Environment | WPN World People News

Plans by governments to conclude a new global climate deal in December are under pressure as discussions in Bonn moved along at a snail’s pace, leaving critical issues still to be resolved.

Repsol E&P USA, Inc. agreed to pay a penalty for alleged Clean Water Act violations at an oil exploration well pad on the North Slope, Alaska. According to a settlement announced on August 26 by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the company’s exploration well drilling equipment leaked well testing fluids onto the frozen, snow-covered arctic tundra in April of 2013.

The agriculture committee on Thursday rejected the Commission's draft law that would give member states the power to restrict or prohibit the use of EU-approved GM food or feed on their territory. It fears that arbitrary national bans could distort competition on the EU's single market and jeopardise the Union's food production sectors which are heavily dependent on imports of GM feed.

The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the government of Chile will host the 9th Latin American and Caribbean Carbon Forum (LACCF 2015) in Santiago de Chile from September 9-11. The conference will cover the latest developments in market-based mechanisms to address climate change, carbon trading, climate finance, and low-emission development.

Ben & Jerry’s joins other Vermont businesses and consumer groups in defending Vermont’s new labeling requirements for genetically engineered (GE) foods—one of the first such labeling laws in the country—against a federal court challenge brought by the food industry. The groups submitted a brief Monday supporting the disclosure of GE ingredients so people have more information about the health, safety and environmental impacts of the foods they consume.

IUCN World Conservation Congress 2016

“The IAEA concludes that no discernible health consequences are expected as a result of the Fukushima disaster, but admits important uncertainties in both radiation dose and long-term effects. Nobody knows how much radiation citizens were exposed to in the immediate days following the disaster. If you don’t know the doses, then you can’t conclude there won’t be any consequences. To say otherwise is political rhetoric, not science,” said Kendra Ulrich, senior global energy campaigner with Greenpeace Japan.

Girls herding goats in Somalia where in certain areas drought has contributed to severe water shortages and livestock deaths.

Rosewood seized in Pang Sida National Park

Shell's Polar Pioneer in Elliott Bay as it exits the Port of Seattle on June 15, 2015.