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Episodes

A possible ban on sales of bluefin tuna is one of the more radical proposals being considered this week by an international conference on the trade in endangered species underway in Qatar.

The European Union has joined the United States and other countries in backing a ban, but Japan - where most tuna is eaten - is strongly opposed.

The issue has caused fierce debate in EU countries with significant fishing fleets such as France - which supports a ban but wants an 18-month delay to allow scientists to study the data on tuna stocks.

Report: Alasdair Sandford

Increasing numbers of books sold in Germany are being produced in Asia - mostly in China. Often, the paper used for these books contains virgin tropical rain forest.

As world forest day approaches this Sunday (21.03.10) environmental organizations are trying to convince publishers to use environmentally friendly paper.

Report: Kate Hairsine

Gorleben is a site that was chosen at the end of the 70s to become a nuclear facility which could house Germany's waste permanently. It is a questionable location.

This week, following a 10 year freeze on activities there, the government said it would resume investigating Gorleben's potential as a permanent dump, to the outrage of anti-nuclear activists. DW spoke to Heiko Jäger – a member of a local citizen's initiative opposed to Gorleben.

Interview: Nathan Witkop

They're are called guerrilla gardeners and they are slowly but surely leaving their mark on the concrete jungle.

Although guerrilla gardening has recently seen a surge in popularity, the movement began as far back as 17 th century England. The term itself was coined in 70s New York and DW met with one of the movement's leading revolutionaries.

Report: Sarah Stolarz

A possible ban on sales of bluefin tuna is one of the more radical proposals being considered this week by an international conference on the trade in endangered species underway in Qatar.

The European Union has joined the United States and other countries in backing a ban, but Japan - where most tuna is eaten - is strongly opposed.

The issue has caused fierce debate in EU countries with significant fishing fleets such as France - which supports a ban but wants an 18-month delay to allow scientists to study the data on tuna stocks.

Report: Alasdair Sandford

Increasing numbers of books sold in Germany are being produced in Asia - mostly in China. Often, the paper used for these books contains virgin tropical rain forest.

As world forest day approaches this Sunday (21.03.10) environmental organizations are trying to convince publishers to use environmentally friendly paper.

Report: Kate Hairsine

Gorleben is a site that was chosen at the end of the 70s to become a nuclear facility which could house Germany's waste permanently. It is a questionable location.

This week, following a 10 year freeze on activities there, the government said it would resume investigating Gorleben's potential as a permanent dump, to the outrage of anti-nuclear activists. DW spoke to Heiko Jäger – a member of a local citizen's initiative opposed to Gorleben.

Interview: Nathan Witkop

They're are called guerrilla gardeners and they are slowly but surely leaving their mark on the concrete jungle.

Although guerrilla gardening has recently seen a surge in popularity, the movement began as far back as 17 th century England. The term itself was coined in 70s New York and DW met with one of the movement's leading revolutionaries.

Report: Sarah Stolarz

Environmentalists team up with indigenous people in Russia to protect a swathe of Siberian forest.

In the Bikin River Valley, in the region close to Russia's border with China, the World Wildlife Fund for Nature and the indigenous locals have found an unusual conservation solution.

Report: Mareike Aden

Encouraging developing countries to leap frog fossil-fuels on their way to industrialization isn't always as straight forward as it appears.

Germany, which is often held up as a pioneer of renewable energies, has been running a series of workshops for developing countries on how to introduce the right projects to suit local conditions. Both sides are finding that just because a system works well in one country, it doesn't mean it can be transplanted to another – at least not without a bit of adaptation.

Report: Steffen Marquardt

With an unemployment rate approaching 18 percent, jobs are a major concern – especially in the countryside, where the recession is felt far worse.

Nine Spanish communities are currently bidding to become the home of the national government's planned centralized nuclear waste repository.

Report: Mikkel Larsen

Until quite late last century it was still widely believed that the world's oceans had an effectively limitless supply of fish to feast upon. Times have changed.

The world currently eats around 17 kilos of seafood per person every year. That means tens of millions of tonnes of fish are being taken from the seas annually – and millions more are left to die as unintended by-catch caught in fishermen's nets. It's more than the planet's oceans can handle. One solution is fish farming, also known as aquaculture. But this also has its drawbacks.

Report: Nicole Goebel

Environmentalists team up with indigenous people in Russia to protect a swathe of Siberian forest.

In the Bikin River Valley, in the region close to Russia's border with China, the World Wildlife Fund for Nature and the indigenous locals have found an unusual conservation solution.

Report: Mareike Aden

Encouraging developing countries to leap frog fossil-fuels on their way to industrialization isn't always as straight forward as it appears.

Germany, which is often held up as a pioneer of renewable energies, has been running a series of workshops for developing countries on how to introduce the right projects to suit local conditions. Both sides are finding that just because a system works well in one country, it doesn't mean it can be transplanted to another – at least not without a bit of adaptation.

Report: Steffen Marquardt

With an unemployment rate approaching 18 percent, jobs are a major concern – especially in the countryside, where the recession is felt far worse.

Nine Spanish communities are currently bidding to become the home of the national government's planned centralized nuclear waste repository.

Report: Mikkel Larsen

Until quite late last century it was still widely believed that the world's oceans had an effectively limitless supply of fish to feast upon. Times have changed.

