News & Media

The European Commission proposes to cut the use of chemical pesticides in half by 2030, one of the flagship legislative proposals to follow the Biodiversity and Farm to Fork Strategies. The new rules on chemical pesticides will reduce the environmental footprint of the EU's food system, protect the health and well-being of citizens and agricultural workers, and help mitigate the pesticide use-related economic losses.

As the climate crisis worsens, severe droughts devastate European landscapes. According to the data published by the European Drought Observatory, more than 60% of land in the European Union and United Kingdom – an area nearly the same size as India (!) – is now affected by drought conditions. The Danube River Basin and the Danube itself have been affected by serious droughts in the past, e.g., in 2003, 2015, and now again one of the most feared natural phenomenon has gripped much of the Danube River Basin.

Danube Basin, 24 May 2014. The first "World Fish Migration Day" calls attention to the need to safeguard free flowing rivers and to restore the connections in rivers for migratory fish. A cause of high concern for the Danube River Basin, too.

Danube Basin, 22 March 2014. Water and energy are closely interlinked and interdependent - this is the key-message of “World Water Day 2014”. Like anywhere in the world, energy generation is often dependent on water resources in the Danube River Basin. World Water Day is an occasion to look at the ICPDR’s efforts to align economic and environmental needs in the field of hydropower.

Vienna, 7 March 2014. A group of environmental scientists from Austria recently published the study „The Danube so colourful: A potpourri of plastic litter outnumbers fish larvae in Europe's second largest river”. Here, you find some comments on plastic waste in rivers and on ICPDR activities to tackle the issue.