USA, May 2012

The Canadian Center of Science and Education published a document on Trans-boundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes, taking evidence from a new micro data in the European Union. In the document, it was noted that the European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (E-PRTR) is the only Europe-wide firm level database to directly report the amount of hazardous wastes industrial facilities ship to waste handlers inside and outside European countries.

Source: http://www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/res/article/view/13612/10370

Geneva, May 2012

Recently in Geneva, the Executive Body for the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP) concluded its thirtieth session. Adopting historic amendments to the Convention’s 1999 Gothenburg Protocol to Abate Acidification, Eutrophication and Ground-level Ozone (Gothenburg Protocol).  

Following years of wide-ranging and intense negotiations, the new text of the Protocol will now include national emission reduction commitments for main air pollutants to be achieved in 2020 and beyond.

For more: http://www.unece.org/index.php?id=29858

Rome, April 2012

The European Union (EU) and Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) are to work with twelve countries in Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia to manage those countries' big stocks of obsolete pesticides in a partnership which was launched at FAO's headquarters in Rome. As estimated, around 200,000 tons of obsolete pesticides can be found in the former Soviet Union republics. These threaten the health of the people around them and the environment.

Vancouver, April 2012

The Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) released a major update of pollution data reported by industrial facilities in Canada, Mexico and the United States. This took place during the Globe 2012 conference on business and the environment. The CEC's Taking Stock Online website allows industries, communities, and the public to track the relseases and transfers of pollutants across industries and national boundaries.

 London, April 2012

Pollution Suppressants have been and are being used on London roads to reduce Pollution in front of official air quality monitors. The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, first detailed the use of so-called ‘dust suppressants’ (Calcium Magnesium Acetate or pollution suppressant) in his draft Air Quality Strategy (AQS) published on 28 March 2010.

China, March 2012

The term "Cancer Villages" refer to places in the countryside where exceptionally high cancer rates have been detected. These Villages are usually located close to industries and factories that release pollutants into nearby waters causing them to be highly polluted and become inadquate for human use.