Today in celebration of the United Nations International Day for Biological Diversity (May 22nd), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), released a new brochure focued on the 2013 theme: Water & Biodiversity. Titled, Natural Solutions for Water Security (2013) the 49-page report is available here and attempts to raise awareness regarding this finite resource.
Recently, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report, titled Department of Energy: Observations on Project and Program Cost Estimating in NNSA and the Office of Environmental Management GAO-13-5140T (May 8, 2013). The details of the 24-page report, available here, are discussed below:
Why GAO Did This Study
DOE's [National Nuclear Security Administration] NNSA and [Office of Environmental Management] EM ensure the safety, security, and reliability of the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile and address environmental cleanup of Cold War sites. Together, NNSA and EM have outlined plans that could commit American taxpayers to $450 billion in programs and projects over decades to address their missions. NNSA and EM oversee contracts for the execution of both projects, including capital asset acquisitions, and programs central to the achievement of their missions. GAO has reported on the status of DOE's projects and programs and has repeatedly identified cost overruns as compared with cost estimates. A realistic cost estimate provides a basis for both an accurate budget and effective resource allocation. In a time of fiscal constraint, Congress needs high-quality cost information upon which to make decisions about NNSA's and EM's projects and programs.
This testimony focuses on GAO's (1) prior findings and preliminary observations from ongoing work on cost-estimating practices for NNSA's and EM's capital asset projects, and (2) prior findings and preliminary observations from ongoing work on cost-estimating practices for NNSA's operating programs. It is largely based on prior GAO reports issued from January 2010 to February 2013. For its ongoing work, GAO reviewed DOE policies, orders, and guidance and interviewed DOE, NNSA, and contractor officials.
GAO is making no new recommendations. DOE continues to act on the recommendations GAO has made to improve cost estimating. GAO will continue to monitor implementation of these recommendations.
Recently, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), an international non-profit environmental advocacy and action group which focuses on the protection of wildlife and habitat issued a report titled, From Mutual Assured Destruction to Mutual Assured Stability Exploring a New Comprehensive Framework for U.S. and Russian Nuclear Arms Reductions (Mar. 2013). According to the press release for the 93-page report available here, the report discusses how,
(NRDC) conducted two workshops with members of The Institute for USA and Canadian Studies (ISKRAN), Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, in Washington, D.C. in 2011 and in Moscow in 2012, to examine questions surrounding the future of U.S.–Russian arms control. Our primary goal was to describe a set of further arms control options for these two countries at a time when their national leaderships are in a period of potential change. The secondary goal was to facilitate a greater understanding of Russia's perspectives on its national security and how nuclear weapons fit into the larger picture of Russian security planning.
This month, the United Nations Environment Programme released a new report titled, Avoiding Future Famines: Strengthening the Ecological Basis of Security through Sustainable Food Systems. The 80-page report which is available here,
addresses an important aspect of the food security discourse: the ecological foundation of food security. The report argues that while factors such as availability, access, utilization and stability must be given adequate attention for global food security to be achieved, an underlying factor – the ecological dimension is not only largely being overlooked but is also being undermined.
The report has two main objectives:
- To describe the problem. What is the significance of the ecological foundation of food security and how is this foundation being undermined by societal pressures
- To proffer some possible solutions. How can we build sustainable food systems?
The report was developed through collaboration among key international organizations including the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Bank, the World Food Programme (WFP) and the World Resources Institute (WRI).
Recently the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released its report, titled Environmental Protection Agency Needs to Resolve Weaknesses GAO-12-696 (July 19, 2012). This 45 page report, available here, was conducted by the GAO in order "to determine whether the [EPA] has effectively implemented appropriate information security controls to protect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the information and systems that support its mission." Finding "pervasive" weaknesses the GAO made 12 recommendations to remedy percieved deficiencies in the EPA's network and then made an additional 94 recommendations to "enhance access and other information security controls over its systems."
Recently, the Global Water System Project (GWSP), a joint project of the 
