Increased focus has been placed on the issues of energy access and energy poverty over the last number of years, most notably indicated by the United Nations (UN) declaring 2012 as the “International Year of Sustainable Energy for All”.

Achieving the Millennium Development Goal to halve global poverty by 2015 looks increasingly likely, although many countries may fall far short of this goal.

The UNESCO and the UNEP have released a publication titled “Climate Change Starter’s Guidebook,” which is intended to serve as a starting point for mainstreaming climate change education into curricula lesson plans and programs.

Quoting a joint analysis undertaken by the OECD and the IEA, G-20 leaders committed in September 2009 to ―rationalize and phase out over the medium term inefficient fossil-fuel subsidies that encourage wasteful consumption.

This paper aims to examine the justification for specific energy efficiency policies in economies with carbon pricing in place. The paper begins with an inventory of existing market failures that attempt to explain the limited uptake of energy efficiency.

This report by Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century provides an overview of renewable energy worldwide as of early 2011 & shows that the renewable energy sector continues to perform well despite continuing economic recession, incentive cuts, and low natural-gas prices.

The technology roadmap for Geothermal Heat and Power offers a strategic plan to maximise deployment of these energy resources by 2050. It projects that 1 400 TWh of electricity per year could come from geothermal power by 2050, up from 67 TWh at present. Additionally, geothermal heat (not including ground-source heat pump technology) could contribute 5.8 EJ (1600 TWh) annually by 2050.

The OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2011-2020 says that a good harvest in the coming months should push commodity prices down from the extreme levels seen earlier this year. However, the Outlook states that over the coming decade real prices for cereals could average as much as 20 percent higher and those for meats as much as 30 percent higher, compared to 2001-10.

The purpose of the paper is to review the recent empirical literature relating to the quantification and valuation of the human health impacts of air pollution, hazardous chemicals, and unsafe water and

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has released an updated version of its “Technology Roadmaps - Electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (EV/PHEV)” report, which indicates that forecasted manufacturing of electric and hybrid vehicles is behind national targets.