Booming Vietnamese economy desecrates environment
by David MastersOver the last decade Vietnam's economy has achieved an annual growth rate of seven percent. The price of the economic boom, however, is a deteriorating environment with many waterways transformed into open sewers and landscapes strewn with toxic waste. State-owned Vietnam News has reported that eight in ten factories and industrial parks in Vietnam exceed legal pollution levels. A survey of over 400 businesses in the country found that most lacked even 'basic ...
Welsh universities research climate change solutions
by David Masters
Two Welsh universities have secured funding allowing them to work together researching solutions to the problems posed by climate change. In a project costing £55 million scientists from Aberystwyth and Bangor universities will research practical solutions to climate change, food security, renewable energy, and animal and plant diseases. Scientists from Aberystywth's newly formed Institute for Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences (IBERS) and Bangor's College of Natural Sciences will work together on the ...
Will transport costs bring back local shops and new mega-cities?
by Alan HartenLiving in cities may be the only option for most of the population as costs of transporting goods will move ever upwards making living in ‘the country’ impractical in terms of transport and the cost of purchasing many goods locally. The well defined trend of people retiring from the crowded, polluted cities into the quiet, peaceful clean air of the rural areas may become a thing of the past and in ...
1.5 million Beijing cars stay home for Olympics
by Alan Harten
The motoring population of Beijing awoke yesterday to new rigorous enforcement of new regulations aimed at reducing traffic pollution and relieve congestion on the streets of the capital in preparation for the Olympic Games. The traffic registered a remarkable decline on the first working day since the start of the legislation, which requires private cars to travel on alternate days depending on their registration number, odd or even. This measure, ...
Scientists say wetlands being destroyed across the globe
by Alan Harten
Scientists from across the globe have warned that the rapid destruction of wetlands around the world is releasing large amounts of carbon dioxide and thus accelerating global warming. Prior to the start of the Eighth International Regional Environment Program Conference in Pantanal, CUIB, Brazil, they issued a statement saying that global warming is accelerating the decomposition of organic material accumulated in the marshlands which in turn is releasing into the ...
London freesheet recycling scheme falls short of targets
by Grant Draper
Earlier this year an impressive agreement was signed between two big publishers and the city council, London Lite and the London Paper and Westminster council, which would see a dramatic increase in paper recycling within the area. The Freesheet recycling scheme was born, with an aim to recycle 400 tonnes of newspaper per year. Now, over the half way point, the bins allocated to help the scheme have achieved impressive figures of ...
Channel 4 mislead viewers with climate change documentary
by Grant Draper
A Scientist, in fact, a former Government Scientist, has sparked a controversial debate on whether the latest program he featured in caused viewers to be mislead on the documentary topic, of Climate Change. Ofcom, the regulator of such channels and programs, received complaints of unfairness, from Sir David King, after The Great Global Warming Swindle was shown. The basis for the complaint came from Fred Singers incorrect statement, that suggested by the ...
EU focus on aviation emissions
by Grant Draper
According to a global trading body, trying to implement a emissions trading scheme on airlines who are travelling inbound and outbound of Europe, will not succeed. The International Air Transport Association have suggested that implementing such a scheme would increase the tension between the EU and non EU countries, with the US already threatening to challenge the scheme, due the schemes interference with current international aviation agreements. The proposed scheme ...
Mass starvation in Zimbabwe
by Grant Draper
According to the United Nations, around five million people will need assistance within the coming months, due to lack of food. The Food shortage is said to be from the lack thought that went into the governments land distribution, which will see land owners harvest go down, to little or nothing, aswell as the latest inflation hikes. Of course attempts by the Britain and the USA, are futile, after President Robert Mugabe, ...
Video conferences could save the planet
by David Masters
A leading scientist from the UN is urging businesses and governments to adopt remote conferencing technology in a bid to save the planet from global warming. Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, Chair of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), told a cross-party committee of MPs last week that the environmental impact of business travel must begin to be addressed. In most economically developed countries, transport accounts for 40% of carbon emissions. MPs from ...
