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COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AFP) – The Faroe Islands, a Danish autonomous territory, said Tuesday it had begun discussions about the future of its controversial dolphin hunt, with a decision expected in the coming weeks. A petition with almost 1.3 million signatures calling for a ban on the traditional hunt was submitted to the Faroese government on Monday, the prime minister’s office and whale conservation groups told AFP. At a meeting on Tuesday in Torshavn, the government […]
by Marc PRÉEL Agence France-Presse STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AFP) – The torrent of man-made chemical and plastic waste worldwide has massively exceeded limits safe for humanity or the planet, and production caps are urgently needed, scientists have concluded for the first time. There are an estimated 350,000 different manufactured chemicals on the market and large volumes of them end up in the environment. “The impacts that we’re starting to see today are large enough to be […]
TUNIS, Tunisia (AFP) – Tunisia will return more than 280 containers of waste illegally imported from Italy in 2020, the north African country’s environment ministry said Monday. The containers were brought in by a Tunisian company that falsely claimed that the household waste — barred from import under Tunisia law — was in fact plastic scrap to be recycled. The importation had sparked widespread anger, resulting in protests in Tunisia as people demanded that Italy […]
LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) – European banks, while pledging to tackle carbon emissions, are heavily financing companies involved in the expansion of oil and gas production, activist group ShareAction said on Monday. A total 25 lenders, led by HSBC, Barclays and BNP Paribas, last year provided fossil fuel groups with a total of $55 billion (48.5 billion euros), ShareAction said in a report. The activist group urged investors to use their shareholder rights to push […]
Brasília, Brazil (AFP) – Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro launched a plan Monday to expand gold mining in the Amazon rainforest, drawing criticism from environmentalists for bolstering an industry accused of rampant deforestation, pollution and attacks on indigenous peoples. Bolsonaro signed a decree creating a program to support the development of artisanal mining, a controversial activity known as “garimpo” that occupies something of a legal gray area in Brazil. The decree says the aim is to “propose […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) – An International Atomic Energy Agency taskforce began a mission Monday in Japan to review the controversial planned release of treated water from the Fukushima nuclear plant into the ocean. More than a million tonnes of processed water has accumulated in tanks at the crippled plant since it went into meltdown following a tsunami in 2011 and storage space is running out. An extensive pumping and filtration system removes most radioactive elements, […]
by Eugenia LOGIURATTO Agence France-Presse ATAFONA, Brazil (AFP) – Vultures roam the sand in the Brazilian resort town of Atafona amid the ruins of the latest houses destroyed by the sea, whose relentless rise has turned the local coastline into an apocalyptic landscape. The Atlantic Ocean advances an average of six meters (nearly 20 feet) a year in this small town north of Rio de Janeiro, which has long been prone to extreme erosion — […]
NEW YORK, United States (AFP) – Coca-Cola, under pressure from environmentalists over its packaging policies, has pledged to use reusable containers for at least 25 percent of its beverages by 2030. The soda giant announced the pledge Thursday, saying it would be implemented globally through the glass and plastic bottles it sells to consumers and through the containers used at soda fountains and dispensers. Refillable containers accounted for about 16 percent of total volumes in […]
by Levi FERNANDES Agence France-Presse PAMPILHOSA DA SERRA, Portugal (AFP) – In central Portugal, a sustained drought has revealed the ruins of a village that was totally submerged underwater when a large reservoir was created nearly 70 years ago. “I have never seen that!” says Carlos Perdigao, 76, as he gazes at the ruined stone houses of Vilar which were swallowed up by the Zezere river when a dam was opened in 1954. Vilar stands […]
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) – Australia officially listed koalas across a swathe of its eastern coast as “endangered” on Friday, with the marsupials fighting to survive the impact of bushfires, land-clearing, drought and disease. Conservationists said koala populations had crashed in much of eastern Australia over the past two decades, warning that they were now sliding towards extinction. Environment Minister Sussan Ley said she had designated koala populations as “endangered” to offer them a higher level […]
WASHINGTON, D.C., United States (AFP) – Washington has invoked the environmental provisions of the North American free trade pact to urge Mexico to do more to protect the critically endangered vaquita porpoise, officials announced Thursday. The office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) said it is requesting consultations with Mexico under the Environment Chapter of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA. While Mexico last year put in place measures to protect the world’s most endangered […]
BELFORT, France (AFP) – President Emmanuel Macron called Thursday for a “renaissance” for the French nuclear industry, saying he wanted up to 14 new reactors to power the country’s transition away from fossil fuels. “What we have to build today, because it’s the right moment, is the renaissance of the French nuclear industry,” Macron said at a strategic turbine factory in Belfort, northeast France. “I want six EPR2s to be built and we will launch […]
