THE ENVIRONMENT IN THE NEWS
Friday, 7 April 2006
UNEP and the Executive Director in the News
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Palestinians dispute UNEP findings on Israeli pullout (Middle East Times)
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Mangroves no wave buffer (The Cairns Post)
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Pesticide le PNUE contre les produits agricoles qui nuisent à la couche d'ozone
(Actualité News Environnement)
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Methyl Bromide on way out (Accra Daily Mail)
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Environmentalists told to support dams (New Vision)
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World health miscues (The Washington Times)
Other Environment News
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Scientists in Dispute over Carbon Curbs, Magazine Reveals (Reuters)
Climate Researchers Feeling Heat From White House (The Washington Post)
As a Sea Rises, So Do Hopes for Fish, Jobs and Riches (New York Times)
Two New Discoveries Answer Big Questions In Evolution Theory (The Wall Street
Journal)
Plants helped ants to evolve, study finds (Independent)
Vanishing Acts (Newsweek)
Philadelphia OKs No-Flush Urinals at Skyscraper after Cutting Deal with Plumbers
(Associated Press)
Environmental News from the UNEP Regions
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ROAP
ROA
Brazil Office
Other UN News
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UN Daily News of 6 April 2006
S.G.’s Spokesman Daily Press Briefing of 6 April 2006
Communications and Public Information, P.O. Box 30552, Nairobi, Kenya
Tel: (254-2) 623292/93, Fax: [254-2] 62 3927/623692, Email:cpiinfo@unep.org, http://www.unep.org
Middle East Times (Egypt): Palestinians dispute UNEP findings on Israeli pullout
Yasser Baraka
6.4.2006
GAZA STRIP, Gaza -- On March 30, following months of investigation, the United Nations
Environment Program (UNEP) issued a report on the extent of environment damage that the
Israeli pullout last summer has left in the Gaza Strip.
UNEP gave Israel an "environmental clean bill of health", and added that the former Jewish
settlements in Gaza that Israel evacuated could be safely used by Palestinians for housing and
agriculture purposes.
For Palestinian farmer Abdullah Abu Qenas, whose land is adjacent to the former Jewish
settlement Kfar Darom, south of the Gaza Strip, UNEP's assurances are meaningless.
Agriculture ministry experts have found Abu Qenas' five dunums of land (1.25 acres) no longer
fit for farming, due to a severe contamination of the soil following a sewage spill from the
settlement in July 2005.
"For six months now," Abu Qenas said, "I have been unable to grow one plant in my land
because of the sewage that fills the soil. It kills everything I try to grow, and I don't know for
how long this will continue."
The UNEP report further stated that "other than some localized pollution and issues associated
with asbestos, the assessment did not find contamination of water, land or buildings that poses a
significant risk to the environment or public health".
According to the records of the Palestinian Environment Quality Authority, two months before
the Israeli withdrawal, settlers of the southern Gaza Strip settlement Gush Katif - the largest
settlement bloc in the Strip - spilled 15 thousand liters of sewage stored in an artificial pool onto
adjacent Palestinian lands in the Mawasi area, contaminating them completely and polluting
three aquifer wells used for irrigation.
At a press conference at the time, chairman of the Environment Quality Authority Youssef Abu
Safieh asserted that during the last two weeks of July 2005 more than 50 thousand tons of
industrial waste was moved from inside Israel into the to-be-evacuated Jewish settlements of
Gaza Strip, namely Gush Katif.
Today, Abu Safieh maintains that in addition to the previous Israeli environmental violations,
the destruction of thousands of buildings within the former settlements has created an enormous
amount of rubble, which includes asbestos - a substance that can penetrate the ground and
pollute Gaza's groundwater table.
"Israel left more than 1.2 million tons of rubble in the Gaza Strip, and it has not yet been
removed after more than six months of the Israeli pullout and this is causing some serious
environmental problems," he said.
"Although asbestos was not used in water pipes but only in buildings, the fibers lying around
could easily penetrate the ground and hence the aquifer," he added.
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According to the UNEP report, while some asbestos-related pollution remained, overall "the
scientific assessment report gives the Gaza pullout an environmental clean bill of health ...
[There are] no environmental constraints to Palestinian settlement in the area."
But an expert from the Palestinian Hydrologists Group disagrees with the report findings.
"This report had failed to take into account the extensive destruction of Palestinian agricultural
land during Israel's occupation and settlement of the Gaza Strip. In certain areas the land was
systematically leveled so that it doesn't yield as much as it used to," Riyad Al Khodary said.
"It is no surprise that the UN report said water wells were not contaminated by settlers. Gaza
lies too close to Israel for them to do so. What happened in Palestinian agricultural areas and
after the pullout is the real problem," he added.
Abu Safieh said that the UNEP team sent to the evacuated area to assess the environmental
damage was under severe constraints related to freedom of movement between the sites,
security considerations, availability of experts, equipment, time and budget.
"UNEP prepared its report with just 30 samples of soil from the former settlements, but for an
area as large as the Gaza former settlements, any full-scale identification and quantification of
environmental damage or liabilities would require a more detailed and lengthy investigation,"
he explained.
International guidelines for characterizing the soil contamination in such a vast area requires the
collection and analysis of many thousands of samples, he added.
Abu Safieh further argued that Israel continues to contaminate the environment of Gaza Strip,
by dumping hazardous waste in the valleys and rainwater streams that go through the Strip.
"Israel has always considered Gaza a free-of-charge garbage dump - a landfill for its waste,
regardless of this waste's hazards and impact on the lives of the Palestinian people or the
environment quality in Gaza Strip. This is evident almost everywhere around the former
settlements," he said.
As part of its security policy in the Gaza Strip before its withdrawal, Abu Safieh added, Israel
leveled hundreds of meters of land around each settlement in order to create "security zones".
These "zones" resulted in the destruction of much of the Strip's green belt, in addition to the
sand dunes, which are considered traps for rainwater that contribute to replenishing the aquifer
reservoirs every year.
This policy resulted in a shortage of lands for farming, and thus a decrease in agricultural
production, in addition to a deteriorated quality of drinking water, which is drawn entirely from
aquifer wells, according to the Environment Quality Authority.
"I wish [the UNEP team] had come to my land when they examined the pollution of the
settlements," Abu Qenas said, with a sigh. "Then they could have seen what these settlements
have done to our lives and sources of livelihood over the past years."
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The Cairns Post (Australia): Mangroves no wave buffer
6.4.2006
CONTROVERSIAL new research has debunked the theory mangroves provide protection
against tsunamis.
Claims death rates were lower in villages shielded by mangroves in the 2004 tsunami have been
discredited in a collaborative study by James Cook University's Centre of Excellence for Coral
Reef Studies, the University of Guam and the Wildlife Conservation Society's Indonesia
Program.
In re-analysing Indian data, the study found a failure to recognise the link between vegetation
and mortality was due to the fact more vegetation grows at higher elevations above sea-level.
The research, published in the latest Estuarine and Coastal Shelf Science journal, challenges
advice by the United Nations Environment Program "green belt" buffer zones be incorporated
into reconstruction efforts for future protection.
Dr Andrew Baird, from JCU, said unrealistic expectations about the protective merits of
mangroves created a "genuine danger" for coastal residents.
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Actualité News Environnement: Pesticide le PNUE contre les produits agricoles qui
nuisent à la couche d'ozone
6.4.2006
Pesticide - L'objectif d'une nouvelle initiative mondiale du Programme des Nations Unies pour
l'environnement (PNUE) est le développement de produits agricoles et des pesticides qui ne
nuisent pas à la couche d'ozone. Plus de 5.000 fermes et organisations se sont alliées au
Programme des Nations Unies pour l'environnement (PNUE) pour éperonner l'élimination
progressive d'un pesticide agricole qui nuit à la couche d'ozone, le bouclier protecteur de la
Planète.
Le bromure de méthyle a jusqu'ici été utilisé pour fumiger le sol avant de semer des tomates,
des fraises, des melons, des fleurs et d'autres cultures. Mais en 1992, il a officiellement été
catégorisé comme substance nuisant à la couche d'ozone et son élimination progressive
planifiée. Depuis, l'utilisation du bromure de méthyle est régie par le Protocole de Montréal, le
traité international mis en œuvre pour protéger la couche d'ozone.
Pesticide le PNUE contre les produits agricoles qui nuisent à la couche d'ozone
Le nouveau Partenariat pour l'élimination du bromure de méthyle, lancé aujourd'hui, regroupe
de nombreuses exploitations agricoles et compagnies qui ont fait preuve de leadership dans le
domaine de la protection de la couche d'ozone. Des associations agricoles et des supermarchés
tels que Marks & Spencer et Co-operative Group UK, ainsi que des organisations
internationales comme le PNUE, le FAO, l'UNIDO, le Programme des Nations Unies pour
l'environnement (PNUE), la GTZ, MPS et CAB International, figurent parmi les adhérents de
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cette nouvelle initiative. Le Partenariat vise à accélérer l'adoption, à l'échelle mondiale, de
produits de remplacement, moins nuisibles à la couche d'ozone que le bromure de méthyle.
Shafqat Kakakhel, Responsable en chef et Directeur exécutif adjoint du Programme des Nations
Unies pour l'environnement (PNUE), a déclaré : « La bataille pour reconstituer la couche
d'ozone qui protège toute vie sur terre de radiations UV nocives, est une des grandes victoires
écologiques : une vaste gamme de produits chimiques, comme les CFC, ont largement été
supprimés au titre du Protocole de Montréal. »
« Cependant, le bromure de méthyle, une des dernières substances sur la liste d'élimination,
s'avère beaucoup plus difficile à éliminer, parce que certains fermiers restent convaincus que les
produits de remplacement sont inefficaces et trop onéreux. En démontrant que des milliers de
fermes et de compagnies ont réussi à cultiver, à acquérir et à vendre des produits agricoles
cultivés sans recourir à cette substance chimique, le partenariat envoie un message clair qu'un
monde débarrassé de bromure de méthyle est possible dans le moyen terme», a-t-il ajouté.
Une étude menée au nom du Partenariat a jusqu'ici identifié plus de 5.000 exploitations
agricoles, dans plus de 30 pays à travers le monde, qui produisent des tomates, des melons, des
fraises et des fleurs non traité au bromure de méthyle. Le Partenariat compte établir un service
internet interentreprises (B2B), reliant les alimentations qui cherchent de bons produits cultivés
sans bromure de méthyle avec des fermiers et des fournisseurs qui n'utilisent pas de bromure de
méthyle. Le système s'associera également à des organisations de certification agricole (MPS et
AENOR par exemple) pour que les entreprises puissent acquérir, en toute confiance, des fleurs,
des fraises, des tomates, des melons et d'autres produits qui sont certifiés sans bromure de
méthyle.
Les fermes et les compagnies qui se sont liées au Partenariat ont soit déjà éliminé le bromure de
méthyle ou s'engagent à le faire d'ici septembre 2007, à l'occasion du vingtième anniversaire du
Protocole de Montréal. Le Partenariat est une initiative publique-privée, qui encourage les
sociétés à adopter des mesures volontaires pour renforcer la réglementation environnementale
nationale régissant l'utilisation du bromure de méthyle.
Déclarations des compagnies et organisations phares du Partenariat international : « Les
fermiers de la région d'Almería produisent presque 60 pour cent des légumes exportés
d'Espagne – tomates, poivrons, aubergines, melons et autres », a déclaré M. Juan Colomina
Figueredo, directeur-général de COEXPHAL, l'Association des fermiers et exportateurs de
fruits et légumes d'Almería (Espagne). « Il y a plusieurs années, nos fermiers ont éliminé le
bromure de méthyle de cette vaste région agricole, et les consommateurs sont satisfaits des
résultats. Nos fermiers ont également découvert que les alternatives sont économiquement
viables dans ce secteur hautement compétitif. »
« 4.500 exploitations agricoles dans plus de 30 pays sont membres de l'organisation
internationale MPS qui certifie le respect de normes de bonnes pratiques agricoles. Ces
domaines cultivent des fleurs coupées et ornementales ainsi que des légumes, sans recourir au
bromure de méthyle, » a dit M. Théo de Groot, Directeur général de MPS. « Des organisations
comme MPS auditent et certifient ces fermes, assurant que les supermarchés et les autres clients
reçoivent des produits plus soucieux de l'environnement et de la société. »
« Marks & Spencer partage la vision d'un monde produisant des produits frais sans bromure de
méthyle, » a déclaré M. Emmett Lunny, technologiste en chef des supermarchés Marks &
Spencer. « Stériliser le même terrain, sans rotation, n'est pas une bonne pratique agricole. Il
existe de nombreuses autres options (chimiques et non chimiques), appuyées par des recherches
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scientifiques. Notre fournisseur de fraises égyptiennes, par exemple, a cette année
complètement éliminé le bromure de méthyle. »
« Le bromure de méthyle est une méthode de désinsectisation de grande portée, qui tue les
organismes aussi bien nuisibles que bénéfiques », a déclaré Dr Niek van der Graaff du
Programme de l'ONU pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture (FAO). « Le FAO a facilité
l'établissement d'écoles de formation agricole sur le terrain et la formation en gestion intégrée
des ravageurs de plantes (IPM) d'agriculteurs africains et d'autres régions, les aidant à adopter
des méthodes plus durables de désinsectisation et ainsi d'éliminer le bromure de méthyle. Les
fermiers sont satisfaits de l'utilisation de certaines alternatives non chimiques de contrôle des
ravageurs parce qu'elles sont économiquement viables tout en étant respectueuses de
l'environnement. Le FAO fournit un appui technique pour poursuivre des activités visant à
éliminer progressivement le traitement des sols au bromure de méthyle par le biais de formation
en IPM. »
« Depuis 1997, l'UNIDO travaille de près avec des fermes de pays en voie de développement,
offrant des formations et aidant les fermes à adopter des alternatives au bromure de méthyle »,
affirme M. Guillermo Castella Lorenzo, Gestionnaire de programme de la Branche chargé des
Accords environnementaux multilatéraux à l'Organisation des Nations Unies pour le
développement industriel. « A ce jour, ces projets ont assuré l'élimination progressive de plus de
3.100 tonnes de bromure de méthyle. D'après notre expérience, à l'aide d'une formation
adéquate et de transfert de technologie, des fermes peuvent produire des cultures, comme des
fleurs et du tabac, des tomates, des poivrons, des melons et des fraises sans utiliser de bromure
de méthyle.»
« Nous sommes heureux d'appuyer le Partenariat, afin de récompenser les fermiers pour leur
protection de la couche d'ozone stratosphérique », a déclaré Dr. Suely Carvalho, Chef de la
Section sur le Protocole de Montréal, Groupe Energie et Environnement du Programme de
l'ONU pour le développement (PNUD). « Dans le cadre de son rôle de liaison et de coordination
des efforts mondiaux et nationaux en faveur de la réalisation des Objectifs du millénaire pour le
développement, le PNUD assistent les pays à protéger l'environnement tout en réduisant la
pauvreté. A cet égard, le PNUD travaille de concert avec de nombreux pays pour éliminer
l'emploie du bromure de méthyle. Le PNUD est engagé à assurer que les objectifs du Protocole
de Montréal soient atteints. »
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Accra Daily Mail: Methyl Bromide on way out
6.4.2006
More than 5,000 farms and organizations have joined forces with the United Nations
Environment Programme (UNEP) in a partnership that aims to phase out the use of Methyl
Bromide, an agricultural pesticide that damages the Earth's protective shield -- the ozone layer.
Methyl Bromide has been used by farmers to kill pests in the soil before planting crops like
tomatoes, strawberries, melons and flowers, but in 1992 it was officially controlled as an ozonedepleting substance and is scheduled to be retired under the Montreal Protocol, the international
treaty set up to protect the ozone layer.
The new International Partnership for Phasing-out Methyl Bromide brings together many farms
and companies that have led the way in protecting the ozone layer, and aims to speed up the
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world-wide switch from the pesticide to ozone-friendly alternatives, UNEP said in a news
release.
"The battle to restore the ozone layer, which protects all life on Earth from harmful solar ultraviolet radiation, has been one of the great environmental success stories with a wide range of
chemicals such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) already largely phased out under the Montreal
Protocol," said Shafqat Kakakhel, UNEP's Deputy Executive Director.
"However, Methyl Bromide, one of the last on the list, is proving harder to remove with some
farmers convinced that the alternatives are ineffective or too costly. By demonstrating the fact
that thousands of farms and companies can grow, source and sell products without using this
chemical, the Partnership sends a clear signal that a Methyl Bromide-free world is possible
sooner rather than later."
A survey carried out for the Partnership has so far identified more than 5,000 commercial farms,
in more than 30 countries worldwide, that produce tomatoes, peppers, melons, strawberries and
flowers without using Methyl Bromide.
UNEP said that the Partnership plans to business-to-business net-based service, linking grocery
stores seeking goods produced without Methyl Bromide with farmers and suppliers who do not
use the pesticide.
Farms and companies that join the Partnership have already stopped using Methyl Bromide or
will pledge to halt its use by September 2007, in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the
Montreal Protocol.
Supermarkets involved in the Partnership include Marks & Spencer and Co-op, while apart
from UNEP, other organizations include the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and
the UN Development Programme (UNDP).
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New Vision (Uganda): Environmentalists told to support dams
By Gerald Tenywa
7.4.2006
WATER state minister Maria Mutagamba has told environmentalists to support the government
in building dams to develop the country.
“If well-designed, dams improve agriculture, hydroelectric power generation and provide
employment,’’ Mutagamba said.
She was speaking at a meeting organised by the environment ministry and the National
Association of professional environmentalists (NAPE) on Wednesday.
NAPE’s Frank Muramuzi said the report entitled “Dams and Development in Uganda: Towards
strengthening decision making on dams development’’ has recommendations that should be
taken up by the government and its partners.
Government officials and representatives of NGOs attended the meeting that also discussed the
water catchment areas.
The report is a follow up of the World Commission on Dams that was undertaken by the UN
Environment Programme after public outcry on development of dams.
“Uganda has to develop dams in a sustainable manner. There is need for a mechanism that
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ensures that harmful aspects of the dam development are minimised,’’ Mutagamba said.
However, she said it was important to build consensus in the development processes to
minimise conflict related to development.
Mutagamba said the Government was always willing to participate, listen, share knowledge and
take advice from such discussions for improved decision making.
“We have always encouraged dialogue, provided such dialogue is not aimed at compromising
national development,’’ she said.
Mutagamba called for protection of the environment and the need to ensure water and food
security to attract investors.
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The Washington Times: World health miscues
By Henry I. Miller
7.4.2006
As self-appointed regulator-wannabe of much of what goes on in the world, the United Nations
has become a profoundly negative influence.
