For billions of people, mountain meltwater is essential for drinking water and sanitation, food and energy security, and the integrity of the environment. But today, as the world warms, glaciers are melting faster than ever, making the water cycle more unpredictable and extreme. And because of glacial retreat, floods, droughts, …
The EU Commission's climate package calls for a 20-per-cent reduction in emissions by 2020, a fact that may indicate they do not expect an ambitious international agreement. March 2008
An important new resource by the Centre for Social Markets bringing together emerging initiatives on climate change in India. Intended to promote awareness-raising, partnership development and a collective sense of movement building, the report is destined to become a 'must-have' for those working on the issues in India.
The Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol met in Bali in December 2007. 1 After some high-stakes poker about emission reduction frameworks and the role of emerging economies, participants settled on a road map for negotiating …
Most prior studies have found that substituting biofuels for gasoline will reduce greenhouse gases because biofuels sequester carbon through the growth of the feedstock. These analyses have failed to count the carbon emissions that occur as farmers worldwide respond to higher prices and convert forest and grassland to new cropland …
Increasing energy use, climate change and carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels make switching to low-carbon fuels a high priority. Biofuels are a potential low-carbon energy source, but whether biofuels offer carbon savings depends on how they are produced. Converting rainforests, peatlands, savannas or grasslands to produce food crop-based biofuels …
Three of the most controversial ingredients in politics - race, gender and age - are conspiring to make this year's US presidential election one of the most engrossing ever. But there is another factor that many Americans will hopefully be taking just as seriously because of its future impact on …
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 …
We should not wait to cut back on burning fossil fuels until we have developed greener technology to supply our energy needs, despite what many economists are advising their respective governments. Such a waiting game may have deadly consequences. Feb 27, 2008
Crystalline sponges pocked with pores that are just the right size to trap carbon dioxide molecules could filter the fumes from power stations and cars. What's more, the trapped CO2 can then be sucked from the crystals and piped into containers and buried underground, allowing the crystals to be reused.
The Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute will evolve mitigation strategies for marine fisheries and develop an ecosystem-based fisheries management technique for sustaining fishery resources, according to its director N.G.K. Pillai. Speaking to The Hindu here on Tuesday, he said the mitigation plan would highlight the impact of climate change on …
The first contours of what would lead to India's national policy on climate change are likely to be out soon as the much-awaited draft report by the prime minister's council is being finalised by the month-end. According to former environment secretary Pradipto Ghosh, who heads the sub-committee finalising the draft …
Using biofuels instead of fossil fuels will do little to cut carbon emissions, and could even increase them because of the extra land the crops will require.
that was a diplomatic googly which was suitably timed. In an interview to The Guardian on January 19, 2008, the uk's environment secretary Phil Woolas made a point on India's intransigence on climate change but lauded China's efforts. He was in Beijing with uk prime minister Gordown Brown's entourage that …
The European Commission has agreed to increase Bulgaria and Romania's emissions quota. The increase could be anything up to 20 per cent over 2005 levels till 2020. The draft decision, which is part of the commission's new energy and climate change plan, renders infractuous its earlier decision to cut Bulgaria's …
>> In a non-binding report, the European Parliament has given more time to car manufacturers for reducing CO2 emissions from tailpipes. Manufacturers should reduce the emissions to 125 grammes per km by 2015, rather than to 120 grammes by 2012 as proposed by the commission in December, 2007. >> Two …
Stabilization of atmospheric CO2 concentrations below a pre-industrial doubling (~550 ppm) is a commonly cited target in climate policy assessment. When the rate at which future emissions can fall is assumed to be fixed, the peak atmospheric concentration – or the stabilization “frontier” – is an increasing and convex function …
The US Department of Energy has pulled out of a flagship project to build the first 'clean' coal-fired power plant in the United States, a move that will kill the project unless supporters can rouse Congress on its behalf.
The annual regional meeting (ARM) is an annual activity of OneWorld South Asia. It aims to provide a platform for knowledge sharing and collaborative engagement on ICT-assisted progress towards MDGs and beyond, in the South Asia region. The choice of the theme for the seventh ARM on "climate justice for …
Carbon footprint is a new buzzword that has gained tremendous popularity over the last few years-especially in the United Kingdom. Debates on the appropriate use of carbon footprinting are spreading through society.
As Austria revises its Green Electricity Act the clean power industries reject the draft on the table as inadequate. To reach its climate protection targets the country will have to massively buy in CO2 certificates.
