Environment | WPN World People News

A girl enjoying water fountains amid city summer heat.

Comoé National Park in Côte d’Ivoire has come off the List of World Heritage in Danger today, as its wildlife recovers from impacts of civil unrest. The decision follows a recommendation from IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature – the official advisory body to UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee, which meets this week in Kraków, Poland.

Islands and Protected Areas of the Gulf of California, Mexico - a fishing port on the coast of Gulf of Mexico

Under a settlement announced this week by the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the State of Colorado, Rocky Mountain Bottle Company, LLC (RMBC) has agreed to install emissions controls on the glass furnaces at its Wheat Ridge, Colorado glass bottle manufacturing facility that will eliminate the emission of more than 200 tons of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and 150 tons of sulfur dioxide (SO2) per year and improve compliance with federal and state clean air laws.

Administrator Scott Pruitt announced that the EPA is set to issue a proposal to repeal the Clean Water Rule, moving this country away from a commonsense safeguard that helps state and federal agencies protect our rivers, streams and wetlands under the Clean Water Act.

The link between water and security is undeniable. Where fresh water is available, accessible and well-managed, biodiversity can be sustained, economies can grow and communities can thrive. Yet when fresh water is compromised, life as we know it breaks down and can lead to social disruptions and conflict that further degrade the environment. Failure to address these issues puts people, nature and US national security and prosperity at risk, according to the new World Wildlife Fund (WWF) book Water, Security and U.S. Foreign Policy.

More intensive shrimp farming can yield better environmental and economic results, according to a new study. By producing more shrimp per hectare of land, farmers can increase production to meet growing demand for shrimp without increasing pressure on the region’s natural resources.

Many countries have become more efficient in using natural resources and the services provided by the environment, generating more economic output per unit of carbon emitted and of energy or raw materials consumed. Yet progress is too slow, and if emissions embodied in international trade are included, advances in environmental productivity are more modest, a new OECD report shows.