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by Alex PIGMAN Agence France-Presse BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) – The EU will face the fury of opponents to nuclear and gas energy on Wednesday when it proposes new criteria for a “green label” for investment projects intended to help fight climate change. The fight over the European Union’s classification of power sources is the latest dust-up in discussions between the 27 member states on how to achieve a net zero-carbon economy by 2050. Brussels had […]
by Michael O’HAGAN Agence France-Presse KAMPALA, Uganda (AFP) – Chinese and French oil giants finally sealed a $10-billion deal Tuesday to unlock Uganda’s energy resources and build a vast regional oil pipeline, a mega-project that has incensed environmental groups. The so-called Final Investment Decision should pave the way for the export of millions of barrels of black gold that was first discovered in 2006 in Uganda, one of the world’s most biodiverse regions. The decision […]
by Marlowe HOOD Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) – Coral reefs that anchor a quarter of marine wildlife and the livelihoods of more than half-a-billion people will most likely be wiped out even if global warming is capped within Paris climate goals, researchers said Tuesday. An average increase of 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels would see more than 99 percent of the world’s coral reefs unable to recover from ever more frequent marine heat […]
by Samir Tounsi Agence France-Presse MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AFP) – Relations between the United States and Mexico are under strain as the Mexican government pushes ahead with planned energy sector reforms that have alarmed Washington and foreign investors. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador wants to strengthen the state-owned electricity provider and roll back the effects of liberalization under previous governments that he says favored private companies. That has prompted warnings that Mexico is in danger […]
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AFP) – Greenland’s immense ice sheet has lost enough ice in the past 20 years to submerge the entire United States in half a metre of water, according to data released this week by Danish researchers. The climate is warming faster in the Arctic than anywhere else on the planet and melting ice from Greenland is now the main factor in the rise in the Earth’s oceans, according to NASA. Since measurements began […]
by Robin MILLARD Agence France-Presse GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) – The World Health Organization warned Tuesday that the vast amount of waste produced in tackling the Covid-19 pandemic posed a threat to human and environmental health. The tens of thousands of tonnes of extra medical waste had put a huge strain on healthcare waste management systems, the WHO said in a report. The extra waste is “threatening human and environmental health and exposing a dire need […]
WASHINGTON, D.C., United States (AFP) – The US government announced Monday it wants to revive a regulation limiting air emissions of mercury and other toxic substances from fossil fuel-fired power plants that had been undermined by the previous administration. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) “is proposing to reaffirm that it is appropriate and necessary to regulate emissions of hazardous air pollutants from coal- and oil-fired power plants,” the agency said in a statement. In May […]
QUITO, Ecuador (AFP) – An oil spill in eastern Ecuador has reached a nature reserve and polluted a river that supplies water to indigenous communities, the country’s environmental ministry said Monday. Nearly two hectares (five acres) of a protected area of the Cayambe-Coca national park have been contaminated, as well as the Coca river — one of the biggest in the Ecuadoran Amazon, the ministry said in a statement. The park of some 400,000 hectares […]
MARSEILLE, France (AFP) – French authorities said Monday they would begin testing limited daily permits to visit one of the most pristine coves near the Mediterranean city of Marseille, where summer crowds have sharply increased erosion risks. The high cliffs and sapphire-blue waters at the Sugiton pebble beach are a main tourist draw for the Calanques National Park, not least because other areas of the forest reserve are often closed due to fire risks. Some […]
by Kelly MACNAMARA Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) – Climate change is on track to ramp up the annual cost of US flood damage more than 25 percent by 2050, according to new research Monday that warns disadvantaged communities will likely bear the brunt of the financial burden. The study published in the journal Nature Climate Change used new flood models to map out the present and future impact of sea level rise, tropical cyclones and […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Researchers estimate there are significantly more species of trees on Earth than currently known, with more than 9,000 species yet to be discovered, according to a study published Monday. “Estimating the number of tree species is essential to inform, optimize, and prioritize forest conservation efforts across the globe,” said the study, which was published in the US National Academy of Sciences journal PNAS and involved dozens of scientists. About 64,100 […]
by Florian CAZERES Agence France-Presse BERLIN, Germany (AFP) – Rising tensions with Moscow over Ukraine have exposed Germany’s problematic dependence on Russian gas, inflaming an already heated debate over soaring energy prices. As Germany pursues its target to transition to cleaner energy sources over the next decade, Europe’s biggest economy has counted on gas temporarily filling the gap while it builds up its sun and wind energy capacity to replace nuclear and coal plants. But […]
