Home/Posts Tagged ‘EU’
Posts Tagged ‘EU’
Conservation, Politics, Jun 13th, 2012,
Fisheries ministers from around the European Union have agreed to ban the practice of throwing unprofitable, but edible, catches back in the sea. This extremely wasteful custom has been legal in Europe for the past 40, threatening fish stocks and the survival of some species. Delays and exceptions in implementing the ban are viewed by experts as extremely dangerous, perhaps a case of too little too late for some of the EU’s fish stocks. Currently, European fishermen can reach their quota for a certain species, but continue fishing for others, as long as they don’t bring more than their quota…
Tags: discards, EU, Europe, fisheries
Climate Change, Politics, Pollution, Feb 20th, 2012,
The oil reserves of the Canadian province of Alberta are second in size only to those of Saudi Arabia. They are also more polluting and expensive to extract. In response to the European Union’s plans to label oil imports from Alberta’s tar sands as ‘highly polluting’, which they are, Canada has threatened a ‘trade war’ with Europe. Recent revelations of collusion between the UK and Canadian governments with fossil fuel companies who source their oil from the tar sands show plans to use underhanded tactics to mitigate any damage to the ‘Canadian brand’ of oil. In short, they’d like to…
Tags: Alberta, Canada, EU, Europe, oil, pipeline, tar sands
Climate Change, Politics, Nov 30th, 2011,
COP 17 updates, anyone? Anyone care about the future of the climate, planet Earth or its human and non-human inhabitants? No? Well neither do your leaders, apparently. Wo what are they doing there, anyway? One aspect of the climate summit in Durban, South Africa seems to be various large polluting countries balking at committing to reduce emissions unless every other country does. This effectively means that none of them really want to. Not enough to take a stand. Make no mistake: the rule of the day is economic self-interest. Brazil, China, India are not considered industrialized nations and want exemption…
Tags: China, climate, cop 17, Durban, emissions, EU, global, japan, kyoto, REDD, Russia, treaty
Climate Change, Politics, Nov 7th, 2011,
A recent BBC News article concerning the upcoming climate change summit in Durban, South Africa, which takes place at the end of the month, includes a carbon emissions chart according to countries or political/geographic areas. The article, by Richard Black, outlines the major conflicts and cleavages between various individual and groups of countries. The large rapidly industrializing BASIC group of Brazil, South Africa, India and China form one bloc with the position that they should be allowed to develop and emit, as they do not have anything near the cumulative, historic emissions of the US and Europe. The US, Japan,…
Tags: China, co2, countries, emissions, EU, US
Climate Change, Politics, Jul 5th, 2011,
In 1991 American industrialist Warren Buffet stated that in over 100 years of human flight, investors had never made any money from the airline industry. So if flying is a net loss industry, which has historically relied on government subsidies, why is it at the same times taxed so heavily? Conversely, if flying is such a money-loser as well as a huge climate change driver, why is it so heavily subsidized? I’m guessing it has something to due with lobbying by other groups within the tourism industry, including the governments of popular destinations and of course the airlines themselves. Such…
Tags: airlines, carbon, co2, emissions, EU, flying, tax, trading scheme
Politics, Recycling, May 5th, 2011,
There used to be jokes about going “condom fishing” in dirty city canals, but now an ambitious EU plan aims to encourage professional fishermen to haul recyclable plastics from Europe’s suffering seas as part of their catch. This could mean a significant shift in the normally environmentally harmful behavior of commercial fishing. EU fisheries chief Maria Damanki unveiled bold plans to eliminate the practice of fishing boats throwing back unprofitable, yet edible, catch. Smaller, younger fish or less valuable species are routinely thrown back in the ocean, usually dead. In some areas 2/3 of the catch is simply tossed overboard….
