BBC News 15/04/14

Thousands of workers at a major shoe factory in China, which supplies brands including Nike and Adidas, are striking over social security payments.

Workers at the Yue Yuen factory, in the southern industrial hub Dongguan, are demanding better social insurance and housing fund contributions.

The dispute has been ongoing since early April, with workers reportedly rejecting an offer from the company.

China has faced growing labour strikes in recent years.

The Yue Yuen workers are said to be angered at unpaid social Lire la suite »

Le Huffington Post | Publication: 13/04/2014

CLIMAT - Limiter à 2°C la hausse du thermomètre mondial par rapport à l’ère pré-industrielle est un défi encore possible à relever, ont affirmé dimanche 13 avril les experts, mais cela exige une réduction, d’ici à 2050, de 40 à 70% des émissions de gaz à effet de serre, qui ne cessent de croître.

Sans changement majeur et rapide dans le mix énergétique mondial très dépendant du charbon et du pétrole – gros émetteurs de gaz à effet de serre (GES) – le thermomètre mondial aura subi une hausse de 3,7 à 4,8°C à l’horizon 2100, préviennent les chercheurs du Groupe intergouvernemental d’experts sur le climat (Giec) dans un document publié à Berlin.

Arrêter de « remettre les efforts à plus tard »

Pour réduire drastiquement les émissions de GES, selon Ottmar Edenhofer, coprésident du Lire la suite »

Read in GREEN PROPHET – Sustainable News for the Middle-East

Posted on December 9, 2013 by Tafline Laylin in Green Tech and Gadgets

Amazon’s drones are expected to deliver packages within 30 minutes, but they’ll also clog the skies, make a terrible noise, and encourage even more excessive consumerism. Zach King’s hilarious spoof video explores the issues with Amazon rockets that will “deliver packages in five minutes or less.”

King, otherwise known as Final Cut King, brings us Amazon rockets – amazing new technology that delivers packages to customers in five minutes less.

“We here at Amazon have a passion for delivering your products faster than ever before, and that’s why I’m introducing Amazon rocket,” says King in his latest You Tube video, which already has nearly 200,00 views. Lire la suite »

Source AP – ALJAZEERA 29/10/2013

Dubbed the « project of the century » by the government, the ambitious railway link cost three billion euro.

Turkey has for the first time connected its European and Asian sides by opening a railway tunnel that fulfils a vision first proposed by an Ottoman sultan about 150 years ago.

The tunnel is 13.6km long, with 1.4km running under the Bosporus, the strait that connects the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara, and divides Istanbul between Asia and Europe.

Turkish officials say that at more than 55-metres down, it will be the deepest submerged railway tunnel of its type in the world. Lire la suite »

Published in SUSTAINABLE INDUSTRIES 09/13/2013

Companies such as Apple, Facebook and Amazon refuse to take part in CDP survey

Fifty of the 500 largest listed companies in the world are responsible for nearly three quarters of the group’s 3.6 billion metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions, so finds the CDP Global 500 Climate Change Report 2013 released this week. The carbon emitted by these 50 highest emitting companies, which primarily operate in the energy, materials and utilities sectors, has risen 1.65% to 2.54 billion metric tons over the past four years.

The report is co-written by CDP, formerly known as the Carbon Disclosure Project, and professional services firm PwC. It provides the most authoritative evaluation of corporate progress on climate change. The analysis is based on the climate and energy data of 389 companies listed on the FTSE Global 500 Equity Index, collected by CDP at the request of 722 institutional investors representing US$87 trillion in invested capital. This is a record number of investors now using CDP for insight on corporate environmental performance, as carbon dioxide in the atmosphere passed the landmark level of 400 parts per million and the world Lire la suite »

ELISABETTA POVOLEDO INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE 07/31/13

ROME — Via dei Fori Imperiali, a multilane artery running through the heart of Rome, is typically a frenzy of swerving Vespas, zipping Smart cars and honking Fiat taxis.

But Mayor Ignazio Marino is seeking to transform the avenue to something calmer, where Gucci loafers and sensible sneakers would rule.

Mr. Marino’s plan to ban private traffic on the roadway, which bisects a vast archaeological site, from the central Piazza Venezia to the Colosseum, has prompted grousing and histrionic debate Lire la suite »

Transport currently accounts for half of global oil consumption and nearly 20% of world energy use, of which approximately 40% is used in urban transport alone. The IEA expects urban transport energy consumption to double by 2050, despite ongoing vehicle technology and fuel-economy improvements. While increased mobility brings many benefits, the staggering rate of this increase creates new challenges. Urgent energy-efficiency policy attention will be needed to mitigate Lire la suite »