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augustus 29 2008
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2008-08-25
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What Will the Green Economy Look Like?
In Denver, Colo., Tom Plant, director of the Governor's Energy Office, is practically giddy. It's just days before the Democratic National Convention kicks off in Colorado's biggest city,
2008-08-22
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Climate cartoons provoke, protest & entertain
A recent cartoon competition, set up by a group called Earthworks, gave cartoonists around the world a platform on which to express themselves, and to use their pens and wit to help combat environment
2008-08-18
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Ocean Dead Zones, a Chaotic Nitrogen Cycle and the Earth's Survival
Dead oceans means dead humans. Findings that oxygen-starved ocean "dead zones" have doubled every decade since the 1960s, killing massive amounts of marine life at the base of the food
2008-08-10
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Growing footprints
Two recent reports from the Global Footprint Network provide striking evidence of the global overshoot in both population and consumption, which threatens to overwhelm our planet by eating up its natu
2008-08-09
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Naomi Klein on China and the Olympics
"I think this is an incredibly efficient, actually, a scarily efficient way of organizing society that's actually being celebrated here, which is a hybrid of some of the worst elements of aut
2008-06-29
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Going Green
Several new stories on this website highlight the growing predicament of politicians faced with the essential need to cut down fast and firmly on carbon emissions from all sources if the world is to b
2008-06-22
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Mr. Bush, Lead or Leave
Two years ago, President Bush declared that America was “addicted to oil,” and, by gosh, he was going to do something about it. Well, now he has. Now we have the new Bush energy plan: &ldq
2008-06-08
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Science and the 'Routes to Truth'
Since Western technocratic culture has globalized so effectively, it is worth reflecting on what that culture considers the "routes to truth," and how they have evolved over the centuries. T
2008-06-02
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Please Don't Go
Growing numbers of travelers venture to remote and fragile places knowing that their presence makes matters worse. Here's a discouraging metric: Google the phrase "endangered places" and
2008-05-25
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Pain Today, Pain Tomorrow
It’s amazing how pain today trumps pain tomorrow. Every time. Let’s take a look at one burning example: gas prices at the pump versus the on-going planetary ecological collapse
2008-05-15
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Population penny
Last month this website speculated that the global food crisis might spur a rethink about population policies and encourage more poor and the fast growing countries to adopt the strategies followed su
2008-05-13
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Slouching toward Bethlehem: A Handy Collaborator’s Guide
None of us likes change. Not a t least when it comes to the ways in which we organize our daily lives. And yet there are times when we must shake off our normal lethargy and rise to the challenges tha
2008-04-25
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‘Recyclable’ Is So Last-Century
Last fall, I used the term “greenwashing” in a panel discussion with business leaders in Austin, Texas. Though this is a phrase my business partner and I have been using since the early &r
2008-04-24
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The business of transparency
The venture capital arm of sustainable banking specialists, Triodos, have invested in a business providing companies with a user friendly tool to develop comprehensive information about their entire s
2008-04-09
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The food catalyst
Four years ago Lester Brown, president of the Earth Policy Institute in Washington, wrote a book documenting the ways that human demands are outstripping the earth‘s natural capacities – a
2008-03-17
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CSR Reporting: Rainbows Versus ROI
You’ve heard it all before*. Someone reviews a corporate social responsibility report and complains that there are too many pictures of rainbows and smiling children. There’s not enough ha
2008-03-06
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The Hard Economics of Going Green
On January 9, 2008, the London stock market reacted strongly to a 12-week Marks & Spencer trading statement: Same-store sales, excluding new space, were down by 2.2% compared with the previous yea
2008-03-05
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Clean energy
It is not always easy to grasp the scale of global change that has to be brought about in the next half century. But graphs and charts can help, as several new ones on this website demonstrate. The fi
2008-03-04
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Why oil rulers won’t go green
Are you one of the millions of people “turning to 30” when you load your washing machine? Or maybe you are heeding Gordon Brown’s advice and going green by spurning the supermarket&r
2008-02-19
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Taking Care of Business
The idea of greening your supply chain goes back more than a decade, when companies began to realize they could reduce their environmental impacts by pushing waste- and toxics-reduction efforts upstre
2008-02-16
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UN PRI cuts its teeth with first public investor campaign
Signatories to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (UNPRI) got their first taste of public action earlier this month when investors representing $2.13 trillion in assets, announce
2008-02-14
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Can Farmed and Wild Salmon Coexist?
