The Stockholm International Peace and Security Institute says that although the security implications of climate change have increasingly been debated by the UN Security Council, there are growing concerns about the UN’s overall response. In a new policy brief, SIPRI looks at how the climate security debate has evolved and highlights three priorities for action. [node:read-more:link]
Recent drone attacks on Saudi Arabian petroleum facilities evidently are raising concerns about the prospect of similar strikes against other strategic facilities. The extensive damage has spiked an increase in global oil prices. [node:read-more:link]
The Department of Defense has until January 2020 to submit final findings and recommendations on the proposed cleanup of carcinogenic fluoroalkyls which have been confirmed in the water supplies of at least 297 U.S. military bases. A task force set up by Defense Secretary Mark Esper in July has completed initial research. [node:read-more:link]
Jens Stoltenberg, the Dane who has been Secretary General of NATO since 2014, worries about Middle East tensions rising after the weekend drone attack on Saudi Arabia’s main oil-processing facility. While there’s an ongoing argument about who was responsible, Stoltenberg said Iran is “destabilizing” the region. [node:read-more:link]
The cost of dealing with “forever chemical” contamination leaching into watersheds from U.S. military facilities is expected to surpass a initial estimate of $2 billion. The admission comes as Congress prepares to discussion draft budget legislation. [node:read-more:link]
Plans for a protest against a proposed third runway at London Heathrow airport, which would have seen drones flown within a no-fly zone, evidently fell apart after two persons were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit a public nuisance. Airport authorities say no commercial traffic was affected. [node:read-more:link]
The federal government's latest Arctic strategy includes promises profound change but one policy researcher says it’s short on detail. He says that there is nothing new in the current administration’s approach, that it basically retiterates commitments by previous administrations in Ottawa. [node:read-more:link]
A wildfire in the hills of the Deodoro Region in Rio de Janeiro has raised some concerns for the Olympics. As the winds have been gaining strength, a close eye needs to be kept on this fire. [node:read-more:link]
Today, complete with a First Nations ceremony, the Kitsilano Coast Guard Base on the BC coast was officially re-opened. [node:read-more:link]
The Government of Canada creates an expert panel on measuring Canada’s progress in building its resilience to climate change. The panel will also support the federal government in better communicating to Canadians how we are preparing for and adapting to the current and future impacts of climate change. [node:read-more:link]
After initially refusing a G7 offer to help his country with fires in the Amazon rainforest unless his French counterpart apologized for calling him a liar about climate change, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has decided to accept the offer. Equivalent to nearly $33 million, it was announced by President Emmanuel Macron as host of the 2019 G7 summit. [node:read-more:link]
As global attention has been focused on fires burning in the Brazilian Amazon, neighbouring Bolivia is battling at least 20,000 blazes in its share of the Amazon as well as a southeastern region of forests, prairies and farmland. [node:read-more:link]
Fastenal Canada Ltd., of Kitchener, Ontario, was fined $265,000 after pleading guilty in the Ontario Court of Justice to two counts of contravening the Ozone-Depleting Substances Regulations, 1998 made pursuant to the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999. [node:read-more:link]
Seaspan Ferries Corporation officially welcomed two new, state-of-the-art dual-fuelled/hybrid vessels to its fleet today during a double commissioning ceremony held at Seaspan's Tilbury Terminal. [node:read-more:link]
Widespread forest fires in Brazil’s Amazon basin is an international crisis which should be an issue at the G-7 Summit in France, say French President Emmanual Macron and German Chancellor Angela. Brazilian President Jair counters that the other leaders’ stance evokes a “colonial mindset.” [node:read-more:link]
