A high-level meeting of a U.N. biodiversity conference ended Thursday, adopting a declaration that summarizes conservation initiatives and global development suggestions made during the three-week conference.    The two-day meeting was organized as part of the 12th meeting of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), which is underway in the eastern city of Pyeongchang, 182 kilometers from Seoul. It brought together some 20 heads of international organizations, including the United Nations D

Some 20,000 government officials, environmentalists and businesspeople from around the world gathered in the eastern city of Pyeongchang on Monday for a U.N. environmental convention on biodiversity, the environment ministry said.The 12th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, dubbed COP 12, kicked off with a ceremony for a 19-day run, with about 20,000 representatives from 194 countries attending, the ministry said.During the conference themed "Biodi

GENEVA (AFP) -- Surging levels of carbon dioxide sent greenhouse gases in the atmosphere to a new record in 2013, while oceans, which absorb the emissions, have become more acidic than ever, the UN said on Tuesday."We know without any doubt that our climate is changing and our weather is becoming more extreme due to human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels," said Michel Jarraud, the head of the World Meteorological Organization that released a report on the issue on Tuesday."We must

South Korea is now trying to decide what to do with its spent nuclear fuel, but French experts here say there really is only one option not only for South Korea but any country that produces used nuclear fuel -- deep underground burial of the highly radioactive material.France's search for ways to safely manage spent nuclear fuel began in 1991, when it launched research on three methods of nuclear waste disposal, according to Audrey Guillemenet, a spokeswoman for the Meuse Haute-Marne Center of

South Korea will soon remove most of the restrictions on farms affected by avian influenza since the first outbreak was confirmed earlier in the year, the government said Wednesday.The de facto declaration of the end of the bird flu comes as the last confirmed case was reported on July 25, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs."The lockdown on all farms affected by avian influenza between Jan. 16 and July 25 will be removed as of Sept. 4," the ministry said in a press

The United Nations proposed a set of building blocks for a new global climate agreement, laying the groundwork for a deal to be reached at the end of next year.The UN presented options for the format of the deal including emissions reductions, climate financing from developed to developing nations and how the agreement will be enforced. The information was included in a document posted on the website of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.The document emphasizes the divergence that exi

The world needs to triple the energy it gets from renewables, nuclear reactors and power plants that use emissions-capture technology to avoid dangerous levels of global warming, United Nations scientists said. Investments needed to keep climate change within safe limits would shave a fraction of a percent off annual global growth, the UN said today in the third part of its most comprehensive study on warming. A delay in stemming rising greenhouse gases will cut chances to limit the global tempe

The top US environmental official will visit Taiwan in the first trip by a cabinet-level leader from Washington to the Chinese-claimed island in 14 years, officials aid Saturday.Gina McCarthy, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, will travel to Taiwan and Vietnam from Monday through Wednesday to discuss cooperation, her agency said in a statement.The trip would be the first by a cabinet-level US official to Taiwan since 2000 when then US president Bill Clinton sent transport

Seoul City signed an agreement with Beijing Thursday to make joint efforts in tackling air pollution, including hazardous ultrafine dust that has been increasingly affecting Northeast Asia.The agreement, signed between Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon and his counterpart Wang Anshun during Park's one-day visit to the Chinese capital, calls for the establishment of an environmental team within a joint committee in charge of economic and cultural exchange projects.The committee, set up by the local gover

The concept of eco-design, adding environmental value to design or vice versa, is taking root in Korea as people open their eyes to the importance of the environment and eschew instant gratification when it involves products that pollute.Recognizing the huge economic potential of eco-design, the government is running various programs to help businesses and individuals commercialize their creative eco-friendly ideas. Marketers are utilizing this concept on their own by focusing on an expanding se

The Seoul municipal government issued an ultrafine dust advisory Monday, urging people to stay indoors. The measure was taken at around noon, after Seoul’s atmospheric concentration levels of “particulate matter-2.5” pollutants recorded 92 micrograms per cubic meter.The city government issues the advisory if the average pollutant levels of 85 micrograms per cubic meter persist for at least two hours. A higher-level alert of warning is issued when the levels reach 120 micrograms. “PM-2.5,” or par

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry began a three-day trip to Jakarta Saturday where he plans to focus on climate change.The Indonesian capital is the last stop in his three-country Asia tour. He traveled to Seoul and Beijing.On Sunday, he is scheduled to deliver a speech on climate change at the American Center here.In the first of a series of speeches on climate change this year, the secretary will touch on the "compelling and undeniable scientific case of this growing challenge," a senior Stat