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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on July 8th, 2008 From: press at alde.eu July 8, 2008, 3:32 pm ALDE´s environment spokesperson Chris Davies (LibDem, UK) commented: “MEPs have responded to the spectacular pace of air traffic growth by calling for a tougher approach than proposed by the Commission. Air travel across Europe has never been so cheap as it is now, but the real price will be paid by future generations if we don’t apply pressure to curb the rise in carbon emissions.” The compromise entails that from 1st January 2012 all flights starting and/or landing in Europe will be included in the ETS. 85 Percent of the emissions certificates will be allocated for free and 15 percent will be auctioned. In the first period, until 2012, airline emissions are to be cut by three percent, and from 2013 onwards the emissions will have to decrease by 5 percent. The revenues generated from the auctioning should be used to fund climate change mitigation, research on clean aircraft, anti-deforestation measures in the developing world or low-emission transport. For more information, please contact: Permalink | ### |
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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on July 8th, 2008 FRIDE, CLUB OF MADRID AND MADRID REGIONAL GOVERNMENT COLLABORATE: 06/07/2008 (MaximsNews Network) Through this agreement the Madrid regional Government has granted 525,000€ per annum in support of both organisations to contribute to their management and activities. The CoM and FRIDE will continue to hold meetings, seminars and other events of global importance in Madrid as often as possible, with the attendance of international personalities and experts that guarantee the international diffusion of the city of Madrid as an open, participating, secure and modern region. The Madrid regional Government noted the positive influence that FRIDE and the CoM have for the region and for the citizens of Madrid . The agreement signed today represents a further step in the close collaboration between the Madrid regional Government and both institutions, which began in 2001 with the Conference on Democratic Transition and Consolidation, hosted by FRIDE and as a result of which the CoM was formed, and was further consolidated at the International Summit on Democracy, Terrorism and Security organised by the CoM on the first anniversary of the terrorist atrocities endured by the city of Madrid on March 11, 2004. In the words of Diego Hidalgo, President of FRIDE “We are pleased to count once again this year on the support and the confidence of the Madrid regional Government, which has been essential in our growth and in our consolidation as an institution of reference in Spain and Europe.” Fernando Perpiñá-Robert, Secretary-General of the CoM underlined his conviction that “this international organisation of global diffusion is taking roots more deeply each day in Madrid ”. He warmly thanked the “constant confidence the Madrid regional Government has invested in the Club of Madrid , towards the promotion of shared values”. FRIDE: FRIDE is a think tank based in Madrid that aims to provide innovative thinking on Europe ’s role in the international arena. It strives to break new ground in its core research interests of peace and security, human rights, democracy promotion, and development and humanitarian aid, and mould debate in governmental and non-governmental bodies through rigorous analysis, rooted in the values of justice, equality and democracy. Contacts: Ana Martiningui ( amartiningui at fride.org). Tel: +34 91 244 47 40 Bárbara González del Valle ( bgonzalez at clubmadrid.org). Tel: +34 911 548 230 Silvia Pescador ( spescador at clubmadrid.org). Tel: +34 911 548 230 For more information see please: www.FRIDE.org and www.ClubMadrid.org —————– UNITED NATIONS - / MaximsNews Network / 06 July 2008 — The Club of Madrid has convened a Leaders’ Meeting for June 30-July 1, in London, as part of the democratic leadership organisation’s Shared Societies Project. The gathering of former presidents and prime ministers is a further step in this global initiative to identify the best policy and practice strategies to foster intercultural dialogue, manage and celebrate diversity and improve social cohesion. The meeting will gather 13 of Club of Madrid members, some of the world’s leading experts in these critical issues, a select number of civil society and multilateral agency representatives, and a small group of sitting officials, all with expertise on and insight into this challenging topic. The Shared Societies Project and the London meeting aim to highlight the importance and need to work on social