While its best known interventions -- attempts to attain and maintain international peace and
comity -- too often are exercises in lowest-common-denominator diplomacy that progresses at a
glacial pace, the U.N.'s essays into public health and environmental protection frequently are
wrong-headed, self-serving and disastrous.
Underlying the U.N.'s deficiencies is the inability of its leaders to apprehend the relationship
between wealth creation and public and environmental health -- and between their own flawed
policies and the inevitable failure of their ambitious Millennium Development Goals. The U.N.
agencies' trumpeting supposed successes and promulgating lofty goals on World Health Day
today serve only as a reminder of the organization's abject failures.
The complicity of many U.N. agencies in the unscientific, ideological and excessive
regulation of biotechnology -- also known as gene-splicing, or genetic modification (GM) -- has
prevented critical advances in agricultural and pharmaceutical research and development. Genespliced products could alleviate famine and water shortages for millions, and even lead to the
development of vaccines incorporated into edible fruits and vegetables. But during the past
decade, delegates to the U.N.-based Convention on Biological Diversity have negotiated and
implemented a regressive "biosafety protocol" to regulate the international movement of genespliced organisms. A travesty that flies in the face of sound science, this regulatory scheme is
based on the bogus "precautionary principle," which dictates that every new product or
technology must be proven completely safe before it can be used.
Many other U.N. agencies have gotten into the anti-biotech act. A task force of the Codex
Alimentarius Commission, the joint food standards program of the World Health Organization
and the Food and Agriculture Organization, has singled out only food products made with genesplicing techniques for draconian and unscientific restrictions that conflict with the worldwide
scientific consensus that gene-splicing is merely a refinement, or improvement, over less precise
and predictable genetic manipulation techniques that have been used for centuries. Thousands
of greenhouse and field studies, as well as widespread commercialization in almost a dozen
advanced countries, have shown that the risks of gene-spliced plants and foods are minimal;
their benefits proven; and their future potential, extraordinary.
Globally, the adoption of gene-spliced crops reduces pesticide use by scores of millions of
pounds annually (as well as the frequency of pesticide poisonings), and saves millions of tons of
topsoil from erosion.
The 2001 U.N. Environment Program's Persistent Organic Pollutants Convention, which
stigmatizes the insecticide DDT as one of the world's worst pollutants, is a regulatory atrocity. It
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places virtually insuperable obstacles in the way of the use of the chemical by developing
countries, many of which are plagued by malaria, West Nile virus and other insect-borne
diseases.
Not only do U.N. officials dismiss scientific evidence that demonstrates the effectiveness and
relative safety of DDT, they also fail to take into consideration the inadequacy of alternatives or
to appreciate the distinction between its large-scale use in agriculture (which has been
discontinued) and more limited application for controlling carriers of human disease.
A complete prohibition on DDT usage is tantamount to withholding antibiotics from patients
with infections; it is mass murder, and the U.N. is a co-conspirator in the deadly campaign
against the chemical's use.
Another example of the U.N.'s willingness to adopt extreme positions occurred at last year's
annual World Health Assembly, the policy-making body of the World Health Organization, at
which the delegates adopted a resolution that supposedly reflects concern about potential
bacterial contamination of powdered infant formula. According to the WHO, two low-weight
babies died in 2004 in hospitals in France, and one in New Zealand, supposedly from formula
contaminated by bacteria. The stories are tragic, but even if true, hardly constitute an epidemic.
The resolution proclaims that infant formula is not sterile and "may contain pathogenic
microorganisms" that allegedly have been a cause of infection and illness in pre-term and low
birth-weight infants, and "could lead to serious developmental [damage] and death." It calls for
a warning label and for health-care workers and parents, particularly those caring for infants at
high risk, to be informed about the "potential for introduced contamination" and the need for
safe preparation, handling and storage of infant formula. Finally, it concludes that babies should
be breast-fed exclusively for six months and calls for precautions in preparing formula for those
at high-risk, such as pre-term, low birth-weight or immune-deficient infants.
But infant formula already had carried explicit information about storage, preparation and
handling. The resolution appears not to have been motivated by legitimate concerns about the
product in question, but rather by the anti-corporate bias that pervades the U.N. and its
supporters. The label's misleading warning about dangerous pathogens discourages the use of
formula in situations where it is needed.
How ironic that the slogan for this year's World Health Day is, "Working together for health,"
because the U.N.'s actions are rife with contradictions and conflicts that not only are harmful to
health, but also make a mockery of the organization's own overblown Millennium Development
Goals. One goal, for example, aims to reverse the spread of malaria and several other infectious
diseases by 2015, while the U.N. Environment Program bans DDT, an effective and
inexpensive intervention against malaria.
The most ambitious objective, "to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger" by 2015, certainly
cannot be accomplished without innovative technology -- which, in turn, cannot be developed in
the face of excessive regulatory barriers and bureaucracies. The Food and Agriculture
Organization calls on one hand for greater allocation of resources to agriculture, and then makes
those resources less cost-effective by gratuitous, unscientific over-regulation of the new
biotechnology.
An important way to "reduce child mortality," another goal, would be to produce pediatric
vaccines cheaply in gene-spliced edible fruits and vegetables, but there is near-hysteria at
Codex, the U.N.'s food standards agency, over conjectural food-safety problems with this
approach.
The secretary-general of the U.N.'s World Meteorological Organization announces that
"integrated water-resources management is the key to achieving the Millennium Development
Goals of securing access to safe water, sanitation and environmental protection," while other
U.N. agencies are making virtually impossible the development of gene-spliced plants that can
grow with low-quality water or under drought conditions.
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T.S. Eliot could have had the U.N. in mind with his observation, "Hell is the place where
nothing connects."
Regulation is a growth industry at the U.N., but the approach taken regularly defies scientific
consensus and common sense. The result is vastly inflated R&D costs, less innovation, and
diminished exploitation of superior techniques and products -- especially in poorer countries,
which need them desperately.
I think we need yet another Millennium Development Goal: Stop genocide-by-regulation at
the U.N.
Henry I. Miller, a physician and fellow at the Hoover Institution, headed the FDA's Office of
Biotechnology from 1989 to 1993.
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Other Environment News
Reuters: Scientists in Dispute over Carbon Curbs, Magazine Reveals
6.4.2006
LONDON — A row has broken out between scientists seeking a way to bring more nations into
the carbon curbing fold after the first phase of the Kyoto Treaty expires in 2012, New Scientist
magazine said on Wednesday.
On one side is a plan that would in effect set a global target for each nation's per capita carbon
output, on the other is one that rates a country's carbon output against its biocapacity or
geophysical ability to absorb it.
The latter, by Geoff Hammond at the University of Bath, would remove the United States from
pole position as the world's worst polluter but bring up Bangladesh with a very small carbon
footprint but equally little absorption capacity for the gases, including carbon dioxide and
methane.
The United States, which has rejected Kyoto as economic suicide, only produces slightly more
carbon than it can absorb. Japan, by contrast, has a per capita carbon footprint half that of the
United States but overshoots its absorption capacity by seven times.
Aubrey Meyer, of the British-based Global Commons Institute, who formulated the per capita
carbon plan, dismisses Hammond's proposal as naive and dangerous, according to the magazine.
"While appearing to be helpful and reasonable, it would be another means for the rich to bully
the poor," it quoted him as saying.
For his part Hammond rejected Mayer's plan as utopian, "given the reluctance of the United
States to take even modest steps to reduce emissions", the magazine said.
"Living within national biocapacities might be something the U.S. could eventually accept," it
quoted him as saying.
Signatories to Kyoto, which only came into force in February last year, commits nations to cut
carbon emissions which are blamed for causing global warming. But it only runs until 2012,
does not include the United States or Australia, and is not binding on major developing nations
such as China and India.
With the world already facing potentially catastrophic climate change, the search is on to find
some mechanism to take Kyoto beyond its expiry date and make it both more inclusive and
effective.
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The Washington Post: Climate Researchers Feeling Heat From White House
By Juliet Eilperin
6.4.2006
Scientists doing climate research for the federal government say the Bush administration has
made it hard for them to speak forthrightly to the public about global warming. The result, the
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researchers say, is a danger that Americans are not getting the full story on how the climate is
changing.
Employees and contractors working for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,
along with a U.S. Geological Survey scientist working at an NOAA lab, said in interviews that
over the past year administration officials have chastised them for speaking on policy questions;
removed references to global warming from their reports, news releases and conference Web
sites; investigated news leaks; and sometimes urged them to stop speaking to the media
altogether. Their accounts indicate that the ideological battle over climate-change research,
which first came to light at NASA, is being fought in other federal science agencies as well.
These scientists -- working nationwide in research centers in such places as Princeton, N.J., and
Boulder, Colo. -- say they are required to clear all media requests with administration officials,
something they did not have to do until the summer of 2004. Before then, point climate
researchers -- unlike staff members in the Justice or State departments, which have longstanding policies restricting access to reporters -- were relatively free to discuss their findings
without strict agency oversight.
"There has been a change in how we're expected to interact with the press," said Pieter Tans,
who measures greenhouse gases linked to global warming and has worked at NOAA's Earth
System Research Laboratory in Boulder for two decades. He added that although he often
"ignores the rules" the administration has instituted, when it comes to his colleagues, "some
people feel intimidated -- I see that."
Christopher Milly, a hydrologist at the U.S. Geological Survey, said he had problems twice
while drafting news releases on scientific papers describing how climate change would affect
the nation's water supply.
Once in 2002, Milly said, Interior officials declined to issue a news release on grounds that it
would cause "great problems with the department." In November 2005, they agreed to issue a
release on a different climate-related paper, Milly said, but "purged key words from the
releases, including 'global warming,' 'warming climate' and 'climate change.' "
Administration officials said they are following long-standing policies that were not enforced in
the past. Kent Laborde, a NOAA public affairs officer who flew to Boulder last month to
monitor an interview Tans did with a film crew from the BBC, said he was helping facilitate
meetings between scientists and journalists.
"We've always had the policy, it just hasn't been enforced," Laborde said. "It's important that the
leadership knows something is coming out in the media, because it has a huge impact. The
leadership needs to know the tenor or the tone of what we expect to be printed or broadcast."
Several times, however, agency officials have tried to alter what these scientists tell the media.
When Tans was helping to organize the Seventh International Carbon Dioxide Conference near
Boulder last fall, his lab director told him participants could not use the term "climate change"
in conference paper's titles and abstracts. Tans and others disregarded that advice.
None of the scientists said political appointees had influenced their research on climate change
or disciplined them for questioning the administration. Indeed, several researchers have received
bigger budgets in recent years because President Bush has focused on studying global warming
rather than curbing greenhouse gases. NOAA's budget for climate research and services is now
$250 million, up from $241 million in 2004.
12
The assertion that climate scientists are being censored first surfaced in January when James
Hansen, who directs NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, told the New York Times and
The Washington Post that the administration sought to muzzle him after he gave a lecture in
December calling for cuts in emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. (NASA
Administrator Michael D. Griffin issued new rules recently that make clear that its scientists are
free to talk to members of the media about their scientific findings and to express personal
interpretations of those findings.
Two weeks later, Hansen suggested to an audience at the New School University in New York
that his counterparts at NOAA were experiencing even more severe censorship. "It seems more
like Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union than the United States," he told the crowd.
NOAA Administrator Conrad C. Lautenbacher Jr. responded by sending an agency-wide e-mail
that said he is "a strong believer in open, peer-reviewed science as well as the right and duty of
scientists to seek the truth and to provide the best scientific advice possible."
"I encourage our scientists to speak freely and openly," he added. "We ask only that you specify
when you are communicating personal views and when you are characterizing your work as part
of your specific contribution to NOAA's mission."
NOAA scientists, however, cite repeated instances in which the administration played down the
threat of climate change in their documents and news releases. Although Bush and his top
advisers have said that Earth is warming and human activity has contributed to this, they have
questioned some predictions and caution that mandatory limits on carbon dioxide could damage
the nation's economy.
In 2002, NOAA agreed to draft a report with Australian researchers aimed at helping reef
managers deal with widespread coral bleaching that stems from higher sea temperatures. A
March 2004 draft report had several references to global warming, including "Mass bleaching . .
. affects reefs at regional to global scales, and has incontrovertibly linked to increases in sea
temperature associated with global change."
A later version, dated July 2005, drops those references and several others mentioning climate
change.
NOAA has yet to release the report on coral bleaching. James R. Mahoney, assistant secretary
of commerce for oceans and atmosphere, said he decided in late 2004 to delay the report
because "its scientific basis was so inadequate." Now that it is revised, he said, he is waiting for
the Australian Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority to approve it. "I just did not think it
was ready for prime time," Mahoney said. "It was not just about climate change -- there were a
lot of things."
On other occasions, Mahoney and other NOAA officials have told researchers not to give their
opinions on policy matters. Konrad Steffen directs the Cooperative Institute for Research in
Environmental Sciences at the University of Colorado at Boulder, a joint NOAA-university
institute with a $40 million annual budget. Steffen studies the Greenland ice sheet, and when his
work was cited last spring in a major international report on climate change in the Arctic, he and
another NOAA lab director from Alaska received a call from Mahoney in which he told them
not to give reporters their opinions on global warming.
Steffen said that he told him that although Mahoney has considerable leverage as "the person in
command for all research money in NOAA . . . I was not backing down."
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Mahoney said he had "no recollection" of the conversation, which took place in a conference
call. "It's virtually inconceivable that I would have called him about this," Mahoney said,
though he added: "For those who are government employees, our position is they should not
typically render a policy view."
Tans, whose interviews with the BBC crew were monitored by Laborde, said Laborde has not
tried to interfere with the interviews. But Tans said he did not understand why he now needs an
official "minder" from Washington to observe his discussions with the media. "It used to be we
could say, 'Okay, you're welcome to come in, let's talk,' " he said. "There was never anything of
having to ask permission of anybody."
The need for clearance from Washington, several NOAA scientists said, amounts to a "pocket
veto" allowing administration officials to block interviews by not giving permission in time for
journalists' deadlines.
Ronald Stouffer, a climate research scientist at NOAA's Geophysical Fluid Dynamics
Laboratory in Princeton, estimated his media requests have dropped in half because it took so
long to get clearance to talk from NOAA headquarters. Thomas Delworth, one of Stouffer's
colleagues, said the policy means Americans have only "a partial sense" of what government
scientists have learned about climate change.
"American taxpayers are paying the bill, and they have a right to know what we're doing," he
said.
__________________________________________________________________________
Libération:«Les contaminations de cultures ne connaissent aucune frontière!»
Par Thomas CALINON
5.4.2006
Comment faire cohabiter les champs de cultures génétiquement modifiées et les cultures
traditionnelles? L'UE se réunit à Vienne pour répondre à cette question. Klaus Klipp, secrétaire
général de l'Assemblée des régions d'Europe, détaille les enjeux.
En septembre 2004, l'Assemblée des régions d'Europe (ARE, qui regroupe 250 régions
européennes) et le réseau écologiste Les Amis de la Terre lançaient une campagne commune
«pour des zones et régions sans OGM». A ce jour, «172 autorités locales ou régionales de
12 pays européens se sont déclarées libres d'OGM», selon l'ARE. Alors que s'est ouvert
mercredi à Vienne (Autriche) une conférence de l'Union européenne sur la coexistence des
cultures OGM et traditionnelles, entretien avec Klaus Klipp, secrétaire général de l'ARE.
Pourquoi réclamez-vous de l'UE une réglementation uniforme sur la coexistence des
cultures OGM et traditionnelles?
Tout simplement parce que, lorsqu'un agriculteur cultive des OGM, les semences ne restent pas
cantonnées dans son champ. Elles ont toutes les chances de se répandre dans les cultures
voisines, ce qui devient évidemment problématique pour les agriculteurs traditionnels, en
particulier ceux qui cultivent des produits biologiques. Les contaminations croisées entre les
cultures génétiquement modifiées et celles libres d'OGM ne connaissent aucune frontière!
Donner la responsabilité aux Etats membres de légiférer sur la coexistence ne créerait que de la
confusion.
Pourtant, l'ARE défend traditionnellement le principe de subsidiarité…
C'est vrai, nous défendons cette idée que les décisions doivent être prises au niveau le plus près
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possible des citoyens, parce que cela permet de mieux les impliquer dans le processus
démocratique. Mais, dans ce cas précis, je ne vois pas comment élaborer des règles qui ne soient
pas communes. Imaginez un agriculteur biologique français dont les champs seraient
contaminés par des OGM venus d'Allemagne. Est-ce qu'il doit se tourner vers l'Allemagne pour
obtenir une indemnisation? C'est donc un sujet européen et non national, pour lequel il faut
trouver des règles communes.
Lesquelles?
Des règles qui respectent à la fois le principe de précaution et celui du pollueur-payeur. Il faut
d'abord fixer des normes adaptées de coexistence entre cultures génétiquement modifiées et
cultures sans OGM. Selon les produits et les territoires, l'éloignement entre les deux peut varier
de quelques hectomètres à plusieurs dizaines de kilomètres. Il faut ensuite un cadre de
responsabilité à l'échelle européenne qui régule les conséquences environnementales des OGM
et définisse des mesures compensatoires en cas de contamination de cultures traditionnelles et
biologiques. Il s'agit d'un risque que les assureurs ne veulent bien souvent pas prendre en
charge. Il faut donc mettre en place des fonds d'indemnisation.
___________________________________________________________________________
New York Times: As a Sea Rises, So Do Hopes for Fish, Jobs and Riches
By ILAN GREENBERG
6.4.2006
KARATEREN, Kazakhstan — In the blue night haze, Gamin Zhaisanbayev and several dozen
other men hauled heavy gear into their trucks as boys sitting on stoops quietly watched their
silhouettes.
Mr. Zhaisanbayev and his neighbors were making preparations for a job suspended in this dusty
village more than a generation ago: they were going fishing.
In dozens of villages in the region, frigid green water now laps against long-abandoned harbors,
and fishing vessels retrieved from open-air desert graves have been put back to sea.
The Aral Sea, which was once drained of 75 percent of its water, has this year taken on millions
of cubic feet of new water years ahead of schedule, surpassing even the sunniest predictions
made when a new dam was completed last summer.
With each month the water pushes back the desert just a little more.
The Aral Sea's 155-square-mile retreat from its original shoreline is frequently invoked as one
of the 20th century's more jaw-dropping ecological catastrophes, a consequence of the Sovietera policy of diverting the Aral's two main tributary rivers into canals to irrigate cotton plants
across Central Asia.
The sea shrank and became a mineral stew that has brought disease and lashing poverty to the
hundreds of villages and cities in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan that once lived off its bounty. The
sea has even split in two, creating the small Aral and the large Aral.
