In the run-up to the June 2012 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro (Rio+20), it has become increasingly clear that we need to put "sustainable development" into practice by setting time ...

In 1992, the first United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, popularly known as the Rio Earth Summit, was convened in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to address the state of the environment and sustainable development. ...

It is estimated that global population reached seven billion in late 2011 or early 2012. As global population has doubled since the 1960s, per capita GDP has grown to more than ten times what it was then. The human impact ...

The negative consequences of climate change are an increasingly prominent discussion point in global climate change negotiations. This topic has recently risen to global attention with the establishment of the “Warsaw ...

Hydrological fracturing techniques have made accessible vast unconventional gas reserves. However, observed impacts on the environment and human health raise legitimate public concerns. The potential climate benefits of ...

Both intensive (industrial) and non-intensive (traditional) forms of meat production result in the release of greenhouse gases (GHGs), contributing to climate change. As meat supply and consumption increase around the ...

For the first time in history, a genetically altered seaweed is colonising very large areas of the marine environment in an uncontrollable way. The green alga, mutated by exposure to chemicals and ultraviolet light, has ...

Wildland fires annually burn an area half the size of Australia and generate nearly 40% of total anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2). Their impact in terms of deforestation, climate change and loss of biodiversity is ...

One-third of global marine oil transportation passes through European waters. Not only oil tankers, but various other cargo ships pose a constant threat of small to medium-scale oil pollution from illegal dumping of oily ...

In 2002, 72% of the world's marine fish stocks were being harvested faster than they could reproduce. Fishing activities have various negative impacts on marine ecosystems. The greatest concern is the rapid depletion of ...