AROUND THE SEE AND CEE REGIONSFIVE CEE CITIES INCLUDED
IN EUR 50M EU TRANSPORT
PROGRAMME
Five Central and Eastern European (CEE) cities have been included in
a European Commission programme to help fund environmentally
friendly transport projects, according to a July 16 press release from
the EC. Bucharest in Romania, Gydnia in Poland, Kaunas in Lithuania,
Pecs in Hungary and Prague in the Czech Republic will get funding as
"associated cities" under the EUR 50 million Civitas Initiative
programme, which will also give funding to 14 cities in the European
Union, the press release said.
According to the press release, the work envisioned in the CEE cities is as
follows: Bucharest will introduce a new ticketing system, based on
contactless "smart cards"; Gydnia will look at limiting motor
traffic in the city centre and developing bicycle routes; Kaunas will
attempt to improve public transport through new organisational, financing
and management schemes; Pecs will work on the introduction of a clean zone
by limiting car access to the city centre; and Prague will attempt to
promote public transport.
For more information on the progaramme, see the web site at:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/energy_transport/en/cut_en/cut_civitas_en.html
or
send an e-mail to: tren-civitas@cec.eu.int.
HEAT WAVE BLAMED FOR FIRES IN BULGARIA
Soaring temperatures around the region are being blamed for a spate
of wildfires in Bulgaria, according to a July 17 report from the Balkan
Information Exchange Daily News. More than fifty fires occurred in a few
days time in Bulgaria, the report said. Bulgaria has been suffering from
severe drought and water-shortage problems in recent years. Many say
that climate change is at the root of these problems. The government,
which is limited to local solutions, is planning to develop dams to
improve water supply.
Contact:
Bulgarian Ministry of Environment and Waters, tel: (359-2) 9406-2000
or
Bulgarian Ministry of Agriculture and Forests, tel: (359-2) 9851-1119.
UNECE PLANS LEGAL INSTRUMENT ON TRANSBOUNDARY DAMAGE
Spurred on by the massive cyanide spill in Baia Mare, Romania, that
decimated the Tisza River, the UN Economic Commission for Europe
has agreed to draw up a new legally binding instrument on civil liability
for transboundary environmental damage caused by industrial
accidents in UNECE member countries, according to a July 5 report
from UNWire. "This instrument will fill one of the major gaps in
international environmental legislation," UNECE Environment Director
Kaj Barlund was quoted as saying. According to the UNECE, the
instrument could be ready for adoption by the time the next ministerial
conference for environment ministers is held in Kiev in May 2003,
UNWire reported.
Contact:
UNECE, web: http://www.unece.org/.
RAMSAR AWARDS TO RECOGNISE EFFORTS TOWARD WETLANDS
CONSERVATION
The organisation involved in implementing the Ramsar Convention on
Wetland Conservation has announced that it is seeking nominations
for its annual awards program to recognise those who have contributed
to conservation and wise use of wetlands, according to a report from
European Water Management News. "Nominations are encouraged of
persons, organisations, or government agencies that have taken
initiatives which have contributed significantly to the long-term
conservation and sustainable use of a wetland site or group of
wetlands, especially those initiatives which might serve as inspirational
or practical examples for others," the report said.
Information on the contest and the nominating procedure can be found
online at: http://www.ramsar.org/key_awards2002_index.htm
GERMAN GOVERNMENT TURNS UP HEAT ON TEMELIN NUCLEAR
PLANT
The German government has joined the government of Austria in
voicing strong concern about the Czech nuclear power plant at Temelin,
adding to concerns that the issue will have financial and political
impacts on the Czech Republic, according to reports. Upon the July 13
news that the German environment minister was calling for the closure
of the Temelin plant, and that opposition to the plant had lead a
German utility to halt imports of Czech power, the stock of Czech power
utility CEZ, which owns and operates Temelin, plunged by more than
20 percent on the Prague Stock Exchange, to around 67 crowns 70,
according to a report from Radio Prague.
German energy giant E.ON confirmed it was halting imports of all
electricity from the Czech Republic after public pressure in Germany from
opponents to nuclear power, Radio Prague said. A new German law reportedly
enables the
government to ban imports of electricity from nuclear plants in Central
and Eastern Europe that are suspected of being unsafe. On July 17, the
German government toned down it's statement on Temelin, saying it did not
insist on closure of the facility, but only that it has a number of
technical reservations towards safety at the plant, according to a report
from Radio Prague. "Berlin reiterated that it was the Czech
Republic's sovereign right to choose nuclear power, but that Germany's
proximity to the plant gave it the right to make its voice heard,"
the report said.
Contact:
Czech Environment Ministry, Marta Novakova, director, Department of
Public Relations, tel: (420-2) 6712-2040 or (420-2) 6731-1496;
or
Greenpeace Austria, tel: (43-1) 545-4580.
POLAND OPENS MARKET FOR TRADING GREEN ENERGY
A new green electricity futures market in Poland will help electricity
distributors meet their legal obligations to use green energy sources,
according to a July 5 report from Reuters. The market, operated by the
Polish Power Exchange, allows distributors to buy electricity from green
sources, such as wind, geothermal and solar power, the report said.
