In The News

The US Congress has inserted a provision in an appropriations act that requires greater “protection for the environment or for human rights than the bank’s current safeguards,” reports Environment News Service. The United States is the largest contributor for World Bank operations, and the measure formalizes criticism about the World Bank’s 2014 proposal on environmental and social safeguards: “...

China and the United States reached agreement on reducing carbon emissions. Nayan Chanda, YaleGlobal’s editor, points to India’s silence over the loss of a fellow emerging economy that might battle advanced economies on reduction of coal and other fossil fuels. In terms of absolute carbon emissions and world share, China ranks first with 26 percent, the United States ranks second with 17 percent...

The earth can anticipate food shortages, more severe weather and irreversible damage to the planet unless immediate action is taken to reduce carbon emissions, suggests a UN report. Days later, US voters placed Republicans in charge of both branches of the US Congress. “Global warming remains a low-priority issue in American politics — in a Pew poll, it ranked a lowly 8th (out of 11) on the list...