Climate change, ecology, nature, environment, eco-friendly politics, non-profit projects, human rights, preservation, wildlife... all that we care about.
You might think you can do a better job than the UK government at cutting CO2, becoming more energy efficient and deciding how Britain should move towards a low carbon economy.
Well the UK’s Department of Energy and Climate Change let’s you try it out – in a computer simulation, of course.
The Independent’s environment editor loves [...]
As an alternative to cutting meat consumption in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is considering the promotion of insects as a food source.
The idea comes from a UN policy paper by a Belgian scientist at the University of Wageningen named Arnold Van Huis, who points out that [...]
Since the environment and appearing to be green are increasingly in vogue, yet consumerism is more rampant than ever, a curious corporate, consumer and governmental culture is emerging.
It’s the culture of ‘lets not and say we did’.
For example, let’s go on about cutting emissions, but then expand offshore drilling. Or let’s make our corporate logo [...]
Cap and trade or emissions trading schemes can be confusing. They have been touted as the chief market-based solution for limiting greenhouse gas emissions, preserving valuable natural resources like forests, while making money for rich and poor countries alike.
The far right and climate change skeptics hate them for obvious – and sometimes less obvious – [...]
The UK’s independent advisory body established under the Climate Change Act has stated that Britain needs to invest more in low carbon technologies in order to meet its goal of cutting 1990 emissions levels by 80% by the year 2050.
The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) was established with the purpose of reporting to the UK’s [...]
Pipe dreams of a future of eco-friendly travel go up in smoke when you look at the projected numbers for air travel. In short, total emissions from flying are set to skyrocket.
The new Boeing 787 Dreamliner is being touted as 20% more fuel efficient than its rivals, lighter and more durable due to it’s carbon [...]
Six nations pledged to either go carbon neutral or low carbon at a meeting this past weekend in the Maldives. All are developing countries and most are low-lying island nations, which are particularly vulnerable to rising sea levels resulting from climate change.
Though these countries contribute almost nothing to climate change, their commitments to cutting greenhouse [...]
According to the recently released yearly study Energy Revolution (conducted by Greenpeace and the EREC – European Renewable Energy Council) Europe could reduce it’s CO2 emissions with 95 percent by 2050. The results of the study show that Europe could achieve this spectacular reduction in CO2 emissions by producing up to 97 percent of its [...]
A recent piece for The Ecologist, entitled ‘Biomass Britain: do fields of energy crops spell an end to grazing livestock’, explores the possibility of a revolution in the UK’s land use.
70-80% of land in the UK is used by the British livestock industry. The possibility of a near-complete shift from livestock farming to the growing [...]
I’ve assumed that transport via boat, whether shipping goods or people, is less polluting and has a lower carbon footprint than flying or road freight, for example. Not so, according to both scientific research and inside information from the maritime shipping industry.
While diesel cars – once known as smelly, noisy polluters – have relatively cleaned [...]
Germany’s Federal Environment Agency claims that the European nation could get all its power from renewables by 2050.
At the moment Germany derives 16% of its electricity from renewable sources such as solar and wind – a threefold increase from 1995. Some 300,000 jobs in the renewable energy field have been created since 2000 and Germany [...]
Ready for some negative news?
The 8.6% fall in UK greenhouse gas emissions last year was down to the economic slump rather than government initiatives.
According to an article in the Guardian, the government needs to take significant action over the next year in order to reach legally binding emissions targets (34% on 1990 levels by 2020). [...]
In light of a recent survey naming UK companies as the worst among 300 of Europe’s largest corporations when it comes to their contribution to global warming, another survey has been released, this time focusing only on British firms.
The new list, called the FTSE carbon strategy index, compares Britain’s 350 biggest companies in terms of [...]
A new campaign by the Japanese government encourages people to go to bed one hour earlier in order to save energy and cut down on CO2 emissions. Not watching TV and having lights on late at night could cut household energy consumption by up to 20%
The campaign, launched by Japan’s Environment Ministry, is called ‘Morning [...]
In the 70s and 80s acid rain received lots of attention for being a scourge upon forests and freshwater lakes and streams, poisoning aquatic life, insects and humans as well as corroding monuments and buildings in urban areas.
Acid rain never went away, but its levels changed and its sources shifted. You see, acid rain is [...]
