Ecobreves – PERU: Decentralizing Environmental Programs

The Metropolitan Municipal Council of Lima will ask Congress to decentralize environmental protection programs that are currently handled by the Ministry of Production.

ABOLISH THE ‘NOBEL’ IN ECONOMICS

The so-called \'\'Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics\'\' is not a proper Nobel Prize at all but an award set up in 1969 by the Bank of Sweden to legitimize the economics profession as a science, writes Hazel Henderson, economist and author of Building a Win-Win World and other books. As this year\'s Nobel Prizes were awarded, a number of scientists went public criticizing the mis-labeled \"Nobel\" Memorial Prize in Economics as an embarrassment which diminishes the value of all other Nobel Prizes. In this article Henderson quotes Peter Nobel, Alfred Nobel\'s descendent, as saying \'\'Two thirds of these prizes in economics have gone to US economists, particularly of the Chicago School, to people speculating in stock markets and options. These have nothing to do with Alfred Nobel\'s goal of improving the human condition and our survival. Indeed they are the exact opposite.\'\' In awarding the economics prize, the Swedish Central Bank, in its continuing and subtle campaign to legitimate economic as a \'\'science\'\', still hopes to portray the field as politically neutral. It is precisely these claims that economics shares science\'s \'\'value-free\'\' objectivity and mathematical precision that have given economists their mystique and predominant role in public policy-making worldwide.

HUMAN RIGHTS: A SAD ANNIVERSARY

For us in the 21st century, the fundamental reference for human rights is the Universal Declaration approved by the United Nations General Assembly on December 10, 1948, writes Mario Soares, president of Portugal from 1986-1996. In this article, Soares writes,\'\'The world is awash in fundamentalism, by which I mean not only the Islamic variety but others as well: the evangelical fundamentalism of the United States which is on the rise in Africa and Latin America and has immense financial resources; and the orthodox Hebrew fundamentalism whose fundamental priority seems to be liquidation of the Palestinian state.\'\' In addition to these \'\'religious\'\' fundamentalisms, we must add market fundamentalism, the engine behind the globalisation without ethics that now dominates the planet and divides it between the rich and the poor, marginalising two-thirds of humanity. Whatever their differences, these fundamentalisms are alike in that they are destroying the world order grounded in the United Nations Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which, for better or worse, animates our dream of equality of all people regardless of race, religion, or social conditions.

RARITIES

In a world organised around the daily confirmation of the power of the powerful, nothing is rarer that the coronation of the humiliated and the humiliation of the crowned. But in football, at times, this rarest of events does happen, writes Eduardo Galeano, Uruguayan writer and novelist and author of \'\'The Open Veins of Latin America\'\' and \'\'Memories of Fire\'\'. In today\'s world many people find football the only area of identity in which they recognise themselves and in which they really believe. Whatever the reasons may be, collective dignity has a lot to do with the passage of a ball flying through the air. The results of this therapy are quite surprising: it seems capable of reviving lost feelings of fraternity and belonging: sports, especially football, is one of the few places that can provide shelter to those who have no place in the world, and it contributes significantly to re-establishing bonds of solidarity broken by the culture of alienation/separation that is dominant in today\'s world.

THE NEW GHETTOS

The fight against poverty must consist of a long-term policy and be monitored closely and continuously, writes Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1992-1996. In this article, Boutros-Ghali writes that without underestimating the importance of emergency aid, this sort of action should be avoided because it is effective only in the short term. More and more frequently, we find that once the crisis has passed and peace is restored, the area in question is abandoned to its fate and almost certain to slide back into misery. It is also necessary to take into account the profound diversity of the situations of those in dire need of assistance. The respective plights of the population of Monrovia during the civil war, the inhabitants of a favela, and a group of refugees cannot be approached in the same manner. Each situation has its own conditions and requires a specific response.

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY: WALKING THE TALK

Corporations today face a challenge from the world\'s newest superpower: global public opinion, with its power to make or break companies\' brands and reputations in today\'s round-the-clock, global electronic marketplace, writes Hazel Henderson, author of \'\'Beyond Globalisation\'\' and a creator, with the Calvert Group, of the Calvert-Henderson Quality of Life Indicators. Many companies will fail the test, as they seek to \'\'green-wash\'\' their operations with advertising and public relations. Others try \'\'blue-washing\'\' by engaging the UN Global Compact\'s ten principles of global corporate citizenship. Such companies actual performance in walking their talk is now increasingly monitored by legions of civic organisations and auditing firms The growing global debate over socially-responsible investing funds is a very positive development, since higher ethical standards and performance on broader social and environmental criteria will determine the future of capitalism itself. Indeed this re-shaping of capitalism and corporations to conserve the environment while serving human needs and aspirations for equity justice, health, education, and the rights of all will also affect humanity\'s survival on this small planet.

