Paris, France | AFP | Revamping global food production, retooling the financial sector, moving beyond GDP as a measure of progress and other “transformative changes” are needed to save Nature and ourselves, a major UN biodiversity report is set to conclude. Delegates from 130 nations wrap up week-long negotiations in …
Read More »A tale of two Delhis: Deadly air exposes rich-poor divide
New Delhi, India | AFP | Walls draped in lush vertical gardens and air filtered through purifiers insulate diners at a swanky New Delhi food court from the choking haze outside in one of the most polluted places on earth. But these eco-eateries, offering cleaner air as well as modern …
Read More »Canned air and water-spraying drones: Smog remedies
Hong Kong, China | AFP | As millions of people in Asia choke under polluted skies, authorities have turned to water-dispersing drones and outdoor air purifiers to improve air quality, while companies have tried to cash in by selling everything from canned air to lung-purifying teas. According to the World …
Read More »Suffer the children: how air pollution hurts the youngest
Tokyo, Japan | AFP | Air pollution can have devastating health effects for people of all ages, but children are more vulnerable and face specific risks that can last a lifetime, experts say. Why are children more vulnerable? Children breathe faster than adults and are smaller “so they end up …
Read More »In China, unhappiness tracks poor air quality
Paris, France | AFP | Eye-watering, throat-scratching air pollution is a major driver of big city blues in China, according to a study published Monday that matched social network chatter with fine-particle pollution levels. “The take-away is simple,” lead author Siqi Zheng, an associate professor at MIT and director of the …
Read More »Fixing the environment: when solutions become problems
Paris, France | AFP | In a world where climate change, air and water pollution, biodiversity loss, water scarcity, ozone depletion, and other environmental problems overlap, a fix in one arena can cause trouble in another. Here are a few examples of what might be called Earth’s “zero-sum” dilemma in …
Read More »372,000 German drivers join legal action against Volkswagen
Frankfurt am Main, Germany | AFP | Some 372,000 German owners of Volkswagen cars fitted with motors that cheated emissions tests have joined a collective legal action against the auto giant, official figures showed Thursday. Hundreds of thousands of people signed up to the collective action between late November and …
Read More »Madrid temporarily bans ‘oldest, most polluting’ vehicles
Madrid, Spain | AFP | Madrid on Wednesday temporarily banned the oldest, most polluting vehicles from driving its streets, two weeks after new driving restrictions were introduced to fight air pollution in the centre of the Spanish capital. The latest bid to reduce emissions comes as the city battles acutely …
Read More »A ‘deal for nature’ to rescue wildlife: WWF chief
Paris, France | AFP | The global population of fish, birds, amphibians, reptiles and mammals has declined 60 percent since 1970, according to the WWF’s “Living Planet” report released Tuesday. WWF director general Marco Lambertini tells AFP what went wrong and what’s at stake. – How bad is it? – …
Read More »S.Africa coal belt among world’s pollution hotspots: Greenpeace
Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | South Africa’s eastern Mpumalanga province has the most polluting cluster of coal-fired power stations in the world producing record levels of nitrogen dioxide, a report by environmental campaign group Greenpeace said Monday. Mpumalanga, which borders Mozambique, is the hub of South Africa’s coal industry …
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