Environment | WPN World People News

The Government of India, the Government of Odisha, the Government of Andhra Pradesh and the World Bank Board Tuesday signed an agreement for US$ 104 million additional credit for the National Cyclone Risk Mitigation Project-1 (NCRMP 1) to help build disaster resilient infrastructure in the vulnerable coastal states of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh, following a severe cyclone that hit these states in 2013.

A plane sprays pesticide over a farm.

A major UK bank has announced today it is pulling out of one of the world’s most controversial coal developments following an international campaign by Greenpeace Australia Pacific and other organisations.

Annette Gibbs and her husband William stand in their front yard, near the Arrowhead Landfill in Perry County, AL. Four million cubic yards of toxic coal ash were scooped up from Harriman, TN, the site of the nation's worst toxic spill, and dumped at the landfill.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced the resolution of a series of settlements under the Clean Water Act with Safety-Kleen Systems, Inc., in Newark, Calif., and Cargill Corporation, in Fullerton, Calif., for violations of federal oil pollution prevention regulations. Safety-Kleen will pay a $90,000 penalty and Cargill will pay a $45,000 penalty to resolve the violations at their facilities.

An EPA settlement reached with BWE, Inc., an East Hartford, Conn. company that stores and distributes petroleum products and other flammable liquids at several facilities in New England, will help ensure that the community and emergency responders have the information they need to plan for accidents and protect themselves against potentially dangerous materials.

A UNHCR staff member wades through a flooded section of Nget Chaung camp for internally displaced people (IDP) in Pauktaw township, Rakhine State, on 2 August 2015. UNHCR was at Nget Chaung to assess the damage and identify needs caused by Cyclone Komen, which had swept through western Myanmar over the preceding few days.

Vulnerable children in Myanmar face a ‘double catastrophe’ as floods add to the hardship faced by children living in poverty and those recovering from violence and conflict, UNICEF has warned. Myanmar has suffered from severe weather for weeks, with winds and rains from Cyclone Komen that made landfall in Bangladesh on 30 July, adding to the damage in recent days.

President Obama announced the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s final Clean Power Plan on August 3, which will cut U.S. carbon pollution from the power sector by 870 million tons, or 32 percent below 2005 levels, in 2030. Power plants are the largest drivers of climate change in the United States, accounting for roughly one-third of all carbon pollution emissions, but there were no national limits on carbon pollution until today.