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March 26, 2010
In an immediate volte-face the French government has drawn the conclusions from the debacle of the regional elections and abandoned the project of C02 tax that had been prepared with much fanfare during the last two years. Designed to win voters from the green camp it has lost its purpose. Anyhow it had been so… » read more
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Climate change, energy efficiency, Energy Supply, English, environment, Taxation |
March 24, 2010
World meat production is not the major contributor to green house gas emissions claimed by certain sectors of the green and vegetarian movements . Experts at The UN food and Agriculture Organisation have conceded that earlier accusations of an 18 per cent share of total AGHG were considerably inaccurate. Writers of the FAO’s famous –… » read more
March 22, 2010
By a large majority, the 175 contracting parties of CITES (“Convention on the international Trade in endangered Species”; have rejected a request by Monaco, backed by the USA and the EU, to put a temporary ban on the fishing of blue-fin Atlantic tuna. The stock of this increasingly expensive fish has declined by 75 percent… » read more
Sir, Regarding ‘Industry chief: Biofuel from waste can reduce landfill‘: At last we hear some good news from an enterprising source. How welcoming to read such positive comments. The move from Finland is not an isolated one in Europe. I have also heard that GeneSyst teams in Europe will be starting work on several major… » read more
Blogactiv was pleased to speak to Dr John Atkin about the challenges facing the world in supplying food to a growing population. He also discusses the role of agriculture in climate change and the potential role of genetically modified crops.
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Agriculture, CAP Reform, Climate change, English, FFA2010, Food and Agriculture, Food security |
Sir, Regarding ‘NGOs take Commission to court over biofuels reports‘: It is important to note that biofuels are not all produced from the same source and they do not all have the same environmental impacts. Whilst we can understand the issues being scrutinised in this legal foray, there is a serious issue here which I… » read more
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BioTech, Climate change, English, environment, Uncategorized |
March 16, 2010
The Copenhagen Climate Conference has been a water shed in the fight against climate change. Disappointment, indifference and frustration have annihilated the little hope that the endless series of preparatory UN conferences had generated. Today, three months after Copenhagen, nobody seems to have a clue on how to reduce green house gas emissions sufficiently to… » read more
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Climate change, Copenhagen Climate Conference, English, environment |
March 15, 2010
Yesterday’s post reported on the non-attendance of Premier Wen Jiabao at the small leaders’ meeting on 17 December. Wen’s explanation of what happened was the same as previously reported in the Chinese media, except that the latter said that the meeting was held by the US. Wen did not repeat this. It’s hard to understand… » read more
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China, Climate change, Copenhagen Climate Conference, English, environment, External Relations, US |
So far, the only alternative to Cap & Trade schemes seems to be plain taxation of emitted GHG’s. Still, there are several problems associated with taxes: – An expected tax might simply be included in the production price, hence potentially triggering inflation and generating immediate windfall profits for the emitters. – Choosing and measuring emissions… » read more
In view of the stalemate on climate legislation in the Senate President Obama has instructed the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) to prepare executive regulations for capping green house gas emissions from automobiles, trucks, refineries, power plants and major industrial emitters. These measures are designed to enter into force in early 2011 if no legislation has… » read more
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Climate change, energy efficiency, Energy Supply, English, environment, Uncategorized |
March 14, 2010
This morning in Beijing, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao explained at his press conference what actually happened in Copenhagen on 17 December 2009 on the eve of the UN Climate Change Conference, which gave rise to criticism of Chinese behaviour and even allegations of arrogance. It is remarkable that this is the first official version of… » read more
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China, Climate change, Copenhagen Climate Conference, English, environment, External Relations |
March 12, 2010
Iran is probably the country with the cheapest gasoline prices. A litre of gasoline costs only 45 cents beyond the monthly entitlement of 80 litres per car for which car owners pay ridiculous 11US cents. The Iranian government has to pay almost $ 100 billion annually for financing its generous subsidies on petrol, fuel and… » read more
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Climate change, energy efficiency, Energy Supply, English, environment |
March 8, 2010
The impact of biofuels on food supplies present and future is one of the latest worries of the environmental lobby. Once favoured a s a means of reducing finite fossil fuel dependency, it is now seen as snatching basic foods from the mouths of the poor to feed the fuel tanks of the affluent. The… » read more
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Biofuels, CAP Reform, Climate change, Energy Supply, English, environment |
March 5, 2010
The EU’s new Taxation Commissioner Algirdas Semeta has announced that he is planning to revive previously shelved plans for an EU-wide carbon tax, aiming to set a minimum levy of €10/tonne of CO2 emitted (although the exact level is a bit unclear) fr…
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carbon tax, Climate change, energy efficiency, Energy Supply, English, environment, ETS, EU Priorities and Opinion, Taxation |
February 26, 2010
This story about stricter environmental rules was published by EurActiv on 26th February. The European Parliament’s environment committee has called on the European Commission to distribute lists of member states that fail to properly implement EU legislation on waste, water and nature protection, arguing that the situation had become “absurd”. The whole debate on implementing… » read more
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Climate change, English, environment, EU Priorities and Opinion |
February 25, 2010
Less than two months after the Copenhagen Climate Conference Congress the US Administration has taken three major decisions on its future energy policy: • A 10 percent increase of its nuclear capacity President Obama has signed an $ 8 billion loan guarantee for the first two new nuclear reactors to be built in 30 years.… » read more
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Climate change, Copenhagen Climate Conference, energy efficiency, Energy Supply, English, environment, External Relations, United States, US |
February 23, 2010
The most recent FAO report on the “State of Food and Agriculture” contains a comprehensive analysis of the profound changes that have taken place in the livestock sector during the past 30 years. These transformations have outpaced the capacity of governments and societies to provide the necessary policy and regulatory framework to ensure an appropriate… » read more
The international community has failed to address climate change. And there is no prospect for it being more successful in the near future. Nobody expects the ministerial meeting (COP 16) scheduled for the end of the year in Cancun to lead to a substantive breakthrough. The time has come for a more thorough reflection on… » read more
February 19, 2010
Pour la première fois, à l’initiative de l’Assemblée des Régions d’Europe (ARE), plus de 60 élus et représentants des régions du pourtour de la Mer Noire, ainsi que des experts, se sont réunis à la Région Ile-de-France (F) pour aborder deux aspects centraux de la lutte contre la pollution dans […]
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AER, Climate change, elargissement et pays voisins, English, environment |
February 11, 2010
This year, the Forum for Agriculture FFA2010 adds another column to its event: the Student Forum. Students from leading schools across Europe are invited to join the FFA2010 with their own panel of renowned experts from the Forum. Pressing issues for the farmers and policy makers of tomorrow include: Farm productivity & competitiveness… Climate change…… » read more
