The Earth Hour campaign which started in Sydney in 2007 is now entering its 4th year. It is reported that hundreds of millions of people around the world has supported in Earth Hour 2009 last year.
You can participate in the worldwide Earth Hour 2010 campaign by switching off all the non-essential lights for 60 minutes by Saturday 27 March 2010, 8.30pm sharp.
No doubt WWF has successfully made Earth Hour a global moment for many people to participate and turn off their lights during the historical moment.
However, what happened after that 60 minutes? Did WWF raise enough awareness to us of global climate change issues? Did we made any changes to our day-to-day habit after participated in that 60 minutes Earth Hour?
Why people in the soutern hemisphere started to see so many iceburgs floating around the ocean far away from the Antarctica? Why people in the northern hemisphere is experiencing the coolest winter season now?
I believe that supporting Earth Hour is not only for that 60 minutes moment. After that, we should be more awared of the issue that suppose to be brought up in this campaign, and act accordingly to reduce the burden of Mother Earth whenever we can.
Earth Hour should remain as a serious matter, and not merely becoming another celebration event of the year.
Here is the official Earth Hour 2010 video:
Click here to visit the official website of Earth Hour.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Earth Hour @ 20:30 Saturday 27 March 2010
Singapore ranked as #1 economy in ease of doing business
Out of the 183 worldwide economies analysed in the Doing Business 2010 Report by World Bank, IFC and Palgrave MacMillan, Singapore is again the champion in ease of doing business (it was #1 in 2009 Report too).
A high ranking on the ease of doing business index means the regulatory environment is conducive to the operation of business. This index averages the economy's percentile rankings on 10 topics, made up of a variety of indicators, with equal weight:
- Starting a business
- Dealing with construction permits
- Employing workers
- Registering property
- Getting credit
- Protecting investors
- Paying taxes
- Trading across borders
- Enforcing contracts
- Closing a business
- 1. Singapore
- 2. New Zealand
- 3. Hong Kong
- 4. United States
- 5. United Kingdom
- 6. Denmark
- 7. Ireland
- 8. Canada
- 9. Australia
- 10. Norway
- 11. Georgia
- 12. Thailand
- 13. Saudi Arabia
- 14. Iceland
- 15. Japan
- 16. Finland
- 17. Mauritius
- 18. Sweden
- 19. Korea, Rep.
- 20. Bahrain
- 21. Switzerland
- 22. Belgium
- 23. Malaysia
- 24. Estonia
- 25. Germany
- 26. Lithuania
- 27. Latvia
- 28. Austria
- 29. Israel
- 30. Netherlands
Click here for the complete list of ranking across the 183 economies.
Doing Business 2010 Report by World Bank, IFC and Palgrave MacMillan
The World Bank, IFC and Palgrave MacMillan have co-published their 7th Doing Business annual report for 2010 with the theme "Reforming Through Difficult Times".
This comprehensive 231 pages report presents quantitative indicators on business regulations and the protection of property rights that can be compared across 183 economies.
It measures, in detail, various regulations that affect the 10 stages of the business life-cycle applicable to the respective domestic small and medium-size enterprises, as follow:
- Starting a business
- Dealing with construction permits
- Employing workers
- Registering property
- Getting credit
- Protecting investors
- Paying taxes
- Trading across borders
- Enforcing contracts
- Closing a business
- The laws and regulations
- Time and motion indicators that measure the efficiency in achieving a regulatory goal
Don't be surprised to know that the top reformer of the year is a Sub-Saharan African economy, Rwanda.
Click here to download the full report of Doing Business 2010.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
