Bangladesh has become the partner of UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon's initiative styled "Sustainable Energy for all".

UN chief's special envoy and senior adviser to the initiative Luis Gomes formally informed Bangladesh's inclusion to this initiative to the Environment and Forest Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud when he called on him at the latter's office here on Wednesday. In a written statement, Ban Ki Moon said, the main objective of the initiative is to protect the world from pollution, poverty and ensure economic development.

Killer heat fueled by climate change could cause an additional 150,000 deaths this century in the biggest U.S. cities if no steps are taken to curb carbon emissions and improve emergency services, according to a new report.

The three cities with the highest projected heat death tolls are Louisville, with an estimated 19,000 heat-related fatalities by 2099; Detroit, with 17,900, and Cleveland, with 16,600, the Natural Resources Defense Council found in its analysis of peer-reviewed data, released on Wednesday.

BP said Wednesday that it would spend $400 million to install pollution controls at its giant Whiting, Ind., refinery to allow it to process heavy crude oil from Canada, in a deal with federal and state regulators. The consent decree reached with the Justice Department and Environmental Protection Agency also requires BP, based in London, to pay $8 million to resolve prior claims of clean-air violations at the plant, the sixth-largest American refinery.

A minister in Ivory Coast has been sacked over his alleged role in the disappearance of millions of dollars meant for victims of pollution.

Adama Bictogo says he has not done anything wrong.

The case relates to a 2006 incident in which thousands became ill after toxic waste was dumped in Abidjan.

Multinational Trafigura, which shipped it, denied any wrongdoing but made a series of payments in relation to the case without admitting liability.

The Environment Ministry on Wednesday finally made public the controversial report of the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel prepared by ecologist Madhav Gadgil and submitted almost a year ago. The publishing of the report also came with a disclaimer saying that the ministry has not yet accepted the recommendations of the report.

Certain amendments have been proposed to the new Punjab Environmental Protection (Amendment) Act, 2012, the other day.

Secretary (Environment) Iqbal Saeed Wahla chaired a meeting at EPD office and presented the proposals to the media and experts on environment.

Mr Saeed said the proposals would be forwarded to the law department after holding a few brainstorming sessions with all the stakeholders.

An alarming increase in Non Communicable Diseases viz. high blood pressure, arthritis and cholesterol, has been detected among school children, an expert warned.

CMC Ayurveda Department Chief Medical Officer Dr.Padma Shanthi revealed that over 80 percent of schoolchildren treated at 20 dispensaries in the city have Non Communicable Diseases, which she attributed to amongst others, environmental pollution, stress and consumption of fast foods.

Residents oppose use of garbage as filler material for platform

With the proposal for using garbage as filler material for platform construction at the Kochu Veli railway station also hitting the roadblock, the State government is now bringing the focus back on source-level waste treatment projects. The government is now considering a proposal to provide subsidy for hotels, chicken stalls, hospitals, private schools, and other institutions also for setting up independent waste-processing plants on their premises.

Kerala State Industrial Enterprises (KSIE), a public sector unit, will tie up with the UN to spearhead a major drive aimed at reducing the State's carbon footprint.

The idea is to get the State rid itself of kerosene lamps that lit up the rural landscape and replace them with light-emitting diode (LED) lamps.
FIRST STATE

If implemented, Kerala will become the first State to get rid of the kerosene lamp. This will also lead to significant fuel savings, Mr M. C. Mayin Haji, chairman, and Mr Febi Varghese, managing director, KSIE, told Business Line.