Indian environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan is planning to extend a round-the- clock pilot program which monitors effluents of industries in the state of Tamil Nadu throughout the country, according to a report in the Deccan Chronicle.
The Environmental Performance Index (EPI), which recognizes economies in the world and their performance in protecting the environment, has ranked Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan, the Philippines and South Korea as “strong performers” beating out Australia, the United States and even ultra-clean Singapore, all of which could only manage “moderate performance” ratings.
China's northwestern city of Urumqi, one of the country's worst polluted cities during the winter months plans to invest 4.45 billion yuan (USD712 million) this year to curb air pollution.
The Taiwan government claims that some 229 energy projects it has promoted cut carbon emissions in the country by 4.82 million metric tonnes in 2011, according to a report by the Bureau of Energy under the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
Big cities in China are on the brink of a major shortfall in resources and infrastructure capacity to cope with their rapidly growing populations, a problem termed "urban diseases," a new report has warned.
The Beijing Traffic Management Bureau has launched a campaign targeting large trucks that fail to meet emission standards. Cargo trucks are to blame for 33 percent of nitric oxide (NO2) emissions in the city and account for a majority of fine particle emission (PM2.5) by vehicles, according to bureau officials.
The National Green Tribunal, India's fast-track court to handle environmental cases, has directed the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) to develop a mechanism to have authentic data in its environment impact assessment (EIA) reports and blacklist consultants who "cook" the data.
China is paying an increasing price for pollution brought about by economic development, says a report by the country's environmental protection academy.
The Hong Kong Environmental Protection Department (EPD) recently presented proposals to reduce emissions from vessels to improve air quality in Hong Kong at an Environmental Affairs Panel meeting in Hong Kong’s Legislative Council in December 2011. This is a positive step towards regulation in Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region more generally.
It was a bad week for those hoping Hong Kong's air quality is going to improve anytime soon. On Tuesday the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China, to give its full title, announced that sometime between April this year and March next year, it intends to move forward with legislation to update its air quality objectives (AQOs) by 2014 and put 22 improvement measures in place.
While this is a promise that some reasonable progress will be at last be made, many observers – myself included – are flabbergasted that it has been such a long time coming.
China on Friday ordered seven provinces and cities to set caps on greenhouse gas emissions in preparation for the launch of local pilot carbon markets, according to a notice issued by the country's state planning agency, Reuters reports.
Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post today reported that air pollution levels were the worst ever last year, while speculating that the ongoing crisis may further weaken the city’s role as an Asian financial centre.
Experts have noticed that smog intensity has increased so badly throughout Bangladesh, India and Nepal that it is extending winter and increasing health problems.
South Korea said conflicts between opposition and ruling party lawmakers are disrupting efforts to make polluters pay for their emissions starting in 2015, according a Bloomberg report yesterday.
China’s industries produce more than 65 percent of air pollutants and seriously impair people's health, says a report released last week by a Beijing-based environmental group.
Beijing's Environmental Protection Bureau (EPB) is finally telling the truth about the capital's air quality, say residents, after a bureau spokesman said Beijing's PM10 level (particulate matter smaller than 10 microns) has never met the nationally accepted standards.
The Chinese Ministry of Finance (MOF) has approved an environmental tax and officials are now allowing the proposal to undergo scientific debate and evaluation, the Legal Mirror newspaper reported.
This report by the World Bank spells out what the world would be like if it warmed by 4 degrees Celsius, which is what scientists are nearly unanimously predicting by the end of the century, without serious policy changes.
Companies in Asia reveal expectations that regulations that could lead to rising costs for reporting and reducing GHG emissions will also be the main sources of climate-related business opportunities.
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