Environment

OSLO (Reuters) – A vault in the Arctic built to preserve seeds for rice, wheat and other food staples contains one million varieties with the addition on Tuesday of specimens grown by Cherokee Indians and the estate of Britain’s Prince Charles. The Svalbard Global Seed Vault, built on a mountainside in 2008, was designed as

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan will launch a review by the end of June aimed at tightening conditions for the export of coal-fired power plants, environment minister Shinjiro Koizumi said on Tuesday. FILE PHOTO: Japan’s Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi attends a news conference at Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s official residence in Tokyo, Japan September 11, 2019.

PARIS (Reuters) – France needs to retain pesticides to combat new plant diseases spread by international trade and climate change even as it tries to phase out some crop chemicals like glyphosate, the country’s health and safety agency said. FILE PHOTO: French farmer Herve Fouassier pulls up a dead weed as he demonstrates the impact

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Facebook’s former sustainability chief has launched an organization to help employees at big companies press their bosses for more aggressive policies to fight climate change. FILE PHOTO: An array of solar panels is seen in the desert near Victorville, California, U.S. March 28, 2018. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson/File Photo Hundreds of companies have

RIYADH (Reuters) – Finance officials from the world’s 20 biggest economies (G20) on Sunday referenced climate change in their final communique for the first time in U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration, but stopped short of calling it a major risk to the economy. FILE PHOTO: Journalists sit in the media center during the meeting of

Journalists sit in the media center during the meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bank governors in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, February 22, 2020. REUTERS/Ahmed Yosri RIYADH (Reuters) – The United States is against mentioning climate change in the communique of the world’s financial leaders, G20 diplomats said, after a new draft of the joint

APALACHICOLA, Fla. (Reuters) – Standing in his boat in Florida’s Apalachicola Bay, Michael Dasher lowered a long pair of tongs into the water, pulling up a muddy mass of oysters that his son sorted, keeping those big enough to sell and tossing the rest back into the brackish bay. Michael Dasher, Jr., measures and culls

TEHUACAN, Mexico (Reuters) – At least 9,000 years ago, humans began domesticating corn for the first time near Tehuacan, in the central Mexican state of Puebla, laying the foundation for permanent settlements in the Americas. An employee arranges a stack of freshly made corn tortillas at a tortilla factory in Mexico City, Mexico February 22,

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – The Mexican government on Thursday ratified an environmental rule that requires truck and bus makers to manufacture and sell only vehicles running on clean diesel starting in January 2021, despite criticism from the industry. The Environment Ministry said in a statement that the rule, which mandates ultra-low-sulfur diesel (ULSD), was necessary

FILE PHOTO: A person wipes a BMW car on display at the LA Auto Show in Los Angeles, California, U.S., November 20, 2019. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson MUNICH (Reuters) – BMW (BMWG.DE) will continue to grow sales globally while at the same time lowering its European average emissions of carbon dioxide by around 20% this year, Chief

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – EU leaders meet in Brussels on Thursday to haggle over the bloc’s next seven-year budget, a hole of up to 80 billion euros ($86.3 billion) created by Brexit, and the need to finance initiatives including the 1 trillion euro European Green Deal. FILE PHOTO: European Union flags fly outside the European Commission

ABIDJAN/LONDON (Reuters) – Adverse weather in West Africa could see cocoa output in Ghana, the world’s second largest producer, fall short of consensus for a second year running, local traders and exporters told Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Cocoa beans are pictured next to a warehouse at the village of Atroni, near Sunyani, Ghana April 11, 2019.

FILE PHOTO: President of Brazil’s Lower House Rodrigo Maia inspects the troops during an opening session of the Year of the Legislative in Brasilia, Brazil February 3, 2020. REUTERS/Adriano Machado BRASILIA (Reuters) – Brazil’s lower house speaker, Rodrigo Maia, said on Tuesday that a bill to allow for mining on protected indigenous lands will not

FILE PHOTO: Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat attends a meeting with Chinese Vice Premier Han Zheng (not pictured) at Diaoyutai state guesthouse in Beijing, China May 22, 2019. REUTERS/Florence Lo/Pool SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Singapore aims to phase out petrol and diesel vehicles by 2040, making a bigger bet on electric cars as part

FILE PHOTO: Founder, Chairman, CEO and President of Amazon Jeff Bezos speaks during an event about Blue Origin’s space exploration plans in Washington, U.S., May 9, 2019. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne NEW YORK (Reuters) – Amazon Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos will commit $10 billion to fund scientists, activists, nonprofits and other groups fighting to protect the

FILE PHOTO: A view shows a helmet with the logo of Rosneft company in Vung Tau, Vietnam April 27, 2018. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov/File Photo MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian largest oil producer Rosneft (ROSN.MM) has pledged to invest around $5 billion in environmentally friendly projects over the next five years, the company said on Monday. The plans