IPS Correspondents

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Sugar Producers Expand Generation of Clean Energy

Sugar producers in Honduras will invest over 35 million dollars to generate up to 300 MW of electricity from sugar cane bagasse.

Ecobreves – VENEZUELA: Overflowing Lake Valencia Poses Threat to Nearby Communities

By IPS Correspondents and - -

The rising water level in Lake Valencia in northern Venezuela poses a threat to tens of thousands of families in the surrounding area due to the risks of water damage, road washouts, burst water pipes and spilled sewage.

Giant puppets welcome delegates to Durban

By IPS Correspondents

The COP17 negotiations in Durban, South Africa, have been described as the most colourful UN event yet after giant puppets and musicians welcomed delegates to the International Conference Centre in the port city.

Waste pickers can play a role in climate change mitigation

By IPS Correspondents

Waste pickers can play a role in climate change mitigation. IPS Africa led a team of reporters that produced ten days of outstanding coverage of the climate change negotiations that took place in Durban, South Africa over the past weeks. During the last four days of the official negotiations a twelve-page printed TerraViva supplement was included daily as part of The New Age newspaper, distributed inside the conference hall to the delegates and to its usual readership across KwaZulu Natal province.

Civil society is calling for the introduction of green energy to replace coal

By IPS Correspondents

Civil society is calling for the introduction of green energy to replace coal.

HEALTH-SOUTH AFRICA: Male Circumcision a Route to Gender Equality

By IPS Correspondents

Although at first glance male circumcision may not be the most obvious entrée to get people talking about gender equality, activists in the Western Cape in South Africa are attempting to do just that.

Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: Grants for Environmental Activism

By IPS Correspondents and - -

Greenpeace Argentina has launched a grant competition for young people, who would be provided with training and funding for campaigns aimed at solving environmental problems in their communities that are not being addressed.

Ecobreves – MEXICO: Adapting Transportation to Climate Change

By IPS Correspondents and - -

Mexico should implement climate change adaption and mitigation policies in the transportation sector, recommends a non-governmental organization.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Biodiesel Harmful to Marine Life

By IPS Correspondents and - -

Biodiesel, a partially renewable agrofuel, generates fewer greenhouse gas emissions than gasoil, but could have negative impacts on marine life, warns a study by Brazil’s Universidade Estadual Paulista.

MIDEAST: Guarding Aggressors Against Victims

By IPS Correspondents and - -

Ahmed Qaraeen walks with a limp, more than two years after he was shot twice, in the hip and left knee, by an Israeli settler near his home in the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Silwan.

Climate Change – A silent killer in coastal Bangladesh

By IPS Correspondents

Bangladesh, a deltaic country that drains major Asian rivers like the Ganges and the Brahamputra, is highly vulnerable to climate change and the effects are already being felt in the coastal regions in the shape of salinity, frequent floods and land erosion. Farmers and fisherman are already turning into climate refugees and, in a buiness as usual scenario, the next decades could see millions of people displaced according to projections by the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change.

Women and gender recognised by UNFCCC

By IPS Correspondents

Days before the start of COP17 in Durban, the UNFCCC has formally recognised the Women and Gender Constituency, giving them full constituency status when the talks start in Durban at the end of November. Tinus de Jager reports that there will be a strong push for a gender-specific focus at the climate-change talks in South Africa

PODCAST: Coffee growers feel climate change

By IPS Correspondents

Women coffee growers speak to Martha Nyambura about the impact of climate change on their production.

Coffee growers feel climate change

By IPS Correspondents

Women coffee growers speak to Martha Nyambura about the impact of climate change on their production.

Ecobreves – VENEZUELA: Miners Move Into Canaima National Park

By IPS Correspondents and - -

Indigenous communities report that illegal gold mining has now penetrated into Canaima National Park, which covers 30,000 square kilometers in southeastern Venezuela.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Studying the Impact of Climate Change on Estuary Birds

By IPS Correspondents and - -

A project carried out by the Mater Natura Environmental Studies Institute of Brazil will assess the potential impacts of climate change on estuary birds and propose ways to conserve their habitat.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Recycling Project in Garifuna Communities

By IPS Correspondents and - -

Four Garifuna communities (made up of descendants of Caribbean indigenous and African peoples) in the northern Honduran department of Atlántida will begin participating in December in a waste recycling project that encompasses environmental education, the creation of micro-enterprises and the sale of recycled products.

Sao Tomé project shows great promise

By IPS Correspondents

Farming cocoa, coffee and pepper in Sao Tomé show promise, with interest from Europe lifting farmers’ profits. Ulrich Vital AHOTONDJI interviews Andrea Serpagli, the coordinator of the FIDA project. [podcast]http://traffic.libsyn.com/ipsaudio/20111116_papafpa_vital.mp3[/podcast]