Giant tortoises bounce back in the Galapagos

New Scientist, November 30, 2012

LONESOME GEORGE'S death in the Galapagos Islands may have signalled the end of the Pinta Island tortoises, but a related subspecies on a neighbouring island has been saved from extinction. The huge success of the rescue mission suggests that similarly endangered species may have a chance, too. Read more...

Toxic Threads-The Big Fashion Stitch-Up

Greenpeace, November 20, 2012

Greenpeace International has commissioned a new investigation that delves even further into the hazardous chemicals used in the production of high street fashion.

Spurred on by the success of Greenpeace's Detox Campaign, which exposed the links between textile manufacturing facilities using toxic chemicals and water pollution, the investigation was expanded to include 20 global fashion brands – including Armani, Levi's and Zara – as well as more hazardous chemicals. Read more...

Borneo may lose half its orangutans to deforestation, hunting, and plantations

ENN, November 07, 2012

Borneo will likely lose half of its orangutans if current deforestation and forest conversion trends continue, warns a comprehensive new assessment by an international team of researchers. The study, published in the journal PLoS ONE, overlays orangutan distribution with land use regulations in Malaysian and Indonesian Borneo. Borneo has suffered high rates of deforestation, logging, and forest conversion for industrial plantations in recent decades, endangering the world's largest surviving populations of orangutans. Read more Read more... 

Climate change mitigation 'far cheaper than inaction'

SciDev.Net, October 26, 2012


Tackling the global climate crisis could reap significant economic benefits for both developed and developing countries, according to a new report.
The impacts of climate change and a carbon-intensive economy cost the world around US$1.2 trillion a year — 1.6 per cent of the total global GDP (gross domestic product), states 'Climate Vulnerability Monitor: A Guide to the Cold Calculus of A Hot Planet'. Read more... 
Read the full report...

Environment ministers pour cold water on ‘hot air’ proposal

EurActiv.com, October 29, 2012

EU environment ministers abandoned plans on Friday (26 October) to limit excess supply of Kyoto-era carbon credits on the world’s markets after seven eastern European states backed Poland’s opposition to the measure.

The Environment Council had been intended to forge a common EU position on Assigned Amount Unit carbon credits (AAUs) – disparagingly dubbed ‘hot air’ credits – before the UN climate summit in Doha next month.

But “the fact that there hasn’t been agreement within the EU block will only make expectations for the Doha conference on the carry-over of AAUs very low,” said Jeff Swartz, the policy director for the International Emissions Trading Association. Read more...