Lifestyle

The Government of India has taken umbrage over perceived “biases” in the United Nations Development Programme's (UNDP's) Asia Pacific Human Development report, One Planet To Share – Sustaining human progress in a changing climate, which was released on Thursday. The report argues that in the face of climate change, countries in Asia and the Pacific “will need to change the way they manufacture goods, raise crops and livestock, and generate energy.” This will mean “moving to greener, more resilient, lower-emission options that not only sustain the environment but also offer opportunities to the poor for employment and income.”

A UN Development Programme ( UNDP) official has released a proposal to change the energy sector for the Pacific Islands by substituting carbon-intensive energy sources with investments in clean energy.

Reports of formaldehyde-tainted Chinese cabbage in east China's Shandong province, the country's largest vegetable production base, have exposed some clandestine market practices and triggered a new wave of food safety concerns, according to Xinhua.

In many Asian cities thriving quarters are progressively being stripped of their distinctive street life. Market pressure is forcing out older residents and local shop-owners, typically in places that have been earmarked for prime real estate development due to their central, high-traffic location. No where is this more visible and dispiriting than in Hong Kong’s older districts. The confluence of Hong Kong's high post-war population growth, limited space for development and the urban design resulted in the development of areas that are socially vibrant and commercially diverse. Today these are situated in older districts where many buildings have become dilapidated, threatening their ability to support the residents within, as well as the street activity on their doorstep.

Authorities in northern China have ordered a Coca-Cola bottling plant shut after finding its products were contaminated by chlorine, according to a government statement.

A new study from the Carbon Trust reveals a divide between Generation Y's attitude to carbon reduction in the Asia and West.  The study, which questioned over 2,500 young people aged 18-25, across five continents in Brazil, China, South Africa, South Korea, UK and the USA, sought to understand whether tomorrow's consumers are concerned about climate change and will favor brands that reduce their carbon emissions.

National leaders of environmental, biodiversity and natural resources agencies, and departments with law enforcement responsibility, have gathered for the first time to design a global compliance and enforcement strategy to address environmental security. Hosted by INTERPOL and co-organized with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the three-day International Chiefs of Environmental Compliance and Enforcement summit focused on key environmental crime issues such as fisheries, forestry, pollution and wildlife crime, as well as violence, money laundering and tax evasion, all of which exact untold costs on the environment and citizens.

Beijing will boost employment in the renewable energy sector with policy and financial support to tackle job pressures and improve the city's environment, according to the city’s labor authority.

The plastic industry has launched an offensive against the use of brown paper bags and recycled newspapers  to wrap food—environmentalists’ proposed alternatives to plastic bags that are known to pose a huge threat to the environment, according to the Philippine Daily Inquirer.