A new study by the World Resources Institute reveals that water policies in most of the world are failing to protect the world's freshwater systems, resulting in growing water scarcity and alarming declines in the numbers of aquatic plants and animals. The study recommends that water prices should reflect the cost of supplying water and protecting watersheds.

THE proposed plan by Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) to build a facility to recycle waste generated in one of its areas of operation ran into a hitch yesterday as the communities in which it was to be sited rejected it.

Tension is growing in the Niger Delta, southeastern Nigeria, following a rash of oil spills which, in combination with communal and industrial disputes, have disrupted crude oil production by three transnationals, industry sources said on Friday. US multinational ExxonMobil Corp's Nigerian subsidiary shut its Qua Iboe oil export terminal on Thursday after it was besieged by protesters from the local Eket community who accused the company of neglect.

Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) of Nigeria finally managed to cap the oil gushing from one of its wells in Ogoniland at the weekend, but the well's blow-out and the resulting flood of oil and gas into the immediate environment has once more intensified tensions between the giant oil company and the half-million strong Ogoni Kingdom.

European scientists meeting this week in Stockholm have been urged to work in close partnership with policy makers to chart a course toward sustainable development. European Union Environment Commissioner Margot Wallstrom and Swedish Environment Minister Kjell Larsson both argued that the effectiveness of research would be greatly enhanced if more effort was made to link it with green policies.