Heat-trapping gases rising
StarTwo, Tuesday, 13 May 2003
Greenhouse gas emissions from the European Union (EU) have increased for the second consecutive year, moving the region further away from meeting its commitment to cut emissions of gases which lead to global warming.
Statistics released last week showed EU emissions rose in 2001, despite the bloc's promise under the Kyoto Protocol (the 1997 United Nations pact to tackle global warming) to cut the gases blamed for climate change by 8% of 1990 levels by the end of the decade.
Due to reductions in the 1990s, the EU's emissions were still 2.3% below 1990 levels, but this was a rise from 1999 when they were 3.6% lower, according to data from the European Environment Agency (EEA).
The EEA said the increase was partly due to a cold winter which had increased demand for heating fuel, especially in Germany , France and Britain .
By contrast, the United States , which pulled out of Kyoto arguing the pact would harm the US economy, saw its emissions rise 14.2% from 1990 by 2000, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency.
UN scientists say the world must reduce emissions by more than half of current levels to halt global warming.
The biggest rises in the EU were in Ireland and Spain , which both recorded 24% hikes in emissions since 1990. Under a "burden sharing" deal with other EU countries which requires the richer EU countries to make greater cuts, Ireland and Spain are allowed to increase emissions, but only by 13% and 15% respectively.
The EEA said 10 of the 15 EU countries were way off reaching their Kyoto targets. They include Austria , Belgium , Denmark , Finland , Greece , Ireland , Italy , the Netherlands , Portugal and Spain . Only Germany , Britain , France , Sweden and Luxemburg were safely on track. - Reuters
Bag it
A township on the remote eastern coast of Tasmania has become one of the first in the world to ban the use of plastic bags. Coles Bay 's population of 175 and its tourist shoppers will have to depend on paper or calico bags for carrying their groceries. Every household in the town will be given five large calico bags for carrying shopping goods.
The town sits on the edge of the spectacular Freycinet national park and 180,000 tourists pass through every year on their way to the pristine wilderness. Ben Kearney, the local businessman who advocated the ban, said it would prevent damage to native wildlife from abandoned bags and cut the amount of landfill.
In recent months, major Australian supermarket chains have cut down on plastic bags in anticipation of government demands to halve bag use by 2004. Environmental groups are pushing for a plastic bag levy like that in Ireland , where 10 pence per bag charge has cut use by up to 90%.
South Africa has also launched a programme to stop plastic litter. The bags must now be thicker and more recyclable; a move official's hope will stop people from simply tossing them away. Plastic bags are such a common eyesore in South Africa that they are dubbed "roadside daisies" and referred to as the national flower.-Guardian Newspaper Ltd/Reuters.
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