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INTERNATIONAL INTERNATIONAL INTERNATIONAL
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QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA'S CLEANER PRODUCTION PROGRAM
The Honourable Rod Welsford, Minister for Environment and
Heritage (EPA) and Minister for Natural Resources, Queensland,
Australia, announced initiatives for industry Cleaner Production
Partnerships Program. It includes the Sustainable Industries
Partnerships and Projects which serves Queensland industries
with environment management advice and expertise, supplier
networks, financial assistance programs, and recognition for
best environmental practice achievement.
The program includse the Environment Industry and Technology
program which assists the development of Queensland environment
management industries and their capabilities through support for
innovation, public-private sector collaboration, and enhanced
market awareness. And it has the Sustainable Management Systems
program which facilitates new and smarter management approaches
for integrating business growth and environmental protection
through measurable strategies for reducing material and energy
intensity in industry, extending product durability and
serviceability, and maximising the sustainable use of renewable
resources. It also has a grants program for Queensland industry
will provide financial assistance to companies, particularly small
to medium enterprises, to undertake actions like waste and energy
audits; cleaner production reviews; site management and environmental
impact audits; implementation of Environment Management Systems;
and, life cycle assessment. Contact, Murray Vincent, Project Officer,
EPA, Department of Environment & Heritage, Ph. 07 32276599,
Fax 07 32276670, email Murray.Vincent@env.qld.gov.au
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AUSTRALIA NGO GUIDE TO PURCHASING WOOD
In March 1999, the book, "Forest Friendly Building Timbers"
was launched in Australia at the hardware chain stores in
Australia called, BBC Hardware. It was produced by Catholic
priest, Father Paul Collins and co-author, Alan Gray.
The book, with the subtitle, "Don't Wreck Wildlife Homes to Build
Yours," provides Australian consumers with information on sources
of timbers either grown in plantations or from recycled sources.
Within days of the book launch, the National Association of Forest
Industries (NAFI) had its lawyers send letters to Gray, co-editor and
publisher the Howard Smith Group, the parent company of BBC
Hardware, and the book's distributors Gordon and Gotch, claiming
that the contents of the book contravened provisions of the Trade
Practices Act aimed at preventing "deceptive and misleading conduct."
NAFI warned that unless Gray withdrew the book from sale within
24 hours the forest industry would commence legal proceedings.
However, Australia's corporate watchdog, the Australian Competition
and Consumer Commission (ACCC), is, itself, investigating the timber
industry body for possible breach of the anti-competitive behaviour.
NAFI executive director, Dr. Robert Bain complained that, "the aim
behind the book is to advance the extremist campaign to stop all
native forest logging in this country."
Earth Garden Publications, Alan Gray's company, and environment
group The Wilderness Society have lodged formal complaints with
the ACCC regarding the actions of NAFI. The complaints allege that
the forest industry pressure that led to the withdrawal of the book from
BBC Hardware stores constituted a breach of legislation designed to
prevent anti- competitive behaviour. By Bob Burton, Environment
News Service (ENS) 1999. All Rights Reserved.
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IFC WORLD BANK APPOINTS NEW ENVIRONMENTAL OFFICER
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) appointed an
officer to improve environmental and social performance for
private sector institutions that receive IFC funding. World Bank
and IFC president, James D. Wolfensohn, appointed Ms. Meg
Taylor as the first Compliance Advisor/Ombudsman for the IFC
and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA). She
will operate at a vice presidential level, and will help address the
concerns of local communities which may be adversely affected
by IFC funded projects. Ms. Taylor, a national of Papua New
Guinea, received her LL.B. degree from Melbourne University,
Australia in 1974, and an LL.M. from Harvard University in 1986.
More information on IFC and MIGA environmental and social
matters can be seen at the websites http://www.ifc.org/enviro
and http://www.miga.org/welcome.htm
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MEXICO - U.S. BORDER ENVIRONMENT MEETING
There are serious environmental problems on the border between
Mexico and the United States. This is primarily due to U.S. companies
setting up polluting operations just south of the U.S. border in Mexico
in places like Tijuana to produce goods that are exported back into the
United States. To address this issue, the Second Annual Meeting on the
Border was held April 22, 1999, at the Hotel Camino Real in Tijuana.