Hoping to save the small northern Aral, the World Bank and the Kazakhstan government
commissioned the Kok-Aral Dam and a series of dikes designed to create spillways to allow the
flushing of excess salt from the sea while improving overall water levels.
A sluice on top of the dam sends any excess water to the parched big Aral Sea, which is largely
within neighboring Uzbekistan.
Eventually, the project will repair a damaged second dam, dig a channel to connect the two
Arals and provide additional water management structures, some able to harvest hydroelectric
power from the water flows.
The $85.8 million project, part of a larger plan to improve water quality in a region of a million
people, began in 2001 and is to be completed in September.
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The dam has caused the small Aral's sea level to rise swiftly to 125 feet, from a low of less than
98 feet, with 138 considered the level of viability.
Although World Bank water experts had forecast that the water levels would begin to rise only
in three years or so — while other experts had put the Aral beyond hope of reclamation — the
small Aral's surface area has already expanded by 30 percent, with 350 million cubic feet of
water.
That is why Mr. Zhaisanbayev and his neighbors were able to begin fishing. This year, he built
a new home, one of 15 in the village.
The Aral was once the fourth largest lake in the world, and was a major provider of fish for the
entire Soviet Union.
In Mr. Zhaisanbayev's father's day, the fish lived just outside his front door.
But his father, a fishing boat captain, died a long time ago, and now, most days, Mr.
Zhaisanbayev, 38, climbs into his truck parked at the edge of this grim village of scattered
shacks and stray dogs and drives 20 miles through a desert of gray sand and colorless prickly
weeds to reach the water's edge.
Previously Mr. Zhaisanbayev, a compact, athletic man, worked at a fish-processing plant. But
that plant closed in 2001, and to support his three young children he took a job working at a
social club in a larger town.
"When the sea came back I knew I must fish," he said.
On a good day now, fishing for carp and flounder, he can earn $85, an astronomical sum in a
region where many people survive on a few dollars a day.
Mr. Zhaisanbayev unfurled long hand-woven carpets across his large living room to make his
visitors welcome while his wife prepared piles of dried apricots, horse sausages and brick-red
pistachios in a kitchen sparkling with new appliances imported from Korea.
With the disappearance of the sea, fish and the ecologically interconnected freshwater lakes that
supported livestock, many people in the region migrated to larger cities.
Mr. Zhaisanbayev said many are now returning. His village's population has more than doubled,
to more than 1,700, in the past two years.
For many in the Aral region, the new water is confirmation that the Aral's past is prologue.
Kudaibergen Sarzhanov, a spry former Soviet minister of fisheries for Kazakhstan in the
Gorbachev years, plans a 2009 release of 30,000 fish native to the Aral, that he has been
incubating at home, financing his project from a small United Nations grant and money from his
local government.
At the Komushbosh Fishing Hatchery, a modern fish incubator paid for with a $143,000 grant
from Israel, the plan is to release as many as 30 million young sturgeon, carp, and flounder into
the Aral and its many nearby lakes when water levels are at full level.
This translates into a potential catch of 10,000 to 12,000 tons a year, compared with 20,000 in
the Aral's heyday and the current 1,000.
Some in the Kazakhstan government warn of a long road ahead.
"It's going to take decades to solve this problem," said Murat Abenov, the akim, or deputy
mayor, of the large Kizbilordinsk region abutting much of the Aral.
He said the fishing should be encouraged "even if it's really only going to be in five years that
they see results, even if it no longer matters to the government's budget."
Kazakhstan has huge oil reserves, and oil revenues now provide 90 percent of local government
budgets, he said.
Many still predict that the big Aral will disappear.
"We tried but failed to work with the Uzbeks," said Ikram Adirbekov, the akim for the KzylOrda region. "The rescue of the Aral Sea is now our problem alone."
News of the Aral's return has ignited the hope of many, even in villages not yet affected.
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"The fishermen are getting rich," said Guljanat Karashalan, a 19-year-old English-speaker who
studies at a university by correspondence from her village. She says half her friends have left
the region but will come back. "They say the jobs will return."
It is a belief echoed by many.
"I want to go to the capital to work in oil and gas industry for now," said Yerbolat Sartaganov, a
21-year-old living in Aralsk, a city whose dried-out harbor, studded with abandoned ships stuck
in sand, is often depicted in photographs meant to illustrate the Aral's plight.
"But my grandfather was a fisherman," he said, "and when the water returns I will be a
fisherman too."
___________________________________________________________________________
The Wall Street Journal: Two New Discoveries Answer Big Questions In Evolution
Theory
By SHARON BEGLEY
7.4.2006
Even as the evolution wars rage, on school boards and in courtrooms, biologists continue to
accumulate empirical data supporting Darwinian theory. Two extraordinary discoveries
announced this week should go a long way to providing even more of the evidence that critics
of evolution say is lacking.
One study produced what biblical literalists have been demanding ever since Darwin -- the
iconic "missing links." If species evolve, they ask, with one segueing into another, where are the
transition fossils, those man-ape or reptile-mammal creatures that evolution posits?
In yesterday's issue of Nature, paleontologists unveiled an answer: well-preserved fossils of a
previously unknown fish that was on its way to evolving into a four-limbed land-dweller. It had
a jaw, fins and scales like a fish, but a skull, neck, ribs and pectoral fin like the earliest limbed
animals, called tetrapods.
Discovered in 2004 on Canada's Ellesmere Island by Neil Shubin of the University of Chicago
and Ted Daeschler of the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia, the 375-million-yearold Tiktaalik roseae "blurs the boundary between fish and land animals," said Prof. Shubin. It
"is both fish and tetrapod," showing how life made the transition to land, evolving four limbs
from fins.
Previously known fossils of ancient "lobe-finned fish" also seem poised between fish and
tetrapods, with pectoral fins containing precursors of the humerus, radius and ulna of tetrapod
armbones. But Tiktaalik (an Inuit word for shallow-water fish) makes a stronger case. Its
pectoral fin still has thin, fish-like bones, but also contains the three armbones-to-be as well as a
wrist-like structure and a hand-like one. The shoulder and elbow could bend, and the proto-wrist
could extend, allowing the fin to support the body and propel it on land. "Tiktaalik shows us the
stages in the evolution of the tetrapod body plan," says Dr. Daeschler.
Fossils from 10 Tiktaaliks were embedded in rock deposited by a meandering stream system,
suggesting where that momentous step occurred.
But creationists, many of whose Web sites declare "there are no transitional forms," are not
easily persuaded. John Morris of the Institute for Creation Research in Santee, Calif., says
Tiktaalik "is just a variety of fish. There is still a huge gap [between fish and land-dwellers] that
has to be filled."
Another discovery addresses something Darwin himself recognized could doom his theory: the
existence of a complex organ that couldn't have "formed by numerous, successive, slight
modifications," he wrote in 1859.
The intelligent-design movement, which challenges teaching evolution, makes this the
centerpiece of its attack. It insists that components of complex structures, such as the eye, are
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useless on their own and so couldn't have evolved independently, an idea called irreducible
complexity.
Because only functional structures survive, they say, useless components such as parts of an eye
couldn't lie around for eons waiting for dumb luck to assemble them into a (finally) functional
unit. These complex structures therefore must have been assembled by a designer.
One such complex structure is a hormone and its receptor. Just as a keyhole has no use without
a key and vice versa, a hormone is useless without a receptor that lets it dock with a cell, and a
receptor serves no purpose without hormones. Catch-22: Neither component could survive
without the other, yet it strains credulity to suppose that both structures popped onto the
evolutionary scene simultaneously.
To investigate this puzzle, biologists led by Joseph Thornton of the University of Oregon
reconstructed an ancestral receptor. They first analyzed receptors for steroid hormones in 59
species, including primitive jawless fish and skates. Then, in a process called gene resurrection,
they worked backward to infer what the gene for the ancestral receptor was, and actually made
the receptor in the lab: a molecule that last existed on earth 450 million years ago.
Testing various hormones on the ancestral receptor, the scientists found that both aldosterone
and another one fit. The ancestral receptor, therefore, was fully employed acting as the keyhole
for this second hormone. When aldosterone appeared on the scene by random mutation, it coopted the existing receptor, the researchers conclude in today's issue of Science.
The findings, says Christoph Adami of the Keck Graduate Institute of Applied Life Sciences,
Claremont, Calif., "solidly refute" ID.
But refutation is in the eye of the beholder. No scientific discovery will end the evolution wars.
For one thing, adherents of ID call the fact that scientists are studying reducible-complexity at
all a victory for their side. "We're delighted they're engaging in a debate that they say doesn't
exist," says Stephen Meyer of the Discovery Institute in Seattle, which pushes ID. Moreover, he
says, the hormone-receptor system is not really irreducibly complex.
The trouble for ID is that this isn't the first study to show, step by step, how complex structures
could have evolved. Recent experiments have shown how irreducibly complex structures such
as bacterial flagella and the lens of an eye could have evolved by co-opting existing structures
just as the hormone did. More such research is in the pipeline.
__________________________________________________________________________
Independent (South Africa): Plants helped ants to evolve, study finds
7.4.2006
Washington - Ants evolved far earlier than previously believed, as far back as 140-million to
168-million years ago - and they have plants to thank for their diversity, US researchers
reported on Thursday.
A team at Harvard University who used a genetic clock to reconstruct the history of ants found
the ant family first arose more than 40-million years earlier than previously thought, but did not
diversify into different genera and species until flowering plants came onto the scene.
The study sheds light on one of the most important and numerous animals, which includes
hundreds of different species.
"We estimate that ant diversification took off approximately 100 million years ago, along with
the rise of flowering plants, the angiosperms," Naomi Pierce, a professor of biology who led the
study, said in a statement.
"These plants provided ants with new habitats both in the forest canopy and in the more
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complex leaf litter on the forest floor, and the herbivorous insects that evolved alongside
flowering plants provided food for ants."
Writing in the journal Science, the researchers said they reconstructed the ant family tree using
DNA sequencing of six genes from 139 ant genera, encompassing 19 of 20 ant subfamilies
around the world.
Such "molecular clocks" are widely used, alongside fossil and other evidence, to determine how
old species are. They work on the basis that DNA mutates at a steady and calculable rate.
"Ants are a dominant feature of nearly all terrestrial ecosystems, and yet we know surprisingly
little about their evolutionary history: the major groupings of ants, how they are related to each
other, and when and how they arose," said graduate student Corrie Moreau.
___________________________________________________________________________
Newsweek:Vanishing Acts
By Mac Margolis
10 - 17 April 2006
The world's treasures are under siege as never before. So get out and see as many as possible—
before they disappear.
When Ernest Hemingway wrote "The Snows of Kilimanjaro," a holiday outing was the last
thing he had in mind. Who could have known that this classic tale about a failed writer dying of
gangrene in the shadow of Africa's tallest mountain would spark a stampede? Every year, some
10,000 vacationers huff their way to the 5,896-meter peak that untold tour operators have
flogged with Hemingway's majestic words: "Wide as all the world, great, high, and
unbelievably white in the sun." So it's poetic justice of sorts that the travel industry's purloined
icon is melting. Thanks to global warming and deforestation, the millennial snowcap that was
said to cover King Solomon's tomb is receding. Scientists say that within 15 years,
Kilimanjaro's storied glaciers will be history. Soon the brokers of wanderlust may be spinning
the prose again to hawk the ultimate vacation: "Last chance to see the snows of Kilimanjaro."
Those vanishing snows are emblematic of travel in a worrying new time—when no place can be
taken for granted anymore. No matter how exotic the destination, until recently a traveler's
biggest concern was how to get there, not where the journey would ultimately lead. Now thanks
to rising incomes and falling airfares, getting there is the easy part; last year a record 806
million tourists hit the road. But those hordes—combined with forces ranging from climate
change to civil war, industrial toxins to runaway development—are laying siege to some of the
world's most treasured and irreplaceable sites. Whether the millennial gates of Machu Picchu or
the moonlit waterways of Venice, we are in danger of losing places we thought would always
be around, sure as Stonehenge. New Orleans nearly drowned. The Coral Triangle, a diver's
paradise, is as fragile as an eggshell. Visitors ride go-karts along the Great Wall of China and
steal artifacts from the crumbling temples of Luxor. Even Stonehenge has been cordoned off.
The only certainty for today's travelers is that the wonders of the world are perishable, whether
they're made of stone or ice, by man or nature.
The number-one threat to tourist treasures, paradoxically, is tourism itself. The challenge is how
to keep the world's most esteemed monuments from being loved to death. "Tourism carries a
tremendous potential that must be acknowledged as essential for the future of world heritage',"
says Bonnie Burnham, president of the World Monuments Fund (WMF). "But without proper
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management we can easily get out of control." For all Hurricane Wilma's wrath, patching
Cancún back together will be easy compared with taming the monster that the tourist economy
has unleashed. The 7 million visitors a year who descend on this megaresort and surrounding
patches of the Mexican Caribbean coast already represent a conservation nightmare, straining
water supply, sewers, and marine life. And it's not just Mexico. Conservation International
reckons that "unsustainable tourism" poses the main threat to half the cultural heritage sites in
Latin America and the Caribbean, and to one in five sites in Asia and the Pacific. Cambodia's
once-remote Angkor temples now receive a million visitors a year; the Taj Mahal is subject to 7
million. Rising prosperity in the developing world, more and more elderly on the move, and
cheap flights to anywhere will only hasten the human flood. China alone reported a staggering
1.1 billion domestic tourists in 2004.
Our wanderlust is not solely to blame, however. Popular tourist destinations have been hit in the
last few years by glacier-withering global warming, an epic tidal wave and a harem of tropical
storms in the Caribbean. Worse, avian flu is on the loose. Before leaving home the future
holidaymaker may be obliged to consult not only the exchange rate and the Weather Channel
but the Tsunami Warning Center, Jane's Terrorism Watch Report ("your daily update on
terrorist activities worldwide") and Citigroup's Pandemic Sensitivity Index. The hazards have
not been lost on the travel industry, the world's largest earner of foreign exchange. For the first
time, the World Trade and Tourism Council (WTTC) will dedicate an entire session of its
annual summit, to be held in Washington next month, to health and natural disasters. "Whether
it's natural or manmade catastrophes, this is the reality,'' says WTTC chairman Vince
Wolfington. "And more and more we're going to have to deal with it.''
It is a daunting task. The WMF list of the 100 most endangered world heritage sites spans 55
countries. Topping the list: Iraq—not the Iraq Museum or the Al Askariya shrine, but the entire
country. Never mind the obvious threats, like terrorism, war or sectarian strife. Forces like
global warming pose subtler challenges. The United Nations University recently reported that
the number of annual catastrophes provoked by "extreme weather" and water-related
emergencies has tripled since the 1970s, while economic damage increased sixfold. By now
everyone knows that Venice is drowning, but even such apparently untouchable monuments as
the Tower of London and the adobe mosques of Timbuktu are also vulnerable, thanks to the
flash floods and rising water tables caused by global climate change. While Bourbon Street was
tidied up in time for Mardi Gras, so much of the rest of New Orleans remains in shambles that
hotels have been forced to cede rooms to homeless employees. The whole city has been added
to the WMF's most endangered list.
The threats have literally reached the ends of the earth. Most holidaymakers shiver at the
thought of a trek to Antarctica. Not Tom Ritchie. "To be in a small boat and see a huge
humpback whale come up and look at you is a spiritual interaction," says Ritchie, a guide for
Lindblad Expeditions. Today travelers shell out up to $50,000 for a romp on the White
Continent—a small price to pay for an opportunity that may not be around in 30 years.
Scientists report that 212 of the 244 glaciers necklacing the Antarctic Peninsula have retreated
as temperatures have risen more than 4.5 degrees Fahrenheit in the past 60 years. Whales and
penguins that feed on krill and coldwater plankton may soon be gone—along with one of the
world's most cherished photo ops.
Predatory economic development has done its share of damage as well. The tower at the
Helsinki Malmi international airport is a gem of 1930s modernist architecture, but if city
developers have their way, it will be razed to make way for a 10,000-unit suburban housing
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complex. If saving a building sounds daunting, think about rescuing an entire city. If Mexico
City (population: 18 million) keeps on sucking up ground water at the current clip from the
city's aquifer, the world's largest megalopolis—which also happens to contain the world's finest
pre-Columbian ruins—is certain to sink into the clay. No wonder all of Mexico City, too, has
been relegated to the WMF's endangered list.
Nor is the Old World safe from the ravages of the modern. Though seismologists say that
Vesuvius will erupt again sooner or later, hot lava may be the least of the worries facing Naples,
a city of 1 million nestled in the volcano's shadow. In its glory, in the 17th century, Naples was
Europe's largest city after Paris and every bit as cosmopolitan. These days, Naples might look
more like a postcard for urban decadence. Chaotic traffic has pumped so much poison into the
air that the facades of medieval buildings are disintegrating. Urban hucksters hurl up four
clandestine buildings for every legal one, turning this U.N. World Heritage site into a boneyard
of scaffolding. "See Naples and Die," the Bourbons once boasted during Naples's golden age.
Skeptics have a new saying: "See Naples before it dies."
The good—and bad—news is that tourists come from hardy stock. Just a year after the Asian
tsunami swallowed hundreds of kilometers of South Asian beachfront, vacationers came
streaming back. Sometimes calamity can be turned into opportunity. "There definitely is a rush
to see and explore the world before it changes,'' says Matt Kareus of Natural Habitat, which
operates excursions to Antarctica. Archeologists and green groups blame the massive Three
Gorges hydroelectric dam for destroying untold centuries-old cultural splendors, but Chinese
sightseers line up to snap pictures from the concrete ramparts. Even the empty space where the
World Trade towers once stood has become a tourist attraction. "We are all aware the world is
more unpredictable," says Julio Aramberri, professor of tourism at Philadelphia's Drexel
University. "But tourism is much more resilient than you'd think."
Managing the onslaught is now a topic of fierce debate. "Sometimes it takes coming to the brink
of loss to make people recognize what they value," says Burnham. Listing endangered sites
helps raise their visibility and rally local support, but can also backfire by unleashing more
tourists for a final antediluvian glimpse. Steeper admission prices help, but are blatantly biased
toward travelers with deeper pockets. Some experts are turning to crowd engineering, such as
timed tickets, a technique that many museums and Disney World mastered years ago.
UNESCO's World Heritage Centre channels money to safeguard sites, while the WMF works
with local governments, civic groups and the private sector to restore imperiled monuments.