‘Green League’ ranks universities on environmental performance
by David Masters
A new university league table ranks institutions of higher education based upon their environmental credentials. 'The Green League 2008', researched and published by student campaign group People & Planet, awards UK universities with a First, a 2:1, a 2:2, a Third, or a Fail based upon their environmental performance. Nine factors are taken into consideration, including whether the university has an environmental policy, how much waste is recycled by the university, and ...
Food companies pledge carbon cuts
by David Masters
Forty food and drinks companies from across the UK have signed a pledge to slash food transport miles, significantly reducing the environmental impact of transporting food. Businesses signed up to the pledge - written by the Food and Drink Federation (FDF) - promise to make their food transport miles fewer and friendlier with the aim of reducing the environmental and social impacts of domestic food transport 20% by 2012 compared to ...
Attenborough urges urgent help for butterflies
by Alan Harten
Much loved British TV icon, Sir David Attenborough, is amongst those warning that butterflies could become nothing more than a pleasant childhood memory if something is not done to help them live in harmony with the modern British countryside, and he has come up with a rescue plan aimed at boosting British butterfly populations. In just the last twenty years, new, intensive farming methods; loss of habitat; and global warming have ...
Protect world’s forests or face apocalypse now
by David Masters
If the earth is to have a future, more needs to be done to protect the world's forests. This is the conclusion of a report by the Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI). The report warns that the world is 'on the verge of a global land grab' leading to the destruction of the world's forests and exacerbating global warming. Demand for biofuel crops and food is rapidly increasing, meaning that forest land in ...
Europe dependent on imported energy
by David Masters
New research by the statistical office at the European Union has found that Europe is becoming increasingly dependent on imported energy, with Ireland having the fourth highest energy dependency rating in the continent. This week, Eurostat published a study of energy production and consumption across all 27 EU member states during 2006. The energy dependency rating of a country shows that country's net imports of energy as a percentage of its energy ...
Survey discovers workplace environmental apathy
by David Masters
A recent survey has found that eco-apathy is as rampant in Irish workplaces as it is in the UK. Each employee in Ireland was found to throw away 8 pages of paper every day, meaning that a total of 3.8 million pages are printed unnecessarily in Ireland every day, leading to a paper mountain of waste. 51% of employees said their company has no green policy designed to reduce the business's environmental ...
Construction industry to develop environmental guidelines
by David MastersThe UK's Green Building Council (GBC) has begun a consultation to develop a new Code for Sustainable Building. Government targets stipulate that all new homes must be zero-carbon by 2016, and all new non-domestic buildings must be zero-carbon by 2019. The GBC believes current legislation on green building standards is confusing and disparate, and if government targets are to be met then sustainable building practices need to be unified into a single ...
Northern Ireland’s first solar-powered housing
by David Masters
A new housing development in Northern Ireland will be the first of its kind to incorporate renewable energy production into every property. W Copeland and Son's development of 36 energy efficient townhouses, semi-detached houses and apartments in Newtownards, will include solar roof tiles on every building. In prime conditions the C21e photovoltaic solar panels on the development will generate up to 26 kilowatts of energy, saving a potential 14 tonnes of carbon ...
Conservatives propose payment for recycling
by David Masters
The Conservative Party has outlined a plan to use cash incentives to encourage people to recycle more waste. Shadow Chancellor, George Osborne, presented the proposals last week to the Green Alliance, calling it a 'carrots instead of sticks' approach. Citing a similar scheme in the US, where households are paid up to £25 per month to recycle, Osborne contrasted the initiative to Labour's 'pay as you throw' plans that penalised citizens with ...
Biofuels to blame for food prices
by David Masters
A leaked report from the World Bank argues that biofuel production is to blame for the majority of the recent spikes in food prices. The cost of food has increased by 140% since 2002. According to the Bush administration, 2-3% of this can be attributed to biofuels; the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation estimates this figure at 30%. However, a report by Don Mitchell, the leading agricultural economist at the World Bank, estimates ...