European Union News - Environmnet

Ministers meeting at the Environment Council held in Brussels on 14 October, exchanged views over Commission proposals to allow member states to restrict the cultivation of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in their territory. Among other issues ministers debated over the consequences of this proposal as regard to WTO internal rules, and the possible fragmentation which it may cause within the internal market.

Real time maps of air, ground and water pollution can now be made available to everyone thanks to an EU-funded research project called INTAMAP. The INTAMAP project has developed open specifications software to draw up contour maps that not only show the exact location of polluted areas but also illustrate where pollution is coming from and where it is headed. Such information enables public authorities to decide more quickly on appropriate action to tackle the source of the pollution and allows individuals to avoid it. Researchers from Austria, Belgium, Germany, Greece.

The European Commission has put forward a Communication on the safety of oil and gas activities, which includes criteria for granting drilling permits, controls of the rigs and safety control mechanisms.

A report published confirms that the EU has missed its target of halting the loss of biodiversity by 2010. The assessment of implementing the Commission's Biodiversity Action Plan shows that Europe's biodiversity remains under severe threat from the excessive demands we are making on our environment, such as changes in land use, pollution, invasive species and climate change. Nevertheless, the assessment reveals that significant progress has been made over the last two years. Important lessons learned from implementing the action plan will underpin the EU's post-2010 strategy.

Five experts from France, Belgium, Sweden, Austria and Germany are part of the European civil protection team deployed to support the Hungarian authorities in their efforts to combat the pollution caused by the break of a sludge depository in the city of Ajka. Commission liaison officer arrived to in Hungary on Saturday, 9 October.

The United Nations Climate Change Conference, held in Tianjin, China, between 4 and 9 October 2010, has shown that a lot of work still remains to be achieved before the celebration of the Climate Conference in Cancún. The Tianjin meeting has, nonetheless, paved the way for the adoption of a balanced package of decisions in the forthcoming Climate Conference in Cancún, which will takes forward global action to combat climate change.

The Committee of the Regions (CoR) adopted on 6 October, during the celebration of the Open Days 2010 held in Brussels, a Resolution on the Cancun Climate Summit appealing to regions and local authorities to sign local climate action pacts setting out concrete measures in the fight against climate change.

The European Commission will allocate 4 million Euro to reduce dependency on fossil fuels and imports, to improve security of their energy supply in 13 countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russian Federation (as observer), Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.

Technological advances are making it possible to derive energy from greener sources, but wind turbines, solar panels, biofuels, biomass plants or carbon capture and storage (CSS) are not free of controversy. How to gain public acceptance of these new technologies? That was the debate at the workshop “Public acceptance of new energy technologies. Not in my backyard?” held at the Open Days on 5 October.

The European Commission has put forward its proposal for continued financial support to the EU's Integrated Maritime Policy for the period between 2011 and 2013. The proposal is designed to enable the Commission, Member States and maritime stakeholders to keep up the good work in favour of a sustainable use of oceans, seas and coasts.

A group of 16 additional ICT firms have agreed to reduce the electricity consumption of their broadband equipment and data centres, a measure which in many cases could lead to reducing their electricity consumption by 50%. Although a voluntary measure, 36 of Europe's biggest ICT companies already apply the codes of conduct. The Digital Agenda for Europe adopted by the Commission in May 2010 wants to ensure that the ICT sector leads the way on reducing its greenhouse gas emissions.