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 …
Efforts to put a value on greenhouse- gas emissions to contain global warming are being hurt as countries from Australia to Russia and Japan pull back from carbon-reduction commitments, according to the World Bank. "While some nations are taking concrete steps forward on carbon pricing, recent developments in others are …
What does it mean for one of the southernmost cities in the world to ditch its investments in fossil fuel companies? An international movement is calling on institutions to pull investments in fossil fuel companies as a means of tackling CO2 emissions. Kick-started by climate change organisation 350.org and others, …
New Zealand’s court of appeal has refused refugee status to a family from Kiribati, a Pacific island which is quickly sinking beneath the sea No refugees please, we’re New Zealanders. That’s the message from New Zealand’s court of appeal. In a decision released last week the court endorsed earlier rulings …
An Australian law forcing cigarette companies to sell their products in plain packets is about to be tested in court, diplomats at the World Trade Organization said on Friday, ending more than two years of procedural delay. Cuba, Ukraine, Indonesia, Honduras and Dominican Republic have brought the action against Australia, …
New Zealand came first in a global index published on Thursday that ranks countries by social and environmental performance rather than economic output in a drive to make social progress a priority for politicians and businesses. The Social Progress Index (SPI) rates 132 countries on more than 50 indicators, including …
Shifting to active modes of transport in the trip to work can achieve substantial co-benefits for health, social equity, and climate change mitigation. Previous integrated modeling of transport scenarios has assumed active transport mode share and has been unable to incorporate acknowledged system feedbacks. The researchers compared the effects of …
The world's first study of deep ocean trench has confirmed climate change — excessive warming of the ocean and melting of Arctic ice — has made marine life far sparser and less varied than expected in those depths. British and Kiwi scientists joined hands and dived into the previously unexplored …
Majority Are From Poor Nations Globally, nine out of ten persons who need palliative care or medical care to relieve pain, symptoms and stress of serious illness don’t get it. A majority of these live in low and middleincome countries, a recently released report has revealed. Every year, about 20 …
New Zealand's renowned glaciers in the Southern Alps will shrink up to 60 percent by the end of the century as the earth's climate continues to warm, scientists forecast Monday. Historic records showed Franz Josef Glacier, a popular draw for tourists, retreated three km in the last century and mathematical …
India, others claim victory, experts feel it could prove counterproductive India and other developing countries have succeeded in ensuring that there will be no discussion on agriculture in the ongoing climate change negotiations in Warsaw, a development that could well prove a pyrrhic victory. Discussion on ways to deal with …
Following is a list of some of the assistance offered to the Philippines from around the world after a devastating typhoon hit the center of the country last weekend. - THE INTERNATIONAL RED CROSS AND RED CRESCENT MOVEMENT is appealing for 87 million Swiss francs ($94.6 million) to provide 100,000 …
Predicting survival and extinction scenarios for climate change requires an understanding of the present day ecological characteristics of species and future available habitats, but also the adaptive potential of species to cope with environmental change. Hybridization is one mechanism that could facilitate this. Here we report statistical evidence that the …
Failure to protect Antarctic waters long-term could leave it vulnerable to oil drilling and fishing within 15 years Talks to create the world’s two largest marine reserves in the Antarctic could be undermined by a last-ditch push for a “sunset clause” that would allow protections from fishing and oil drilling …
Severe droughts that happen once every 20 years will affect New Zealand once every two to five years by the year 2100 and the country's Pacific neighbors will need help to deal with the impacts of climate change, a leading New Zealand climate scientist warned Wednesday. Auckland University climate scientist …
More than a quarter of a million Australian homes could be at risk from rising sea levels, according to a leaked IPCC draft document. Photo: Paul Harris Climate change will increase the likelihood of deaths from heat stress and bushfires, and potentially place more than a quarter of a million …
Melbourne made it three years in a row as the world’s most livable city while Dhaka was only saved by Damascus, the war-torn capital of Syria, to be placed at the bottom of the list, according to the 2013 Economist Intelligence Unit’s (EIU) Global Livability Survey. The top cities and …
Sri Lanka's Cabinet of ministers has approved a series of measures to ensure the safety of the consumer food imported to the country following the report submitted by the cabinet sub-committee appointed to probe the contamination of imported milk food. The Cabinet at its meeting held on August 15 appointed …
New Zealand scaled back its target for reducing carbon emissions on Friday, saying the move was an interim step ahead of a new United Nations pact from 2020. The government said it would commit to cutting greenhouse gas emissions to 5 percent below 1990 levels by 2020. It had previously …
A magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck south of New Zealand's capital on Friday, sending panicked Wellington workers and residents into the streets, but caused little major damage just weeks after a similar size quake shook the harbourside city. The quake, which hit near the northern tip of New Zealand's South Island, …
An earthquake of magnitude 6.9 struck New Zealand on Sunday, the U.S. Geological Survey's monitoring service reported, but there were no immediate reports of major damage or injuries. The largest of a series of tremors that have shaken the region in the past few days, the quake knocked items off …
