With the Australian, Japanese, and Canadian governments making an about-face on carbon-emissions reduction targets during the Warsaw climate summit, some experts are warning that the global need for solutions offsetting…
Australia, Japan and Poland blamed for sabotaging UN Climate Summit talks. Thirteen citizen groups—including Oxfam, Greenpeace, and WWF—have walked out of ongoing climate talks in Warsaw to protest what they…
In 1956, in the quiet seaside town of Minamata on the southwestern coast of Japan's Kyushu Island, cats began to behave very strangely. They convulsed, displayed excessive salivation, and gradually…
Japan's decision to weaken carbon emissions target a 'slap in the face' to poor countries. In 2009, Japan pledged to cut its carbon emissions by 25 percent based on 1990…
Global carbon dioxide emissions hit another new record of 34.5 billion tons last year, according to a new report by the Netherlands Environment Assessment Agency and the European Commission's Joint…
Logging in Malaysian Borneo. The production and trade in 'sustainable' timber products in Southeast Asia is mostly 'a mirage' due to questionable forestry practices and loopholes in import regulations, alleges…
Japanese companies are failing to keep illegally logged timber from entering their supply chains, international human rights and environmental watchdog Global Witness said in a report released today. The report…
Australia is hoping to put a permanent end to Japan's annual slaughter of hundreds of whales in the Southern Ocean, in a landmark legal challenge that begins this week. Australia,…
Japan blamed environmental activists for a "record low" take during this year's whaling season in the Southern Ocean, reports Kyodo News. Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said the…
The scalloped hammerhead shark is one of five sharks and two manta rays that won protection today at CITES, so long as it isn't overturned. Photo by: Stacy Jupiter/WCS. Today,…
Scientists come face-to-face with giant squid. Photo of a giant squid captured in 2004. Photo by: Dr Tsunemi Kubodera, of the National Science Museum in Tokyo, and Kyoichi Mori, of…
Kiyomura Co. president Kiyoshi Kimura with a 222-kg tuna caught off Oma in Aomori prefecture in northeastern Japan. Photo: Shuji Kajiyama / AP. A bluefin tuna sold for a record…
Coal-powered Castle Gate Power Plant in Ohio. Photo by: David Jolley. A new analysis finds that 21 wealthy countries spent five-times more on subsidizing fossil fuels in 2011 than they…
Eurasian otter in Britain. The Japanese river otter was a subspecies of the Eurasian. Photo by: Catherine Trigg. Japan's Ministry of the Environment today declared the Japanese river otter (Lutra…
For The GEF's Naoko Ishii, Sustainability Must be a Core Global Value The Global Environment Facility or "GEF" unites 182 government members, in partnership with multiple international institutions, nongovernmental organizations,…
Coal truck in western China. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. The average person in China emitted 7.2 tons of carbon last year, according to new figures from BL Netherlands Environmental…
Deforestation of tropical forests for oil palm plantations in Sabah, Malaysia. Palm oil is one of over 15,000 commodities in a recent study that have been linked to biodiversity loss…
A Malagasy girl. While Madagascar faces widespread deforestation and erosion, it is estimated that 70 percent of its people suffer from malnutrition. The Rio+20 Summit is attempting to tackle both…
Coal Stacker - Newcastle Australia. The world's largest coal port. Photo by: Bigstock. An Australian court last week ruled that climate change was not reason enough to halt the $6.3…
Amazon Japan, a subsidiary of Amazon.com, pulled all whale meat products (and possibly dolphin meat) from its site after a new report by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) and the…
UNFF Director Jan McAlpine with winners Paulo Adario, Rhiannon Tomtishen, Madison Vorva, Paul Nzegha Mzeka, Shigeatsu Hatakeyama, and Anatoly Lebedev. Courtesy of the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF) The…
Minke whale kabob served up at the Sea Baron restaurant in Reykjavik Harbour area, Iceland. Photo by:Thjurexoell. How do you end a decades-long conflict between culture and conservation? How do…
A 593 pound Pacific bluefin tuna sold for $735,000 (56.49 million yen) in Tokyo's Tsukiji market today. This beats the previous record price hit last year by over $260,000. Why…
Victories won by activists around the world tops our list of the big environmental stories of the year. In this photo: a young woman is placed in handcuffs and arrested…
A coalition of environmental NGOs have called upon Japan to adopt stronger measures to block illicit timber imports, alleging that Japanese companies are buying illegally logged wood from Samling Global,…
In 2010 the fishing industry exceeded its quota of eastern Atlantic bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) by 141 percent, according to a new analysis by Pew Environment Group. The analysis depends…
Global carbon emissions hit a new high last year proving once again that international political efforts, hampered by bickering, the blame-game, and tepidity, are failing to drive down the greenhouse…
Illegally felled rainforest tree in Gunung Palang National Park in Indonesian Borneo. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Following Japan's devastating earthquake and tsunami, it needs to rebuild and do so…
When historians look back at the fight to combat climate change—not to mention the struggle to overcome our global addiction to fossil fuels—will 2011 be considered a watershed moment? Maybe.…
The tragic earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan last month is likely to boost wood imports into the recovering nation, adding increased pressure on the already imperiled rainforests of Southeast…
