Search Results for: Environmental Health

BY KEITH NUTHALL
AN INTERNATIONAL institution best known for promoting free market solutions for the world’s economic ills has issued a surprising call for governments to promote environmental good practice by relying more on compulsory regulation and less on voluntary guidance.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
NOBODY likes nuclear waste but nobody has yet thought up a universally-acceptable way of disposing of it. This is as true in Europe as anywhere else. It may be fair to say, however, that some European countries have gone further than the rest of the world in drawing conclusions about the future of nuclear energy as a result of the problems caused by radioactive waste.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has launched a new long-term, strategy to fight health problems linked to the environment; it has been inspired by European Environment Agency figures saying 60,000 EU deaths a year are caused by air pollution.

Brussels has outlined the broad elements of this programme and will start public consultation on its details from next month.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
EUROPEAN Union proposals to make polluting companies legally liable for the environmental damage that they cause has taken a large step towards becoming law, with EU Member States approving the idea in principle. The Council of Ministers decision removes the final serious hurdle to the planned environmental liability directive, as the European Parliament has already given its assent.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE INTERNATIONAL Finance Corporation of the World Bank is lending US$17.5 million in INDRupees to Indian textile company Alok Industries Ltd, allowing the Mumbai (Bombay)-based company to expand and modernise its facilities and meet growing demand from domestic and international customers.…

KEITH NUTHALL
A KYOTO Protocol secretariat report has warned the industrialised world’s greenhouse gas emissions will probably grow this decade, having stabilised during the 1990’s. Based on government projections, the paper claims combined emissions of Europe, Japan, the US and other highly industrialised countries could grow by eight per cent from 2000 to 2010, (17 per cent over 1990 levels), despite measures already in place to limit them.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
TECHNOLOGY is being developed by a European Commission funded research project to allow curators to effectively monitor environmental pollution that can damage ancient treasures in museums and galleries. The MIMIC (microclimate indoor monitoring in cultural heritage preservation) project has adapted airborne particle detectors called dosimeters to assess the effects of combinations of pollutants, densities at which they could cause damage and microclimatic anomalies.…

BY MARK ROWE
IN the days of the Soviet Union, many millions of men and women had a choice of one state-manufactured brand of shampoo, toothpaste or soap. If anything, the authorities managed to limit even further access to such “indulgences” as perfume.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
HEADS of government at the recent G8 summit in France have committed their countries to reducing the environmental threat posed by oil tankers. A communiqué committed their governments to accelerate the introduction of a safety code for flag states, establish mandatory pilotage in narrow, restricted or congested waters, improve inspections and other measures.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE PARLIAMENTARY Assembly of the Council of Europe is debating a plan to extend the European Convention on Human Rights with an additional protocol, guaranteeing European citizens decent environmental standards. If the proposal is carried forward, it would entail international lawyers drafting a clear definition of “a healthy environment” and the convention extension would “oblige states to protect individuals from environmental nuisances harmful or dangerous to health;” it is being promoted by the council’s committee on environment, agriculture and local and regional affairs.…