set to take place in November in Belem, Brazil. 'States must not only refrain from causing significant environmental damage but have the positive obligation to take measures to guarantee the protection, restoration, and regeneration of ecosystems,' said Court President Judge Nancy Hernández López. 'Causing massive and irreversible environmental harm…alters the conditions for a healthy life on Earth to such an extent that it creates consequences of existential proportions. Therefore, it demands universal and effective legal responses,' López said. The opinion comes amid growing Indigenous momentum in the region, including a summit in Ecuador's Amazon last month where hundreds of Indigenous leaders gathered to demand enforcement of court victories recognizing their land and environmental rights. The Inter-American Court of Human Rights, based in San Jose, Costa Rica, is the region's top tribunal for interpreting and enforcing the American Convention on Human Rights. Its rulings, though often challenged by weak enforcement, have played a key role in advancing Indigenous rights and environmental protections across Latin America. In recent years, the court has condemned governments for allowing mining projects on Indigenous land without proper consultation, and advocates have increasingly turned to it as a forum for climate-related accountability. The advisory builds on the Court's 2017 advisory ruling that recognized the right to a healthy environment as a standalone human right, deepening its application in the context of climate breakdown. ___ The Associated Press' climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at
The Hill
03-07-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
Latin America's top human rights court says states have duty to act on climate crisis
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — The Inter-American Court of Human Rights on Thursday issued a landmark advisory opinion linking governments' human rights obligations to their responsibility to address the threat of climate change — a move expected to shape policy and litigation across Latin America and the Caribbean. The opinion is the first of its kind from the region's top human rights tribunal and responds to a 2023 request from Colombia and Chile. It says states have a duty under international law to prevent, mitigate and remedy environmental harm that threatens human rights, including through laws, policies and actions aimed at curbing climate change. The court outlined a series of legal standards, including the recognition of a human right to a healthy climate, the obligation to prevent massive and irreversible environmental harm as well as the duty to protect the rights of current and future generations. 'The Court has declared that we are in a climate emergency that is undermining the human rights of present and future generations and that human rights must be at the center of any effective response,' Nikki Reisch, program director at the Center for International Environmental Law Climate and Energy, told The Associated Press. The opinion said states have a legal duty not only to avoid environmental harm but also to protect and restore ecosystems, guided by science and Indigenous knowledge. 'This is a historic opinion,' said Reisch. 'It's not just a legal milestone — it's a blueprint for action. This opinion will guide climate litigation at the local, regional, and national courts, and provide a foundation for climate policymaking, grounding local legislation and global negotiations in legal obligation, not just in the Americas but around the world.' Though not binding, the court's opinions carry legal weight in many member countries of the Organization of American States and often influence domestic legislation, judicial rulings and international advocacy. The court's findings are expected to bolster climate-related lawsuits and human rights claims in the region, and to influence negotiations ahead of COP30 — the next major United Nations climate summit, set to take place in November in Belem, Brazil. 'States must not only refrain from causing significant environmental damage but have the positive obligation to take measures to guarantee the protection, restoration, and regeneration of ecosystems,' said Court President Judge Nancy Hernández López. 'Causing massive and irreversible environmental harm…alters the conditions for a healthy life on Earth to such an extent that it creates consequences of existential proportions. Therefore, it demands universal and effective legal responses,' López said. The opinion comes amid growing Indigenous momentum in the region, including a summit in Ecuador's Amazon last month where hundreds of Indigenous leaders gathered to demand enforcement of court victories recognizing their land and environmental rights. The Inter-American Court of Human Rights, based in San Jose, Costa Rica, is the region's top tribunal for interpreting and enforcing the American Convention on Human Rights. Its rulings, though often challenged by weak enforcement, have played a key role in advancing Indigenous rights and environmental protections across Latin America. In recent years, the court has condemned governments for allowing mining projects on Indigenous land without proper consultation, and advocates have increasingly turned to it as a forum for climate-related accountability. The advisory builds on the Court's 2017 advisory ruling that recognized the right to a healthy environment as a standalone human right, deepening its application in the context of climate breakdown. ___ The Associated Press' climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at
