Environment | WPN World People News

The Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) has scheduled a hearing for the 12 May on legal action brought against the import of the genetically engineered Monsanto soybeans (T-77/13). MON87701 x MON89788 soybeans were authorised in the EU for use in food and feed. They are grown predominantly in Brazil and sold under the brand name Intacta. These plants have a unique combination of two genetically engineered traits: They express a so-called insecticidal Bt toxin and are resistant to the herbicide glyphosate, commonly known under trade names such as Roundup.

The coastal city of Zamboanga in the Philippines is vulnerable to climate related hazards. Displaced people sheltering in tents near the coast are more at risk of other natural hazards if they stay longer in the area.

In Somaliland and Puntland, close to two million people are affected by the drought amid the El Niño phenomenon.

The state of Maryland is facing a federal civil rights complaint, filed by Earthjustice, on behalf of residents in the majority black community of Brandywine, Md., after the state approved a permit for a gas-fired power plant that would have disproportionate pollution impacts on the basis of race.

Pittsburgh-based manufacturer PPG Industries, Inc. will pay a $59,000 penalty to settle alleged violations of hazardous waste regulations at the company’s coatings manufacturing and research facilities in Springdale, Pa. the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced on May 11. The settlement addresses compliance with regulations designed to protect public health and the environment by requiring the safe, environmentally sound storage and disposal of hazardous waste.

Government documents made public show that Shell and several other oil companies have relinquished nearly all their leases in the Chukchi Sea, part of the Arctic Ocean, on May 10. The documents, which came as a result of a Freedom of Information Request made by Oceana, reveal that the companies together abandoned more than 350 leases, with Shell retaining just one in the Chukchi, and Spanish company Repsol holding onto 93 leases. Shell also retains leases in the adjoining Beaufort Sea.

Jake Gladstone, Montana's Blackfeet Troubadour, in the Badger-Two Medicine area on the Blackfeet Reservation in northwest Montana.

IUCN-Toyota partnership to expand knowledge of threats to global biodiversity

The World Bank Group’s Board of Executive Directors approved a US$9.50 million grant from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) on Monday, to help China increase water productivity and reduce pollution discharges in the three river basins entering the Bohai Sea, by mainstreaming and scaling up an innovative approach to integrated water and environmental management.

As extreme drought continues to hit much of Sub-Saharan Africa, leaving millions of people in need of emergency assistance, a new report led by the World Bank focuses on interventions that could increase long term resilience to drought.