Search Results for: Climate change

BY KEITH NUTHALL
WITH the rulebook of the Kyoto Protocol all but written, the European Commission has been considering innovative ways in which it can help reduce the EU’s production of greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming.

Much emphasis has been made in the past on reducing industrial pollution or emissions from cars and lorries, but Brussels has now turned its attention to a source of the gases that is very much under the control of local authorities: waste disposal.…

BY MIKE FOX
ENVIRONMENT officials and ministers from more than one hundred countries meeting at a United Nations conference in Montreal have renewed their commitment to trying to protect the world’s oceans from land-based pollution.

They framed a comprehensive communiqué, after hearing from an environmental body representing more than 400 local governments, which outlined how its members can play a major role in protecting the oceans.…

BY MONICA DOBIE
CANADA’S plans to make drastic cuts to greenhouse gas emissions, as part of the Kyoto Protocol, is worrying the country’s energy sector, particularly companies in oil-rich Alberta who claim they have been left in the dark by the federal government.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
EU transport Commissioner Loyola de Palacio has launched an aggressive rebuttal of claims by French trade union’s that the European Commission’s single sky initiative is an effective privatisation of air traffic management that will compromise safety standards.

The conservative Spanish commissioner said: “Let there be no misunderstanding: the purpose of the Single Sky is not to boost competition or privatise air traffic control.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
ENVIRONMENTAL crimes are in many ways the most damaging of offences, given that they can harm millions of people, whether through damaging the ozone layer, increasing pollution levels or damaging biodiversity. The United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute, (UNICRI), has published a study on this modern scourge.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
AS the world’s environment ministers meet in Marrakesh, Morocco, to agree detailed rules on the operation of the Kyoto Protocol, the European Commission has formally proposed that the EU should ratify the convention and has also tabled legislation that will bring it to life in Europe.…

BY KATE REW
THE US MINT is making significantly fewer coins than it did last year due to the downturn of the economy. When the economy is slow, there is a reduction in retail transactions, which translates in a decreased demand for coins, Matthew Kilbourne, Mint spokesperson told Metal Bulletin.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
INCREASING political pressure is being applied on eastern European governments to raise fuel prices, so as to improve their environmental performance and promote investment in energy efficient industries.

The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe recently addressed the issue, with its Committee on Sustainable Energy and the Committee on Environmental Policy agreeing to produce guidelines on price reform.…

BY DEIRDRE MASON
AIRLINES and airports have always claimed to put the comfort and well-being of their passengers to the top of their lists, and many already set out in a charter or other document what standard of service their customers can expect.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has released new ‘structural indicators,’ used to measure economic and social progress in the EU. The statistical tools are important in assessments helping to decide which European regions need grants and other Brussels assistance. In its latest set of indicators, the Commission has included a requirement to measure concerns about climate change, sustainable transport, public health threats and the management of natural resources, along with those on gender pay gaps, quality of work, science and technology doctorates and the location of communications industries.…