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 …
Grid-based solar power only reaches only households that are connected to energy supply, and simply subsidises costly solar for an already-reached population India’s solar power policy is now entering round two. Much needs to be reviewed and reworked, since the business of solar energy has seen massive turbulence in India …
The number of wind turbines built in European waters is lagging behind targets by nearly 1,000 megawatts (MW), the equivalent of around 330 turbines, an industry report showed on Sunday. A total of 4,994 MW of offshore wind capacity is currently producing electricity in Europe's waters, but European Union (EU) …
Greenland is less vulnerable than expected to a runaway melt that would drive up world sea levels, according to scientists who found that only a quarter of the ice sheet thawed in a warm period more than 100,000 years ago. The study, involving 300 experts from 14 nations, implied that …
Telugu superstar and tourism minister K. Chiranjeevi here on Saturday said that his ministry has set a target of attracting one per cent of world tourists to India in next five years. Pointing out that India was emerging a leading tourist destination with present arrival of 0.6 per cent of …
Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) has initiated a move to prepare a 'Feed-in-Tariff' (FIT) structure for renewable energy to promote its use in the country. FIT is a policy mechanism which is aimed at accelerating investment in renewable energy technologies. According to BERC officials, the regulatory body has successfully pursued …
European Union politicians are sharply divided between those keen for ambitious green car standards they say are needed to keep up with U.S. goals and those trying to limit the impact on makers of big luxury cars, draft reports show. The European Parliament next week debates Commission plans to enforce …
To help transform our understanding of the biosphere, ecologists — like climate scientists — should simulate whole ecosystems, argue Drew Purves and colleagues.
Carbon plan can pass with German backing: EU climate chief An EU executive plan to reduce a glut of carbon emissions allowances, which are trading close to record lows, can pass provided it gets German support, EU Climate Commissioner Connie Hedegaard said on Wednesday. The European Commission proposal, known as …
Campaigners say the conclusion by the European Food Safety Authority is a 'death knell' for neonicotinoid pesticides The world's most widely used insecticide has for the first time been officially labelled an "unacceptable" danger to bees feeding on flowering crops. Environmental campaigners say the conclusion, by Europe's leading food safety …
Clean energy investment slid 11 per cent last year after governments in industrial nations slashed subsidies for technologies ranging from wind turbines to solar power and biomass. The $US268.7 billion ($254.4 billion) invested in the industry last year was down from a record $US302.3 billion in 2011, the second highest …
Tens of millions of people may be spared droughts and floods by 2050 if Earth-warming carbon emissions peak in 2016 rather than 2030, scientists said on Sunday. Climate researchers in Britain and Germany said emission cuts now would delay some crippling impacts by decades and prevent some altogether. By 2050, …
The European Commission is considering legal action against Germany over its new international airport in Berlin because of environmental concerns, marking a further setback for the project which has been dogged by delays. The European Union's executive, which enforces environmental law, said on Friday it had exchanged letters with the …
Germany's environment and economy ministers are still at odds over a possible reform of Europe's system of permits to cut carbon emissions but will try to reach a consensus early next year, Environment Minister Peter Altmaier said on Wednesday. The dispute between the two ministers has been a major factor …
"The Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission will be in the second phase starting from 2013 up to 2017. The Ministry of New & Renewable Energy has therefore come up with its draft policy document on the programmes for the second phase. The document is available for public comments. The draft …
The Green Climate Fund ( GCF), conceived three years back to help poor countries cope with climate change, remains nothing more than an empty shell. Developed countries were supposed to have mobilised $30 billion (Rs.1,640 billion) for the period 2010- 2012 as 'fast- track finance', as decided at the Copenhagen …
Increased use of information and communication technology (ICT) such as video-conferencing and smart building management could cut global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 16.5% by 2020, a study by Global e-Sustainability Initiative (GeSI) has said. The study, SMARTer2020, which management consulting firm The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) did for GeSI, …
Equity has been central to the multilateral negotiations on climate change mitigation and adaptation between the South and the North. The dispute is not with the science that establishes the need to keep global temperature rise below 2°C, measured from pre-industrial levels, as the threshold that will leash in climate …
With a strong tradition of recycling and incinerating, it now has too many waste-to-energy incinerators and not enough rubbish to meet demand. It has become Europe's biggest importer of trash from other countries, currently mainly from Norway. But as the European Union seeks to reduce the dumping of 150 million …
German car manufacturers are seeking to widen a loophole in EU regulations that would allow them to produce more cars with carbon emissions above a 2020 EU target. EU car manufacturers are divided over how a 2020 EU target to cut carbon emissions to an average of 95 grams per …
Germany's environment minister has come out in support of a European Commission proposal to prevent the collapse of its instrument for cutting carbon emissions by withdrawing some emission permits from the market. Peter Altmaier, an influential figure in Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU), told Reuters he hoped the ruling …
