Really Bad News...

from the Annual International Whaling Commission's meeting. It's the news conservationists and anti-whaling countries had feared. It was known that the decision would be in the balance, but it's gone Japan's way, being backed by a majority of just one. Japan have described the decision, the first pro-whaling step in twenty years, as 'historic'. Pleased with the result, Joji Morishita, Japanese Deputy Whaling Commissioner, suggested that this meeting would mark the start of more, but managed whaling: 'It's not going back to the commercial whaling, it should be the beginning of sustainable whaling, pus ptotection of depleted and endangered species'. Countries including Brazil and New Zealand have vowed to challenge the decision and environmentalists such as the International Fund for Animal Welfare are understandably disappointed. Apart from the problems associated with overwhaling, they raise concerns as to the torturous way in which the animals are killed and the drawn-out death that ensues after harpooning. Here's a slightly older BBC report discussing just how it can be tested once a whale is actually dead. Pretty horrid. Check out Whalewatch's coverage of the whole issue.

On a more positive note, Lebanon's Daily Star reports on the foundation of a new environment forum for the Arab world. It aims to raise awareness of conservation issues across the Arab world and to encourage environmentally responsible development strategies. It will be called the Arab Forum for Environment and Development (AFED) and will be based in Beirut. It has yet to be officially recognised, but is certainly a step in the right direction. Several environmental groups from a variety of countries discussed work they had already been engaged in, so hopefully pooling experiences and resources will allow them yet further success. Here's the story.

Similarly, in India the state government has announced that it will formulate a new environment policy. They have so far drafted a proposed policy and in a bid to encourage suggestions, they are setting up a freephone number for the public. The Environment Minister, Ujjawal Raman Singh is also keen to push youth participation and is encouraging workshops to raise awareness and involvement. He believes even government officials remain ill-educated on such matters and is keen to raise public responsibility through knowledge. The Hindustan Times, not a publication I know well(!), covers it well here.

There is also good news coming from Israel at the moment. Although policy here has been little concerned with sustainable development thus far, the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (SPNI) has been working hard to raise awareness and encourage conervation projects across the country. Although public awareness is very low, when greeted with the facts, Israelis seem eager to help protect their country's natural resources and green spaces. SPNI's educational programmes are being run in public schools and community centres throughout the country. Read about it at Israel21C.

I saw this crazy story today. It begins 'We hear in the news all the time how automobiles are hurting the environment, but we rarely see any reporting on how the environment can harm our cars.' It goes on to discuss environmental nastiness such as acid rain and blames them for damaged paintwork and the like. I don't doubt that acid rain's not great for the bodywork of a car, but let's not forget, it's not the environment's fault we have acid rain, but precisely the damage that we are doing to the environment. Not least with our frightening number of motor vehicles! It goes on to recommend various treatments for such problems. Oh good, I'm sure more unnecessary chemicals to pump back into our water systems will help the whole sorry situation?!

In Sweden, there are tests being undertaken at Arlanda airport, Stockholm to make landings more environmentally friendly. If we must all insist on flying so much, then this is kind of good news. The new approach should reduce emissions, fuel burn and noise. According to the project's manager, Peter Larsson, the EU aims to make the system operational Europe-wide within ten years and has sponsored the research. It will also save airlines money in fuel, which to me seems dubious news. I certainly don't want it to encourage more inexpensive flights and make them yet more widespread, but for now it seems positive. More on that here.