Border controls used to address illegal fishing in Australia

Australia’s Minister for Home Affairs attributes tough border control measures to dramatic reduction in illegal foreign fishing. According to a story in the Sydney Morning Herald, the Minister told reporters that, “In 2006 there were 367 vessels, almost 3000 foreign fishers, apprehended in our waters.” However, the article notes that only eleven vessels have been intercepted so far this financial year and only 69 foreign fishers have been apprehended.

Click here for the whole story: http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/border-control-reduces-illegal-fishing-20110429-1dzv8.html

Consumer Electronics Industry Sets Itself Billion Pound eCycling Challenge

flickr user johnjmatlock

At an event last week in Washington, DC,  the eCycling Leadership Initiative was formed with participation from the Consumer Electronics Association, Best Buy Co. Inc., Panasonic Corporation of North America, Sony Electronics Inc. and Toshiba America Information Systems Inc., among others.

According to their press release, at the meeting, consumer electronics industry leaders kicked off the first nationwide electronics recycling initiative, with the goal of recycling a billion pounds of electronics annually by 2016. One billion pounds of obsolete electronics, if not properly recycled, would fill enough 50-foot tractor trailers to stretch 475 miles or completely fill a 71,000-seat football stadium.

For the full article, visit: http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/apr2011/2011-04-13-091.html

UN Meeting Pushes for Stronger Measures to Protect Gorillas

According to reports, for the first time ever, UN agencies, national governments in the region, local wildlife authorities, non-governmental organizations and international experts came together last week at a meeting in Kigali, Rwanda, to deal with wildlife crime threatening endangered gorillas.

Experts from governments, as well as  the Great Apes Survival Partnership (GRASP), INTERPOL, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), and TRAFFICjoined the Convention on Migratory Species in reviewing the current conservation activities affecting the four sub-species of gorillas in East and Central Africa.  Discussions included solutions to address the major threat of commercial poaching for bushmeat and live trade in gorillas.

For the full article, please click here: http://tinyurl.com/3zlrtlr

copyright flickr user __Wichid__

Israel Approves Environmental Enforcement Law

Copyright: Yan Vugenfirer

The Environmental Enforcement Law, initiated by the Ministry of Environmental Protection, was approved for second and third readings by the Knesset Internal Affairs and Environmental Protection Committee on March 14, 2011.

The law applies the inspection powers of the ministry to the State and its agencies, including the Israel Defense Forces and defense agencies (which will be subject to a separate enforcement procedure). In addition, the law widens the powers of the ministry’s environmental inspectors, including the authority to enter a premise, take samples and measurements, seize any object linked to the environmental offense and conduct investigations.

Full story: http://bit.ly/h3zF5N

Fraud in Electronics Take-back

FAKE RECYCLERS PROFIT OFF E-WASTE

GEEP, March 9, 2011. Analysis by David Teeghman

http://news.discovery.com/tech/fake-recyclers-profit-off-e-waste.html

Important to know where your obsolete electronics end up. Recycling your electronic waste is a noble idea, but here’s the dirty little secret: even if you drop off your old electronics for recycling, it may never get recycled.

As OSNews’ Howard Fosdick describes some people fall victim to a scam called “fake recycling,” and just describing it leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.

Fake recyclers are organizations that approach well-meaning community groups like the Boy Scouts or the Make-a-Wish Foundation to help run a local “Recycling Day.” The idea is that people from the community will bring in their old electronics to the legitimate organization’s Recycling Day event. The fake recycler will then haul that e-waste away, and export it to another country with lax environmental regulations.

What’s in it for them? According to the Electronics TakeBack Coalition, “Recyclers can make more money by exporting than they can by actually responsibly recycling. This is particularly true for recyclers who are collecting televisions, because it costs money to properly recycle old televisions. But they can get paid for exporting them.”

This story from the Basel Action Network details how Cartoosa, OK-based company, EarthEcycle allegedly conned the Humane Society and several other groups into running a “Recycle Day” Event, and then exported the goods to Hong Kong and South Africa. Last year, the EPA filed charges (download EarthECycle complaint) against the company for violating at least seven federal hazardous waste management regulation.

The EPA found other companies located in the state of Washington and Texas as well as in New Jersey illegally disposing of electronic waste

Full article available at: http://news.discovery.com/tech/fake-recyclers-profit-off-e-waste.html

Freeland Foundation Releases Wildlife Enforcement Newsletter

The Bangkok-based Freeland Foundation, an organization working to strengthen the protection of wildlife, combat illegal wildlife trafficking, and reduce consumption of threatened wildlife, released its Fall 2010 Newsletter, focusing on capacity building and awareness raising across Asia.

Articles look at recent events, including a working meeting in Bangkok to identify and stop global wildlife trafficking syndicates; new efforts by Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia, and Vietnam to take enforcement actions against wildlife crimes; and other activities.

Access the newsletter on Freeland Foundation’s web site.

World’s police at INTERPOL General Assembly rally against environmental crime

From Interpol:

DOHA, Qatar – Senior police representatives from agencies worldwide attending INTERPOL’s 79th General Assembly have unanimously backed a resolution encouraging greater global policing efforts against environmental crime through INTERPOL’s Environmental Crime Programme.

The resolution called upon the national law enforcement authorities of INTERPOL’s 188 member countries to recognize that ‘environmental crime is not restricted by borders and involves organized crime networks which engage in other crime types, including murder, corruption, fraud and theft’. It noted that there is a vital need for a global response and that INTERPOL should play a leading role in supporting national and international enforcement against environmental crime, which encompasses activities ranging from illegal trade in wildlife, timber and marine species, to illegal transborder movements of hazardous waste, and the illicit exploitation of natural resources.

Read the full press release at Interpol’s web site or on the CITES Secretariat web site.  See also the Statement by John Scanlon, Secretary-General, CITES to the 79th Interpol General Assembly.

Webcast: “The Porter Hypothesis at 20: How Can Environmental Regulation Enhance Innovation and Competitiveness?”

SustainableProsperity.ca will host a webcast on Monday, 28 June 2010, from 12:20-2:00 p.m. EST on “The Porter Hypothesis at 20: How Can Environmental Regulation Enhance Innovation and Competitiveness?”

The webcast will feature keynote speaker Prof Michael Porter of Harvard University (seen by many as the world’s top competitiveness expert), followed by an International Experts Panel chaired by Cassie Doyle, Deputy Minister, Natural Resources Canada, with Prof Daniel Esty (Yale University), Prof Bernard Sinclair-Desgagné (HEC Montréal) and Prof Mikael Skou-Andersen (European Environment Agency).  They will discuss how environmental regulations can be designed to boost innovation and competitiveness.

After the keynote and panellists, there will be a Q&A period, with opportunities for those participating by webcast to pose their questions.

For an article describing the implications of the “Porter Hypothesis” to the practice of environmental compliance, please see this chapter introduction from Making Law Work. A background paper, Porter Hypothesis at 20: Chairs Paper, is also available from SustainableProsperity that summarizes international research on the Porter Hypothesis.

To participate, visit www.sustainableprosperity.ca.