The world currently eats around 17 kilos of seafood per person every year. That means tens of millions of tonnes of fish are being taken from the seas annually – and millions more are left to die as unintended by-catch caught in fishermen's nets. It's more than the planet's oceans can handle. One solution is fish farming, also known as aquaculture. But this also has its drawbacks.

Report: Nicole Goebel

BASF's Amflora potato is to be used for paper production

DW spoke to French GM critic – Professor Gilles Eric Seralini, lead scientist of CRIIGEN, the Committee for Independent Research and Information on Genetic Engineering.

Interview: Nathan Witkop

Nearly half of all Mongolians live in Ulan Bator and they rely on old fashioned stove fires and three Soviet era power plants to get them through the freezing winters.

Deutsche Welle Matthias von Hein checked out how the GTZ development agency is trying to help Mongolians cut through the smog.

Report: Matthias von Hein / Mark Mattox

Steel reinforced concrete is resource intensive, and not always as flexible as engineers might wish. Now, scientists in Germany have found a way to reinforce concrete differently.

By using fabrics, scientists think they can save energy and resources, and make concrete more flexible at the same time.

Report: Ingo Wagner / Rob Turner

Due to global warming, a fabled northeast passage from Europe to Asia is now feasible.

Kirkenes promises to be the first European port of call on this promising new sea passage, and the town is hoping to exploit that distinction to the utmost.

Report: Clemens Bomsdorf / Sue Cox

BASF's Amflora potato is to be used for paper production

DW spoke to French GM critic – Professor Gilles Eric Seralini, lead scientist of CRIIGEN, the Committee for Independent Research and Information on Genetic Engineering.

Interview: Nathan Witkop

Nearly half of all Mongolians live in Ulan Bator and they rely on old fashioned stove fires and three Soviet era power plants to get them through the freezing winters.

Deutsche Welle Matthias von Hein checked out how the GTZ development agency is trying to help Mongolians cut through the smog.

Report: Matthias von Hein / Mark Mattox

Steel reinforced concrete is resource intensive, and not always as flexible as engineers might wish. Now, scientists in Germany have found a way to reinforce concrete differently.

By using fabrics, scientists think they can save energy and resources, and make concrete more flexible at the same time.

Report: Ingo Wagner / Rob Turner

Due to global warming, a fabled northeast passage from Europe to Asia is now feasible.

Kirkenes promises to be the first European port of call on this promising new sea passage, and the town is hoping to exploit that distinction to the utmost.

Report: Clemens Bomsdorf / Sue Cox

The next round of preparatory talks for this year's climate negotiations have been brought forward. Negotiating teams will begin work in April, ahead of schedule, to lay the ground for the meeting in Mexico at the end of the year. The move signals a shift in urgency, but what's happening on the ground?

The US, which will be crucial to any future global deal, is no closer to passing domestic legislation than it was ahead of Copenhagen last year. Indeed, with the Democrats' losses in the Senate, it may even be further away.

Report: Irene Quaile

The industry for organic products has been booming for some time. Last week, organic producers of everything from wine to fruit and vegetables, to fabrics met in Nuremberg in southern Germany for the city's annual World Organic Trade Fair.

This year's fair follows a widely publicised shock to the industry – it was reported earlier this year in Germany that genetically modified cotton was making its way into clothes passed off as organic for major European retailers.

Report: Andy Valvur

The industry is still in its infancy – but investment is booming.

The World Wind Energy Association is due to release a report on the state global investment next week. The organisation's head, Stepfan Gsänger, gave DW a sneak peak of its findings.

Interview: Nathan Witkop

Finnish environmental authorities have given the green light to a 1,200 kilometre underwater pipeline that will pump gas from Russia to Europe under the Baltic Sea, but environmental groups in Germany are already challenging the project in court.

They say conditions for marine life in the Baltic, which is already regarded as one of the most polluted seas in the world, risk being made worse, and they're calling for more clean-up funding before work begins. DW spoke to Alfred Schumm, head of the marine program at the WWF

Interview: Nathan Witkop

Mauritius is a popular tourist destination, probably more renowned for its sandy white beaches than its economic success.

Rising affluence has lead to an increase in garbage, and many older Mauritians are finding it difficult to part with bad habits.

Report: Miriam Klaussner

A controversial plan to build one of the world's largest dams in Brazil made headlines around the world earlier this month.

Critics say it will condemn over 500 square kilometres of land to inundation, causing vast amounts of environmental damage and displacing indigenous peoples. But the dam is just one of the more high profile projects that symbolises Brazil's struggle to balance tackling poverty with efforts to conserve its environment.

Report: John Kluempers

Europe has been a world leader in forging ahead with an emissions trading scheme, but recently it was in the news for all the wrong reasons.

Earlier this month, internet fraudsters managed to carry out a so-called phishing scam on the system, which cost several million euros. The fraudsters posed as the trading scheme's authority, encouraged several companies to disclose their user codes and then cashed in on their carbon certificates. To get a picture of how the pioneering scheme is doing, DW spoke to Markus Ehrmann, an energy lawyer, at a recent meeting of European energy executives in Essen.

