Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions are the main driving force of climate change, and all economic sectors need to internalize their costs. Food systems (including land use, production, refrigeration, food processing) account for a quarter of global GHG emissions. Agricultural exports in Asia-Pacific account for 18% of total exports, twice as …
A red panda in the Darjeeling zoo. File picture Darjeeling, July 24: John has just fathered two lovely red pandas in Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park and has more than one reason to feel proud, having fought off 11 other males to catch the attention of Sheetal, one of only …
The Doha Round of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) now is in its seventh year. It has entered a crucial phase in the past few months. Senior officials are expected to start trade-offs in the coming weeks in the core areas of agriculture and non agricultural market access (NAMA)-- industrial …
It is now common knowledge that the Montreal Protocol in its effort to phase out the use of ozone depleting substances, especially CFCs, also alleviated the growing climate problem significantly. Some say the world was given a grace period of 10 years in which to react to the potentially cataclysmic …
Nuevo Laredo: Elderly foreign tourists are tapping Mexican pet shops for a drug used by veterinarians to put cats and dogs to sleep that has become the sedative of choice for euthanasia campaigners. Tourists from as far as Australia have travelled to Mexico to buy liquid pentobarbital, which causes a …
In the face of skyrocketing petrol prices, the New Zealand government has said that it would delay the introduction of a new petrol rates under the emissions trading scheme (ets) for two years. The proposed hike in petrol prices was part of a government plan to cap greenhouse gases emitted …
New Zealand plans to ban commercial fishing near its coast and set up marine reserves to protect the rare Hector's dolphins, a government minister said on Thursday The Hector's dolphin is estimated to number around 7,400 from 29,000 in the late 1970s. However, one of its sub-species, the Maui dolphin, …
While green campaigners push for ever more wind turbines, a new wave of environmentally motivated engineers is already considering turbines to be a little old-school. One of the pioneers of the concept of a kite as a renewable energy source is Peter Lynn, a New Zealand kite designer.
New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark and Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda agreed Wednesday to cooperate on global warming, security and other areas but failed to make progress on signing a free-trade agreement, according to a joint statement issued after their summit in Tokyo. Clark and Fukuda failed to report any …
Over GM crop trial: The anti-GM lobby group in New Zealand has challenged the Environmental Risk Management Authority (ERMA) for approving 10-year-field trials for genetically modified brassicas. GE-Free New Zealand, an NGO, has filed a lawsuit at the Wellington High Court. It claims that ERMA's approval was seriously flawed since …
Livestock auctions are not normally the stuff of headlines, but then it's not every day that cows as unusual as Dundee Paradise and Dundee Paratrooper are going under the hammer. The dairy cows were due to be sold at Easter Compton cattle market near Bristol, UK, last month, but at …
Ten Students Missing In New Zealand River Flood NEW ZEALAND: April 16, 2008 WELLINGTON - Ten teenagers are missing after being swept away in a raging river in New Zealand as violent storms caused widespread flooding in the country's North Island, local media and police said. The students were taking …
Once upon a time, houses made of wood inhabited real spaces and not the glossy confines of lifestyle magazines. The states of Kerala, Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh, blessed with abundant timber, were particularly known for their refined architectural traditions in wood. Changing lifestyles, environmental concerns and the rising cost of …
People switched off lights across the world on Saturday, dimming buildings, hotels, restaurants and bars to show concern at global warming. Up to 30 million people were expected to switch off their lights for 60 minutes by the time "Earth Hour'
New Zealand "living dinosaur', the tuatara, is the fastest evolving animal on Earth, a new study has revealed. Researchers have found that although tuatara have remained largely physically unchanged over very long periods of evolution, they are evolving
A rare and threatened species of tiny frog has been found breeding in a New Zealand animal park, meaning its future may now be more secure, researchers said. The 13 finger nail-sized Maud Island froglets were discovered clinging to the backs of male frogs at the Karori wildlife sanctuary in …
Philippines recently ordered Novartis to pull out its anti-arthritis painkiller from the country. It is feared that the drug lumiracoxib, also sold as prexige, causes liver damage. The Bureau of Food and Drugs, the health regulators in the country, said the risks were greater than the benefits and cited reports …
Carbon neutrality has never been more highly prized. Half of New Zealand's greenhouse gas emissions come from the guts of sheep and cows; Norway spews ever more gases from its North Sea oil platforms; Iceland has soaring emissions thanks to its aluminium smelters. But all have promised to cut their …
