Int’l cps- brag lab- wave 1 Theory



Download 1.09 Mb.
Page3/35
Date03.03.2018
Size1.09 Mb.
#42024
1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   ...   35

Biodiversity




Europe solves ecosystem management – academic, government, industry partnerships


ESF 2014

European Science Foundation, Arctic 2050: Towards ecosystem-based management in a changing Arctic Ocean, March 12 2014, http://www.esf.org/media-centre/ext-single-news/article/arctic-2050-towards-ecosystem-based-management-in-a-changing-arctic-ocean-1011.html


About 150 scientists, policy makers and members of industry are gathering today at the 4th European Marine Board Forum in Brussels to discuss how best to manage the consequences of a changing Arctic Ocean for human health and well-being. The European Marine Board has convened this flagship event in collaboration with the European Polar Board, working in association with the European Science Foundation, in the knowledge that industry and science must work together to achieve sustainable management of resources such as fishing and oil and gas exploration while at the same time, protecting and conserving the Arctic environment. Dramatic changes, largely attributed to anthropogenic activity, have taken place in the Arctic in recent decades. These changes include melting of glaciers and sea ice, altered oceanic current patterns, movement and accumulation of contaminants and range shifts in many species. As a result of these changes the Arctic region is being transformed, with wide-ranging impacts and opportunities including the potential for ice-free shipping routes in the future, increased activity in oil and gas exploration, changes to Arctic fisheries and biodiversity, and impacts on residents’ livelihoods. “At present we are unprepared for the environmental and societal implications of increased human access to the Arctic that will come with the receding ice” explains Professor Peter Haugan from the University of Bergen and vice-Chair of the European Marine Board. “We have not fully anticipated the consequences of an increase in activities like hydrocarbon exploration, mineral extraction, bioprospecting and pelagic and demersal fisheries”. The 4th EMB Forum, recognized as an official ICARP III event, promotes the need for an ecosystem-based management approach in the Arctic Ocean, in order to adapt to and manage rapid environmental change and commercial exploitation, supporting a key recommendation of the recently published Arctic Biodiversity Assessment.[1] Moderated by David Shukman, BBC Science Editor, forum sessions include, ‘Living with a Changing Arctic Ocean’, ‘Utilizing and managing Arctic Ocean resources’ and a session on ‘Arctic Ocean Observation’, building on the European Marine Board call in 2013 for urgent action to increase our observational capacity across the entire Arctic Ocean (EMB, 2013).[2] Speakers will include industry representatives from Shell, the International Association of Oil and Gas Producers and the International Maritime Organisation. The forum provides a platform to address ecosystem-based management in the Arctic Ocean by stimulating dialogue across sectors to aid common understanding, collaborative actions and sustainability targets. Later today the forum will culminate with an open panel discussion on the roles of industry and science in achieving sustainable management of the Arctic Ocean.

Cooperation between the US and EU over the environment fails – differing ideologies


Donnan and Chaffin 13, Shawn Donnan and Joshua Chaffin, 10/13/13, Chaffin and Donnan are both staff writers for the Financial Times, “Green and consumer groups voice fears over EU-US trade agreement,” http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/1b2942a0-328f-11e3-b3a7-00144feab7de.html, NN

As negotiations get under way for an EU-US trade agreement, European environmental and consumer groups are mobilising to contest a pact they believe would lower standards for everything from apples to automobiles. Tariffs on most goods traded across the Atlantic are already low, so advocates argue that the main potential achievement of any EU-US deal is a reduction in regulatory and other non-tariff barriers. More ON THIS TOPIC Green goods trade talks set to start France hits out at dollar’s dominance US warns China over tech trade deal S Korea’s rice farmers fear trade move IN GLOBAL ECONOMY UK manufacturing output falls sharply ECB pressed to tackle ‘crazy’ euro China takes senior role in trade talks Argentina bond investors challenge ruling For that reason, say senior officials on both sides of the Atlantic, negotiations over the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), as it is officially known, are likely to be incredibly complicated. But equally complex may be selling the benefits of a deal and managing the opposition of consumer and environmental groups in Europe who have started to mobilise since the negotiations were launched this summer. Before what last week would have been the first set of talks to be held in Brussels were called off, the green group Friends of the Earth had planned to greet negotiators with a three-metre high “Trojan horse” representing the putative deal. From the horse, according to the group, they planned to unload “toxic contents” such as “genetically modified organisms, tar sands, hazardous chemicals and hormone-injected foods”. That sort of street theatre has greeted trade negotiations around the world for decades and EU and US officials are also bracing for the inevitable protests from French farmers and other groups with a history of battling against the lowering of trade barriers. But the angst over the potential impact of an EU trade agreement is also coming from mainstream European groups with a traditionally less knee-jerk approach to trade agreements. “We are not against TTIP as a consumer organisation,” says Monique Goyens, the director-general of the European Consumer Organisation, which represents some 40 different national groups in Europe. But she adds: “I would really not see the interest of US business in entering this agreement if there is not a lowering of some of the [European] standards.” That, she argues, could in some cases put the very health of European consumers at risk. Ms Goyens, who is among those due to testify at a hearing into the impact of TTIP in the European Parliament on Monday, cites food safety in particular as an issue of concern, along with the risk to European producers of an EU-US trade deal opening the door to cheaper US products manufactured to what she calls lower American regulatory standards – a charge that US officials dispute. Given its legal and technical complexity, trade policy tends to suffer from a communications gap with the general public. Its often insular community of practitioners is often wary of even trying to translate for the outside world.



Download 1.09 Mb.

Share with your friends:
1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   ...   35




The database is protected by copyright ©ininet.org 2024
send message

    Main page