Month: May 1999

US Agriculture Secretary appeals for US/ EU understanding over beef, GMOs

A trade war with the US over the EU's refusal to open its markets to beef from hormone-treated cattle could be avoided if the two sides try to understand the cultural differences at the heart of the dispute, US Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman has told the World Agricultural Congress.

EPA to restore wetlands, help utility compliance

The US EPA's focus over the next two years will be on the development of Watershed Restoration Action Strategies using Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) and of State Capacity Development Programmes to ensure that water systems have the capacity to comply with existing drinking water standards.

Awareness raising is the key to reaching small firms

The UK Round Table on Sustainable Development has published a report showing that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the UK can make a crucial contribution to sustainable development.

Gasoline-fuelled electric vehicle passes emission and efficiency tests

An electric vehicle powered by gasoline-driven fuel cell stack technology has achieved high efficiency and near zero emissions in tests, demonstrating that such vehicles can operate on widely available fuel and still comply with Ultra Low Emission Vehicle regulations.

Commission launches campaign to double renewable energy share

European Union policies are gearing up to double the market share of renewable energy sources (RES) but there is an urgent need to accelerate their expansion, said EC Director-General for energy, Pablo Benavides, launching the Commission's "Campaign for Take-Off" at the Sustain'99 renewable energy fair in Amsterdam this week.

Progress made towards multilateral system for plant genetic resources

Governments negotiating at the latest meeting of the Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (CGRFA-8) have agreed that a multilateral system of access and benefit-sharing should be established for the planting of key crops. This brings closer a legally binding international agreement regulating access to plant genetic materials, known as the International Undertaking on Plant Genetic Resources.

Chevron launches $5 million community development program in Nigeria

US petroleum and chemical giant Chevron is to spend $5 million on a five-year community development programme aimed at improving the quality of life for people living in the Niger Delta.

Anti-pollution tree planting programme in Malawi

A Malawi youth group based in the city of Blantyre is to carry out a programme of tree planting along some of the city's polluted rivers. The programme will start the rehabilitation of a river which feeds one of the city's main reservoirs. Planting trees along the river is seen as the only means to prevent silt from choking the reservoir. A recent report stated that water in most urban rivers in Malawi are unusable following reckless dumping of industrial waste into them.

DNA shows Japanese ‘scientific’ whaling conceals illegal trade

Japan's so-called 'scientific' whaling is providing a cover for illegal hunting and trade in endangered whales, according to the results of DNA detective work presented at the International Whaling Commission (IWC).

Obsolete pesticides pose threat to Africa and Near East

Huge stocks of dangerous obsolete and unused pesticides in Africa and the Near East will pose a threat to humans and the environment until 2030, if funding for waste disposal remains at today's low level, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has warned.

Legislation to harvest biomass on CRP land

A Democrat senator is to introduce legislation to allow harvesting of biomass on land in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) for use in energy generation.

Butterflies would not encounter GM corn in the wild, says Biotech industry

Most Monarch butterfly larvae would never encounter significant amounts of corn pollen in a natural setting, the US biotech industry has said in response to a letter to Nature which claimed that corn pollen containing crop-protection proteins derived from the soil bacterium Bt can kill the butterfly's larvae.

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