United Nations University, Solving the Ewaste Problem, Bonn 15 December, 2013 Annual world volume of end-of-life electronics expected to jump one-third to 65.4 million tonnes by 2017; New report details US generation and destinations of shipments of used electronics leaving households; methodology offers world guide By 2017, all of the year’s end-of-life refrigerators, TVs, mobile […]
UN Intergov’l Platform on Biodiversity & Ecosystem Services (IPBES), Bonn 8 December 2013 IPBES experts cite importance of ‘co-production’ of information with indigenous people With the planet losing species 100 to 1,000 times faster than the natural extinction rate, international experts assembling for high-level global biodiversity meetings say knowledge co-production with indigenous peoples has growing […]
Deep Carbon Observatory, Washington DC 8 December 2013 New formula for fast, abundant H2 production may help power fuel cells, helps explain expansive chemical-eating microbial communities of the deep Water + rock + aluminum oxide + extreme pressure, heat = quick, copious H2 Hydrogen: first life’s first food? DCO scientists marvel at genetic similarity of […]
Grand Challenges Canada, Toronto 21 Nov 2013 Grand Challenges Canada, funded by the Government of Canada, today extends seed grants of $100,000 each to 83 inventive new ideas for addressing health problems in resource-poor countries. The Grand Challenges Canada “Stars in Global Health” program seeks breakthrough and affordable innovations that could transform the way disease […]
UN Intergov’l Platform on Biodiversity & Ecosystem Services, Bonn 5-Nov-2013 Most of the world’s nations — unanimously committed to protecting biodiversity — nevertheless cannot measure and assess their genetic and biological resources, nor the value of key ecosystem services nature provides to them, international experts from 72 countries warned this week. In addition to taxonomists, […]
Grand Challenges Canada, Toronto 23 October 2013 4 projects nominated for grants up to $2 million; 10 projects awarded $270,000 Grand Challenges Canada, funded by the Government of Canada, today extended a total of $10.1 million to 14 bold, creative projects aimed at improving the early brain development of kids in low-resource countries. Projects in […]
United Nations University, Institute for Water, Environment and Health, Hamilton, Canada 24-Sep-2013 UN-backed report, ‘Economics of Land Degradation,’ debuts at world desertification conference, Namibia Adopting proven sustainable land management practices could raise world crop supplies by an estimated 2.3 billion tonnes, worth $1.4 trillion, experts say in a study being released at a major global […]
Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology, Kuala Lumpur 23 September 2013 Venture capital fund to seed building of green energy products, businesses in SE Asia; Meanwhile, Malaysians, General Electric agree to create modern national ‘smart grid’ To accelerate the national and regional development and manufacture of green energy products and businesses, Malaysia has partnered with […]
United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health, Hamilton, Canada 5 Sept. 2013 UN-backed study says annual treated wastewater in North America roughly equals volume of Niagara Falls; less than 4 percent is reused Amid growing competition for freshwater from industry and cities, coupled with a rising world shortage of potash, nitrogen and phosphorus, […]
United Nations University – BIOLAC (Biotechnology for Latin America and the Caribbean) 2 Sept. 2013 Marking 25th year, UNU-BIOLAC also announces brokered breakthrough to diagnose widespread problem of syphilis with a quick, $1 test Demystifying the chemical processes that create a wine’s aroma, and the invaluable potential application of that understanding in winemaking, is the […]
Grand Challenges Canada, Toronto Saving Lives at Birth 31 July 2013 Some 22 projects from nine countries: Australia, Canada, Guatemala, Italy, Senegal, Spain, Uganda, UK and the USA won grants today ranging in size from $250,000 to $2 million from the Saving Lives at Birth partnership, comprised of USAID, Grand Challenges Canada, DFID (UK), NORAD […]
United Nations University Institute for Water Environment and Health, Canada Global Environmental Facility IW:LEARN, Slovakia 25 July 2013 Sharing Nile’s vital flow through 11 nations, water in Arab region, spread of ‘world’s worst weed,’ changes in Atlantic fisheries, among topics in special collection of articles capturing decades of lessons in trans-boundary water management The science-based management […]
UN Environment Programme / REN21 12-Jun-2013 Installed capacity continues to grow as solar prices drop 30-40 percent New wind installations surge For only the second time since 2006, global investments in renewable energy in 2012 failed to top the year before, falling 12% mainly due to dramatically lower solar prices and weakened US and EU […]
Rosenberg International Forum on Water Policy, University of California Berkeley 10-Jun-2013 Biodiversity in watershed covering roughly 20% of Canada compared to Africa’s Serengeti; Alarm raised at melting of permafrost, ice that plays vital global climate role Canada’s Mackenzie River basin — among the world’s most important major ecosystems — is poorly studied, inadequately monitored, and […]
Harvard Kennedy School, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Cambridge MA 3-Jun-2013 The world can only meet its future food needs through innovation, including biotechnology: Kenya-born Harvard prof. Calestous Juma The world can only meet its future food needs through innovation, including the use of agricultural biotechnology, a Harvard development specialist said today. Since their […]
Chair IPBES / Science Advisor to the Prime Minister, Malaysia / Malaysian Industry‑Government Group for High Technology 27-May-2013 Founding Chair of new world biodiversity body offers first public remarks The accelerating disappearance of Earth’s species of both wild and domesticated plants and animals constitutes a fundamental threat to the well-being and even the survival of humankind, […]
Global Water System Project, Bonn 19-May-2013 Bonn Declaration issued by ‘Water in the Anthropocene’ science conference: A majority on Earth face severe self-inflicted water handicap within two generations A conference of leading water scientists from around the world today issued a stark warning that, without major reforms, “in the short span of one or two […]
Walter & Duncan Gordon Foundation, Toronto / Munk-Gordon Arctic Security Programme 13-May-2013 International experts recommend key focus areas for next 2 years As leadership of the Arctic Council passes from Sweden to Canada May 15, experts say it is crucial that northern nations strengthen response capabilities to shipping-related accidents foreseen in newly-opened northern waters, as well […]
Grand Challenges Canada, Toronto 29 April, 2013 59 creative, out-of-box health innovations devised in 13 low- and middle-income countries, plus 43 from Canada, share $10.9 million in seed grants and a single goal: Reduce debilitating disease, save lives in developing countries Grand Challenges Canada, which is funded by the Government of Canada, today announced 102 […]
Bioscience Education Canada 9-Apr-2013 Raising scientists: Sanofi BioGENEius Challenge Canada celebrates 20 years of inspiring biotechnology studies and careers Cutting edge research into an experimental therapy that deploys nano-particles of gold in the fight against cancer earned an Alberta high school student, 16, top national honours today in the 2013 “Sanofi BioGENEius Challenge Canada” (SBCC). […]
United Nations University, Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH, Hamilton, Canada) / UN-Water 22-Mar-2013, World Water Day / International Year of Water Cooperation Amid changing weather and water patterns worldwide and forecasts of more severe transformations to come, calls have been growing for the UN Security Council to include water issues on its agenda. […]
Deep Carbon Observatory, Carnegie Institution of Washington DC 4-Mar-2013 Probing the secrets of volcanoes and diamonds, sources of gas and oil, and the origins of life itself, Deep Carbon Observatory scientists publish landmark volume 3 years into historic 10-year, $500 million global collaboration From Earth’s surface to hundreds of kilometers deeper than oilmen drill, the Deep […]