Search Results for: Climate change

BY KEITH NUTHALL

CALLS have been made for major additional spending on European Union (EU) energy infrastructure, now a new European Commission team is in office.

The European Parliament’s industry committee has strengthened EU proposals to ensure member states have sufficient interconnected energy links to deal with any unexpected winter shortages.…

BY MARK ROWE

BOTH the oils and fats industry and environmentalists have long been aware of concerns over the oil palm, the prolific shrub that can be converted into palm oil, one of the most versatile fats known to man.

For almost as long, there have been campaigns to improve its cultivation in south-east Asia, which accounts for around 75% of global supply; but concern is now focussing on South America, where cultivation is growing rapidly, placing pressure on the Amazon rainforest and other wildlife-rich habitats in a belt stretching across central Brazil and Ecuador to Colombia’s Caribbean coast.…

BY KARRYN MILLER

THE FINALISED National Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS2) programme of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) may show the Obama administration’s continuing support for boosting biofuel production – but will it give concrete results? The updated rules have considered the mixed reviews expressed when a proposed programme was announced last year, however some interested parties still feel the latest outcome will fail to propel the biofuel industry forward.…

BY DEIRDRE MASON

THIS summer will see the beginning of the promised introduction of smart metering across the UK. For the utility companies who are taking this step into the future, the key questions centre on interoperability and forthcoming European Union (EU) standards.…

By Keith Nuthall, International News Services

India’s regulatory and legal framework is converging fast with the international system, however there are many unique political, social and historical influences that make it imperative for the overseas business to take a cautious approach while entering the country. According to a new book written by International News Services’ experienced chief south Asia correspondent Raghavendra Verma, India presents many different sets of problems and he highlights solutions developed by local enterprises.

A compilation of a series of articles discussing business deals and a spectrum of issues affecting the current business environment, this well-researched and crisply written book presents exclusive comments and analysis from the experts. For example how the Tata Steel handled the exceptional situation created during the merger with Corus that even forced change in the takeover code of UK; or the speedy merger of Ranbaxy, India’s biggest pharmaceutical company with Japanese giant Daiichi-Sankyo, which highlighted the role of multiple regulatory authorities in India and the hurdles that companies need to cross.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL, EMMA JACKSON and MIRIAM ELDER

THE CANADIAN government has denied using its security forces to intimidate and terrorise a Russian immigrant, who later fled to Britain and committed suicide this week, jumping with his family from a Glasgow tower block.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE NEW European Union (EU) energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger has been installed for five years, along with his environment Commissioner Janez Poto?nik and climate action Commissioner Connie Hedegaard. And so utilities executives might be forgiven for thinking that the key political changes in Brussels have now been made regarding the appointment of a new European Commission.…

BY ANCA GURZU

ALTHOUGH the economic effects of recession can be felt in different sectors of the German converting industry, its companies have been busy launching new innovations, equipment and technologies aimed at energy-saving, waste-reduction and increased productivity. The printing sectors were notably active in 2009.…

BY ALAN OSBORN

RUSSIA is due to deliver a comprehensive account of its anti-money laundering system to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in June – two years after a mutual evaluation report jointly undertaken by the FATF, Moneyval and the Eurasian group on combating money laundering and financing of terrorism (EAG) found both good and bad things to say about the country.…

BY MARK ROWE

SEQUENCING the human genome has brought widespread interest and the potential for treatment of diseases, but confectionery industry researchers are increasingly applying this technique to key components in the food chain. One of the most high-profile sequencing programmes gathers pace this year, as Mars continues the sequencing of the cocoa genome, a project it is working on with the US department of agriculture’s subtropical horticultural research substation and IBM.…