The environment in the news tuesday, 25 April 2006
ROAP Media Update 25 April 2006
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ROAP Media Update 25 April 2006UN or UNEP in the news Architects praised for 'green' projects  The Nation, Thailand, 25 April 2006 - Two projects from Germany and Venezuela won the top prize for "designs for sustainable development" in the Holcim Global Awards 2006, the first major green design awards in the world.
Announced in Bangkok last night, the two projects are the Main Station project from Germany by Christoph Ingenhoven and the Upgrading of San Rafael - Unido, Urban Integrating project from Venezuela by Silvia Soonets. "It was most difficult for us to judge which one was better. So we decided to give the award to both of them," said Adele Naude Santos, head of a 15-person jury that judged the awards. ……"Sustainable construction is one way to show social responsibility to a world now threatened with environmental disaster, especially from global warming. We have to do everything in our means to ease this crisis at every level, beginning in your home and your company," Klaus Toepfer, director general of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), said during his keynote speech last night. Silver and bronze awards were also handed out last night. The $250,000 silver award went to a project in Italy, Waterpower-Renewal Strategy for the Mulini Valley. http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2006/04/25/national/national_30002462.php International leaders awarded for environmental conservation Jakarta Post - Jakarta,Indonesia, 25 April 2006 - Kornelius Purba, The Jakarta Post, Singapore - The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) honored seven international leaders as part of celebrations marking Earth Day on April 22. Among those who received a "Champion of Earth" award -- a non-monetary prize given to "green" leaders -- were the former president of the now defunct Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, and former Iranian vice president Massoumeh Ebtakar http://www.thejakartapost.com/detaileditorial.asp?fileid=20060424.L02&irec=4 WAYS TO REPAIR THE DAMAGE DOCUMENT Extracts from the United Nations World Water Development Report 2, 2006 Calcutta Telegraph, India, 24 April 2006 - The Post Conflict Assessment Unit of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has shown that conflicts are almost always followed by environmental crises: chemicals leaching into waterways, damage to irrigation systems, deforestation, the destruction of infrastructure...collapses of governance systems —local and national. Rebuilding economies, damaged lives, shattered infrastructure including water and power systems, rebuilding and restoring damaged irrigation systems, removing landmines in post-conflict situations, absorb 27 percent of all Overseas Development Assistance...The Convention on the Prohibition of Military or any Other Hostile Use of Environmental Modification Techniques (ENMOD Convention)2 seeks to prohibit acts such as weather modification and harmful flood creation. The threat posed by the release of toxic chemicals into the environment has further prompted calls for a new convention. It is no coincidence that many of the countries yet to make progress on debt relief are those recently emerged from conflict situations... http://www.telegraphindia.com/1060424/asp/opinion/story_6118874.asp General Environment News Ecologists worried as 274 water bodies go dry The Hindu, Monday, April 24, 2006 - Correspondent : Bindu Shajan Perappadan `Situation is worse in parts of South-West and North-West Delhi' NEW DELHI: Caught between acute shortage of water and plummeting groundwater levels, this latest report on the status of water bodies in the Capital does not read well for its citizens. Of the listed 611 water bodies in Delhi, 337 are wet while a whopping 274 have been declared dry. What is worse is that of the 274 that have gone dry, the Capital has lost 190 water bodies forever as they cannot be revived. To be sure, so bad is the condition that even in the forest areas two of the five water bodies cannot be revived. These figures have caused panic among environmentalists because surface water bodies are essential to maintain groundwater levels. http://www.cmsindia.org/cmsenvisnode/newsletter/enews/NewsDetails.asp?id=9356 _____________________________________________________________________________ ROA Media Update 25 April 2006General Environment News Libyans brainstorm on renewable energies Zaouia, Libya (PANA) - A scientific conference on renewable energies and their uses began Sunday in the city of Zaouia, 40-km west of the capital Tripoli, to discuss studies and researches in the sector. Organised by the Zaouia 7 April University department of mechanical engineering in collaboration with the Libyan general electricity company, conferees will discuss national and international perspectives of renewable energies, rural electrification through photovoltaic cells and the thermic conversion of solar energy. A scientific show is organized on the sidelines of the conference by the University's faculty of engineering in collaboration with the Libyan general electricity company and some Libyan public companies and agencies which had on exhibit several of their solar-powered equipment and installations. Participants visited a system of electric production through solar cells set up by the general electricity company on an artesian well near Zaouia City. Several local officials, administrators, teaching staff and students of the 7 April University science and engineering faculties as well as experts and people interested in new and renewable energies are attending the conference. http://www.panapress.com/newslat.asp?code=eng110351&dte=24/04/2006 138 erosion sites reported in DRC's Western Kasai Kinshasa, DR Congo (PANA) - A total of 138 major erosion sites were recorded in 2005 in DR Congo's Western Kasai, including 100 in the chief town of Katanga. Twenty-five of the sites are in Tshikapa, eight in Ilebo and five in Tshimbulu, the Western Kasai Office of Road and Drainage System (OVD) revealed here Saturday. The Office blamed the erosion on several causes, including demographic pressure, the nature of the soil, the pattern of the field, deforestation, lack of maintenance, disregard for green areas and the unregulated distribution of dwelling plots. Moreover, the road network across the Western Kasai province comprises 560km, including 70km of tarred roads, 250km of