United Nations

Reuters reports that the U.N.'s International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has launched a new carbon emissions calculator in a bid to standardize the carbon offset schemes provided by various airlines.

Carbon Offsets Daily : When do you think the domestic voluntary carbon market will become a compliance market and how will that change affect the environment?

June 5th is World Environment Day - a day set up by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) to ’stimulate worldwide awareness of the environment and enhance political attention and action.’ This year, the main celebration kicks off in Wellington, New Zealand while events and activities happen worldwide. The 2008 theme is Kick the Habit! Towards a Low Carbon Economy...here is a list of actions you can take to reduce your carbon footprint...

A 1-minute summary of the Kyoto Protocol, carbon emission reduction credits, and what they mean for regular people.

The United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues recently met. Although the final decisions of the 7th session have not been officially released, I was able to get an advanced, unedited version of the report. Below I've summarized the decisions and recommendations of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues to the Economic and Social Council.

More than 1 in 4 animals have disappeared in the past 35 years, according to a report published Thursday by the World Wildlife Fund conservation group.

The United Nations proclaimed May 22nd as the International Day for Biodiversity to increase awareness and understanding of biodiversity issues. This years’ theme focuses on agriculture. Due to agricultural expansion, population growth, and misuse of agricultural technologies, our Earth’s biodiversity and natural resources are increasingly suffering dramatic consequences.

The world can reach a significant new climate change pact by the end of 2009 if current talks keep up their momentum, the head of the United Nations climate panel said on Sunday.

The United Nations began negotiations on a sweeping new pact in March after governments agreed last year to work out a treaty to succeed the Kyoto Protocol by the end of next year.

On World Water Day, as on every other day, some 2.5 billion people are "doing their business" somewhere other than in a toilet or latrine. Thatis not a statistic many people want to examine too closely, but it is crucial data for efforts to meet the Millennium Development Goals on improving global sanitation and reducing child mortality.

Southern California Inner City Youth Out to Change The World

Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, Chairman, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC);  testifies before the House Select Committee on EnergyIndependence and Global Warming on the impact of climate change on the least privilaged.

Panelists in this session argue that global crises related to the escalating demand and inadequate supply of fresh water are as urgent as - yet more vexing and complicated than - efforts to tackle climate change. There is broad recognition today that water stress poses a risk to economic growth, human rights, health, safety and national security.

Glenn Prickett, Senior Vice President, Conservation International, discusses how production of biofuel crops has the potential to do more environmental harm than good due to agricultural practices and how Conservation International works to minimize that damage. He also talks about how forest biodiversity and landuse are only starting to become a topic in the UN climate change talks.

James Connaughton, Chairman, White House Council on Environmental Quality, describes how success in Bali climate change negotiations came down to the placement of punctuation.

Drew Kodjak, Executive Director, The International Council on Clean Transportation, is interviewed about pollution and greenhouse gases emitted from the world's oceangoing ships, particularly cargo vessels. He discusses what industry and others are doing to address the problem.