Yahoo
21-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Manufacturer: Electric powered superyachts drawing significant interest across US
WEST PALM BEACH — The irony was impossible to overlook as Alex Reisch gleefully showed off his solar-powered superyacht moored just a few nautical miles from the home of the U.S. president who just a year ago ridiculed electric boats in one campaign rally after another. Reisch, a retired Philip Morris International executive, this week is displaying his 60-foot Sunreef Power Eco ultra-luxe catamaran at the 2025 Palm Beach International Boat Show. It's a promotional appearance hosted by Sunreef Yachts, a company with shipyards in Poland and the Arab Emirates. Because Sunreef's yachts are custom-made, the company showboats the vessels it has built for owners at events from Cannes to Monaco to South Florida. The manufacturer has moved into the superyacht class in recent years, and marketing spokesman Artur Połoczański said the migration to Palm Beach County of one-percenters was exposure too good to pass up. "That's why Palm Beach is important to us as we're slowly shifting toward the super yacht end of the industry," he said. Reisch was only too happy to guide visitors, prospective buyers and the just curious through the various decks of the tailored catamaran, called "Double Happiness," on a sun-splashed morning just after the boat show's gates opened to patrons on Thursday, March 20. The boat show opened Wednesday and continues through Sunday. Reisch beamed at the two, 120-kilowatt electric engines and the 330-kilowatt main battery pack he said is equal to those of six Teslas. He singled out the array of solar panels that are built into the yacht's sides so they are indistinguishable unless pointed out. Reisch, an Austrian, and his wife, who is from Switzerland, spent three days with a team from Sunreef explaining they wanted a sleek, alpine chalet-type look to the interior design. Previous story: While promoting luxury yachts, Lech Walesa talks global politics, capitalism, Trump "Everything was chosen," he said. The couple selected two different types of teak wood flooring and ordered different AC units in the vessel. They also got all the comforts of a luxury getaway in the Alps — a washer and dryer, a kitchen with a range plus a freezer and refrigerator, dishwasher, a grill on the top deck, a 45-bottle wine cellar and a cocktail bar. The sound system is segmented, too, allowing for TV watching in the living room, playing rap on the lounge deck and classical music in the staterooms, Reisch said. The yacht was built in Gdansk, Poland, in shipyards made famous by the 1980s anti-communist Solidarity labor movement led by Lech Walesa. Walesa has done promotional appearances for Sunreef, saying in a 2020 interview with The Palm Beach Post that in a post-Cold War world, he learned the value of helping private enterprises succeed. 'We had to start from scratch. We had to look for job opportunities and look for markets,' Walesa said recalling the scramble for markets and sales to sustain employment after the Berlin Wall fell and the Soviet Union imploded. And he added this prescient observation. "I've said this a million times," Walesa offered. "Either the U.S. wants to lead, or they don't.' 2025 Palm Beach International Boat Show: Mega-yachts descend on West Palm Beach waterfront Not-so-subtle reminders of Palm Beach County's changing political hue were spotted here and there at the show along Flagler Street and the waterfront marinas in the West Palm Beach downtown. One yacht moored not far from Reisch's was named "Second Amendment" with two machine guns crossed. A merch stand in a market area stocked "Gulf of America: No Woke Zone" caps. Reisch recalled cruising by President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago club and residence and said it looked grand. Trump, however, made clear on the campaign trail that he was no fan of the kind of transportation Reisch has invested seven figures in. Trump mocked people who bought electric cars saying they would have to recharge every few miles. He heaped scorn on what he said were plans to use electric engines in everything from long-haul trucks to military tanks on the battlefield. In one particular stump soliloquy, he mused about having to choose between being electrocuted or eaten by a shark if he were on a sinking electric boat. Reisch suggested skeptics just go for a ride. "Once you charter an electric, you will never go back," he said. In addition to saving thousands of dollars on fuel per trip, the big-ticket maintenance costs, so often rued by boat owners, are practically nil. The only major mechanical overhaul — at 50,000 hours — involves changing out the engines' eight