30,000 attendees from the energy and environment industries are expected to convene in Abu Dhabi this coming January for Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW), making it the largest gathering on sustainability in the history of the Middle East.
Posts under ‘Policy and Economy’
Standard Chartered Bank: Sustainable Finance
The environmental, economic and social costs of climate change are well known. Their impacts are becoming increasingly evident, especially in those countries that have limited capacity to mitigate against, and adapt to, the key risks associated with climate change.
At Standard Chartered we recognise that as a leading international bank we have an exceptional ability and [...]
Greenhouse gas emissions targets diluted at APEC
COP15 seems to be facing hurdles. At the just held APEC summit, leaders agreed that a binding global-warming agreement at the summit was unrealistic. Also, the previously made pledge to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 has been scrapped on grounds of being “very controversial”. APEC includes the world’s two largest greenhouse gas emitters, China [...]
Countdown to Copenhagen: What needs to be achieved?
2009 has been a critical year in the international effort to address climate change, one that will end with a major UN conference in Copenhagen (December 8-17). The conference’s aim is to reach a global agreement to tackle climate change in light of the fact that the current Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012.
As UN Secretary-General [...]
Hurdles to climate change negotiations: When will we cross over them?
“There is no plan B. If we do not realise plan A, we go straight to plan F which stands for failure,” said Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjejiva. “The situation is a little desperate, and time is slipping through our fingers,” Brazilian Environment Minister Carlos Minc told AFP in an interview.
What is plan A? How [...]
China’s commitment to renewables : Walking the talk
Often referred to as the “workshop of the world”, China has been criticised as its booming economy increases its demand for electricity and industrial resources. The country has one-fifth of the world’s population but over the last few years its emissions have exceeded those of the US. Greenpeace recently reported that large companies in China’s [...]
Obama’s investing in a clean-energy economy: can it really dig us out of the trench?
Since Obama took office there seems to be ceaseless focus on the “green economy”. The US President considers clean energy fuels key to boosting the economy and has allocated $60 billion of his stimulus package to building a renewable energy economy and cutting green-house emissions. His government also recently announced $3 billion in government [...]
