18 Oct 2015
IEP participated in the NGOs Work Fair in Albania. IEP had the opportunity to meet with people and talk to them about the profit from renewable energy and other innovative technologies.
This activity was held with the support of Tirana Municipality and AMSHC in behalf of Mobility Day.
14.10.2015
The Institute for Environmental Policy (IEP) was today in the Commission for Productive Activities, Trade and Environment for a hearing with stakeholders session for the Energy Efficiency draft law.
The overall approach of the participating organizations and institutes was positive suggesting practical changes. IEP, underlined the necessity to cut out unnecessary bureaucracy and to approve the law as soon as possible since it touches the end consumers. IEP suggested also that young professionals have a up to date information on energy efficiency as well have a lot of interest in the field of the energy business.
One of the main points suggested by Erjon Tase, Academy of Political Studies, was to establish several criteria for public procurement / tenders for equipment and services considering energy efficiency e.g economic class equipment procured by state authorities.
In order to clarify the technical concepts of energy efficiency of the final consumer, IEP distributed its publications regarding this field which was welcomed by the legislative authority and expressed the possibility of cooperation in the future.
Today the Institute for Environmental Policy participated in the closing event of SENiOR-A programme.
A NGO fair was organised and participants in the event were known with IEP activities.
A documentary was also presented following several opinions on topics and improvements.
During 3 years of cooperation with SENiOR-A, funded by Sweden Government and managed by the Regional Environment Center Albania, IEP is proud: to have trained 114 youth in renewable energy and environment, giving to 165 people the possibility to participate in environmental conferences conducted by IEP, training 86 people from 7 Albanian municipalities staff and promoting 8 scientific studies on the environment by youth/ young professionals.
Finishing, IEP thanks all the supporters believing in our common vision, a better environment.
Act4Drin publication
Dear All,
We are very excited to announce today, on the occasion of the World Rivers Day, the launch of the Act4Drin publication “The natural wealth and legacy of the Drin River Basin: inspiring our collective action” aiming at raising public awareness on the value of our common natural wealth and ultimately triggering individual or collective actions towards safeguarding the basin’s biodiversity and its invaluable ecosystem services. For the first time ever a multilingual (five languages) publication that highlights the exceptional wealth of freshwater biodiversity of the Drin River Basin has been produced via a collective effort of the region’s civil society.
The publication was developed by MIO-ECSDE (Mediterranean Information Office for Environment, Culture and Sustainable Development – a Federation of Mediterranean environmental NGOs) within the framework of the CEPF-funded Act4Drin project (www.act4drin.net), implemented in collaboration with BIOSFERA, EDEN, GREENHOME, MES and KAWKA PRODUCTION. The project seeks to raise public awareness through a wide range of actions, enhance knowledge and empower NGOs to protect and conserve freshwater ecosystems in the Drin River Basin.
This publication concretely displays the commitment and solidarity of environmental NGOs of the region to protect and conserve the Drin River Basin. The Act4Drin project promoters include the following thirteen NGOs: Albaforest, BirdLife Slovenia (DOPPS), Society of bird research and nature protection (DPPVN), Environmental Center for Administration and Technology (ECAT), EIRLA Association, Greens of Montenegro, Institute for Nature Conservation in Albania (INCA), Institute for Environmental Policy (IEP), Environmental Movement “OZON”, Permaculture and Organic Agriculture (POA), Protection and Preservation of Natural Environment in Albania (PPNEA), PSEDA ILIRIA and Society for the Protection of Prespa (SPP).
You can enjoy the Act4Drin publication http://mio-ecsde.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Act4Drin_Brochure_18_9_2015_single_pages.pdf
Ne 23 Shtator 2013, u zhvillua konferenca per profesionistet e rinj “Hapa drejt zhvillimit te qendrueshem”.
Interesi per te marre pjese ishte i larmishem, nga te rinj te apasionuar per mjedisin tek akademike dhe perfaqesues te firmave private qe kane nje sfond te gjelber ne punen e tyre.
Pavaresisht se ceshtjet e trajtuara nga prezantuesit ishin te ndryshme, te gjitha perfaqesonin ne thelb mundesite e gjetjes se ekuilibrave midis shfrytezimit te burimeve natyrore nga njera ane dhe mbrojtjes se mjedisit nga ana tjeter.
tashme eshte e qarte se shfrytezimi pa kriter i burimeve natyrore ka nje kosto pasojat e te cilave Shqiperia i ka provuar mjaftueshem.
Ne kete kontekst Instituti i Politikave Mjedisore ka ne strategjine afatgjate promovimin e te rinjve dhe punes se tyre pasi ata jane nder garancite me te sigurta per mbrojtjen e mjedisit.
Ky aktivitet u mbeshtet nga Programi SENiOR-A nepermjet nje granti te dhene nga REC Shqiperi dhe financuar nga Qeveria Suedeze.
06.08.2015
Bënça River is one of the branches of Vjosa and has a length of 26 km.
