cafebabel.com

Krsko nuclear energy: source of Slovenian pride?

('English language version of cafebabel.com',) — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 13:04:54 -0000

Across the world, the Japanese prime minister has stated that his country should phase out nuclear energy after the atomic disaster in March. But Slovenians stick to their guns. The country's only nuclear plant, which is co-owned by Croatian and Slovenian state energy companies and has been operating since 1983, is only garnering complaints by NGOs now

'Green' weddings – a Strasbourg myth?

('Annie Rutherford',) — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 17:09:43 -0000

It's meant to be the best day of your life, but this is hardly the case for the environment - just take into account the mountains of waste produced. However, the American trend of 'green weddings', where importance is placed on organic and ecological products from clothes through to food and hairdos, has now reached Europe. Strasbourg-based Caroline Lindenlaub, an ethical wedding dress designer, is a pioneer of the movement

Pigs can fly or the pope is green

('English language version of cafebabel.com',) — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 13:00:00 -0000

Does Benedict XVI really have green fingers? He’s been branded the ‘green pope’ for his advocacy of global environmental protection for years – but is it merited?

Eco-activism: Sea Shepherd puts early stop to Japanese whaling

('Sarah Truesdale',) — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 10:30:00 -0000

Three months of fierce combat in the Antarctic has successfully ended the annual whale hunt in Japan. We first met the US-based conversation society activists during preparations for their grand departure on Operation No Compromise in early December 2010

Caviar: the most expensive food in the world

('Helen Swain',) — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 12:44:47 -0000

When Louis XV spat those viscous fish eggs which Peter the Great had offered him back into the face of the Russian Tsar, the French king did not know that he was turning down a delicacy which was soon to become the most expensive and coveted food in the world. Plus, recipe

Being green: German lifestyles are less sustainable than they'd think

('Carol Howard',) — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 19:35:42 -0000

In Germany sustainability is in. Germans are buying organic yoghurt, separating their rubbish meticulously and not leaving the tap on when they brush their teeth. But, to be honest, they are actually being inconsistent, for they do also sometimes use a low-cost airline to jet across Europe, they cannot resist new trainers and they eat tomatoes in winter. So why are they more eco-friendly in their minds than in reality?

The importance of being eco-ideological in Budapest

('English language version of cafebabel.com',) — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 17:15:42 -0000

Green is in fashion in the Hungarian capital, but the word is often just an empty trunk, a sales argument in a consumer world which forgot its ecological foundations long ago

Sludge-hit Hungary: Europe’s biggest ecological catastrophe since Chernobyl

('Peter Robbins',) — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 16:31:29 -0000

Flour, lemon juice, vinegar, mineral water, detergent, wheelbarrows, gloves, face masks: it's not a shopping list but some of the donations urgently needed by the victims of the environmental catastrophe. cafebabel.com visits the area affected by the toxic sludge to find out how Hungarians have been helping their fellow countrymen

Europe’s hunting witch-hunt

('English language version of cafebabel.com',) — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 10:15:00 -0000

On 15 September the Polish tabloid Fakt published images of president Bronislaw Komorowski hunting, to the rage of animal rights associations - though one of his election promises was to start going hunting with a camera as choice of weapon instead. 'The hobby of our president is killing,' came the cries

Copenhagen climate: what the EU is being asked to commit billions for

('Chris Coxon',) — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 12:20:51 -0000

Confused by talk of CO2 concentration and parts per million? In the run up to Copenhagen, what is all the fuss about climate change?