The debate is hardly academic. By now it's apparent that travelers may be spooked, delayed or
detoured, but not deterred. Despite the chain of calamities, more people than ever left home on
holiday last year, and experts are confident the numbers will continue to grow. A world awash
in tourists can be a curse for its endangered treasures, or a source of funds to save them. Getting
the balance right could be the difference between future generations beholding the living
wonders of the world, and merely reading about them in a story book.
________________________________________________________________________
Associated Press: Philadelphia OKs No-Flush Urinals at Skyscraper after Cutting Deal
with Plumbers
By Deborah Yao
6.4.2006
21
PHILADELPHIA — City officials approved the use of waterless, no-flush urinals Wednesday
at what will be Philadelphia's tallest skyscraper -- but only after reaching an agreement with
plumbers.
In a deal that attested to the clout of the city's unions, the developer agreed to a five-year trial of
the 116 urinals. The developer is barred from installing the urinals in any other buildings in
Philadelphia during that period, and they will have to be replaced with water-using units if they
do not work as billed.
Liberty Property Trust is hoping to claim the honor of America's tallest environmentally
friendly building with the construction of the 57-story Comcast Center. The plumbers'
opposition had put that bid in jeopardy.
While raising health and safety issues, plumbers were also worried about whether the adoption
of the new technology would lead to other changes that could cut into their work.
The deal was approved by Philadelphia's plumbing review board.
At the Comcast Center, Liberty will still install regular water lines as a backup in case the
urinals have to be replaced with regular units. But Liberty officials said that was not a
concession to the plumbers; they said they had done the same in all 12 of their other projects
that use no-flush urinals.
"We've always added the piping in the back whether we add waterless urinals or not," said John
Gattuso, a company senior vice president.
A call to Plumbers Union Local 690 was not immediately returned.
The no-flush units are expected to save at least 1.6 million gallons of water a year. Instead of
water, a replaceable cartridge at the base traps odors and sediment as waste passes through. The
technology has been in use since the early 1990s.
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
22
ROAP Media Update 6 April 2006
UN or UNEP in the news
Occupational Safety Legislation Under Govt Consideration
Indlaw.com, India - 05 April, 2006 - Government is considering a National Policy on
Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) which would help in setting priorities for legislative
action. This was stated by Minister of State for Labour and Employment Shri Chandra Sekhar
Sahu while inaugurating the 11th National Conference on Safety, Health and Environment at
work places here today. He said the policy drafted by the Labour Ministry is at present
undergoing inter-ministerial consultations.
…Around 750 delegates from industry, government, professional bodies, trade unions and
international organisations like ILO, WHO, UNEP and overseas institutions are taking part in
the deliberations.
The National Safety Council set up by the Labour Ministry in 1966 has grown into a well
organised national body with an all India network of 14 State Chapters and 31 Action Centres
with members from industry, trade unions and professional bodies. It has emerged as a National
Resource Centre on Safety Health and Environment.
http://www.indlawnews.com/054DA321DC044AB1D76EED398E609A56
Poverty in Mediterranean nations may rise in next two decades
NewKerala.com, India - Dharam Shourie, United Nations: Poverty in the Mediterranean
countries may increase in next two decades and the 63 million populace will face acute water
shortage and desertification of the region unless they take steps for sustainable development, a
new report said.
The 400-page study, commissioned by 21 nations bordering the Mediterranean Sea, calls for a
new regional agreement containing stronger measures, greater private and public financing to
reduce pollution, the development of better demand-management and local sustainabledevelopment policies, and renewed efforts to mobilize all stakeholders for policies integrating
environment and development.
'A Sustainable Future for the Mediterranean: the Blue Plan's Environment & Development
Outlook' was written by 300 experts assembled under the auspices of the UN Environment
Programme's Athens-based Mediterranean Action Plan.
http://www.newkerala.com/news2.php?action=fullnews&id=38017
USA : UNEP ready for battle to save Earth’s ozone layer
April 5, 2006 - UN has announces more than 5,000 farms and organizations joined forces with
the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in a partnership that aims to phase out the
use of Methyl Bromide, an agricultural pesticide that damages the Earth's protective shield -the ozone layer.
Methyl Bromide has been used by farmers to kill pests in the soil before planting crops like
tomatoes, strawberries, melons and flowers, but in 1992 it was officially controlled as an ozonedepleting substance and is scheduled to be retired under the Montreal Protocol, the international
treaty set up to protect the ozone layer.
http://www.fibre2fashion.com/news/daily-textile-industriesnews/newsdetails.aspx?news_id=15117
HEALTH ISSUES
WHO to get petition on malpractice in hospitals - Advocacy group complains Thai officials
'weak' on solving problems
23
The Nation, Thailand, 7 April 2006 - An advocacy group will today petition the United Nations
to force Thai authorities to comply with a World Health Organisation (WHO) agreement in
making public information on medical malpractice.
Preeyanant Lorsermwatthana, a coordinator of the Network of Victims of Medical Malpractice,
said the Public Health Ministry had made little progress in implementing the WHO protocol
since Thailand ratified it in 2002, while self-governing medical bodies in Thailand seemed to
simply ignore it.
…Citing a WHO reference on information, she said widespread revelations about faulty
medical treatment in most developed countries had proved to reduce the number of cases
regarding medical malpractice, legal battles between patients and medical staff and a decrease
in deaths and disabilities caused by medical mistakes.
The WHO launched the World Alliance for Patient Safety in October 2004 in response to a
World Health Assembly Resolution (2002) urging member states to pay the closest possible
attention to the problem of patient safety.
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2006/04/07/national/national_30001176.php
UN urges Cambodia to increase bird flu awareness
Viet Nam News Agency, Vietnam - 4/06/2006 -- Phnom Penh (VNA) - UNICEF representative
in Cambodia Rodney Hatfield on April 6 said that it is urgent to step up bird flu awareness
campaigns in Cambodia to reduce the damage caused by the pandemic.
He made the comments at a signing ceremony for 765,000 USD in aid from the Australian
government to the UN Children's Fund to implement a bird flu awareness campaign in
Cambodia. The funds will be used to produce health education posters and radio and television
spots.
http://www.vnagency.com.vn/NewsA.asp?LANGUAGE_ID=2&CATEGORY_ID=33&NEWS
_ID=194022
General Environment News
Hundreds Flee Floodwaters in Outback Australia
AUSTRALIA: April 7, 2006 - CANBERRA - Hundreds of Australians fled their homes in the
remote outback town of Katherine on Thursday as floodwaters from days of rain swamped it
and other nearby towns and the Katherine River threatened to burst its banks.
Around 600 people were evacuated to two schools in the town.
Later on Thursday, emergency officials said between 200 and 300 residents of the nearby
Jilkminggan community were being evacuated in two flood boats, with the remote township
expected to be under water by early on Friday.
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/35932/story.htm
China Orders Cleanup of 20 Chemical Plants
CHINA: April 7, 2006 - BEIJING - China's environment ministry has ordered cleanups at 20
chemical and petrochemical enterprises, including CNPC and units of Sinopec, after they were
found to pose serious safety threats, domestic media reported on Thursday.
The State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) also decided to stop or postpone
approval for projects at 44 sites with a total investment of 149.5 billion yuan (US$18.7 billion)
because their locations were considered unsafe.
"SEPA will be responsible for directing the rectification of the 20 projects that inspections
found posed hidden environmental risks," the Beijing News reported.
24
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/35930/story.htm
Buildings Shake as Quake Hits Western India State
India: April 7, 2006 - AHMEDABAD, India - Thousands of people ran out of homes and
buildings in India's western Gujarat state on Thursday after an earthquake hit the region,
witnesses said, but there were no reports of casualties or major damage.
The earthquake, 5.5 in magnitude, was centred near the town of Rapar, over 900 km (600 miles)
northeast of Gujarat's main city of Ahmedabad, where its effects were also felt, said the Indian
Meteorological Department in New Delhi.
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/35931/story.htm
New Species of Parrot, Mouse Found in Philippines
Philippines, April 7, 2006 - MANILA - A brightly plumaged parrot and a long-tailed forest
mouse unique to the Philippines have been discovered in the vanishing rainforest of a tiny
tropical island, US-based researchers said on Thursday.
Camiguin, a volcanic island in the southern Philippines, is a treasure trove for fauna, and
already had an endemic species of rodent and frog before the discovery of the rusty brown
mouse and the green hanging parrot, known among locals as "Colasisi."
But Camiguin's wildlife was at risk from deforestation, researchers, writing in
"Fieldiana:Zoology", a scientific journal published by the Chicago-based Field Museum of
Natural History, warned.
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/35926/story.htm
TASMAN SPIRIT OIL SPILL SICKENED PAKISTANI COASTAL RESIDENTS
KARACHI, Pakistan, April 4, 2006 (ENS) - People living on the coast of Karachi near the
location of the 2003 Tasman Spirit oil spill have experienced more health problems than
individuals living inland, new research shows. On July 27, 2003, the Greek tanker Tasman
Spirit carrying crude oil from Iran to Pakistan ran aground at the entrance to Karachi Port.
About two weeks later, on the night of August 13, the ship broke apart and spilled some of its
cargo into the sea.
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/apr2006/2006-04-04-03.asp
WWF praises M'sians for imposing logging ban in Sabah
Borneo Bulletin, Brunei Darussalam - Apr 4, 2006 -KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) Worldwide conservation group WWF welcomed a Malaysian state's decision to phase out
logging in a large forest that is home to endangered orangutans, Bornean pygmy elephants and
Sumatran rhinos.
Under the plan, large-scale timber harvesting in the forests of Sabah state on Borneo Island
would end by 2007 and be replaced with sustainable forest management practices.
WWF, also known as World Wildlife Fund, said in a statement Monday that the Sabah
government's decision "is one of the most important actions ever taken to secure the future of
Borneo's endangered wild mammals."
http://www.brunei-online.com/bb/wed/apr5b1.htm
Elephant population drops by 75%
Bangkok Post, 6 April 2006 – The number of endangered Sumatran elephants in parts of
Indonesia has dropped by 75% in the past six years, raising the possibility they could become
extinct in the near future, an environmental group said yesterday.
WWF Indonesia said in a report theat the decline in riau province – on Indonesia’s largest island
25
of Sumatra – is mostly due to the rapid conversion of forest habitat into palm oil and paper
plantations.
As a result, conflicts between humans and elephants have risen, with 45 elephants either shot or
poisoned since 2000 and 16 people killed by the jumbo beasts, the group said. Hundreds more
elephants were captured and removed from forestareas, often dying in captivity, WWF, also
known as World Wildlife Fund, said. The remaining populations number less than 400 in Riau,
down from 709 in 1999, it said.
”This escalating situation not only spells disaster for elephants, but is also a huge problem for
Riau’s local people, “WWF said in a statement.
_____________________________________________________________________________
ROA Media Update 6 April 2006
General Environment News
Le Maroc au 68ème rang en matière de performance environnementale
Rabat, Maroc (PANA) - Le Maroc occupe le 68ème rang parmi 133 pays audités en matière
d'indices de performance environnementale, a appris jeudi la PANA auprès du ministère de
l'Aménagement du territoire, de l'Eau et de l'Environnement. Le ministère cite un rapport sur les
indices de performance environnementale, publié par le "Yale Center for Environmental Law
and Policy" (Université de Yale, USA) et le "Center for International Earth Science Information
Network" (Université de Columbia, USA) en collaboration avec le Forum économique mondial
(Genève) et le "Joint Research Center of the European Commission" (Ispra, Italie). Parmi les
points favorables, relève le rapport, le recours aux énergies renouvelables et la qualité de l'air,
domaines où "le royaume est nettement au-dessus de la moyenne des groupes, dont il fait partie
géographiquement ou par niveau de PIB". En matière de biodiversité, de ressources naturelles et
de santé, selon la même source, le Maroc parvient également à se maintenir au niveau de la
moyenne des deux groupes. "Par contre, l'eau est le domaine où le Maroc accuse une faiblesse
évidente (dernier rang des 133 pays recensés), précise le communiqué, ajoutant que "ce
classement doit être entendu comme un appel à un changement rapide de notre politique de l'eau
et à l'application d'une meilleure gouvernance de cette ressource". Pour établir ce classement,
les auteurs du rapport, poursuit la même source, ont mesuré le degré de correspondance des
performances de chaque pays en matière de dépollution et de préservation des ressources
naturelles, avec des ratios préétablis concernant la qualité de l'air, l'eau potable, les énergies
renouvelables, la biodiversité ou encore l'hygiène, la mortalité enfantine et d'autres paramètres
écologiques, économiques et sociaux.
Cameroon: Fight against Wildlife Criminals Formalized
The Post (Buea): In their efforts to protect endangered wildlife species from extinction, the Last
Great Ape Organization, LAGA, and the Cameroon government, signed a memorandum of
understanding, MoU, at the end of last month. Signed for LAGA by its Director, Ofir Drori and
on behalf of Cameroon by the Minister of Forestry and Wildlife, Hillman Egbe Achuo, the
MoU falls within the framework of creating a deterrent factor in wildlife crimes by bringing
defaulters to justice Achuo, while stating that illegal trade in wildlife ranks third after arms and
drugs on the list of the world most lucrative international illegal trade activities, regretted that
past conservation investments in the country have not sufficiently focused on law enforcement.
He stated that it is against this background that there is a shift in paradigm, one that leads to
tangible results in wildlife law enforcement. He identified salient results of inter-ministerial
collaboration supported by the national and international communities as the execution of about
60 wildlife cases with offenders paying heavy fines and serving jail terms from 2003, amongst
26
others. He further identified government's efforts towards the preservation of wildlife such as
the Yaoundé Forest Declaration, which recognizes illegal trade in wildlife as a serious threat to
sustainable development and the resolve to foster legislation to fight crimes and protect
endangered species such as apes. On his part, Ofir Drori expressed gratefulness for the
confidence placed in LAGA to work in such a sensitive domain and in joining government
delegations to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200604060766.html
Zimbabwe: State in Bid to Combat Deforestation on Farms
The Herald (Harare): GOVERNMENT has enlisted several non-governmental organizations to
work with it in combating massive deforestation that has reached alarming proportions on farms
adjacent Karoi. The Department of Environmental Management Services (formerly NRB), in
conjunction with the Forestry Company have engaged the ZRP, Hurungwe Rural District
Council, Karoi Town Council and the Zimbabwe National Army to assist in thwarting
commercial firewood poaching. The massive deforestation is perpetrated by firewood dealers
who have ready markets in Karoi's Chikangwe and Chiedza high-density suburbs. The
indiscriminate cutting down of trees in enormous volumes is also witnessed along the busy
Harare-Chirundu highway where there is also a high demand from motorists. Hurungwe district
natural resources officer Mr. Munyaradzi Gandidzanwa said the most affected areas are
Tsangadzi, Chiedza, Moniac, Nyama and Haulsted farms. Convoys of ox-drawn carts laden
with firewood have been entering Karoi daily between 3am and 5am when many people are
sleeping. By daybreak the convoys, which usually consisted of about 15 scotch carts would
have completed their transactions and left for their respective areas. A scotch cart load of
firewood goes for around $500 000. http://allafrica.com/stories/200604060646.html
South Africa: Mabudafhasi Urges Community to Use Waste to Create Jobs
BuaNews (Tshwane): Environmental Affairs and Tourism Deputy Minister Rejoice
Mabudafhasi has urged people to start looking at waste collection as an opportunity to create
jobs. Speaking to BuaNews in Jourbeton today, where she led a cleaning campaign as part of
the Imbizo Focus Week, Ms Mabudafhasi said apart from maintaining a cleaner environment,
cleaning could also help in the fight against poverty. She said government would soon
implement a Buyisa-e-Bag programme in the area, to help keep the environment clean and in
the process create jobs. Buyisa-e-Bag is a Section 21 company established by government and
the private sector to develop projects and programmes aimed at eradicating plastic litter and
unemployment. This follows the signing into law of the Plastic Bag Regulations in 2003 to rid
the environment of plastic bags. Currently the programme operates nationwide and is funded by
the plastic levy to run all plastic waste recycling programmes. "Once it has been implemented
there will be a buy back centre where people can bring plastic for recycling and get paid for it.
"Some of the people involved in the programme will benefit from job generated through the
recycling process, while some could make craft with the recycled waste and sell them," Ms
Mabudafhasi said. http://allafrica.com/stories/200604060604.html
____________________________________________________________________________
Brazil Office Media Update 6 April 2006
Estado de São Paulo - newspaper
Cultivo de soja ajuda a destruir a Amazônia, diz Greenpeace
O estudo revela como demanda do mercado internacional está impulsionando a destruição da
floresta
Paulo R. Zulino
27
SÃO PAULO - O cultivo de soja na Amazônia alimenta a destruição da maior floresta tropical
do mundo. A conclusão está no relatório ´Comendo a Amazônia´, que o Greenpeace lança nesta
quinta-feira, na Holanda. O estudo revela como a demanda do mercado internacional por soja da
Amazônia está impulsionando a destruição da floresta. No Brasil, o relatório será apresentado
pelo coordenador da campanha na Amazônia, Paulo Adário. A leitura do documento acontece
logo mais, às 11 horas, na sede do Greenpeace em São Paulo, no Butantã, zona oeste da cidade.
Segundo a Radiobrás, na ocasião, será exibido um vídeo que mostra como a expansão da soja na
Amazônia tem atraído grandes fazendeiros de outras regiões do Brasil, incentivando a grilagem
de terras e a violência contra comunidades. (fonte: Jornal Estado de São Paulo online)
Folha de São Paulo - newspaper
Governo discute hoje construção de Angra 3
FolhaNews De São Paulo
A construção da usina nuclear de Angra 3 volta à pauta do governo hoje. O assunto deverá ser
discutido em reunião do Conselho Nacional de Política Energética (CNPE), marcada para as 15
horas. Desde que o empreendimento foi incluído no Plano Decenal de Expansão da Oferta de
Energia, elaborado pelo Ministério de Minas e Energia, e divulgado em meados de março,
cresceu a expectativa de que a polêmica usina tem chances reais de sair do papel.
No início do ano passado, o governo tentou chegar a um consenso sobre a nova usina, mas
acabou dividido. A ex-ministra de Minas e Energia Dilma Rousseff, hoje na Casa Civil, foi
contra o projeto por considerar o preço da energia alto demais e o Ministério do Meio Ambiente
também se manifestou contrário ao empreendimento.