Interview: Nathan Witkop

Finnish environmental authorities have given the green light to a 1,200 kilometre underwater pipeline that will pump gas from Russia to Europe under the Baltic Sea, but environmental groups in Germany are already challenging the project in court.

They say conditions for marine life in the Baltic, which is already regarded as one of the most polluted seas in the world, risk being made worse, and they're calling for more clean-up funding before work begins. DW spoke to Alfred Schumm, head of the marine program at the WWF

Interview: Nathan Witkop

Mauritius is a popular tourist destination, probably more renowned for its sandy white beaches than its economic success.

Rising affluence has lead to an increase in garbage, and many older Mauritians are finding it difficult to part with bad habits.

Report: Miriam Klaussner

A controversial plan to build one of the world's largest dams in Brazil made headlines around the world earlier this month.

Critics say it will condemn over 500 square kilometres of land to inundation, causing vast amounts of environmental damage and displacing indigenous peoples. But the dam is just one of the more high profile projects that symbolises Brazil's struggle to balance tackling poverty with efforts to conserve its environment.

Report: John Kluempers

Europe has been a world leader in forging ahead with an emissions trading scheme, but recently it was in the news for all the wrong reasons.

Earlier this month, internet fraudsters managed to carry out a so-called phishing scam on the system, which cost several million euros. The fraudsters posed as the trading scheme's authority, encouraged several companies to disclose their user codes and then cashed in on their carbon certificates. To get a picture of how the pioneering scheme is doing, DW spoke to Markus Ehrmann, an energy lawyer, at a recent meeting of European energy executives in Essen.

Interview: Nathan Witkop

Many in Davos were keen to hear how Mexico intends to pick up where Denmark left off.

The World Economic Forum wrapped up in Davos, Switzerland, at the weekend. The annual get together for the world's rich and powerful provided the first opportunity for movers and shakers to reflect on what went wrong two months ago, when 120 world leaders failed to hammer out a deal on climate change at Copenhagen.

Report: Manfred Götzke / Mark Hallam

The Spanish port of Algeciras may lose some business but will Morocco lose far more?

The north of Morocco gradually slid into economic depression from the time it lost its special status as an International Zone. With high unemployment, and almost total neglect by the former King Hassan II, the area has only recently begun to re-emerge on the international radar. With a new port under construction, Tanger Med, and a nearby economic tax free zone, the government is setting Tangier up in opposition to its Spanish counter part, Algeciras, directly across the Strait of Gibraltar - but at what cost to the environment?

Report: Sylvia Smith

Romanian authorities want to re-open a gold processing plant that was the site of a devastating cyanide spill 10 years ago.

It was called the worst environmental disaster since Chernobyl. In January 2000, a retaining wall collapsed in an artificial lake at a gold processing plant near the northern Romanian mining city Baia Mare. It released some 100,000 tons of cyanide and heavy metals that quickly moved from one river to the next through Romania, Hungary, Serbia, and Bulgaria. Though gold processing ended in Baia Mare in 2006, new proprietors are looking to resume production with the same old technologies, but they're meeting resistance from locals.

Report: Keno Verseck / Rick Demerest

The United Nations would like people to consider what they are wearing next time they worry about the rapid loss of the world's species.

One novel way of drawing attention to record extinction rates is with a fashion show. Conventional cultivation of fabrics like cotton takes a heavy toll on the environment – mainly due to increasing applications of fertilizers in the never-ending struggle with pests. So at the EcoChic fashion event in Geneva last month, the message was all about looking good in a sustainable kind of way. But is this anything more than a gimmick?

Report: Lisa Schlein

Many in Davos were keen to hear how Mexico intends to pick up where Denmark left off.

The World Economic Forum wrapped up in Davos, Switzerland, at the weekend. The annual get together for the world's rich and powerful provided the first opportunity for movers and shakers to reflect on what went wrong two months ago, when 120 world leaders failed to hammer out a deal on climate change at Copenhagen.

Report: Manfred Götzke / Mark Hallam

The Spanish port of Algeciras may lose some business but will Morocco lose far more?

The north of Morocco gradually slid into economic depression from the time it lost its special status as an International Zone. With high unemployment, and almost total neglect by the former King Hassan II, the area has only recently begun to re-emerge on the international radar. With a new port under construction, Tanger Med, and a nearby economic tax free zone, the government is setting Tangier up in opposition to its Spanish counter part, Algeciras, directly across the Strait of Gibraltar - but at what cost to the environment?

Report: Sylvia Smith

Romanian authorities want to re-open a gold processing plant that was the site of a devastating cyanide spill 10 years ago.

It was called the worst environmental disaster since Chernobyl. In January 2000, a retaining wall collapsed in an artificial lake at a gold processing plant near the northern Romanian mining city Baia Mare. It released some 100,000 tons of cyanide and heavy metals that quickly moved from one river to the next through Romania, Hungary, Serbia, and Bulgaria. Though gold processing ended in Baia Mare in 2006, new proprietors are looking to resume production with the same old technologies, but they're meeting resistance from locals.

Report: Keno Verseck / Rick Demerest

The United Nations would like people to consider what they are wearing next time they worry about the rapid loss of the world's species.