The UN climate talks taking place in Bonn, Germany this week are not proving to be a source of positive news for the global environment.
An binding agreement to limit greenhouse gas emissions sufficiently enough to avoid the risk of runaway global warming and climate change were meant to be the goal of last December’s climate [...]
We’ve all heard of super-heroes and super-villains, but did you know there are also super-greenhouse gases?
Recently, a rather serious issue was brought to my attention and now I am bringing it to yours. Lurking about our world are things known as HFCs (hydrofluorocarbons). They are man-made gases used as refrigerants and can be found in [...]
A UN report entitled ‘Assessing the Environmental Impacts of Consumption and Production’, released Wednesday, states that eating less meat and dairy is necessary to avoid catastrophic effects of climate change, global hunger and energy shortages.
From an article in the Guardian:
As the global population surges towards a predicted 9.1 billion people by 2050, western tastes for [...]
At a UN climate conference in Oslo, Norway this week, nations agreed on an increase in aid from rich to poor countries to protect the Earth’s forests and curb global carbon emissions. UN figures state that deforestation and forest degradation are responsible for 17% global emissions. Preserving forests is widely regarded as the least expensive [...]
It seems to be the same old story when it comes to the prospects of a binding emissions deal happening in Cancun next November, or any time soon for that matter. India’s environment minister doesn’t think it will happen and China is not expected to impose limits their CO2 emissions.
So far, non-legally binding commitments offer [...]
Here is an extra clip from Age of Stupid director Franny Armstrong’s The Stupid Show in which young citizens of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates are interviewed about environmental attitudes in their country.
This could easily just be seen as a typical ‘laugh at the rich kids’ bit of reality TV. There is nothing exclusively [...]
An EU study has shown that despite efforts to lower greenhouse gas emissions and pollution from transportation within Europe, both have actually increased over the ten year period of 1997-2007.
The report, from the European Environment Agency (EEA), gauges pollution and emissions levels from the transport sector in 32 European countries. While high emitters like passenger [...]
Many people love going to the beach. I’m actually heading there tomorrow. There are so many things you can do at (or in) the ocean, such as swimming, surfing, scuba diving, snorkeling, sailing, kayaking, whale watching, and so forth. It is an extremely vast ecosystem with so many life forms that scientists still haven’t finished [...]
One third of greenhouse gasses in New Zealand come from livestock, according to the below report from CNN Eco Solutions.
Home to just 4 million people, New Zealand has 38 million sheep 9 million cows, which fuel large export industries in dairy, meat and wool. These animals produce vast amounts of methane, a greenhouse gas 21 [...]
Copenhagen it’s not, but the first UN climate meetings since December’s disappointment in Denmark began today in Bonn, Germany.
According to a report from BBC News, developing countries are strongly on board with the UN process and would like to see a binding global climate deal under the Kyoto Protocol by the next major summit, which [...]
India is a country of over one billion inhabitants and already the fourth largest emitter of CO2. While India’s per capita emissions are still low, the South Asian powerhouse has a projected annual economic growth rate of 8-9%. This means a growing middle class and a concomitant demand for the hallmarks of affluent society, such [...]
China’s soaring greenhouse gas emissions are significantly fueled by Western consumerism. That is the conclusion of a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
According to an article in Time magazine, ‘22.5% of the carbon emitted in China is actually exported to other countries’.
So in a way, unofficial ‘carbon markets’ [...]
Several recent articles in the British and international media have dealt with the question of solar power and government schemes that encourage homeowners to install solar panels.
One such plan, announced yesterday by UK energy and climate change secretary, Ed Miliband is a Pay As You Save program that provides ‘green loans’ to those who install [...]
Sumatra: A large, Indonesian island that is home to over 200 mammal and nearly 600 bird species, including critically endangered animals such as the Sumatran tiger, rhino, and orangutan. It’s also the target of a new environmental initiative launched by Australia and Indonesia.
Yesterday, those 2 nations announced a multi-million dollar plan to reduce greenhouse gas [...]
In this day and age, the green standard is slowly becoming the norm. People expect more sustainability out of businesses and government policies. They expect their neighbors to be as eco-minded as they are and some obsessively follow every bit of news that mentions climate change, co2 emissions, cap-and-trade, and so forth.
We all have our [...]
