United Nations University – Institute of Advance Studies Yokohama 2-Apr-2008 Biofuel production, renewable energy expansion, other mitigation measures uprooting indigenous peoples in many regions Indigenous peoples have contributed the least to world greenhouse gas emissions and have the smallest ecological footprints on Earth. Yet they suffer the worst impacts not only of climate change, but […]
United Nations University / International Year of Sanitation 20-Mar-2008 Experts estimate that $9 in productivity, health and other benefits are returned for every dollar invested installing toilets for people in countries that today are off-track in meeting the UN Millennium Development Goal (MDG) for sanitation. Some argue that meeting the sanitation MDG is also a […]
Canadian Biotechnology Education Resource Centre / BioTalent Canada Toronto / Ottawa 7-May-2008 Health Canada’s preliminary test of student’s findings ‘encouraging’ A ground-breaking study by a 17-year-old Ottawa student that demonstrated the potential of a new way to diagnose, and perhaps prevent, influenza has earned top national honours among 14 regional entries in the 2008 Sanofi-Aventis […]
Encyclopoedia of Life / Smithsonian Institution The first 30,000 pages of a massive online Encyclopedia of Life were unveiled today (Feb. 27) at the prestigious Technology, Entertainment and Design (TED) Conference in Monterey, California. Intended as a tool for scientists and policymakers and a fascinating resource for anyone interested in the living world, the EOL […]
e8 Montreal, Canada 18-Feb-2008 Power utilities from US, Canada, France, Italy, Germany, Japan, Russia team on project to help protect ‘Mona Lisa’ of biodiversity In January 2001, the world held its breath when the tanker Jessica, loaded with 150,000 gallons of fuel, struck a reef and began breaking up in the heart of one of […]
New Energy Finance London, Washington 14-Feb-2008 The United States will be home to a $1 trillion carbon emission market by 2020 if federal and state policymakers continue on their current path towards a comprehensive “cap-and-trade” program that is confined to domestic trading only. In an analysis of bills today before the U.S. Congress, New Carbon […]
Carbon Disclosure Project London, UK 20-Jan-2008 The Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), a collaboration of over 315 institutional investors (including Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, Allianz and HSBC, with assets under management of more than $41 trillion), has partnered with some of the world’s largest companies to assess the greenhouse gas emissions of their supply chain firms. […]
McLaughlin Rotman Centre for Global Health University of Toronto / University Health Network 7-Jan-2008 Government funds innovation but venture capital needed; Wary investors ‘need to be shown the exits’; Returning ‘sea turtles’ bring expertise, international credibility Backed by a government intent on promoting innovation and fuelled by the “brain gain” of talented scientists and entrepreneurs […]
Australian National University, Crawford School of Economics and Government 6-Dec-2007 A new and compelling argument for reducing fish harvests – the profit motive – could persuade world fishers to endure the short-term pain of lower catches for the long-term gain of higher returns for their labor, according to authors of a ground-breaking study on fisheries […]
University of Helsinki 29 Nov 07 European Union countries likely require an old ally – Mother Nature and her forests – to meet an ambitious post-Kyoto goal for cutting greenhouse gas emissions 20% by 2020, according to new research. The University of Helsinki study says that despite rising population and affluence, the EU can meet […]
Partnership for Observation of the Global Oceans, Plymouth, UK, and Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UCSD, La Jolla, CA 25-Nov-2007 Speedy diagnosis of the temper and vital signs of the oceans matters increasingly to the well being of humanity, says a distinguished partnership of international scientists urging support to complete a world marine monitoring system within […]
McLaughlin-Rotman Centre for Global Health Toronto 21-Nov-2007 20 ‘Grand Challenges’ in chronic non-communicable diseases, 1st agreed roadmap to reduce rising toll of slow killer illnesses Several of the world’s most eminent health scientists and organizations today publish a landmark global consensus on the 20 foremost measures needed to curb humanity’s most fatal diseases, their study […]
United Nations University 15-Nov-2007 Low collection rates and consumer awareness, rising need to harmonize regulations, UNU advises European Commission Only about 25% of Europe’s medium sized household appliances and 40% of larger appliances are collected for salvage and recycling, leaving “substantial room for improvement,” according to a study for the European Commission by a United […]
United Nations University Institute of Advanced Studies, Yokohama, Japan 10-Nov-2007 Report says ban on human reproductive cloning, coupled with restricted therapeutic research, is global compromise most likely to succeed The world community quickly needs to reach a compromise that outlaws reproductive cloning or prepare to protect the rights of cloned individuals from potential abuse, prejudice […]
Carbon Disclosure Project London 24-Sep-2007 ‘Climate Disclosure Leadership Index’ launched, President Clinton to speak New York / London — The Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), a collaboration of over 315 institutional investors with assets under management of more than $41 trillion, releases its 5th annual global report, providing the largest and most comprehensive database of strategies […]
Consortium for the Barcode of Life, Smithsonian Institution 14-Sep-2007 Major advances foreseen in health, consumer and environment protection, more About 350 DNA barcoding experts from 46 nations will converge in Taipei amid spiralling interest from health officials, government agencies and others beginning to realize potential applications in a range of areas — from consumer protection […]
McLaughlin-Rotman Centre for Global Health, Toronto 10 Sep 07 The first comprehensive examination of the ethical, social and cultural (ESC) challenges faced by major science programs in developing countries has identified a complex assortment of issues with the potential to slow critical global health research if left unaddressed. The findings are published in this week’s […]
Soil Conservation Service of Iceland, Reykjavik, and United Nations University 30 Aug 07 Protecting soils claimed as an immediate fix to counter climate change; 150 world experts meet in Iceland on ‘silent crisis’ To meet the needs of a rapidly rising human population, the planet needs to produce more food over the coming decades than […]
Census of Marine Life, Washington DC 5-Aug-2007 Historians detail collapse of bluefin tuna population off northern Europe; Tagging reveals migration, breeding secrets of declining population Ocean historians affiliated with the Census of Marine Life have painted the first detailed portrait of a burst of fishing from 1900 to 1950 that preceded the collapse of once […]
United Nations University 27 Jun 07 Desertification, exacerbated by climate change, represents “the greatest environmental challenge of our times” and governments must overhaul policy approaches to the issue or face mass migrations of people driven from degraded homelands within a single generation, warns a new analysis from the United Nations University. In the analysis for […]
United Nations Environment Programme, Division of Technology, Industry and Economics, Paris 20 Jun 07 Renewables shed fringe image — Transactions leap to record $100 billion in 2006, says UNEP study Climate change worries coupled with high oil prices and increasing government support top a set of drivers fueling soaring rates of investment in the renewable […]
United Nations Environment Programme Risoe Centre on Energy, Climate and Sustainable Development, Denmark 29-Apr-2007 UNEP-led project expands to other developing countries Life for an estimated 100,000 people in poverty-stricken rural India has been improved dramatically by several hours of reliable solar-powered lighting every night, made available by a UN-led pilot project to facilitate household financing […]