Central to the achievement of the Agenda for Sustainable Development is an adequate, equitably distributed and fully supported health workforce. Nurses are the largest occupational group and represent an indispensable force with which to combat inequities in access to health services and progress towards health-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), while …
WHILE the European Community has rejected vehement French demands for a ban on the import of cheap fish primarily from Russia and other non-EC countries, it has agreed to monitor fish exports from these countries more closely. France -- one of the biggest fish consumers in the EC -- had …
DENMARK is determined to use its position as president of the European Commission to push through the proposed energy tax because, as Danish energy minister Jann Sjurgen put it, "EC must shoulder its responsibility in trying to combat global warming." The proposed tax will be levied on fuels with a …
EVEN AS European Community researchers are developing a powerful computerised translation system that promises to break through language barriers, scientists in Japan, Germany and USA are working on a telephone translation system whose implications for world trade are mind-boggling. Both systems are reportedly in the test stage. The EC project, …
FARMERS are exploiting a loophole in the European Community's new common agricultural policy, which grants them crop subsidies to leave their land fallow so as to reduce oilseed production. But many of these fields in UK will shortly turn a greedy yellow as they would have been planted with rape …
DESPITE environmental pressure against the use of chemical fertilisers, world fertiliser production increased to 158 million tonnes in 1989, which is a 32 per cent increase over production in 1982. However, in some Northern countries, fertiliser output declined because of controls on Crop production imposed in the 1980s as a …
TEMPTED by projections that the number of air passengers will double in the next 10 years, but daunted by the US $10 billion price tag of a super jumbo jet with a carrying capacity of 800 passengers, Boeing of USA is negotiating collaboration with Europe's Airbus Industrie consortium. Boeing's latest …
MONSOON modeller A D Vernekar and his colleagues at the University of Maryland have worked out how the snow cover in Europe and Asia, especially in the Tibetan plateau, affects the Indian monsoon. Using what he calls a COLA (Centre for Ocean-Land-Atmosphere Interactions) global circulation model, Vernekar simulated the global …
BIRD MIGRATION patterns can change dramatically over decades and scientists say global warming can increase the incidence of such changes. Drastic changes in climate and landscape during the ice ages led to many birds altering their migratory routes. Such changes occur at present as well, but too gradually to be …
A US $700 million "nuclear safety account" to reduce the risk of accidents in east Europe - agreed in principle last July - has finally been approved by specialists from the Group of Seven industrialised nations. At least 32 reactors are deemed sufficiently safe for upgrading; 26 are excluded as …
PRESSING need for foreign exchange is pushing the country on to the international timber trail. Though the ministry of environment and forests (MEF) chooses to be tight-lipped, official sources admit timber exports have been given a green signal. To begin with, timber traders will be allowed to re-export teak wood …
A NEW CONDOM for women that gives them greater sexual freedom has been approved for sale in some European countries (Outlook Vol 10, No 2). The condom consists of a loose-fitting, polyurethane sheath with flexible rings at both ends. The smaller ring at the closed end is inserted into the …
1992 has been a watershed year. Trends that were visible over the last few years came to a head, both globally and locally. At the global level, the events that preceded the Rio summit and took place at the meet were fascinating proofs that micro movements at the community, state, …
What is the significant insight that you have gleaned over your years in environmental politics? We've realised the circle of dependency that exists between the government -- with its five-year cycle of being in power -- and industry -- with its 20-30 year cycle of investment planning. Industrialised countries depend …
WHILE Europe continues its efforts ID reduce electromagnetic pollution, dw European Commission (EC) has gritated a four-year reprieve to mWons exporting electronic equipMonts. The Commission recently wowded the deadline for imposing %@&restrictions; against import of shm2rouic goods that do not adhere to standards for electromag interference or pollution (EMI) md …
• 1992 was the year of environment. More than 100 heads of state and government gathered at Rio to discuss the health of the planet. But the conference refusea to look at underlying issues -lack of global democracy at one level and local democracy on the other -that favour exploitative …
THE TRADITIONALLY smoke-filled Paris bars face an identity crisis: Will the recent ban on indoor smoking clean up their air? The law requiring special sections to be set aside for smokers was enacted after official figures put the number of smoking-related deaths at 54,000 last year in France. However, restaurateurs …
Tighter environmental laws could cost the European oil refineries upto $ 80 billion by the end of the decade, said delegates at a recent petroleum and gas conference. This could mean higher prices for consumers and bankruptcies among refineries. Klaus Kohlhase of British Petroleum (BP) and chairman of Concawe, the …
BETWEEN the 1960s and 1990s, if there is one thing that is different, it is the level of material consumption of the richer sections of the world. Says Swedish environmentalist Anders Wijkman, "When I used to go to school in the 1950s, I was one of the few kids in …
IN EUROPE, a ban on toxic waste movement between countries has led to a hot debate on free trade. Concerned by a legal ruling stating European Community (EC) legislation which bars governments from imposing prohibitions on trans-border passage of merchandise, many states have announced bans specifically relating to wastes. These …
UN SECRETARY general Boutros Boutros-Ghali's suggestion that the North and South should share equally the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the UN Commission for Sustainable Development (UNCSD) leadership has failed to enthuse Europeans and Americans. Mustafa Tolba (?), enjoying the support of UNCSD secretary general Maurice Strong, is virtually …
