EU: Commission Guidelines on Wind Energy in Protected Areas

The European Commission has produced new guidelines aimed at avoiding conflict between wind energy development and biodiversity conservation in Natura 2000 protected areas. They highlight the importance of strategic planning and the need for good quality appropriate assessment of new developments. The guidelines contain examples of best practice, and show how wind energy developments can avoid damage to nature sensitive areas. Wind energy developments and Natura 2000

InforMEA

InforMea is an online collection of the 12 Global Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEA) designed to facilitate continued exchange of knowledge management activities of the MEA’s for the benefit the Parties and the environmental community as a whole. Overseen by UNEP, InforMEA was the first project established by this initiative. It establishes agreed to information exchange standards and aggregates data and information harvested from participating MEAs, including: COP/MOP Decisions, Resolutions and Recommendations, News and Events, Calendars, contact details of National Focal Points and Official Documents.

ICJ: Australia v. Japan

The International Court of Justice has fixed time-limits or the filing of the initial pleadings in the case concerning Whaling in the Arctic (Australia v. Japan). Australia has until 9 May 2011 to file a Memorial and Japan will have until 9 March 2012 to file a Counter-Memorial. The history of the proceedings can be found in Press Release No. 2010/16 of 1 June 2010 at www.icj-cij.org.

ICJ: Whaling in the Antarctic

Australia instituted proceedings before the ICJ on 1 June, 2010 alleging that:

“Japan's continued pursuit of a large scale programme of whaling under the 2^nd Phase of its Japanese Whale Research Programme under Special Permit in the Antarctic (“JARPA”) [is] in breach of obligations assumed by Japan under the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (ICRW), as well as its other international obligations for the preservation of marine mammals and marine environment.”

See press release No. 2010/16 at www.icj-cij.org for more details.