Climate Change

Obama to Tighten Fuel and Emissions Rules

By Bryant Harris
In an effort to reduce oil consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, President Barack Obama on Tuesday directed his administration to develop new fuel efficiency and emissions standards for trucks within the year.

Climate Change Triggers Disease Risk in Tanzania

By Kizito Makoye
Residents in low-lying areas in Tanzania’s largest city, Dar es Salaam, are potentially at risk of contracting waterborne diseases as heavy rains, which started last week, continue to pound the city.

“Blessed” Rains Become a Curse in Antigua

By Desmond Brown
Antigua is one of the most drought-prone countries in the Caribbean. So whenever it rains, the inhabitants generally regard the weather as “showers of blessing”.

DRC Mega-Dam to Be Funded by Private Sector, Groups Charge

By Carey L. Biron

Watchdog groups here are warning that a deal has been struck that would see Chinese investors fund a massive, contentious dam on the Congo River, the first phase of a project that could eventually be the largest hydroelectric project in the world.

Fossil Fuel Subsidies Dampen Shift Towards Renewables

By Samuel Oakford
Despite evolving public awareness and alarm over climate change, subsidies for the production and consumption of fossil fuels remain a stubborn impediment to shifting the world’s energy matrix towards renewable sources.

U.S. Selling Coal Mining Rights at Undervalued Prices

By Bryant Harris
The U.S. government is violating federal leasing policies when it sells land to certain coal-mining companies, according to a new audit from an official watchdog agency.

Carbon-Neutral Costa Rica: A Climate Change Mirage?

By Diego Arguedas Ortiz
Meeting Costa Rica’s self-imposed goal of being the first country in the world to achieve carbon neutrality by 2021 will depend on the priority given this aim by the winner of the second round of the presidential elections in April.

Saving the Tiny Island of Petite Martinique

By Peter Richards
Sanchez is a small central business district in Petite Martinique, the tiny island that forms part of the tri-nation state of Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique.

U.S. Moves Towards Approval of Keystone Pipeline

By Carey L. Biron
The U.S. government has taken a significant step towards approving the Keystone XL oil pipeline, a highly contentious project that has unified environmental groups here in opposition to what they say would be a climate catastrophe.

Gender Counts in the Aftermath of Disaster

By Jewel Fraser
The rise in natural disasters in the Caribbean due to climate change has led to increased suffering for both men and women, much of it as a consequence of socially constructed roles based on gender, experts say.

Nile Delta Disappearing Beneath the Sea

By Cam McGrath
It only takes a light covering of seawater to render land infertile, so Mohamed Saeed keeps a close watch on the sea as it advances year after year towards his two-hectare plot of land. The young farmer, whose clover field lies just 400 metres from Egypt's northern coast, reckons he has less than a decade before his field – and livelihood – submerges beneath the sea.

Caribbean Walks the Talk on Clean Energy Policy

By Desmond Brown
Despite having an abundance of wind and sunshine, Caribbean countries have found that going green is requiring significant shifts in policy, and most importantly, significant financing.

The Future According to Mr. Clean (Energy)

By Anna Shen
Jigar Shah likes math. It inspires him. After all, crunching numbers allowed him to convince wary investors of the money-making potential of solar energy, allowing him to ignite an industry that was crippled by roadblocks.

Voluntary Fracking Certification Kicks Off in U.S.

By Carey L. Biron
A controversial new certification process that could cover a significant portion of the U.S. oil-and-gas “fracking” industry began accepting applications on Tuesday, indicating the formal start of an initiative that has the backing of some key industry players and some environmentalists – but by no means all of either.

Caribbean Sees Worrying Rise in Climate-Sensitive Diseases

By Desmond Brown
Caribbean countries, struggling to emerge from a slump in exports and falling tourist arrivals brought on by the worldwide economic crisis that began five years ago, have one more thing to worry about in 2014.

Small Projects, Big Changes in Climate Risk in Honduran Slums

By Thelma Mejía
For some 250,000 shantytown-dwellers in the Honduran capital, fear of dying or losing their home due to a landslide or other weather-related event has been reduced, thanks to a global warming mitigation plan that has carried out small infrastructure works in 180 ecologically and socially vulnerable neighbourhoods.

Clean Energy Investment Sags Amid Mounting Climate Risks

By Samuel Oakford
Despite Wall Street’s nascent rediscovery of green stocks, global investment in alternative energy declined by 12 percent last year.

Big Coal Undercuts Landmark U.S. Overseas Investment Policy

By Carey L. Biron
Environmentalists and some lawmakers are decrying a surprise move by conservative members of Congress to roll back landmark “clean energy” policies guiding U.S. investments in overseas power projects.

Natural Disasters Add to Myanmar’s Troubles

By Fawzia Sheikh
As Myanmar nurses a fragile democracy after long years of military rule, a new danger has reared its head. Climate change, say experts, has the potential to spur migration and exacerbate conflict in the country.

Impunity Stinks in Havana’s Quibú River

By Ivet González
The stench hits as you walk through the door of one of the pleasant houses along the Quibú river in the Cuban capital’s Náutico neighbourhood. “The garbage piles up, it stinks, and there are even rats,” said María Angélica Suárez, a local resident who is tired of living this way.

Christmas Storm Underlines Caribbean’s Vulnerability

By Desmond Brown
Guyanese President Donald Ramotar says the death and destruction caused by intense rainfall in three Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries over the Christmas holidays is a sign that the region has no time to lose in fortifying its resiliance to climate change.
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