The 2025 Interconnected Disaster Risks report shifts focus from diagnosing problems to mapping out solutions. It establishes that many of today’s solutions are surface-level fixes, and that to create lasting change, we need to question the societal structures and mindsets that perpetuate these challenges. The report offers a more holistic …
"One of the ironies at the turn of the century is that, in an age when the pace of technological change is almost overwhelming, the world will remain dependent, out to the year 2020 at least, essentially on the same sources of energy - oil, natural gas, coal - that …
The US President George W Bush is raring to launch an attack on Iraq. Whether it has weapons of mass destruction or not, Iraq certainly has the world's second largest reserves of petroleum after Saudi Arabia. Thanks to UN sanctions, it produces a mere fraction of its potential. The US, …
"Not since the rise of the railroads more than a century ago has a single industry [energy] placed so many foot soldiers at the top of a new administration." - Newsweek, May 14, 2001 George W Bush took over as president of the US on January 20, 2001. Within two …
controversy about the viability of using carbon dioxide for enhanced oil recovery was once again in the forefront recently with the starting of a Canadian project's new phase in which around 20 million tonnes of carbon dioxide would be injected into a reservoir located in Rejina for recovering oil. With …
Under siege • 38 per cent of Africa's coastal ecosystems are threatened by development-related activities. Population densities reach 500-1,000 inhabitants per square km along the Nile delta • Almost 25 per cent of Canada's and about 55 per cent of the USpopulations live in coastal areas. The US coastal population …
oil spills could mean far worse for the environment than they have been blamed for till date, shows a recent study conducted in the Galapagos Islands located off the coast of Ecuador. In January 2001 the tanker Jessica, belonging to Petrocomercial, an arm of the Ecuadorian state oil company, had …
Following the failure of the coastal states' meeting to reach a consensus on dividing energy-rich seabed, Iran made it clear that it would prevent any oil exploration by other countries in a sector of the Caspian Sea which it claims as its own. "The oil ministry will not allow anyone …
Despite its environmental impact, China has begun building a 4,200-kilometre gas pipeline costing us $18 billion. Its aim: boosting economic growth in the impoverished western provinces and delivering fuel to the booming eastern city of Shanghai. The pipeline's trial construction has already kicked off in fragile wetlands and on the …
Whales and dolphins could be dying because of noise pollution. Researchers from the Navy Marine Mammal Programme in San Diego, USA, claim that noise from the US navy sonar and explosives tests as well from tankers and oil exploration activities is causing mammals to dive deeper, thereby, increasing their chances …
In a move that will see the world's deepest oils drilled off the East African coast, the Kenyan government has signed an exploration treaty with a uk- based company. Although the move is likely to expand Kenya's fuel supply and get the government out of the mess caused by the …
A Pakistani court recently rejected a petition filed against a license awarded to Britain's Premier Oil for exploring gas in Kirthar National Park, the country's largest national park. "It is a bit of a blow, but not unexpected. We intend to appeal in the Supreme Court,' said Farhan Anwar of …
Poor management of Nigeria's environment is costing the country around us $5 billion a year in ruined land and lost forests, an ecology expert claims. Muhtari Aminu-Kano, executive director of the Nigerian Conservation Foundation (ncf) said that much of the damage resulted from oil and gas extraction in the Niger …
A US federal judge rejected a request to extend protection to beluga whales in Alaska's Cook Inlet. This ruling was given in response to a lawsuit filed by six environmental groups and an Alaska Native from the Cook Inlet region. They wanted the whale population listed as endangered because pollution …
the biggest coral structure in the world might be threatened very soon. The Australian government has left the option of future oil drilling open near the Great Barrier Reef. tgs nopec Geophysical, a Houston-based multinational company, has recently proposed to carry out exploration for oil near the world heritage area …
at least 1,000 tonnes of fish were recently found dead near the shores of Kuwait. Following the incident, the government has imposed a ban on fishing, though the cause of the deaths is still not known. A committee set up by the government to examine the issue has failed to …
The Nigerian government has directed oil multinationals operating in the country to submit reports on the state of their pipelines and the plans to combat oil pollution. "The move is aimed at ensuring that oil industry operators adopt good practices and comply with the environmental standards,' says Atiku Abubakar, the …
the White House has passed a bill that permits oil and gas exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. So far, 95 per cent of Alaska's North Slope that hosts the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge was open to exploration. With the passing of the bill, the remaining five per cent …
multinational oil giant Shell has withdrawn from a project to explore gas in Pakistan's Kirthar National Park. The move has been hailed by environmental organisations like Friends of the Earth International ( foei ), which had filed a lawsuit in the Pakistani courts against the project. Premier Oil of Pakistan …
the Republicans in the us Senate will soon introduce a legislation that includes a provision to open some parts of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, in northeastern Alaska, to oil and natural gas drilling. President George W Bush is expected to support the legislation. Opening the refuge to drilling was …
Nine environmental organisations in Pakistan have filed a petition in the Sindh high court against the multinational oil giant, Shell, to stop the construction of a pipeline for mineral and gas exploration in the Kirthar National Park. The park, located in the Sindh province, is Pakistan's oldest and biggest national …
