Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, 14 January 2017 — Government officials from more than 150 countries and leaders from international organisations, the private sector and civil society are gathering today and tomorrow in Abu Dhabi for the Seventh Assembly of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) to chart a pathway to a sustainable energy future. The Assembly, the Agency’s ultimate decision-making authority, brings together the international community to advance the global renewable energy agenda and make concrete steps to accelerate the global energy transition and a decarbonisation of the global energy mix. Read more...

The creative industries in the UK account for a significant part of the UK economy. According to figures produced by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), the gross value added (GVA) for the creative industries was £84.1 billion, which accounted for 5.2 percent of the UK economy. The GVA for the creative economy—which includes the contribution of all those employed in the creative industries, as well as those who work in so-called creative occupations outside the creative industries—was worth £133.3 billion in 2014, accounting for 8.2 percent of the UK economy. Read more...

The ILO's World Employment and Social Outlook: Trends 2017  takes stock of the current global labour market situation, assessing the most recent employment developments and forecasting unemployment levels in developed, emerging and developing countries. Read more...

France has a significantly low-carbon electricity mix, owing to the key role of nuclear energy. However, much of France’s nuclear fleet is reaching the end of its lifetime. Against this background, France has started an ambitious energy transition: it is a world leader in designing a governance framework with a national low-carbon strategy, carbon budgets, a carbon price trajectory and plans for energy investment. Read more...

The Guild of European Research-Intensive Universities officially launched at an opening symposium on Monday 21st of November 2016 in the Bibliothèque Solvay in Brussels. The University of Glasgow is a founding member of this new group of eighteen of Europe’s leading universities from across thirteen countries and the Principal, Professor Anton Muscatelli, is the Guild’s vice-chair. Read more...

Motivated by a vision of ubiquitous, smart infrastructure, systems, and services, many cities and communities view advances in networking and information technology as a way to increase efficiency, reduce costs, and improve quality of life for their residents. They seek to become “smart cities” and “smart communities” by embedding new digital technologies into their infrastructure, systems, and services to enhance existing, and develop new, city/community resources. Smart city/community solutions are intended to enable new capabilities and opportunities—all in the face of limited budgets. The possible applications are numerous: Citizen services, smart grids, intelligent transportation systems, and remote healthcare, to name a few. Read more...