One novel way of drawing attention to record extinction rates is with a fashion show. Conventional cultivation of fabrics like cotton takes a heavy toll on the environment – mainly due to increasing applications of fertilizers in the never-ending struggle with pests. So at the EcoChic fashion event in Geneva last month, the message was all about looking good in a sustainable kind of way. But is this anything more than a gimmick?

Report: Lisa Schlein

Demand for ethically manufactured clothing is booming, so it came as a blow to the organic textiles industry in Europe last Friday, when it emerged that major European retail chains were caught up in a labelling scam.

Organic products often fetch significantly higher prices than their conventional counterparts, because their customers are willing to pay more for something that's been produced in a more sustainable way. Last Friday, the Financial Times Deutschland broke a story claiming that major European retail chains were caught up in a scam. Cotton clothing labelled organic at H&M, Tchibo and C&A were found to include large traces of genetically modified organisms, or GMOs. DW spoke to Rolf Heimann, an executive at a leading European organic garment-maker, and a board member of the International Association of Natural Textiles, the IVN. He rejected the paper's claim that up to 30% of organic cotton is tainted. Interview: Nathan Witkop/ Rolf Heimann

Adil Najam dropped by Deutsche Welle's studios during a speaking tour of Europe.

Adil Najam is one of the leading authors of the fourth assessment report for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the IPCC, which won the Nobel Peace prize in 2007 together with Al Gore. He is a Pakistani-born academic, and the director of the Frederick Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future at Boston University. DW spoke to him about where action to tackle climate change is heading following the Copenhagen summit. Interview: Nathan Witkop / Adil Najam

Australia considers banning visitors from climbing one of its most famous tourist attractions - so what do backpackers think?

One of Australia's top tourist destinations is a huge red monolith in the middle of the country called Uluru, formerly known as Ayers Rock. The world heritage site stands 348 metres tall - higher than the Eiffel Tower. It's visited by over 350,000 tourists a year and a about a third of them climb the rock, ignoring the signs put up by the traditional indigenous owners, requesting them not to, because the site is sacred to the indigenous community. But this month, the Australian environment ministry announced a long term plan to stop visitors from climbing the rock. Report: Cinnamon Nippard

German authorities have announced that nuclear waste will have to be dug up and relocated from a mine that was once considered safe, but looks doomed to collapse.

The Asse nuclear repository – a former salt mine in northern Germany – contains over 125,000 barrels of radioactive waste.

It is also taking on on water at a rate of around 12,000 litres a day. Authorities fear it could collapse and one day poison the local water table. Detlev Möller is a historian who recently had his doctoral thesis published on the history of Asse. He came into the studio and I asked him how the site came to be chosen as a nuclear waste dump in the sixties in the first place.

Interview: Nathan Witkop

The winter weather that blanketed much of Europe in white in recent weeks has been a welcome site for snow sport enthusiasts. But a new study suggests skiing and snowboarding in many parts of Europe's Alps could soon become a thing of the past.

The OECD, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, found that warming in the Alps amounts to roughly three times the global average. The report identifies Germany's mountains as most at risk. So what steps are the country’s ski resorts taking to help preserve them for generations to come? And just how green can ski resorts really be?

Report: Laura Schweiger

Germany is a world leader in solar energy, but not everyone is happy to see a solar park open next door.

Germany's solar boom has been helped along by a law that offers incentives to solar manufacturers and to people putting up solar panels on their roofs. Now one of Germany's wealthiest families wants to get in on the renewable energy game. Prince Albert of the House of Thurn and Taxis wants to build a giant solar park on family land in Bavaria, but residents in a town next to the site are saying "not in my backyard."

Report: Kyle James

For some time, Germany has been making homes that are so well insulated, they barely require gas or electricity for heating – even in the middle of a German winter. Now the techniques are being used to retrofit old apartment buildings, with surprising success.

Using energy efficiently is one of the biggest ways in which countries can cut greenhouse gas emissions, and often save money at the same time. Our homes are a major location for much of our daily energy use and architects in Germany have been leading the way for some time now by designing so called passive houses. Deutsche Welle's Christian Quiring went to Germany's green capital, the city of Freiburg, to check out a world-first effort to renovate a 16 storey apartment bloc according to passive house principles.

Report: Christian Quiring /Vanessa Johnston (voiced)

The dust has begun to settle on last month's disappointing climate accord in Copenhagen and Europeans are asking themselves whether they have become powerless over the process.

One of Germany's top climate advisory organizations brought together scientists and politicians in Berlin this week to review the fallout from last month's climate summit in Copenhagen.

With the Christmas season behind us and the New Year underway, where do things stand in efforts to tackle global warming? Has Europe lost its influence at the negotiating table?

Report: Michael Mühlberger

Germany's Green Party is celebrating its 30th birthday this week. They've often been held up as a role model for Greens abroad, but are they already a spent force at home?

Over the past three decades, Germany's Greens have been a poster child for ecological movements in other industrialized countries. They've shown it is possible for green movements to move from the peripheries of power to the center.

Though they're now in opposition, they had something to celebrate this week as the party marked 30 years since its formation at a convention in the town of Karlsruhe. So why have they been successful in Germany and are they already a spent force? DW spoke to Hermann Ott – a lawyer by training and member of parliament for the German Greens.

Interview: Nathan Witkop

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water...

