Where do you go when the burning rubbish dump near you emits the smell of burning plastic and you know it is toxic?

Like to mix beer and wine when you're drinking? Fancy some wine on ice cubes when the weather's hot? Perhaps a ''green'' beer made with sensitivity to the environment will quench your thirst?

Leading power equipment manufacturer, OSRAM, on Thursday announced that it had joined hands with the largest German power generation company RWE to launch their first energy efficiency project in India based on the Kyoto Protocol guidelines at a cost of 150 million Euros. Under the programme, high-quality OSRAM energy-saving lamps will be distributed to around 700,000 households in the Vishakhapatnam region in the first phase. The project will be financed exclusively via CO{-2} certificates under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) based on the Kyoto Protocol for reducing CO{-2} emissions in developing and emerging countries, according an official release here. The energy-saving lamps are being distributed by the local power supply company in cooperation with self-help groups. At the same time, ordinary light bulbs will be collected from the households and sent for eco-friendly recycling. In all, this project is likely to save up to 400,000 tonnes of CO{-2}. "The project together with our partner RWE will reduce CO{-2} emissions in India and help the country keep its energy requirements down. It will also give a broad cross-section of population who would not otherwise be able to afford energy-saving lamps the opportunity to save money,' said Wolfgang Gregor of OSRAM.

Companies will find it makes sense to reduce pollution and adopt good governance

Governments in many countries are increasingly aware of the urgent need to make better use of the world's energy resources. Improved energy efficiency is often the most economic and readily available means of improving energy security and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. To support better energy efficiency policy-making and evaluation, the International Energy Agency is developing in-depth indicators of energy use, efficiency trends and CO2 emissions. This publication provides a summary of the key results of the indicators work so far.

The one sector which is running amok in terms of growth of emissions is transport. Between 1990 and 2005, the maximum increase in emissions of rich countries was in this sector

The world's forests are a key storehouse of carbon

It is now part of the carbon game: emitting but buying carbon credits to balance accounts. People fly to their holidays but buy some carbon

The Green Paper on urban transport will address all transport modes, including walking, cycling, motor cycles and motor vehicles, and will cover both urban freight (and logistics)

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