Posted in Environment, tagged climate, coal, commodities, energy, mining, South Africa on October 27, 2013| Leave a Comment »
Lawyer Koos Pretorius is Maria Mtsweni’s neighbor and legal counsel.
During my trip to South Africa last month, I explored the topic of coal. I visited people affected by mining, including the woman pictured here. Her house is crumbling as a result of blasting at the nearest coal mine.
You can read the whole story on swissinfo.ch.
Posted in Environment, tagged adventure, aviation, business, Environment, green, solar power, Switzerland, technology, tourism on July 8, 2013| Leave a Comment »
The world’s largest solar boat sailed past New York’s Statue of Liberty in June.
© MS Tûranor PlanetSolar
Two Swiss solar vehicles have spent recent months touring the United States raising awareness of the potential of renewable energy. But how successful have the trips been in generating valuable funds or forging new partnerships? My latest article on swissinfo.ch tries to answer that question.
Check out the related podcast – Solar Flair – to hear interviews with Solar Impulse pilot André Borschberg as well as PlanetSolar CEO Pascal Goulpié.
Posted in Current affairs, Environment, tagged Environment, future, green, nature, poverty, Rio+20, sustainability, Switzerland, United Nations on June 25, 2012| Leave a Comment »
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon addresses the plenary session of the UN Rio+20 Conference on Sustainable Development, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (© UN Photo/Maria Elisa Franco)
Although the Rio+20 sustainability summit ended without delivering the vision or commitment needed for the future, Switzerland says the process is not dead.
It is a view shared by the Swiss media following the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development – which closed on Friday after 193 nations agreed on a lackluster accord that largely reaffirms the goals of its predecessor, the 1992 Earth Summit.
“Based on its ambitions, the results of Rio+20 are very modest. But there were still some small successes,” stated the Saturday edition of the Tages-Anzeiger newspaper. These successes included sustainability goals and the introduction of a so-called green economy, defined as creating “well-being” and jobs without damaging ecosystems.
Click here for the whole story on swissinfo.ch.
Posted in Environment, tagged energy, Environment, green, nature, nuclear, Switzerland, technology on February 27, 2011| Leave a Comment »
The nuclear power plant in Mühleberg near Bern opened in 1972.
The people of canton Bern in Switzerland have voted in favor of building a new nuclear power plant in Mühleberg to replace the old one there. Meanwhile, voters in canton Nidwalden reiterated their lack of interest in hosting a nuclear waste repository in Wellenberg. Though non-binding, the recent ballot box results show that nuclear technology remains controversial in Switzerland.
Read the whole story here:
Posted in Environment, tagged Animals, Environment, globalization, invasive species, Travel on January 10, 2011| Leave a Comment »
He's awfully cute, but not so welcome in Europe. © André Künzelmann/UFZ
Globalization carries a hidden price tag that may not appear until decades after a trip was made or goods were exchanged.
It comes in the form of invasive species – non-native plants, insects and animals – that wreak havoc on the local flora and fauna while forcing the host country to fork out eradication funds.
Results of a European study show that socio-economic factors have a direct influence on the number of biological invaders in a given country.
Read the whole story here:
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