Conservationists in Armenia have been struggling for decades to save Lake Sevan. It's one of the world's highest mountain lakes and a vital source of water for that part of the southern Caucasus.

Progress seemed to be at hand. In the past few years water levels began returning to a natural state after decades of misuse under Soviet rule - but now a new catastrophe is at hand.

Report: Mirko Schwanitz

The head of the UN Environment Program tells DW how he'd like to see the lessons of tackling climate change applied to saving the world's endangered species.

The UN has designated 2010 a special year for drawing attention to the rapid loss of the worlds various plant and animal species.

Rates of extinction are said to be so high right now, that German Chancellor Angela Merkel compared the scale of the crisis to the difficulties posed by climate change. But is it really that dramatic? DW spoke to Achim Steiner, the head of UNEP, the UN's environment program.

Interview: Nathan Witkop

Europe is planning a massive electricity grid to run under the North Sea, connecting different EU countries with each other as well as to clean power.

It's set to be the biggest transnational power network of its kind. Europe is planning a massive submarine electricity grid below the North Sea. It could pave the way for the continent's energy independence, and solve one of the main problems holding back renewable energies: their reliability when it comes to supply. The 10 year investment comes with a hefty price tag – 30 billion euros – and plenty of unanswered questions. But environmentalists and energy experts alike are hailing the scheme as one of the most exciting advances in clean energy yet.

Report: Tanya Wood

The UN has designated 2010 the year of biodiversity, but what difference will that make to current alarming rates of of extinction.

Last year rounded off on a negative note for the environment. The failure of the Copenhagen climate conference to deliver an ambitious, legally binding agreement to tackle carbon emissions was a major blow to the campaign against global warming. To keep up the pressure on world leaders to do something about how humans impact on the world we live in, the UN has designated 2010 the year of biodiversity. With species becoming extinct at a rate that some experts put at 1,000 times the natural progression, there's no doubt that humans face an enormous challenge to reduce their environmental footprint. But what does biodiversity actually mean, and what good does it do to dedicate a whole year to it?

Report: Ben Knight

With the planet's various environments changing at such a rapid pace, species ability to adapt to their surroundings is being overtaken by events, but how rapidly do things evolve?

Breakthroughs in DNA technology are making this easier than ever to measure. A team of German and American scientists have just released a study in Science magazine that examined 30 generations of a kind of mustard plant. Over the course of the study they inspected every aspect of the plants' DNA to look for mutations. Their experiment helps explain how relatively quickly species adapt to changing circumstances. DW spoke to Stephan Ossowski, one of the scientists from the Max Planck Society involved in the project and a lead author of the article in Science. So would anything in the experiment have come as a surprise to the man who came up with the theory of evolution - Charles Darwin?

Interview: Nathan Witkop

A few months ago, tropical storm Aila swept across the Ganges river delta in India. Meter-high tidal waves flooded many islands, destroying houses and turning the land brackish. Hundreds of people died and thousands lost their livelihood and had to leave their homes. They are being described as climate refugees.

The fragile ecosystem in the world’s largest river delta is regarded as a hotbed of climate change in Asia. Extreme weather events like storm tides, droughts and floods have been increasing measurably for years in India. And experts say the country faces crop failures, famine and floods of refugees in the years to come.

Because of widespread poverty in the country, the emission of greenhouse gases per capita is still very low. But motor vehicle traffic is growing by ten percent a year and the government plans to double energy production in the next five years. Climate-damaging emissions are expected to increase annually by 10 to 20 percent as the government takes tentative steps to reduce such emissions.

Meanwhile, vulnerable communities like the residents of the Ganges delta region are struggling to cope with the effects of climate change.

Supported by German Agro Action and the European Community, experts are now developing a Disaster Control Program. In four high-risk villages, they have already set up early warning systems and storm and flood shelters. Villagers have formed task forces to repair and maintain the dikes, administer first aid, implement early-warning measures and rescue the old and infirm.

Report: Rainer Hörig / Darren Mara

In Russia, hardly anyone doubts that the climate is indeed changing. But Russian scientists say they have no evidence that the changes will be for long, nor that they are the result of human activity.

The warming-up of the Arctic was one of the key topics at the recently concluded Copenhagen climate summit. Experts believe rising sea levels could be a direct result of the melting of ice at the North Pole. All around the Arctic, the effects of temperature rise are visible.

Native inhabitants of the tundras in Europe, Asia and North America are finding it difficult to cope with the new reality. That also holds for the Saami reindeer herders on Russia’s Kola peninsula, an area bordering on Norway and Finnish Lapland.

Report: Geert Groot Koerkamp

One group of people that believe in the long-term threats posed by global warming are the residents of the Belgian city of Ghent. What’s more, they’ve decided to stop complaining and do something about it.

Ghent now calls itself Europe’s vegetarian capital. In the summer, the city launched an initiative to eat less meat with a campaign called “Thursday Veggie Day”. On that day of the week, public canteens serve mostly meat-free meals.

The organisers of the campaign have got all the city schools on board too. Since September, once a week school children don’t find meat on their plates any more. Why? Well, eating less meat reduces the risk of obesity in children, say campaigners and it’s good for the environment too.

