Europe

DEVEX   by Richard Jones                                                         March 17, 2015

(scroll down for link to EU statement.)

As the death toll from Ebola now tops 10,000 in West Africa, donors and aid implementers are figuring out how to best transition from the emergency to the recovery phase of the crisis.

Top EU and U.N. officials, leaders of Ebola-affected nations and representatives from the African Union, nongovernmental organizations, the private sector and the scientific community met in Brussels, Belgium, earlier this month to make progress on this goal. They agreed to embark on the design of a road map to help the economies of Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia get back on track, starting with the priority task of rebuilding health systems.

But that, of course, will be no easy feat.

“We are at a really crucial stage of the real fight against Ebola, because this is a turning point when the emergency stage or the emergency response or medical response to Ebola containment is now turning into coordinating and structuring the long-term recovery program,” European Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development Neven Mimica said in an exclusive interview with Devex at the Palais d’Egmont in Brussels.

greenbiz.com - April 17, 2014

Wednesday was a historic day in Europe, where a new law will require its biggest companies to include sustainability factors as part of their annual financial report.

In a 599-55 vote, the European Parliament passed the law, which applies to publicly traded companies with more than 500 employees. They must address "policies, risks and results" in relation to "social, environmental and human rights impact, diversity and anti-corruption policies" in their annual reports.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Global Reporting Initiative - About Sustainability Reporting

ALSO SEE - The EU law on non-financial reporting - how we got there

bbc.co.uk - Alpa Patel reports - February 4, 2014

A quarter of Slovenians have been left without electricity, as parts of Europe battle some of the worst winter blizzards for decades.

Around 40% of the country's schools have been closed, transport is disrupted and residents in some areas have been advised not to drink tap water.

Parts of Croatia, Serbia, and Germany have also been severely affected by snow.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-26028321

European Parliament - ecowatch.com - January 15, 2014

The most hazardous plastics and certain plastic bags should be banned by 2020, as part of an EU strategy to reduce plastic waste in the environment, says the European Parliament in a resolution voted yesterday. The EU should also introduce binding plastic waste recycling targets, Members of European Parliament (MEPs) add.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)