13/12/2010 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
Lord Prescott (United Kingdom, SOC), PACE’s rapporteur on climate change, has welcomed the package of decisions agreed at the UN global climate change talks in Cancún, describing them as “a small but important step for mankind”. Mr Prescott, who played a key role in negotiating the 1997 Kyoto Accord on behalf of the EU, attended the talks along with Alan Meale (United Kingdom, SOC).
26/11/2010 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
“One of the conclusions of our conference could be the assertion that nuclear energy is in a good position to meet the energy requirements of our societies, for it is plentiful and does not contribute to global warming. But the production and management of such an energy source, intrinsically dangerous, must be aimed above all at keeping risks to a minimum through optimum waste management.”
25/11/2010 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
“Investing in negawatts is the cheapest way to reduce our ecological footprint. The development of renewable energy and energy-saving are not only safer but also more cost-effective alternatives to fossil fuels than nuclear energy”, said Aleksei Lotman (Estonia, UEL), Chair of PACE Environment Committee, at the opening today of a two-day conference on nuclear energy organised by the committee in Strasbourg.
25/11/2010 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
Lord Prescott (United Kingdom, SOC), PACE rapporteur on climate change, has called on the nations of the world to agree on basic principles for fighting climate change voluntarily – as he believes no legally-binding agreement can emerge from next week’s UN talks in Cancun. “The legal framework is falling apart. Let us be practical, recognise that it has happened, and go for an alternative,” said Mr Prescott, who as British Deputy Prime Minister played a key role in negotiating the 1997 Kyoto Accord on behalf of the EU.
17/11/2010 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
Nuclear energy and its impact on climate change, the economy and society will be the focus of a conference organised by PACE Committee on the Environment, Agriculture and Local and Regional Affairs in Strasbourg (Palais de l’Europe, Avenue de l’Europe, Room 1) on 25 and 26 November 2010. Exchanges of views between the hundred or so parliamentarians, experts and non-governmental organisation representatives taking part in the conference will provide material for the preparation of a future report on the subject.
15/11/2010 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
There is a vicious circle in which extreme poverty equates with the denial of all human rights. Human rights are interdependent and interconnected. The loss of one leads to the loss of others. Conversely access to one human right offers access to others. Poverty leads to social exclusion and vice versa. These are some of the conclusions of a hearing on "combating poverty", organised by the Social Affairs Committee in Paris today. It should culminate in a report by Luca Volontè (Italy, EPP/CD) to the next session of the PACE.
15/11/2010 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
Heavy metals are a major risk factor for human health according to Peter Jennrich, a German toxicologist, and Jean Huss (Luxembourg, SOC), responsible for drawing up a report on health hazards of heavy metals. Many chronic diseases of civilisation are traceable to them – such as diabetes, allergies, cancers, autoimmune and cardiovascular diseases, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, and depression.
15/11/2010 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
The year 2011 will mark the 50th anniversary of the European Social Charter, and will be an occasion to assert the indivisibility of social rights and civil and political rights, the Charter’s importance for upholding this corpus of rights and, in particular, the enhanced role of the PACE in the Charter’s supervisory machinery. This was the view expressed today by the Social Affairs Committee in adopting a report on the subject at its meeting in Paris.
10/11/2010 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
The Social, Health and Family Affairs Committee of the PACE will be holding a hearing in Paris on 15 November on “Combating poverty”, in connection with the preparation of a report on this subject by Luca Volontè (Italy, EPP/CD). The discussion will provide an overview of poverty in Europe and efforts to combat it and will establish a link between poverty and social exclusion. The specific case of child poverty will be considered.
20/10/2010 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
“In the current process of reform in the Council of Europe, the protection of the environment and territorial planning should be regarded as part of the Council of Europe’s ‘core business’,” today said Valeriy Sudarenkov (Russian Federation, SOC), speaking at the ceremony marking the 10th anniversary of the Council of Europe Landscape Convention today in Florence.
30/09/2010 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
Nuclear energy and its impact on climate change, the economy and society will be the focus of a conference organised by PACE Committee on the Environment, Agriculture and Local and Regional Affairs in Strasbourg (Palais de l’Europe, Avenue de l’Europe, Room 1) on 25 and 26 November 2010. The themes chosen for the five working sessions will cover the nuclear situation in Europe and the rest of the world, its impact on the economy and climate change, education and training in the nuclear field and safety and waste management.
17/09/2010 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
In its draft resolution on preserving the environment in the Mediterranean, the PACE Environment Committee regrets the fact that, despite various initiatives at international level, the Mediterranean “still faces very serious environmental problems”, which are chiefly the result of factors such as overfishing, rampant coastal development and inadequate controls over waste and wastewater disposal.