non- tarred roads in Kananga, 150km in Tshikapa, 50km in Ilebo and 40km in Tshimbulu. http://www.panapress.com/newslat.asp?code=eng110277&dte=22/04/2006 SADC officials discuss water access problem in Africa Port-Louis, Mauritius (PANA) – A two- day Southern African Development Community (SADC) conference on water is underay here with Mauritian Public Services Minister Abu Kasenally, urging a scale up of access to safe drinking water in Africa. Opening the meeting Thursday, the Minister noted that 58% of the population in Sub-Saharan had access to safe drinking water in 2002. "We should work hard to reduce by half the number of people who lack access to drinking water and thus meet our commitments as part of the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs)," Kasenally said. "In order to reach the MDGs, we should come to a percentage of 79% of the population who have access to drinking water. Therefore we should increase by 2% annually the level of access to drinking water," he stressed. The Minister revealed that 99.6% of Mauritians have access to drinking water, attributing the success to the "social and political stability" of the country. http://www.panapress.com/newslat.asp?code=eng110207&dte=21/04/2006 Namibia: Namibian Climate Changing? New Era (Windhoek): The sudden heavy rainfall that occurred over the last four months in the country cannot be coupled with climate change. Many regard the latest rain showers, especially over the Easter weekend, as abnormal but for those that are in doubt the rains are normal. Last year it rained throughout the same long weekend. In a recent interview with New Era, Coordinator of the Namibia Climate Change Programme under the Ministry of Environment and Tourism Joseph McGann said the prolonged rainfall conditions are not unusual for a country like Namibia and that such a single event cannot be directly associated with climate change, since rainfall is a cyclic event that needs to be analyzed consistently. "You can't pick on one event and say it's climate change," said McGann, adding that globally climate change is occurring but that a single event of constant rainfall recently over the coastal areas cannot merely be ascribed to climate change. Based on statistics, between 1892 and 1998 in Windhoek, there has been rainfall of between a low of 200 mm and a high of 780 mm on average on a yearly basis. Namibians have experienced some of the highest rainfall figures especially in the coastal towns of Swakop-mund, Lüderitz, Henties Bay and Walvis Bay. Some rainfall as high as 400 mm were recently recorded in Lüderitz, the highest in history. McGann said there are other factors that contribute to climate change that have to be considered as well. According to this document, there is currently still a great deal of uncertainty with respect to what will happen to rainfall patterns in Namibia under climate change. Predictions range from a small increase of 30mm per year to severe decreases of 200mm below the current annual average. The greatest impact is likely to be felt in the central areas of the country.http://allafrica.com/stories/200604241038.html Pan Africa: World Bank Asked to Fund Clean Energy in South SciDev.Net (London): A World Bank report published on Sunday 23 April suggests a shift in policy towards more funding to help developing countries generate power more cleanly and efficiently. To this end, the report asks the bank's development committee to approve new types of loans and grants, and proposes a venture capital fund to help develop 'clean energy' technologies and bring them to market. According to the International Energy Agency, a total of US$8.1 trillion or US$300 billion per year from 2003 to 2030 is needed if developing and transitional economies are to meet their energy needs. Among the suggestions for meeting these costs, the report suggests providing a grant that would help such countries buy new and efficient energy technologies and infrastructures. The proposals would help developing nations reduce their emissions of the greenhouse gases that cause global warming. The report also discusses the need to help developing countries adapt to the effects of climate change by transferring technology -- such as ways of adapting crops to new climates -- to these nations. Dutch development minister Agnes van Ardennes told Reuters news agency that she is concerned that the proposals do not focus on very poor countries. In sub-Saharan Africa, 500 million people have no access to power. Last week, UK finance minister Gordon Brown urged rich countries to build a seed fund of US$20 million to help middle-income countries invest in 'green' energy sources. The World Bank report, Clean Energy and Development: Towards an investment framework, was drafted in response to a request made by the eight most industrialized nations at last year's G8 summit. http://allafrica.com/stories/200604240860.html Uganda: Uganda to Face Severe Water Shortage The Monitor (Kampala): Uganda is likely to face a severe water shortage by June this year, the minister of state for Water, Ms Maria Mutagamba, has said. "According to weather experiences in the country, serious drought is expected by June, which will lead to severe water shortage in the country," she said Mutagamba advised the public to construct houses with big water reservoirs to keep water, which will use during the crisis period. She said other countries experience similar water shortages, but solves skirt round it by storing water in tanks. Mutagmba was on Friday commissioning the Bombo water supply system, which was constructed under the support to small towns water and sanitation project. The Uganda government funded the Shs2 billion project. "When people use clean water, they become healthy and work harder, leading to development in the country," Mutagamba said. Mutagamba advised against deforestation and planting of eucalyptus trees saying they wont to suck all the water from the soils. http://allafrica.com/stories/200604240308.html ____________________________________________________________________________ Directory: cpi -> briefs briefs -> The environment in the news briefs -> The environment in the news briefs -> The environment in the news briefs -> The environment in the news briefs -> The environment in the news briefs -> The environment in the news briefs -> The environment in the news briefs -> The environment in the news briefs -> The environment in the news Download 280.1 Kb. Share with your friends:
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