Tag - environment

 
 

ENVIRONMENT

A drone view shows a tree on fire in Humaita, Amazonas state, Brazil, on Sept. 8.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Nov 19, 2024
Can a COP29 deal clean up scandal-ridden carbon offsets?
Carbon trading is seen as one way for richer countries to meet their emissions reduction targets.
A Sardinian miner helmet, painted with the logo of Sardinia region, in Carbonia, west of Cagliari, Italy. Sardinia relies largely on coal for its electricity.
BUSINESS / Markets
Nov 18, 2024
Locals revolt against renewables in Italy's coal-fired island, Sardinia
The island a prime location for wind and solar power but intense investor interest has spooked locals who say Sardinia is being exploited.
Demonstrators hold a giant picture of Brazilian environmental activist Txai Surui, to urge world leaders to protect the environment and defend the Amazon rainforest, at Botafogo beach in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 18, 2024
G20 talks in Rio reach breakthrough on climate finance, sources say
The ongoing U.N. climate talks have thrown a spotlight on the G20's efforts to tackle global warming.
Rice fields in the town of Ozu, Kumamoto Prefecture. The water-filled paddies glistening under the sun is a symbol of a long-running effort to preserve the prefecture’s groundwater.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability / OUR PLANET
Nov 17, 2024
Japan's chipmaking rush pressures Kumamoto's special water supply
TSMC and others hope that support for existing projects and proper wastewater management can avoid undermining water development efforts lauded by the U.N.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump attends a meeting with House Republicans at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Washington on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 16, 2024
G20 set to back climate goals and global trade in message to Trump
Group of 20 leaders meeting in Brazil next week are set to show unity on climate action and global trade rules.
Youth leaders at the COP29 United Nations climate change conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, which started on Monday and runs until Nov. 22. Youth participation is key to the success of climate diplomacy as the international community strives to limit global warming.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 13, 2024
A blueprint for youth inclusion in climate diplomacy
Youth participation is vital to keeping the 1.5 degrees Celsius target within reach, one under discussion at the ongoing COP29 climate change conference in Azerbaijan.
Donald Trump in the past has netted important victories before the Supreme Court for his policies on trade, immigration and the environment.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 12, 2024
One of Trump’s few checks on power? The Supreme Court he shaped.
The president-elect hasn’t always gotten his way and he may need the court’s help to fulfill his campaign-trail promises.
In 2017, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government became the first among Japan's local authorities to issue green bonds.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Nov 12, 2024
More municipalities tap green bonds as demand makes rates favorable
Green bond issuance by local government authorities in Japan has risen from ¥149.3 billion in 2022 to ¥443.1 billion in 2023.
Japan will urge automakers to make all new passenger cars biofuel-compatible by the early 2030s, with an action plan from the industry ministry expected next summer.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 12, 2024
Japan to aim for all new cars to be biofuel-compatible in 2030s
The ministry will adopt an action plan around next summer and also plans to support the necessary renovation of gas stations.
This year is expected to be the hottest year on record, and the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service predicts it will also be the first year ever to breach 1.5 C of warming.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Nov 12, 2024
Global warming is already on the cusp of 1.5 C, new research finds
While there is nothing symbolic about the number 1.5 in particular, every extra increment of heat risks worsening climate impacts like powerful storms and drought.
People leave the venue during the United Nations climate change conference, known as COP29, in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Monday.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Nov 12, 2024
COP29: U.S. climate envoy says work will continue despite Trump's return
"For those of us dedicated to climate action, last week's outcome in the United States is obviously bitterly disappointing," Podesta said at the summit.
Solar panels installed along the coastline of Minamisoma, Fukushima Prefecture. Due to the relative ease of starting solar power generation, mega solar power plants have been installed rapidly across the country.
JAPAN
Nov 11, 2024
Japan to mandate solar panel recycling when lifespan ends
The number of panels reaching the end of their lifespans is projected to start rising sharply in the mid-2030s.
People walk past the logotype at the venue for the 2024 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29) in Baku on Monday.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Nov 11, 2024
A guide to COP29 climate vocabulary
Here's a guide to some of the terms in play at this year's COP29 discussions.
People farm in the Punakha valley, Bhutan, in 2017.
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 11, 2024
Buddhist Bhutan to build 'mindfulness city' to create jobs and woo investment
The Gelephu Mindfulness City will lie in a special administrative region with separate rules and laws.
Pedestrians walk in front of the venue for COP29 Summit in Baku on the eve of UN Climate Change Conference (COP29) on Sunday.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Nov 11, 2024
Who are the key voices at the COP29 climate summit in Baku?
The U.S., the world's second largest emitter comes to COP29 following an election that will put Donald Trump back in power in 2025.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda said on Saturday at a forum in Switzerland that monetary tightening would be necessary in Japan if inflationary pressures from decarbonization investments exceed a certain threshold.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 10, 2024
Decarbonization investment to give some inflationary pressure: BOJ chief
Ueda said that monetary tightening would become necessary if inflationary pressure exceeds a certain level.
Former President Donald Trump with Elon Musk during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on Oct. 5. The Tesla billionaire is a key figure in the president-elect's orbit. One question is whether his views on climate and clean energy will have any sway.
WORLD
Nov 9, 2024
Musk believes in global warming. Trump doesn’t. Will that change?
The Tesla billionaire is a key figure in the president-elect's orbit. One question is whether his views on climate and clean energy will have any sway.
U.S. President Donald Trump signs one of five executive orders related to the oil pipeline industry in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Jan. 24, 2017.
BUSINESS / Markets
Nov 7, 2024
From oil to EVs, here’s how Trump’s victory affects energy
The prospect of a Trump-era pullback from some policies promoting emission-free energy has already helped spark a slide in shares of renewable power firms.
Smoke billows from a chimney at a combined-cycle gas turbine power plant in Drogenbos, Belgium, on Dec. 6, 2023.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Nov 4, 2024
The world promised to tame methane, but emissions are still rising
World leaders and fossil fuel executives have declared tackling methane — and doing so quickly — a crucial priority.
Katsuko Kurikawa shows the damage done by bears to her chestnut tree.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Chugoku
Nov 4, 2024
Uptick in bear sightings prompts policy shift from conservation to control
Hunting the Asian black bear in the Western Chugoku Mountains has been banned in principle since 1994.

Longform

Professional cleaner Hirofumi Sakurai takes a moment to appreciate some photographs in a Gotanda apartment whose occupant died alone.
The last cleanup: Life and death in a lonely Japan