Food

November 20, 2009

Food for thought in thinking about food: 2009 World Summit on Food Security

On November 13, 2009, Food and Agriculture Organization Director-General, Jacques Diouf, embarked on a 24-hour public hunger strike, in the lead up to this week’s World Summit on Food Security in Rome. more…

November 19, 2009

COP15’s Indigenous voices on climate change film festival

As a part of our contribution to a robust discussion at the COP15 climate negotitions in Copenhagen, the United Nations University has been working hard with partners to organize the Indigenous Voices on Climate Change film festival at the National Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen (4pm-6pm, 9th-13th December,2009). more…

November 16, 2009

How things work: Canada’s oil sands

With the topic of peak global oil production moving more into the mainstream, you have perhaps heard of the Canadian oil sands. There, huge tracts of remote forested land are strip-mined to obtain a type of thick crude oil called bitumen. more…

November 13, 2009

Energy descent from peak oil: Not a collapse, more like evolution

There is an unhealthy tendency to categorise environmentalists and members of the peak oil community as ‘doom and gloomers’ predicting the end of the world. more…

November 11, 2009

Oil reserve estimates inflated?

The world is much closer to running out of oil than official estimates admit, according to a whistleblower at the International Energy Agency who claims it has been deliberately underplaying a looming shortage for fear of triggering panic buying. more…

November 9, 2009

Grow a green roof (and eat it too)

Cities are called concrete jungles for obvious reasons: cluttered skyscrapers overlook congested streets and highways amidst a constant bombardment of neon lights and billboards. more…

November 5, 2009

Fashion from trash

It may not be obvious, but the 3Rs of the ‘Waste Hierarchy‘ are in a particular order for a reason. ‘Reduce’ comes first, since it has zero impact. Following closely, ‘Re-use’ cuts waste and engenders no or little energy use. ‘Recycle’ comes next because it requires more energy (yet still less than to manufacture using new resources). more…

November 2, 2009

Debate 2.0: Who’s afraid of climate change?

Scaremongering seems to be quite rampant in climate change communication these days. Some may argue that this is because the truth is in fact quite scary. While others condemn it as a dirty tactic employed underhandedly by extreme greenies, particularly as it applies to children. more…