Spain

On a windy night in September, whilst most people were sleeping, wind power reached a record of 64.2% of Spain’s electricity demand.

Finally some good news for our seas.  Toño, the head of the Vidal family network, and focus of our recent investigation in to illegal fishing and subsides in Spain was found guilty of fraud and condemned to one year and eight months in prison.

The past few days have seen a couple of pretty important meetings in Spain about the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy (the CFP). You might not have seen much coverage, which isn't that surprising when there's an election going on, nor when you appreciate that very few people know what CFP stands for. Amongst fishy circles, the acronym is often re-interpreted, but I'm too polite to say what the F would stand for.

As a major market for tropical hardwood, the European Union plays a key role in the international trade in illegal and destructively sourced timber. Yet, currently no laws in Europe allow authorities to seize shipments of illegally logged timber, nor hold importers and traders of illegal timber accountable. These traders remain free to profit from forest destruction.