When the cod industry off Canada's eastern shore collapsed in 1992, industrial fisheries could no longer ignore biologists' warnings that the ocean would not sustain unlimited exploitation of
2008-02-08
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Public Private Partnership and CSR
The usefulness of Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) – what began life as the Private Finance Initiative in the UK under the Major Government as long ago as 1992 – is one of the hot governm
2008-02-07
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Tipping point
As UNESCO prepares to launch the Year of Planet Earth in February, it is becoming ever more clear that our world is entering a new age of man-made uncertainties, some of which are. likely to be sudden
2008-01-28
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Consumer Arguments and Producers
Every decisionmaking starts with arguing! Why should we do this or why should we buy that? And every time we also want to know in the first place if we are on the right ethical track. So that varying
2008-01-28
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EU Sustainability criteria do not address agrofuel target problems
With the publication of its draft Renewable Energy Directive this week, the European Commission confirmed that it plans to plough ahead with a 10 per cent target for the use of agrofuels (also referre
2008-01-25
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A Discourse on Social Ecology
Social Ecology, Environmentalism, Conservation, Ecology, Green movements, green living…………… Why are they all about 'a new morality'? Because we a
2008-01-21
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A New Mindset For Corporate Sustainability
Organizations that wish to grow profitably in the future must focus their efforts to benefit shareholders, society and the environment simultaneously, according to a paper published today by a group o
2008-01-11
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Let EU citizens choose their president too
The assassin's bullet or bomb (we are still not sure exactly which) that killed Benazir Bhutto on 27 December brought 2007 to a close on a sombre note. She might have been a candidate for election
2008-01-07
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Solar revolution
The notion that the sun might one day supplant fossil fuels as a source of energy for human needs has been around for a long time. Thomas Edison, who invented the first electric light bulb 129 years a
2007-12-26
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“Worldwide Support Found for Measuring True Wealth of Nations”
The “Beyond GDP” Conference in the European Parliament, Nov. 19-20th , released a survey by GLOBESCAN for Ethical Markets Media, LLC, which finds three quarters of people in ten countries
2007-12-17
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Towards Copenhagen
The outcome of the Bali climate conference is probably the best that could have been realistically hoped for � and that is considerable. The efforts of a small minority of nations, led by the U
2007-12-15
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China Eats the World
Per-capita income in China is less than 1/10 of America's and its per-capita greenhouse gas emission is less than 1/5 of ours. But if 1.3 billion Chinese were to consume at the level Americans
2007-12-09
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A dance for diplomats
Earlier this week, I caught up with Peter Goldmark, Program Director for Climate & Air at US NGO Environmental Defense. I asked him what he thought would be the major cleavage points of the Bali n
2007-12-09
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Does the “car of the future” have a future?
On September 29, 1993, President Bill Clinton, Vice-President Al Gore, the chief executives of G.M., Chrysler, and Ford, and the head of the United Auto Workers gathered in the White House Rose Garden
2007-12-08
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Shift from green small talk to Big walk
There seems to be a change in the discussions regarding sustainable energy. Up to now green talk was good enough ('99% of green claims are greenwash', see recent study by Terrawatch here). Now
2007-11-30
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Low carbon technology may be the most effective post-Kyoto route
Next week the 192 recognised nations of the world will sit down to another UN conference on climate change on the Indonesian island of Bali – which must be as pleasant a place as any to hold
2007-11-28
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Bali bullet
As the world’s leaders head for the UN climate change talks in Bali (December 3-14), the true human scale of the approaching crisis – and the seismic shift in attitudes and behaviour that
2007-11-27
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Are We Making a Difference? Measuring the Social and Environmental Impacts of Small and Medium Enterprises
New Ventures entrepreneur Ben Ripple had plenty to say at the Triple Bottom Line Conference in Paris last week, where he participated in a WRI-organized panel on monitoring and evaluating non-financia
2007-11-27
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Has the Greening of CSR Gone Too Far?
Al Gore has done a great job in bringing the environmental debate to the top of the agenda – if only he had made as much effort on one key social issue when he had the chance, the world would ha
2007-11-26
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Precious goal
Two recent London meetings raise the question ‘What hope for the Millennium Goals?’ Both conferences, the one on maternal health and the other on safe abortion, related to Goal Five: to re
2007-11-09
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The core of climate change knowledge finally to be brought together in Valencia
From 12 to 16 November, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) will convene in Valencia, Spain, to discuss and adopt a synthesised version of its Fourth Assessment Report on Climate Chan
2007-11-09
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New Scientist China special: Growing pains of a superpower
THE 21st century, we are told, will be China's. Usually this is intended as a warning: if the world's leading economies fail to respond to the Chinese "threat", we will face a second
2007-10-27
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Scientists for Global Responsibility condemns the UK government on renewables policy change
Scientists for Global Responsibility (SGR) condemns the government decision to abandon its target of 20% of UK electricity generated from renewable energy sources by 2020.