In Bënça Valley will be built 5 Hydro-power plants.
By convey the voice of the community and hundreds of other actors of civil society involved in the initiative for the protection of river Bënça:
We Albanian NGOs following, strongly oppose hydro-power projects in the valley of Bënça because we believe that this valley constitutes potentially the “heart” of a potential national park that includes the entire river. In their place, we want to protect our natural heritage.
ps. Declaration in Albanian
Tirana, 16 July, 2015
PRESS RELEASE
“Protecting rivers” group
Kick-off for a moratorium on hydropower plants in Albania
Within this initiative to request for moratorium on issuing licenses for hydropower concessions in the territory of Albania, the group “Protecting rivers”, which consists of environmental civil society organizations (INCA, REC Albania, EDEN, Ekolevizja , Mileukontakt Albania, Association for Organic Agriculture, Institute for Environmental Policy, EPER Center) organized today on 07.16.2015, a press conference to launch the initiative order and presentation of the purpose and activities of the initiative.
On 25 March 2015, the Enlarged Board of Appeal of the European Patent Office (EPO) confirmed the view that current interpretation of patent law is unacceptable. Whilst processes for conventional breeding cannot be patented, plants and animals stemming from these processes can be patented. This is not only contradictory in itself, but also undermines the prohibitions in European patent law: “Plant and animal varieties or essentially biological processes for production plants and animals” are excluded from patentability (Art 53 b, EPC). The decision made by the Enlarged Board of Appeal will be binding for all other EPO decisions in this context, and therefore the rules for the interpretation of the European Patent Convention need to be changed in order to strengthen and uphold current prohibitions already set out in European Patent Law. The Administrative Council of the European Patent Organisation has the power to do this by changing the Implementing Regulation. Please help us to put more pressure on the Administrative Council to ensure that this happens! There are already several examples that show how plants and animals are turned into so-called industrial inventions. Even trivial technical steps such as analysing natural genetic conditions, measuring compounds (such as oil or protein), crossing-in native traits which already exist in landraces or wild relatives, or just simply describing general characteristics can ultimately lead to plants and animals being seen as so-called inventions and then monopolised in patents. Many patents and patent applications are based on biopiracy, by misappropriation of genetic ressources originating from the centres of biodiversity of our crop plants. In many cases, these patents cover the whole of the value chain from breeding to harvesting and food and feed production. Patents cover all kinds of food crops: Vegetables such as tomatoes, broccoli, pepper, lettuce as well as soybeans, maize and wheat. They also cover edible parts of the plants such as the fruits or food processed thereof such as beer and bread. Such patents are quite simply an abuse of patent law, and should not be applicable to discoveries or natural resources but only to real inventions. This abuse is allowing a small number of companies and corporations to take control of basic resources needed for our daily food production. Some corporations make massive profits from these patents. Companies such as Monsanto, Dupont, Syngenta, which are still filing a great number of patents on seeds. Furthermore, institutions and individuals, who base their business on legal activities around patents such as patent lawyers, consulting companies and, last but not least, the European Patent Office, all profit significantly. The EPO actually finances itself by granting patents and has now more or less taken on the role of delivering services to industry. All of the above are the stakeholders pushing for a particular kind of patent law, one which does not serve the interests of society, but puts just a few self-serving interest groups first. Breeders, farmers, growers, food producers and consumers are the ones who will lose out and feel the impact most severely from the negative consequences of this development. Patents on plants and animals will foster further market concentration and make farmers and other parties in the food supply chain more and more dependent on just a few big multinational companies. Increasing concentration and monopolisation of the breeding sector will disable competition, hamper innovation and give a few international corporations the power to decide what is grown in the fields and the price we have to pay for it. The European Patent Organisation consists of two bodies, the European Patent Office and the Administrative Council, which supervises the Office’s activities. European politicians have to act now! As a first step, Member States of the European Patent Organisation should take the initiative to implement change at the Administrative Council. This council not only represents the Member States of the EPOorg, but also has the power to change the current rules governing patent law by amending the Implementing Regulation in the European Patent Convention. National laws such as those in Germany and the Netherlands show that patents on plants and animals derived from conventional breeding can be prohibited on national level. Other countries should follow this example, and also prohibit patents on breeding material, gene sequences and native traits. Finally the European Patent law has to be changed to exclude all breeding processes and breeding material, plant and animal characteristics (including native traits), gene sequences, plants and animals, as well as food derived thereof from patentability. To achieve this goal, the European Governments and the EU Commission will need to cooperate very closely.
Petition can be filled on: http://no-patents-on-seeds.org/en/recent-activities/no-patents-plants-and-animals
IEP invites you in a day training and the enrollment in the Youth for Energy Policy (YEP), a network for the renewable energy movement.
Training day is 18 June 2015, Hotel Mondial, Tirana.
Free entrance and participatory certificates.
The Institute for Environmental Policy has joined a worldwide campaign against Climate Change.
This time the campaign will start in a cooperation with ARTE Fr