Media-Web, May 2013
Dirty Gold: Crisis Has Europe Clamoring to Mine | Spiegel Online (26 April 2013)
By Luke Dale-Harris – “There is gold to be found across Europe, but the correlation between those countries now moving to exploit, and those hit worst by the sovereign debt crisis is clear. Since last year, the Portuguese government has signed 95 separate contracts with mining companies, with the priority given to gold and silver. In Greece, the government's opening up of its gold deposits to a Canadian company has sparked violent protests reported around the world. In Bulgaria and Turkey, gold mining has been growing exponentially since mining laws were recently liberalized.
EU leaders to square the circle of cheap energy | Euractiv (13 May 2013)
“Competitiveness, in the EU energy policy context, translates into a re-thinking of the Union’s climate policies.
Recently, the powerful employers’ group BusinessEurope called on European Commission President José Manuel Barroso to radically shift the EU's energy policy away from climate change mitigation towards cost-competitiveness and security of supply. [more]
The Draft Conclusions say that the EU's goal is to ensure “a level playing field for business and industry”, so they can compete in the global marketplace, having regard inter alia to the impact of carbon leakage”.
“Carbon leakage" is jargon for the relocation of European businesses abroad because of the comparative advantage they may gain from looser climate regimes.”
Put the Environment at the Center of the Global Economy: An Argument for the Eco-Currency | The Hankyoreh (14 May 2013)
By Emanuel Pastreich, Professor of Humanitas College in Kyung Hee University – “The solution to both the problem of currency and of climate change is obvious: we must hardwire the health of the ecosystem directly to the standard measurements of economic health so that the state of the environment is immediately visible in all economic transactions. Global finance, trade and investment must all be conducted within a system that makes the preservation of the climate, rather than profit, the highest priority.
One possible approach is the introduction of a global “eco-currency.” The international community would establish an international currency, an “eco-currency,” whose value is linked directly to the state of the climate (both globally and locally) and that currency would serve either as a universal currency within which international transactions take place, or it could be a factor that significantly impacts all the global currencies.”
Israeli green group faces closure due to funding woes | Haaretz (6 May 2013)
“Around four years after the worst of the global economic crisis, foundations are still not opening their wallets…. One of the most important environmental organizations in northern Israel says it faces imminent closure after failing to raise enough money to continue operations.”
Divesting from coal is not ideology but climate science – a reminder for the EBRD Inter BankWatch Network (14 May 2013)
“If the EBRD believes in a low-carbon transition and indeed wants to act as a responsible “active citizen” (Mr. Puliti) it should invest in projects that enable the fundamental shifts in industrial, institutional, social and political relationships that are needed in our region for an effective response to the climate threat. Anything less than that will not be fit for purpose.”
Q&A: Reworking Finance to Serve People and the Environment | Inter Press Service (21 May 2013)
“The wake of the global financial crisis, as many national governments in Europe cut back on services to citizens and used public money to rescue banks, taught many people a valuable lesson.
…. Unfortunately Europe nowadays means almost exclusively austerity, sacrifices and the like. Even worse, we see a Europe of the common currency, of the common markets, of the free movement of capital, but there is no social Europe.”
For more information, please contact Theodota Nantsou, Head of Policy, WWF Greece, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., +30 6940527556