cohesion. “In offering ideas to leaders facing the challenges of social tension and exclusion, it is important to be able to be able to empower them by delivering tested and relevant strategies and programs,” says Jenny Shipley, former Prime Minister of New Zealand and the project’s co-chair. Fellow Club of Madrid member and the project’s other co-chair, Cassam Uteem, former President of Mauritius, says: “It is not only necessary, but also possible for leaders to work towards a world safe for difference. This will be the key message of the London meeting.” The Strategic Review Workshop and Leaders’ Meeting: Leadership for Shared Societies – Building the Toolkit will further efforts to assemble a Policy and Practice Portfolio that will support leaders of cities and countries as they confront and commit to resolve identity-based conflict and move to build socially cohesive societies. Political leaders including Mayor Diver of Derry; the Deputy Chief Minister of Penang, Malaysia; Latvia’s Minister of Integration and the Vice-Mayor of Rotterdam, will provide a political “reality check” on the leadership policies and practices for social cohesion to be included in the Portfolio. The conference is hosted by the City of London Corporation, with the support of the Norwegian Government and the Alan B. Slifka Foundation. The Club of Madrid will publicly launch the Shared Societies Project and the Portfolio for Social Cohesion at its Annual Conference, November 12-14, when it will be endorsed by the Members of the Club de Madrid, current leaders and practitioners. The Shared Societies Project has to date brought leaders and their experience to bear on important dialogue processes for greater social cohesion in several specific countries, begun a number of relevant case studies, reviewed the leading literature on the subject, identified and collated policy and practice examples, and advanced thinking and action on the issue in the most challenging of settings. For more information, please see www.thesharedsocietiesproject.clubmadrid… The Club of Madrid is an independent organization dedicated to strengthening democracy around the world by drawing on the unique experience and resources of its Members – 70 democratic former heads of state and government. In partnership with other organizations and governments that share its democracy-promotion goals, the Club of Madrid provides peer to peer counsel, strategic support and technical advice to leaders and institutions working towards democratic transition and consolidation. The City of London Corporation, whose philanthropic arm The City Bridge Trust supports a range of social cohesion projects in London, is the business authority for the international financial services business district and has a wider role in supporting UK-based financial services. For more information, see www.cityoflondon.gov.uk —————– UNITED NATIONS - / MaximsNews Network / 06 July 2008 – The Club of Madrid will hold this summer the international seminar “Globalization, International Migration and Development” within the framework of the summer courses of the Universidad Internacional Menéndez Pelayo (UIMP) in Santander. To be held from 18-19 August, the seminar will facilitate an exchange of views and experiences between Members of the Club of Madrid, international experts and representatives from governments, international organizations and civil society. It will address the multidimensional aspects, opportunities and challenges of international migration and its links with development, bringing political expertise from all regions, aiming towards an interdisciplinary management of international migration flows in order to recommend practical and results-oriented policies at regional and global levels. Migration, globalization and development are complex and dynamic concepts because migration is not merely a movement of people from one place to another; globalization is not just the simple integration of economic activities or spatial units, and; development is not simply economic growth. Migration, globalization and development are interlinking processes. To fully release the development potential of international migration, a holistic and comprehensive approach is required to address the multifaceted nature of international migration, with a special focus on the gender dimension in the roots of migration, its impacts, policies and legislation. It is at this point where the Club of Madrid, an international organization formed by 70 heads of State and Government, takes action. The seminar is organized with the support of the Universidad Internacional Menéndez Pelayo and the Economy and Finance Council of the Government of Cantabria with the collaboration of the