The Global Gender Gap Index annually benchmarks the current state and evolution of gender parity across four key dimensions (Economic Participation and Opportunity, Educational Attainment, Health and Survival, and Political Empowerment). It is the longest-standing index tracking the progress of numerous countries’ efforts towards closing these gaps over time since …
Progress on reducing CO2 emissions in the car manufacturing industry is being undermined by the use of 'supercredits' and the manipulation of tests, according to a new report. Conducted by Transport & Environment (T&E;), the report finds that carmakers are using "loopholes" such as supercredits for selling electric vehicles and …
Along the banks of the Mekong in Laos, the forest has been stripped and the mountainside gouged out. Construction of the Xayaburi dam, the first on the lower Mekong, is in full swing. The dam, which will cost $3.5 billion, is being built by Ch. Karnchang, a Thai construction company, …
Talks at the U.N.'s aviation body must bridge a deep divide between developed and emerging nations over airline emissions to avert the threat of a carbon trade war with the European Union. After more than a decade of debate at the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), there is little sign …
FRANCE has banned imports of some Mercedes cars, claiming they fail to meet European technical standards for emissions of global-warming gases. It looks like an arcane technical dispute, but it is an early skirmish in what could become a trade war within Europe’s single market. The casus belli is ever-tighter …
Solar and wind continue to dominate investment in new renewable capacity. Global use of solar and wind energy grew significantly in 2012. Solar power consumption increased by 58 percent, to 93 terrawatt-hours (TWh), while wind power increased by 18.1 percent, to 521.3 TWh. Global investment in solar energy in 2012 …
Berlin: Earthquakes may contribute to global warming by releasing methane, a highly potent greenhouse gas, from the ocean floor, according to a new study. An international team of scientists investigated the aftermath of a magnitude 8.1 earthquake that took place in the Northern Arabian Sea in 1945. They postulated that …
One purpose of wind turbines is to provide pollution-free electric power at a reasonable price in an environmentally sound way. In this focus issue the latest research on the environmental impact of wind farms is presented. Offshore wind farms affect the marine fauna in both positive and negative ways. For …
EC abandons vote on making cars more fuel efficient after intervention of German chancellor, supported by David Cameron German chancellor Angela Merkel personally thwarted plans this week to improve the fuel efficiency of European cars, in order to protect luxury marques including BMW, Audi and Daimler. Supporters of the policy, …
German lobbying has halted a deal to enforce stricter rules on carbon dioxide emissions for all new cars in the European Union from 2020, EU sources said on Thursday. The compromise deal was hammered out late on Monday to enforce a limit of 95 grams per kilometer (g/km) as an …
The European Union late on Monday agreed a compromise deal to enforce stricter rules on carbon dioxide emissions for all new EU automobiles from 2020. The outline agreement on implementing a target of 95 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometer (g/km) still needs the official endorsement of EU member states. …
Huge oversupply of carbon pollution permits will cancel out efforts made in other areas to cut carbon, study finds Deep problems in Europe's carbon trading scheme – its flagship climate change policy – are set to cancel out over 700m tonnes of emissions saved through renewable energy and energy efficiency …
Since last week, a new study on the benefits of genetically modified (GM) crops is hogging headlines in national and international media. Published in open access journal PLOS ONE, it reported significantly improved calorie consumption among small-scale farmers in India thanks to Bt cotton. The study surveyed 500 small farm …
OSTERATH’S 12,000 citizens are angry. Their quiet backwater in the Ruhr, close to Düsseldorf, is the proposed site for the biggest converter station in Europe. This vast installation will transform high-voltage direct current to alternating current. It will be an important link in Germany’s new “power highway”, a network of …
The world will have enough wind turbines to generate more than 300 gigawatts of power - the equivalent of 114 nuclear power plants - by the end of the year, industry figures show. As Brazil, China, Mexico and South Africa add turbines, the figure represents modest growth compared with a …
The planet is on track to warm by four degrees celsius by the year 2100, if the global community fails to act on climate change, a new report by Climate Action Tracker has said. "Recent emissions trends and estimates of the effects of those policies in place and proposed lead …
Burning coal also costs companies and governments billions of pounds in disease treatment and lost working days Air pollution from Europe's 300 largest coal power stations causes 22,300 premature deaths a year and costs companies and governments billions of pounds in disease treatment and lost working days, says a major …
Climate change is likely to worsen floods on rivers such as the Ganges, the Nile and the Amazon this century while a few, including the now-inundated Danube, may become less prone, a Japanese-led scientific study said on Sunday. The findings will go some way to help countries prepare for deluges …
River Elbe more than 6 metres above normal level as military and national disaster team work frantically to hold back floodwaters The river Elbe flooded on Thursday in the eastern German city of Dresden, sparing the historic centre but engulfing wide areas of the Saxony capital. Residents and emergency crews …
Germany has put forward a fresh proposal on regulating carbon dioxide limits for cars sold in the European Union, which campaigners say is a last-ditch attempt to dilute a new emissions law. Germany has been pushing for months for greater flexibility in implementing an emissions goal of 95 grams of …
Dresden (Germany): Central Europe’s worst floods in over a decade claimed a 12th victim on Wednesday as torrents of muddy water surged down swollen rivers through the Czech Republic and into Germany, flooding villages and forcing mass evacuations. The huge volumes of water from heavy spring rains coming down the …
