Ontario’s Actions

The report recognizes that Ontario is responsible for some transboundary air pollution. The government continues to take strong action and has introduced a number of major initiatives to reduce harmful air emissions, such as smog and greenhouse gases, including:

Next Steps

The findings in the report support Ontario’s position that a multi-jurisdictional strategy is urgently needed to address the significant problem of transboundary air pollution. The strategy should include a combination of domestic measures by individual states and provinces, and joint undertakings.

On June 20, 2005, Ontario is hosting the Shared Air Summit at the University of Toronto where policy makers from Ontario and the United States will meet to discuss transboundary air pollution as well as general air quality issues and their impact on human health, the environment and economy.

es una asociación sin ánimo de lucro, nacida para la promoción y defensa de la Sierra de Baza, como medio físico, biológico y humano, dentro de un desarrollo sostenible.

Y ello a través de, entre otras cosas, la recuperación y protección de la flora y fauna autóctona, del patrimonio arquitectónico, arqueológico e histórico, y de las costumbres y tradiciones populares de los habitantes de la Sierra de Baza.

Nuestra Sierra se ha convertido en un punto de referencia para los amantes de la naturaleza y de las actividades al aire libre, en gran medida a partir de su inclusión en la Red Andaluza de Espacios Naturales Protegidos, con la categoría de PARQUE NATURAL.

El Parque Natural de la Sierra de Baza, con una extensión de mas de 52.000 has., reúne unas 1.500 especies de plantas, de ellas 147 endemismos; unas 30 especies de mamíferos, unas 100 especies de aves; y otras 25 especies de reptiles y anfibios. A ello se une la presencia ininterrumpida del Hombre desde hace mas de 7.000 años, siempre en profunda relación vital con la montaña y los recursos que la naturaleza les brindó; resultado de lo cual es la Sierra de Baza, tal y como hoy la conocemos.

Specific topics covered include:

The information and conclusions contained in ‘Safe Piped Water’ are intended for policy-makers and those responsible for formulating ‘Water Safety Plans’ for the supply of drinking water. This book is also highly relevant to engineers and scientists who are responsible for water supply planning, operations and monitoring.

Seeding Solutions brings readers up to date on what has changed — scientifically, politically, and environmentally — since the publication in 1994 of the landmark People, Plants, and Patents.

Volume 1 offers policymakers a clear description of the facts, the fights, and the fora relevant to the ownership, conservation, and exchange of genetic resources. Readers new to these issues will learn from this book why germplasm is important and how it relates to trade negotiations, intellectual property disputes, and food and health security, both nationally and internationally.

Volume 2 discusses legal mechanisms to address three key issues: (1) the need to conserve and exchange germplasm for the benefit of present and future generations; (2) the need to encourage innovation in the conservation and enhancement of germplasm; and (3) new options for securing and strengthening the rights and interests of indigenous and rural peoples in their role as creators and conservers of biological diversity.

THE AUTHOR

The Crucible II Group is:

From civil society organizations (including indigenous peoples' organizations): Alejandro Argumedo, Margarita Florez, Glen Hearns, Dan Leskien, Atencio Lopez, Andrew Mushita, Gurdhial Singh Nijar, Rene Salazar, Priscilla Settee, Hope Shand

From private sector and industry: Don Duvick, Klaus Leisinger, Brian Lowry, Radha Ranganathan, P.V. Subba Rao, Tim Roberts, Reinhard Von Broock

From the public sector: Tewolde Egziabher Gebre Behran, Lim Engsiang, Geoffrey Hawtin, Mita Manek, Nora Olembo, Vo Tuan Xuan, Nuno Pires de Carvalho, Gesa Horstkotte-Wesseler, Louise Sperling

From academia: Assiah Bensalah Alaoui, Carlos Correa, Michael Flitner, Cary Fowler, Jaap Hardon, Francisco Martinez-Gomez, Michael Pimbert

The management committee: Susan Bragdon, Chusa Gines, Christine Grieder, Michael Halewood (co-ordinator), Pat Mooney, Olle Nordberg, Vicky Tauli-Corpuz, Carl-Gustaf Thornström, Beate Weiskopf, Joachim Voss (chair)

Joseph Henry VOGEL (ed.)

The Convention on Biological Diversity has inspired much hope that those countries and communities rich in biodiversity will be compensated when their resources and knowledge are deployed in biotechnology. The Biodiversity Cartel explains how these aspirations can be realized within the existing legal framework of intellectual property rights and without sui generis legislation.

