Newsletter May 2004

EEN Secretariat News May 2004

New staff members
In May, two new staff members joined the EPHA Environment Network: Christian Farrar-Hockley and Monica Guarinoni.
Christian Farrar-Hockley is the new Policy and Information Officer. In the past, he used to work in the European Parliament researching environmental legislation for a British MEP, mainly dealing with air quality, the urban agenda and climate change files. He has also worked in the US with the Health Effects Institute as an analyst in the air quality arena. (...)

EEN Members News

Safer Environment for Children in Europe: Preliminary Programme
The European Child Safety Alliance will organise a workshop in Stockholm from 19 to 21 September 2004.
The workshop Safer Environment for Children in Europe will aim to discuss and debate three key questions:
What are our children s risks in the European Environment?
How can we change our environments so they are safer for children?
What solutions can we undertake together in Europe that will make our environment safer (...)

WTO Hands Off our Food petition delivered in Geneva

On May 25, environmental campaigners delivered to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in Geneva a petition against the WTO dispute over Genetically Modified food.
The petition is a result of the WTO hands off our food campaign against a complaint filed at the WTO by the US, Argentina and Canada a year ago. These countries claimed that European Union policies and de-facto moratorium against genetically modified crops were not in line with WTO rules thus damaging their potential exports. (...)

WHO World Health Assembly adopts global strategy on diet, physical activity and health

The World Health Assembly, adopted a global strategy on diet, physical activity and health, which addresses two of the major risk factors responsible for the heavy and growing burden of noncommunicable disease. The strategy emphasizes the need to limit the intake of certain fats, sugars and salt, and increase consumption of fruit and vegetables, and levels of physical activity.
The World Health Organization (WHO) Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health was today endorsed by (...)

Launching of a European and international campaign to change the CAP

A new campaign has been launched on May 24 to change the European Agriculture Policy. The campaign includes a European and international call with the aim of changing EU priorities and promoting the principle of food sovereignty to achieve a legitimate, sustainable and supportive CAP.
The organisations signing the appeal call the farmers’ organisations and the other associations from civil society to campaign together to force governments and international authorities to change the EU (...)

Consumption of refined carbohydrates linked to diabetes

A new study reveals that the rise in diabetes is largely caused by people’s increasing consumption of refined sugars. This analysis is based on information concerning consumption and food composition between 1909 and 1997, collected by Simin Liu of the Harvard School of Public Health and his co-workers. They compared this information with data on disease incidence rates from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and found out that the climb in diabetes particularly matches (...)

Public health impact of September 11 highlighted

The US National Institute of Environmental Health Science has published the results of monitoring the health impact of the destruction of the World Trade Centre on emergency workers and local residents.
The researchers noted show exposure-related increases in new-onset cough, wheeze, shortness of breath, and bronchial hyperreactivity more than 2 1/2 years after the disaster. In addition, follow-up of pregnant women who were inside or near the WTC buildings on September 11 found a two-fold (...)

NGOS call for EU cohesion funds to address sustainable development

In their common position paper, Delivering Sustainable Development, a coalition of environmental NGOs called for a clearer commitment to protect Europe’s environment and to strengthen sustainable development.
The aim of this position paper is "to place the objectives of the Sustainable Development Strategy at the heart of the reform of EU regional policy for the period 2007-2013" says Magda Stoczkiewicz (CEE Bankwatch and Friends of the Earth Europe) and to highlight the need of a new (...)

A worldwide appeal to control chemical pollution

Scientists and researchers at the international colloquium in May the 7th at UNESCO in Paris on "cancer environment and society" organised by French cancer research organisation ARTAC gave their support to the Paris Appeal, which will be presented to the United Nations, the European Union, and national decision makers at the end of 2004.
This "Paris Appeal" is to call national decision-makers, European Authorities, international organisations, and specifically the United Nations (...)

Toxic Chemicals Contaminate American Houses

In the first nationwide tests for brominated fire retardants, known as PBDEs (polybrominated diphenyl ethers), the Environmental Working Group (EWG) found unexpectedly high levels of these neurotoxic chemicals in house dust. EWG’s tests indicate that consumer products such as computers, TVs, furniture, carpets and drapes, not industrial releases, are the most likely sources of the rapid buildup of PBDEs in people, animals and the environment. In particular, their findings raise concerns (...)

New report from Pesticide Action Network

A new report entitled ¨Chemical Trespass: Pesticides in Our Bodies and Corporate Accountability¨ has been released in May 2004 by Pesticide Action Network North America (PAN).
The report makes public an analysis of pesticide-related data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in a study on the levels of chemicals in peoples’ bodies throughout the U.S.
The report concludes that many U.S. residents carry toxic pesticides in their bodies above government assessed (...)

Info on grants from DG Environment

The Annual Work Programme for grants in the environment policy area for 2004 has been published.
For more information, please refer to the European Commission’s overview of the current funding opportunities available from DG Environment and other DGs.

Enlargement and environmetal legislation

The European Environmental Bureau (EEB) released on 30 April 2004 a report titled "Environmental results of the accession process".
The report puts together opinions from environmental NGOs in the new Member States (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Poland, Hungary, Malta and Cyprus).
It concludes saying that inadequate administration and funding is holding back environmental and legal changes.
EEB press (...)

New publication: The Atlas of Food (Who Eats What, Where and Why)

A new Atlas of Food, edited by Erik Millstone and Tim Lang, has been recently published. Through the use of maps, diagrams and simple statistics, this Atlas provides a clear presentation of the food chain and its impact on people’s lives and livelihood.
Tim Lang is Professor of Food Policy at Thames Valley University, London and the author of six books including P is for Pesticide (Ebury, 1991) and More Than We Can Chew (Pluto, 1982).
Erik Millstone is a Reader in Science Policy at the (...)

Obesity in children and young people: A crisis in public health

A new report from the World Health Organisation (WHO) reveals that overweight affects 1 in 10 children worldwide.
The report, "Obesity in children and young people: A crisis in public health", has been issued by the International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) of the WHO in co-operation with the Iternational Association for the Study of Obesity (IASO) in May 2004.
Around 30-45 million within that figure are classified as obese - accounting for 2-3% of the world’s children aged 5-17.
A further (...)

Monsanto gives up further research on GMO wheat

Agricultural multinational Monsanto announced on 11 May 2004 that they have given up on further development or open field trials of its genetically engineered "Roundup Ready" wheat.
This follows similar announcement in 2003 on the withdrawal from the development of pharmaceutical crops.
Greenpeace says that it’s a hard-won victory for every environmental group, every consumer, every cyberactivist who has said "no" to genetically engineered foods."
Greenpeace believes that Monsanto’s (...)