Chamber of Commerce of Cantabria, Universidad de Cantabria, Fundación Marcelino Botín and Santander City Hall. Club of Madrid The Club of Madrid is an independent organization dedicated to strengthening democracy around the world by drawing on the unique experience and resources of its Members – 70 democratic former heads of state and government. In partnership with other organizations and governments that share its democracy-promotion goals, the Club of Madrid provides peer to peer counsel, strategic support and technical advice to leaders and institutions working towards democratic transition and consolidation. More information: Carmen Sánchez-Miranda, Institutional Relations Program Officer, csmiranda at clubmadrid.org Tel: +34 91 154 82 47 Bárbara González del Valle ( bgonzalez at clubmadrid.org). Tel: 34 911 548 230 Permalink | ### |
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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on July 4th, 2008 from: gcr-eletter at angelnexus.com about Green Chip Review Independence Day Greetings from Portugal. By Sam Hopkins It’s no accident that I’m overseas on America’s Independence Day. And maybe it’s no surprise either that the first tones of Portugal I’ve taken in on this trip are ones of energy freedom. “New enterprise, generated by nature…” So far my Brazilian-accented Portuguese has drawn some strange looks from police officers and shopkeepers as I ask for directions or coffee, but when I read this sign for the national power company’s new renewables division this morning, I only had to kick it around in my own noggin to understand. International Companies are Dominating the Cleantech Space: Many of the world’s new energy technologies are being developed in countries outside the United States. Germany, for example, is mother to the modern solar industry. The Danes have all but cornered the wind industry with the now-famous Vestas Wind Systems. Green Chip International is taking full advantage of this phenomenon. Its latest German solar recommendation is up about 11% in under two weeks. Everyday, international renewables companies are delivering monster gains. The new slogan for Energias de Portugal, which trades over the counter in the U.S. as EDPFY, not only exemplifies the transitional energy economy moving Europe from fossil fuels to clean power sources… It also represents a fresh Age of Exploration in a country that was once one of the most powerful and adventurous empires in the world. Along with Spain, Portugal is part of a 21st-century Iberian revival that mixes European Union green energy goals with the desire to stand out as individual national economies. Spain’s Iberdrola Energy (MADRID:IBE) launched its own Iberdrola Renovables (Renewables) as a separate listing on the Madrid Stock Exchange in 2007. Most of Iberdrola’s renewable might comes from the stiff Spanish breeze. Tiny towns and big cities in Europe’s southwestern reaches are now getting electricity from wind turbines, and selling their surplus to the grid. Now EDP is using its own country’s strength in wind, hydroelectric power, and the world’s largest wave energy array, Pelamis, to chart its course forward. But here’s the interesting thing… Energias de Portugal Renovables will be based in Spain, because Chairman Antonio Mexia knows the larger Iberian market can be cooperative and competitive at the same time, building a critical mass of companies and generation capacity that will benefit everyone. The Lazy Investor’s Portfolio is whst this e-msail we got proposes EDP has nearly 500 megawatts worth of new capacity in Spain planned for construction in the near term, helping it towards the goal of 10,500 MW worldwide just four years from now. And you can tap that momentum with EDP Renewables’ forthcoming stock listing here in Lisbon, which we anticipate will be highly successful. We’ll keep you up to date on EDP and the entire Iberian clean energy scene with Green Chip Review and Green Chip International. Permalink | ### |
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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on July 2nd, 2008
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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on June 30th, 2008 Inter Press Service News Agency (IPS), the world’s leading provider of information on global issues, is backed by a network of journalists in more than 100 countries. IPS focuses its news coverage on the events and global processes affecting the economic, social and political development of peoples and nations. Visit Inter Press Service at http://www.ipsnews.net Rome, Italy, is where the headquarters are. Much of the news come from the 4th floor of the UN Headquarters in New York.