Today the greatest threat to sustainability is no longer biopiracy per se but something far more insidious: the biofraud inherent to all bilateral contracts between a corporation and just one supplier. These contracts fuel a price war denying everyone the possibility of garnering an economic rent. The authors propose a cartel as a solution where the price of access is fixed and the benefits distributed among all who could have supplied the same resource or knowledge. The construction of a cartel will be no easy task. The communities must become artificial persons and grant prior informed consent before collecting any ethnobotanical data. Then the data must be filtered with the published literature to ascertain whether it may qualify as a trade secret and be negotiated by the cartel. Each step is complex and the ensemble constitutes a huge commitment that will require tenacity by both the communities involved and the competent state authority. Toward these objectives, this book serves as a manual.

You can download this document from here:

http://www.josephvogel.com/cartel/paginas/framecartel.asp?idsec=3&idioma=2

Dr. B.G. Warner is a professor at the University of Waterloo. C.D.A. Rubec is a researcher at the Canadian Wildlife Service, Environment Canada.

A series of keys, descriptions, some new names, diagrams, and colour photographs are featured in this new edition.

This publication can be downloaded free of charge from www.portofentry.com/Wetlands.pdf.

La version française peut être téléchargée de www.portofentry.com/frenchWetlands.pdf

This workshop resulted in the report, Threats to Water Availability in Canada, a companion document to the 2001 report Threats to Sources of Drinking Water and Aquatic Ecosystem Health in Canada.

aboutREMEDIATION partnered with the Canadian Brownfields Network, government agencies and private industry to develop the Ontario Municipal Brownfields Redevelopment Toolbox as a pilot project for Canadian communities. According to Tammy Lomas-Jylhä, General Manager, aboutREMEDIATION, "This resource guide has been prepared to assist municipalities in understanding the process of redevelopment and creating an awareness of the significant role they play in motivating and championing brownfields redevelopment in their communities. Municipalities can use and adapt components of the Toolbox to address their specific needs".

"The emerging interest in Brownfield redevelopment has created a real need for municipalities and other interested parties to understand these opportunities in order to respond effectively and creatively", says Harry Dahme, Senior Partner, Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP. In Ontario, municipalities are starting to "re-think" community growth and planning by incorporating concepts of "re-use", and "re-vitalization" into Community Improvement Plans. But, many of these municipalities are in the early stages of brownfield redevelopment and require assistance, resources and tools to guide them through the process. "The Brownfields Toolbox was developed to address this need and focuses on the common elements of many recently developed brownfield strategies", notes Dave Harper, Brownfields Practice Leader, Jacques Whitford Environmental Ltd.

The Ontario Brownfields Toolbox is comprised of three components. The 10 Key Elements of a Redevelopment Strategy describes the basic elements municipalities should consider when creating a vision for community improvement and brownfields redevelopment. The Brownfields Decision Tree outlines the steps to redevelopment in a flow chart format, in accordance with the legislative and policy framework that municipalities must operate within. The 5 Steps to Redevelopment is the foundation of the Brownfields Toolbox and focuses on Community Readiness, Evaluation, Transaction, Implementation and Site Management. Common challenges and issues are identified in each step, along with practical tips and solutions to help municipalities address them.

"Gowling Lafleur Henderson was a proud participant in drafting the Toolbox. We hope that municipalities and others find it to be a useful resource that increases the redevelopment of underutilized properties and lands", states Harry Dahme.

"The Toolbox will allow progressive municipalities to partner with creative developers and property owners to benefit from the redevelopment of Brownfields sites within their communities. Jacques Whitford enjoyed the opportunity to be a Toolbox partner, and supports brownfield revitalization by assessing and quantifying environmental risks", says Dave Harper.

Plans are underway to expand and customize the Toolbox to meet the needs of other stakeholders and provinces and to accelerate brownfields redevelopment across Canada. Opportunities are available for companies to participate in the Toolbox by showcasing and promoting their products and services, and assisting in the development of expanded versions.

• Chromium Plating Overview
• Regulatory Requirements
• Hexavalent Chromium Technology
  • Non-Chromium Alternatives
• Trivalent Chromium Technology
  • Vendors
  • P2 for Trivalent Chromium Baths
  • Current Research on Trivalent Chromium Baths
• Benefits and Challenges
• Costs
• Summary of Case Studies
• References
• Contacts for More Information

Today, more than 1 billion people lack access to safe drinking water. Within the next 25 years, fully one-third of the world’s population will experience severe water scarcity. It is clear that disparities in the availability and supply of fresh water are truly a matter of life and death, and constitute one of the great governance imperatives of our time.

This publication summarizes the results of three decades of IDRC-supported research on water supply. It demonstrates that some of the most powerful responses to water scarcities have been mounted at the community or local level — in households, farmers’ fields, villages, and city neighbourhoods. With a focus on research findings, and failures, this book presents solidly grounded propositions for decision-makers and for researchers. It goes on to form a series of clear and pointed recommendations for policy design and future research efforts, and concludes with an eye to the future of water supply and a presentation of some of the key resources in the field.

