Search Results for: Climate change

BY MJ DESCHAMPS

RIGID plastic packaging is usually designed for optimum stiffness and impact performance, but its strict requirements for durability have traditionally ruled out the most eco-friendly materials in its manufacture – however, that is all about to change.

With global demand for it rising alongside increasing environmental awareness, many manufacturers and retailers are moving towards greater sustainability, integrating both effectiveness and environmentalism in their rigid plastic packaging.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) is coming under pressure to act against child labour in the global cocoa sector, with proposals being debated at the European Parliament to track cocoa produced with the help of children. That could mean an EU law creating a monitoring system making it clear to consumers where cocoa products risked being tainted by child labour, maybe through the "possible introduction of ‘child-labour free’ product labelling," said a draft report from the EP’s international trade committee.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) has for the first time protected a traditional food product from being copied outside its home region which has historically been made in two countries. This groundbreaking protected designation of origin (PDO) and geographical indication has been awarded to a honey made in Poland and Lithuania: called Miód z Sejne?szczyny/?o?dziejszczyzny…

BY ALAN OSBORN

SO it’s done at last. Reform of the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) Recommendations was formally agreed at the plenary session in Paris on February 15 after some two years of high-powered negotiations and a vast amount of consultation.…

BY PAUL COCHRANE, IN BEIRUT; AND MOHAMMED YUSUF, IN NAIROBI

IN late January, oil production and exports came to a halt in South Sudan over a transit pricing dispute with its former overlord north Sudan. With no compromise in sight, the newly independent Africa country is mulling other transport options, but, even if production were to resume, it will be months – at best – before its oil sector gets back on its feet.…

BY RAGHAVENDRA VERMA, IN NEW DELHI, MINI PANT ZACHARIAH, IN MUMBAI, AND KEITH NUTHALL

WITH nursing qualifications and experience increasingly gaining international recognition, the opportunity for nurses to work abroad during their careers is growing. Also, the export of nurses from poorer to richer countries is increasingly common.…

BY MJ DESCHAMPS

CHINESE authorities are blocking the country’s airlines from taking part in the European Union’s (EU) scheme to charge for carbon emissions from flights going in and out of Europe, according to an announcement Monday by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC).…

DESPITE the killing of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan last May, Al Qaeda and its affiliated groups remain a global money laundering and terrorist financing concern. Yet a decade on from the September 11 attacks, counterterrorism specialists say there has been too much focus on Al Qaeda itself (it means The Base in Arabic) but not enough on associated and other militant groups that pose significant threats.…

BY JOHN PAGNI, IN HELSINKI, AND KITTY SO

When officially opened on May 8, Finland’s new 90MW Kymijärvi 2 power station will break ground in its novel energy efficiency and environment technology: a waste-to-energy combined heat and power (CHP) production unit using clean bio-gas as its fuel.…

BY JULIAN RYALL, IN TOKYO

MICROBIOLOGISTS discovered microbially-produced surface-active agents as far back as the 1960s but the cosmetics industry largely overlooked the true value of biosurfactants – as they are more handily known – until recently. Japan has been at the forefront of this move, reflecting a desire amongst Japanese consumers in recent years for products that are kind to the environment.…