World NGO Conference on Wetlands coming soon

LEADING members of non-government organisations (NGOs) from more than 40 countries are expected to gather in South Korea next month for the World NGO Conference on Wetlands.
The conference will be held in Changnyeong and Suncheon from October 25-27 immediately prior to COP10, the 10th Conference of the Contracting Parties of the Switzerland-based Ramsar Convention.
The event, [...]

Indonesia palm oil firms reject moratorium

Indonesia held the global record for carbon emissions due to deforestation, putting it third behind the United States and China in terms of total man-made emissions.

Forest loggers dismiss Greenpeace claims

CLAIMS made by Greenpeace that illegal logging is rife in Papua New Guinea (PNG) have been dismissed as untrue by the island’s forestry association.
In a local newspaper report the PNG Forest Industry Association said Greenpeace had made “a series of claims over the past week which perpetuate(s) untruths about the forestry industry in the country.”
According [...]

China to implement new environmental law nationwide

HONG KONG ~ China’s top legislature has passed a raft of environmental laws that will come into force throughout the country on New Year’s Day, 2009.
The objective of the new legislation is to boost sustainability through energy savings and the reduction of harmful emissions.

Water: the oil of the 21st century

EVERYONE knows we need oil, at least until solar and wind alternatives are abundantly available. But people are now worrying about water as well. “Water is the oil of the 21st century,” said Andrew Liveris, chief executive of chemical giant Dow, recently. “Like oil, water is a critical lubricant of the global economy. And as [...]

Malaysians to fund massive deforestation in PNG

KUALA LUMPUR ~ In a new move to boost Papua New Guinea’s contribution to global warming and climate change, the country’s Morobe provincial government has given Malaysian investors the green light for a major oil palm plantation development.
Morobe governor Luther Wenge and the country’s minister for health, Sasa Zibe, said on Thursday that they had [...]

Greenpeace calls for probe into US$67million logging scandal

SINGAPORE ~  Logging companies operating in Papua New Guinea allegedly paid US$67 million into a government minister’s private bank account in Singapore, says a statement from Greenpeace.
“The government of Papua New Guinea (PNG) has a very poor forest-management record, wrapped in accusations of corruption and misappropriation of funds,” said the statement.
“If PNG is seeking carbon [...]

Biofuel is "phoney solution" says FoE

Too few biofuels meet eco-standards
SINGAPORE ~ Less than a fifth of the biofuel used on UK roads meets environmental standards , the Renewable Fuels Association reported recently.
Asad Rehman, Friends of the Earth’s (FoE’s) biofuels campaigner said:
“The shocking admission that we are unable to identify the origin of nearly half the biofuels used in the UK [...]

Australian carbon targets seen too weak : Reuters

Five times more carbon per capita than China
CANBERRA ~ Prominent climate scientists criticized the Australian government’s top climate adviser today, saying his recommended targets for carbon emissions were too weak and would not help avoid catastrophic climate change, according to Reuters.
Climate adviser Ross Garnaut has urged the government to cut Australian Greenhouse gas emissions by [...]

WWF slams Australian power generators on climate change

Worst performers are Rio Tinto, Alcoa and Intergen
SINGAPORE ~ Some major Australian power generators are doing next to nothing to prepare for a low-carbon future, according to a new report from WWF-Australia.
The 2008 WWF-Australia Power Generators Carbon Future Score Card assessed 19 of Australia’s power firms on the work they are doing to reduce their [...]