Workshops, round table discussions, panels, border environment cyber
cafe, and the resource fair were held. There was also a tour of Tijuana's
Ecoparque (Eco - Park) where they have a decentralized wastewater
treatment and water re-use center. Check the website at
http://w3.arizona.edu/~laac/bordconf.htm
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WORLD WILDLIFE FUND IN EUROPE CALLS FOR
ACTION ON MINE TAILINGS
Highly toxic waste from metal mining poses a major threat
to the environment and human health across Europe, and
existing laws can do little to solve the problem, reports the
World Wide Fund for Nature, headquartered in Gland,
Switzerland. A year after a waste storage lagoon burst at
Boliden Ltd.'s Los Frailes zinc mine in Spain, sending a
toxic wave into Donana national park, the World Wide Fund
for Nature warned this could just be the tip of the iceberg.
WWF reported that, "in five European countries, we have
evidence of spillages and severe pollution of river basins
from leaking mine tailings." WWF set out a five-point plan
to improve mine tailing sites in Europe. It recommended that
the European Commission should draw up an inventory of
toxic mine tailings lagoons in Europe and should develop
safer ways of handling mine tailings, including strengthening
legislation on pollution spills and ensure that existing mining
rules are being properly put into practice.
Mining companies store waste from metal extraction under
water to stop it coming into contact with the air, which would
cause a greater environmental risk, according to Corina Hebestreit
of Euromines, the European Association of Mining Industries.
Source, (C) Reuters Limited 1999. Planet Ark News at
website http://www.planetark.org
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BP AMOCO OIL COMPANY DIVERSIFYING INTO RENEWABLES
SPLIT IN OIL INDUSTRY ON COMMITMENTS TO KYOTO
As EXXON and its sister company, Imperial Oil Ltd., fight
efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and efforts to
meet the internationally approved Kyoto Protocol to reduce
global warming gases, British Petroleum (BP Ltd.) and Amoco
continue to meet their international responsibilities to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions. In their latest move, BP Amoco
announced that about 200 of its service stations worldwide
will be given solar power. It is the largest single project of its
kind ever undertaken. According to the BP announcement,
solar electricity will help meet the power needs of all new
service stations to be built in the UK, Australia, Germany,
Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Japan, Portugal and
Spain.
Solar installations will also be incorporated into
prototype sites in France and the US as part of an extended
pilot program. The program will start with a two-year,
$50 million effort to install up to 400 solar panels on each
fuel pump canopy at some 200 service stations across eleven
countries. The 3.5 megawatt project will save around 3,500 tons
of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions every year (one kilowatt of
solar power installed saves the equivalent of one ton of CO2
emissions per year.). It will also make BP Amoco one of the
world's largest users of solar power in addition to its statue as
one of the world's largest manufacturers of solar cells and
modules. Visit the website of the recently merged BP Amoco
oil companies website http://www.bpamoco.com/
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US. DEPT OF ENERGY REPORT ON CARBON SEQUESTRATION
DOE released a 200-page "working draft" detailing the
emerging science and technology of carbon sequestration -
the capture and secure storage of carbon dioxide emitted
from the combustion of fossil fuels. The draft report provides
a starting point for government, industry and academia to begin
setting priorities and identifying specific directions for research
and development activities that could extend over the next quarter
century. The report focuses on ways to reduce carbon dioxide
levels in the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide is one of the primary gases
that contribute to the "greenhouse effect" - the phenomena where
certain trace gases in the atmosphere trap earth's radiated energy,
causing a gradual warming of the earth's surface.
The draft report was developed jointly by DOE's Office of Science
and Office of Fossil Energy with assistance from national laboratories,
the department's Federal Energy Technology Center, and experts from
academic and industry groups. A limited number of printed copies are
available from the DOE Fossil Energy Communications Office at
ph. (202) 586-6503. For more information, contact, Robert C. Porter,
DOE Office of Fossil Energy, (202) 586-6503, e-mail
robert.porter@hq.doe.gov . The report is available in electronic form
from the Office of Fossil Energy website at
http://www.fe.doe.gov/sequestration or, the Office of Science's website
at http://www.er.doe.gov
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GREEN TAXES IN EUROPE
A detailed new report on the potential for environmental and carbon
taxes in Europe has been released, called Report 1995:7, entitled, "A
Painless Solution, An Analysis of Two Alternatives for Global
Taxation for Financing Climate Activities Under the United Nations
Umbrella". The purpose of the report is to provide an interdisiplinary
analysis on complex fiscal and taxation implications of green taxes.
The report comes from a group of economists and experts from
different institutions. Vetle Hvidsten and Birger Vikøren from
Norges Bank (the Central Bank of Norway), are dealing especially
with the "Tobin tax", Jan Fuglestvedt from CICERO writes on how
air traffic affects climate, Hans Christian Bugge from the Legal
Department of the University of Oslo focuses especially on the
technical and legal aspects, and Asbjørn Aaheim and Rolf Selrod
from CICERO concentrated on climate issues and a possible tax
on aviation.
