Source: Valentina Pop, EUObserver

BRUSSELS - Waste incinerators instead of recycling, highways running through nature parks, airports in protected areas - 33 projects in central and eastern Europe funded with €16 billion out of the EU's regional policy coffers are "environmentally harmful", says a study published on Thursday (2 February) by Friends of the Earth Europe and Bankwatch, a coalition of environmental NGOs.

"These 33 projects are economically dubious, socially harmful and in breach of environmental law," Markus Trilling from Friends of the Earth Europe said during a press briefing.

Source: , epo.de

Berlin. - Deutsche Unternehmen haben sich in einer Roffstoff-Allianz zusammengeschlossen, um sich gemeinsam an Rohstoff-Projekten im Ausland zu beteiligen. Die Parlamentarische Staatssekretärin im Bundesministerium für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung (BMZ), Gudrun Kopp, sieht darin eine Chance für Entwicklungsländer, ihre Einnahmen zu steigern. Die Erlöse müssten aber der Allgemeinheit in den rohstoffreichen Ländern zugute kommen.

Source: David Trilling, eurasianet

Two new studies say that Kumtor, Kyrgyzstan’s largest gold mine, as well as a major government revenue source, routinely ignores national environmental legislation and restricts access to independent auditors. The mine’s operations could have a far-reaching, detrimental effect on Central Asia’s water supply, one of the reports suggests.

Source: , AFP

BEIJING — Mining in southern Mongolia is threatening the livelihoods of herders and straining water supplies, a report said Monday, as foreign companies race to exploit the country's rich mineral deposits.