Já o Ministério de Ciência e Tecnologia apresentou parecer técnico favorável ao projeto, que
ganhou o apoio do então ministro da Casa Civil José Dirceu. O Plano Decenal estima que a
usina entraria em operação no início de 2013, mas a decisão de construir o empreendimento
nuclear ainda não foi oficializada pelo governo. Caso decida construir a nova unidade nuclear,
que teria capacidade de geração de 1.350 MW, o governo terá que desembolsar cerca de US$
1,8 bilhão, ao longo de aproximadamente 66 meses de obras. (fonte: Jornal Folha de São Paulo)
On government and environment specialized websites:
Ministério do Meio Ambiente – The Brazilian Ministry of Environment
Para Marina Silva mudança de atitude pode reverter a perda dos recursos naturais
Gerusa Barbosa
A ministra defendeu nesta quarta-feira (05) a participação da sociedade planetária e a urgente
mudança de atitude para reverter o processo da perda dos recursos naturais. "A mudança deve
ser feita agora para que tenhamos compromissos com a realidade no futuro", afirmou. Segundo
a ministra, é necessário inverter a idéia de que educação ambiental é algo a ser feito para
pessoas pensando numa mudança no futuro. "Se cada geração adiar a mudança de atitude, daqui
a alguns anos não teremos nem futuro", disse, reafirmando que as conferências de educação
ambiental realizadas em 2003 e em 2005 dizem que a mudança de atitude deve acontecer agora.
Marina Silva abriu o V Congresso Ibero-Americano de Educação Ambiental, que acontece entre
os dias 5 e 8, em Joinville, Santa Catarina. O encontro conta com cerca de cinco mil
participantes de 25 países da América Latina, Caribe, Portugal e Espanha, que vão debater o
tema "A contribuição da educação ambiental para a sustentabilidade planetária". Participaram
representantes do Ministério da Educação, do governo do estado de Santa Catarina, prefeitura
de Joinville, do PNUMA, entre outros.
O congresso é promovido pelo órgão gestor da Política Nacional de Educação Ambiental
(MMA/MEC). O encontro constitui um espaço para debater a Década das Nações Unidas da
Educação para o Desenvolvimento Sustentável, além de iniciar o processo de revisão do
Tratado de EducaçãoAmbiental para Sociedades Sustentáveis e Responsabilidade Global.
28
Marina Silva citou a experiência da Conferência das Partes da Convenção sobre Diversidade
Biológica (COP-8), realizada em Curitiba em março, que tratou da responsabilidade que os
países devem ter para com a biodiversidade e o grande desafio para frear a perda desse recurso.
"Estudo dá conta que a estamos perdendo 20 vezes mais do que perdíamos há 50 anos, e que
essa perda já é semelhante ao que perdemos na época da extinção dos dinossauros", explicou.
A ministra lembrou as diretrizes trabalhadas pelo Ministério do Meio Ambiente: participação e
controle da sociedade, desenvolvimento sustentável, fortalecimento do Sistema Nacional do
Meio Ambiente e política ambiental integrada e transversal. "Essas diretrizes orientam e unem
os conceitos e propósitos. É com esse espírito que trabalhamos a política ambiental brasileira".
Como exemplo e contribuição das diretrizes adotadas pelo Ministério, Marina Silva lembrou a
redução de 31% do índice do desmatamento na Amazônia em 2005. Segundo a ministra, sem o
trabalho integrado de 13 ministérios, "não seria possível", disse. Para Marina Silva foi uma
conquistas dos ambientalistas incluir a variável ambiental integrada nas ações de governo.
(fonte: Ministério do Meio Ambiente)
Acordo fortalece educação ambiental em Joinville
Gerusa Barbosa
O Ministério do Meio Ambiente (MMA) e a Prefeitura de Joinville, Santa Catarina, firmaram
convênio nesta quarta-feira (05) para apoio técnico na área de educação ambiental por bacia
hidrográfica da região. Pelo acordo, as ações na cidade serão orientadas pelo Programa
Municípios Educadores Sustentáveis, desenvolvido pela Diretoria de Educação Ambiental do
MMA. A idéia é capacitar os gestores municipais e fortalecer a formação de educadores
ambientais.
O termo de cooperação foi assinado durante reunião que antecedeu a abertura do V Congresso
Ibero-Americano de Educação Ambiente, que acontece em Joinville, entre os dias 5 e 8.
Participaram da assinatura o diretor de Educação Ambiental do MMA, Marcos Sorrentino, a
representante do Ministério da Educação, Raquel Trajber, e o presidente da Fundação de Meio
Ambiente do Município de Joinville, Nourival Silva.
O Programa Municípios Educadores Sustentáveis (MES) tem como desafio fazer com que cada
município brasileiro assuma a responsabilidade de promover educação cotidianamente. Segundo
o diretor de Educação Ambiental, Marcos Sorrentino, a gestão da educação ambiental de
Joinville por bacia hidrográfica traduz o modelo que o programa do MMA vem delineando para
o País. "A gestão ambiental por bacia hidrográfica expande para o diálogo planetário", ressaltou
Marcos Sorrentino. Para ele, é preciso haver um acordo, um pacto das convenções entre nações.
"Não adianta fazer educação ambiental e ambientalismo num país só", destacou.
De acordo com o diretor do MMA, o fazer do educador relacionado à questão ambiental ainda é
muito tímido. "Temos que amadurecer na radicalidade das nossas propostas, da nossa ação para
que a questão da mudança climática, da biodiversidade, da desertificação, envolva todo o tecido
social, influenciando na mudança de valores e culturais", completou. (fonte: Ministério do Meio
Ambiente)
IBAMA acaba com a ATPF em 1º de junho
A ministra do Meio Ambiente, Marina Silva, assinou uma portaria criando um sistema que
acaba com a Autorização de Transporte de Produto Florestal (ATPF). A guia será substituída
pelo Documento de Origem Florestal (DOF), um sistema mais moderno, a partir do dia 1ª de
junho. A portaria estabelece ainda um cronograma para implantação da mudança e cria um
comitê técnico para acompanhar a evolução do novo modelo.
Ao contrário da ATPF, que era em papel e preenchida manualmente, o DOF é um documento
eletrônico. O madeireiro terá de informar ao Ibama, via internet, o produto que pretende
transportar, o volume, a origem e a rota que irá seguir até a destinação final. Todas as
29
informações irão para um banco de dados, compartilhado com os estados. O usuário ficará
responsável pela emissão, uso e informações declaradas ao Ibama e não poderá transportar mais
madeira do que o permitido pelo plano de manejo ou autorização de desmatamento. "É como
uma conta bancária. Não tem como tirar um dinheiro que não está lá", compara o presidente do
Ibama, Marcus Barros.
Barros explica que a ATPF era fácil de ser falsificada e esquentada . De acordo com a
Polícia Federal, uma parceira do Ibama nas grandes operações de fiscalização, os documentos
falsos chegavam a ser negociados por até R$ 1,8 mil. O papel também dificultava a fiscalização
do transporte e da indústria por não permitir um cruzamento imediato de dados. "Para checar as
informações levava-se de 50 a 60 dias", diz. Era o prazo necessário para conferir se a carga
embarcada tinha o mesmo volume e espécie autorizada pelo Ibama. Com o DOF, a checagem
será em tempo real. Outra vantagem é a redução do manuseio do documento. Além disso, o
sistema irá permitir um controle social, já que as informações estarão disponíveis na internet
para qualquer cidadão.
A construção do novo sistema vem sendo estudada há cerca de um ano. Do dia 10 a 21 de abril
ocorrerá a validação interna do sistema. Os testes de campo e treinamento dos servidores
ocorrerão de 24 de abril a 26 de maio. No dia 1º de junho o Ibama passar a operar apenas com o
DOF. "Não haverá mais emissão de ATPFs, mas durante cerca de 90 dias haverá ainda
circulação do documento antigo em função das emissões feitas até o final de maio", explica
Antônio Carlos Hummel, diretor de Florestas.
Paralelo aos estudos para extinção da ATPF, o Ibama investiu R$ 20 milhões na área de
fiscalização. Segundo o diretor de Proteção Ambiental do Ibama, Flávio Montiel, 300 veículos
já estão equipados com sistema autotrack, o que permitirá verificar a legalidade da carga, em
tempo real, no momento da fiscalização. Foram adquiridos outros 85 sistemas móveis, para
serem utilizados em barcas e aeronaves. Além desses equipamentos, os fiscais irão a campo
munidos de telefones e palmtops.
De acordo com o Ibama são emitidas mensalmente um milhão de ATPFs. O novo sistema
entrará em vigor um ano após a Operação Curupira, que desmantelou uma quadrilha de
falsificadores que atuava há 14 anos no Mato Grosso. Em outubro de 2005, a Operação Ouro
Verde prendeu donos de gráficas e intermediadores de ATPFs. (fonte: Ministério do Meio
Ambiente)
IBAMA – Brazilian Institute of Environment and Natural Resources
Canadenses conhecem experiência de combate ao desmatamento do Ibama
Brasília - Durante toda esta semana quatro pesquisadores do Instituto Florestal Canadense estão
em visita ao Brasil para conhecer a experiência de combate ao desmatamento do Ibama. O
grupo já visitou o Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (Inpe) e viram como é feita a
detecção em tempo real do processo de desmatamento ou mesmo de possíveis incêndios nas
florestas brasileiras.
Eles estiveram também no Centro de Monitoramento Ambiental do Ibama (Cemam), onde
puderam acompanhar como são feitas a triagem e a identificação dos polígonos de áreas de
floresta, que são monitorados dia a dia pelo Ibama.
Hoje o grupo de canadenses estará visitando a Superintendência do Ibama em Rondônia. O
diretor de Proteção Ambiental, Flávio Montiel, acompanhará o grupo amanhã em sobrevôo na
área de um polígono detectado pelo Sistema Deter (Detecção de Desmatamento em Tempo
Real), para que possam constatar como o sistema de controle do desmatamento do Ibama, aliado
à tecnologia de detecção por meio do sensoriamento remoto, tem sido eficiente, auxiliando na
redução em 31% do índice de desmatamento em 2005.
Na ocasião será inaugurada, pelo diretor Flávio Montiel, a nova estrutura física da Base
Operativa de Porto Velho. Para o Chefe da Divisão de Controle e Fiscalização (DICOF) do
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Ibama/RO, George Porto Ferreira, a nova base operativa recebeu reforço com a aquisição de
equipamentos e com a reforma geral em suas instalações. “Esta é uma base importante no
combate ao desmatamento em Porto Velho, pois ano passado o Cemam fez um levantamento
das áreas de maior desmatamento e este município havia ficado em primeiro lugar no ranking
do estado de Rondônia. Ações como esta de reforço da Base melhoram em muito as nossas
ações de fiscalização”, afirmou Ferreira.
Outro ponto importante dessa reestruturação da Base Operativa de Porto Velho, será a
instalação dos computadores à rede mundial - Internet. “Com o acesso à rede mundial,
poderemos acompanhar pelos sites do Inpe e do Siscom (do Cemam/Ibama) as áreas de
Rondônia em desmatamento e promover ações de fiscalização ainda mais eficazes”, destacou
Ferreira. Na parte da tarde os pesquisadores estarão conhecendo o Sistema de Proteção da
Amazônia (Sipam). (Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e dos Recursos Naturais Renováveis
– IBAMA)
Seminário avalia expedições científicas no Parna do Cabo Orange
Macapá – Começa hoje, no auditório da biblioteca da Universidade Federal do Amapá (Unifap),
seminário que avaliará as expedições científicas realizadas no Parque Nacional do Cabo Orange
(AP). O evento é promovido pelo Ibama, através da equipe gestora do parque, e do Instituto de
Estudos Sócio-ambientais (IESA). O objetivo do evento é, durante dois dias, levar ao
conhecimento público os principais resultados dos levantamentos científicos realizados em
2005.
Na ocasião serão apresentados os relatórios científicos dos pesquisadores de diversas áreas que
atuaram nas expedições, enfocando aspectos bióticos - vegetação, fauna, avifauna, peixes etc -,
solo, clima e relevo, sítios arqueológicos e aspectos sócio-ambientais da primeira unidade de
conservação federal criada no estado do Amapá. Os dados e informações obtidos estão
subsidiando a formulação do plano de manejo – documento que determina as atividades
permitidas no interior da área protegida, os locais onde podem ocorrer e as estruturas físicas
envolvidas -, em fase de elaboração. Durante o evento será ainda discutido o planejamento
estratégico das atividades finais do projeto.
As expedições científicas foram executadas com apoio do Programa Áreas Protegidas da
Amazônia (Arpa), do governo federal, e da organização não-governamental WWF-Brasil.
Participaram pesquisadores do Instituto de Pesquisas Científicas e Tecnológicas do Estado do
Amapá (IEPA), UNIFAP, Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi e do Centro Nacional de Pesquisas
para Conservação das Aves Silvestres (CEMAVE), ligado ao Ibama.
Localizado no extremo norte do Amapá e abrangendo áreas dos municípios de Oiapoque e
Calçoene, o Parque Nacional do Cabo Orange possui 619 mil hectares de área, sendo um terço
formado por área marinha, onde se encontram protegidos ecossistemas de importante relevância
ecológica. Por sua extensão litorânea, o Cabo Orange é considerado uma das maiores áreas de
manguezais protegidas do país, onde são encontradas espécies ameaçadas de extinção em outras
regiões, entre as quais aves como o guará e o flamingo, e mamíferos como o peixe-boi marinho
e de água doce. Representa ainda um verdadeiro “berçário” para a reprodução de espécies da
fauna aquática, é visitado por diversas espécies da avifauna migratória e possui grandes ninhais,
como os do Marrecal, onde ocorre o nascimento de milhares de aves. Além da rara beleza, no
parque são encontrados sítios arqueológicos que retratam a história da ocupação humana nessa
região do Amapá. (Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e dos Recursos Naturais Renováveis –
IBAMA)
Falsificadores de ATPFs são presos na Bahia
Salvador - O Ibama e a Polícia Federal desbarataram na madrugada desta quinta-feira uma
quadrilha de falsificadores de Autorizações de Transporte de Produtos Florestais que atua em
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Barreiras, Bom Jesus da Lapa, Conquista e Juazeiro, no oeste da Bahia. A quadrilha falsificava
os documentos para acobertar o transporte e a produção ilegal de carvão destinada a abastecer
parques siderúrgicos em Minas Gerais.
Sete pessoas foram presas e outras cinco estão sendo procuradas. Dentre os presos, um é
funcionário do Ibama, Edílson Pereira dos Santos, e outra é a ex-servidora Edna da Silva Piau,
demitida recentemente pela ministra do Meio Ambiente, Marina Silva, por improbidade
administrativa.
A investigação foi iniciada pelo Ibama da Bahia em 2004, sob a coordenação do
superintendente do órgão, Julio Rocha, com apoio da sede do Ibama em Brasília. Os ilícitos
foram verificados por auditoria interna realizada ao longo de 2005. Desde começo desse ano, o
Ibama manteve a Polícia Federal informada da investigação.
A operação conjunta da PF e Ibama para prender os falsificadores foi deflagrada
simultaneamente nas cidades do oeste da Bahia. Os presos estão chegando na sede da Polícia
Federal em Salvador por volta das 14h30, onde ficarão detidos.
Os falsificadores atuavam há pelo menos 5 anos e são responsáveis por grande parte do
desmatamento do cerrado bahiano, segundo avaliações de Julio Rocha. "O resultado deste
operação foi possível graças à construção pelo presidente do Ibama, Marcus Barros, e a
ministra Marina Silva de uma ética administrativa para fazer cumprir a legislação ambiental",
disse. (Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e dos Recursos Naturais Renováveis – IBAMA)
Brasil Agency – government news website
Presidente de sindicato de trabalhadores rurais aponta demora na criação de reserva no
Amazonas
A presidente do Sindicato de Trabalhadores Rurais de Boca do Acre, no sul do Amazonas,
Luzia Santos da Silva, fez um apelo para que o processo de criação da Reserva Extativista do
Arapixi – iniciado em 2002 – seja finalizado.
"Os extrativistas que moram lá estão proibidos de exercer suas funções, principalmente de
coletar os frutos da natureza. Têm alguns que estão ameaçados de morte pelos grileiros. E a
gente não vê a Justiça se preocupando com essa situação", afirmou. "É comum no Brasil, na
questão de terra, depois que morre um, de imediato a reserva ou assentamento são
regularizados. Mas primeiro precisa morrer um. Não queremos isso aqui."
Ao longo do Rio Arapixi vivem 300 famílias de extrativistas. Nas três visitas que o Ibama Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e dos Recursos Naturais Renováveis fez à região, os
técnicos do órgão foram ameaçados de morte – chegaram, inclusive, a registrar queixa na
delegacia do município.
A consulta pública para criação da reserva aconteceu em novembro de 2004. Nelas, os
participantes decidiram pela criação de uma unidade federal, embora o território ocupado por
eles esteja em nome do governo estadual. Esse é também o caso da reserva extrativista do Rio
Unini, em Barcelos, no médio Rio Negro (AM): o processo de criação foi igualmente iniciado
em 2002, mas a consulta pública só ocorreu em maio de 2005. No Unini vivem 160 famílias,
que têm o território invadido por pescadores comerciais e pela pesca esportiva do tucunaré.
Em novembro de 2005, o Iteam - Instituto de Terras do Amazonas enviou ao Ibama uma carta
autorizando a criação das reservas federais em área estadual. Mas a PGE - Procuradoria Geral
do Estado deu parecer contrário no início deste ano. "Só pode criar uma reserva extrativista
quem tiver o domínio da área", argumentou a procuradora-chefe da Procuradoria do Meio
Ambiente, Patrícia Petruccelli. "A União pode criar, sim, as reservas federais, mas desde que
inicie um processo de desapropriação. E como se tratar de desapropriar áreas estaduais, o
Congresso Nacional deve ser consultado".
O secretário estadual de Meio Ambiente, Virgílio Viana, afirmou que o governador Eduardo
Braga enviou à ministra Marina Silva o parecer da PGE, com uma carta na qual manifestava o
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interesse de criar reservas extrativistas estaduais na área, para agilizar o processo. "A bola agora
está com eles, aguardamos a manifestação do Ministério do Meio Ambiente".
"A decisão do povo deve ser levada em consideração. A gente pediu uma reserva federal desde
o início, porque em Rio Branco (no Acre, é o município mais perto de Boca do Acre, a seis
horas de viagem de carro) há Ibama. Se a reserva for federal, quem vai administrá-la?",
questionou Silva. "O governo do Amazonas terá que nos dar uma boa explicação, um
argumento muito forte para nos convencer que a reserva tem que ser estadual".
A assessoria de comunicação do Ibama enviou à Radiobrás o parecer da Procuradoria Geral
Especializada do órgão. O documento foi assinado na segunda-feira (3) pelo procurador-geral,
Sebastião Azevedo. Ele afirma que a desapropriação da área não é necessária para a criação das
reservas federais e que não há qualquer questão de ordem jurídica que impeça o Ibama de
concluir esse processo.
