30 March 2012: The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has announced several new and ongoing research activities related to honey bee health, including the development of guidance for risk assessment of plant protection products on bees, a literature review on interactions between pesticides and other factors, and food and feed safety assessments of certain genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
27 March 2012: The European Commission has presented its annual report to the European Parliament and to the Council on the overall operation of official controls in the Member States on food safety, animal health and animal welfare and plant health. The report concludes that control measures and compliance with relevant EU legislation are satisfactory.
This electronic consultation is being organized by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), a specialized agency of the Organization of American States (OAS), on behalf of the European Union-supported project “Towards a Latin America and Caribbean Bio-Economy in Partnership with Europe” (ALCUE-KBBE). The consultation will bring together researchers, professionals, policy makers and business people from fields such as biotechnology, biofuels, biodiversity, ecosystem services and sustainable agriculture to discuss the scope and implications of the bioeconomy concept for Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries and to contribute to formulating policy recommendations to foster bioeconomy development in LAC.
23 March 2012: The European Commission and the European Environment Agency (EEA) have launched the Climate-ADAPT website to provide information to policy makers, engineers, planners and administrators about impacts, vulnerability and climate change adaptation in Europe.
22 March 2012: The European Commission's (EC) Directorate-General for the Environment (DG Environment) has announced the shortlist for the 2012 European Business Awards for the Environment (EBAE). Out of 156 submissions from 24 EU Member States and candidate countries, 14 have been selected as finalists for the awards, which are given to companies combining innovation, competitiveness and environmental performance.
7 March 2012: The Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) hosted a meeting on the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) to discuss possible collaboration with CITES to develop model management plans for corals, dolphins and other marine life in the Pacific.
14 March 2012: The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and Kriton Arsenis, Member of the European Parliament (MEP), held an information session at the European Parliament to raise awareness on current ocean-related issues in the lead up to the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20).
9 March 2012: During the first Environment Council under the Danish Presidency, which took place on 9 March 2012, in Brussels, Belgium, EU Member States did not reach agreement on a compromise proposal to amend the EU Directive on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) (directive 2001/18/EC).
6 March 2012: European Commissioner for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Maria Damanaki has outlined the European Commission's objectives on Oceans and Coasts for the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20). She called in particular for “green investments for a blue world.”
13 February 2012: The European Commission and the European Energy Agency (EEA) have released two reports on soil degradation, titled "Implementation of the Soil Thematic Strategy and Ongoing Activities" and "The State of Soil in Europe," which underscore threats to soil and actions taken by the EU to address those challenges.
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| Conference Reporting Services (CRS) |