Under Polish law, utilities must obtain 2.4 percent of the total energy
that they sell to consumers from green sources, and by 2010, they will
be obliged to increase green energy to 7.5 percent of the total, the
report said.
Contact:
Polish Power Exchange, e-mail: polpx@polpx.pl;
web: http://www.polpx.pl/index_e.htm
CONFERENCE TO FOCUS ON DANUBE, SUSTAINABILITY AND
ACCESSION
A conference set for Nov. 9-10 in Budapest will focus on environmental
concerns of Danube River countries and how these issues relate to
European Union accession, according to an announcement. "Special
emphasis will be given to the concept of sustainability," at the
conference, which is entitled "Danube River - Life Line of a Greater
Europe" and is set up by the European Academy of Sciences and Arts,
the announcement said. "In terms of water related impacts, the focus
will be on water quantity and quality aspects, demands of safe water
supply, novel solutions for wastewater treatment, environmental safety
and international cooperation."
Detailed information can be found on the web at: http://www.wga.bv.tum.de/Konferenzen/EASA/easa.html
EUR 338M INVESTMENT PLANNED TO CLEAN UP ESTONIAN
POWER PLANTS
NRG Energy, the U.S. firm planning to purchase large stakes in the
Narva Power and Estonian Oil Shale companies, announced on July
11 that it will invest EUR 338 million to ensure that those facilities
meet
European Union environmental standards, according to a report from
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. "Most of the funds will be spent in
Ida-
Viru County, mainly for renovating the power stations and reducing
harmful emissions and waste products there," the report said.
"The
renovation will boost the output of the stations while pollution will be
reduced by the construction of a wastewater-treatment plant, the
development of an air-pollution monitoring system, and the processing
of oil shale ashes."
Contact:
NRG Energy, Meredith Moore, media relations, tel: (1-612) 373-8892;
web: http://www.nrgenergy.com/
POLL: SLOVENIANS FEAR CHURCH TAKEOVER OF NATURAL
PARKS
A poll published in the Slovenian daily "Delo" on July 14 found
that 62
percent of those questioned are opposed to plans to transfer
government-owned parkland to the Roman Catholic Church, according
to a July 18 report from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE). The
government has decided to hand over 8,254 hectares of the park's
Pokljuka forest, valued at roughly $32 million, to the church, based on a
historical claim that dates back to before World War II, RFE said. But
the public is concerned that the church might develop, or sell parcels of
this environmentally important, pristine land, according to RFE. The
RFE report said that most Slovenians want the park to remain a
protected, undisturbed natural area.
Contact:
Slovenian Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning, Dragica Bratanic,
Public Relations Office, tel: (386-1) 478-7329 or (386-1) 478-7415.
INFORMATION RESOURCESWEB SITES OFFER REGULAR UPDATES ON
BONN, BACKGROUND
INFO ON CLIMATE CHANGE
Anyone looking for regularly updated breaking news on the climate
change talks in Bonn, or background information about climate change
issues, has a new web portal that attempts to collect all the information
in one convenient location, according to an announcement by
Climateark.org. Meanwhile, another website, put up by the Wuppertal
Institute, has reports of particular interest to the Central and Eastern
European region.
Climateark.org's page, at http://www.climateark.org/,
is "a unique one-stop gateway to the best the Internet has to offer on
the topic of climate change and renewable energy," according to their
announcement. "The Climate Ark is the first of its kind portal and
search engine -- integrating and making more accessible the best reviewed
climate change and renewable energy news and information on the
Internet," the announcement said.
The Wuppertal Institute announced that it has gathered many relevant
publications about climate change at http://www.wupperinst.org/COP6/english.html,
including the online
proceedings of a conference held in Leipzig, Germany, in March,
entitled "Emissions Trading and Joint Implementation as a Chance for
Central and Eastern European Countries."
REC ANNOUNCES NEW PUBLICATIONS
The Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe
(REC) has announced several new publications that are available free
of charge: "Economic Instruments and Water Policies in Central and
Eastern Europe: Issues and Options" (proceedings from a conference
in Szentendre, Hungary, Sept. 28-29, 2000); "DG ENV-NGO Dialogue
Group Summary of the Third Meeting" (proceedings from a Nov. 28-29,
2000 meeting in Brussels); and "Seminar on Environmental Impact
Assessment, Hutovo Blato, Bosnia and Herzegovina" (proceedings
from a conference in Hutovo Blato, Nov. 26-27, 1999).
To order these free publications, or any other REC publications, send an
e-mail to: egal@rec.org. A full list of
REC publications is online at:
http://www.rec.org/REC/Publications/List.html.
SLOVAK WEB SITE COVERS SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
The Slovak Country Office of the Regional Environmental Center for
Central and Eastern Europe has announced the launch of its new web
site on sustainable development. The new site, at http://www.tur.sk,
offers a variety of information resources and useful links on the topic of
sustainable development, all in the Slovak language.