The government ha
2007-10-12
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Planet Wins Nobel Prize
The awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Al Gore and the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is a triumph for the planet and its inhabitants, who will increasingly s
2007-09-09
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In search of the good company
IF YOU believe what they say about themselves, big companies have never been better citizens. In the past decade, “corporate social responsibility” (CSR) has become the norm in the boardro
2007-08-17
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Cost of Saving the Climate Meets Real-World Hurdles
On the Internet, erasing your role in climate change seems as easy as ordering a DVD -- and cheaper than a cup of coffee a day. With a click, a credit card and $99, visitors can pay a Silver Spring no
2007-07-27
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Long term reflections for the summer holiday
I have never known a summer as wet as this one and as depressing. As I write this, the rain is bucketing down out of a grey sky. We have been spared the floods, in this corner of Wales, that have affl
2007-07-26
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Prius Politics
My younger son calls the Toyota Prius a "hippie car," and he has a point. Not that Prius drivers are hippies. Toyota says that typical buyers are 54 and have incomes of $99,800; 81 percent a
2007-07-11
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The End of Cheap Food
The era of cheap food is over. The price of corn (maize) has doubled in a year, and wheat futures are at their highest in a decade. The food price index in India has risen 11 per
2007-06-19
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UK's first zero emissions home
With the new housing regulations coming into effect in England, which will mandate that all homes in the country be emission free by 2016, the race was on for designers and builders to come up with th
2007-06-07
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How to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions Now
Support is growing in the 110th Congress for legislation to counter climate change. Yet action on any of the major cap-and-trade proposals will leave a critical policy gap. None of the proposed system
2007-06-03
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Is desalination drought answer?
Northern California just endured its driest winter in 20 years. The state's population is growing by half a million people a year. New dams are controversial. And this week, a two-inch endangered
2007-05-09
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Clean Power That Reaps a Whirlwind
The wind turbines rising 180 feet above this dusty village at the hilly edge of Inner Mongolia could be an environmentalist’s dream: their electricity is clean, sparing the horizon sooty clouds
2007-05-02
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Sustainable Development: from words to action
The notion of sustainability has entered the development lexicon. Michael Hopkins asks why it took so long and how the idea has been transformed in its encounter with reality. [Note: article originall
2007-04-02
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Global Sustainable Investing - the Next Stage in the Evolution of Socially Responsible Investing
Global Sustainable Investing, represents a higher standard of investing and is based on a carefully-researched universe of companies. These companies have chosen to integrate sustainable business prac
2007-03-26
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Time is ripe to push for free public transport
Earlier this month Scotland's two biggest banks announced profits of £15 billion between them. That represents a tenfold increase in the 10 years since New Labour came to power. The rich hav
2007-03-25
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Clean Energy Index founder does well at doing good
Robert Wilder's array of solar panels enables him to hold his electric bill to $30 a year, despite having a house filled with electronic gizmos. From his solar-heated swimming pool to the custo
2007-03-20
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Business: 'Climate action useless without global support'
EU leaders have agreed to cut emissions of greenhouse gases by up to 30% within 13 years but the real battle will be in convincing the world's other big polluters to follow suit, according to busi
2007-03-11
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EU sticks out neck in global climate change battle
Member states on Friday legally bound the EU to use 20 percent renewable energy and cut CO2 emissions by 20 percent by 2020 in the hope the US and China will follow, but nobody knows how Europe will m
2007-03-08
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Building a Biofuels Alliance
President Bush and Congress have promoted the increased use of biofuels such as ethanol as key to achieving American "energy independence." But breaking free of the U.S. reliance on impor
2007-03-04
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How Gore's massive energy consumption saves the world
Stop me if you've heard this before, but the other day the Rev. Al Gore declared that "climate change" was "the most important moral, ethical, spiritual and political issue human
2007-03-04
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Climate Change as Dangerous as War - UN Chief Ban
Climate change poses as much danger to the world as war, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Thursday as he urged the United States to take the lead in the fight against global warming. In his fi
2007-02-25
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How many EU members does it take to change a light bulb?
The Australian government's decision to ban traditional incandescent light bulbs has inspired German lawmakers to propose similar measures for their country, but the EU has no intention to introdu
2007-02-25
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The truth about coal
Last Wednesday (Feb. 21), members of the Rainforest Action Network, a scrappy little advocacy group, assembled in New York outside the Citigroup Center, where Merrill Lynch has a branch office. Dresse
2007-02-20
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Nanotechnology & Energy
Interview with Paul Holister, a Thought Leader at the LAB on Old and New ENERGY, Clun of Amsterdam
Club of Amsterdam: Paul, you are currently writing a book about "Nanotechnology an
2007-02-19
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ExxonMobil's top executives on climate change policy
Ken Cohen, vice-president for public affairs and Sherri Stuewer, vice-president for safety, health and environment explain Exxon's position on climate change and lay down basic principles for a fu
2007-02-15
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Skills for a low carbon economy?
