Category Archives: EU
Geo-engineering: not a catch-all solution to climate change
New research from scientists at the University of East Anglia suggests that large-scale geo-engineering projects are not a viable alternative to carbon reduction strategies in the fight against global warming. However, the researchers conclude that certain geo-engineering schemes could compliment … Continue reading
EASAC Launch Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services
The European Academies Science Advisory Council (EASAC) yesterday launched a report on ‘Ecosystem Services and Biodiversity in Europe’. The EASAC working group behind the report was led by Professor Alastair Fitter, University of York, a past-President of the BES. The … Continue reading
All Party Parliamentary Environment Group Discuss the Climate Change Act
The BES Policy Team recently attended an All Party Parliamentary Environment Group meeting at the House of Commons to discuss the Climate Change Act and the potential implications of its key provisions on economy and society in the UK. Guest … Continue reading
IUCN Consider Successor to Biodiversity 2010 Target
The BES Policy Team yesterday attended an international conference in Brussels, to explore the successor to the target to ‘halt biodiversity loss by 2010′. Organised by Countdown 2010, the meeting brought together representatives from the European Parliament, NGOs, learned societies, … Continue reading
Biological Control of Plant Parasitic Nematodes
Plant parasitic nematodes are a leading biotic cause of yield loss in crops, costing world agriculture an estimated US $125 billion annually. These small (0.25-3mm), unsegmented worms can affect crops in a variety of ways: altering normal root cell division, … Continue reading
Efforts to Support Biodiversity Best Focused on Less Intensive Systems
The authors of a new EU-funded study into the biodiversity of intensive and extensively managed farmland systems have recommended that efforts to conserve biodiversity be focused on less intensively managed systems. Researchers compared the richness of plant species with levels … Continue reading
New System Improves River Basin Health Assessment for Water Framework Directive
Scientists have recently developed a new computer modeling system that will improve the way in which river basins are assessed for the European Water Framework Directive. The system has been named the Elbe decision support system, (Elbe-DSS), after the river … Continue reading
EU Targets Renewables over Biofuels
EU ministers have admitted being ‘grossly confused’ over renewable energy targets. There has been widespread belief amongst European ministers that the EU renewable energy target stipulates all fuels must contain 10% biofuels by 2020. However, it has recently come to … Continue reading
UN Biodiversity Forum Pledges to Halt Wildlife Loss
Over 200 countries have agreed to sign-up to measures to halt the loss of biodiversity by 2010. Amongst the pledges have been the proposed deep-sea nature reserves, creation of global standards for biofuel development, and expand reserve area globally to … Continue reading
‘Stern Review’ of Biodiversity Reports
The preliminary findings of the EU-funded review into the economics of biodiversity loss, the so-called ‘Stern Review’ of Biodiversity, were unveiled yesterday at the 9th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in Bonn. … Continue reading