The book also serves as the focal point for a IDRC thematic Web site on water: www.idrc.ca/water. The full text is available online and leads the reader into a true web of resources that represent IDRC’s 30 years of experience in water-related research.

THE AUTHOR

David B. Brooks is a specialist in natural resources who works with the International Development Research Centre in Ottawa, Canada. Dr Brooks has a background in geology and economics and was the founding director of Canada's Office of Energy Conservation, Dr Brooks worked for 6 years with Friends of the Earth and then for 5 years as a principal with the firm of Marbek Resource Consultants Ltd. His main research interests lie in ways to move toward more sustainable development in the production and use of minerals, energy, and water. His most recent books are Watershed: The Role of Fresh Water in the Israeli–Palestinian Conflict (IDRC 1994), which he coauthored, Management of Water Demand in Africa and the Middle East (IDRC 1997), which he coedited, and Water Balances in the Eastern Mediterranean (IDRC 2000), which he also coedited. In conversation: David Brooks

Although the investment requirements are large (it is estimated that the effort will cost US$11.3 billion each year until 2015), the report emphasizes the financial and emotional payback that achieving that goal will bring.

In a year that begins the International Decade of Action, Water for Life, the JMP 2005 report charts the effects of lack of drinking water and sanitation - a condition that plagues some 1 billion and 2.4 billion people, respectively - with special regard to gender issues; the report also studies the various actions that have been implemented, and looks at progress towards international targets.

Said UNICEF Executive Director Ann Veneman, 'While the world is on track to meet its safe water targets, progress on basic sanitation, in terms of the number of people who need to gain access to sanitation facilities each year for the first time, needs to accelerate by at least 58 percent between now and 2015 to meet the Millennium target.'

The JMP 2005 report underscores the particular needs of South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, where demand and poverty are greatest: in order to meet the goal, South Asia must supply an additional 42 million people with sanitation every year, and Africa 27 million.

SDC Chairman Jonathon Porritt said: “Climate change will have a devastating impact unless urgent action is taken to boost the contribution of renewables, alongside energy efficiency measures. For this to happen, good decision-making is needed, and this requires reliable, up to date information, based on the best available scientific evidence. We believe wind power is a critically important part of the overall energy mix, and hope that this authoritative guide will ensure wind power is harnessed in the most responsible way to ensure that emissions of carbon dioxide are reduced”.

As well as acting as a practical guide for those involved in wind farm development, the report says:

• The UK has the best and most geographically diverse wind resources in Europe, more than enough to meet current renewable energy targets

• Technological advances mean there are no limits to the amount of wind capacity that can be added to an electricity system

• Planners and decision-makers should involve communities in effective public consultation from an early stage, and their concerns must be addressed; solutions exist to many such issues

• Onshore wind is one of the cheapest forms of renewable energy and increasing supply to 20 per cent by 2020 would present only a very modest increase in cost for consumers that compares well with other energy sources. Indeed, as fossil fuel prices increase and wind turbines become cheaper to build, wind power may even become one of the cheapest forms of electricity generation over the next 15 years

• Wind power will displace fossil-fuelled plant, and there is no need for dedicated ‘backup’ plant to cope with wind

• Wind farms have been most successful where good working partnerships are formed

Commissioner and Chair of SDC’s Energy and Transport Steering Group, Dr Bernard Bulkin said: “The development of onshore wind power is essential if we are to meet the Government’s renewable energy targets, as part of a broader programme to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. This report shows that wind energy, both on and offshore, has a huge potential resource – more than enough to meet current targets. Support for wind power needs to go hand in hand with a push for much greater energy efficiency – in transport, households and the public sector”.

Commenting in the report foreword, Sir Tom Blundell, former Chairman of the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution, says: “I am pleased to note that the SDC report confirms that wind is both the cheapest and one of the most abundant of the UK's renewable resources. At current levels of gas prices, and certainly if credit is given for its carbon-free status in line with current Government estimates of the social cost of carbon, it is already cost-competitive with gas-fired electricity on the best onshore wind sites, and seems likely to be the cheapest of all forms of power generation by 2020 on such sites, even without a carbon credit”.

One example in the report is Black Law in Scotland, where ScottishPower and RSPB Scotland established a way of working together to integrate habitat enhancement with wind farm development. According to RSPB Scotland Director, Stuart Housden: “Black Law highlights the benefits of finding wind farm sites where there are no conflicts with conservation interests... given the wind farm did not present a significant threat to bird life, and following detailed negotiations… we have together secured a really positive project that brings significant environmental benefits to the area”.