The Stern review on the economics of climate change makes a powerful case for a substantial change in policy, if we are to avoid economic as well as environmental melt down. For his message to hit hom
2007-02-13
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Reflections on NYTimes story of Niger farmers' regreening success
On February 11 the New york Times published a story on the amazing success of rural farmers in Niger at reversing desertification by a simple but ingeniously implemented strategy : planting and taking
2007-02-11
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Environment summit aims to involve kids
Local environmental groups hope to stir a passion for saving the planet among area children when they host Muskegon's first environment summit for kids. The free event, called "Youth and Envi
2007-02-11
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Life on the Ethanol-Guzzling Prairie
Not Just Big Agribusiness Ethanol plants like this one in Laddonia, Mo., are popping up all around the Farm Belt. The quilt of winter brown that covers the high plateau makes this area look particular
2007-02-11
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FTSE4Good sets out climate criteria
Companies will have to meet a new set of climate change criteria or face expulsion from the FTSE4Good socially responsible investment (SRI) index family. Mark Makepeace, chief executive of the FTSE Gr
2007-02-04
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Green: They are. Are you?
Acting cool will help save the planet, according to top stars, who are setting out to convince the world. They have launched a 10-year campaign to try to make environmentally friendly living fashionab
2007-02-04
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Climate Change Only One Symptom of a Stressed Planet Earth
In releasing its latest comprehensive report, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) focuses an important spotlight on the current state of the Earth’s climate. However, climate ch
2007-02-04
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Wood, food or biofuels?
The debate on biofuels is heating up, with the Commission and the Greens guarding against potential negative impacts such as rainforest depletion in Brazil and increased competition with wood and food
2007-01-31
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Davos: The sorcerer's apprentice hands the stick back - just in time, at 2 minutes to 12 ?
The World Economic Forum in Davos last week showed a remarkable next step - effectively a corrective step backwards - in the competition for global power between states and corporations. The past cent
2007-01-28
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Stavros Dimas: Why a Global Response needs European Leadership on Climate Change
According to EU's Stavros Dimas, "Because as the scientific evidence accumulates it is clear that the fight against climate change is much more than a battle. It is a world war that will l
2007-01-28
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Could corporate America take the lead on climate change?
A new alliance of NGOs and major US corporations has launched an appeal for mandatory action to reduce greenhouse gases, putting pressure on President George W. Bush on the eve of his State of the Uni
2007-01-23
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A fixed-income solution to global warming
The threat of dangerous disruption to our global climate is a real one. According to the UK government's Stern review, climate change will have a potentially devastating effect on the economies of
2007-01-22
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New Developments in Sustainable Technology
Sustainable technology is making significant advances across several industries -- and that's encouraging news for a nation that is largely dependent upon countries outside of the United States fo
2007-01-21
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Can the World's Biggest Companies 'Combat Climate Change'?
Two thousand seven is barely a fortnight old, but it's already shaping up to be the year that climate change action reaches a tipping point. The signs seem to be everywhere. For example, the Londo
2007-01-14
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Urban growth and cars: Chicken-and-egg issue
Rachel and Emmet O'Connell swear that they are not car people and that they worry about global warming. Indeed, they looked miserable one recent evening as they drove home from central Dublin to t
2007-01-14
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Hemp is Good for You: A Brief Guide to Deliciously Nutritious Hempfoods
Putting aside all of the political lunacy which prohibits the present-day cultivation of industrial hemp in the United States, hemp is known by many worldwide as “nature’s perfect food.
2007-01-09
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Independence from the Corporate Global Economy
Call it "globalization," or the "free market," or "capitalism." Whatever its name, people across the United States and throughout the world are experiencing the devastati
2007-01-07
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Winds of Change for the New Year
A brand new year has started as more and more people, organizations and nations seem to be awaking to the fact that change is in the air – in more then one sense. This past weekend young people
2007-01-03
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Special taxes could help save the planet from global warming
What do we owe to our great-great-great- grandchildren? What actions are we obligated to take now in order to diminish the risks to our descendants and our planet from the increasing likelihood of glo
2006-12-29
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Giving Disposable Chopsticks a Life Cycle
Japanese people eat with chopsticks, and most chopsticks used in Japan are made of wood. Chopsticks are also used in South Korea, North Korea, China, and Viet Nam, while in Southeast Asia they are nor
2006-12-27
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Sens.John D. Rockefeller and Olypia Snowe's letter to ExxonMobil
Dear Mr. Tillerson: Allow us to take this opportunity to congratulate you on your first year as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the ExxonMobil Corporation. You will become the public face of a
2006-12-17
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Kyoto Gets a Slap in the Face from Canada
Much to the surprise of most Canadians and the world community, Canada is reneging on its international commitments under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which could weaken an international agreement to figh
2006-12-12
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Fueling Our Cars, and a Growing Debate
The simple ear of corn: a pleasing yellow, delicious with salt and melted butter. Also fine in corn bread, cornflakes and grits. But corn is also a prime source for ethanol, one of the most viable sub
2006-12-10
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A brighter future for Europe
Fractured policy creation One of the most striking aspects of ongoing debates regarding sustainability, security
2006-12-07
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What is Carbon Capture and Storage?
