Gunmen ravage colony of rare fruit bats in Cyprus

ENN, November 29, 2007

NICOSIA (Reuters) - A protected colony of rare fruit bats in Cyprus has almost been wiped out by unidentified gunmen using them for target practice, conservation groups and authorities said on Thursday.
Dozens of the mammals, which are under threat of extinction, were killed in a shooting spree in a fenced-off cave in the western district of Paphos. From a colony of about 60, only 10 to 15 survived, conservation experts said. Read more...

London 2012 Releases Sustainability Plan

Environmental Leader, November 28, 2007

London 2012 has outlined its sustainability plans for the 2012 Olympic Games.
Highlights of the sustainability plan, Towards A One Planet 2012, include: a carbon footprint study to measure the climate change impact of the Games and identify and prioritize areas for reducing emissions; standards for venue construction using environmental rating tools; the development of a sustainable food strategy that promotes local, seasonal and organic produce from environmentally responsible sources; and getting all suppliers and partners to sign a sustainability code which is being developed and will include sustainable sourcing and ethical trading. Read more...

EU agrees quota cuts to save bluefin tuna

ENN, November 27, 2007, By Jeremy Smith

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - EU governments agreed a 15-year plan on Tuesday that set strict curbs on fishing for bluefin tuna, cutting quotas and tightening port inspections to stop the species from heading for extinction.
Prized by sushi and sashimi lovers, bluefin tuna has seen its numbers fall sharply in eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean waters. In Japan, the major market for the species, a single fish can command prices of up to $100,000.
"The difference now is that it (plan) is permanent, not temporary, and nobody is arguing any more about quotas. We now have complete clarity and are set up for 15 years from 2007," one official at the European Commission told reporters. Read more...

EU economies living beyond ecological means: WWF report

ENN November 19, 2007

The growing economic strength of the European Union has doubled the ecological pressure on the planet in the past 30 years, according to a WWF report.
“Just a generation ago much of Europe was an ecological creditor, using fewer resources than it had,” said Tony Long, Director of WWF’s European Policy Office. "But today Europe lives beyond its means. If the world’s citizens lived as Europeans, we would need 2.6 planets to provide the necessary resources and absorb the waste.”

All but three EU Members — Finland, Latvia and Sweden — run an ecological deficit. Read more...

Download the report, Europe 2007 - Gross Domestic Product and Ecological Footprint,

To Toyota Prius διαθέσιμο και ως ταξί

CityAuto, 9 Νοεμβρίου 2007

Παρουσιάστηκε η νέα γκάμα της Toyota σχετικά με τα αυτοκίνητα που προορίζονται για ταξί. Στη νέα γκάμα περιλαμβάνονται, εκτός από το Corolla με κινητήρα diesel και το Avensis, τα Corolla Verso και το υβριδικό Prius. Η εταιρία υποστηρίζει ότι το υβριδικό όχημα εξοικονομεί 1800€ το χρόνο σε σχέση με ένα συμβατικό ταξί.

Επισκεφτείτε τον ιστότοπο του Prius...

Επισκεφείτε το Club ιδιοκτητών και φίλων Toyota Prius...

The ten toes of paper's carbon footprint

Waste Management World, November 13, 2007

The Confederation of European Paper Industries (CEPI) has developed a Carbon Footprint Framework for paper and board products in response to the growing requests by paper buyers.
The carbon footprint of a product may be seen as a balance sheet of greenhouse gas emissions and removals (transfers to and from the atmosphere) and because these balance sheets usually cover more than CO2, the units of reporting are usually CO2 equivalents. The framework looks at direct and indirect emissions, carbon sequestration in forests and in products, the value of bio-energy and the concept of avoided emissions and proposes a common approach to deal with them. Read more...

Midwest governors sign climate change accord

ENN, November 15, 2007

Midwest U.S. states signed agreements on Thursday designed to cut greenhouse gases, promote energy conservation and fight global warming.
The third such pact between U.S. states means that nearly half of Americans will be living in areas covered by agreements designed to combat global warming, according to the Washington-based World Resources Institute. Read more...

CARMA: Carbon Monitoring for Action

At its core, Carbon Monitoring for Action (CARMA) is a massive database containing information on the carbon emissions of over 50,000 power plants and 4,000 power companies worldwide. CARMA is the first global inventory of a major, emissions-producing sector of the economy. Visit the site...

Paying Farmers to Protect the Planet is Future: U.N.

ENN, November 15, 2007

Paying farmers to protect the environment -- rather than just for their produce -- will be an important way to ensure a rapidly increasing demand for food does not destroy the planet, a U.N. agency said on Thursday.
The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said paying for "environmental services" is set to be an important way to link two of humanity's greatest challenges: beating poverty and safeguarding the environment.
"(Farming) has the potential to degrade the Earth's land, water, atmosphere and biological resources -- or to enhance them -- depending on the decisions made by the more than 2 billion people whose livelihoods depend directly on crops, livestock, fisheries or forests," said FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf. "Ensuring appropriate incentives for these people is essential," he said in his foreword to the agency's annual report "The State of Food and Agriculture" which focused on environmental payments. Read more...