Desde terça-feira (4), a Radiobrás tentou falar com o presidente do CNPT - Conselho Nacional
de Populações Tradicionais, Paulo Oliveira. O CNPT é uma diretoria do Ibama, responsável
pela criação e implementação de reservas extrativistas. (Fonte: Agência Brasil)
Chuvas na Bolívia não devem afetar abastecimento de gás para o Brasil, diz presidente da
Petrobras
O presidente da Petrobras, Sérgio Gabrielli, disse, nesta quarta-feira (5), que as chuvas na
Bolívia não devem prejudicar o fornecimento de gás, produzido pela estatal, para o mercado
brasileiro. "Nós estamos tomando todas as medidas necessárias para evitar que o oleoduto,
levado pelas chuvas, afete a produção". Segundo ele, o trabalho não tem previsão de término, já
que continua chovendo na Bolívia.
Em uma breve conversa com jornalistas, Gabrielli contou ainda sobre as reuniões que teve nesta
quarta-feira com o primeiro-ministro da Rússia, Mikhail Fradkov, e o chanceler do Azerbaijão,
Elmar Mammadyarov. Ele informou que foram encontros informais em que os países
demonstraram interesse em estreitar relações com a Petrobras.
"Não há nenhum contrato em vista, foi apenas uma visita onde foram discutidas possibilidades
de cooperação nas áreas de águas profundas, exploração e produção de petróleo, refino,
petroquímica e construção de gasodutos", disse. Gabrielli participou, hoje, da cerimônia em que
a Petrobras anunciou os investimentos em universidades e institutos de pesquisa para os
próxiimos três anos, no valor de R$ 1 bilhão. (Fonte: Agência Brasil)
Substituição de documento para transporte de produtos florestais agrada a ONGs
Irene Lôbo
Brasília - A portaria que determina a substituição das Autorizações de Transporte de Produtos
Florestais (ATPFs) pelo Documento de Origem Florestal (DOF), a partir de junho, agradou as
organizações não-governamentais (ONGs) que lidam com questões relacionadas ao meio
ambiente.
"A necessidade de melhorar o sistema de controle do fluxo da madeira na Amazônia é uma
prioridade urgente", afirmou o responsável pela Campanha da Amazônia do Greenpeace,
Marcelo Marquesine. "O sistema anterior era muito propício à corrupção, então, a aposentadoria
dele veio tarde", disse o coordenador de programas do Instituto do Homem e Meio Ambiente da
Amazônia (Imazon), Beto Veríssimo.
Para Marquesine, a permanência da ATPFs possibilitou que uma grande quantidade de madeira
ilegal fosse retirada da Amazônia. Segundo o Greenpeace, em 2004, foram extraídos 24,3
milhões de m³ de madeira cerrada e em lâmina da Amazônia. Desse total, entre 60% e 80%
eram ilegais. No final de 2005, o presidente do Ibama, Marcus Barros, chegou a dar uma
declaração dizendo que a quantidade de madeira ilegal girava em torno de 90% de toda a
madeira comercializada vinda da Amazônia.
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Segundo o engenheiro florestal do Greenpeace, desde 2000, o Ibama tenta modificar o sistema
de ATPFs. Em 2003, teria sido discutido um sistema baseado em dados de satélite, mas que só
serviria para grandes empresas. No começo de 2005 começou-se a discutir, o Documento de
Origem Florestal (DOF) que será implantado a partir de junho.
"Esse sistema, o pouco que nós vimos, realmente aprimora uma série de quesitos, mas ele ainda
não está pronto. Nós duvidamos. O Ibama anunciou que lançaria no começo de janeiro de 2006,
agora anuncia em junho, e nós temos medo, porque é um ano de mudança, um ano de campanha
eleitoral, de que mais uma vez o sistema não seja substituído", afirmou Marquesine.
Beto Veríssimo, da Imazon, acha que a mudança será um passo importante para melhorar o
sistema de fiscalização da madeira ilegal. Ele ressaltou, entretanto, que é necessário que o fim
das ATPFs seja combinado com outras ações. "O problema básico do sistema de controle
florestal no Brasil é que se quer controlar tudo, ou seja, o que acontece na floresta e o transporte
da madeira até o porto. Geralmente os outros países preferem concentrar a preocupação na
floresta para evitar que aquela madeira seja tirada de forma predatória ou ilegal", disse
Veríssimo.
Para ele, a mudança na forma de controlar o transporte de madeira será eficiente para os
caminhões que passam nas rodovias e nos postos de fiscalização regulares, mas não para os que
procuram rotas alternativas para transportar madeira ilegalmente. "Eu acho que amplia a
transparência, tem o potencial de reduzir drasticamente a madeira ilegal ,mas não de eliminar.
Precisa ter a combinação de outras iniciativas. A gente precisa controlar melhor a madeira que
sai da floresta". (fonte: Agência Brasil)
Congresso pretende discutir importância de educação na construção de sociedades
sustentáveis
Adriana Franzin
Brasília – Começou hoje (5), em Joinville (SC), o 5º Congresso Ibero-Americano de Educação
Ambiental. O evento, que vai até o próximo sábado, é promovido pelos ministérios do Meio
Ambiente e da Educação, em parceria com o Governo do Estado de Santa Catarina e da
Prefeitura Municipal de Joinville, além de organizações não-governamentais (ONGs).
Segundo site do congresso, www.5iberoea.org.br, o tema principal é a "contribuição da
educação ambiental para a sustentabilidade planetária". O objetivo é debater a importância da
educação ambiental na construção de valores, bases culturais e bases políticas que reiterem a
promoção de sociedades sustentáveis.
A estimativa, de acordo com a organização do evento, é que o fórum atraia um público de mais
de cinco mil pessoas. O congresso conta com a participação de representantes de 32 países,
além de instituições públicas e privadas, ONGs, movimentos sociais, empresários, sindicalistas,
comunidade acadêmica, educadores, professores e estudantes, além de representantes de
organismos internacionais. (fonte:Agência Brasil)
Industrial afirma que meta de recolhimento de pneus usados do Conama é irrealista
Adriana Franzin
Brasília – É impossível cumprir a meta de recolhimento de pneus estabelecida pela Resolução
n.º 258, do Conselho Nacional de Meio Ambiente (Conama). Existe um problema de logística e
uma quantidade de pneus inservíveis que é incompatível com o que o Conama estabeleceu".
A afirmação foi feita no programa Diálogo Brasil, pelo diretor-Geral da Associação Nacional
da Indústria de Pneumáticos (Anip), Vilien Soares. Para ele, "o Conama foi irrealista em sua
exigência".
No estúdio da TV Cultura, em São Paulo, Soares destacou que, apesar dessa dificuldade, as
indústrias estão se esforçando para recolher o máximo possível de pneus. Ele lembrou que o
projeto de lei que regulamenta ações ambientais das empresas de pneus, de autoria do senador
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Flávio Arns (PT-PR), é "interessante", ainda que não conocrde com a importação de pneus
usados. "Nós não podemos concordar em ter que reformar pneus utilizando pneus velhos lá de
fora, quando nós temos aqui no Brasil quantidades suficientes".
O senador Flávio Arns (PT - PR) explicou que "o projeto proíbe a importação de pneus usados
para serem usados como de meia-vida, mas permite a importação da carcaça para que sirva de
matéria prima para a remoldagem" Segundo o senador, a lei estabelece que para cada pneu
importado deverão ser destruídos dez inservíveis.
"A contrapartida ambiental é tão severa, que inviabiliza o negócio", afirmou. Ele disse ainda, no
estúdio da TV Nacional, em Brasília, que o projeto quer envolver as empresas na manutenção
da estrutura de reciclagem. O projeto está em votação no Congresso Nacional.
No estúdio da TVE Brasil, no Rio de Janeiro, o presidente da Associação Brasileira da
Indústria de Pneus Remoldados (Abip), Francisco Simeão, afirmou que as indústrias vêm
cumprindo as metas.
"Já recolhemos cerca de 80% a mais do que seria a nossa obrigação". Segundo ele, "os pneus
remoldados custam, em média, 40% ou 50% mais barato que os de uma marca boa". Simeão
disse que da totalidade dos pneus, apenas 6,54% são importados usados, e que o número de
pneus novos trazidos de fora é 40% maior. "Será que a preocupação é ambiental ou de
mercado?"
Também no estúdio da TV Nacional, Márcio Rosa Rodrigues de Freitas, coordenador-geral de
Controle e Qualidade Ambiental do Instituto Brasileiro de Meio Ambiente e Recursos Naturais
Renováveis (Ibama) disse que o Brasil tem tradição de reforma de pneus. Para ele, o maior
problema é o destino final para os pneus.
Freitas informou que só há 27 empresas com autorização do Ibama para destruir os pneus, a
maior parte delas localizada litoral e a maior dificuldade é o transporte. Para ele, a reciclagem
nunca é completa. "Todas as utilizações de pneus trazem problemas ambientais".
Os debates do Diálogo Brasil são mediados pelo jornalista Florestan Fernandes Júnior. O
programa é transmitido ao vivo para todo país, sempre às quartas-feiras, das 22h30 às 23h30. Os
telespectadores podem participar enviando perguntas e sugestões pelo e-mail
dialogobrasil@radiobras.gov.br e pelo telefone (61) 3327-4210. (fonte: Agência Brasil)
Ambiente Brasil Agency
Educação Ambiental ganha um novo canal para debates
Danielle Jordan
Os meios de comunicação certamente são fundamentais para propagar informações e
compartilhar conhecimentos. Na educação ambiental esta fórmula também se aplica. Desde
ontem, no final da tarde, os educadores ambientais contam com o Canal EA.NET, que pode ser
acessado no endereço
O assessor de comunicação Thadeu Melo, em mensagem enviada à Rede de Jornalistas
Ambientais, afirma que este é o primeiro canal de educação ambiental pela internet e tem como
missão: “facilitar a difusão de conteúdos multimídia (áudio e vídeo) produzidos em apoio às
ações de educação ambiental em todo o Brasil”. Neste projeto, Thadeu alimentará a Seção de
Pautas & fontes, sugerindo novos temas para que os jornalistas possam também contribuir com
a divulgação das iniciativas nesta área.
“A idéia é tentar transcender o formato padrão "bichinho e plantinha", explica ainda na
mensagem, e mostra-se aberto para sugestões que possam acrescentar novas idéias. O canal é
uma iniciativa da Rede Brasileira de Educação Ambiental – REBEA –, executada pela
organização não-governamental Ecomarapendi e pelo Projeto Cala-boca já morreu. Conta ainda
com a parceria dos ministérios da Educação e do Meio Ambiente e do Órgão Gestor da Política
Nacional de Educação Ambiental, do governo federal.
Inicialmente, o canal fará cobertura do V Congresso Ibero Americano de Educação Ambiental,
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com transmissões ao vivo de três das principais conferências do Congresso. A primeira delas,
com o tema “Educação, meio ambiente e globalização no contexto ibero-americano”, será
transmitida ainda hoje. Serão produzidos diariamente vídeos-síntese, que estarão disponíveis no
site, enfocando as mesas redondas, os pontos debatidos e os bastidores.
Depois do encerramento do Congresso, o canal continua seus trabalhos, buscando prover os
interessados de conteúdo e informações. “Creio que esta convergência de capacidades e
interesses, entre a educação ambiental e a comunicação, seja mais um grande passo para o
fortalecimento das mídias ambientais e a disseminação da tão necessária racionalidade
ecológica”, afirma Thadeu em sua mensagem.
Congresso Ibero-Americano de Educação Ambiental
O V Congresso Ibero-Americano de Educação Ambiental teve início ontem, 5, encerrando-se
no próximo dia 8. Mais de 4 mil pessoas de 23 países passarão por Joinville, em Santa Catarina.
Paralelamente será realizada a Feira de Tecnologias Ambientais e de Experiências de Economia
Solidária Rumo à Sustentabilidade, onde serão difundidas informações e experiências de
tecnologias ambientalmente sustentáveis. (fonte: Agância Ambiente Brasil)
Pescadores discutiram problemas do setor pesqueiro em congresso
O Mopebam - Movimento de Pescadores do Baixo Amazonas realizou no final de março, o
Congresso Regional dos Pescadores do Oeste do Pará e Baixo Amazonas. O encontro que
ocorreu no Centro de Formação Emaús, reuniu cerca de 100 pescadores das 13 Colônias que
representam a categoria na região do oeste paraense.
Entre os principais assuntos debatidos durante o encontro, que abordou melhorias para atividade
pesqueira e suas problemáticas, ressaltou-se o aumento de meses do seguro-defeso estabelecido
pelo governo federal, mas que não será estendido aos pescadores do estado do Pará devido a
uma portaria do Ibama.
Várias entidades participaram do congresso dentre elas a Câmara de Vereadores do Município,
Ministério do Trabalho, Sine - Sistema Nacional de Emprego e o INSS - Instituto Nacional de
Seguridade Social.
A funcionária do INSS, Maria do Rosário, que palestrou no evento, disse que como cidadãos os
pescadores têm de saber quais os direitos que eles possuem. 'O encontro serviu também para
orientá-los no sentido de eles adquirirem informações sobre os seus direitos adquiridos junto
aos governos federal, estadual e municipal', disse a palestrante.
O Ministério do Trabalho também participou do encontro como palestrante no sentido de
orientar os pescadores no que diz respeito ao processo para conseguir o seguro desemprego. A
pesca comercial predatória, a fiscalização do defeso e as investigações de fraudes que estão
ocorrendo junto a algumas colônias de pescadores também foram alvos discussões durante o
congresso.
Semana Santa - Diversos órgãos vão atuar na semana santa para garantir o abastecimento de
pescado na cidade de Santarém. Foi o que ficou definido na reunião realizada nesta terça-feira,
4, nas dependências da Semab - Secretaria Municipal de Agricultura e Abastecimento. As
discussões contaram com a participação da coordenadora do Procon, Maysa Helena Teles de
Menezes; da representante do Pró-Várzea/Ibama, Raimunda Queiroz; do chefe de fiscalização
do Ibama, Manoel Costa; do chefe da Divisão de Pesca da Semab, Erivan Santos; do
representante da Colônia de Pescadores Z-20, Amarildo Santos; e dos administradores dos
mercados de Santana, Vila Arigó, Mercadão 2000, Modelo e Prainha.
Os representantes do Ibama propuseram a união de esforços no sentido de se realizar uma
espécie de campanha de conscientização e educação junto aos vendedores, pescadores, donos de
embarcação e consumidores no que diz respeito, especialmente, à venda de pescado proibido e à
procura pelos menores preços.
Foi firmada parceria entre Ibama, Semab, Procon e Colônia de Pescadores Z-20. Esses órgãos
36
irão disponibilizar carros e pessoal para que o trabalho seja feito em todos os mercados e feiras
da cidade que vendem pescado. Além disso, uma circular será formulada e assinada por todos
os participantes da reunião, a fim de ser levada ao conhecimento dos vendedores de pescado,
para que eles fiquem conscientes sobre os pescados proibidos e sobre os prejuízos que a venda
desses pescados pode acarretar a eles. O trabalho deve iniciar nesta sexta-feira (07).
Feira - A primeira proposta feita pelos órgãos e instituições participantes era de que se fizesse
uma feira descentralizada que funcionaria no mercado da Vila Arigó, em apenas um único dia,
na quinta-feira (13). O objetivo era manter o contato direto entre pescadores e consumidores, já
que lá o pescador poderia vender o seu produto direto ao consumidor, sem passar pelos
atravessadores. A intenção também era dar opção de local e de melhor preço ao consumidor.
A proposta foi levada aos pescadores por meio do representante da Colônia de Pescadores Z-20,
Amarildo Santos, que na reunião desta terça-feira (5), explicou que a idéia seria inviável até
pelo pouco tempo que a instituição teria para mobilizar os pescadores que venderiam seu
pescado naquele espaço, antes da sexta-feira santa.
Com essa negativa, os participantes, apesar de considerarem a proposta muito boa, acharam
melhor trabalha-la para o próximo ano, com maior organização, já que a preocupação de todos é
a de dar melhores condições tanto a quem vende quanto a quem compra o peixe nesta época do
ano. (fonte: Jornal O Liberal, Pará)
Pantanal quer substituir peixe por bambu
O Mato Grosso do Sul planeja ajudar os pescadores do Estado a substituírem a pesca pelo
trabalho artesanal com bambu. A iniciativa, que deve entrar em vigor até julho, tem como
objetivo propiciar uma nova fonte de renda às famílias que sobrevivem da pesca, já que a
produção diária média desses profissionais caiu 96,8% nos últimos 26 anos. A escassez de
peixes nos rios do Pantanal é tão preocupante que o governo sul-mato-grossense já discute até o
estabelecimento de uma moratória, que proibiria a pesca predatória por cerca de cinco anos.
“Em 1979, a média diária de pesca era de 222,6 quilos de peixe por pescador. Em 2005, a
quantidade pescada diariamente passou para 7,21 quilos por pessoa. A redução da produtividade
faz com que os pescadores utilizem equipamentos proibidos para pescar, como redes e tarrafas
(artefatos que prejudicam o meio ambiente), diz o superintendente de Pesca do Estado, Thomaz
Lipparelli. Segundo ele, a suspensão da pesca profissional no Estado vai ser uma oportunidade
para auxiliar os pescadores a conseguirem alternativas profissionais mais rentáveis, “como o
artesanato com bambu”.
O taquarussu, uma espécie de bambu encontrado nas margens dos rios sul-mato-grossenses,
apesar de abundante, não é muito utilizado pela população, afirma Laurindo Petelinkar, diretorsuperintendente da unidade estadual do Sebrae - Serviço Brasileiro de Apoio às Micro e
Pequenas Empresas. “O bambu é utilizado, em pouca quantidade, na confecção de móveis e
artigos de artesanato, mas poderia ser usado também em outras áreas, como na produção de
tapetes, botinas e até na construção civil”, destaca.
Para incentivar a exploração da planta, foi elaborado um projeto do PNUD, em parceria com o
Ministério da Agricultura, o Sebrae e o governo do Mato Grasso do Sul. “Vamos analisar a
quantidade de bambu disponível para exploração, de que formas ele pode ser utilizado e quantas
pessoas poderão ser beneficiadas com o projeto”, afirma o secretário de Desenvolvimento
Agropecuário e Cooperativismo do Ministério da Agricultura, Márcio Portocarrero. Além disso,
completa Lipparelli, “serão analisados os indicadores sociais e econômicos das comunidades
que poderão receber o projeto”.
Após a conclusão do estudo, cerca de 1.500 famílias de pescadores deverão ser beneficiadas,
segundo estimativas do governo estadual. “As comunidades ribeirinhas serão capacitadas e
terão instrumentos para trabalhar o bambu, formar pequenas empresas de exploração e grupos
de trabalho”, prevê Portocarrero.
