2006 in the environment

This is a list of notable events relating to the environment in 2006. They relate to environmental law, conservation, environmentalism and environmental issues.

Events

The Southeast Asian haze, caused by continued uncontrolled burning from "slash and burn" cultivation in Indonesia, affected several countries in the Southeast Asian region and beyond, such as Malaysia, Singapore, southern Thailand, and as far as Saipan; the effects of the haze may have spread to South Korea.
The Biodiversity Indicators Partnership is established.
Colony collapse disorder became apparent in the North American bee population.

The Merchant Shipping (Pollution) Act 2006 is given royal assent in the United Kingdom.
The Prudhoe Bay oil spill occurred on a pipeline in western Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. Initial estimates said that up to 267,000 US gallons (6,400 bbl) were spilled over 1.9 acres (7,700 m²), making it the largest oil spill on Alaska's north slope to date.

Construction of the Saemangeum Seawall is completed. It is located on the south-west coast of the Korean peninsula, and is the world's longest human-made dyke, measuring 33 kilometres. It runs between two headlands, and separates the Yellow Sea and the former Saemangeum estuary. From the moment it was announced environmental groups protested against the impact of the dyke on the local environment.

The Zakouma elephant slaughter was a series of poaching massacres of African elephants in the vicinity of Zakouma National Park in southeastern Chad. These killings were documented in aerial surveys conducted from May through August 2006 and total at least 100 animals.
An Inconvenient Truth, a documentary film about climate change and global warming, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. It has been credited for raising international public awareness of climate change and re-energising the environmental movement.

The Climate Change and Sustainable Energy Act 2006, an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, is given royal assent. It aims to boost the number of heat and electricity microgeneration installations in the United Kingdom, so helping to cut carbon emissions and reduce fuel poverty.
An International Whaling Commission meeting was held in St Kitts and Nevis.

The Jiyeh Power Station oil spill occurred with the release of heavy fuel oil into the eastern Mediterranean after storage tanks at the thermal power station in Jiyeh, Lebanon, 30 km (19 mi) south of Beirut, were bombed by the Israeli Air force during the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict.

The Côte d'Ivoire toxic waste dump was a health crisis in Côte d'Ivoire in which a ship registered in Panama, the Probo Koala, chartered by the Dutch-based oil and commodity shipping company Trafigura Beheer BV, offloaded toxic waste at the Ivorian port of Abidjan.
The Guimaras oil spill occurred in the Guimaras Strait. It is the worst oil spill ever in the Philippines.
The Framework Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea enters into force.

Steve Irwin, an Australian environmentalist and television personality, dies as a result of an injury due to a stingray barb while carrying out underwater filming on the Great Barrier Reef.

The Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change is released for the British government by economist Nicholas Stern. The report discusses the effect of global warming on the world economy. Although not the first economic report on climate change, it is significant as the largest and most widely known and discussed report of its kind.

The Yangtze Freshwater Dolphin Expedition 2006 begins to search for the baiji, which is now considered to be extinct.
Livestock's Long Shadow - Environmental Issues and Options report is released by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. The report states that the livestock sector is one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global.

A tree sit as part of the Berkeley oak grove controversy began in the United States.