Search Results for: Climate change

BY KEITH NUTHALL
France Telecom said it and the French government were to appeal against the order, accusing the Commission of muddled thinking. In a statement, the utility said: “The Commission appears to have made its decision without precision, in a climate of confusion fuelled by many leaks, rumours and public announcements that have been premature to say the least.”…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
CONFIDENCE in the durability of public health systems is not high amongst continental Europeans, a new Swedish report has claimed. Without reform 81% of 8,000 citizens in seven European Union (EU) member countries fear that the quality of their healthcare will decline or stagnate.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Environment Agency (EEA) has released a package of statistical warnings that Europe’s environment is getting dirtier, despite efforts to prevent unsustainable development. In its 2004 EEA Signals report, the agency warns that airborne particulates and ground-level ozone are causing health problems in cities, despite a reduction in industrial and transport emissions (by 30 and 36 per cent respectively from 1990-2001).…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE NUMBER of people worldwide at risk from devastating floods will double from one billion today to two billion by 2050 without greater efforts to prevention and predict such disasters, United Nations University (UNU) specialists have claimed. In a first detailed policy statement from a new UNU environment and human security institute in Bonn, Germany, they point out floods currently annually inflict “up to 25,000 annual deaths, extensive homelessness, disaster-induced disease, crop and livestock damage and other serious harm” on over 520 million people.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE SWEDISH government should clarify its long-term intentions regarding nuclear energy, to attract sufficient investment guaranteeing the country’s future energy supplies, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has said. Whilst praising Sweden’s “sensible” combination of market forces with government influence in electricity markets, the IEA assessment says there is too much uncertainty over the future of Swedish nuclear power.…

KEITH NUTHALL
A EUROPEAN Biomass Industry Association and World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) report has claimed that using the full potential of biomass energy from farms and forests could power 100 million homes, providing 15 per cent of developed countries’ energy requirements by 2020, compared with today’s one per cent.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
The European Investment Bank has announced a new commitment to supporting renewable energy, pledging to increase its lending for RE by up to 50 per cent of its total financing for electricity generation in the EU by 2010.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
SWITZERLAND has struck a deal with the European Union (EU) over the controversial savings tax issue, agreeing to levy a flat tax on EU citizens holding accounts in the country. The decision means the Swiss have joined Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg, Andorra, Liechtenstein, Monaco and San Marino in imposing withholding taxes rather than change their laws on banking secrecy.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
EUROPEAN scientists have extracted a 740,000-year-old ice core from the Antarctic and think by analysing its contents they will predict how the world’s climate will respond to today’s unprecedented levels of carbon dioxide. Initial tests show that these are higher than they have been for 440,000 years.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE WIDELY publicised new European Union (EU) constitution could restrict Britain’s freedom to legislate on environmental matters, assuming it is ratified. The EU already passes green laws on many issues, such as pollution emissions, water quality and fuel contamination – and the constitution would allow member states to continue passing their own environmental legislation.…