Water

UNEP GEO5
June 08, 2012
The world continues to speed down an unsustainable path, despite over 500 internationally agreed goals and objectives to support the sustainable management of the environment and improve human well-being, according to a new and wide-ranging assessment co-ordinated by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The fifth edition of the Global Environmental Outlook (GEO-5), launched Wednesday in Beijing on the eve of the Rio+20 Summit, assessed 90 of the most-important environmental goals and objectives and found that significant progress had only been made in four.
June 08, 2012
India has begun implementing legislation that targets the proper handling and disposal of electronic scrap. The legislation, which went into effect May 1, 2012, applies to manufacturers and consumers of electronics.
June 08, 2012
In typically up-beat style Singapore’s Environment & Water Industry Programme Office (EWI) has announced that the country’s water industry continued its growth momentum in 2011 with new investment that its says will generate S$130 million (USD102 million) of annual value-add and create 460 jobs when fully realized.
June 07, 2012
The Sanjiangyuan National Nature Reserve, the source of China's three major rivers, has maintained high water quality, according to an environmental bulletin released this week in Xining in northwest China's Qinghai province.
June 06, 2012
The quality of environment around New Delhi has worsened and its air pollution and congestion crisis will worsen this decade if urgent steps were not taken to address it, two leading green NGOs have warned.
June 04, 2012
China's sustainable development faces greater challenges ranging from a fragile natural ecological environment to resource constraints, senior Chinese officials said ahead of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development to be held in Rio de Janeiro.
June 04, 2012
The China Securities Regulatory Commission and Ministry of Environmental Protection are expected to start exchanging results of their environmental protection inspections of companies applying for listings, according to a report by Economic Observer operated by Xinhua News Agency.
May 29, 2012
According to an official from the Pearl River Water Resources Commission, people in Hong Kong and Macao do not need to fear contamination of their drinking water special despite several recent environmental incidents on the Pearl River which feed the two special administration regions.
May 28, 2012
Chinese provincial government and enterprises should stay focused on emission reduction efforts despite cooling economy and resist the temptation of spurring economy through energy-inefficient industrial projects, officials and experts said Saturday.
Testing for chrmium pollution in Yunnan
May 24, 2012
In a landmark lawsuit, two Chinese non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are demanding 10 million yuan (USD1.58 million) in compensation from the companies that dumped toxic chemicals in southwest China's Yunnan Province. Friends of Nature (FON) and the Chongqing Green Volunteer Association exchanged evidence with the defendants, Luliang Chemical Industry Co Ltd and Luliang Peace Technology Co Ltd, in court on Wednesday. If the NGOs win their case the compensation will be used for environmental rehabilitation in the polluted areas in in the city of Qujing, according to FON.
May 24, 2012
The continuing environmental pollution and damage in Indonesia is eroding five percent of the country`s gross domestic product growth per year, according to the World Bank.
Water - use it wisely
May 23, 2012
New research from KPMG AZSA Sustainability and data and insight company Trucost has found that the growing dependence of Japanese companies on manufacturing in parts of Asia is increasing their exposure to water shortages. Their joint study found that outsourcing to water-stressed countries including China can increase business risks from water scarcity have implications for companies globally. Water came to the fore of supply chain risk management for companies in industries such as Consumer Electronics and Automobiles & Parts after floods in Thailand disrupted supplies in 2011.
May 21, 2012
Groundwater pumping appears to have been a significant factor in the rising sea levels recorded over recent decades. Between 1961-2003 global sea levels rose by an average of 1.8 millimetres (0.07 inches) per year but, according to the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), only 1.1-mm (0.04 inches) per year of this has been due to thermal expansion of the oceans and to meltwater from glaciers and icecaps
May 21, 2012
South Korea is nearing completion on an USD18 billion project that will realize President Lee Myung-bak’s vision for the restoration of the country’s four major rivers while supporting green power and green agriculture.
May 18, 2012
The Chinese government plans to allocate 500 billion yuan (USD79 billion) for the prevention and control of water pollution in major drainage areas from 2011 to 2015, up from 300 billion yuan for the previous five-year period, according to Xinhua.
May 16, 2012
China's central government is to launch a special fund to support weather modification operations by local authorities in areas prone to drought and haze, according to a Ministry of Finance announcement yesterday.
Maplecroft 2012 water threat index map
May 15, 2012
The viability of water supplies throughout key regions of China, India, Pakistan, South Africa and the US are under threat from unsustainable domestic, agricultural and industrial demands, according to a new study that maps water use down to 10km² worldwide.  The growth economies of China and India, and the world’s largest economy USA are identified by risk analysis company Maplecroft, in its newly released Water Stress Index, as having vast geographical regions and sector areas where unsustainable water use is outstripping supply.
May 08, 2012
A three- day Water Festival was held in Nepal’s capital of Kathmandu over the weekend aimed at increasing awareness among the public for sustainable use of water.
May 03, 2012
Australian rare earths miner Lynas has launched legal action against the most vitriolic opponents of its proposed plant in Malaysia following fierce criticism that it is unsafe, according to AFP.
April 18, 2012
About 100,000 people living in the southern China’s Three Gorges Dam area could be relocated over the next three to five years with massive landslides and bank collapses expected to hit the area, a government official said yesterday.