Britain's finance minister Gordon Brown is expected to announce on Wednesday a package of subisidies to boost carbon capture and storage -- burying greenhouse gases underground. Britain has p
2006-12-05
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The End of Ingenuity
MAYBE Malthus was on to something, after all. First, some background: Twenty-six years ago, in one of the most famous wagers in the history of science, Paul Ehrlich, John Harte and John P. Holdren be
2006-12-02
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US Climate Change Lawsuit Part of Wider Trend
An environmental case to be heard by the US Supreme Court on Wednesday is the latest in a growing number of legal disputes linked to climate change around the world.
Following are some exam
2006-12-02
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Green Fashionista
Model Summer Rayne Oakes is more than just a pretty face. Oakes is also an expert on sewage sludge and a sustainable fashion consultant. She gives host Bruce Gellerman the skinny on turning bamboo int
2006-11-29
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Implications of the 2006 Elections for US Climate Policy
The 2006 elections have significantly improved the prospects of reasonable climate policy in the United States. While it is not yet clear how many of the newly-elected senators and representativ
2006-11-26
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New Solutions from Technology: Biota Spring Water
David Zutler is the founder of BIOTA Spring Water, the first bottling company to use biodegradable bottles made from cornstarch. Fourteen years ago, David Zutler and his brother decided to go into
2006-11-20
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Being Green a Marketing 'Must,' Says UK Study
Fifty percent of marketing and PR management believe that an organization's green credentials are important to customers; and 84% predict this importance is likely to grow further over the next tw
2006-11-19
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At stake is nothing less than the survival of human civilisation
We have the opportunity to become the Greatest Generation, responding to our climate debate – but only if we take urgent action to limit global warming. A former colleague of mine in the US S
2006-11-13
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Keeping it clean
Cooking tortillas all day over a smoky woodstove has badly affected the respiratory health of thousands of Mexican women, who make their living out of selling this popular fast-food. Around 95% of
2006-11-10
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Making Growth Greener a Tall Task for Economists
Economists and ecologists have always made awkward bedfellows, but alarming new evidence of accelerating environmental decay has some experts scrambling to put a greener touch on growth. A flurry
2006-11-09
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Anti-Fast Food Fair Spreads Epicurean Revolt
Carlo Petrini was so incensed when a McDonald's outlet opened next to the Spanish Steps in Rome, he launched an "epicurean revolt". That was two decades ago. Today, that revolt has gone
2006-11-05
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Is Stern Report 'alarmist and incompetent'?
The Stern Report on the costs of climate change has stirred the EU's political elites. But are the calculations behind it serious? EurActiv examines the climate sceptics' arguments. Following
2006-11-05
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The UN and the Principle of Sharing
In 1948, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human rights. All the world’s nations agreed that every human being in the world had the right to adequate fo
2006-10-29
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Western NGOs and Islam: How to counter the image of “missionaries and spies”
European and American development aid and emergency relief workers have a proud record of bringing assistance to the world’s disaster zones. But are they culturally insensitive? Moustafa Osman o
2006-10-29
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Hydrogen and fuel cells: fake promises?
Hydrogen vehicles hold the promise of curing the world's oil dependency while making transport-related air pollution and CO2 emissions history. But sceptics say that hydrogen is clean only if prod
2006-10-29
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Next views on assurance
The G3 guidelines that were recently published introduce a three-level approach to reporting in accordance with the guidelines. In addition, a “+” can be attributed to reports that have
2006-10-17
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Regime Change in the USA
Increasingly desperate Republican politicians are trying to distance themselves from President Bush and his co-president Cheney. The administration finds it harder to spin the tragic fiasco in I
2006-10-08
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Tree Planting and Carbon Guilt
I have long been an advocate of tree planting - particularly native species to abet ecological restoration. Indeed, I have planted over 1,000 myself over past years. Many are promoting the benefits of
2006-10-07
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Margot Wallström: CSR Reporting and Sustainable Development as Tools for Smart Growth
From Al Gore I have picked up, at least two things, the value of good images to illustrate your political point and how effectively our children influence our political priorities. Ladies and gentleme
2006-09-25
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Why is ‘green’ stuck on red?
