In 2013, hydropower supplied three-quarters of all renewable electricity and nearly one-sixth of the world’s electricity. According to the World Energy Council, the total installed global hydropower capacity has grown by 27% since 2004.Because more than half of the hydropower capacity newly commissioned in 2014 is in China, it is no coincidence that the 5th World Hydropower Congress took place in Beijing in May 2015.
Mercury exists in several forms and is a naturally occurring element found in air, water and soil. Mercury in the air eventually settles into either water or soil.A few years ago, I had the opportunity to carry out a study to understand rural communities in Nicaragua as part of a team of social science and medical researchers. The topic of our study was childbirth – how do men and women decide whether to give birth in a hospital, a clinic, or at home?We made the journey in an ambulance from the hospital in the closest city to a town called Españolina.
Attempts to put a dollar value on the natural world – so-called “natural capital” or “ecosystem services” – have produced some frankly staggering numbers. A seminal 1997 paper valued the world’s ecosystem services at US$33 trillion a year. This estimate was controversial, given that it dwarfed the entire global market economy, which at the time stood at roughly US$18 trillion a year.
During this time when electricity prices are rising every day, lowering them by 10% may not seem like much. But a reduction of this magnitude should be considered very good news.Until recently, if I were asked to imagine ship-breaking operations, I would automatically think of one of those documentaries where skinny barefoot children crawl around inside beached and broken ships, pulling and cutting off the salvageable material, including scrap metal for recycling. For their efforts they receive only pennies plus a host of injuries and ailments. The leftovers, many dangerous and toxic, are often discarded with little regard for human safety and the environment.
In Latin America, 13 million child laborers can be found selling goods alongside the roads, working beside their parents on farms, as domestic workers in homes, and doing hard labor in hazardous industries. Globally, however, the number of children involved in child labor has declined by one third since 2000, from 246 million to 168 million children.