No binding agreement for Copenhagen climate conference in December

('euro topics',) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:35:06 -0000

At an Asia Pacific economic cooperation (Apec) meeting in Singapore, Danish PM Lars Løkke Rasmussen announced that the agreement has met with opposition from numerous countries. As efforts now focus on a two-phase climate pact, here are some opinions from the Portuguese, Italian, Danish and Swedish press

Greek islands resist fire and cement

('Darren Thompson',) — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 11:39:19 -0000

The Greek islands, so popular among tourists, appear to be surviving the threat posed by excessive construction, something which distinguishes them from their European neighbours. Yet resistance on the islands is not mirrored elsewhere in the country, as urbanisation eats into land susceptible to wild fires

London, Paris, Ghent, Transylvania: cross Europe by bike

('Helen Swain',) — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 08:45:00 -0000

An Italian government eco-initiative offering big discounts on bicycles, a London cafe where you can repair your bike and bike film festivals across the continent - an overview of two-wheeled fun to spin your summer

Cem Özdemir: ‘The biggest disgrace is when the modern generation walks out on its responsibilities’

('Aatish Pattni',) — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 10:30:00 -0000

He joined the green party at 15, and today the 43-year-old is the first non-German native party chairman. His ethnic background has led to the national press giving him the epithet of ‘the green party’s Obama’, and a Facebook group called ‘Yes, we Cem’

Biofuels: how green is the green gold rush in Senegal?

('Helen Swain',) — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 14:00:00 -0000

Europe’s Sustainable Energy Week takes place in Brussels from 9 to 13 February, with biofuel at the centre of the debates. Is it possible for Europe to go green without causing famine in western Africa? Feature

Kyoto Protocol: results and predictions

('Fiona Herdman Smith',) — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 12:00:00 -0000

The European Union ratified the UN-led pact to combat global warming on 31 May 2002, and it came into force on 16 February 2005. How much progress has been made in the fight against CO2?

Bulgarian environmentalists defy developers

('Andrew Christie',) — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 12:00:00 -0000

Hotels and ski resorts: more and more Bulgarians are taking a stand against environmental destruction. The cases of Strandszha park and the Rila mountains in the country's south-west

The pesticide blacklist

('Michelle Williams',) — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 12:14:53 -0000

The European parliament will come to a decision about the burning issue during its first plenary session of the year. Latest titbit news from Brussels

Did you know that 35% of the EU is woods

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 14:00:00 -0000

35% of land in the EU is wooded. As well as being a not inconsiderable source of revenue for the EU, the forestry industry also provides a cheap and green form of heating. Community institutions have certainly taken this into account. in 2006 they announced an action plan to increase the competitiveness of the forestry sector, protect the environment and also acknowledge that forests form a part of Europe’s cultural heritage

Notes from an EU science parliament: ten climate friendly energy tips

('Sarah Turpin',) — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 12:00:00 -0000

The first edition of European science parliament, held in Aachen between 8 - 10 October, dismissed the ‘Aachen Declaration’, a European policy calling for the organisation of a lasting power supply

Mick Jagger advises the EU commission

('Hayley Worsley-Carter',) — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 12:28:00 -0000

Regulating internet music sales and multimedia content on the web, counterfeit medicine and parliament television – the latest news from Brussels. Weekly edition

Estonian view on polluted Baltic Sea

('Mary Maistrello',) — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 15:35:47 -0000

At the end of April Finnish president Tarja Kaarina Halonen sounded the alarm on the risk of the ecological collapse of the Baltic Sea, one of the most polluted in the world. Silver Vahtra, expert from the environment ministry in Tallinn, explains the guidelines of the 2007 Helcom action plan

Europe begins to go green

('Chris Yeomans',) — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 12:00:00 -0000

For an economy to reduce its carbon emissions whilst still continuing to grow requires certain flexibility. Such malleability is going to be necessary when the European Climate and Energy Package comes into being.

Expo Zaragoza 2008 - at boiling point

('Gemma Turner',) — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 10:00:00 -0000

On 14 June the International Zaragoza Expo opens its doors to the public, the sixth time that the exhibition has taken place on European soil in twenty years

A second life for the inhabitants of Chernobyl

('Nicola Bigwood',) — Mon, 24 Apr 2006 14:00:00 -0000

Built 50 km from the Chernobyl plant, the town of Slavutych welcomed inhabitants displaced after the catastrophe of 1986. 20 years on, the ashes still cannot stop burning