Climate protests to mark Trump's 100 days in office

For the second time in a month, tens of thousands of protesters are expected to turn out in Washington Saturday to voice concern over climate change in a mass demonstration marking the 100th day of Donald Trump's presidency.

Trump Signs Executive Order Directing Review of US Offshore Energy Plan

President Donald Trump signed on Friday a new executive order directing the Department of the Interior to conduct a review of existing plans for offshore energy development.

Russia approves program to develop Far East, Baikal region

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on Wednesday signed a decree to approve a state program to develop its Far East and the Baikal region.

Recycling program launched to clean migrant waste trail on Greek island

The huge "mountains" of life jackets and dinghies left behind by thousands of refugees on the beaches of the Greek island of Lesvos over the past year bring hope and possible job opportunities for recession-hit locals as authorities have launched a recycling program this spring to protect the environment and generate revenues.

AI robots will put millions of jobs at risk

 Can the global economy adapt to greater than 50 percent unemployment?...

From Cyprus to Crete

E. Conophagos, N. Lygeros
Translated from the Greek by Angeliki Papadopoulou
When we examine the situations at a geological and an energean level in both Cyprus and Crete, we observe significant proportions which should be also utilized at a regional level, since the overall context is delayed in taking effective decisions. 

Oldest Romanian mine closes after 156 years

The lift rose slowly, bringing workers to the surface for the last time at Romania's Petrila mine, ending production at what was once a proud symbol of the country's coal indusry.

Global tourism grew by more than 4 per cent this year, UN tourism barometer shows

UN, 30 October 2015 – The number of tourists travelling the world during the first eight months of this year reached 810 million, a more than 4 per cent increase from the same period in 2014, thanks to “robust” travel to Europe, according to the United Nations World Tourism Barometer.

Robots attack labor shortage

An array of mechanical arms and complex machines are poised to replace the human assembly line workers at the Everwin Precision Technology Co., which will become the first factory in Guangdong Province to become fully automated under a new "replace human workers with robot workers" policy, China Youth Daily reported.

Robots to Take 30% of Jobs Within a Decade

One-third of jobs now performed by humans will be replaced by software, robots, and smart machines by 2025, according to a prediction by information technology research and advisory firm Gartner.

Boat protest against Canaries oil prospecting

LANZAROTE, Spain: Protesters plunged half-naked into the icy sea and unfurled banners on Saturday (Dec 13) to try to stop oil prospecting near Spain's Canary Islands, a major tourist destination.

Ten boats from the archipelago took protesters eight nautical miles from where Spanish firm Repsol is exploring with a view to possibly drilling off the islands in the Atlantic ocean.

Stephen Hawking: Artificial Intelligence could spell end of human race

World-famous physicist Stephen Hawking told the BBC he believes future developments in artificial intelligence (AI) have the potential to eradicate mankind.
The Cambridge professor, who relies on a form of artificial intelligence to communicate, said if technology could match human capabilities “it would take off on its own, and re-design itself at an ever increasing rate.”

Egypt inks deal with 6 firms to dredge New Suez Canal

Egypt has signed two contracts with a consortium of six international firms for the dredging work of the New Suez Canal alongside the original one, head of the Suez Canal Authority Mohab Memish said on Saturday.

Memish announced the signing at a press conference attended by Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab, saying that they refer to the consortium as "the Challenge Coalition" due to the challenging dredging work they have to accomplish under a tight deadline.

THE TIME TO INVEST IN OCEAN ENERGY IS NOW

(Maria Damanaki, Commissioner for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries)

" It has become clear over the past years that our seas and oceans can generate huge economic growth and create jobs, much needed in these times. That is why we have been working for the past five years on our Blue Growth strategy to foster sustainable blue economy. Ocean energy is part of this strategy. It is a very promising sector, capable to exploit an indigenous, predictable, safe source of clean energy.

TACKLING THE SKILLS GAP IN BLUE CAREERS

(Maria Damanaki, Commissioner for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries)
 - One of the paradoxes of our time is that, while half of our young people are unemployed in the EU, the blue industry has difficulties to find people with the appropriate skills. We know for example that there is a shortage of qualified workers for the growing sector of offshore wind industry.

Considering that the EU needs to be at the forefront of Blue innovation and should not risk being overtaken by competitors, we need to concretely address this skills gap.

Le parlement européen prolonge les droits d'émission de CO2 gratuits pour l'industrie

La commission de l'Environnement du Parlement européen a donné son feu vert mercredi à la liste des industries lourdes qui pourront bénéficier dans les prochaines années de droits d'émission de CO2 gratuits. 

En principe, les entreprises doivent acheter des droits pour le CO2 qu'elles émettent.

 La Commission européenne a toutefois rédigé une liste de secteurs qui peuvent bénéficier de dérogations parce qu'elles subiraient des désavantages concurrentiels sur le marché mondial et risqueraient dès lors de délocaliser leurs activités. 

Interview: how to charge firms for CO2 emissions without it costing jobs (EP)

Charging companies for CO2 emissions can be a great way of encouraging them to become cleaner, but also risks pushing them to move production to somewhere with lower environmental standards. The European Commission aims to prevent the practice known as carbon leakage by continuing to give some allowances away for free. Bas Eickhout proposed to block this decision, saying many industries can afford to pay for the allowances. The environment committee voted against his proposal on 24 September.

Some industrial sectors in the EU are given a substantial share of their CO2 emissions allowances for free, as it is feared they would otherwise relocate if they had to pay for them. The Commission has now prepared a list of sectors at risk of relocating on the assumption of a €30 price per allowance.