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November 2006, Volume 2, Number 11

New Ventures India


November 6 - Six small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) were selected as winners in the First Annual New Ventures India and New Ventures Indonesia Investor Forums. This year’s winners were Bening Big Tree Farms, Dyna Energy and Komposindo in Indonesia, and ABT Bioproducts, Natura Fibretech and Sumaya HMX in India. The forums brought together a total of 350 investors, entrepreneurs, business leaders and policymakers to showcase some of the countries' most promising sustainable businesses in high-growth green sectors such as clean technology and organic agriculture. From an total initial field of 100 companies, a group of 20 finalists was judged by panels of experts based on the strength of their business plans and past records of performance as well as their potential impact on sustainability challenges. more >>

"Nearly two thirds of the services provided by nature to humankind are found to be in decline worldwide." (source)

November 3 - These words, written by the Board of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, illustrate a daunting challenge facing humanity, but also an opportunity for sustainable growth and positive change. New Ventures released a series of business profiles this month featuring ten entrepreneurs who are turning the global environmental challenge into market opportunity. The compilation, A Better World is Our Bottom Line, shows how these ten enterprises, while small in scale, have the potential to impact global ecological issues. Their business models combine environmental sustainability with economic success, offering innovative products ranging from waterless car cleaning technology to ultra-efficient hybrid buses.


November 6 -- WRI experts are key participants in the 12th annual United Nations Conference of the Parties (COP-12), the foremost international conference addressing climate change, held this year in Nairobi, Kenya. In addition to hosting several side events and informing conference attendees with climate publications and tools, WRI staff are blogging conference developments directly from Nairobi.


October 18 - Switching to Green: A Renewable Energy Guide for Office and Retail Companies, a new WRI climate and energy publication, breaks the process of switching to renewable energy into five easy steps. Switching to Green is an essential resource for managers with questions about green power and their companies' environmental impact. more>>


November 6 - Two new WRI charts track the carbon constraints - until 2020 and 2050 - of the 109th United States Congress' various proposals to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. The charts, developed by WRI's climate and energy program, are a visual reference of current legislative options as the 110th congress takes shape. more>>


October 26 - With assistance from WRI, the West Virginia University's Water Research Institute (WVWRI) will soon develop a water quality trading program in West Virginia's Potomac watershed. The program will help reduce nutrient pollution in the Chesapeake Bay by encouraging nutrient reductions from the agricultural sector, the largest source of nutrients to the Bay. WRI's NutrientNet, a web-based credit estimation tool and marketplace, will be the platform for West Virginia's trading program. WRI is also developing NutrientNet for Pennsylvania's water quality trading program. more>>


November 9 - Wachovia Bank is the latest financial institution to mainstream environmental and social considerations into their policies. With the help of WRI, Wachovia developed concrete environmental principles and commitments, as well as a formal commitment on climate change. Wachovia also joined the Equator Principles, a benchmark for the financial industry to manage social and environmental issues in project financing. WRI's Financial Flows team, which worked with Wachovia, helps to align public and private investment with environmentally sustainable development and poverty reduction. more>>

Nov. 6-17, Nairobi, Kenya: Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP-12)

Nov. 15, Worldwide: GIS Day

Nov. 17, Washington, DC, USA: Inside the Tank: a WRI/Worldchanging Book Launch & Event

Dec. 19, Washington, DC, USA: WRI President Jonathan Lash's "Environmental Issues to Watch in 2007" Press Briefing


November 1 - An expert in environmental and strategic communications, Robin Murphy, formerly of Conservation International, has been appointed as WRI vice president for external relations. Murphy will lead the organization's efforts to enhance its communications profile. This will include developing media relations, utilizing innovations in information technology, and promoting messages that draw upon WRI's wealth of experience with science, policy analysis, and on-the-ground initiatives. more>>


November 13 - WRI partnered with Merrill Lynch on a new report, Energy Security and Climate Change: Alternatives for the Clean Car Evolution. The report highlights investment ideas around more fuel-efficient and less polluting automobiles. This is part of a series of collaborative reports produced by investment banks and WRI that seek to move institutional investors to assess how climate change can affect investment portfolios. more>>

photo_parliamentarians


November 6 - WRI and African partners recently convened a workshop to identify the cross-cutting findings and recommendations of an extensive research project to measure the environmental representative performance of parliaments in five African nations. The research team also presented these findings at a meeting of Cameroon’s newly established Parliamentary Caucus for Environmental Protection and the First International Conference of Parliamentarians for the Sustainable Management of the Congo Basin Forest Ecosystem. One significant outcome of these meetings was the agreement among parliamentarians at the international conference for the need to establish environmental caucuses in each country of the Central Africa sub-region to enhance to profile of the environment in national level policymaking. more>>

Fossil_Fuels_in_2004


November 3 - The environmental and economic implications of global dependence on fossil fuels are examined in EarthTrends' October monthly update. While addressing the limits of the energy source and the environmental consequences of its use, EarthTrends provides an overview of strategies for reducing consumption and transitioning to other energy sources. more>>

New York Times on Solar Power

Fortune on TXU

The Times (UK) on the Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change

The Telegraph (UK) on Greenhouse Gas Emissions in India

Reuters on Rich-Poor Carbon Trade

San Francisco Chronicle on Carbon Offsets

ScienceNOW Daily News on Recovering Forests

Business Standard (India) on Green Enterprises

Jakarta Post (Indonesia) on New Ventures Indonesia

The Hindu (India) on Intensity Targets

Washington Post on Challenges to Reducing Emissions

NOAA on Caribbean Coral Reefs

WorldChanging.com on COP-12

Auto Industry on the "Clean Car Evolution"

Telecom Paper (Netherlands) on Vodafone*

*subscription may be required to access



October 27 - Hungary demonstrated a commitment to access to environmental information by formally joining Partnership for Principle 10 (PP10), for which WRI serves as secretariat. PP10 is an international coalition of governments, international organizations, and civil society groups committed to translating Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration into action by promoting transparent, inclusive, and accountable decision-making at the national level. Hungary joins the governments of Bolivia, Chile, Mexico, Indonesia, Uganda, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom as formal members of PP10. Hungary’s announcement occurred during the official launch of Environmental Democracy in Europe, a report synthesizing the findings of The Access Initiative's assessments in seven European countries: Bulgaria, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, and Ukraine. more>>


WRI Digest is published monthly by the World Resources Institute (WRI) and sent to subscribers who have opted in. WRI is an independent non-profit organization with a staff of more than 100 scientists, economists, policy experts, business analysts, statistical analysts, mapmakers, and communicators working to protect the Earth and improve people's lives.

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