Report: Nina Haase

Living Planet takes a look-back at the Copenhagen summit, for which tens of thousands of climate activists and delegates from 193 countries had gathered in the Danish capital for almost two weeks.

A treaty to combat global warming failed to emerge out of the marathon Copenhagen conference which ended last weekend. That’s despite the presence of over a hundred world leaders in the summit’s final days. What emerged was a weak political accord which has been widely condemned by African countries and small island states in particular.

Given the extent of interest in the event and the apparent determination to come up with a new and strong global treaty on climate change ahead of the talks in Copenhagen, a lot of people around the world are wondering why the summit in the Danish capital settled for a non-binding and weak political accord.

Report: Nathan Witkop

There were already concerns over flaws in the EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme or ETS, the largest such scheme in the world, even prior to the climate summit. But the so-called Copenhagen Accord has cast even more uncertainty on the post-2012 future of carbon offset trading schemes under the Kyoto Protocol.

There’s widespread disappointment at the outcome of the UN Climate Summit in Copenhagen. The European Union said the accord was not ambitious enough to persuade the bloc to raise its carbon cutting target to a 30 percent cut by 2020 versus 1990 levels, from a 20 percent cut.

Traders and analysts had forecast that a weak deal in Copenhagen would make carbon prices fall. They were proved right when prices in the European market dipped to a six-month low at the start of the week.

Living Planet takes a look at the overall shortcomings in the ETS as well as the carbon market’s latest woes.

Report: Ellice Mol

Experts are warning that one of Australia's most vital fresh water sources is drying up.

The Murray-Darling river system is one of the most important in Australia, with the Murray-Darling Basin producing about one third of the country’s food supply.

There was a time when some 24 trillion liters of water flowed through the various rivers and estuaries in the system every year. These days, however, by the time the water reaches the mouth the stream is often down to just a trickle.

For decades, the water was used without much thought about the consequences, and climate change is now exacerbating the problem. Experts are warning that Australians could be facing a thousand-year drought.

Report: Esther Blank / Sam Edmonds

The Kyoto Protocol officially expires in 2012 and while that may seem like a long way off, something needs to be done because carbon is already taking its toll on the planet.

Ever since the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, countries have been talking about ways to tackle climate change. That meeting gave rise to the United Nations Climate Change Convention, which would eventually give us that polarising treaty, known after the Japanese city Kyoto.

Delegates from around the world have spent two weeks in Copenhagen, desperately trying to settle on an improvement – or a replacement – for Kyoto. Two years ago they set themselves a deadline to get the job done and it's now set to expire.

Report: Mark Mattox

A key part of the new climate agreement will certainly involve paying developing countries in the tropical regions of the world not to cut down their forests.

Stopping deforestation will be a major component of any successful effort to limit greenhouse gas emissions. One man who has been critically acclaimed for his pioneering role in conserving his country’s forests is the president of Guyana, Bharrat Jagdeo.

His Low Carbon Development Strategy will see Guyana get paid $580 million (397 million euros) annually not to cut down its forests under a deal with Norway. Jagdeo had his forests evaluated by the respected western consulting firm, McKinsey and Co. They put a price tag on the trees, based on what Guyana could have earned if it had opened them up to logging.

Interview: Nathan Witkop

Following the email scandal at the University of East Anglia last month, many people have begun to doubt the science behind climate change. Experts, however, are warning that is a very dangerous attitude to take.

Despite the presence of over 45,000 people at the conference in Copenhagen, as well as the engagement of most of the world’s leaders, not all are convinced by the dangers of climate change, whether humans are driving it or whether it is even happening at all.

When email correspondence of some climate scientists in Britain were recently hacked and published, climate skeptics and deniers claimed to have discovered evidence of a cover up. The claims have particular resonance in the US, where climate policy remains a heated issue in the country’s senate.

Living Planet spoke to two experts prominent in US climate circles. Elliot Diringe is vice president of international strategy at the Pew Center on Global Climate Change and Dr. John D. Holdren is President Barrack Obama’s science advisor.

Interview: Nathan Witkop

The Alliance of Small Island States is urging delegates at the global climate summit in Copenhagen to approve measures that would save their homes from sinking into the sea.

The 15th conference of the parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP15) officially opened in Copenhagen on December 7. 15,000 delegates from 192 countries have descended on the Danish capital for two final weeks of negotiations.

The delegates have been joined by countless protestors and non-governmental organizations, including the Global Campaign for Climate Action. They are an alliance of NGOs, trade organizations and faith groups which joined together specifically to try and influence the negotiations.

The public face of the group is the TckTckTck campaign. On December 8 they handed over a petition demanding a fair climate deal signed by 10 million people to summit President Connie Hedegaard and the head of the UN climate secretariat, Yvo de Boer. The group says the summit is more than just negotiations and paper. For some, it's a matter of life and death.

Report: Helle Jeppesen / Neil King

Media hype surrounding the Copenhagen climate talks and the environment has been growing and growing, but will this interest in eco-issues stay around come January?

On the opening day of the Copenhagen summit, 56 newspapers in 45 countries jointly published an editorial calling for more decisive action against climate change. Such unity was unprecedented and was led by The Guardian newspaper in London.

In fact, this conference has drawn more media attention to environmental issues than any other public event in recent years. But some media scholars have questioned the longer-term effectiveness of such coverage.

