Energy Efficiency in Real Estate Portfolios : Opportunities for Investors

Mercer for Ceres http://www.ceres.org/realestatereport [GreenBiz.com]  Proven, existing efficiency technologies — in everything from lighting to climate control and more — can unlock the untapped reserves of efficiency gains buried in many real estate holdings, according to a new report. Those gains would be a boon to real estate investors’ bottom lines — both direct property [...]

Compliance and Enforcement Annual Results 2009 Fiscal Year

US EPA http://www.epa.gov/compliance/resources/reports/endofyear/eoy2009/index.html [From press release] The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released enforcement results for fiscal year 2009, and has developed a new Web-based tool and interactive map that allows the public to get detailed information by location about the enforcement actions taken at approximately 4,600 facilities. In FY2009, EPA concluded enforcement actions [...]

China on the World Stage : Climate Change, Regional Blocs and Resource Investment

Brookings Institution http://www.brookings.edu/events/2009/1130_china.aspx [Event Summary] The world and China’s place in it have transformed over the past year in response to pressure from the most severe global financial crisis in decades. While the economic crisis accelerated China’s emergence as a global superpower, China has yet to fully assess the consequences of its new position on [...]

Working Papers : American Association of Wine Economists

Impacts of the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 on U.S. Agriculture

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of the Chief Economist http://www.usda.gov/oce/newsroom/archives/releases/2009files/ImpactsofHR%202454.pdf The immediate implications are that higher energy prices will increase the prices paid for energy- related agriculture inputs and therefore increase agricultural production costs. Energy-related inputs include direct energy use, such as for diesel, natural gas, and electricity, and indirect use, such as for fertilizer. [...]

Roadmap to Low-Carbon Energy by 2030

Worldwatch Institute http://www.worldwatch.org/node/6342 Tackling climate change and a host of other global challenges will require systematic transformation of the global energy system over the next several decades, according to Renewable Revolution: Low-Carbon Energy by 2030, by Janet Sawin and William Moomaw. The report, released by the Worldwatch Institute and the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency [...]

Ready or Not? 2009 : Protecting the Public’s Health from Disease, Disasters, and Bioterrorism

Trust for America’s Health http://healthyamericans.org/reports/bioterror09/ This seventh annual report contains state-by-state health preparedness scores based on 10 key indicators to assess health emergency preparedness capabilities. Twenty states scored six or less out of 10 key indicators of public health emergency preparedness. Nearly two-thirds of states scored seven or less. Eight states tied for the highest [...]

Tsunami Report : 5 Year Anniversary

UNICEF http://www.unicef.org/media/files/UNICEF_Tsunami_5yr_Report_Final.pdf [UN Pulse] The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reports on the results of its relief and recovery programmes in the eight countries affected by the tsunami of 26 December 2004.

Copenhagen Accord

COP-15 http://unfccc.int/files/meetings/cop_15/application/pdf/cop15_cph_auv.pdf On 19 December, world leaders at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen agreed on the Copenhagen Accord (advance unedited version, pdf). The accord recognizes the need to limit the increase in global temperature to less than 2 degrees Celsius.

Climate Change and Vulnerable Societies : Achieving Sustainable Security

Center for Global Development / by David Wheeler http://tinyurl.com/ya967er [Website] CGD senior fellow David Wheeler testifies before the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific and the Global Environment about the potential effects of climate change on vulnerable societies. Wheeler urges Congress to view climate change preparedness broadly and focus U.S. assistance on human [...]