This overview sets the scene for the various modules in the Renewables 2024 Global Status Report Collection. It provides high-level trends on the status of renewables in the wider fossil fuel-dominated energy system in the context of global challenges such as climate change, development goals and the geopolitical landscape. Urgent …
The White House Council of Economic Advisers has released a report that examines the economic consequences of delaying the implementation of policies aimed at combating climate change and reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and emphasizes the urgency of taking policy action on climate change. The Council of Economic Advisers' report …
This paper calculates energy security, sustainability, and affordability from 2010 to 2035 for the Asia and Pacific region using the following indicators: primary energy intensity, carbon dioxide intensity of the primary energy mix, energy self-sufficiency, affordability of electricity, and primary energy diversification. It then assesses the potential benefits of integrating …
This report explains how climate change and development in wildfire-prone areas are driving up the risks and costs of wildfires; points out why current policies and practices may be worsening the situation; highlights the many different impacts and costs of wildfires; and provides recommendations for what we can do to …
The People’s Republic of China is experiencing sustained high economic growth, and with it some environmental challenges. Its 12th Five Year Plan (2011-2015) lays out plans to “gradually develop a carbon trading market”. In preparation, five cities and two provinces in China have been directed to develop and implement pilot …
Tony Abbott has had little to celebrate since becoming Australia’s prime minister because of his plummeting approval ratings and a hostile senate. But this week as senators finally take their seats in parliament following September’s election, he looks set to deliver one of his main campaign pledges: repealing the carbon …
Five years after a NASA satellite to track carbon dioxide plunged into the ocean after liftoff, the space agency is launching another almost exactly like it — this time on a different rocket. The $468 million mission is designed to study the main driver of climate change emitted from smokestacks …
The difference between the position of the Australian and the United States governments on climate change looks stark. Last week members of the Australian government celebrated the passing of a bill dismantling the carbon price, while last Wednesday US president Barack Obama delivered a speech arguing strongly for the need …
BANGALORE: In the heart of Bangalore — which some still refer to as Garden City — 10 municipal wards have less than 200 trees. Chikpet, with a population of 52,688, has just 25 trees. Padarayanapura (near Chamrajpet), with a population of 67,623, is no better, with 26 trees. Kempapura Agrahara …
President Barack Obama claimed progress in his second-term drive to combat climate change but said more must be done to address a generational problem. He appealed for patience and perseverance from environmental activists. One year after unveiling an aggressive plan, Obama said Wednesday that new emissions limits on power plants, …
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) announced today the establishment of a new trust fund to support the adoption of advanced low-carbon technologies in its developing member countries (DMCs), with a grant of 1.8 billion (about $17.65 million) from the Government of Japan. The Minister of the Environment of Japan Nobuteru …
The Japanese government will provide 1.8 billion yen ($17.6 million) for a new trust fund set up by the Asian Development Bank to promote low-carbon technologies in the region. The fund will provide grant finance to reduce the cost of advanced technologies such as those related to waste-to-energy programs and …
British Columbia is selling hospital bonds by touting the projects’ environmental credentials in the first test of the green-bond label’s usefulness in winning financing for provincial infrastructure projects. Marketing materials distributed to investors say the securities are up for certification from Altus Group Ltd., a lender advisory firm, for inclusion …
President Barack Obama derided climate-change skeptics as a “fringe” element as he highlighted his record on the environment and cutting greenhouse gas emissions before a conservation group. Obama yesterday indirectly criticized congressional Republicans, who he said view climate change as “a liberal plot.” “Many who say that actually know better …
If Australia introduced mandatory emissions or fuel economy standards for cars, emissions could be reduced by millions of tonnes, a new report from the Climate Change Authority says. The restrictions on all light vehicles could avoid 59m tonnes of emissions by 2030 and double the fuel efficiency of light vehicles …
Senators Murphy (D-Connecticut) and Collins (R-Maine) announced today their plans to introduce the Super Pollutants Act of 2014 to cut short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs) by requiring the Administration to establish a task force to review specific policies and laws to reduce black carbon, methane, and high-global warming potential (GWP) hydrofluorocarbons …
Annual property losses from hurricanes and other coastal storms of $35 billion; a decline in crop yields of 14 percent, costing corn and wheat farmers tens of billions of dollars; heat wave-driven demand for electricity costing utility customers up to $12 billion per year. These are among the economic costs …
The U.K. Green Investment Bank is in talks with the government to manage 200 million pounds ($340 million) of its international climate aid, Chief Executive Officer Shaun Kingsbury said in an interview. The bank and the government aim to reach agreement on a business plan “in the next few weeks” …
Wildlife Works Carbon LLC, a U.S.- based business selling carbon credits in the voluntary market generated by forest conservation, plans to expand fivefold the biodiversity-rich areas it protects in Kenya. Disappearing forests deprive the East African economy of as much as $75 million of income a year, about five times …
PUP senators will seek amendments to ensure savings for consumers and for emissions trading scheme Clive Palmer has announced that his Palmer United party (PUP) senators will vote to repeal the carbon tax if savings are passed on to the average Australian, and will support an emissions trading scheme (ETS). …
We often hear that planting trees can help cool the environment. This may work not only at a household level, but also on the planetary scale-large scale afforestation has been advanced by the United Nations as a means of mitigating global climate change. At the garden level, trees provide shade …