Federico Mayor, born in Spain in 1934, served as Director General of the Paris-based United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) from 1987 to 1999. Mayor was earlier a member of the Spanish Parliament (1977-1978), Minister for Education and Science (1981-1982) and member of the European Parliament (1987). After deciding not to run for a third term at UNESCO, he returned to Spain in 1999 to create the Foundation for a Culture of Peace. In 2005, the United Nations Secretary-General designated Mayor as Co-President of the High Level Group for the Alliance of Civilisations. He is also member of the Honorary Board of the International Coalition for the Decade for the Culture of Peace and Non-Violence. Mayor, who has worked on peace-related issues for more than 30 years, says the role of a news agency such as IPS in promoting peace is “essential, because the media power today is enormous, and we receive much partial and biased information. “It is time for action and change, and to transform reality we must know reality in-depth,” he told IPS. During his 12 years as head of UNESCO, Mayor’s work focused on the promotion of peace, tolerance, human rights and peaceful coexistence. Under his guidance, UNESCO created the Culture of Peace programme aimed at education for peace; human rights and democracy; the fight against isolation and poverty; the defence of cultural diversity and intercultural dialogue; and conflict prevention and the consolidation of peace. Access to independent information can make a strong contribution to handling the world’s conflicts, he said. “It has been misleading information that has led to war and invasions such as the one of Iraq. “The present crisis shows how far unrestricted freedom of expression and media pluralism are crucial to overcome the present situations, particularly the food crisis, and start the process for the other possible world of which we dream,” Mayor said. As new chair of the IPS Board of Directors, he said he will aim “to follow exactly the objectives of IPS, which are transparency, accuracy and farsightedness.” The recent triennial election of the IPS International Association appointed Mario Lubetkin Director General of IPS for a third term. A Uruguay born journalist, Lubetkin has served as correspondent for several Italian and Latin American print media, and as communications adviser for various U.N. agencies and regional integration organisations in Latin America. “The key challenge before IPS today is to strengthen its role as a leading news agency covering all development and civil society issues. But our aim is also to get deeper analysis of globalisation’s impact, particularly from the South perspective,” Lubetkin said. The IPS International Association also elected a new 16-member Board of Directors, with a geographical and gender balance. The Board includes journalists, academics, communications experts, and specialists in international cooperation. ——————— But when it comes to reporting about areas of conflict, IPS journalism is not imune of physical search:
GAZA CITY, Jun 28 (IPS) - Mohammed Omer, the Gaza correspondent of IPS, and joint winner of the 2008 Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism, was strip-searched at gunpoint, assaulted and abused by Israeli security officials at the Allenby border crossing between Jordan and the West Bank on Thursday as he tried to return home to Gaza. Omer, a resident of Rafah in the south of Gaza, and previous recipient of the New America Media’s Best Youth Voice award several years ago, was returning from London where he had just collected his Gellhorn Prize, and from several European capitals where he had speaking engagements, including a meeting with Greek parliamentarians. Omer’s trip was sponsored by The Washington Report, and the Dutch embassy in Tel Aviv was responsible for coordinating Omer’s travel plans and his security permit to leave Gaza with Israeli officials. Israel controls the borders of Gaza and severely restricts the entrance and exit of Gazans allegedly on grounds of security. Human rights organisations accuse the Israelis of using security as a pretext to apply collective punishment indiscriminately. While waiting in Amman on his way back, Omer eventually received the requisite coordination and security clearance from the Israelis to return to Gaza after this had initially been delayed by several days, he told IPS. Accompanied by Dutch diplomats, Omer passed through the Jordanian side of the border without incident. However, after arrival on the Israeli side, trouble began. He informed a female soldier that he was returning home to Gaza. He was repeatedly asked where Gaza was, and told that he had neither a permit nor any coordination to cross. Omer explained that he did indeed have permission and coordination but was nevertheless taken to a room by Israel’s domestic intelligence agency the Shin Bet, where he was isolated for an hour and a half without explanation. “Eventually I was asked whether I had a knife or gun on me even though I had already passed through the x-ray machine, had my luggage searched, and was in the company of Dutch diplomats,” Omer said. His luggage was again searched, and security then proceeded to go through every document and paper he had on him, taking down the names and numbers of the European parliamentary officials he had met. The Shin Bet officials then started to make fun of the European