bearings. The components, which are critical to power transmission and shaft alignment, run $100 apiece. "I said to myself, 'That sounds really reasonable,'" Reisch said. "It's not just good for the environment. It's good for your wallet." As for distance, Reisch's captain, Josh Hillary, said since the family took possession of the catamaran last June, they have sailed across the western Mediterranean with stops in Sardinia, Spain, France and Portugal. They also toured the Caribbean. "We've gone pretty far," he said. "And with a lot of ease." Połoczański shrugged off the president's critique, noting that 50% of the demand for Sunreef boats is now for either pure electric or some form of hybrid. "Yeah, well, OK, but he is teaming up with a producer of electric cars, so ...," he said of Trump, who has assigned Tesla chief Elon Musk to slash the federal budget. Trump and his administration seem to have had a change of heart, for that matter. On March 11, Trump held a photo-op with Musk and several Tesla electric vehicles outside the White House to bolster the automaker amid a stock collapse and reports of plummeting sales. On Wednesday, March 19 Trump's commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, encouraged Americas to buy Tesla shares. Połoczański pointed out another favorable feature, the silence on the high seas from quiet engines. He related how one Sunreef customer, Formula I race car driver, Fernando Alonso, said he enjoyed the sound and smells of a gas-powered, high-performance motor while on the track when racing, but not while vacationing. "This is something that completely changes your point of view," Połoczański said. "Because when you want to relax the last thing you want to hear is the noise of the engine, the generators, the fumes, the vibrations that come from the engine. You don't want all that." More telling, Połoczański said, is the burgeoning market for Sunreef's electric catamarans, especially in the United States. The manufacturer's director of U.S. sales, Liza Kharoubi-Echenique, said she is seeing a surge in buyers from the 35-to-50 age group. She said the growing attention is not just owing to concern about the environment but also the family-friendly roominess of the catamaran, which is steadier on the high seas. And that interest includes people in locales in red Florida. "I am seeing more and more demand across the United States," she said. "And in Miami." Antonio Fins is a politics and business editor at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at afins@ Help support our journalism. Subscribe today. This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Trump mocked electric boats, makers cruise in to Palm Beach boat show
Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Uncompromising sponsor sees parent-rights bill die
PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) — Republican Sen. Tamara Grove wouldn't give in. Instead, the first-year lawmaker could only watch on Wednesday as the South Dakota House of Representatives debated whether to kill her Senate Bill 113 that would protect parents' rights to raise their children as they see fit. Grove stook in the back of the House chamber and later paced the legislators-only hallway as one after another representative stood to speak. County officials differ on new property tax bill She had refused to accept a House version that added a sentence saying state laws on child abuse and juvenile courts would still apply, regardless of the rest of her bill's content. The House sentence specifically said, 'No person may use this section to challenge a proceeding under chapters 26-7A or 26-8A.' Grove found that sentence unacceptable. The stand-off led to the appointment of a conference committee. Its members on Wednesday morning recommended 5-1 removing the sentence added by the House and returning the bill to the Senate version. When the House considered whether to accept the conference report on Wednesday afternoon, Republican Rep. Tim Reisch called for the bill's rejection. 'It's very troubling that the bill's sponsor doesn't want to include a simple sentence of clarification that our laws against child abuse and neglect are not to be impacted by this,' Reisch said. A former Miner County sheriff and a former state secretary of corrections, Reisch had called for the addition of the sentence when SB 113 came through the House the first time. The vote on the amendment that day was 37-32. On Wednesday, Reisch cast the nay during the conference vote. The hour-long debate among House members that followed saw several opponents of the bill deliver emotional speeches about their experiences in law enforcement and the Department of Social Services, interspersed by comments from supporters such as Republican Rep. Travis Ismay, who was a foster parent for seven years. 'The system is broke. Parents need to have parental rights and have it in law like this,' Ismay said. In the end, the House followed Reisch's lead and voted 39-31 for a double-barreled motion to not accept the conference committee's report and to not appoint a new committee. And with that, SB 113 was dead. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
