A new United Nations plan to involve all nations in marshalling science to fix environmental problems ranging from toxic chemicals to climate change will be put to the test from Monday at talks in

A new United Nations plan to involve all nations in marshalling science to fix environmental problems ranging from toxic chemicals to climate change will be put to the test from Monday at talks in Nairobi.

The 40-year-old UN Environment Programme will open its annual governing council to all the world’s almost 200 nations, up from a current group of 58, under reforms aimed at making the world economy greener at a time of weak economic growth.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development will invest in Albania's only paper firm to help it produce recycled paper and set up waste paper recycling networks, the EBRD said on Wednesday.
Dan Berg, the EBRD's Albania head, said the investment would create a precedent with environmentally friendly production backed by an organized collection and recycling network.

Six south-eastern European countries on Thursday agreed to boost cross-border conservation efforts in an area of the Balkans especially rich in wildlife. The governments of Albania, Bosnia, Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia said they would create 13 new protected areas and extend nine others in the Dinaric Arc, an area which stretches from Trieste in Italy to Tirana in Albania.

It is raining and Tirana's main rubbish dump in the Sharra valley, about five kilometres outside the capital, is covered in sticky mud. However, for Ardian Alu it is business as usual. Together with his two young sons, Mr Alu, a member of Albania's Roma community, sifts through piles of waste selecting recyclable materials he can sell to a local trader. He is paid Lek14 (

There has been a large-scale widening of the gap in the health status of rich and poor populations in the former Soviet Union and former Eastern European bloc. This was reported in a new report from