Tags: Damanki, EU, Europe, fishermen, fishing, plastic, Recycling
Climate Change, Politics, Mar 1st, 2011,
In return for casting their votes with European nations, poor Pacific island states will receive 90m euros ($124m US) to help with climate change adaptation. Pacific island nations, like Vanuatu – which is due to host a climate conference on EU-Pacific cooperation – are considered to be on the front lines of climate change due to rising sea levels and violent tropical storms. The cash is relatively small in European terms, but significant for small developing nations. The funds – which according to the commission are redeployments of existing development funds rather than new sources of climate financing as many…
Tags: Climate change, EU, Europe, funds, island states, Pacific, Vanuatu
Climate Change, Sep 24th, 2010,
Water shortages from increasingly drier and hotter weather have resulted in desperate conditions on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. Cyprus is the first EU nation to face ‘peak water’ – the situation in which demand is higher than supply. Aquifers have dried up and filled with seawater, making natural water resources undrinkable. Forests are dying, leading to desertification. The Cyprus Institute forecasts that by 2050 the temperature for more than four months of the year will be above 35° Celsius (95° Fahrenheit) — that’s 50 percent more hot days per year. –CNN In the Greek part of Cyprus, desalinization plants…
Tags: Cyprus, EU, Mediterranean, peak, water
Conservation, Politics, Wildlife & Flora, Sep 19th, 2010,
Researchers met last week at the NEOBIOTA conference in Copenhagen, Denmark to discuss the problem of invasive species in Europe. The 6th NEOBIOTA conference called on the EU to protect Europe’s native species against animals, plants and microorganisms that are deemed a threat. The participants are demanding that the EU enact legislation similar to that of New Zealand and Australia. Invasive species – which have, according to research, increased by 76% over the last 30 years – cost Europe an estimated €12 billion every year. A European inventory in 2008 found more than 10,000 alien species in Europe, with 1,300…
Tags: alien, conference, copenhagen, EU, Europe, invasive, NEOBIOTA, species
Green living, Politics, Sep 13th, 2010,
Last week the European Parliament voted to enforce stricter limits on animal testing, including an outright ban of testing on great apes. The new rules, which will still allow some animal testing for medical research, were described as the strictest in the world by EU Environment Commissioner Janez Potocnik. Animal welfare officials in EU countries will be required to insure that minimum pain is experienced by the test animals during those experiments still allowed under the new regulations. Testing on other primates will still be permitted in certain cases applying to Alzheimer’s, cancer and Parkinson’s. From an AFP report: Some…
Tags: animal, EU, Europe, laws, new, parliament, rules, testing
Climate Change, Nature, Pollution, Aug 29th, 2010,
Although the Mediterranean sea covers only one per cent of the world’s marine areas, it contains some six per cent of its marine species. Some of the world’s most endangered species, can be found in the Mediterranean. Fish stocks are down to 20 per cent of natural levels in some areas and the Mediterranean is now a net importer of fish. Today, 82 million people live in coastal cities; by 2025 there will be an estimated 150-170 million. The southern countries account for 32 per cent of the region’s population; by 2025 that is expected to have reached 60 per…
Tags: Climate change, coastal, ecosystems, environmental, EU, Europe, Mediterranean, sea, warming, Wildlife & Flora
Conservation, Politics, Wildlife & Flora, Aug 21st, 2010,
To Canadian disappointment, a ban on the importation of seal products into the European Union was enacted yesterday. However, the European Commission stated that the ban does not apply to groups that have already filed court appeals, including 16 Inuit groups from Canada. According to a report by the Associated Press, indigenous peoples of Greenland and Canada have argued that the European Union seal import ban disproportionately affects their traditional way of life, yet the same reports cite EU data stating that only one percent of Canadian seal imports into the EU were from Inuit sources. Canadian hunters killed an…
Tags: ban, Canada, Canadian, EU, European, exceptions, harp, hunt, ice, import, indigenous, Inuit, products, seal, seals, Union
Science & Technology, Jul 27th, 2010,
Latin America has huge potential for wind and solar power. Brazil already has large and long-established hydropower and biofuel industries, but along with Mexico, Colombia and other Latin American countries, they are increasingly looking towards European models of renewable energy. From an article in Scientific American: European wind farms dwarf Latin American efforts in terms of production today, but this will change dramatically if Brazil, Colombia, Mexico and other countries in the region continue their wind energy efforts. Whereas Spain generates 20,000 megawatts from wind energy and plans to double that capacity by 2020, Brazil has a capacity to produce…
Tags: America, Brazil, Chile, energy, EU, European, industries, Latin, Mexico, Peru, power, renewable, Solar, Solarpack, Spain, T-Solar, wind
