Environment

07 June 2021; MEMO: Turkey's environment minister pledged on Sunday to defeat a plague of "sea snot" threatening the Sea of Marmara with a disaster management plan he said would secure its future, reports Reuters.

A thick slimy layer of organic matter, known as marine mucilage, has spread through the sea south of Istanbul, posing a threat to marine life and the fishing industry.

Leh, Jun 5 (PTI) The Union Territory of Ladakh on Saturday signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Convergence Energy Services Ltd for setting up of 5-MW Solar Power Plant at Zanskar in Kargil, an official spokesman said.

The signing ceremony coinciding with World Environment Day was held digitally between Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC), Kargil and CESL in the presence of Lt Governor R K Mathur, the spokesman said.

Srinagar, Jun 5 (PTI) National Conference (NC) President Farooq Abdullah on Saturday said the nation's progress must not come at the cost of the environment.

He also expressed grief over the killing of a four-year-old girl by a leopard in Budgam and demanded action against erring officers.

In his message on the World Environment Day, Abdullah said reckless human activity in the form of deforestation, water and air pollution and overuse of natural resources has imperilled the natural balance in the global environment.

05 June 2021; MEMO: Iraq's Parliamentary Committee for Agriculture, Water and Marshlands reported on Friday that the country loses 100,000 dunams of farmland out of a total of 32 million dunams every year, due to desertification.

A member of the committee, MP Ali Al-Budairi, told the Iraqi News Agency: "Iraq is losing 100,000 dunams of agricultural land every year due to desertification, and there are no real solutions to this problem so far."

NEW YORK (AP) — Exxon Mobil’s shareholders have voted to replace at least two of the company’s 12 board members with directors who are seen as better suited to fight climate change, bolster Exxon’s finances and guide it through a transition to cleaner energy.

Mumbai, May 24 (PTI) All the 274 personnel who were on board barge P305 that sank and tugboat Varaprada that went adrift during Cyclone Tauktae fury have been accounted for with the recovery of 16 bodies along Maharashtra and Gujarat coasts, the Navy said on Monday.

23 May 2021; MEMO: The United Arab Emirates has asked to host the COP 28 international conference on climate change in 2023, Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan said on Sunday, reports Reuters.

The annual Conference of Parties (COP) is the decision-making body responsible for monitoring and reviewing the implementation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

New Delhi, May 22 (PTI) Cyclone Yaas is likely to intensify into a very severe cyclonic storm and cross the Odisha and the West Bengal coasts on May 26, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Saturday.

A low pressure area formed over the east-central Bay of Bengal and the adjoining north Andaman Sea on Saturday.

21 May 2021; MEMO: Greenpeace welcomed a ban by Ankara on imports of most plastic waste after the environmental group said it uncovered exports, some possibly illegal, from Britain and Germany that created "mountains" of trash in southern Turkey, Reuters reported.

The environmental group said its teams visited ten sites in Adana province and found plastic waste – most either burned or on fire – mainly from the United Kingdom, Germany, Poland and other EU countries.

HELSINKI, May 20 (Xinhua) -- Foreign ministers of the eight-member Arctic Council adopted on Thursday a first 10-year strategic plan for the region, in addition to the signing of a Reykjavik Declaration, to mark the Council's 25th anniversary.

The plan reflects the shared values and joint aspirations of the Arctic States and the Permanent Participants, to advance sustainable development, environmental protection, and good governance in the Arctic, said the Council.