Environment | WPN World People News

The World Bank Group Wednesday announced a significant boost in funding for water programs in India, the Niger River Basin, Morocco and Kenya to help tackle water challenges.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has reached an agreement with Aloha Petroleum Ltd. that resolves federal Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act violations at its Hilo East bulk fuel storage terminal in Hilo, Hawaii Island. In addition to installing spill containment at its fuel storage facilities statewide at an estimated cost of $3.25 million, the company has agreed to pay a civil penalty of $650,000.

In September 2015, the Indonesian Ministry of Environment and Forestry (MoEF) announced the publication of a new Forest Reference Emission Level (FREL) report. This is the country’s official report to the UNFCCC, establishing baseline deforestation rates and emissions, and is a critical component of Indonesia’s Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) reporting.

A flood control dam in Tianjin Eco-City, China.

Deforestation in Bhutan (file).

Solar panel on the roof of a house

The Commission should not authorise the use of glyphosate-tolerant GM maize NK603 x T25 in food and feed, says a resolution adopted by the environment committee on Tuesday. The Commission should suspend any authorisations for GM food and feed as long as the procedure, currently under review, has not been improved, say MEPs.

Greenpeace calls on the government of Japan to cancel the whaling fleet heading to the Southern Ocean under the guise of “research whaling”, and condemned the expedition as both unnecessary and in violation of the findings of the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The Japanese government released a statement announcing the fleet would depart for the Antarctic on December 1.

Four European countries - Germany, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland - Monday announced a new $500 million initiative that will find new ways to create incentives aimed at large scale cuts in greenhouse gas emissions in developing countries to combat climate change. The World Bank Group worked with the countries to develop the initiative.

As world leaders set out their response to climate change Monday in Paris, Greenpeace is calling on the leaders of the G7 and the BRICS countries to do more to transform their energy systems, and to switch to 100 percent clean renewable energy by 2050. Their leader's fine words at the COP must be matched by action at home so global warming is limited to 1.5 celsius or below. This is a matter of survival for millions of people.