Report: Cyrus Farivar

Experts tell us that switching to electric vehicles will put a massive dent in global CO2 emissions, but how easy are they to use, especially when it comes to filling up the empty 'tanks'?

Beginning December 7 leaders and representatives from 192 nations are meeting in the Danish capital to hammer the details of a climate agreement meant to replace the Kyoto Protocol. But this is not just about saving the planet.

An agreement will give an additional boost to the technology required to reduce carbon emissions, including solar panels, wind turbines, and electric vehicles. German, Danish and Spanish companies dominate this new business in Europe. But the UK is now trying to carve out a niche in this fast growing industry.

Report: Stephen Beard

Each year the city of Lyon lights up for a festival that is both merry and bright – and it's not as bad for environment as you might think.

Many people probably assume that a festival attracting four million visitors and involving several dozen powerful multi-media lighting displays would be a prime example of energy extravagance.

But the French city of Lyon says the electricity used up by the shows at its annual “Festival of Lights," which ended December 8, cost only a few thousand euros thanks to new technology.

With the Copenhagen summit putting pressure on EU countries to reduce their carbon emissions, the city is developing more energy-efficient urban lighting as well. And it‘s sharing its expertise with cities around the world.

Report: Alasdair Sandford

The head of the United Nations climate secretariat tells Deutsche Welle that the upcoming summit in the Danish capital has to be a success.

For two weeks the world will watch as heads of state and government representatives debate and discuss the final details of a new climate treaty to replace the Kyoto Protocol.

This summit, like many that have come before it, is organized under the auspices of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, or UNFCCC. There has been a lot of speculation about how this summit is going to play out.

Living Planet speaks with the head of the UNFCCC, Yvo de Boer, to get his take on it.

Interview: Peter Craven

The European Union is collectively the third largest carbon emitter in the world, but what do EU leaders think of the climate summit?

Not everyone has been totally optimistic about how successful the summit will ultimately be. Which shouldn't be all that surprising. There have been four plenary meetings this year in the run-up to Copenhagen: two in Bonn, Germany; one in Bangkok, Thailand; and one in Barcelona, Spain.

Each time the participating countries have failed to agree on climate targets or how the burden of combating rising CO2 emissions should be divided. The European Union has willingly taken on the leadership role in climate negotiations but that hasn't stopped bickering within the bloc itself about emissions cuts and financing.

Report: Christoph Hasselbach / Clare Atkinson

The Netherlands have been fighting their land away from the sea for centuries, now a Dutch firm wants to make it easier to cohabitate with the water.

As global temperatures rise, so do sea levels and though it's pretty safe to assume that any new climate agreement will contain stipulations that will ensure that average temperatures don't rise more than 2 degrees Celsius, there are several low-lying countries preparing for the worst.

Among them is the Netherlands, one of the smallest and most densely populated countries in the European Union. The Dutch have always had to fight their land away from the sea. Without dikes, more than half of the country would be flooded, including the large cities of Rotterdam and Amsterdam.

As the waters continue to rise, politicians, architects and city planners have adopted a new motto: Don’t fight the water – live with it!

Report: Susanne Henn

Much of the world's rainforest lies within some of the least developed nations. Saving these rainforests would not only helps the planet, it could also be good for the countries' bottom lines.

Deforestation is responsible for some 20 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions and for a country like Madagascar, which has been stripped of 85 percent of its forest cover, preserving the remaining rainforest is imperative.

One possible solution is to use the carbon market as a means to protect the world’s remaining rainforest through a scheme known as Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD). Money raised by the international carbon market would provide local communities with an incentive not to cut down trees.

Conservationists say Madagascar could stand to gain as much as $5 million (3.3 million euros) a year through the carbon market. But first, local communities need to be convinced to protect the remaining forests.

Report: Victoria Averill

Massive shopping complexes are one of the last places anyone would probably put on their list of eco-friendly buildings. A German design firm is hoping to change that.

The end of November means the opening of Christmas Markets in Germany, while across the Atlantic in the US, it means Thanksgiving. Both signify the official start of the holiday shopping season. And as the spirit of giving comes to the forefront for many at this time of the year, there’s one Christmas hallmark that can’t be denied: the shopping mall.

This American retail concept is becoming increasingly popular in Germany, a country where outdoor pedestrian shopping zones are still the norm. But what does this have to do with the environment? The industrial city of Duisburg in the state of North Rhine Westphalia has put a sustainable spin on the concept by building an environmentally-friendly retail complex.

Report: Laura Schweiger

Wood can be a sustainable, eco-friendly way to heat your home. It can also be horrible for your health.

In many parts of the world, heating with wood is nothing out of the ordinary. But in industrialized, Western countries, relying on wood for heat has been seen as old-fashioned for a very long time. That has been changing in recent years, though, as climbing oil and gas prices have brought wood back into vogue – and back into fireplaces.

Ideally, burning wood for heat would also be more environmentally friendly than using oil or gas, since wood releases only as much carbon dioxide as it takes in. However, burning may also release environmentally toxic methane gas, which is 21 times more powerful than carbon dioxide.

There is also a second problem with wood, albeit a microscopic one. Burning wood releases an ultra-fine dust that can give people cancer or lead to lung disease. But the answer to that problem could be as simple as a modernized fireplace.

