EU Parliament backs new carbon cuts

Members of the European Parliament have agreed a proposal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions under the Paris agreement. The plan will help the EU to achieve its commitment to reduce emissions by 40% by 2030 - from 1990 levels. The strategy includes sectors not covered by the EU carbon market, i.e. agriculture, transport, building and waste, which together account for about 60% of the EU’s CO2 emissions. MEPs also recommended an incentive to reward early action by EU governments with GDP per capita below the EU average. Read more

Fish are leaving the tropics

Leading fisheries expert Daniel Pauly has warned that fish are leaving tropical waters due to the expansion of fishing activities and global warming. Dr Pauly, a marine biologist and leader of the Sea Around Us research organisation, called for a new plan to manage fishing levels as climate change, fishing and pollution are affecting fish species in the Australian tropics but also globally. According to Pauly, there is an imminent need for a global mitigation plan that addresses the creation of more marine reserves and focuses on fisheries data. “In temperate areas you will have the fish coming from a warmer area, and another one leaving. In the tropics you don’t have the replacement, you have only fish leaving,” he said. Read more

International operation leads to capture of wildlife smugglers

A three-year international operation against wildlife traffickers in Africa has led to the arrest of suspected ringleader Gakou Fodie and seven other smugglers. The intelligence co-operation work began in Singapore after the seizure in 2014 of a 1-tonne shipment of elephant tusks from Uganda, bound for Laos. Law enforcement and customs agencies, Interpol, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, and Bangkok-based counter-trafficking organisation Freeland tracked down the criminal syndicate. Fodie, who was detained on the Kenya-Uganda border, has been extradited to Tanzania for trial. Read article in Straits Times