In a precursor to Copenhagen, U.S. thought-leaders got together to examine the global energy outlook, climate change and U.S. policy on sustainable energy supplies. Makes interesting reading…

Home-based businesses provide an opportunity for a better lifestyle for parents and childrens, and more shared time, according to Polaris Media Group.

According to Companiesandmarkets.com, the 2008 value of the carbon market is USD $126 billion, an increase of over 1000% in 3 years. Whilst all estimates can be debated and there’s too many nuances for a pithy response, the bottom line is: there’s money in that carbon!

Could manufacturing abuses caused by the need for ever-cheaper products be a partial catalyst for a reversion to local manufacturing? According to China Labor Watch’s latest investigation of five Wal-Mart supplier factories reveals not a single factory has implemented Wal-Mart’s basic standards, and with wages at rates as low as $0.44/hour, questions about the desperate need for change have to be asked.

Nice Ride Minnesota, is an initiative to spread bike-riding throughout the state, and the Twin Cities. Other cold-climate cities in Europe such as Copenhagen have pioneered these bike-riding schemes, and they are now spreading throughout the U.S.A.

The Bread for the World Institute “Hunger 2010: A Just and Sustainable Recovery” Report has been released, and identifies the need to reduce poverty and hunger as a key to long-term recovery and leadership. The report identifies the current U.S. economic crisis as an opportunity for change…

Ninth Annual Dare to Dream Conference held on November 17th in New York City showed of a wide variety of student presentations on Human Rights.

Boeing has started construction on a second final assembly site for the long-awaited 787 Dreamliner airplane in Charleston, South Carolina. The 787, like the Airbus A380, is a significant aeronautic innovation.

The nature of innovation is shifting, but our society is stuck in old paradigms of innovation. Our Executive Director, Christopher Hire, examines what a Creative Age of innovation may mean and the opportunity it gives all of us, …

Whilst some of the conclusions of this article are UK-centric, in general, credit card companies are facing trying times and an underlying paradigm shift. Opening the way for new innovations in finance…

A multi-lateral initiative directed by the River Blindness Program of The Carter Center to reduce river blindness in the Americas has delivered improved lives in the six endemic countries of Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, and Venezuela.

Smart Grids are fast become the buzzword – and a source of rivers of green gold in funding – as cities de-carbonize the electricity grid, and create efficiencies through monitoring and adjusting the supply. CURRENT Grid is one of the smart grid leaders, and was highly ranked in this VentureBeat contest.

A new initiative in the Silicon Valley, centred around Santa Clara University, is creating a forum for the leading minds in ethical financial innovation, responsible risk management, and behavioral finance. A key feature examined in the new initiative, will be a much-needed alignment of incentives, for those participating in financial markets.

The lessons New Orleans learnt, and must learn, from Hurricane Katrina are important to all low-lying coastal cities in the time of climate change. This is a book review by local Sandy Rosenthal, Executive Director of New Orleans non-profit Levees.org, of Craig E. Colton’s book,”Perilous Place, Power Storms: Hurricane Protection in Coastal Louisiana” – a comparative study of the cities responses.

China and South America will be forming closer banking and trade ties, backing the importance of the South American region in innovation economics.

Brooklyn art galleries have put together an exciting program this weekend in New York City, some transport logistics and branding improvements could be made in our view, but an interesting re-branding exercise.

There may be some surprises in the Transparency International’s 2009 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), a measure of domestic, public sector corruption. Whilst war zones are among the worst, kick-backs, crony capitalism and nepotism means some Western countries fare less well than you might think. It seems institutions and process matter. Read more…

The Cleantech Open, is the world’s largest business competition created to find, fund and foster startup clean technology companies, and awards were announced for the annual Sustainability Award in San Francisco. Innovator Hydro-Volts of Seattle won, read on for more regional winners…

The first-ever World Expo held in China will run from May through October 2010, and is expected to attract 70 million visitors – more than any Expo in 150 years of Expo or World Trade Fair history. And it’s a big opportunity for U.S. and Chinese business as well…

Electricity efficiency is the ‘low-hanging fruit’ of sustainability in cities, and LED street lights (and traffic lights) are one of the solutions appearing on the streets of cities like Ann Arbor, Michigan.