Everything points to socially-responsible investment being hugely popular but, as Brian Spence points out, investors are woefully underserved by products and providers.
With “green&rd
2006-09-24
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An even brighter idea
Lighting technology: The light bulb is synonymous with invention. But, as this case history explains, it may lose out to the light-emitting diode, which is better in many ways.
HOW long doe
2006-09-24
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Bigger is not necessarily better in hydrogen storage
University of Nottingham scientists have made a breakthrough which could help in the development of the next generation of environmentally-friendly cars. Their latest findings on hydrogen storage coul
2006-09-24
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Buy towels, save the planet
You thought bamboo was for holding up your tomato plants. That's so last century. Now, it's the hottest green material going, with everything from bedding to clothing being made from the fast-
2006-09-24
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The religious war on bottled water
Bottled water has never gone down smoothly with many environmentalists, who view it as an extravagantly wasteful way of quenching a thirst, but the product is facing criticism from an unexpected sourc
2006-09-22
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Power from Not-So-Hot Geothermal
This power system could make it feasible to generate cheap electricity from lukewarm geothermal sources. A large share of the geothermal resources suitable for power generation--those with temperature
2006-09-17
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Covalence updated Banking Industry CSR Report
In a 50 pages research report Covalence offers a thorough analysis of ethical issues and challenges regarding 25 major companies in the banking industry from 2001 to June 2006. Thousands of positive a
2006-09-17
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A whole community built on green ideas
High Point townhomes were built by the Dwelling Co. with the environment in mind and feature efficient gas fireplaces, Energy Star dishwashers and countertops made from recycled paper.
When
2006-09-16
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Organic Goes Commercial
Trends and fads are born from the top down. A faction of either the highly privileged, wealthy, or hip embrace an idea or concept not accessible to the majority of America’s normies. As the buzz
2006-09-10
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Averting the next oil wars
With global demand for oil set to exceed supply, "military tensions" and "big wars" to grab the remaining oil reserves will increase, writes former UK environment minister Michael
2006-09-07
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Community Renewable Energy Is Just Around the Corner
For decades, the conventional wisdom about developing energy projects in the United States has been that ”big” always meant cheaper, and therefore better, projects. This produced what has
2006-09-07
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Peak Oil Forecasters Win Converts on Wall Street to $200 Crude
On a sweltering Tuesday in mid-July, in the fields outside Pisa, Italy, Willem Kadijk scribbles notes as a ragtag troupe of doomsayers predict the end of the Oil Age. With his shaved head, jeans and s
2006-09-03
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Energy, competitiveness and the environment
Since 2005, rising energy prices have started hitting both households and industrial consumers, threatening European jobs and economic growth. Reasons include instability in major oil and gas supplyin
2006-08-11
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PEAK resources
The annual ASPO world conference of the fossil geology and economics experts in Pisa this July was interesting for an unexpected reason. The estimates of the Peak years continue largely unchanged -
2006-07-30
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UNEP report shows sustainability link to share prices
The United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) has published a report in which it claims that environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues affect shareholder value in th
2006-07-24
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Nanotechnology, Water, and Development
In 2002, 1.1 billion people lacked access to a reliable water supply and 2.6 billion people lacked access to adequate sanitation, resulting in the death of 4,500 children a day due to waterborne disea
2006-07-23
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Chinese 'Green' fund promotes development
China's ongoing battle to achieve sustainable development entered a new realm this year as Bank of China ushered in the concept of investing in sustainable, long-term projects.
In Febru
2006-07-23
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Where are the global warming skeptics in Europe?
If you canvas a wide variety of news (what journalist doesn't?) and read some newspapers in Europe, you'll notice something about their coverage of global warming: no skeptics. That's righ
2006-06-25
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The world needs a more democratic United Nations
Since the end of the Second World War the world has seen breathtaking geopolitical changes and technological breakthroughs, but our system of international governance has failed to keep pace with t
2006-05-26
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Rome-ing the Environment
Concerns about the impact of China's development on the global environment are mounting. But as Lila Buckley of Beijing-based Global Environment Insitute experienced first-hand, there is a surpris
2006-05-24
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The world after oil peaks
Peak oil is described as the point where oil production stops rising and begins its inevitable long-term decline. In the face of fast-growing demand, this means rising oil prices. But even if oil prod
2006-05-21
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How to Help the Poor Out of Poverty
In the last few decades, some progress has been made in helping poor people overcome poverty across the world. However, hundreds of millions still remain trapped in poverty. Stephen C. Smith, author o
2006-05-11
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World Bank: “Little Green Data Book 2006”
Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions continue to rise with a mix of old and new polluters, according to the Little Green Data Book 2006, launched today on the occasion of the Fourteenth Session of the Unit
2006-05-11
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Education for Sustainability Boost Welcomed
The budget news that $13 million will be spent on education for sustainable development is a significant step towards sustainability says the Secretary-General of the NZ National Commission for UNESCO
2006-05-11
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Flagship 'learning village' wins praise from energy minister
Energy minister Malcolm Wicks has praised a new development in Croydon for its innovative design and energy-efficient features.