One of the proposed taxes is on air transportation. Planes are a major
source of greenhouse gases and could be assessed with a green tax on a
polluter pay principle. The revenues generated by the tax could be used
to reduce greenhouse gases in developing countries. To establish a tax
fund from plane assessment revenues with an illustrative figure of
US $10 billion revenue per year, we would need about US $9.00 as an
average charge per passenger (departure tax), or about 0.5 US cent per
passenger kilometre, or a tax on an average flight of about US $650.00.
The combustion of fossil fuel by aircraft gives emissions of
pollutants well known from other environmental problems:
CO2, carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NO + NO2 =
Nox), hydrocarbons (HC), sulphur dioxide (SO2) and soot/particles,
in addition to production of water vapour (H2O). Aircraft's emits
about 3% of the global emissions of CO2, thereby contributing
directly to the enhancement of the greenhouse effect and climate
change. Due to the long lifetime of CO2, the climate impact of
CO2 emissions is independent of the spatial location of the emissions.
This is not the case for emissions of NOx and this gas has received
much attention due to the effects on the concentrations atmospheric
ozone (O3) which is an important climate gas.
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OIL SPILL BY MOBIL OIL IN NIGERIA
WARRI, Nigeria - Nigerian communities demanding compensation
for a Mobil Corp oil spill threatened to halt the operations of other
oil majors working in the Niger Delta. A statement from the group of 61
communities said Royal Dutch/Shell, Chevron Corp, Agip and Texaco
would be targeted To put pressure on Mobil to pay for damage which
they allege was caused by a ruptured oil pipeline. "We will take
appropriate steps to make operation difficult or impossible
for all oil companies in Niger Delta if that is what Mobil wants," said a
statement from the Association of Mobil Spill Affected Communities
group. The compensation claims follow a spill from Mobil's Idoho
offshore platform in January 1998, which affected some communities
further west along Nigeria's coast where Mobil itself has no operations.
(C) Reuters Limited 1999. Source, Planet Ark website
http://www.planetark.org
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IRELAND'S REPORT ON GLASS IN RECYCLING
Studies on glass in recycling in Ireland and the U.K. produced
interesting results. The Irish government environmental information
service (ENFO) provided the information. Reminding us that from
2,000 to 3,000 bottles\jars to make 1 metric tonne, ENFO found that
the average household in Ireland discards 1.4 kilos of glass per week.
It found that glass products constitute 7.5% of Irish domestic waste.
By weight, up to 80% of raw recycling material can be waste glass.
More information at ENFO's website http://www.enfo.ie
Email info@enfo.ie
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION IN INDONESIA DIMINISHED
A special report by Asia Environmental Review (ASER)
found that Indonesia's financial crisis has meant the nation's
efforts to prevent pollution and environmental degradation
are "on the brink of collapse" according to Mr. Sudarsono,
Secretary to Indonesia's Minister for Environment. The crisis
has also meant that environmental management strategies have
had to be adjusted, Sudarsono told a seminar in Australia on
environmental business prospects in Indonesia. There has been
a reduced focus on monitoring and enforcement while more
support is provided to meet basic human needs, he said. Commenting
on the passage last year of Law Number 23/1997 on Environmental
Management, Sudarsono said the Indonesian Government is
preparing eight environmental regulations under the Act.
Mr. Sudarsono said that the Government had recently appointed
24 civil investigators to work with police officers on investigations
of breaches of environmental laws, including the illegal lighting of
forest fires. Yanti Koestoer, the Jakarta-based marketing manager
with Australia's Austrade said that despite the dramatic drops in
private sector environmental work, some opportunities remain within
the environment and water sectors because of internationally-funded
projects in these sectors by the World Bank and the Asia Development
Bank (ADB).
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INDONESIA HAS 5% OF ITS POPULTATION CONNECTED
TO SEWERS AND
50% CONNECTED TO CLEAN WATER SUPPLIES
Only 5% of urban dwellers in Indonesia are connected to proper
sewage treatment systems. About 49% of Indonesia's urban
population (37.2 million people) had access to clean drinking
water through the public piped water supply system, according to
Sunaryo Sumadji, Secretary General of Indonesia's Ministry of Public
Works. Existing old pipelines have so many cracks and breaks that
the Indonesian water system pumps and losses 40% of its total clean
water production. Commenting on solid waste management in
Indonesia, Sunaryo Sumadji stated that public facilities for solid
waste management were operating in 188 cities, servicing about
12.2 million people. Indonesia, in a scramble to generate more
hard currency revenue made a decision to support import into
Indonesia of hazardous waste from Singapore.