37
Um grupo piloto, com 66 moradores de uma comunidade que vive às margens do rio Miranda
(próximo à cidade de Bonito), será o primeiro beneficiado, daqui a quatro meses. Segundo
Lipparelli, o local apresenta “graves problemas, como a prostituição infantil, o alcoolismo e o
desmatamento”. Além disso, aponta o superintendente, “Bonito tem um atrativo muito grande
de turismo e lá não existe artesanato regional disponível para a venda”. (Fonte: PrimaPagina)
Paraná bate o pé contra transgênicos
O governador Roberto Requião disse na terça-feira (4), durante a reunião semanal com o
secretariado, que o governo do estado vai recorrer ao STF - Supremo Tribunal Federal para
continuar embarcando apenas soja convencional pelo Porto de Paranaguá. Na terça-feira, a 3.ª
Turma do TRF - Tribunal Regional Federal revigorou a liminar que obriga o porto a embarcar
organismos geneticamente modificados (OGMs), concedida na semana passada à ABTP Associação Brasileira de Terminais Portuários, e suspensa antes de entrar em vigor pela juíza
Vânia Almeida, também do TRF.
“Essa decisão liminar impossibilita a exportação de soja convencional, já que o porto tem
apenas um silo público e um shiploader (carregador de navio). A sentença determina que o
porto descumpra a legislação nacional e cometa o crime de misturar soja transgênica com a
convencional”, argumentou o governador. Para Requião, não é interessante para o estado
exportar soja transgênica, já que a produção no Paraná é, em sua maioria, de soja convencional.
Até o fechamento desta edição o superintendente da Appa - Associação dos Portos de
Paranaguá e Antonina, Eduardo Requião, não havia sido notificado da mais recente decisão do
TRF e não foi localizado pela assessoria de imprensa do porto. A decisão liminar, que obriga o
terminal a embarcar a soja transgênica só passa a vigorar depois da notificação.
Durante a terça-feira o movimento no Porto de Paranaguá, em pleno embarque da safra da soja,
foi normal. Dois navios atracados receberam 120 mil toneladas dos grãos. Até ontem, o estado
já havia colhido 74,7% da área de soja plantada. Durante o mês de março 815 mil toneladas de
soja foram embarcadas por Paranaguá, 6% a mais do que no mesmo período do ano passado.
Apesar do pequeno aumento, para o analista de mercado da AgRural, Fernando Muraro Júnior,
o embarque de soja está aquém do esperado para o setor. “O ritmo das exportações está menor
do que nos anos anteriores, exceto 2005, que foi muito ruim, pelo cenário de desvalorização
cambial e estiagem, e não há perspectiva de melhora para este ano”, diz.
Segundo o analista, as cargas transgênicas estão sendo desviadas para Santos e São Francisco,
“que estão atolados de mercadoria, enquanto a espera no Porto de Paranaguá é de menos de 30
minutos”. Segundo a assessoria da administração do porto, a espera em Paranaguá está menor
pelo novo sistema de embarque, que evita filas. (Fonte: Gazeta do Povo, Paraná)
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
38
UNITED NATIONS NEWS SERVICE
DAILY NEWS
6 April, 2006
====================================================================
ANNAN WELCOMES SPANISH POLICE CONTRIBUTION FOR HAITI, ASSISTANCE IN
DR CONGO
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who is on an official visit to
Spain, welcomed a decision by Madrid today to commit Spanish police
officers to the UN operation in Haiti as well as its support for a Rapid
Reaction Force that will back up the UN’s mission in the Democratic
Republic of Congo (DRC) as the impoverished African country heads toward
expected elections in June.
Speaking to reporters after a wide-ranging discussion with Spanish Prime
Minister Jose Luis Zapatero, Mr. Annan also welcomed Spain’s relations with
Morocco, in particular regarding the situation in Western Sahara, where the
UN has fielded a peacekeeping operation, known as MINURSO, to foster a
settlement over the disputed territory.
“We did talk about Haiti, and I am grateful that you are giving us police,
working with Morocco, which is also another good sign. And I also note that
you’re joining the European Rapid Reaction Force that will back up the UN
operations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. For that, also, we are
immensely grateful, and I am sure the people of Congo and that whole Great
Lakes region are also grateful,” he said.
Mr. Annan also highlighted the importance of last month’s decision by the
Basque group ETA to declare a permanent ceasefire, expressing his hope that
it would lead to “a new era of peace and non-violence for the people of
Spain, who have gone through violence for far too long.”
The discussions also touched on UN reform and the progress made toward the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – a set of targets seeking to slash a
host of socio-economic ills by 2015 – and the Secretary-General announced a
special session on one of the goals, the fight against HIV/AIDS, to be held
at the end of May and early June.
Mr. Annan also congratulated his host for the concept of an Alliance for
Civilizations, which seeks to generate a concerted effort to bridge
divides, combat extremism and overcome prejudices, misconceptions, and
polarization between Islam and the West that potentially threaten world peace.
Recent developments “have made it quite clear that the suggestion that we
have to improve the alliance among civilizations couldn’t have come at a
better time,” he told the reporters.
39
“And the panel is working very hard and I hope they will come out with
concrete and useful suggestions that will help governments, communities and
groups find their way forward, out of the challenges that we face.”
Mr. Annan is scheduled to have a number of other official meetings in Spain
over the next few days, including chairing tomorrow’s gathering of the
Chief Executives Board, which brings together the heads of the UN agencies,
funds and programmes. From Madrid, he will then travel to The Hague to
speak at the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the International
Court of Justice (ICJ).
***
UN LOOKS FOR US BACKING FOR HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL DESPITE ELECTION
DECISION
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today said he hoped the United
States would continue to play an active role in defending universal human
rights and support the new Human Rights Council, despite its decision not
to take part in next month’s elections for the body that replaces the
much-criticized Human Rights Commission.
Mr. Annan’s spokesman told reporters that the Secretary-General was
“disappointed” by the US decision but said he hoped that Washington would
take part in elections for the 47-member Council next year, a move that
General Assembly President Jan Eliasson said the US was already
considering.
In a statement from his spokesperson, Mr. Eliasson welcomed confirmation
that the United States would “work cooperatively to make the Council as
strong and as effective as possible, and that it will support and fund the
Council.”
“He hopes that the United States will be a candidate for membership in the
Council as soon as possible, and welcomes the indication that the U.S. is
considering running for membership next year,” the spokesperson said.
Member States have already begun announcing their candidacies for the 9 May
elections to the Council, which has several elements making it a stronger
body than the now defunct Commission, and these countries are listed at:
www.un.org/ga/60/elect/hrc/.
The Commission – which held just one session annually in Geneva – came in
for increasing criticism over the years as being ineffective and not
accountable, and so the idea of the Human Rights Council was put forward by
Secretary-General Kofi Annan a year ago.
The Council has several elements making it stronger, including its higher
status as a subsidiary body of the General Assembly, its increased number
40
of meetings throughout the year, equitable geographical representation and
also the voting rights associated with membership.
However, despite these improvements, the United States has said that the
Council does not go far enough and it was among the four that voted against
setting up the body, although last month’s resolution passed with 170
countries in favour, with only 4 against and 3 abstentions.
Despite its ‘no’ vote however, US Ambassador John Bolton has pledged that
Washington will work cooperatively with other Member States to make the
Council as effective as possible.
***
HIGH-POWER EFFICIENCY PANEL SAYS UN REFORM MUST KEEP UP WITH
GLOBAL CHANGE
The three prime ministers helping to lead Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s
efforts to streamline and strengthen United Nations efforts in development,
humanitarian assistance and the environment said they were looking for
serious reform that could help the Organization keep up with the dizzying
pace of global change.
“We need to retool and reorganize ourselves to meet the challenges of today
and tomorrow,” Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz of Pakistan told reporters after
the close of the first session of the High-level Panel on UN System-wide
Coherence, which was requested by national leaders at the 2005 World
Summit.
Prime Ministers Luisa Dias Diogo of Mozambique and Jens Stoltenberg of
Norway also co-chair the panel, which is expected to produce a study, also
requested at the Summit, laying the groundwork for a fundamental
restructuring of UN work in the field.
“As you know, the UN has a broad mandate and there are many organizations
and sometimes they do tend to work at cross purposes,” Mr. Aziz said,
citing the example of the social sector, where he said both the World
Health Organization (WHO) and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) work in
similar areas.
“Coherence means bringing them all together so we get the maximum
firepower, the maximum punch, and get results. And the results are
improving the delivery mechanism in the country,” he said.
In order to do that, Prime Minister Dias Diogo stressed that it was crucial
to have coherence between the national programmes and the various
programmes of the UN system in any particular country.
Prime Minister Stoltenberg said another important area was financial
coherence, citing the new Central Emergency Relief Fund, or CERF, which
41
gives the UN more ability to coordinate among agencies in an emergency, and
the common vaccine fund that allows WHO and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF)
to taken on complementary roles in inoculation campaigns in various countries.
Also addressing reporters today, Deputy Secretary-General Mark Malloch
Brown acknowledged that there have been previous coordination efforts, such
as those by UN Development Programme at the country level and the creation
of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) for
humanitarian relief. Unfortunately, he said, “the world has changed faster
than the UN.”
“We realized after steady reform that we’re hitting up against a ceiling
and we probably need to look at something more radical,” he said.
***
UN ENVOY DEPARTS ETHIOPIA, ERITREA WITH CALL FOR THEM TO SETTLE
DIFFERENCES
The senior United Nations envoy to Ethiopia and Eritrea gave a farewell
press conference today urging the two countries to settle their remaining
differences by demarcating the border between them.
“I leave Ethiopia and Eritrea the way I found them in 2000,” said Legwaila
Joseph Legwaila, recalling that the UN peacekeeping mission (UNMEE) he
headed was specifically designed to create conditions conducive to the
demarcation of the border.
That task, he stressed, was never the UN’s responsibility. “It is not for
UNMEE, but for the Boundary Commission and the Parties – Ethiopia and
Eritrea – to do,” he said.
He also called on the international community to redouble its efforts to
try to break the current impasse. “You have to break the stalemate, the
border has to be demarcated because that is the only way you can have peace
between these two countries and peace in the Horn of Africa.”
Mr. Legwaila stressed that UNMEE had succeeded in separating the forces of
the two sides, monitoring the places where they are redeployed, and
protecting the integrity of the Temporary Security Zone. “We did that job
despite the restriction imposed on us,” he said. Eritrea has restricted
UNMEE’s flights in the area.
While underscoring the mission’s accomplishments, he spoke with emotion of
the unfulfilled tasks. “I leave with sadness that the border has not been
demarcated, but with pride that I have led this mission for five and a half
years even under difficult circumstances and that I was able to implement
the mandate entrusted to me and my colleagues by the Security Council.”
He welcomed the fact that many internally displaced persons had returned to
42
their homes while voicing regret that others remain in camps. “You have to
go to some of these IDP camps and your heart will bleed for these poor
people who are still living in misery and squalor simply because the war
has not ended yet – there is only a pause, and I hope this is a pause which
will not be [broken by] another war.
“But the fact is that as long as the border is not demarcated, we will
continue to languish in this transitional phase, from a real hot state of
war to peace,” he added.
The envoy voiced hope that “Ethiopia and Eritrea will finally rediscover
the courage” which had motivated them to sign peace accords and achieve a
final settlement “so that Ethiopians and Eritreans can again visit each
other, so that diplomatic missions between the two countries can be
re-established, so that the leaders of these two wonderful countries can
pay state visits to each other.”
***
WORLD MOVING FROM ERA OF MIGRATION TO ERA OF MOBILITY, UN OFFICIAL
SAYS
With people moving back and forth between countries instead of simply
immigrating or emigrating, the United Nations’ top migration official said
that the world was entering an “era of mobility” in which international
cooperation would be more effective than restrictive laws.
“I come from a country with a long history of providing migrants to the
rest of the world, which has now become a country of destination,” Peter
Sutherland, born in Ireland and now Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s special
representative on migration, told the annual session of the Commission on
Population and Development, which is focussing on the issue this year.
“For years, we condemned countries that would not allow their people to
leave,” he said, adding that, now that movement was possible, there was a
need for “coordination instead of control, both nationally and internationally.”
He said that priorities in this new era remain the protection of migrant
rights while ensuring the maintenance of the right of countries to
determine who should cross their borders, with certain exceptions.
In addition, he said a cooperative dialogue must begin between developed
and developing countries, both bilaterally and regionally, such as the
dialogue between the European Union and Africa.
Business, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and trade unions should
“all at the table of the debate,” since all have a stake in managing
effectively migration flows, which had multiple ramifications for the
economy, labour, employment and education.
43
The benefits of migration were well known, said Mr. Sutherland, suggesting
that an expanded dialogue could “find out ways to compensate who loses
out,” be they local workers having to compete with immigrants or countries
losing skilled professionals.
Throughout the week-long population meeting, which opened on Monday, UN
officials have stressed that, with 200 million people living outside their
home countries, more than any time in history, partnerships must be created
between countries that receive migrants and their countries of origin.
***
ON POULTRY FARMS, BATTLE AGAINST BIRD FLU SHOWING SOME SUCCESS, UN
AGENCY SAYS
Although bird flu outbreaks continue in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Near
East, with its arrival confirmed in 45 countries, efforts to combat the
disease on poultry farms are slowly proving successful, the United Nations
agricultural aid agency said today.
To date, 108 people have succumbed to the deadly H5N1 avian influenza
virus, all in Asia, and more than 200 million birds have died from the
virus or through culling, but a vigorous response on farms, particularly in
Thailand, Viet Nam and China, appears to have reduced the transmission of
the disease from poultry to humans, according to Joseph Domenech, Chief
Veterinary Officer of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
Vaccination campaigns, such as the one carried out in Viet Nam, have also
played an important role in some areas, and owner compensation has
encouraged timely reporting of new avian influenza outbreaks, FAO said.
FAO, along with the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), continues
to urge governments to concentrate containment efforts on farms and to
emphasize the role of human activities such as trade that are considered
the main spreaders of the virus but can also be inspected, controlled and improved.
However, where wild birds threaten to introduce the virus, the Rome-based
organization says little can be done to control their movement but that
action should be taken to prevent their contact with domestic birds.
“The need to keep domestic birds away from wild birds has been widely
recognized and efforts to do so have been implemented in many countries,”
Mr. Domenech said.
To coordinate regional and global efforts to fight the disease, FAO said it
needs $36 million over the next three years, in addition to funds for
direct assistance to infected and at-risk countries. For these purposes,
the agency has so far received $40 million and has signed agreements with
donors for an additional $20 million.
44
***
HI-TECH INFORMATION NOW MORE ACCESSIBLE AS UN AGENCY IMPROVES
DATABASE
Cutting edge technological information, contained in international patent
applications, will now be more easily available online after the United
Nations World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) improved and
upgraded its online database, the agency said today.
WIPO, set up to ensure that the rights of creators and owners of
intellectual property are protected worldwide, has put over 1 million
applications – representing 20 years of the most important technological
advances – on its upgraded PatentScope database where they are available
for free consultation.
PatentScope is a valuable resource as new technologies are often disclosed
for the first time as international patent applications. The patent
applications filed under WIPO’s Patent Cooperation Treaty system and
accessible through the PatentScope service, are typically those that
inventors consider to be the most valuable and therefore worth patenting internationally.
During the 21st century, intellectual property – such as inventions,
designs, trademarks, books, music, and films – will play an ever more
important role internationally and are now used and enjoyed on every
continent on earth, with WIPO also seeking to ensure that inventors and
authors are recognized and rewarded for their ingenuity. The number of
member States belonging to WIPO now stands at 183.
***
ABOLITION OF SCHOOL FEES RECEIVES BOOST AT UN-BACKED MEETING
Countries seeking a breakthrough in universal basic education by abolishing
school fees will soon have a detailed blueprint based on the experience of
African states that have already taken that step, thanks to a new United
Nations-backed initiative.
“School fees are keeping children out of the classroom, and many of these
are the most vulnerable children in our societies,” UN Children’s Fund
(UNICEF) Education Chief Cream Wright told high-level education officials
currently meeting in Nairobi, Kenya.
The School Fee Abolition Initiative, sponsored by UNICEF, the World Bank,
the United States Agency for International development (USAID) and other
partners, aims to help countries develop education systems that are
inclusive, equitable and sustainable.
At the Nairobi meeting, education officials from Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique,
45
Tanzania, Ethiopia and Ghana are sharing their experiences in abolishing
fees with colleagues from Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo
(DRC), which have recently agreed to take that step. Haiti is also
participating as are experts from development agencies, donors,
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and academics.
“Fees consume nearly a quarter of a poor family’s income in Sub-Saharan
Africa, paying not only for tuition, but also indirect fees such as PTA and
community contributions, textbook fees, compulsory uniforms and other
charges,” Mr. Wright said.
“The increasing numbers of orphans and vulnerable children, including those
affected by HIV/AIDS or trapped in domestic labour, makes it imperative to abolish fees.”
But ending school fees is no magic wand, and experience shows that the
surge in enrolment after abolition brings immense challenges to the entire
learning infrastructure, from the physical building, to the class size and
materials, to the hygiene facilities (if they exist at all) and to the teachers.
With more than 115 million primary school aged children out of school,
progress towards the UN Millennium Development Goal of universal access to
a complete quality primary education by 2015 has stalled, Mr. Wright said.
“We need to accelerate and significantly scale up progress on education
with bold policy measures,” he declared. “We need to move from words to
deeds, from promises to results. The promises of school fee abolition
should no longer elude so many countries that are willing to embark on such
a bold initiative.”
***
DENIAL OF IMPUNITY VITAL TO ENSURE PEACE IN STRIFE-TORN COUNTRIES –
UN RIGHTS CHIEF
From Nepal to West Africa, from Sri Lanka to the former Yugoslavia, the
observance of human rights and the battle against impunity for violators
are vital elements for bringing true peace to countries torn by civil war,
according to the United Nations top rights official.
“A peace agreement procured through the bargaining away of the fundamental
human rights entitlements of affected persons results in an impoverished
‘peace’ that might better be labelled an absence of raging conflict,” UN
High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour told a joint
Swiss-Norwegian expert seminar in Bern, Switzerland, yesterday.
“Many continue to argue that undue concentration on human rights
jeopardizes the possibility of either concluding a peace agreement in the
first place, or of a peace agreement that has been concluded proving
durable. To the contrary, I suggest that human rights are central to and
indispensable for both peace and justice,” she added.
