The report presents a mixed picture. Over the past 25 years, there have been notable improvements in child well-being in the group of countries examined in this report: steady decline in child mortality, overall reduction in adolescent suicide and increase in school completion rates. But the last five years have …
New Delhi The government has allowed the import of seeds of new varieties of wheat and paddy for trial and evaluation purposes, Parliament was informed on Friday. In July, the agriculture ministry had revised the New Policy on Seeds Development of 1988 to allow the import of a specific quantity …
An increase in heat waves is almost certain, while heavier rainfall, more floods, stronger cyclones, landslides and more intense droughts are likely across the globe this century as the Earth's climate warms, U.N. scientists said on Friday. The U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) urged countries to come up …
Mexico will earn a royalty on carbon credits generated from energy-saving light bulbs through a world-first deal that could pave the way for other developing countries to fund emissions cuts, the investor said on Monday. Under the project, an Australian company, Cool nrg International, advised by Bank of America Merrill …
A Germany-based NRI scientist plans to introduce solar-powered health centres in remote Indian villages, aimed at helping rural people meet their immediate medical needs and popularising the use of renewable energy. Mr Amal Mukhopadhyay, chief of Hanseatic India Forum e.V. based in Hamburg, has initially planned to set up three …
Mexican President Felipe Calderon urged Washington and Beijing on Thursday to agree to curb the release of climate-warming gases to ensure the success of United Nations climate talks in South Africa later this month. "An agreement between the U.S. and China is absolutely required," Calderon told a gathering of business …
The remnants of Hurricane Rina bore down on Cancun and other resorts on Mexico's popular Caribbean coast on Thursday, chasing away tourists and causing massive flights delays. Rina was downgraded to a tropical storm on Thursday. It sent vacationers packing from the Yucatan peninsula on Wednesday, causing villages to be …
With India proposing the inclusion of some of neglected issues in the agenda of the UN climate change negotiations in Durban later this year, experts feel the country has taken a U-turn from its stand in Mexico 2010 and is following a better line. The environment ministry, in a communique …
Faced with the potential use of a dangerous pesticide methyl iodide to spray crops in their backyards, a group of Californian teenagers decided to stand up to the might of industrial agribusiness. Rosie Spinks reports It's a short walk - about five or six steps - from the neat and …
Hurricane Jova flooded the streets of Mexico's main Pacific port with torrential rain on Wednesday, inundating popular beach resorts and killing at least two people in a mud slide. Streets in the port of Manzanillo were underwater, coastal communities were flooded and roads were blocked due to fallen trees and …
Hurricane Jova eased on Tuesday as it was about to reach Mexico's Pacific coast, threatening one of the country's busiest cargo ports and tourist resorts with high waves, heavy rainfall and flooding. Downgraded to a Category 2 storm, with top winds reaching 100 miles per hour, Jova was about 85 …
The Republic of the Marshall Islands has created the world's biggest shark reserve: so large that all of Mexico could fit comfortably inside. With new legislation, commercial shark fishing is now completely banned in Marshall Islands' 768,547 square miles (1,990,530 square kilometers) of ocean. The new shark sanctuary not only …
Top sea turtle experts from around the globe have discovered that almost half (45 per cent) of the world’s threatened sea turtle populations are found in the northern Indian Ocean, the International Union for Conservation of Nature said yesterday. The study also determined that the most significant threats across all …
The waters around India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are home to the world’s most endangered sea turtles, according to a study released Thursday aimed at setting a blueprint for global conservation. While it was well known that almost all sea turtle species face extinction, the study by 30 scientists was …
Mexico's capital received its first all-electric taxi cabs Wednesday as part of an agreement between the auto maker and the local government to promote the use of environmentally friendly vehicles in one of the world's smoggiest metropolitan areas. The first all-electric taxi cabs were presented in Mexico City this week, …
A World Trade Organisation (WTO) panel has ruled, on September 15, the “dolphin safe” labels used to market tuna in the United States are illegal because they restrict trade. The labels are used to inform consumers that the tuna fish has been caught without harming or killing dolphins. Tuna fishing …
The world needs to redouble efforts to fight climate change ahead of global talks in Durban, with time running out to save millions of lives in countries to be hit hardest, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Thursday. Ban, winding up a visit to Australia and small Pacific nations …
The United States was a net exporter of solar energy products last year, thanks to strong demand from China, Germany and Japan for U.S.-made polysilicon and capital equipment used to make solar panels. U.S. photovoltaic-related exports totaled $5.6 billion in 2010, compared with imports of $3.7 billion, according to a …
China vowed on Wednesday to appeal a recent World Trade Organization ruling against its raw materials export policy, a case that could threaten Beijing's handling of rare earths. In July, a WTO legal panel dismissed China's claim that its system of export duties and quotas on raw materials -- used …
The growth of the world's urban population is posing an ever growing challenge to provide city dwellers access to clean water and sanitation, a study released Sunday said. The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) report - titled Big Cities, Big Water, Big Challenges - was published as delegates assembled for the …
Proposed amendments to phase down hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) under the Montreal Protocol received support from a diverse group of developing and developed countries during the Thirty-first meeting of the Open-ended Working Group of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol on "Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer" (OEWG 31) held on 1-5 …