U.N. Completes Carbon Trading Link Under Kyoto

ENN, November 14, 2007

Japan on Wednesday became the first country to take delivery of carbon offsets which it can use to help it stay within its binding greenhouse gas emissions limits under the Kyoto Protocol, the U.N. climate body said.
Last year Japan was 150 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions, or some 13 percent, above its Kyoto limit of 1.2 billion tonnes. Japan was the first country to use the trading link, called the International Transaction Log (ITL), which the U.N. said became operational on Wednesday. Read more...

Ξανά κυνήγι...

ΣΚΑΪ.gr, 14/11/2007

Το "πράσινο φως" για το κυνήγι δίνει η νέα απόφαση που υπογράφηκε από τον υφυπουργό Αγροτικής Ανάπτυξης Κώστα Κιλτίδη, μετά το θέμα που είχε δημιουργηθεί με την απόφαση του Συμβουλίου Επικρατείας, η οποία ανακαλούσε την προηγούμενη απόφαση του υπουργείου. Διαβάστε περισσότερα...

California sues EPA to get tough CO2 rules on cars

MSNBC November 8, 2007

California sued the federal government on Thursday to force a decision about whether the state can impose the nation's first greenhouse gas emission standards for cars and light trucks.
More than a dozen other states are poised to follow California's lead if it is granted the waiver from federal law, presenting a challenge to automakers who would have to adapt to a patchwork of regulations.
"Our position is that it's time for EPA to either act or get out of the way," said Lee Moore, a spokesman for New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram. Read more...

Concentrations of air pollutants constant despite drop in emissions

European Environment Agency, November 13, 2007

Concentrations of ozone and particulate matter, two harmful airborne pollutants, have not improved since 1997 despite substantial cuts in emissions of air pollutants across Europe, says a new EEA report, released today. Key points of the report:

• Estimates indicate that up to 43 % of the European urban population were exposed to PM10 concentrations in excess of the EU air quality limit value between 1990–2004. The worst affected areas were Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary as well as in the Po Valley in Italy and southern Spain.
• Up to 60 % of the European urban population was exposed to ozone concentrations in excess of the EU air quality limit values between 1990–2004. Exposure of crops and forests to ozone exceeded limit/critical values over very large areas of central and southern Europe.
• Human exposure to certain other potentially harmful air pollutants, sulphur dioxide (SO2), carbon monoxide (CO) and lead, has decreased markedly due to effective European air quality policies. This is particularly true with policies reducing emissions of SO2 from power and heat generation as well as CO and lead emissions from passenger cars. Download the report...

Disaster in Black Sea as storm sinks tanker

Guardian Unlimited, November 12 2007

The Black Sea region suffered its worst environmental disaster in years after an oil tanker sank in stormy weather last night. The bodies of five seamen have been recovered and up to 18 are still missing after the storm struck 10 ships in the Strait of Kerch, which links the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.
Crewmen aboard the Russian oil tanker, the Volganeft-139, were rescued. It split in two and spilled at least 1,300 tonnes of oil. The severe weather prevented emergency workers from collecting the oil, which authorities said was sinking to the seabed. Read more...

Surprise! Surprise!

Στις 7 Νοεμβρίου, το ΥΠΕΧΩΔΕ ανακοίνωσε πρόστιμα ύψους 1,4 εκατ. ευρώ σε εταιρίες που δραστηριοποιούνται -και ρυπαίνουν- στην περιοχή του Ασωπού ποταμού.

Τις επόμενες ημέρες, εμφανίστηκαν πληρωμένες καταχωρήσεις σε διάφορες εφημερίδες, στις οποίες οι θιγόμενες εταιρίες εξέφραζαν την "έκπληξή" τους για τα πρόστιμα (1) (2)

Στις 9 Νοεμβρίου, το ΥΠΕΧΩΔΕ εκδίδει νέα ανακοίνωση, όπου εκφράζει την... έκπληξή του για την έκπληξη των εταιριών.

Ζούμε σε μία... εκπληκτική χώρα! Ελπίζω, όταν τελειώσουν οι 'εκπλήξεις' -και οι προσφυγές στα δικαστήρια- να μάθουμε ποιος τελικά ρυπαίνει τον Ασωπό -και πόσο θα πληρώσει γι' αυτό.

Παπούλιας: Λίκνο της δημοκρατίας το περιβάλλον

Ecocrete, 9/11/2007

Τον κώδωνα του κινδύνου για το μέλλον της ανθρωπότητας εξαιτίας των αυξανόμενων περιβαλλοντικών προβλημάτων, έκρουσε ο Πρόεδρος της Δημοκρατίας, Κάρολος Παπούλιας, επισημαίνοντας χαρακτηριστικά πως έχουμε φτάσει, ήδη, στην άκρη του γκρεμού. Τόνισε πως οι κυβερνήσεις πρέπει να προχωρήσουν άμεσα στην υιοθέτηση μέτρων για την αντιστροφή της πορείας, που οδηγεί στην καταστροφή του περιβάλλοντος, λέγοντας χαρακτηριστικά ότι «τώρα είναι η ώρα των αποφάσεων. Πρέπει να ενώσουμε τις δυνάμεις μας, ώστε να υπάρξουν ρητές δεσμεύσεις των κυβερνήσεων σε συγκεκριμένα μέτρα». Διαβάστε περισσότερα...

