31. The report cites various cases by which over-emphasis on free trade can lead to environmental problems, including the recent controversy over the US import ban on Mexican tuna. 32. The French Environment Ministry has announced the award of green medals to companies which have made the most innovative contributions to environmental problems. 33. The action programme includes a catalogue of growing environmental problems. 34. The report acknowledges that industrialized countries bear much of the responsibility for existing environmental problems, and hence should bear the brunt of the cost of tackling them. 35. In response, the Japanese Ministry of International Trade and Industry warned all companies to ensure that their foreign investments did not create environmental problems. 36. Other serious environmental problems highlighted by the report are groundwater pollution, inadequate waste-water treatment, soil erosion, and dumping of hazardous waste. 37. The two governments will work together on solutions for environmental problems based on principles of environmentally sustainable development. 38. The UN Environment Programme has published a detailed report on the environmental problems of the Aral Sea. 39. The Environmental Association of Tanzania has been set up by a group of professionals with skills in tackling environmental problems. 40. They have identified a number of problem areas which raise some environmental problems to very definite housing problems. |