(February 14, 2011) The article from the Daily Independent in Nigeria explains how governments can profit from the panic over climate change.
Other News Sources
Vietnam, Laos cooperate in building hydro-electric power plant
(February 12, 2011) Vietnam and Laos have signed a project on building two hydro-electric power plants, namely Xekaman 1 and Xekamn Xanxay in the Lao province of Attapeu, about 75km from Vietnam.
China bids to ease drought with $1bn emergency water aid
(February 11, 2011) The Chinese government plans to spend $1 billion to divert water, construct emergency wells and improve irrigation in an effort to “head off a destabilising level of stress over water.” Current drought conditions are the worst that China has seen in 60 years.
Pollution fear cancels Beijing power plant plan
(February 11, 2011) According to Chinese official state media, plans to build a power plant near Beijing have been halted over environmental concerns. The plant would have been one kilometer from a canal that diverts water into drought stricken Beijing.
Prominent Chinese activist and wife beaten
(February 11, 2011) According to CNN, blind Chinese human rights activist Chen Guangcheng and his wife have been beaten and placed under house arrest. Chen had only recently completed a four year prison sentence for publicly criticizing government policies. Chen has been a prominent human rights activist since 1998, when he organized protests against water pollution from a local factory in Yinan County.
Is hydropower exploitation of the Nu river in China ‘a must’?
(February 10, 2011) Meng Si of China Dialogue wrote in today’s Guardian that damming the Nu River in an attempt to reduce emissions will devastate the local environment. Below is an excerpt, and link to the full story.
Ecologists dread new dam boom
(February 10, 2011) Global Times recounts the dangers of dam building that ecologists have been warning about for years.
International aid’s ‘dirty secret’
(February 10, 2011) Images from the protests in Egypt have put the relationship between funding security and development in the spotlight
UK nets €1bn in carbon permit auctions
(February 10, 2011) Revenues could bring in billions for the government each year, which campaigners say should fund green projects.
Razing the Last Refuge
(February 10, 2011) Just before the Chinese New Year, Beijing-based non-profit group Friends of Nature wrote an open letter to members of China’s top government bodies – the National People’s Congress and Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference – calling on them to urgently examine proposed changes to the boundaries of a national rare fish reserve on the upper reaches of the Yangtze River.
Carbon Credit Watch: First credits for ‘forestry preservation’ cashed in; Philippines argues nuclear power should also qualify
(February 9, 2011) A Kenyan company has become the first recipient of Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) credits. Meanwhile, the Government of the Philippines argues that carbon credits should be issued for nuclear power.
China Dialogue: Raizing the last refuge
(February 9, 2011) Han Ziyu at China Dialogue reports that the Chinese Government is downscaling a reserve for rare fish. Below is an excerpt, and link to the full article at China Dialogue.
Hernando de Soto: Egypt’s economic apartheid
(February 9, 2011) Renowned Peruvian economist and international development scholar Hernando de Soto wrote an article in the Wall Street Journal about how the lack of property rights in Egypt has led to widespread economic marginalization, fueling the current uprising.
China Dialogue: Cascade effect
(February 8, 2011) Philip Hirsh at China Dialogue writes about the downstream effects of Chinese dam projects. Below is an excerpt, and a link to the full article at China Dialogue.
Troubling similarities between carbon credits and mortgage derivatives
(February 8, 2011) Chuck Spinney at the Atlantic has written an interesting article comparing carbon credits to the complex mortgage dervativs that led to the financial meltdown.