parliamentarians, and mocked Omer for being “the prize-winning journalist”. The Gazan journalist was repeatedly asked why he was returning to “the hell of Gaza after we allowed you to leave.” To this he responded that he wanted to be a voice for the voiceless. He was told he was a “trouble-maker”. The security men also demanded he show all the money he had on him, and particular attention was paid to the British pounds he was carrying. His Gellhorn prize money had been awarded in British pounds but he was not carrying the entire sum on him bodily, something the investigators refused to believe. After being unable to produce the prize money, he was ordered to strip naked. “At first I refused but then I had an M16 (gun) pointed in my face and my clothes were forcibly removed, even my underwear,” Omer said. At this point Omer broke down and pleaded for an end to such treatment. He said he was told, “you haven’t seen anything yet.” Every cavity of his body was searched as one of the investigators pinned him down on the floor, placing his boot on Omer’s neck. Omer began vomiting, and fainted. When he came round his eyelids were being forcibly opened and his eardrums probed by an Israeli military doctor, who was also armed. He was then dragged along the floor by his feet by the Shin Bet officials, with his head repeatedly banging on the floor, to a Palestinian ambulance which had been called. “I eventually woke up in a Palestinian hospital with the doctors trying to reassure me,” Omer told IPS. The Dutch Foreign Ministry at the Hague told IPS that Foreign Minister Maxime Zerhagen spoke to the Israeli ambassador to The Netherlands and demanded an explanation. The Dutch embassy in Tel Aviv has also raised the issue with the Israeli Foreign Ministry, which in turn has promised to investigate the incident and get back to the Dutch officials. Ahmed Dadou, spokesman from the Dutch Foreign Ministry at the Hague told IPS, “We are taking this whole incident very seriously as we don’t believe the behaviour of the Israeli officials is in accordance with a modern democracy. “We are further concerned about the mistreatment of an internationally renowned journalist trying to go about his daily business,” added Dadou. A spokeswoman at the Israeli Foreign Press Association said she was unaware of the incident. Lisa Dvir from the Israeli Airport Authority (IAA), the body responsible for controlling Israel’s borders, told IPS that the IAA was neither aware of Omer’s journalist credentials nor of his coordination. “We would like to know who Omer spoke to in regard to receiving coordination to pass through Allenby. We offer journalists a special service when passing through our border crossings, and had we known about his arrival this would not have happened. “I’m not aware of the events that followed his detention, and we are not responsible for the behaviour of the Shin Bet.” In the meantime, Omer is still traumatised and in pain. “I’m struggling to breathe and have pain in my head and stomach and will be going back to hospital for further medical examinations,” he said Permalink | ### |
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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on June 27th, 2008 ITALY, June 25, 2008, The Interanational Organization for Migration (IOM) – Memorial to Migrants Perished at Sea - A memorial dedicated to the thousands of migrants who have died at sea trying to reach Italy will be unveiled tomorrow on Lampedusa island. The project initiated by the Italian NGOs Alternativa Giovani Onlus, Arnoldo Mosca Mondadori and Associazione Amani is supported by IOM, the Italian Ministry of the Interior, the regions of Sicily and Puglia, the municipality of Milan and UNHCR. Designed by Italian sculptor Mimmo Paladino, the five-meter high monument, built in the shape of a door facing the sea, representing the gateway to Europe, commemorates the men, women and children who lost their lives in search of a better life. “In the first six months of 2008 more than 7,000 migrants reached Lampedusa – double the number who arrived in 2007. But while the number of migrants who made it safely increased, we believe that the number of deaths also increased,” said IOM Regional Representative for the Western Mediterranean Peter Schatzer. “IOM has provided information and legal advice to more than 30,000 migrants arriving in Lampedusa and Sicily since 2006. We hope that this monument will focus attention on the human suffering taking place in the Mediterranean every day and make us think about why people are prepared to take such risks,” he added. The memorial has also been welcomed by Italian President Giorgio Napolitano, who sent a letter of appreciation to the organizers. A number of leading Italian artists will also attend tomorrow’s unveiling. For further information, please contact Flavio Di Giacomo at IOM Rome. Tel: +39 06 44 186 207. Email: fdigiacomo at iom.int Permalink | ### |