Expedition Pursues Secrets of Clipperton Island

French scientists are slated to arrive in early December on the tiny atoll located 1,300 km southwest of the Mexican resort of Acapulco. Their findings could help the world to understand climate phenomena like El Niño, the research team's chief Jean-Louis Etienne told Tierramérica.

Business and Biodiversity – Risk of 'Greenwash'?

Corporations returned to the center of debate at the third World Conservation Congress, which ended Nov. 25 in Bangkok. Skeptics say partnerships between environmental groups and transnational corporations only serve to ''greenwash'' the sullied image of some companies, reports Tierramérica from Thailand.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Behind Soybeans Comes Transgenic Cotton

Brazil is experiencing new transgenic confusion. Environmentalists and the Environment Ministry challenge the National Biosecurity Technical Commission's decision to authorize sales of cottonseed that contains no more than one percent genetically modified seeds.

Ecobreves – CUBA: Hotel Applauded for Protecting Ozone Layer

The Cuban Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment created a prize for institutions that work to protect the Earth's atmospheric ozone layer, and the first went to the Hotel Meliá Cayo Santa María, in the central province of Villa Clara.

Ecobreves – VENEZUELA: A Proposal for Crocodile Trade

Commercial exploitation of the Orinoco crocodile (Crocodylus intermedius), an endangered species native to Venezuela and Colombia, could help prevent its extinction, says the Venezuelan Foundation of Sciences Development (FUDECI).

Ecobreves – REGIONAL: Environment Finds Way into Church Liturgy

The Latin American Council of Churches, CLAI, an umbrella of religious organizations representing 10 million people in Latin America and the Caribbean, has incorporated environmental issues into its liturgies.

Ecobreves – PERU: Opportunity in Kyoto Protocol

Peru's Center for Efficient Technology is proposing that the districts of the capital stop burning garbage or burying it in sanitary landfills, and instead treat the waste using techniques that do not emit methane, a gas that contributes to global warming.

Is Latin America Really a Carbon Market Pioneer?

Latin America could help reduce carbon dioxide emissions by up to 55 million tons through the sale of carbon credits. But this strategy doesn't convince the critics, who ask if the region would foment clean and renewable energy sources or would merely sell cheap carbon credits to the highest bidder from the industrialized North.

One Park, Three Countries

The creation of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park, one of the world's largest nature preserves, involves South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe. It is hoped that the park will eliminate the need to cull the elephant population to prevent overcrowding in concentrated areas.

Global Food Prices a Warning Beacon

Rising food prices may be the first economic indicator of the global environmental crisis, said experts gathered for a U.N.-sponsored seminar in the Mexican city of Monterrey. The final declaration of the meeting, the Monterrey Initiative, urges governments around the globe to promote sustainable farming practices.

Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: Legal Reform on Shad

Argentine environmentalists are fighting the changes approved Nov. 12 on a fishing law passed in 2003, with the consensus of local residents and fisherfolk, for the sustainable exploitation of the Paraná River's fish resources.

Ecobreves – GUATEMALA: Bamboo Instead of Coffee

The Guatemalan authorities have approved a project for large-scale cultivation of bamboo, with support from the government of Taiwan, deputy agriculture minister Ramiro Pérez told Tierramérica.

Ecobreves – COLOMBIA: Government Pushes Ecotourism

The number of visitors to Colombia's national parks this year quadrupled the number reported in 2002, Environment Minister Sandra Suárez said Nov. 16 as she launched the National Policy to Develop Ecotourism.

Ecobreves – CHILE: : Promoting 'Green' Firewood

In southern Chile there has been progress in promoting sustainable use of firewood, according to a seminar organized by the National Environmental Commission and other agencies Nov. 11-12 in the city of Teuco, 670 km south of Santiago.

Ecobreves – CUBA: : Water Arrives by Train

The eastern Cuban city of Holguín is receiving 300,000 liters of water a day, delivered by train, to deal with the shortages caused by continued severe drought, reported the local government.