(The Economist) – The clock is ticking. Every second, it seems, someone in the world takes on more debt. The idea of a debt clock for an individual nation is familiar to anyone who has been to Times Square in New York, where the American public shortfall is revealed. Our clock shows the global figure […]
[Longtime readers will recognize this as another artifact of China’s development bubble, which has produced ghost cities and dead malls.] By David Gray, Reuters 14 December 2011 Along the road to one of China’s most famous tourist landmarks – the Great Wall of China – sits what could potentially have been another such tourist destination, […]
There are deals and then there are deals. That’s my takeaway from the U.N. climate negotiations in the South African city of Durban, which finally concluded early Sunday local time — more than a day after the talks had been scheduled to end. Exhausted negotiators — seriously, look at these poor guys — managed to […]
By Captain Locky MacLean10 December 2011 When one thinks of world-class diving, the tiny Republic of the Maldives immediately comes to mind. Keen divers travel from all corners of the globe to this Indian Ocean island nation. They come to marvel at the biodiversity its atolls and islands shelter under their shores. The Maldivian islands, […]
By Alex Morales and Kim Chipman9 December 2011 China, the U.S. and India, the three biggest polluters, maintained their resistance to a time line leading to a legally-binding climate treaty, threatening efforts to keep up the fight on global warming this year. European Union Climate Commissioner Connie Hedegaard said she hasn’t yet won backing for […]
By Kim Chipman and Alex Morales7 December 2011 The U.S. view that no new global climate deal is possible before 2020 is derailing negotiations aimed at slashing the world’s oil and coal emissions, according to an envoy at the talks. “The present U.S. position of no new agreement until post- 2020 is really blowing negotiations […]
By Mike De Souza, Postmedia News 4 December 2011 DURBAN, South Africa – A retired Canadian government negotiator who worked on one of the world’s most successful environmental treaties says that Canada’s negotiating tactics at international climate change talks are impeding progress, while protecting the interests of a single industry. “I’m not so sure the […]
November 30 (Reuters) – Canada’s failure to deny reports that it is about to ditch the Kyoto Protocol is “setting a bad example” to other developed nations as global climate change talks enter their third day, China’s official news agency said on Wednesday. Canadian Environment Minister Peter Kent said on Monday that Kyoto was “the […]
DURBAN, South Africa, November 28 (AP) – Global warming already is causing suffering and conflict in Africa, from drought in Sudan and Somalia to flooding in South Africa, President Jacob Zuma said Monday, urging delegates at an international climate conference to look beyond national interests for solutions [United Nations Climate Change Conference 2011]. “For most […]
By Camila Ruz, www.guardian.co.uk 16 November 2011 If the current rapid extermination of animals, plants and other species really is the “sixth mass extinction”, then it is the amphibian branch of the tree of life that is undergoing the most drastic pruning. In research described as “terrifying” by an independent expert, scientists predict the future […]
