The good news As reported in this blog last week, new rules governing the distribution of foreign donor aid under the REDD scheme had been delayed. It was however announced earlier this week that the new rules, as well as the new climate change fund, would be ready before the Bonn climate change talks in [...]

Only one week into office and U.S. President Barack Obama is charging full speed ahead on fulfilling his campaign promise to bring change to Washington. In an effort to reverse former President Bush’s policy on climate change and take the United States in a new greener direction, Obama asked the Environmental Protection Agency on Monday [...]

It’s an election year and India’s opposition party has begun setting its agenda on green issues. The National Democratic Alliance’s LK Advani yesterday pledged to make access to drinking water a fundamental right and water conservation a fundamental duty for all Indians. Moreover, key elements of Mr Advani’s campaign will be fighting terrorism and climate [...]

Yesterday the House of Representatives approved President Obama’s $819 billion economic recovery plan (the vote was supported by all but 11 Democrats, with 177 Republicans voting against). As anyone following the recent events in the US will know, this package places a strong emphasis on ‘green’ development – stimulating economic growth while increasing investment in [...]

In October 2008, Mexican Congress passed the Law for the use of Renewable Energy (Ley para el Aprovechamiento de Energías Renovables y el Financiamiento de la Transición Energética) . While Maria Galindo discussed the political difficulties to turn this law into action, I will consider the question whether this Law is in fact, unconstitutional as [...]

After years of planning and scores of proposals, attempts to generate renewable electricity from the Severn estuary drew a step closer this week; as the Energy and Climate Change Minister, Ed Milliband, unveiled the 5 diverse, but technically feasible shortlisted proposals. They range from the colossal 10 mile barrage that would block the entire Severn [...]

 Thinking about climate change effects, we often picture disastrous environmental consequences, threats to iconic species, as well as necessary changes in our way of life and economy. But it has, up until now, often been neglected that climate change costs can go way beyond that and undermine the system that support our healthcare and our very [...]

The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) is born. It has been officially launched in a Conference held in Bonn and is sponsored by Germany. So far, 80 Countries have manifested their intention to participate in the new international mechanism. It is expected that half of them will sign its founding treaty (see SustainableBusiness.com’s article).   It is only a [...]

Sometimes, no news is good news. In a week in which Obama gave US states the ability to enforce tough new standards on car fuel efficiency and emissions, German policymakers managed a last minute turnaround to prevent doing the opposite. The audacity of claiming a shift to environmentally friendly car taxation, while preparing a tax [...]

Last year, The Climate Group’s SMART 2020 report  revealed the Information Communication Technology (ICT) industry has carbon footprint equaling that of the global aviation industry- contributing approximately 2% of global CO2 emissions (Related Climatico blog- aviation emissions). However, the main conclusions of the report were more positive–noting “ICT’s largest influence will be by enabling energy efficiencies [...]