You are here

Global

Coal Crash: How Pension Funds Face Huge Risk From Climate Change

           

Coal is moved on a conveyor belt at the PT Bukit Asam open pit coal mine in Tanjung Enim, South Sumatra province, Indonesia. Photograph: Dadang Tri/Getty Images

Special report: The plummeting coal sector and a growing green divestment movement is leaving firms who still invest in fossil fuels and connected pension holders heavily exposed

theguardian.com - by Damian Carrington and Caelainn Barr - June 15, 2015

The pension funds of millions of people across the world, including teachers, public sector workers, health staff and academics in the UK and US, are heavily exposed to the plummeting coal sector, a Guardian analysis has revealed.

It has also found that just a dozen people, including the owner of Chelsea FC, Roman Abramovich, own coal reserves equivalent to the annual carbon emissions of China, the world’s biggest polluter. The UN, which advocates a shift to clean energy, has more than $100m (£65m) invested in coal through its own pension fund.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Country / Region Tags: 
General Topic Tags: 
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 

Google Launches Sidewalk Labs; Aims to Help Fix Cities

               

Google co-founder and CEO Larry Page speaks during the keynote presentation at Google I/O 2013 in San Francisco.(Photo: Jeff Chiu, AP)

Google (GOOG) is starting a new, independent urban innovation company called Sidewalk Labs that aims to improve cities, according to a post on Google+ by CEO Larry Page. The Street

usatoday.com - by Jessica Guynn - June 11, 2015

SAN FRANCISCO — Google, famous for its ambitious projects to build self-driving cars and high-altitude balloons that beam the Internet to earth, is now taking aim at fixing another major problem: city life.

The new initiative, called Sidewalk Labs, will use technology and innovation in an effort to improve urban life at a time when the U.S. population is gravitating to cities, according to Google CEO Larry Page.

Based in New York, it will be run by Dan Doctoroff, a former deputy mayor of New York City who will combine his experience in managing cities with funding from Google.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Country / Region Tags: 
General Topic Tags: 
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 

Interaction of Atlantic and Pacific Oscillations Caused 'False Pause' in Warming

Ocean and sky (stock image) / Iakov Kalinin / Fotolia

CLICK HERE - RESEARCH - Atlantic and Pacific multidecadal oscillations and Northern Hemisphere temperatures

sciencedaily.com - February 26, 2015

The recent slowdown in climate warming is due, at least in part, to natural oscillations in the climate, according to a team of climate scientists, who add that these oscillations represent variability internal to the climate system. They do not signal any slowdown in human-caused global warming.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

(ALSO SEE RELATED ARTICLE HERE)

Country / Region Tags: 
General Topic Tags: 
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 

White House Presses States to Reconsider Mandatory Ebola Quarantine Orders

UPDATE:    Under Pressure, Cuomo Loosens Policy for Ebola Quarantines in New York

NEW YORK TIMES                                                             Oct. 26, 2014

Country / Region Tags: 
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 

The Blue Carbon Project

submitted by Joe Browder

      

Offsetting carbon emissions by conserving ocean vegetation

thebluecarbonproject.com

What is Blue Carbon?

The problem: The growing emission of carbon dioxide from a wide range of human activities is causing unprecedented changes to the land and sea. Identifying effective, efficient and politically acceptable approaches to reduce the atmospheric concentration of CO2 is one of society’s most pressing goals.

Country / Region Tags: 
General Topic Tags: 
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 

Understanding the Connections Between Coastal Waters and Ocean Ecosystem Services and Human Health

submitted by Cheryl Stroud

nap.edu - Institute of Medicine. Understanding the Connections Between Coastal Waters and Ocean Ecosystem Services and Human Health: Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 2014.

Authors

Rose Marie Martinez and Erin Rusch, Rapporteurs; Roundtable on Environmental Health Sciences, Research, and Medicine; Board on Population Health and Public Health Practice (BPH); Institute of Medicine (IOM)

Country / Region Tags: 
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 

E-mail to Michael Berkowitz re: Regional Consideration

Sent to Michael Berkowitz, Managing Director, 100 Resilient Cities, Rockefeller Foundation on October 9, 2013

Hello Michael and the 100 Resilient Cities ChallengeTeam,

Kudos and thank you for all you are doing!  I have a quick question/proposal and if you have a moment to reply,  I'd like to know your thoughts:

The Q&A sessions led me to believe that the intention is for cities to apply, rather than regions.  I would agree that the CRO's position might appear more manageable if it were based in one municipality.  My only concern is that if we want to maximize the benefit of the 100 Resilient Cities Network, to increase resilience in as many cities as possible that are facing similar challenges, that perhaps a regional approach would be worthwhile, at least in South Florida.

Once you review the applications from South Florida cities such as Pompano Beach and Miami, please consider the possibility of designating these cities as joint winners on a regional front where the cities, and their respective counties, would be able to work together with the guidance of a strong CRO to make this entire region more resilient.

Thank you for your consideration.

- Susan Steinhauser, a concerned citizen living in Coconut Creek, Florida

Country / Region Tags: 
General Topic Tags: 
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 

Saturday, October 19, 2013 is Global Frackdown Day - attend an event near you

Unknown-1

On Saturday, October 19, 2013, there will be hundreds of events taking place throughout the world to bring to light the dangers of fracking.

See what events are taking place in your area

Meeting / Event Tags: 
Country / Region Tags: 
General Topic Tags: 
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 

The Oceans are Heating, Acidifying and Choking

newscientist.com - by Fred Pearce - October 4, 2013

CLICK HERE - State of the Ocean Report 2013

We know the oceans are warming. We know they are acidifying. And now, to cap it all, it turns out they are suffocating, too. A new health check on the state of the oceans warns that they will have lost as much as 7 per cent of their oxygen by the end of the century.

The cascade of chemical and biological changes now under way could see coral reefs irreversibly destroyed in 50 to 100 years, with marine ecosystems increasingly taken over by jellyfish and toxic algal blooms.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

(CLICK HERE FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION)

Country / Region Tags: 
General Topic Tags: 
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 

Pages

Subscribe to Global
howdy folks
Page loaded in 1.434 seconds.