Environment | WPN World People News

Invest in Fish!

Greenpeace cautiously welcomed decision by the European Parliament to cap subsidies for the modernisation of the EU fishing fleet and to reject proposals to subsidise the construction of new boats. It warned however that a number of loopholes remain that would allow governments to continue to boost the ability of Europe’s fleet to catch fish.

Household brands that source palm oil through Singapore-based palm oil trader Wilmar International, such as the makers of Oreo biscuits, Gillette shaving products and Clearasil, are making consumers unwitting accomplices in the destruction of Indonesia’s forests, and pushing critically endangered species like the Sumatran tiger to the edge of extinction, revealed Greenpeace International in fresh investigations.

OSCE Secretary General, Lamberto Zannier, addresses the Economic and Environmental Dimension Implementation Meeting on 21 October 2013

Good progress has been made by Japan in remediation efforts in areas affected by the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident, a group of United Nations experts have said in a preliminary report, while encouraging the Government to better communicate its decontamination goals to the public.

IAEA International Remediation Expert Mission examines Reactor Unit 3 during a visit to TEPCO’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power plant.

The expert mission by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to review remediation efforts, which concluded, is a follow-up to the first mission carried out in October 2011 in the wake of the incident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station in March of that year.

In March 2011, a 9.0-magnitude earthquake created a tsunami that in addition to killing 20,000 people, slammed into the power station, disabling cooling systems and leading to fuel meltdowns in three of the six units. The incident was reported to be the worst nuclear accident since the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.

The mission recognized the “huge effort and enormous resources” that Japan is devoting to its remediation strategies and activities, with the aim of improving living conditions for people affected by the nuclear accident and enabling evacuees to return home, the IAEA said in a news release.

“Japan has done an enormous amount to reduce people’s radiation exposure in the affected areas, to work towards enabling evacuees to go back to their homes and to support local communities in overcoming economic and social disruption,” said team leader Juan Carlos Lentijo, Director of the Division of Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology in the IAEA’s Department of Nuclear Energy.

He added that the team was really impressed by the involvement of a wide range of ministries, agencies and local authorities in driving these crucial remediation efforts.

The 14-21 October mission, which was requested by the Japanese Government, welcomed the extensive provision of individual dosimeters so that residents can monitor their own radiation dose rates, helping to boost public confidence.

“Good progress has been made in the remediation of affected farmland, and comprehensive implementation of food safety measures has protected consumers and improved consumer confidence in farm produce,” the press release noted, adding that a comprehensive programme to monitor fresh water sources such as rivers, lakes and ponds is ongoing, including extensive food monitoring of both wild and cultivated freshwater fish.

The mission encouraged the Government to strengthen its efforts to explain to the public that an additional individual radiation dose of 1 millisievert per year (mSv/y), which it has announced as a long-term goal, cannot be achieved in a short time by decontamination work alone.

It also encouraged the relevant institutions in Japan to assess the role that the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) could play in the independent review of the remediation activities, particularly those required for the long term.

In addition, the mission encouraged the relevant organizations to conduct safety assessments of the facilities and activities for the long-term management of contaminated materials, and to allow for their independent review.

The 16-person team consisted of international experts and IAEA staff working in a range of disciplines, including radiation protection, remediation technologies, waste management and stakeholder involvement.

It assessed comprehensive information provided by the Japanese authorities and held discussions with the relevant institutions, including national, prefectural and local institutions. It also visited the affected areas, including several sites where remediation activities were conducted and some temporary storage sites for radioactive waste and soil, as well as a survey area for an interim storage facility, and a demonstration facility for incineration of sewage sludge.

The team’s preliminary report was presented to the Government and the final report is expected in December.

Source: UN News

Wind turbines, Middelgrunden Wind Park, Copenhagen, Denmark

There could be less than 130 Western gray whales (Eschrictius robustus) remaining.

Hundreds of tons of radioactive water have been detected near tanks at Japan's ruined Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station after heavy rains fell over the weekend.

Dyno Nobel Inc., has agreed to pay a $257,167 civil penalty to settle alleged violations of the Clean Air Act (CAA), Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA), and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) at its facilities in the cities of Louisiana and Carthage, Mo.

The United Nations Office at Geneva, 6 August 2010.