REC coordinator for Azerbaijan Ilkin Kengerli noted that the main documents to be submitted to consideration of ministers are Ministerial Declaration and European action plan? Environment and Children’s Health?. Ministry of Health representative Fuad Mardanli spoke of such important things as access to quality of drinking water, elementary toilet conditions, safety of children?s food etc. Continue reading →

We, the representatives of NGOs from 7 European countries, have concluded
thefollowing:

RECOGNISING the efforts of the Ukrainian Government to promote the socio-economic development of the Danub? region and to increase the well-being of its people by revitalizing the shipping on the Danube;

TAKING INTO ACCOUNT the high internatioinal status of the Danube Delta as one of the most important European wetlands, part of the UNESCO “Danube Delta” Biosphere Reserve, the biggest reedbed complex in the world, Ramsar Wetland Site of International Importance, and one of the 200 Global ecoregions selected by WWF; Continue reading →

Fuel and Energy Development Minister Majid Karimov of Azerbaijan, CERA Chairman Joseph Stanislav, DEIK Executive Board member Nihat Gokyigit, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Deputy Undersecretary Alev Kilic, U.S. President George W. Bush’s Senior Advisor for Caspian Basin Energy Diplomacy Steven Mann and Iranian Special Representative Mahdi Safari are attending the 2-day conference. Continue reading →

The project will build on the recommendations elaborated during the Moving Borders seminar which was part of ECF Enlargement of Minds programme, held in Villa Decius in Krakow in October 2003. Continue reading →

WWF’s work with companies to reduce CO2 emissions demonstrates that voluntary corporate commitments can be valuable in demonstrating innovative technologies and the business case for climate solutions. No matter how valuable they may be, a set of voluntary measures can not replace the environmental protection and business certainty provided by government-led mandatory caps on CO2 emissions.

WWF and the Center work with companies to customize progressive business plans for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, specifically focusing on carbon dioxide emissions. There are many ways that companies can reduce CO2 emissions, including:

increasing the efficiency of buildings and factories,
taking advantage of recent advances in combined heat and power to increase energy efficiency and lower energy costs,
purchasing power generated from renewable energy sources,
integrating next-generation efficiency measures into the design of new buildings, factories, and products,
integrating energy and environmental efficiency into building, product, and process design, optimizing existing manufacturing processes, and educating employees, customer base, and supply chain to help take advantage of best practices for greenhouse gas mitigation.

The first six businesses to join the Climate Savers Program are International Business Machines (IBM), Johnson & Johnson, Polaroid Corporation, Nike, Lafarge, The Collins Companies, and Sagawa Express.

[b]How it works[/b]
World Wildlife Fund and the Center for Energy and Climate Solutions seek companies willing to lead the way in implementing solutions to climate change. WWF and the Center support these companies in ?eveloping strategic climate and energy management plans and help to communicate and promote these efforts to the public, to policymakers and to the wider business community.

WWF’s goal is to reverse the rising trend in carbon dioxide emissions from industrialized countries in the beginning of the 21st century. Staff at WWF and the Center accomplish this goal by helping companies adopt a comprehensive portfolio of climate and energy management strategies that include a mix of immediate and long-term actions. In a customized Climate Savers agreement, your company commits to greenhouse gas reduction goal and works with WWF and the Center to outline the key action areas for achieving measurable reductions in carbon dioxide emissions.

Companies that join WWF’s Climate Savers Program measure their progress against other companies internationally. With other business leaders, your company can take part in an annual event addressing the latest climate and energy management systems, technologies, and policy trends on climate and other related environmental issues.

We believe that companies that join the Climate Savers Program will become competitive leaders in their sector. They will also gain public recognition for environmental achievements through WWF’s communication outlets, including its Web site and newsletters, and through recognition events. Join us and lead the way to creating a healthy climate for business and the environment.

[b]What WWF Brings to the Program[/b]
WWF has staff working around the world on results-oriented climate programs, policy initiatives, and research projects. Your company can join a select group of business leaders and develop practical strategies to cut carbon dioxide emissions, shape long-term greenhouse gas mitigation plans, and learn about trends in greenhouse gas policy and the impacts of climate change.

World Wildlife Fund is a leading authority on the causes and impacts of climate change as well as climate change solutions. WWF was established 40 years ago with a mission to protect the health and well-being of all life on the planet. Today, WWF is the largest independent member-based conservation organization in the world, with 4.7 million supporters, and projects in nearly 100 countries. WWF’s Web sites attract thousands of visitors each day. In addition to its strong conservation history and communication network, WWF has the most recognizable conservation logo in the world — the panda!

[b]About CECS[/b]
The Center for Energy and Climate Solutions is a one-stop shop devoted to helping businesses design and customize climate mitigation plans. Dr. Joseph Romm, President of the Center, led the largest program in the country for helping businesses reduce greenhouse gas emissions and is the author of the first book to benchmark the best corporate climate practices, Cool Companies: How the Best Businesses Boost Profits and Productivity by Cutting Greenhouse Gas Emissions. He has assembled a team of recognized experts in key areas: energy-efficiency building upgrades, cogeneration, motor efficiency and industrial process improvement, renewable energy, and environmental regulations.

WWF advocates solutions that address the root cause of climate change. The burning of fossil fuels-coal, oil and gas-releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere where carbon pollution blankets the earth, traps in heat, and causes global warming.