Green living, Science & Technology, Videos & Documentaries, Jul 26th, 2010,
For those of you who didn’t swoon when Edward Norton urged us to ban the plastic bag, here is another National Geographic video featuring Hollywood starlets Natalie Portman and Chloe Sevigny. I dare you to watch it without afterwards gleefully smashing your energy-sucking bulbs and rushing out for a bunch of those efficient twirly CFL thingies. These moppets of the big screen want us to switch from incandescent to fluorescent bulbs because it will save lots of cute animals, our families and the planet. Ambitious? Well, fluorescent bulbs typically last 10 to 20 times longer are 11 times more energy…
Tags: bulbs, CFL, Chloe, efficient, energy, EU, fluorescent, LED, lighting, lights, Natalie
Climate Change, Politics, Pollution, Jul 23rd, 2010,
Europe’s loss-making hard coal mines will be forced to close due to a new tightening of regulations regarding government subsidies. Coal mines deemed uncompetitive will have their subsides diverted from production costs to social and environmental aid for their respective areas. This has been the trend for hard coal mines during the last decade, when overall aid fell by more than 50%. From an article in the Financial Times: New European Union rules that come into force from January will only allow government operating aid to be provided to hard coal mines if closure plans are in place. Those plans…
Tags: aid, coal, EU, Europe, Germany, government, loss-making, mines, Ruhr, subsidies
Politics, Pollution, Jul 18th, 2010,
As the world’s attention is still focused on the BP Gulf of Mexico disaster the EU’s energy commissioner, Gunther Oettinger, is calling for a moratorium on deep water oil drilling in Europe. The energy commissioner met with oil industry representatives on Wednesday and clearly stated that he is in favor of banning deep sea oil drilling and instituting a freeze on issuing new drilling permits. This would mostly affect drilling in around the UK. From a BBC News report: Mr Oettinger wants the Union’s member states to call a halt to drilling around Europe, including the Mediterranean and Black Sea,…
Tags: ban, BP, commissioner, deep, drilling, energy, EU, Europe, Gulf, Oettinger, oil, sea, water
Climate Change, Conservation, Politics, Jul 11th, 2010,
European Parliament has voted in favor of new regulations to insure that timber imported into the EU comes from legal sources. Similar legislation was adopted in the US in 2008, though in the case of Europe, enforcing the new regulations will be the responsibility of individual member states. If properly implemented, the rules could have a significant effect in reducing deforestation. From a piece in The Ecologist: While the EU has spoken out against illegal timber, a major driver of deforestation worldwide, it has up until now remained one of the trade’s biggest markets. Europe currently consumes around 12 per…
Tags: deforestation, EU, Europe, European, illegal, parliament, regulations, rules, timber, vote, WWF
Green living, Politics, Jul 10th, 2010,
Yesterday was named ‘fish dependence day’ by the New Economics Foundation (NEF); marking July 9, 2010 as the date that Europe ate its fish quota for the year in terms of sustainability. A new analysis by the NEF entitled ‘Fish Dependence: The Increasing Reliance of the EU on Fish From Elsewhere’, highlights the unsustainable nature of the fishing industry in relation to Europe’s consumption. From yesterday forward, Europe will be in essence, living off of non-European fish. From a UK Press Association report: If the EU were only to consume fish from its own waters it would run out 189…
Tags: Day, dependence, EU, Europe, fish, fishing, Ireland, NEF, stocks, sustainable, waters
Climate Change, Green living, Politics, Jul 9th, 2010,
Germany’s Federal Environment Agency claims that the European nation could get all its power from renewables by 2050. At the moment Germany derives 16% of its electricity from renewable sources such as solar and wind – a threefold increase from 1995. Some 300,000 jobs in the renewable energy field have been created since 2000 and Germany trails only the US in wind energy production. From a Reuters report: The government has set goals of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent from 1990 to 2020, and by 80 to 85 percent by 2050. That goal could be achieved if Germany…
Tags: 2050, electricity, emissions, energy, EU, European, Germany, power, renewables, Solar, sources, wind
Climate Change, Science & Technology, Jun 28th, 2010,
With fossil fuels running out, not to mention polluting the earth and heating up the planet, the largest energy consuming countries are constantly looking for new sources of power. One vast renewable and obviously inexhaustible source is sunlight. As technology for capturing solar energy and converting it to usable power continually develops – making solar power an increasingly viable and affordable source – Europe is setting its sights on the African Sahara. The European energy commissioner claims that within 5 years the EU will be importing hundreds of megawatts of solar energy from North Africa. But that’s just the beginning….
Tags: commissioner, energy, EU, Europe, European, North Africa, power, renewable, Sahara, Solar, source, sun
