Science & Tech

The two-week long Triple Conference of Parties (Triple COPs) to the UN Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm (BRS) Conventions appeared to have failed in its objective of “translating science into action” as it closed in the early hours of 16 May (CW 6 May 2015). Many of the decisions up for adoption – which were supported by the vast majority of ...

Currently, only three countries are producing shale gas through hydraulic fracturing (fracking) on a commercial scale: the United States, Canada, and China. But as several other countries undertake shale resource exploration efforts, a key question remains: What are the impacts of shale gas mining on local economies and the environment? In the Worldwatch Institute’s latest Vital Sign, Research Fellow Christoph ...

The Swiss pilots of Solar Impulse 2 unveiled the flight path they plan to take on their 35,000 kilometre around the world journey ahead of take-off from Abu Dhabi. Solar Impulse 2 will take-off from Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates, in late February or early March and return by late July or early August 2015. The route includes ...

Provision of adaptation support and resilient building for the most vulnerable and developing countries must be prioritised at the ongoing climate change talks in Lima, Peru, says UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon. He therefore wants tangible progress made by the 20th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP20) to the UNFCCC in solidifying the climate finance regime. The Secretary-General describes the ...

  Minister of Environment, Laurentia Laraba Mallam, has commended French oil and gas giant, Total, over its determination to be the first multinational oil corporation to stop offshore gas flaring in Nigeria. Speaking through her Press Secretary and Deputy Director Information, Ben Bem Goong, from far away Cancun, Mexico, while participating in the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Assembly, the minister ...

Experts have underlined the need for a well-coordinated mechanism that would ensure the eventual incorporation of sound chemicals management priorities and recommended activities in the Vision 20/2020 document. They likewise observed that the endeavour is essential to attaining the millennium development goals (MDGs). Besides the overlapping of organisational responsibilities at the national, regional and local levels, they are however worried ...

West Africa is home to about 317 million people. Communities in the sub-region and the entire sub-Saharan Africa depend strongly on rainfall where 65 percent of the labour force and 95 percent of the land is devoted to agriculture. Scientists portend that if the Five-Sigma Model relative to climatology occurs, Africa may be faced with a monsoon that will affect ...

Nigeria has made progress in the implementation of the Hydro-Chlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) Phase-out Management Plan. Government said the aim is to achieve the first phase of the control measure for the substances in line with the provisions of the Montreal Protocol on Ozone Depleting Substances (ODS). The National Ozone Officer in the Ministry of Environment, Kassimu Bayero, disclosed this in an ...

A collaboration involving the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Swedish Chemicals Agency and the Federal Ministry of Environment is executing a project aimed at mainstreaming sound management of chemicals into the Millennium Development Goals-based plans and policies. A week ago in Abuja, participants at a two-day event rose at the close of the forum and adopted the draft final report ...

Residents of Kaduna in northwest Nigeria, especially those living close to the Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company (KRPC), have expressed reservations over a potential health hazard posed by gas flaring from the nearby refinery. The smoke emitted by the refinery’s chimneys, according to them hovers over their area and goes beyond 10 kilometers in radius, affecting many residents in the ...