Search Results for: Environmental Health⊂mit=Search

BY KEITH NUTHALL AND CARMEN PAUN, IN BRUSSELS

THE EUROPEAN Chemicals Agency (ECHA) is rolling out its special assessment system for chemicals products using nanotechnology, including special paints and coatings exploiting the special characteristics of tiny nano-particles.

Working with the European Commission definition of nanomaterials as being particles sized from 1 nanometre (nm) to 100 nm, ECHA specialists are broadening this guidance to "provide clarity on the physico-chemical characteristics of nanomaterials", said a note from the agency.…

BY CARMEN PAUN, IN BRUSSELS

BY backing a binding 2030 European Union (EU) target for renewable energy sources (RES), the EU’s energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger did not signal much faith in the ability of renewables to become competitive in the next 20 years.…

BY E BLAKE BERRY, IN POLAND; MIKE STEIN, IN PRAGUE; MONIKA HANLEY, IN RIGA; AND MJ DESCHAMPS,

WHILE southern and western Europe’s economies falter, being mired in debt, eastern Europe’s coatings market is now growing solidly amidst economic performances that are recovering from a recession that hit the region hard.…

BY CARMEN PAUN, IN RIO DE JANEIRO

THE AIRPORT and civil aviation industry wants sustainable development goal to be established on mobility and transport when a new set of United Nations sustainable development goals (SDG) are agreed by 2015. Its call has come after world leaders meeting at the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development conference Rio+20 in Brazil last week decided to replace the current millennium development goals, which expire that year.…

BY CARMEN PAUN, IN RIO DE JANEIRO

The executive coordinator of this week’s United Nations Rio de Janeiro conference on global sustainability has told University World News why she has placed higher education at the centre of the international strategy she hopes will flow from agreements made at the event.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

A POLITICAL agreement has been struck between the three main European Union (EU) institutions over a new directive on the sulphur content of marine fuels burnt in EU waters. Complying with the International Maritime Organisation’s (IMO) MARPOL Convention, sulphur content for ships in the North Sea, the English Channel and the Baltic Sea will be capped at 1% until December 2014 and 0.1% from January 1, 2015.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

The European Commission and Greenland have signed a letter of intent that could increase the role of European Union (EU) industrial mineral companies in the development of Greenlandic mineral resources, including rare earths.

EU industry Commissioner Antonio Tajani and development Commissioner Andris Piebalgs have struck a deal with Greenland Prime Minister Kuupik Kleis over future EU involvement in exploration and exploitation.…

BY MJ DESCHAMPS

AS global demand continues to grow for oil and gas, and energy prices increase – with companies drilling deeper; sending oil rigs out further out to sea; and exploring new regions with extreme climates – industry coatings are undergoing much development and innovation.…

BY ZLATKO CONKAS, IN SERBIA

AS Russian energy giant Gazprom begins construction work on the South Stream pipeline project by the end of this year for an operational launch in 2015, its final route across the Balkans has yet to be decided and governments are jostling for position.…

BY MARK ROWE

FOR products that are marketed for their ability to sooth and generate the feel-good factor, the sustainable sourcing of cosmetics ingredients causes plenty of headaches for manufacturers and suppliers. The industry is in a period of transition, in which several of the world’s multinationals are engaging in a step change in how they go about sourcing the oils they need, and the public wants.…