The True Cost of Coal

The True Cost of Coal
How people and the planet are paying the price for the world's dirtiest fuel.

Traditionally considered the cheapest fuel around, the market price for coal ignores its most significant impacts. These so-called "external costs" manifests themselves as damages such as respiratory diseases, mining accidents, acid rain, smog pollution, reduced agricultural yields and climate change. The harm caused by mining and burning coal is not reflected in its price per tonne or its costs for a kWh of electricity, but the world at large is nevertheless paying for it. This report by Greenpeace seeks to answer the question: Just how much are we paying?

Living Planet Report 2008

The Living Planet Report

This report is WWF's periodic update on the state of the world's ecosystems. It describes the changing state of global biodiversity and the pressure on the biosphere arising from human consumption of natural resources. It is built around two indicators:

• the Living Planet Index, which reflects the health of the planet’s ecosystems; and
• the Ecological Footprint, which shows the extent of human demand on these ecosystems.

These measures are tracked over several decades to reveal past trends, then three scenarios explore what might lie ahead.

Europe's Demographic Future

Europe's Demographic Future

Low fertility rates, ageing populations, and a growing number of migrants from other countries and world regions - these are the factors that are set to change the face of Europe in the course of the coming decades. The stage was set for this development decades ago, but the zenith of ageing in European societies will be reached only in 30 - 40 years. It is very unlikely that Europe's population will grow much further, and shrinkage, the inevitable consequence, could soon set in.