Details have been announced of a major strategic plan for the future development and management of marine-related industry and tourism along Ireland’s largest estuary, the Shannon Estuary. The land and marine-based plan, the first of its type to be developed in the country, has been commissioned by a multi-agency steering group comprising Clare County Council … Read more
The British Government has announced that exploratory hydraulic fracturing (fracking) for shale gas can resume in the UK, subject to new controls to mitigate the risks of seismic activity. To date there has been no commercial shale gas production in the UK. Exploratory fracking has been suspended since May 2011 after two small seismic tremors … Read more
A Review of the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) process in Ireland, commissioned by the EPA, has found that it has proven to be a vital tool for environmental protection. SEA is the process by which environmental considerations are integrated into Plans and Programmes across a broad range of sectors including energy, fisheries, industry, telecommunications, water … Read more
The European Union has welcomed the outcome of the Doha climate conference which lays the basis for more ambitious international action against climate change in the short term, paves the way for a new global climate agreement to be finalised in 2015 and enables a second period of the Kyoto Protocol to start on 1 … Read more
FTSE Group (FTSE), a leading global index provider and pioneer in responsible investment, has launched the Sir Mervyn Pedelty Award to recognise companies which have made the most significant improvements to the sustainability of their businesses in recent years. The inaugural winner is Unilever, with Go-Ahead, Intel and Diageo highly commended. FTSE created the award … Read more
The UK Green Investment Bank plc (UK GIB) is now officially open for business and has announced two new investments. The ground breaking institution has been funded with £3 billion of Government money and will mobilise additional private capital to make a significant contribution to the development of a green economy. UK GIB’s first investment … Read more
Ennis Town Council is launching its 2013 Environmental Initiatives Calendar, which documents some of the successful community environmental initiatives undertaken throughout the town during 2012 and profiles some of the projects that are scheduled to take place next year. The Calendar features photographs of community and Council environmental initiatives carried out during the year, including … Read more
This summer, record temperatures and limited rainfall parched vast areas of US cropland, and with Earth’s surface air temperature projected to rise 0.69 degrees Celsius by 2030, global food production will be even more unpredictable, according to new research conducted by the Worldwatch Institute. Although agriculture is a major driver of human-caused climate change, contributing … Read more
Transport in Europe is responsible for damaging levels of air pollutants and a quarter of EU greenhouse gas emissions. Many of the resulting environmental problems can be addressed by stepping up efforts to meet new EU targets, according to the latest report from the European Environment Agency (EEA). The EEA’s annual report under the Transport … Read more
After carbon footprinting and fairtrade schemes, saving and restoring soils might well become the new sustainable trend hitting European retail shelves. Nature & More is launching an awareness campaign on the theme of soil degradation, in alignment with WWF and FAO, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. The Nature & More Save … Read more