GLOBAL CIVIL SOCIETY MEETS AMIDST CRISIS OF EMPIRE

For the thousands of representatives of global civil society gathering in Mumbai, India, for the World Social Forum from January 16-22, Washington is the world\'s number one problem, writes Walden Bello, professor of sociology and public administration at the University of the Philippines, executive director of the Bangkok-based research and advocacy institute Focus on the Global South, and a recipient of the Right Livelihood Award for 2003. But the US they confront today is not quite the same cocksure superpower of yesterday. The Iraq quagmire and the collapse of the WTO Cancun ministerial were just two manifestations of that fatal disease of empires: over-extension. Then there is the failure to consolidate a dependent regime in Afghanistan and to stabilise the Palestine situation, the boost given to Islamic extremism by US-led invasions; the unravelling of the Atlantic Alliance that won the Cold War; plus the emergence of anti-US, anti-free-market regimes in Brazil and Venezuela. Is the US in a no-win situation? Bello asks in this article. The crowds in Mumbai will undoubtedly continue to regard the US as a mortal threat to global peace and justice, but they will also be cheered by the increasing difficulties of an arrogant empire that failed to see that decline is inevitable and that the challenge is not to resist the process but to manage it deftly.

Spain's Appetite for Carbon Credits

Spain will invest some 57 million dollars over the next five years to buy carbon dioxide credits in Latin America to balance its greenhouse gas emissions. Madrid has its eye on clean energy projects like Mexico's La Venta II.

Ecobreves – GLOBAL: More Resources for Ozone Layer

A new injection of resources for recovery of the ozone layer, which protects Earth from the Sun's harmful ultraviolet rays, was approved in Senegal's capital during a meeting of the signatory countries of the Montreal Protocol.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Super Pipeline Worries Environmentalists

The "super-pipeline" planned for distributing gas "from the Caribbean to Patagonia" could have disastrous effects, says Roberto Smeraldi, coordinator of Friends of the Earth - Brazilian Amazon.

Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: Less Regulation of Big Investors

Neighborhood organizations in the southern Argentine province of Chubut are warning against new legislation that would reduce environmental controls of major investment projects.

Ecobreves – GUATEMALA: Indians in Dispute over Deforestation

Residents of the indigenous villages of Canchún and Mangales are resisting the deforestation of an extensive pine forest by the people of Chitucán, located in the northern Guatemalan department of Baja Verapaz.

Ecobreves – CUBA: Improved Radars for Climate

Cuba aims to finalize automation of its eight climate radars during the first half of 2006, with notable improvement for the early warning and alert system for extreme weather.

Ecobreves – GUATEMALA: : Deforestation Advances

An environmental study by the private Rafael Landívar University indicates that Guatemala has lost 50 percent of the forests it had in 1950.

Ecobreves – VENEZUELA: The Dangers of Eating Tilapia

Consumption of tilapia fish from the Valencia Lake area, some 100 km west of Caracas, can be dangerous, due to the high concentration of mercury in its meat, which is nearly four times the limit of 1.6 milligrams per kilo allowed under the standards of the World Health Organization.

The Fate of the Condor's Flight

The world's largest flying bird no longer soars over the Venezuelan mountains. But the condor is reappearing gradually in other Andean countries, thanks to programs for protecting the species and its habitat.

Contraband Transgenic Maize Causes Alarm

The illegal entry of transgenic maize seed into Brazil could have tragic effects on the South American giant's agricultural sector, say environmental officials.

Ecobreves – CHILE: Award for Swan Defenders

The organization Acción por los Cisnes (Action for the Swans) won the prize for best defender of animals, awarded annually by the Chilean Federation of Animal Protection Institutions.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Promoting Wind Energy

The first wind-generated power plant in Honduras will begin operating in late 2006 on Hula hill, south of the capital, and will supply Tegucigalpa and the surrounding areas with electricity.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: : Watch Out with Aluminum Cookware

Cooking with aluminum or stainless steel pots and pans can be harmful to one's health, reveals a study by Elaine Bocalon, a researcher at the Sao Carlos school of engineering at the University of Sao Paulo.

FABLES

An old proverb teaches that it is better to teach a man to fish than to give him a fish, writes Eduardo Galeano, Uruguayan writer and journalist, and author of \'\'The Open Veins of Latin America\'\' and \'\'Memories of Fire\'\' In this article, Galeano writes that a certain Bishop Pedro Casaldaliga, who was not born in America but knows it inside out, says that this proverb is true and a good idea, but what happens when they poison the river? he asks. Or if someone buys the river, which used to belong to everyone, and bans fishing? Or what happens when what is happening now happens? Teaching is not enough.

Carbon Market Still Green

The developing South can help fight climate change through the Clean Development Mechanism. But there is still much to be done before that scheme will be successful, said experts as the Montreal climate change conference drew to a close.

NORTH KOREA NEEDS DEVELOPMENT, NOT FOOD AID

Last month, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution led by the US and the EU condemning North Korea for its human rights violations. While North Korea needs to address allegations of torture and prison camps, impeding its development will not improve the human rights of 22 million North Koreans, writes Christine Ahn, a Fellow with the Oakland Institute and author of the 2005 Food First Report, \'\'Famine and the Future of Food Security in North Korea\'\'. In this article, the author writes that the North Korean government met opposition from the US and many western nations when it asked the UN to transition from humanitarian assistance, such as food aid, to supporting development projects. It says it has enough food, but instead needs concrete aid in developing its agricultural and industrial sectors. Ongoing humanitarian assistance, largely in the form of food aid, has not helped advance the security of North Koreans. The difference between sending food aid versus development assistance is the difference between sending one kilogram of corn versus one kilogram of maize seeds that can yield 180 kilograms of corn. Development assistance, such as ensuring proper seed production and crop-growing technologies, is the most efficient way to improve agriculture and implement lasting solutions to North Korea\'s food crisis.

France's Nuclear Waste Heads to Russia

France exports to Russia up to 6,000 tons of depleted uranium a year without adequate security measure, charges Greenpeace. The authorities say it is a "routine" matter.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Cyber-Tongue Controls Beverage Quality

The Brazilian agricultural research agency Embrapa has invented an "electronic tongue" to taste and control the quality of coffee and other beverages.

Ecobreves – COLOMBIA: Condor Population on the Rise

The number of Andean condors (Vultur griphus) in Colombia has grown by 10 percent this year, under a repopulation program of the environment ministry.

Ecobreves – GUATEMALA: Filtering a Threatened Lake

The Guatemalan government has installed a plant to treat and filter water as it arrives at the southeastern Lake Amatitlán, which is in danger of turning into a swamp by 2015.