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FOR MORE INFORMATION ON INDONESIA'S ENVIRONMENT
For more information about Indonesia's environment, contact,
ICEL Tel. +62 21 7394432 Fax+62 21 7233390, Email icel@igc.apc.org
Check the Indonesian Nature Conservation database at
http://www.bart.nl/~edcolijn/ Also, contact Dr. Louis Lebel Institute
of Research & Development Walailak University, Tha Sala, Nakhon-
sri-tammarat 80160, Thailand, email louis@praduu2.wu.ac.th Fax
66-75-384-271 Tel 66-75-384-000 ext 3555.
Or visit the Global Change Impacts Centre for Southeast Asia (IC-SEA)
website at http://www.icsea.or.id/ or the
Southeast Asian Science Policy Advisory Network (SEA-SPAN)
http://www.icsea.or.id/sea-span/ SARCS Integrated Study
http://www.dataserv.com.au/sarcsisp.html Walailak University
http://www.wu.ac.th/
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CANADA CANADA CANADA CANADA
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CARLETON UNIVERSITY TO HOST CONFERENCE
ON SECURITY AND THE ENVIRONMENT
The Norman Paterson School of International Affairs at the Carleton
University, Ottawa will host a conference on human security, social
equity and sustainable development, September 18 and 19, 1999.
Contact, Human Security Conference Committee, Norman Paterson
School of International Affairs, Level 2A Paterson Hall, Carleton
University, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, Ontario K1S 5B6
email human_security@carleton.ca or visit the website at
http://www.carleton.ca/humsec
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ATTEND CANADA'S LATIN AMERICA EXPORT
BUSINESS TRAINING
The Newfoundland, Environment Industry Association (NEIA)
will plan to host with Industry Canada a "Latin America Export
Readiness Training and Market Information Session", May 13th,
1999, at the Delta Hotel and Conference Center in St. John's,
New Brunswick. Guest presenters include Dr. Dorothy Riddle
(Service Growth Consultants) and Ms. Doreen Conrad (DFAIT).
Contact, Trent Langdon, NEIA Programs Coordinator at Tel
(709) 772-3013 E-mail trent@neia.org or Bryan Holland,
Communications Manager, Tel. (709) 772- 3337, Fax (709)
772- 3213, Email bryan@neia.org, Website http://www.neia.org
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JOIN THE CANADIAN ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY
ASSOCIATION (CEIA)
If you are a company working in the environment in Canada, join the
Canadian Environment Industry Association (CEIA). It is a business
association that provides support for better business in environmental
protection, sustainable development, and climate change. CEIA serves
as a forum for the development of consistent national messages on
priority issues affecting the industry. As the voice of the industry,
CEIA works to ensure that the concerns of the environment industry
are represented to the federal government. CEIA encourages and
facilitates the development of national strategies for export growth,
both industry-wide and for specific sectors within the environment
industry.
CEIA offers its Members a range of specific services. A weekly
bulletin provides timely market intelligence and information
on domestic and international business opportunities. CEIA's
conferences, seminars and business events create opportunities for
members to network and enjoy professional and business development.
CEIA's Internet-based Environmental Business Network (EBNet)
provides immediate access to information on the environment industry
throughout Canada, with links to Canadian environmental companies.
The National Environmental Exporters (NEE) on-line searchable
database lets buyers from around the world browse the capabilities
of export- oriented Canadian environmental firms. The monthly
CEIA Calendar lists conferences, courses and trade shows across
Canada and around the world. If you wish to obtain the services of a
company in Canada, contact Ron Portelli, President, Canadian
Environment Industry Association, 350 Sparks St., Suite 208,
Ottawa, Ontario K1R 7S8, Tel. (613) 236- 6222, Fax (613) 236-6850
E-mail: info@ceia-acie.ca website http://www.ceia-acie.ca/
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$180.90 ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION TO
THE GALLON ENVIRONMENT LETTER
Subscribe to "The Gallon Environment Letter". The 8 to 10 page newsletter is
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Make your cheque out to, "Gallon Letter", 506 Victoria Ave., Montreal, Quebec,
H3Y 2R5.
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Copyright (c) 1999 Canadian Institute for
Business and the Environment, Montreal
All rights reserved.
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