By 2030, the European Union (EU) hopes, there will be 30 million electric cars on European roads."It's something that's never really been done before at that rate of growth for a completely new product," says Dr Anderson, who is also the co-director of the Birmingham Centre for Strategic Elements and Critical Materials.While electric vehicles (EVs) may be carbon neutral during their working lifetime, he's concerned about what happens when they run out of road

Every day at sunrise, Daisy* and her sisters set out to spend several hours in the heat cleaning debris from the previous day’s protests off the streets of Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city.Protests have erupted around the country since the military seized control of the government after arresting democratic leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, on 1 February, and declared a year-long state of emergency.According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), a non-profit rights organisation

The United States (US) has pledged to cut carbon emissions by 50-52 percent below 2005 levels by the year 2030.This new target, which was unveiled at a virtual summit of 40 global leaders, essentially doubles their previous promise.But the leaders of India and China, two of the world's biggest emitters, made no new commitments."Scientists tell us that this is the decisive decade – this is the decade we must make decisions that will avoid the worst consequences of the climate crisis,

A new Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC)-For-Trade project, in collaboration with the United Nations (UN) Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+) Programme’s initiative for the Lower Mekong, will promote trade and sustainable forest management (SFM) and at the same time reduce pressure on forests through improved governance in Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.PEFC’s Forestry and Trade for Develop

Four of the world's five top executioners in 2020 were Middle East states, Amnesty International says.

China continues to take internet censorship, surveillance and propaganda to “unprecedented levels”, according to Reporters Without Borders (RSF), making it one of the world’s worst countries for journalists.In its annual press freedom index, published on Tuesday, the global watchdog also highlighted an increase in repression and attacks on journalists worldwide during the COVID-19 pandemic.The index examines the press freedom situation in 180 countries and territories, and RSF said its data s

Under the Paris Agreement on climate, nearly every country will have to drastically reduce their carbon emissions, and they were supposed to submit renewed plans to do so by the end of 2020.The first raft of "nationally determined contributions" (NDCs) submitted in 2015 would put Earth on course to be at least three degrees Celsius (C) hotter than pre-industrial times, a far cry from the Paris temperature cap goal of keeping warming "well below" two degrees C.Under the dea

From the first community pantry on Maginhawa Street, Quezon City, dozens more have opened not only in Metro Manila, but also in some Luzon provinces, the Bicol region and in Mindanao, prompting Caloocan Bishop Pablo Virgilio David to call it “the most tangible sign of hope.’’In Iligan City, Lucia Silva launched on Sunday her version of young entrepreneur Ana Patricia Non’s Maginhawa community pantry at Purok 5 in Sitio Canaway, Barangay Saray, where many had lost their jobs. “Most of

Philippine authorities said Saturday they have seized some 200 tonnes of illegally harvested giant clam shells worth nearly US$25 million in one of the biggest known operations of its kind in the country.Conservationists have expressed alarm over the surging illicit trade in the endangered creatures, which are used as a substitute for ivory following a global crackdown in the trade of elephant tusks.The Philippines is home to most of the world's giant tropical clam species, and Friday&#0

Plastic consumption has exploded over the years. This has caused plastic waste production worldwide to steadily increased by 10 million metric tons every year in the last 10 years, to reach almost 360 million metric tons in 2018.The plastic crisis is one of the greatest challenges facing planet earth.