World Bank provides support to 150 cities that are taking “aggressive climate action”

Increasingly we are seeing the importance of local action. Leila Mead writes on the IISD website about an important collaboration between the Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy and the World Bank to ensure cities have the necessary funding to implement sustainable initiatives and climate resilience programmes.   World Bank Invests US$4.5 Billion for … Continue reading World Bank provides support to 150 cities that are taking “aggressive climate action”

Why Canada needs to give increased priority to low-carbon buildings

Where I lived in Canada, it is minus 30 degrees Celsius this week and then we can add in the wind chill. Undoubtedly the energy performance of the buildings is fundamental. Annie Bérubé, director of government relations at Équiterre, and Karen Tam Wu, director of the Buildings and Urban Solutions Program at the Pembina Institute, … Continue reading Why Canada needs to give increased priority to low-carbon buildings

Testing times to understand the hazards of climate disasters

Insurance companies and many others are trying to better understand the implications of the increasing frequency of climate disasters. Hiroko Tabuchi writes in the New York Times about what companies are doing to better understand the hazards.   To Test for Climate Disasters: Break, Burn and Throw Stuff In the backwoods of Rhode Island, a … Continue reading Testing times to understand the hazards of climate disasters

History shows there are lessons about living in harmony with nature without great dependence on technology

Mili Majumdar, Green Business Certification, Inc. in India, reviews several historical buildings in India on the Business World website. Her analysis shows that urban planners and architects need to go back to the drawing board and history books to take a lesson or two on how to design green buildings and create sustainable cities   … Continue reading History shows there are lessons about living in harmony with nature without great dependence on technology

More from the European Environment Agency: mixed progress for Europe’s transport sector in meeting environment, climate goals

Europe’s transport sector is making only mixed progress in meeting its environment, health and climate policy targets, according to a European Environment Agency (EEA) assessment published this week, which tracks the short and long-term environmental performance of this key economic sector across the European Union. Reducing the environmental, health and climate pressures arising from Europe’s … Continue reading More from the European Environment Agency: mixed progress for Europe’s transport sector in meeting environment, climate goals

This week’s briefs

This week there are some items that should be of interest to you. First, the European Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (eceee) provides an explanatory note on why the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, that is currently under revision, must focus on energy needs. Second, there is a good article on how to minimise … Continue reading This week’s briefs

The need for investors to know risks due to climate change

There are concerns that many of our investments will be at risk due to climate change. But how much should shareholders be told? Gareth Hutchens explains in The Guardian about the findings from a thinktank in Australia   Australian shareholders should be told of climate risk to profits, says thinktank Australian companies need to start … Continue reading The need for investors to know risks due to climate change

Latest update on climate mitigation

The SDG Knowledge Hub of the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) provides the October update on global developments in climate mitigation.   Mitigation Update: Progress on Shipping Emissions, HFC Quotas, and Clean Energy in Samoa While the UN Climate Change Conference was underway in Bonn, Germany, several organizations, corporations and countries announced initiatives and … Continue reading Latest update on climate mitigation

What Nicholas Stern is saying about the price for carbon

Jennifer Gallé interviewed Nicholas Stern, Chair of the Grantham Research Institute at the London School of Economics and Political Science on The Conversation France website about his views on the right price for carbon. You should enjoy.   Setting the right price for carbon: five questions for economist Nicholas Stern The economist Nicholas Stern, who … Continue reading What Nicholas Stern is saying about the price for carbon

Australian government’s foreign policy white paper raises major concerns about impact of climate disasters

We keep getting conflicting signals from Australia about its sustainable energy priorities. It is a major producer and exporter of fossil fuels and that has been a major element of its overall economic strength. It has run hot and cold over supporting renewable energy. The same can be said for energy efficiency. Katharine Murphy writes … Continue reading Australian government’s foreign policy white paper raises major concerns about impact of climate disasters