Green bonds could raise hundreds of billions of dollars a year to spur a shift to cleaner economic growth if governments set strong environmental goals such as for slowing climate change, the OECD said on Wednesday.
In a review of efforts to promote greener growth, it urged more innovation to favor investments in clean energies such as wind or solar power and a drive to place more value on ever
Microbes may be harnessed more easily to generate energy after a finding about how they naturally let off tiny electrical charges, scientists said on Monday.
The bacteria, found to have microscopic "wires" sticking through their cell walls, might also be used to clean up oil spills or uranium pollution, according to the report in the U.S.
A projected spate of extinctions of animals and plants this century may be less drastic than feared because the most widely used scientific method can exaggerate losses by more than 160 percent, a study said on Wednesday.
"Extinctions caused by habitat loss require greater loss of habitat than previously thought," two experts, based in China and the United States, wrote in the journal Nature.
The world must curb soaring use of resources ranging from coal to copper to prevent consumption from reaching ruinous levels by 2050, according to a U.N.
Trees in the Arctic region may grow 500 km (300 miles) further north by 2100 as climate change greens the barren tundra and causes sweeping change to wildlife, a leading expert said.
A quickening melt of snow, ice and permafrost will enable more southerly species such as pine trees or animals such as foxes to move north.
"Changes seem to be happening even more rapidly than we had anticipated
Renewable energies such as wind or solar power are set to surge by 2050, and expected advances in technology will bring significant cost cuts, a draft United Nations report showed on Wednesday.
Renewable energies such as wind or solar power are set to surge by 2050, and expected advances in technology will bring significant cost cuts, a draft United Nations report showed on Wednesday.
Quickening climate change in the Arctic including a thaw of Greenland's ice could raise world sea levels by up to 1.6 meters by 2100, an international report showed on Tuesday.
Such a rise -- above most past scientific estimates -- would add to threats to coasts from Bangladesh to Florida, low-lying Pacific islands and cities from London to Shanghai.
A new international project will try to track discarded U.S. cellphones, TVs and other electronic waste to help recycle everything from gold to rare earths and protect human health, U.S. and U.N. officials said on Sunday.
Many electronic items end up at the bottom of drawers at home when they break or get outdated. Many are shipped abroad for recycling.
