Posted on September 2nd, 2008 by Green Assembly
GENEVA ~ As the world focuses on devastating floods in India and the hurricane threat to the United States, the UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon has called for greater leadership in tackling climate change, singling out the United States as having a particularly significant part to play. “The U.S. will have to take one of the most important leadership [...]
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Posted on September 1st, 2008 by Green Assembly
JAKARTA ~ The Indonesian province of Riau has pledged to halt the destruction of its forests and peatlands, a move that will prevent billions of tonnes of carbon from entering the atmosphere, Greenpeace said in a statement.
At a ceremony in the provincial capital Pekanbaru last week, Riau Governor Wan Abu Bakar announced the ban, which [...]
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Posted on August 29th, 2008 by Green Assembly
NO Asian country came out of the UN climate talks in Accra better than South Korea which was roundly praised by participants, including WWF and Greenpeace, for adopting a US$multi-billion “green” plan.
Singapore also made the headlines when the European Union accused the island state of being one of the developing nations with the strongest [...]
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Posted on August 27th, 2008 by Green Assembly
SEOUL ~ The Ramsar wetlands protection conference in Changwon, South Korea, will be “the biggest and the best ever”, Mr Anada Tiega, the secretary general of the Ramsar Convention Secretariat, told reporters in Seoul today.
But he declined to say anything about the controversial plan by the South Korean President Lee Myung-bak who wants to build [...]
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Posted on August 18th, 2008 by Green Assembly
BANGKOK ~ Thailand’s National Park, Wildlife and Plant Department has a new chief in the shape of Mr Paisal Kuwalairat. He replaces Chalermsak Wanichsombat who has been transferred to an inactive post.
One of Mr Paisal’s first tasks will be to expand and manage the First Response to Royal Initiatives Office which works on forest-related [...]
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Posted on August 3rd, 2008 by Green Assembly
CHINA is already the world’s leading renewable energy producer* and is over-taking more developed economies in exploiting valuable economic opportunities, creating green-collar jobs and leading development of critical low-carbon technologies, says a new report just published by The Climate Group.
The report - China’s Clean Revolution - shows that China’s transition to a low carbon economy is [...]
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Posted on July 30th, 2008 by Green Assembly
POLITICIANS and big business in Thailand and in many other countries are promoting the large scale production of biofuels from crops (also known as agrofuels) as a solution to climate change. Well, growing fuel instead of importing it may be good for the country’s balance of payments, but is it good for the environment?
Friends of the Earth, a [...]
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Posted on July 29th, 2008 by Green Assembly
BANGKOK ~ The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is aware of the need to improve its environmental performance but may not be ready to adopt a green agenda “in the fullest sense”, the director general told Green Assembly in Bangkok last week.
Dr Surin Pitsuwan said that ASEAN is undergoing reconstruction and it is possible [...]
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Posted on July 11th, 2008 by Green Assembly
THE price of a barrel of oil has gone from US$11 in 1970 to US$140 today. If the price continues to increase at the same rate, we will be paying US$1,778 per barrel by the year 2046. Meanwhile, a spokesman for OPEC said on TV last night that demand for oil will increase by 50 [...]
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Posted on July 11th, 2008 by Green Assembly
THE G8 leaders have let us down yet again. Since 1975, the heads of state of the major industrial democracies have been meeting annually to deal with the major economic and political issues facing their domestic societies and the international community as a whole.
Some 33 years later, and despite their massive financial muscle, they still [...]
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