Report: Richard Fox

Jamaica is hoping that their plan to go green will manage to both save the environment and bring in money from tourists.

Jamaica, the third largest island in the Caribbean has long been a tourist paradise. Tourism is the country’s number one industry, so it is not surprising the land of rum and reggae was one of the first Caribbean countries to realize they were caught in a Catch-22.

Tourists bring in money, but tourism can also destroy the natural beauty that draws in so many people in the first place. Recently awareness has been growing and Jamaica has committed itself to a cleaner, more sustainable brand of tourism.

Now recycling and reef cleanup are the new buzz words and “green teams” made up of school children are heading up a government-backed initiative to make sure the beaches and back roads retain their pristine beauty.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel will be joining her French and British counterparts at the global climate summit in Copenhagen. Many have applauded the move, but some environmentalists are skeptical.

The announcement comes only days after leaders at the Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Singapore said they did not expect a major breakthrough at the talks. According to Merkel’s spokesman, these low expectations are partly why the chancellor has decided to attend.

A former environment minister, she wants to play an active role in ensuring that the participating countries reach more ambitious agreements. Merkel isn't the first European leader to announce plans to personally travel to the Danish capital.

But as Europe's largest economy and one of the greenest countries on the planet, Germany is certain to play a major role in the negotiations. However, some politicians and experts are skeptical about the chancellor's plans.

Industrialized nations are expected to pay out hundreds of billions of dollars over the next 40 years to help their developing counterparts combat the effects of climate change. Ecuador has proposed one way that money could be put to use.

The small South American nation of Ecuador is one of the planet's 17 megadiverse countries, a group of nations that harbor the majority of the Earth's species. It's also one of world's poorest nations, with 40 percent of citizens living below the poverty line. All this despite the massive stores of oil tucked away beneath the ground.

Since the 1970s, the government in Quito has allowed companies to pump oil out of the country, with little thought to the effects this would have on the environment. Ecuador has profited little from its natural resources and it's now realizing the environmental mistakes that have been made.

Which is why they have come up with an offer to take with them to Copenhagen this December. They want money from the international community to invest in infrastructure and biotechnology, and in return they'll leave half of the available oil in the ground. It's one alternative, and if it works, other developing nations home to both immense biodiversity and oil – like Venezuela and Nigeria – might follow suit.

Most migrants leave there homes in search of someplace better with more resources. Their ecological knowledge is often limited and most governments have no way to address that.

In Germany, Turks make up the largest immigrant group. They were invited here following the Second World War as guest workers, and many of them never left. Many have also never fully integrated into German society, and blame for that has been passed around for decades.

Turgut Altug is trying to change that while also building up ecological knowledge among immigrants. In the Berlin neighborhood of Kreuzberg he has founded a German-Turkish environment center to help with that mission – the first of its kind in Germany.

Report: Richard Fuchs

Cap and trade is a system designed to let developed countries piggyback on the climate friendly aspects of much of the developed world. But is the price they pay really high enough?

One of the key items on the agenda at the climate summit set to take place next month in Copenhagen is the cap and trade system. The idea is to put a price on carbon emissions so countries with limited industry can offset those with massive CO2 output.

These carbon credits are already being traded on special markets around the world. It's a good concept in theory, but many people think the price to release a ton of carbon dioxide is much too low. Now an environmental group in Germany has come up with a plan to change that.

Report: Richard Fuchs/Vanessa Johnston

As more people move into urban centers the need for a private car is becoming smaller. But what about those times when you do need a set of wheels for just a little while?

The positives of driving a car without the negatives - that's the idea behind car-sharing. The basic principle is that different people share one car; similar to a rental car. But the difference is that car-sharing doesn't require you to hire the vehicle for a whole day. You can just use it for an hour or just to drive a few kilometers. Car-sharing has existed in Germany for about 20 years, but recently the sector has seen a 20 percent rise in customers, despite the economic crisis.

Report: Zanhong Zhang/Nathan Witkop

Many experts are talking about solar energy for Europe being sent over from northern Africa, but Spain already has an established program.

As the Copenhagen climate conference looms, countries around the world are on a search for that most sought after of commodities: renewable, affordable and clean energy. Although Spain has a powerful nuclear lobby, it is among the most advanced countries when it comes to concentrated solar power.

Southern Spain boasts the only two working, commercial heliostat facilities in Europe. Based just outside the Andalusian town of Seville is the country's foremost example of concentrated solar power - a tall tower surrounded by row upon row of huge angled mirrors. It may already be feeding electricity into the grid, but is it an affordable, long term solution for Europe - or indeed the world?

Report: Sylvia Smith

Many companies do not have the staff or space to store massive computer servers, and for those which fall into that category, data centers in Luxembourg are offering a greener alternative.

With its low taxes, high standard of living and prime location at the heart of western Europe, Luxembourg has long since been a headquarters favorite for large, international corporations. Companies in the IT sector, or those with massive IT needs like Skype or Amazon, have chosen to run their European operations from the grand duchy.

But with massive data centers running around the clock to accommodate such corporations, is energy consumption in the name of information technology getting out of control in this small, landlocked country?

Report: Laura Schweiger