Ashburton Learning Village was completed in March and is home to a
2006-05-11
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Record 58 firms in JSE's SRI Index
Fifty-eight companies have been included in the JSE's Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) index following this year's review, making for the highest success rate of companies meeting the cr
2006-05-11
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The Critical Importance of Risk Management
While some companies develop sustainability strategies based on ethical motives, most firms do so for business reasons. Sustainability strategies can decrease sustainability risk costs, augment compet
2006-05-10
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The digital sector can make poor nations prosper
Approximately two in every three people in the US have direct access to a computer. In sub-Saharan Africa, fewer than two in every 100 do. Narrowing this digital divide, by giving more
2006-05-01
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Base of the Pyramid: Sustainable Business from the Bottom up
Martin Fisher and Upendra Bhatt are two of the most important people you've never heard of. And that's fine by them. They would rather be popular among poor Kenyans and Indians than featured
2006-04-26
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2006 Shareholder Resolutions Emphasize Climate, Toxics, and Donations
Social, environmental and corporate governance shareholder resolutions are seeing another robust year in 2006, according to the Social Investment Forum. An estimated 180 social and environmental share
2006-04-23
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Measuring Environmental Impact: True Value Added
Despite its best efforts, industry continues to generate and discharge enormous amounts of wastes that pollute the natural environment and impose damages on households and other enterprises. Economi
2006-04-17
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The Rust Belt is Turning Green
I hear it all too frequently when I travel throughout North America and
abroad. "Where are you from?" they ask. I say, "the Detroit area." They
say, "Oh" and then pause. When most people think o
2006-04-14
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Global Footprint Network conference in Siena, PNN media partner
The Global Footprint Network has appointed Planet2025 News Network as a media partner for its global conference, that is to be held in Siena, Italy, June 2006. At the conference, the Planet 2025 netwo
2006-04-13
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What is the importance of cogeneration?
The 2004 Directive on cogeneration urges EU member states to exploit their potential for combined production of heat and electricity (cogeneration). Eckard Schulze (Energie-Fakten) explains the pros a
2006-04-01
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Achieving Sustainability of Government Operations: State of Sustainability Reporting Among Federal Agencies
Executive Summary
Since the 1990s, efforts have increased to improve the ability to quantify the economic, environmental, and social performance of companies. In 2004, the Global
2006-03-27
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What dynamic local leaders can teach us about environmental stewardship
Courageous mayors of major cities around the world are tackling
seemingly intractable problems - traffic gridlock, air pollution and
climate change - and they are winning. They have made env
2006-02-26
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The rise and rise of CSR
"An economist is an expert who will know tomorrow why the things he predicted yesterday didn't happen today. " Evan Esar
2006-01-10
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Water-for-food and sanitation solutions
Sanitation, health, water, food and ecosystems are closely interrelated. According to the Water and Sanitation Task Force, 42% of the world’s population – 2.6 billion people – de
2005-11-22
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Environment key to poverty reduction in Tanzania
Three
years after adopting the Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS) approach,
Tanzania will be taking another step, embarking on the second phase
with a nationwide framework putting poverty reduction
2005-11-18
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Climate change: world round-up - the seven continents and their climate challenges.
There are few certainties where climate change is concerned. And even
relatively straightforward predictions (sea levels, temperatures and
global precipitation are all set to rise) will have c
2005-11-06
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The future of the international trading system
The Millennium Development Goals establish a global partnership to improve the lives of the world’s poor. This includes an open, rule-based, predictable, non-discriminatory trading and financial s
2005-10-20
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Big Oil, Big Profits: Are We Sharing the Pain?
It's great to know that we're all in this high-gas-prices thing together, consumers and oil companies alike. "If each of us took just one small step toward conservation, the impact would be huge," say
2005-10-02
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Reduce Waste this Christmas
Christmas is responsible for more waste and consumption than any other holiday. North American's trash increases by 25% over Christmas
- which equates to 25 million extra tons of garbage going
2005-09-03
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Unique NGOs in Japan
Gifts from the Land to Your Kitchen--Daichi-o-Mamoru-Kai (Association to
Preserve the Earth)
How much do you know about the toast you ate this morning? Who baked the bread, and how
2005-08-29
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Continental Divide: Why Africa’s Climate Change Burden Is Greater
The most industrialized African countries,
such as South Africa, generate 8.44 metric tons per person, and
the least developed countries, such as Mali, generate le
2005-08-23
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Water Facts and Trends: what's happening to the world's water supply?
