This paper presents a status report of the BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) on two crucial development parameters—inequality and poverty—that have a significant bearing on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs; especially SDG-1 and SDG-10). The paper tracks the origins and movements of absolute and relative poverty, …
The Group of Eight rich nations and the G5 of emerging economies were among 40 nations and organizations represented at a three-day summit to discuss recession, climate change, trade and food security. Below is a comparison between aims going in to the meeting and the results achieved. EMISSIONS CUTS Leaders …
The G8 agreed on Wednesday to try to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius and cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent, but it failed to persuade China and India to join a bid to halve world emissions. With only five months until a new U.N. climate pact …
G8 leaders were due to agree a goal of limiting global warming to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels at a summit in Italy on Wednesday. Here are some facts about the target, previously adopted by European Union nations and due to be widened to the United States, …
A plan by G8 industrial countries to boost food security through increased farming investment is important and timely, and should not only focus on production but also on addressing hunger and malnutrition, World Bank President Robert Zoellick said on Tuesday. Zoellick, speaking by telephone from Geneva, said the World Bank …
Major economies tried on Tuesday to break the deadlock between rich and poor nations over 2050 goals for cuts in greenhouse gas emissions at a last-minute meeting before an expanded G8 summit in Italy. Ministers or senior officials from the 17-member Major Economies Forum (MEF) met in Rome to try …
Four Central Asian countries called on Monday for international help from governments and business in clearing toxic nuclear waste left over from the Cold War when they formed part of the Soviet Union. The appeal from the four -- Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan -- was backed at a one-day …
The amount of carbon locked away in frozen soils in the far Northern Hemisphere is double previous estimates and rapid melting could accelerate global warming, a study released on Wednesday says. Large areas of northern Russia, Canada, Nordic countries and the U.S. state of Alaska have deep layers of frozen …
The new analysis presents recent and expected emission developments of each country and various other indicators, and gives an overview of the most important activities by the federal governments to respond to the threat of climate change. The overall performance of the G8 countries is assessed by comparing three groups …
Russia will collaborate with the Institute of Integrated Himalayan Studies (IIHS) of Himachal Pradesh University (HPU) to undertake research in rare and valuable medicinal plants and herbs found in the Himalayas. The Counsellor (Media and Culture) in the Russian Embassy, Dr Dmitry Chelyshev held discussions with the Vice-Chancellor of HPU, …
Polar bear populations in and around Alaska are declining due to continued melting of sea ice and Russian poaching, according to reports released Thursday by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Fewer polar bears have survived in the southern Beaufort Sea, which extends from northern Alaska to parts of Canada, …
The United States has been resisting European calls for industrialized nations to target an upper limit for global warming of 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit), according to a draft summit text. Two degrees is seen by the European Union and many developing countries as the threshold beyond which climate change …
Arctic nations are promising to avoid new "Cold War" scrambles linked to climate change, but military activity is stirring in a polar region where a thaw may allow oil and gas exploration or new shipping routes. The six nations around the Arctic Ocean are promising to cooperate on challenges such …
Gazprom, the energy company, has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Dow Chemical Company to expand trading in carbon dioxide emission credits intended to slow climate change, a business that is a growing sideline for the Russian company. Best known for its sales of natural gas and crude oil, …
A global shift toward nuclear power is prompting countries to rush to lock in long-term access to tight supplies of uranium, and China and India look to be the next players to get in on the action. A tie-up between Rosatom, the Russian state-owned producer, Rosatom and Canada-based miner Uranium …
energy Nigerians want to own their oil Thousands of workers in Nigeria protested in mid-May the proposed deregulation of the oil sector. The government in February said it would deregulate the downstream oil sector, which deals with refining of crude oil for domestic consumption. It is managed by the state-owned …
Bangladesh gets nuke plant: On May 13, Bangladesh and Russia signed a deal to install a nuclear power plant with an electricity generation capacity of 600-1,000 megawatt (mw). The plant will be set up at Roopour, 200 km from Dhaka. The country generates 3,300 mw power and is facing a …
Japan should shun a "politically inexplicable" option of a rise in greenhouse gas emissions when it sets a 2020 target in coming days, the U.N.'s top climate change official said on Wednesday. Yvo de Boer told Reuters he hoped that both Japan and Russia, the two largest industrialized nations which …
Small Pacific islands vulnerable to rising sea levels won a symbolic victory at the United Nations on Wednesday with the passage of a resolution recognizing climate change as a possible threat to security. The non-binding resolution, passed by consensus by the General Assembly, may help put climate change on the …
