News from China, HongKong, Korea, Taiwan and Japan.

With the coming of the Olympic Games, and the problem of air pollution not easing, China has launched traffic restrictions in a last minute ditch to ease the air pollution problem.
Vehicles with even and odd plates will hit the roads only on alternate days, which effectively means just half of the capital’s 3.29 million automobiles [...]

This year’s 2008 Beijing Olympics has been termed “Green Olympics“. But how green are the venues that will be hosting the Olympic games?
Lets take a look at three of such venues. Firstly, the National Stadium, known as the “Bird’s Nest” for its latticework of interwoven steel. Secondly, the National Aquatics Centre, or “Water [...]

The Energy Bureau under the Ministry of Economic Affairs announced on Wednesday that starting from mid of July, all fuel for automobiles will have to contain at least one percent bio-diesel in order to help reduce carbon emissions and cut down on the usage of fossil fuels.
This move of using bio-diesels which is made primarily [...]

In Japan, the Ministry of the Environment has introduced the Eco First Program. In order to become an Eco First Company under the Eco First Program, a company must commit (Eco First Commitment) to the Ministry of the Environment that it will undertake certain voluntary environmental protection initiatives in accordance with the following standards.

Based on [...]

In as short as 5 years, lives of many animals and plants in Korea have changed dramatically. The increasing number of summer birds and early blossom of flowers, all of which can be primarily attributed to global warming.
The Ministry of Environment of South Korea has revealed that the cherry blossoms in central Seoul blossomed a [...]

A plan aimed at cultivating high-yield and pest-resistant genetically modified (GM) crops for China to achieve agricultural sustainability has been approved, the Chinese authorities have said.
The State Council announced on its website on Wednesday the approval of the plan, one of the 16 key State plans marked by the central government to achieve breakthroughs in [...]

Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda on Wednesday announced a loan to Indonesia of US$300m dollars in the first batch of aid under Tokyo’s new initiative on fighting climate change.
Fukuda met with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in the Japanese northern resort of Toyako on the sidelines of the Group of Eight summit.

Fukuda “highly praised” Indonesia’s [...]

China is planning to restrict access by climbers to the summit of Mount Qomolangma (Mount Everest) to allow environmental teams to carry out a huge clean-up of the mountain.
Just weeks after the Olympic torch relay across the planet’s highest peak, mountaineers are planning to scale it to clear the mounds [...]