Απαγορεύτηκε το κυνήγι σε όλη την Ελλάδα λόγω των καταστροφικών πυρκαγιών

In.gr, 10/11/2007

Tουλάχιστον ως τα Χριστούγεννα απαγόρευσε το Συμβούλιο της Επικρατείας το κυνήγι σε όλη την Ελλάδα, μετά τις καταστροφικές πυρκαγιές του περασμένου καλοκαιριού, που «επέφεραν ανυπολόγιστες καταστροφές στο φυσικό περιβάλλον», όπως χαρακτηριστικά αναφέρουν οι δικαστές.
Σύμφωνα με Το Βήμα, οι σύμβουλοι Επικρατείας του Ε' τμήματος ανέστειλαν την απόφαση του υπουργού Ανάπτυξης, την οποία εξέδωσε στις 13/8/2007 και με την οποία επέτρεψε το κυνήγι για την περίοδο 2007-2008. Διαβάστε περισσότερα...

Fujitsu Siemens Says Entire Product Line Will Be Energy-Efficient

Environmental Leader, November 8, 2007

Speaking at its VisitIT forum in Berlin, Bernd Bischoff, CEO of Fujitsu Siemens Computers, said that the company’s entire product line would have an energy efficiency make over, PC World reports.
“We will be the first IT vendor to completely move to energy-efficient products. We will be the first to offer them without additional expense to the customer,” Bischoff said. Read more...

Energy needs 'to grow inexorably'

BBC News, November 7, 2007

The global demand for energy is set to grow inexorably through to 2030 if governments do not change their policies, warns a top energy official.
Nobuo Tanaka, executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), said such a rise would threaten energy security and accelerate climate change. He said energy needs in 2030 could be more than 50% above current levels, with fossil fuels still dominant. Read more...

Φωτοβολταϊκό μεγα-πάρκο σε εξαντλημένο λιγνιτωρυχείο της ΔΕΗ στη Μεγαλόπολη

Καθημερινή, 7/11/2007

Tο πράσινο φως για την εγκατάσταση ενός από τα μεγαλύτερα φωτοβολταϊκά πάρκα στον κόσμο έδωσε στη ΔEH το υπουργείο Aνάπτυξης. Tο σχέδιο προβλέπει την παραγωγή ηλεκτρικής ενέργειας από φωτοβολταϊκό σταθμό συνολικής ισχύος 50 MW, σε έκταση του ήδη εξαντληθέντος λιγνιτωρυχείου της ΔEH στην περιοχή Xωρεμίου Mεγαλόπολης. H ετήσια παραγωγή του υπολογίζεται σε 58.000.000 κιλοβατώρες καθαρής ενέργειας που καλύπτει τη συνολική κατανάλωση 28.000 νοικοκυριών, που αντιστοιχούν στο 42% των νοικοκυριών του νομού Aρκαδίας. Διαβάστε περισσότερα...

US mayors meet on climate change

BBC News, November 2, 2007

More than 100 US mayors are attending a summit in the western city of Seattle to share and develop policies aimed at tackling climate change. Seattle's own mayor said it was up to individual cities to take on the principles of the Kyoto Protocol, which the US government has not signed up to.
"Our federal government has ignored the problem," Greg Nickels said. Read more...

Commission tightens screw on carbon market

EurActiv, October 26, 2007

In an apparent effort to avoid another collapse of the carbon market, the Commission has set an EU-wide CO2 cap of 2.08 billion tonnes for 2008-2012, giving member states 10% less CO2 allowances than requested for the second trading period. Seven states, including Hungary, Latvia, Malta and Lithuania, Poland and the Czech Republic, are taking the Commission to court on the grounds that the emissions caps being mandated by the EU executive for the period 2008-2012 will unduly harm their industries. Read more...

Η πρώτη κοσμοναύτης

Καθημερινή, 3/11/2007

Πριν από πενήντα χρόνια, σαν σήμερα, μια χαριτωμένη ημίαιμη σκυλίτσα με όρθια αυτιά, που τη μάζεψαν από κάποιο δρόμο της Μόσχας, έγινε το πρώτο γήινο πλάσμα ταξιδιώτης του διαστήματος και άνοιξε μία νέα σελίδα στην ανθρώπινη ιστορία. Ηταν ένα σύντομο και σίγουρα πολύ οδυνηρό ταξίδι για το καλοκάγαθο αδέσποτο, που όπως αποκαλύφθηκε το 2002 πέθανε λίγες ώρες μετά την εκτόξευση. Διαβάστε περισσότερα...

Replace all animal experiments in Europe

Διαδικτυακή συλλογή υπογραφών για τον τερματισμό των πειραμάτων σε ζώα, στα πλαίσια της αναθεώρησης της Οδηγίας 86/609/EEC

View the online petition...