The WBCSD's Water
Facts and Trends (
2005-08-15
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Trend Watching: Beyond New and Improved: New Frontiers of Design Innovation
As I write, European and Japanese environmental policy initiatives
with names like WEEE, REACH and HARL are upping the competitive ante.
What may change the game even more is China positioning its
2005-08-01
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Investing in Communities
In 1992, Peggy Soucy started the Kids R Special Child Care Center
in rural Maine, and it initially served just a handful of children.
In time, because of the great services she provid
2005-07-30
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Mexico Transit
The city has also set its sights on improving public transportation and just this summer inaugurated a dedicated bus lane down one of its busiest streets. Producer Jana Schroeder climbed onboard the m
2005-07-29
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Ethanol: The Future of Energy
The Earth Policy Institute's Danielle Murray looks at the challenges and advantages of switching to ethanol.
At
the fuel pumps in São Paulo, customers have a choice: gas or alcohol?
Since
2005-06-24
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Competitive, Small… and Responsible
What does a small cleaning company from Lyon paying for its employees to learn to read and write have in
common with a small video production company from rural Wales that makes a point of recording
2005-06-16
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'New Superpower' Seeks 'Better World'
as 350-plus representatives of international non-governmental organisations (NGOs)
met to hatch strategies to prod world governments on crucial political,
social, and economic issues that plague the
2005-05-19
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The Emerging Water Wars
Growing up in Israel in the 1960's, we were always urged to conserve
precious water. Rainfall was rare and meager, the sun scorching, our
only sweet water lake under constant threat by the Syrians.
2005-05-05
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Reformers with a business plan
The Rainforest Alliance has developed a system of auditing and certification to overhaul, for example, the way that crops and timber are produced, or the way that tourism is managed. It now operates
2005-05-04
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Pedal power thrives in Germany
Like many of Germany's 5 million unemployed, Jens Indorf trudged out each morning in a futile search for a job. His year-long quest ended when he took a job as a Velotaxi driver. Now he gets up each m
2005-04-24
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Pricing the environment
AT THE Miraflores lock on the Panama Canal it is possible to watch the heartbeat of international trade in action. One by one, giant ships piled high with multi-coloured containers creep through the
2005-04-20
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Trust: The next big thing for marketeers?
Suddenly it’s all around us. Capital One leading their marketing on identity theft assistance. PruHealth offering discounts on health insurance if we commit to improving our health. Persil advertising
2005-04-10
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Churches lead efforts for trade justice during Global Week of Action
Campaigners are challenging the myth that free trade helps
to reduce poverty and are calling for changes in international trade rules to
safeguard the rights of all people.
A petition c
2005-02-06
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Why Europe needs to open its doors for labour migration
Overly restrictive immigration controls in many EU Member States disrupt circular patterns of migration and discourage immigrants from returning to their homes, thus denying remittances and labour to
2005-02-06
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Leading through sustainability
The development of these technologies, however, is being hampered by market barriers and other obstacles. In order to remove those obstacles and with the intention of making the EU the world leader in
2005-02-06
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Alternative fuels need more backing from EU states, says panel
As global energy demand is expected to grow in the next decades, Europe is faced with rising public concerns over energy dependence from outside regions and environmental issues. Road transport is und
2005-02-06
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eEurope - An Information Society for All
It plans to create a digitally literate Europe, supported by an entrepreneurial culture ready to finance and develop new ideas. eEurope also wants to ensure the whole process is socially inclusive, bu
2005-02-06
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EU: Challenges in transportation
The environmental impacts of transport activity include:
- emissions of greenhouse gases that are widely perceived as the main cause of global warming;
- emissions of compounds that make
2004-12-05
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Growing From Grassroots: Chinese Environmental NGOs are having a growing impact on development
Four hundred pictures displayed at an exhibition in the Beijing Natural History Museum tell stories about 17 environmental conflict zones around China. The exhibition, entitled "Protected Areas: Our L
2004-12-05
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Barriers & Hopes for Chinese NGOs
....for NGOs, help from SEPA has been confined to moral and publicity help.
There is the semi-official China Environmental Protection Foundation under SEPA. But its main support for environ
2004-12-05
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Environment Before Profit
More than 10 mini chemical plants are concentrated in a less than 47-hectare "industrial park" in Hunan Province. As most of the plants are equipped with poor water treatment facilities, polluted wate
2004-12-05
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Less Packaging, Please
This is partly attributable to the unhealthy tendency of excessive packaging. It has been reported that moon cakes worth 30 yuan ($3.6) were sold for 150 yuan ($18.1) in Guangzhou after being lavishly
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