World Bank to “Cease Providing” Funding for New Coal Projects

The World Bank is set to consider dramatically cutting down its funding for coal-related power projects, according to a draft strategy document leaked this week.

Presidential Hopefuls in Chile Speak Out Against Wilderness Dam

Diversifying the energy mix and the spectre of energy shortages in Chile are central issues in the campaign for the primary elections this Sunday Jun. 30, when presidential candidates will be nominated for the Nov. 17 elections.

Activists See U.S. Nuclear Industry Starting to Crumble

With the announced closures of four nuclear reactors in the United States so far this year and the cancellation of proposed facilities elsewhere in the country, some activists believe the U.S. nuclear industry is beginning to crumble.

U.N. Downplays Health Effects of Nuclear Radiation

The United Nations has come under criticism from medical experts and members of civil society for what these critics consider inaccurate statements about the effects of lingering radioactivity on local populations.

Obama Unveils Plan to Circumvent Congress on Climate Change

Stymied by the U.S. Congress, President Barack Obama on Tuesday unveiled his vision to reset the United States' incoherent national plan to combat climate change, offering dozens of regulatory tweaks and targets that his administration could now implement without Congressional approval.

In Southern U.S., Energy Equity Seen as Path to Sustainability

Advocates of the concept of "energy equity" have begun employing it in the southern United States to create a diverse coalition of citizens who might otherwise approach energy policy issues differently.

CENTRAL ASIA: South Asia Energy Project a Pipe Dream?

In early June, a newspaper in Pakistan announced the Asian Development Bank would withdraw from a much-anticipated energy transmission project that aims to connect Central and South Asia. The report stated that security fears in Afghanistan were prompting the ADB to drop its 40 percent interest in the project.

Rural Mexican Communities Protest Wind Farms

"We can't sow our fields, which they have rented for next to nothing. What good do we get out of it?" Guadalupe Ramírez complained about wind farms operating in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca.

Stealing Gas from the Poor to Power the Rich

In Kilwa District in southern Tanzania local community leader and fisherman Salim Riziki stands next to a set of turbines, newly imported from Dubai, talking about the gas finds on Songo Songo, an island 15 km off the mainland.

Small Farmers Buffeted by Climate Change

The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has long warned that a quarter of the world’s farmland is “highly degraded".

U.S. Moving Toward Controversial New Role in Global Energy Market

Energy specialists say that advancements in fossil fuel extraction technologies have sparked a "revolution" in U.S. energy production, especially given radical recent changes in the global energy market and the U.S. role within it.

Developing Countries Lead Global Shift to Green Energy

Emerging economies such as Mexico and India are shifting energy investments into renewable resources while industrialised countries hesitate, noted two new United Nations reports released Wednesday in Nairobi, Kenya.

“Carbon Farming” Makes Waves at Stalled Bonn Talks

U.N. climate talks have largely stalled with the suspension of one of three negotiating tracks at a key mid-year session in Bonn, Germany.

Cairo’s Poor Convert Kitchen Waste Into Fuel Savings

The bio-gas digester on the roof of Hussein Farag's apartment in one of Cairo's poorest districts provides a daily supply of cooking gas produced from the kitchen waste his family would otherwise discard in plastic bags or empty into the clogged sewer below his building.

Carbon Dioxide Emissions Hit Record High in 2012

Greenhouse gas emissions worldwide rose by 1.4 percent last year, setting a new record, according to data released Monday.

Iceland Renews Push for Aluminium Plant

The new Icelandic government was only a day old when it announced in mid-May that it would do all it could to push ahead with the Helguvik aluminium smelter. Construction for the smelter began in in 2008 but since then has met with a variety of problems, mostly energy-related.

For First Time, U.S. to Lease Offshore Wind Blocks

The U.S. government announced Tuesday that it would be going forward with long-discussed plans to auction federal leases off the Atlantic Ocean coast for the development of offshore wind energy.

Japan Seeks to Remake Asia-Africa Relationship

Acutely aware of China’s strong presence in resource-rich Africa, Japan, the world’s third largest economy, is beefing up its relations with the continent. Participants at a high-level donor conference hosted by Japan this week stressed the need for closer engagement, not through the traditional grants and assistance loans that have hitherto defined the relationship, but rather through trade and investment led by the Japanese private sector.

Peak Water, Peak Oil…Now, Peak Soil?

Soil is becoming endangered.This reality needs to be part of our collective awareness in order to feed nine billion people by 2050, say experts meeting here in Reykjavík.

U.S. Urged to Reject Genetically Engineered Trees

Consumer advocates and environmentalists this week are taking advantage of an industry conference to highlight concerns over the U.S. government’s pending approval of a genetically modified eucalyptus tree.

U.S., China Woo Caribbean “Friends” Just Days Apart

First it was U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, who travelled to Trinidad and Tobago Tuesday to speak with "our friends” in the Caribbean.