Europe > Environment

Environment in Europe

  • Germany agrees measures to cut diesel pollution

    GERMANY, 2017/08/03 German ministers, regional politicians and car executives agreed a package of measures on Wednesday aimed at cutting inner-city air pollution and averting bans on diesel cars.
  • Dealing with the ‘loss and damage’ caused by climate change

    WORLD, 2017/05/14 Scaling down our emissions and building resilience against climate change can only take us so far. Some negative impacts and damages are now unavoidable. The inevitable consequences of human-caused climate change have collectively come to be known as “loss and damage”. First emerging decades ago as a relatively obscure plea by small island states, loss and damage has now gained recognition as the third pillar of international climate policy, after mitigation and adaptation. But turning the concept of loss and damage into something more tangible for countries bearing the brunt of extreme weather or rising seas has proved more fractious.
  • An example to the world: Sustainable tourism in Slovenia

    SLOVENIA, 2017/03/11 The green heart of Europe is inhabited by a lot of people with green hearts. This was evident during a debate at the ITB Berlin Convention, where environmental activists and tourism decision-makers discussed ways in which the world’s initial green destination could continue to develop someday. The debate began with a review of the current situation: with sixty % of the countryside protected and with a basic right to clean drinking water that is even stipulated by the country’s constitution, Slovenia is by presently showing the way.
  • David Borg, chairman of local waste management and recycling firm WasteServ

    MALTA, 2017/03/04 Local waste management and recycling firm has put itself at the center of solving Malta’s waste management problem The small island country of Malta holds the six-month rotating EU presidency at a time at the same time as it is one of the fastest growing economies in the Euro area. GDP increase reached 4 % last year, well above the EU regional average, and is forecasted approaching in at a relatively satisfactory 3.7 % this year.
  • The European Commission's vice president, Frans Timmermans, said other institutions are welcome to improve the criticised proposal

    EUROPEAN UNION, 2016/09/29 The European Commission has called for stricter rules on lobby groups, amid controversies on former top officials having gone through the so-called "revolving door" into jobs with large business. Commission vice-president Frans Timmermans unveiled the initiative for a mandatory lobby register on Wednesday (28 September) by saying that there is urgent need to rebuild trust in EU law-making. ”Citizens have the right to know who tries to influence EU officials,” Timmermans said.
  • Albanian Activists Mull Lawsuits to Stop Power Plants

    ALBANIA, 2016/09/24 Activists in the northern Albanian region of Tropoja are preparing to submit lawsuits to halt the planned construction of hydropower plants on the Valbona river and its tribunaries, claiming it will destroy tourism in the so-called "Albanian Alps". Catherine Bohne, an inhabitant of Valbona and chief of Toka, an environmental protection NGO for Northern Albania, told BIRN on Wednesday that a lawsuit is on the way. "We by presently started working with a lawyer and are presently mulling the best way to get the hydropower plants stopped," she said. Bohne, whose campaign is widely supported in Valbona, says that the process of granting rights to construct such plants in a designated protected area was filled with holes.
  • Australia sues Volkswagen over alleged diesel emissions fraud

    GERMANY, 2016/09/02 The Australian government's consumer watchdog sued the Australian arm of Volkswagen under allegations the automaker intentionally concealed the level of toxic emissions from its vehicles. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said the German automaker sold some 57,000 vehicles in the Australia with software that produced low nitrogen oxide emissions at the same time as tested, but switched to higher emission levels under normal driving conditions.
  • Italian authorities say the death toll in an Italian earthquake has risen

    ITALY, 2016/08/28 Italian authorities say the death toll in an Italian earthquake has risen from presently on again as bodies continued to be recovered and presently stands at 290, the Associated Press reported. The Civil Protection agency gave the updated figure late August 27 morning just ahead of a national funeral for some of the victims being attended by Italian President Sergio Mattarella and Premier Matteo Renzi.
  • Turkmenistan intends to sign the Paris climate agreement

    FRANCE, 2016/08/28 Turkmenistan intends to sign the Paris climate agreement, the Turkmen government said August 27. According to Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov’s decree, Rashid Meredov, Turkmen foreign minister, deputy chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers, will sign the document.
  • Building a Global Action Platform to Create Abundant Food, Health, and Prosperity—While Saving the Planet’s Ecology

    WORLD, 2016/06/11 The grand challenges of poverty, health, and economic prosperity can be solved. Indeed, it is possible to harness an emerging alliance of institutions, a growing knowledge base, technology platforms, and innovations to unleash an abundant and ecologically sustainable next for each person and for the earth. World Action Platform began with this bold vision in 2012. A lot of criticized this vision at the time, but today, our founding vision is gaining ground. Indeed, with the 2015 launch of the Sustainable Development Goals, this vision is being embraced actively by a growing network of corporations, universities, investors, governments, and NGOs around the world.