Trump rollback could leave waterways vulnerable to pollution
The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday ended federal protection for many of America's streams, arroyos and wetlands, a sweeping environmental rollback that could leave the waterways more vulnerable to pollution from development, industry and farms. The policy change, signed by heads of ...
Rome's Fiumicino airport tests eco-friendly plastic-graphene tarmac
Rome's Fiumicino airport is testing a pioneering tarmac developed by an Italian company, made of a material that has twice the lifespan of traditional asphalt and is better for the environment as it uses a waste plastic. The graphene-enhanced tarmac has been laid on one ...
Shinjiro Koizumi's remarks on Japan's coal plant exports win praise and brickbats
Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi's recent remarks raising doubts over the country's coal-fired power plant exports have been met with a backlash from within the government and ruling bloc, while earning favorable responses from opposition lawmakers. Speaking at a news conference Tuesday, Koizumi pointed out that ...
Companies join global calls for Japan to ditch coal-fired power
Japanese companies overwhelmingly feel Japan should shift away from its dependence on coal for power generation even though a third of firms say this would harm their business, a Reuters poll has found — further evidence that the government is out of step with ...
Just 13% of Japan's local governments working to meet U.N. Sustainable Development Goals
Only about 13 percent of local government authorities in Japan are working to achieve the United Nations' 17 Sustainable Development Goals, in areas such as the fight against climate change, a Cabinet Office survey has shown. Some 58 percent of local governments are interested in ...
Environment Minister Koizumi breaks ranks on Japan's financing of Vietnam coal plant
Environment Minister Koizumi criticized a coal-fired power plant project in Vietnam, calling into question the government’s financial support for the project amid a rising global outcry from climate activists.
Bangladesh's High Court has asked authorities to shut down 231 factories surrounding the highly polluted main river in the nation's capital, lawyers and activists said Tuesday. Manzil Murshid, who filed a petition with the court seeking its intervention, said the factories are mainly small dyeing, ...
Backatcha: At Davos, Greta Thunberg returns Trump's climate jibe
Greta Thunberg isn't easily intimidated. The 17-year-old Swedish activist wasted little time on Tuesday to push back against U.S. President Donald Trump's description of climate campaigners as "the perennial prophets of doom" who predict the "apocalypse." Though Trump didn't mention her directly in his speech at ...
World needs to prepare for 'millions' of climate-displaced, UNHCR chief warns
The world needs to prepare for millions of people being driven from their homes by the impact of climate change, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said on Tuesday. Speaking to Reuters at the World Economic Forum, Filippo Grandi said a U.N. ruling this ...
WWF voices 'deep concern' over purchasing standards set by Tokyo committee for 2020 Olympic Games
The World Wildlife Fund expressed concern Monday over standards set for commodity procurement by the Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, saying that they are "inappropriate." In a statement, the WWF said it was "deeply concerned" that the organizing committee produced "protocols ...
U.N.'s decarbonization target for shipping to cost over $1 trillion, study says
At least $1 trillion of investment in new fuel technology is needed to enable the shipping industry to meet U.N. targets for cuts in carbon emissions by 2050, a study published on Monday showed. The global shipping fleet, which accounts for 2.2 percent of the ...
Malaysia sends back trash, declining to be world's waste bin
Malaysia has sent back 150 containers of plastic waste to 13 predominantly rich countries since the third quarter last year, with the environment minster warning Monday that those who want to make the country a global waste bin can "dream on." Shipments of unwanted trash ...
