Overview of news items 2008
Here you will find the news items of the selected year listed in chronological order.
No more augmentation of acidifying and eutrophying depositions
Newsitem | 31-12-2008
Until now, the calculated acidifying and eutrophying depositions were augmented to incorporate, for example, natural emissions and emission from outside of Europe. Recently, the contributions from these sources have been re-estimated. Future deposition ... read more
2006 More than 60% of Europeans live in zones were air-quality thresholds for PM10 are being exceeded
Newsitem | 17-12-2008
Sixty percent of the EU27 population lives in zones were the daily PM10 limit value is being exceeded. For nitrogen dioxide (annual limit value) and ozone (8-hour maximum health target value), the percentages are 50 and 46 percent of the ... read more
Climate: Developing countries have to cut emissions by 15 to 30 percent
Newsitem | 08-12-2008
Studies from IPCC and the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency show that industrialised countries can achieve stabilisation at 450 ppm, if their emissions are reduced by 25 to 40% below 1990 levels, by 2020. Developing countries need to reduce ... read more
Not all climate measures have a favourable effect on air quality
Newsitem | 30-10-2008
Overall, for air quality, the Dutch climate policy plan ‘Clean and Efficient’ (Schoon en Zuinig) appears to work out well. However, its effect on air quality also remains largely uncertain, partly due to uncertainties around the effectiveness of i ... read more
Chance of holding the Frisian Eleven-City Ice-Skating Marathon diminishes further
Newsitem | 24-10-2008
While in 1950 the chances of realising an ‘Elfstedentocht’ (Frisian Eleven-City Ice-Skating Marathon) were once every 4 years, scientists expect an Elfstedentocht once every 18 years for the present. This is evident from an article published t ... read more
Adaptation to future climate change
Newsitem | 07-10-2008
Even the most stringent of climate policies will not be able to prevent global warming entirely, according to a new analysis. In addition to efforts to reduce anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, D.P. van Vuuren (Netherlands Environmental Assessment ... read more
Land becomes increasingly scarce
Newsitem | 10-09-2008
Global targets for development and the environment will not be achieved if current trends are to continue. Analyses in IPCC Climate Change 2007, UNEP Global Environment Outlook 4, OECD Environmental Outlook to 2030 and the IAASTD Agriculture Assessment ... read more
Poverty reduction, climate change and biodiversity loss to be tackled as an integrated global problem
Newsitem | 22-07-2008
The world is too small to simultaneously produce enough food (including meat) for everyone and to deliver biofuels on a large enough scale to slow down climate change and maintain biodiversity. The Netherlands in a Sustainable World (second sustainability ... read more
Global CO2 emissions increased by 3% in 2007; China contributing two-thirds to increase
Newsitem | 13-06-2008
In 2007, global emissions of the carbon dioxide (CO2) from fossil fuel use and cement production increased by 3.1%; in 2006 the emissions increased by 3.5%. High fuel prices worldwide and relatively warm winters in Europe and Asia have mitigated ... read more
Bioenergy has long-term potential
Newsitem | 11-06-2008
Potentially, biomass can make a major contribution to the global energy demand in the long term. In 2050, possibly 25-40% of future world energy demand could be produced by making use of crop residues and the production of specific energy crops. It ... read more
Policy gap will have large consequences for biodiversity
Newsitem | 29-05-2008
The 2010 targets for biodiversity will not be reached under continuation of the present biodiversity policies. The absence of additional biodiversity policies could come at a considerable price, sometime in the future. That is because natural systems ... read more
Halting biodiversity loss in the Netherlands seems unlikely
Newsitem | 20-05-2008
The Member States of the European Union have set a target to halt the loss of biodiversity by 2010. An evaluation of the progress towards the 2010-target in the Netherlands shows that in the Netherlands the loss of biodiversity is not halted, but slowing ... read more
Energy security, air pollution, and climate change: an integrated cost-benefit approach
Newsitem | 24-04-2008
A combined cost-benefit analysis on energy security, local air pollution and global climate change - three closely related problems, as they are driven by fossil energy - shows that integrated policies can generate net welfare benefits. Furthermore, ... read more
Responsibility greenhouse gas emissions of Member States shifts to European level
Newsitem | 23-04-2008
National targets for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions will become less important when the proposals by the European Commission on Climate and Energy, released earlier this year, will be approved by the European Parliament and the European ... read more
New webdossier launched today: integral nitrogen
Newsitem | 25-03-2008
Through the new web dossier “Integral Nitrogen” MNP communicates its international publications and activities related to nitrogen. Nitrogen compounds (reactive nitrogen) are accumulating in the environment on all local and regional scales, causing ... read more
International Environmental Policy stands no chance without Brazil, Russia, India and China
Newsitem | 05-03-2008
International environmental policy has a chance of succeeding, only if Brazil, Russia, India and China participate, and if swift action is taken; only then will it be affordable and feasible. The OECD Environmental Outlook to 2030 projects that world ... read more
Current biofuels do not add to the sustainability of transport
Newsitem | 04-03-2008
The climate has more to gain from converting biomass into electricity, than to use it to replace petrol or diesel. Therefore, proposals to replace current transport fuels by biofuels are not the best investment in sustainability. This is shown in the ... read more
Global developments largely determine rural Europe's future
Newsitem | 19-02-2008
The future of Europe’s rural areas will largely be determined by autonomous global driving forces like macroeconomic growth and demographic developments. This is the outcome of EUruralis 2.0, a study of -among other things- the impact of strategic ... read more
Empirical critical loads of nitrogen confirm European wide exceedances
Newsitem | 31-01-2008
The risk of deposition of nutrient nitrogen in Europe, including Natura 2000 areas, is underpinned by a novel compilation of empirical critical loads and uncertainty analysis inspired by the IPCC. Collaboration with the network under the Convention ... read more
Euro VI standards for heavy-duty vehicles will benefit local air quality
Newsitem | 28-01-2008
The Euro VI proposal of the European Commission specifies the new emission standards for trucks and busses. In the Netherlands, the Euro VI emission standards will lead to local improvements in air quality with respect to nitrogen dioxide (NO2), ... read more
EU 2020 climate target requires five-fold increase in impact of CO2 policies
Newsitem | 16-01-2008
MNP has estimated that without environmental policies in the EU between 1990 and 2005, emissions of the six greenhouse gases under the Kyoto Protocol would have been approximately 7 % higher in 2005 than they were in reality. Achieving the 2020 EU ... read more
