In 2019, the illegal wildlife trade reached staggering levels. Pangolin scales and ivory were being trafficked in massive quantities from Africa to Asia, exposing a network of crime syndicates operating at an industrial scale. The sheer volume of these shipments marked a disturbing milestone, one that revealed the global reach …
The global climate is changing rapidly and countries need clear direction on how best to adapt to these changes. Ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) is becoming an increasingly popular strategy, especially in poor countries where dependence on natural resources for lives and livelihoods is high. But EbA implementation is neither widespread nor …
China’s economic growth has so far remained resilient in the face of high global uncertainty. GDP growth was 6.4 percent year on year in the fourth quarter of 2018 and in the first quarter of 2019, compared to 6.8 percent in the first half of 2018. Growth is projected at …
Chinese financial institutions have little awareness about the risks of deforestation in the soy supply chain, according to a report released from the nonprofit disclosure platform CDP. China imports more than 60 percent of the world’s soy, meaning that the country could play a major role in halting deforestation and …
African elephant poaching rates have dropped by 60 per cent in six years, an international study has found. It is thought the decline could be associated with the ivory trade ban introduced in China in 2017. Annual poaching mortality rates in sub-Saharan Africa fell from 10 per cent in 2011 …
Conservationists have accused the World Health Organisation (WHO) of rubber-stamping the extinction of endangered species by adopting hundreds of traditional Chinese remedies in its international guidelines. Many such remedies make use of animal parts and this has long put pressure on endangered species such as jaguars, pangolins and rhinos. On …
In January 2019, China launched a new action plan to address air pollution by cleaning up diesel-powered on-road vehicles, off-road equipment, and ships. This plan is one part of the larger, three-year National Plan of Blue-Sky Defense, and it places stricter requirements on air pollution-prone areas. The plan details 18 …
Industries in north-eastern China have released large quantities of an ozone-depleting gas into the atmosphere in violation of an international treaty, scientists have said. Since 2013, annual emissions of the banned chemical Chlorofluorocarbon-11 (CFC-11) from that region have increased by about 7,000 tonnes, according to a report in peer-reviewed journal …
This working paper compares the market and technological characteristics of electric cars in China and the United States, based on 2015 and 2017 data. The study finds that in both Chinese and U.S. markets a handful of cities accounted for the majority of electric car sales. The top 30 cities …
Indian road construction workers walk with their luggages along the Indo China border in Bumla at an altitude of 15,700 feet (4,700 meters) above sea level in Arunachal Pradesh. The State government also sought the development of road for exploration and extraction of minerals along the international border. GUWAHATI: Arunachal …
China has detected new cases of African swine fever in six farms across four locations in Hainan province, the agriculture ministry said on Sunday, adding to two earlier cases of the contagious disease identified in the province on Friday. The disease, which is fatal to pigs but harmless in humans, …
Chinese scientists have found a cheaper way to produce hydrogen energy by developing a new catalyst. The catalyst was developed by scientists from the University of Science and Technology of China, who used an alloy to improve the activity and stability of a kind of precious metal catalyst. The new …
China's Macao saw its air quality record in 2018 register more days of "Good" and fewer ones of "Poor" in 2018, while the number of days with acid rain decreased from 2017, the special administrative region's statistic service said on Sunday. The latest annual environment report released by the Statistics …
China sent a new satellite of the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) into space from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan Province at 10:41 pm Saturday. Launched on a Long March-3B carrier rocket, it is the 44th satellite of the BDS satellite family and the first BDS-3 satellite in …
China has lifted three ethnic minority groups out of poverty in the southwestern province of Yunnan as it steps toward delivering the goal of completely eliminating poverty by 2020. The ethnic minority groups of Dulong, Deang and Jino had a total population of more than 50,000, according to the last …
The Urban Transitions Alliance was built on the premise that by connecting industrial legacy cities from the US, Europe and China through their transition stories and visions of sustainable urban development, common challenges and transition pathways would emerge. The Alliance was designed to provide the infrastructure and support to advance …
The sex ratio at birth (SRB; ratio of male to female live births) imbalance in parts of the world over the past few decades is a direct consequence of sex-selective abortion, driven by the coexistence of son preference, readily available technology of prenatal sex determination, and fertility decline. Estimation of …
South Sudan and China on Wednesday signed two infrastructure development pacts for the renovation of a new bridge and the modernization of a health facility in the East African country. Under the first agreement, the Chinese government will provide a grant for the renovation of Jur River Bridge, and building …
Four million children develop asthma every year as a result of air pollution from cars and trucks, equivalent to 11,000 new cases a day, a landmark study has found. Most of the new cases occur in places where pollution levels are already below the World Health Organization limit, suggesting toxic …
Globally, the estimates suggest that there are 170 new cases of traffic pollution-related asthma per 100,000 children every year, and 13% of childhood asthma cases diagnosed each year are linked to traffic pollution. The country with the highest proportion of traffic pollution-attributable childhood asthma incidence was South Korea (31%), the …
Social network data of tuberculosis (TB) patients could explain the source and pattern of disease spread. A review of the published literature highlights that social network data could identify hidden social or epidemiological links among TB patients and improved TB case finding. Index and betweenness position of patients explained TB …
