IPBES, Bonn 26 March, 2018 Main cause of species loss; driver of the migration of millions of people by 2050 In landmark 3-year assessment report, 100+ experts outline costs, dangers and options The dangers of land degradation, which cost the equivalent of about 10% of the world’s annual gross product in 2010 through the loss […]
IPBES, Bonn 23 March 2018 Human well-being at risk; Landmark reports highlight options to protect and restore nature and its vital contributions to people Biodiversity — the essential variety of life forms on Earth — continues to decline in every region of the world, significantly reducing nature’s capacity to contribute to people’s well-being. This alarming trend […]
Project ProSUM, Brussels Standardized, consolidated data helps to identify recovery potential of secondary raw materials worth € billions wasted annually Expert European organizations have united to create the world’s first database of valuable materials available for “urban mining” from scrap vehicles, spent batteries, waste electronic and electrical equipment, and mining wastes. The Urban Mine Platform […]
UNITED NATIONS UNIVERSITY, Bonn / INTERNATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATION UNION, Geneva / INTERNATIONAL SOLID WASTE ASSOCIATION, Vienna E-waste per capita rises 5 percent from 2014 to 2016; just 20 percent is recycled; contained $55 billion worth of gold, silver, copper, other high value materials; biggest e-waste categories: Small and large appliances, heating/cooling equipment A new report on […]
Carnegie Science / Deep Carbon Observatory, Washington DC The private lives of minerals: Understanding how and where minerals hook up helps predict discovery; At least 1,500 minerals yet to be found Applying big data analysis to mineralogy offers a way to predict minerals missing from those known to science, where to find them, and where […]
Shalom Center for Conflict Resolution and Reconciliation, Nairobi Founded by Ireland’s Fr. Patrick Devine in aftermath of national post-election violence, Kenya’s Shalom Centre pioneers successful formula for preventing conflict between rival groups An innovative research-led model for building peace has been pioneered by an Irish Catholic priest and his Shalom Centre colleagues working in areas of […]
Long Point Causeway Improvement Project, Long Point, Canada 89 percent fewer turtles venture onto Lake Erie’s Long Point Causeway A newly completed project in a remote corner of southwestern Ontario is being hailed as a landmark achievement in the protection of at-risk species and a model for other communities around the world seeking to reduce the […]
Rockefeller University, Program for the Human Environment, NY Naked DNA in water tells if fish have arrived Scientists demonstrate harmless, economical new way to log fish migration; Environmental DNA researchers foresee a revolution in how we assess the movement, diversity, distribution and abundance of fish For the first time, scientists have recorded a spring fish […]
UN Environment, Paris / Nairobi Global investment of $241.6 billion (excluding large hydro), 23 percent less than 2015, brought 138.5GW of new renewable power capacity in 2016, up 8 percent from 2015; proportion of global electricity from renewables rose to 11.3 percent in 2016 As the cost of clean technology continues to fall, the world […]
Carnegie Science – Deep Carbon Observatory, Washington DC Humans: The greatest contributor to diversity of minerals since oxygen; Officially recognized minerals, formed by nature: More than 5,000; Formed due to human activity: 208 Human industry and ingenuity has done more to diversify and distribute minerals on Earth than any development since the rise of oxygen over 2.2 […]
Grand Challenges Canada / Saving Brains Program, Toronto In study, children with a particular genetic variation were 4 times more likely to develop strong attachment to mother after intervention A child’s genetic make-up can play a large, hidden role in the success of efforts to maximize his or her development, South African research suggests. The study, published […]
Grand Challenges Canada, Toronto Maternal Micronutrients, Nurturing Environment Boost Child Development Mothers who take multi-micronutrient supplements during pregnancy can add the equivalent of up to one full year of schooling to a child’s cognitive abilities at age 9-12, says a new study published today. Other essential ingredients in the recipe for smarter kids include early […]
UN University, Sustainable Cycles Programme — Bonn, Germany Per capita consumption of gadgets, appliances, other products with a cord or battery, rising quickly with incomes; Report urges clampdown on improper recycling, disposal to conserve resources, avoid serious health and environment threats The volume of discarded electronics in East and Southeast Asia jumped almost two-thirds between 2010 […]
Grand Challenges Canada, Toronto In Zimbabwe, Friendship Bench therapy reduces prevalence of depression to less than 14 percent, compared to 50 percent in control group; First at-scale model of community mental health care in Africa has diagnosed and treated over 27,500 people for common mental health disorders Toronto / Harare — Their offices are simple wooden seats, […]
Grand Challenges Canada, Toronto Study funded by Saving Brains shows Kangaroo Mother Care kids 20 years later are better behaved, have larger brains, higher paycheques, more protective and nurturing families Two decades after a group of Colombian parents were shown how to keep their perilously tiny babies warm and nourished through breastfeeding and continuous skin-to-skin […]
International Rehabilitation Council For Torture Victims, Copenhagen 100+ presentations on cases worldwide, from Syria, Central America, Africa, Guantanamo Bay; Sexual violence as torture; Treatment and recovery from atrocities; Enforcing nations’ legal obligation to provide rehabilitation Over 300 participants — 70% of them clinical professionals — from 80 nations will exchange expertise, experience and research on […]
Nat’l Ocean Exploration Forum – New York 19 Oct 2016 Five hundred vents newly discovered off the US West Coast, each bubbling methane from Earth’s belly, top a long list of revelations about “submerged America” being celebrated by leading marine explorers meeting in New York. “It appears that the entire coast off Washington, Oregon and California […]
United Nations University – Institute for Water, Environment and Health, Hamilton, Canada Beyond sushi wrap: Expanding number of valuable uses drives astonishing growth of seaweed farming; Experts urge burgeoning industry to learn lessons from agriculture, fisheries A rising number of valuable uses being found for seaweed — from food and fertilizer to pharmaceuticals and industrial […]
UNU Int’l Institute Global Health, Kuala Lumpur 18 July 2016 Assembled by UNU-IIGH, six papers underline the value of applying science, technology to reduce disaster-related health risks; productivity in many jobs seen falling by up to 40 percent by 2050 due to heat stress; experts convene at UN forum in Malaysia The rising price — in both […]
Harvard Kennedy School / Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Cambridge MA 6 July 2016 Why important innovations stall; Understanding obstacles to change key to timely adoption of technologies needed to address global problems Cambridge, MA – Disruptive, transformative technologies are being introduced at an accelerating pace, fuelling opposition that impedes forms of innovation […]
Global Sustainable Electricity Partnership, Montreal World’s top utilities hand over project keys, chart path for Ecuador’s famously biodiverse archipelago to meet 70 percent of fast-rising energy needs with renewables 29 May 2016 A global renewable energy project on the Galapagos Islands — one of Earth’s most fragile and important ecological treasures — has helped avoid […]
Human Evolution, Italy 5-MAY-2016 The Leonardo Project: Illuminating the art, life, characteristics, talents, and brilliance of one of humanity’s most extraordinary figures A team of eminent specialists from a variety of academic disciplines has coalesced around a goal of creating new insight into the life and genius of Leonardo da Vinci by means of authoritative new […]