China, EU carbon markets bailed out at Durban

(December 13, 2011) The Durban climate conference set out to save the planet, but in the end may only save China’s green energy industry and the EU’s carbon markets, both of which are in danger of freefall. The $100-billion a year Green Climate Fund, agreed to by the conference, will finance the global spread of Chinese technologies. And the EU’s unilateral decision to extend Kyoto will help prop up its faltering carbon markets. But beyond December 2012, when the current Kyoto Protocol ends, the EU will be on its own as Canada, Japan, and Russia have declared their intention to withdraw.

Weibo Watch: Issue 9

(November 21, 2011) In this instalment of Weibo Watch: the media investigates cadmium-contaminated rice, technological bird kills, and rivers polluted with heavy metals or choked with weeds; netizens catch online vendors selling protected species; and professors kneel in protest against steel factories, setting off a heated debate.