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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on June 16th, 2008 Spain’s Expo 2008 on World Water Opens June 16, 2008 ZARAGOZA, Spain - Expo 2008, themed on the world’s dwindling water resources, opened in the Spanish city of Zaragoza on Saturday, days after the riverside site narrowly escaped flooding. King Juan Carlos officially opened the 25-hectare (62-acre) exhibition on Friday night. Organisers hope 6.5 million people will visit before it closes in mid-September, providing a major economic boost to the northern city, Spain’s fifth largest. Hundreds were already queueing when Expo opened its gates to the public and Mexican President Felipe Calderon was on hand to open his country’s stand during an official visit to Spain. Ironically, the site was almost flooded last month during Spain’s wettest May in decades, provoking a frantic finish to construction that began three years after Zaragoza beat Greek and Italian rivals for the right to host the event. The first visitors on Saturday crossed from the city to the Expo site via a futuristic bridge, built by Baghdad-born architect Zaha Hadid, aoross the Ebro, Spain’s biggest river. The Expo features Europe’s biggest fresh water acquarium, a 76-metre (250-ft) water tower and 140 pavillions, themed around different climate zones and representing 105 countries. Organisers stress Expo’s environmentally friendly credentials. The site is four times smaller than that built for Seville when Spain last hosted an Expo in 1992, and even the tourist shop’s carrier bags are made of potato starch. Two thousand environmental experts will produce a “Zaragoza Charter” outlining recommendations to solve problems such as the lack of clean water for 1.2 billion people and the danger of wars fought over dwindling water resources. But Expo has its critics, notably environmental campaign group Greenpeace, which is not taking part.. “Thousands of square metres of roads, buildings and bridges have been built, paradoxically created in the defence of nature, which in addition will be used to attract thousands of visitors,” a Greenpeace statement said. In many parts of Spain last winter was the driest since 1948/49 and the nearby city of Barcelona almost imposed water rationing. The three-month extravaganza cost 700 million euros (US$1.07 billion) to build, most of the money coming from central government. For Zaragoza it has already proved a boon thanks to government spending on associated road and rail projects. “Zaragoza was stuck, dead, and this will be fantastic for infrastructure and tourism,” one veteran taxi driver said. Permalink | ### |
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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on June 5th, 2008 Friday, June 6, 2008 Tokyo is top choice for the final round for Olympics bid to host 2016 summer games. The three others making it to the final round are Madrid, Chicago, and Rio de Janeiro. Three other applicants — Prague, Baku and Doha — failed to get the IOC nod to move on to the final round. “This was expected,” Gov. Shintaro Ishihara told a news conference later in the day, stressing that Tokyo has only gotten to the starting line. “The important thing is to focus on what we do from this point forward. It involves a whole range of efforts.” Asked how he would describe where Tokyo would be if it were climbing a mountain, Ishihara said: “We’ve just gotten to the base. It’s like trying to reach the clouds, but if we put all our efforts together, I think we can make it.” While Tokyo finished at the top of the ratings in the preliminary phase, followed by Madrid and Chicago, these rankings won’t be crucial in the final selection. The final bid plans have to be submitted by February. The IOC will name the winning city at a general assembly meeting in Copenhagen on Oct. 2, 2009. In selecting the candidates, the IOC evaluated 25 items divided into 11 categories, including general infrastructure, safety and security, environmental conditions and impact. Tokyo, which is proposing to hold the “world’s most compact Olympics,” in which most of the stadiums would be located within an 8-km radius, received high ratings in most of the categories, especially accommodations, environment and security. Masahiro Nakajima, senior director in charge of planning and coordination at the Olympic bid promotion office, said Tokyo has about 75,000 accommodation units within a radius of 10 km of the proposed site of the main stadium. The IOC’s standard is 40,000. Although Tokyo got the best rating in the preliminary round, a poll by the IOC to gauge domestic public opinion found only 59 percent support in Japan’s capital. Madrid received a support rate of 90 percent, Rio’s was 77 percent and Chicago’s 74 percent. Permalink | ### |
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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on June 1st, 2008 OK, so there was only one abstention, not 10, in the vote that gave the seat to the UK rather than to Spain. The victory of the UK came by one vote anyway. Also, two ballots were declared invalid - but no explanation was given todate ????? Also, the total member vote is thus 192 ballots received (as the number of the UN membership) minus two invalid votes, and minus 1 registered abstention equals 189 effective votes. This instead of the released 182 figure. Above reminds me of the old Hebrew joke where some clown managed to write with 7 mistakes the name of Noach, who is spelled in Hebrew by two letters only. * The big question is now, why it took the UN several days to clarify the above, and even to avoid questions from the press - as we understand with quite snotty answers and unpleasant reactions when refusing to answer. Did the UN instruct its personnel in numbers of UN membership, or such subtleties are not a requirement for UN staff.
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