46
Stressing the imperative to replace impunity for rights abuses with
accountability, and the untenability of blanket amnesties, Ms. Arbour
hailed last week’s detention of former Liberian President Charles Taylor
under warrant of the UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone on charges of
crimes against humanity as “a powerful and welcome affirmation of this basic principle.”
In the former Yugoslavia, “there will remain a sense of failure to achieve
true closure to the horrors of the conflicts of the 1990s, as long as the
indicted leaders of ethnic cleansing remain at large, and while some have
died before being held to account,” she added.
Former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic died last month while on trial
before a UN international tribunal in The Hague, and the two top defendants
charged with atrocities in the war in Bosnia, Ratko Mladic and Radovan
Karadic, are still at large.
“In Darfur, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the
international community is insisting - through the vehicle of the
International Criminal Court - that those most responsible for unspeakable
atrocities be brought to justice,” Ms. Arbour said.
But she also stressed the need for individual countries themselves to
tackle the issue. “The foremost rejection of impunity will occur through
credible and supported national procedures and processes,” she said. “As we
have seen, in practice, the failure to combat impunity opens the door to
new violations by the same perpetrators and encourages others to believe
that they too will go unpunished.”
Equally important, Ms. Arbour stressed the need for the rule of law free of
discrimination, often the source of modern conflicts.
Reviewing the work of her office around the world, she emphasized its
presence in some of the most intractable disputes that have torn countries
apart, including Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bosnia-Herzergovina, Côte d'Ivoire,
Sierra Leone and Liberia.
“The critical place of human rights at all phases of the peace process,
judiciously balanced to achieve greatest practical impact on the ground
will always be a difficult and vital challenge but one which goes to the
heart of our protection mandate,” she concluded.
***
ZAMBIA: UN AGENCY TO AID ANGOLAN, CONGOLESE REFUGEES WHO DO NOT
REPATRIATE
With tens of thousands of Angolans and Congolese repatriating from Zambia
as peace takes hold in their homelands, the United Nations refugee agency
is seeking funds to integrate those who do not seek to return home from the
47
Central African country, which hosts the oldest refugee camp on the continent.
“It is a holistic approach, helping both the host communities and the
refugees,” UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) official Tamba Momoh
Amara said. “The ultimate goal is to make both the refugees and the host
communities self-sufficient, so those refugees who don't return can remain
in the area and be self-sufficient.”
So in addition to repatriation, UNHCR and the government of Zambia have
started a programme, known as the Zambia Initiative, to spur economic
development and integrate refugees who are unlikely to ever go home, in
some cases the children or grandchildren of those who fled up to four
decades ago.
Overall, Zambia hosts some 154,000 refugees, just under half of them living
in the five UNHCR camps and the rest scattered among the local population.
There are now only 26,000 Angolans left in three camps following a
programme of voluntary repatriation that began after a 2002 peace agreement
ended 27 years of war in their country. By the end of last year, UNHCR had
helped more than 63,000 Angolans to return from Zambia and the total will
rise again in 2006, the operation’s final year.
About 60,000 Congolese, mainly in two camps in northern Zambia, are
awaiting the outcome of elections in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
(DRC), expected in June. That could clear the way for UNHCR to begin
voluntary repatriation as early as this year.
Zambia has always been a generous host to refugees. Mayukwayukwa Camp, in
the west of Zambia toward the border of Angola, has been hosting Angolan
refugees since 1966, making it the oldest refugee camp in Africa.
Activities under the Zambia Initiative have been modest so far, designed
more as a catalyst to attract other organizations into the process. UNHCR,
which does not do the development work delegated to other UN bodies, wants
to ensure that refugee areas are incorporated into the national development
plans, so that they help the process of finding a solution for remaining refugees.
The search is on for extra support to revitalize the Initiative, which
began in 2004 but now faces a serious shortage of funds. The focus remains
at present on areas with Angolan refugees, where most who will return have
already left. But UNHCR would also like to see the concept applied to the
areas with Congolese refugees.
***
UN FOOD AGENCY SUPPORTS PEACE EFFORT IN PHILIPPINES’ ISLAND OF
MINDANAO
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is seeking donor funding for
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a $27-million programme to feed more than 2 million deprived people on the
Philippines’ island of Mindanao in support of the Government’s effort to
end the long-standing conflict there with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
“The World Food Programme looks forward to assisting the Government of the
Philippines and the people of Mindanao in bringing food security, improved
health and nutrition and other tangible benefits of peace to the
communities hit by conflict,” WFP Regional Director for Asia Anthony
Banbury said in a statement today.
The one-year operation, carried out in cooperation with the Government of
the Philippines in the Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and
adjacent provinces, will provide food aid, especially to families displaced
by the violence, former combatants, poor women and children in a region
where poverty, nutrition and education levels are far worse than anywhere
else in the country.
More than half of the islanders live on less than $0.60 per day, 30 per
cent of children under five are stunted, a sign of chronic malnutrition,
and just one third of children finish primary school.
Last month the Japanese government announced the first major contribution
of $1.2 million for the programme. “We are grateful for the support
received for this critical operation from the Government of Japan, and we
seek the support of other donors,” Mr. Banbury said.
WFP has also received valuable assistance from Citigroup, a global
financial services provider that has worked with WFP on past emergency
operations. “Citigroup’s close management support has allowed our staff to
focus immediately on the needs of the people of Mindanao,” said Coco
Ushiyama, WFP’s Officer-in-Charge for the Mindanao operation.
***
JOBS, GLOBAL ECONOMY, COOPERATION TOP AGENDA OF UN ASIA-PACIFIC
MEETING
A major United Nations regional conference for Asia and the Pacific opened
today with a wide-ranging agenda that seeks to energize the global economy,
tackle the growing threat of unemployment and underemployment, and enhance
cooperation in infrastructure development.
Senior officials from more than 50 of the 62 Member States of the UN
Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) gathered in
Jakarta, Indonesia, for a three-day session to prepare for next week’s
ministerial meeting, which will include a special session on strengthening
Pacific island developing countries and territories through regional cooperation.
“We are greatly honoured that six Pacific Heads of Government and Heads of
State will be joining us in the Ministerial Meeting,” ESCAP Executive
49
Secretary Kim Hak-Su said. “They will articulate their views on Pacific
concerns and their vision of Pacific-Asia partnership.”
Headquartered in Bangkok, Thailand, ESCAP is the largest of the UN’s five
Regional Commissions in terms of population served and area covered. The
only inter-governmental forum covering the entire Asia-Pacific region, it
aims to promote economic activity and social progress in developing
countries throughout the area.
The theme of this year’s Commission session, ESCAP’s 62nd, is Enhancing
Regional Cooperation in Infrastructure Development, including that related
to Disaster Management.
Participants will discuss decentralization and its implications for poverty
reduction, the vital role of population and housing censuses in policy
making and decision-making at local levels, and actions to strengthen the
impact of poverty reduction in rural and urban a areas.
On the management of globalization, the session will provide guidance on
such areas as international trade and investment; transport infrastructure
and facilitation and tourism; information, communication and space
technology; and environment and sustainable development.
Delegates will consider emerging health risks posed by the rising
prevalence in the region of non-communicable diseases, such as heart
disease, stroke, cancer and diabetes, as well as public health
capacity-building to strengthen primary health care.
***
50
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESPERSON FOR THE
SECRETARY-GENERAL
AND THE SPOKESPERSON FOR THE PRESIDENT OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY
6 April 2006
The following is a near-verbatim transcript of today’s noon briefing by Stéphane
Dujarric, Spokesman for the Secretary-General, and Pragati Pascale, Spokesperson for the
General Assembly President.
Briefing by the Spokesman for the Secretary-General
Good afternoon. I’d like to welcome our visiting guests from the Middle East, who are
here on a trip sponsored by the US State Department. So welcome to the United Nations.
My guest today at the briefing, after we hear from Pragati Pascale from the Office of the
President of the General Assembly, will be the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for
West Africa, Mr. Ould Abdallah, who, as you know, participated in this week’s Economic and
Social Council dialogue on full employment and decent work. Mr. Ould Abdallah’s Office
recently published a report linking youth unemployment and regional insecurity in West Africa.
**Secretary-General’s Travels
The Secretary-General arrived in Madrid this morning, and he is scheduled to begin a
meeting with Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Zapatero just about now. He and the Prime
Minister will then hold a joint press encounter, and we hope we will make a transcript of that
encounter available to you as soon as we can, a bit later on this afternoon.
Then in the evening, the Secretary-General and his wife Nane will be hosted for dinner
by King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia. Earlier today, the Secretary-General held meetings with
UN officials in preparation for the start of tomorrow's meeting of the Chief Executives Board of
the United Nations, which, as you know, brings together heads of UN agencies, funds and
programmes. The Secretary-General also met this afternoon with Enrique Iglesias, the
Secretary-General of the Secretariat for the Ibero-American Summits.
**System-Wide Coherence Panel
And today is the last day of the meeting of the Secretary-General’s High-level Panel on
UN System-Wide Coherence in the Areas of Development, Humanitarian Assistance, and the
Environment. At 2:30 this afternoon, the Panel’s co-chairs will brief you on their work so far,
and we also have a press release on the work of the Panel that has just been made available to
you upstairs in our Office.
The co-chairs, as you know, are Prime Ministers Luisa Dias Diogo of Mozambique, Jens
Stoltenberg of Norway, and Shaukat Aziz of Pakistan. Deputy Secretary-General Mark
Malloch Brown will be moderating that press conference, which again, is here in 226 at 2:30
this afternoon.
** C ôte d’Ivoire
From Côte d’Ivoire, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative in Côte d’Ivoire,
Pierre Schori, this evening will meet with the Chairman of the African Union (AU), President
Sassou Nguesso of the Republic of the Congo, who is in Abidjan for talks aimed at moving
51
along the peace process in Côte d’Ivoire. Schori and the AU Chairman will discuss ways to
carry out the road map for peace.
**Bird Flu
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization said today that, despite the fact that bird flu
has been confirmed in at least 45 countries, efforts to combat it are proving successful on many
fronts. The agency said that early detection, vaccination, and compensation programmes in
Asia, particularly in Thailand, Viet Nam and China, appear to have reduced the transmission of
the disease from poultry to humans. And we have a press release from our colleagues at FAO
available upstairs.
** Philippines
And the World Food Programme today announced that it will be providing food aid to
the Philippines’ autonomous region of Mindanao, to support the Government’s effort to end the
long-standing conflict in that province. Plans are under way to start a $27 million food aid
operation to help more than 2 million people from poor and conflict-torn communities,
especially families displaced by violence, former combatants, poor women, and children.
**Budget
And the arrival of checks from Belgium and Cuba yesterday brought to 73 the number
of Member States that have paid in full for the regular UN budget for 2006. Belgium gave us in
$18 million and change, and Cuba gave us $815,971.
**Press Releases
A couple of in-house announcements: The Department of Public Information wants you
to know that they have launched a new website to make it easier for you find UN press releases
and meeting coverage summaries, both in French and English. And you can access that from
the UN News Centre web page.
**Press Conferences
Tomorrow at noon, my guest will be Juan E. Méndez, Special Adviser on the Prevention
of Genocide. He will be here to mark the twelfth anniversary of genocide in Rwanda. Mr.
Méndez will talk about the need for international organizations to translate the commitment to
prevent and punish genocide into action.
And a 1 p.m. tomorrow, Kevin M. Kennedy, the Director for Coordination and Response
of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, will be here to brief you on the Horn
of Africa humanitarian appeal.
And that is it for me. Any questions?
**Questions and Answers
Question: On humanitarian affairs. Does the Secretary-General -- and I guess this will
be for Pragati, as well -- does the President have any response to the fact that the US decided
not to run for a seat on the Human Rights Council?
Spokesman: Yes, we’ve seen a number of press reports, and we expect to see an official
announcement shortly. The Secretary-General is, obviously, disappointed that the US has
52
decided not to participate in the elections for the new Human Rights Council this year.
However, we very much hope that the US will continue to be an active player in the defence of
universal human rights and support the work of the new Human Rights Council as it goes
ahead. And we also very much hope they will participate in the elections next year.
Question: Does that mean that you also hope that they will not withdraw financing?
Spokesman: We hope they will continue to support the work of the Council, even if
they don’t run for a seat.
Question: Do you have any further response -- or any response -- to the letter you
received two days ago from the Hamas [inaudible]?
Spokesman: No, nothing to add. We continue to study the letter that we did receive.
Question: Is there a response from either the Secretary-General or UN people on the
ground to the arrest of the Hamas Minister by the Israeli police? And what is the legal position
regarding that -- both on the measure taken by the Israelis and whether the Palestinian Minister
should have been where he was when he was arrested?
Spokesman: My understanding is that the gentleman was released, which is good news,
but I do not have a legal opinion I can share with you at this point.
Question: Can you tell us a little bit as to what is on the Secretary-General’s agenda
when he goes to the Netherlands? Will there be any discussion of Charles Taylor or Darfur?
Any discussions regarding -- at the International Criminal Court? What are the priorities?
Spokesman: Obviously, he is there for the anniversary of the International Court of
Justice. He will also take an opportunity to visit the ICC, but the issue of Charles Taylor is
currently being worked out, and I believe a draft resolution will be circulated in the Council
shortly. And he will also have wide-ranging discussions with the Dutch authorities on a number
of bilateral matters.
Question: I just wondered if there was any feedback on this eminent panel’s high-level
person on system-wide ... something or other ... on development and humanitarian aid -- is there
anyone to tell us what’s happening with this meeting?
Spokesman: Well, I think, unfortunately, you came a little late, but the System-Wide
Panel on Coherence, which is the “something or other” you were referring to, will hold a press
briefing here at 2:30 p.m. with the Prime Ministers of Norway, Pakistan and Mozambique.
Question: Do you have any detailed statement from the US Government as to their
reasons for not participating in the Human Rights Council?
Spokesman: I think that’s a question you should ask the US authorities.
Thank you very much. Did you have a question, Sir?
Question: Am I allowed to ask, please?
Spokesman: Yes.
53
Question: [inaudible] Abbas Mahmoud himself said “I didn’t send any letter to the
United Nations, I didn’t give them a proposal to accept two States”, and you said, “We are still
studying the letter.”
Spokesman: Yes, you know, we are studying a letter we received from the Palestinian
Permanent Observer Mission. That is the official letter we received. We are studying that, and
when we have something more to add, we will let you know.
Question: [inaudible]
Spokesman: I understand. We have seen the press reports. What I can tell you is that
we have received an official letter from the Palestinian Observer Mission, and we are taking a
look at that letter.
Question: One more question on Sudan. Did the Secretary-General speak to the
President of Sudan yet? Has there been any development in terms of UN’s ability to send an
assessment team to the ground?
Spokesman: Let me put it this way. No, the Secretary-General has not spoken to the
President of Sudan. The message has been left. The Sudanese authorities are aware that the
Secretary-General would like to speak to the President, and there is nothing else beyond what I
said yesterday about the planning mission regarding ... just saying that we do expect a planning
team to go to Addis Ababa to work with the African Union and to see when it would be best for
us to send the team actually on the ground.
Question: Were visas asked and denied?
Spokesman: Visas have not yet been requested, but you know, I think, the important
thing is to work to create the right environment, so that we can go ahead with this planning
mission with the full cooperation of the Government of Sudan, which we need. And I think, as
we’ve seen in the last couple of days, visas are just a piece of paper. Some people have had
visas and were not able to go to the destination they wished.
Question: Two things. First, has Mr. Egeland decided whether to accept the belated
invitation of the Sudanese Government? And is the Secretary-General at all concerned that he
has not been able to talk to the President of Sudan?
Spokesman: No doubt, that call will go through. As for Mr. Egeland, he has not
received any ... I mean, we’ve seen the press reports, he has seen them -- we have not seen
anything official from the Sudanese to either us or Mr. Egeland, saying he can come back.
Once we do get the word from the Sudanese, obviously, Mr. Egeland will review that offer and
make a decision.
Question: On 30 April, there is going to be a big march in Washington to try and get
more action on Darfur. Would any UN officials be attending or taking part in that rally?
Spokesman: UN officials, as a rule, don’t take part in political rallies.
Question: Just as follow-up to all these questions: is there any particular reason why the
Secretary-General still hasn’t called the President of Sudan?
Spokesman: He did call him.
Question: So he talked to him?
54
Spokesman: No, I’m saying he ... we are trying to call. The call has not been answered
is what I am saying.
OK. Thank you. Pragati, you’re up, and then I have Mr. Abdallah.
Spokesperson for the General Assembly President
Good afternoon.
This afternoon there will be an informal meeting of the plenary, where Member States
will hold a dialogue with the members of the High-level Panel on UN System-wide Coherence
in the Areas of Development, Humanitarian Assistance, and the Environment. General
Assembly President Jan Eliasson will be making opening remarks at that meeting.
Tomorrow morning, the Assembly will hold informal consultations of the plenary to
begin its consideration of the review of mandates. Assistant Secretary-General Bob Orr is
expected to introduce the report of the Secretary-General in the consultations, which will be cochaired by Ambassador Rock of Canada and Ambassador Akram of Pakistan.
Earlier this week, the President sent a letter to all Member States announcing that he
would convene a meeting of the Open-Ended Working Group on Security Council reform on 20
April. The President has invited Member States to comment on developments since the debate
on this subject in the Assembly last November, and wrote that he hoped for a constructive and
creative exchange of views towards reaching general agreement on this essential element of the
reform agenda. He will also seek endorsement of the Vice-Chairpersons he has proposed for
this Working Group: Ambassador Paulette Bethel of the Bahamas and Ambassador Frank
Majoor of the Netherlands.
A number of additional Member States have submitted to the Secretariat their candidacy
for the Human Rights Council, bringing the number to 35. The website for the elections is
being updated on a daily basis; you can check there for the latest list, and also for the pledges
and commitments that some Member States have submitted in support of their candidacy. That
website, just to remind you, is www.un.org/ga/60/elect/hrc/. The elections are scheduled to take
place on 9 May.
On Monday afternoon, President Eliasson will be travelling to The Hague to participate
in the ceremonies on 12 April observing the sixtieth anniversary of the International Court of
Justice. He will return to New York on the afternoon of 13 April.
Questions?
**Questions and Answers
Question: When work on the Security Council reform is conducted in April, will the
work of the Open-Ended Working Group cease or continue?
Spokesperson: I think, it’s open-ended, as the title of the Group says. So they have
scheduled meetings for the 20th, it may continue into the 21st -- I am not sure. And then they
can convene meetings as they decide.
Question: Does the President have anything to say about the fact that the US has
apparently decided not to seek a seat on his baby?
55
Spokesperson: I think the President wants to reserve comment until he sees an actual
text of what the US says. I understand there is going to be a briefing at the State Department.
So we will get you a comment then.
Thank you very much.
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