European Union News - Environmnet

The European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS)has just released the 'Forest Fires in Europe 2008' report which shows the impact of forest fires in Europe for 2008. This report manifests that 180 000 hectares of land in the EU burnt in 2008, compared to a 200 000 in August 2009.

The European Union says that the environment is seriously damaged by the hundreds of merchant ships thet are dismantled each year, leaving out large quantities of hazardous waste such as asbestos, PCB and oil sludges. Moreover, in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan, where the majority of the dismantling industry is set, working conditions are so poor that each year hundreds of workers suffer serious accidents. Nearly a quarter of the ships dismantled come from Europe.

The journal Science published a study by researchers from United Kingdom and Spain and financed from EU funds concludes that ecological restoration in areas of high environmental degradation can help stop the loss of global biodiversity. Also showed that the conservation work that are most effective when the restoration is intended to ensure the quality of "ecosystem services" such as drinking water, food production and carbon storage.

Following the measures adopted in the field of maritime safety, the European Commission has set up the High Level Steering Group on SafeSeaNet, whose creation has been published in the Official Journal of the EU on August 1st, 2009. Chaired by the European Commission and integrated by representatives from all Member States, the Group will support the development of SafeSeaNet system.

Four out of five Europeans say that they consider the environmental impact of the products they buy reveals a Eurobarometer survey published today. Environmental consideration was highest in Greece where more than 9 in 10 of those surveyed said the impact of a product on the environment plays an important aspect in their purchasing decisions.

The European Forest Fires Information System (EFFIS) reports on the fires in forest areas in Europe. According EFFIS, the current situation poses a high or even extreme fire risk in many parts of southern Europe and will continue in critical condition over the next few days.

In recent years the EU has mainstreamed sustainable development into a broad range of its policies. In particular, the EU has taken the lead in the fight against climate change and the promotion of a low-carbon economy. Three years into the implementation of the EU's Sustainable Development Strategy the Commission has taken stock of developments at EU level and launched a reflection on how the EU strategy could be taken into the future.

The Directorate General for Enterprise and Industry has issued a  tender by which it intends to conduct an analytical study of the competitiveness and climate change-related aspects of industry, technology and trade.

Environmentalists are taking a bite out of pollution thanks to one of the largest monitoring campaigns ever launched in Europe. A total of 20 research teams from across Europe have set up sites in Île-de-France, a region containing the Paris metropolitan area,to investigate sources of particulate pollution in the urban environment. Their objective is to quantify and describe these sources using diverse methods such as ground-based observations at permanent sites or from mobile platforms.

The five-time winner of Tour de France and twice of Giro Miguel Indurain, showed his support for the contest organized by the European Commission to set the EU organic logo by joinning the competition’s jury to choose the best logo submissions for the pan-European event.

Parliament heard today from Sweden's Prime Minister, Fredrik Reinfeldt, about his government's plans for its six-month presidency of the EU. Economic crisis, Lisbon Treaty and climate change are their priorities for the presidency.