Author Archive
Climate change will ‘lead to battles for food’ says head of World Bank
Posted by Guardian: Larry Elliott on April 3rd, 2014
Guardian: Battles over water and food will erupt within the next five to 10 years as a result of climate change, the president of the World Bank said as he urged those campaigning against global warming to learn the lessons of how protesters and scientists joined forces in the battle against HIV.
Jim Yong Kim said it was possible to cap the rise in global temperatures at 2C but that so far there had been a failure to replicate the "unbelievable" success of the 15-year-long coalition of activists and scientists...
United Kingdom: Friends of the Earth says George Osborne creating ‘bonanza’ for oil firms
Posted by Guardian: Larry Elliott on February 4th, 2013
Guardian: Friends of the Earth has accused George Osborne of creating a bonanza for Britain's big energy companies by providing almost £1bn of tax breaks designed to boost North Sea oil and gas production.
FoE said the chancellor was going against the advice of Jim Yong Kim, the president of the World Bank, in providing subsidies designed to ensure "every last drop of oil" is extracted from the UK's rapidly declining reserves.
It said Osborne had hugely expanded field allowances, introduced by Alistair...
World Bank issues hunger warning after droughts in US and Europe
Posted by Guardian: Larry Elliott on August 30th, 2012
Guardian: The World Bank issued a global hunger warning last night after severe droughts in the US and eastern Europe sent food prices to a record high.
Damage to crop harvests from exceptionally dry weather this year raised sharply the Bank's food price index taking it above its peak in early 2011.
The Washington-based bank blamed the drought in the US for the 25% price rise of maize and 17% price rise in soya beans last month, adding that a dry summer in Russia, the Ukraine and Kazakhstan lay behind...
US drought will lead to inflation and higher food prices, says report
Posted by Guardian: Larry Elliott on August 20th, 2012
Guardian: America's severest drought in half a century will push up inflation and put a fresh obstacle in the path of the struggling global economy, one of the UK's leading banks has warned.
Karen Ward, senior global economist at HSBC, said sharp increases in the cost of wheat, corn and soya beans came at a time when growth was slowing but said the weakness of wage pressure meant there was no need for central banks to raise interest in response to a higher cost of living."
Blistering heat in the US has...