To protect our living planet, WWF continues to push for major reductions in CO2 emissions and increases in the use of energy efficient technologies and renewable energy resources like wind and solar energy. WWF’s current projects move individuals, business and industry, and leaders — local, national and international — towards responsible energy and environmental choices.

[b]PowerSwitch![/b] – WWF has challenged energy utilities to use more energy efficient technologies and sources of clean energy like wind and solar.

[b]Climate Savers[/b] – WWF is developing partnerships with innovative companies to reduce their heat-trapping CO2 emissions.

[b]Policy[/b] – WWF participates in regional, national and international policy debates to build support for solutions to climate change.

The energy choices made in one place can dramatically affect animals, people, air, land, and water around the world and for years to come. WWF is also involved in scientific research projects that examine the impact of climate change on polar bears, corals and American pikas.

If we can build upon our successes and encourage everyone to take action to stop global warming, future generations will enjoy a living planet.

Those units that are especially energy-efficient–based on standards set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Department of Energy (DoE)–receive an Energy Star, signifying them as preferred environmental choices. Clearly the program is designed as an incentive for competing brands to lower their products? energy consumption and costs over time.

The program is very helpful to consumers who want to do the right thing environmentally while also saving on energy bills, but it is not a ?cradle-to-grave? assessment. ?Cradle-to-grave,? as the term implies, measures an appliance?s environmental impact over the course of its entire life, and it counts other factors besides energy use and costs.

German and Scandinavian manufacturers, for example, thanks to stringent ?Extended Producer Responsibility? (EPR) laws in place there, must do more than maximize the energy efficiency of their products. They must also eliminate hazardous materials from both the appliances? components and their manufacturing processes (i.e. ?cradle?), and make them in such a way that maximizes their recyclability and reusability so as to keep them out of landfills (?grave?). In fact, European EPR laws even require companies to take back some of their products at the end of their useful life, removing the burden from the consumer as well as from local community waste handling systems.

And with passage last year of ?Directive 2005/32/EC? by the European Union (EU), similar laws will apply for any manufacturer–domestic or otherwise–that wants to sell appliances to Europe?s 400-million-strong consumer market. The goal is to encourage manufacturers to assess the full lifecycle impacts of their products, which would ideally also lead to the elimination of unnecessary parts and of wasteful, extraneous packaging. The directive becomes law across the continent in 2007.

Meanwhile, strong industry lobbies have thus far prevented similar legislation from taking hold in the U.S., though some state and local governments have expressed interest in European-style take-back laws. A few forward-thinking computer makers, including IBM and Hewlett-Packard, have started take-back programs voluntarily in order to salvage some components for re-use while looking good to environmentally-conscious consumers. But for the most part the trend has not caught on for American manufacturers and there are no laws in place to force them to abandon that age-old and not-so-green-friendly principle of ?planned obsolescence.?

Fred von Mechow

"The authorisation means that this maize type will now be allowed to be marketed in the EU as food, food ingredients or derived products, such as oil and starch," Commission spokesman for health and consumer protection Philip Tod told a briefing.

"In line with EU labelling and traceability rules, any product containing it will have to clearly indicate its genetically modified nature," he said.

The executive Commission was forced to make the decision after European Union member states failed to reach agreement on the issue in December.

The maize is jointly made by Pioneer Hi-Bred International, a subsidiary of DuPont Co, and Dow AgroSciences unit Mycogen Seeds.

The 1507 maize is modified to resist certain insects and herbicides and would not be for cultivation, although Pioneer/Mycogen have also requested this use under a separate application still pending in the EU authorisation process.

In March 2005, the European Food Safety Authority said it was safe to grow the maize, while in November it was given the green light to be used in animal feed.

GMOs have become a thorny issue for the EU with the World Trade Organization ruling last month that the 25- member bloc and specifically six member states had broken trade rules by barring entry to genetically modified crops and foods.

The countries named in the report were France, Germany, Austria, Italy, Luxembourg and Greece.

Countries bristled at the ruling that touches on national sovereignty with some saying they would do their level best to kee? farming GMO-free.

European environment ministers will hold a public hearing on the subject when they meet in Brussels on Thursday next week. Top of the agenda will be the way in which the EU’s 25 countries make decisions on GMOs.

Ministers currently must decide by qualified majority. However, next week’s hearing will discuss the possibility of reaching a decision by simple majority.

"The slick is about 500 litres. It’s maybe 15 kilometres (9 miles) long," said a dispatcher from the Czech agency that oversees the Elbe.

The oil slick was discovered at 8.30 a.m. local time (0730 GMT) and officials quickly began enacting a plan to control it, he added, giving no further details.

The Ministry of Environment and Agriculture in the eastern German state of Saxony said it had been informed by the Czechs of the oil slick, which is in the vicinity of Usti nad Labem, a city near the northern Czech border with Germany.

"The cause of the contamination is not yet clear," the ministry said in a statement. "It is possible that it was a damaged pipeline or a freighter or truck accident."

"The Czechs have erected barriers that should slow down the spread of the oil slick. It is not clear whether and when the oil slick will reach Saxony," it said.

The Elbe flows up from the Czech Republic, where it is known as the Labe River, through Dresden and up north to Hamburg.