According to BP’s Statistical Review of World Energy (pdf), released on wednesday, we still have 1,333 billion barrels out there to pump, enough for 40 years at current usage. Great – nothing to worry about right now… if you believe BP. According to Jeremy Leggett, BP’s chief economist literally laughed off a question about peak oil [...]
Archive | June, 2010
Raising a glass to the end of poverty
An entrepreneur in Australia has found a way of bringing together his passion for exotic beers and his interest in aid and development, and is opening a rather unusual bar in Melbourne. Shebeen will serve beers and wines from all around the world, with the $2 from each drink sale going back to the country [...]
European Fish Week, and why it matters
This week is European Fish Week. It’s the first one, and it matters a little more than your average ‘awareness raising’, arbitrarily designated seven days. Europe’s fisheries have been disastrously mismanaged for decades, with the European Union presiding over the steady decline of most of its fish stocks. The region now imports 70% of its [...]
Open Farm Sunday, this Sunday
This week is Open Farm Sunday. Farms around the UK will be open to visitors for the day, running family events, hosting walks, selling produce, and giving us all a chance to learn a little something about where our food comes from. Last year 140,000 people visited over 400 farms, so there’s bound to be [...]
Holidays: Keeping it Local
Every summer, an exodus of holiday makers leave the comfort of their homes in search of ‘something different’. While the definition of ‘different’ could entail any number of things from extreme sports to spa treatments, the basic principle of the holiday is to take a break and ‘get away for a bit’. As we plan [...]
The world’s most secretive financial centres
The Tax Justice Network and Christian Aid have compiled a report on the world’s most secretive financial centres. Called the Financial Secrecy Index, it is a league table of banking opacity, showing which parts of the world are least likely to cooperate with international financial reform. Here’s the top five: Delaware, US Luxembourg Switzerland Cayman [...]
Klimakiller Kohlekraft
A striking German ad about the dangers of coal power. Campaign site here, thanks to Reineke for the link.
What we learned this week
The Trafigura scandal was one of the more extreme examples of dumping toxic waste on Africa in recent years. They face prosecution this week, which is good news, except that rather than being charged with poisoning 30,000 people in Cote d’Ivoire, they’re being charged with exporting toxic waste from a European country. Justice for Africans [...]
The Global Poverty Project
We moved office recently, at the day job, and we’re in this hub for charities near Waterloo. Our neighbours on the third floor are the Global Poverty Project, and on wednesday they hosted a presentation explaining what they’re about.I thought I’d give them a shout. The Global Poverty Project is a catalyst for action rather [...]
Finance and the other oil dependency
If you’ll excuse another in a whole bunch of posts about oil in the last week or so, the BP oil spill has highlighted another, seldom noticed side to our oil addiction – the financial one. There is an increasing recognition of our oil dependency when it comes to transport, food, or consumer goods. But [...]
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