NEW YEAR, NEW COUNTRY?

From the time I was capable of reason I remember hearing this old refrain, full of optimism, commonly remarked in Cuba around Christmas: "A new year, a new life." The expression is charged with unfulfilled desires, postponed goals, and possible hopes for the life that will begin with the new year -as if thinking about mere possibility was a way of getting closer to this "new life", better and different.

GLOBALISATION: ENGINE OF A NEW WORLD ORDER

Citizens around the world have been hit with a flood of startling news recently: the Wikileaks revelations about how US officials see the world and how speculative financial capital takes advantage of the weakness of states, now also in Italy and, it seems, on the verge of moving into Germany. Meanwhile national budgets are being slashed in all the industrialised countries and waves of layoffs imposed.

Good Omens for Climate Pact in Durban 2011

The fact that an international climate deal is possible at next year's climate summit in Durban, South Africa is a good omen for the future of our planet, writes South African Kumi Naidoo, head of Greenpeace International.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Most Support Environmentalism, But Few Practice

Although 59 percent of the Brazilians surveyed said that preserving the environment is more important than ensuring economic growth, just 18 percent considered it their personal duty.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: IDB Supports Programs to Fight Climate Change

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) will make 30 million dollars available in loans for developing renewable energy in Honduras.

Ecobreves – VENEZUELA: On Alert at El Ávila National Park

Venezuelan environmentalists sounded the alarm when President Hugo Chávez announced the partial "deallocation" of El Ávila national Park, which extends over 85,100 hectares in the mountains between Caracas and the Caribbean, in order to build housing on the mountainsides facing the sea.

Ecobreves – CHILE: Growing Opposition to Mining in the North

"Every day there are more organizations" that oppose the expansion of major mining in the northern Andean region of Chile, due to its harm to glaciers and water sources, activist Mauricio Ríos, of the Northern Environmental Network (RAN), told Tierramérica.

HOPE IN DURBAN FOR A CLIMATE-SAVING DEAL

Next year will be another big year for civil society, a year which will see every effort focused on achieving climate justice: getting a good deal for the climate out of the United Nations World Conference on Climate Change in Durban, but also making sure that governments and corporations take action outside of the so-called political process.

Climate Summit Ends Without Solving Emissions Puzzle

Despite scientific evidence and continued weather disasters across the globe, climate change continues to be relegated to second tier among national and international priorities.

As Andean Glaciers Recede, Region Steps Forward to Adapt

The Andean glaciers are suffering the effects of global warming, with far-reaching effects on water supplies, biodiversity and livelihoods.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Forests Improve Coffee Crops

Cultivating coffee near intact forests increases yields by up to 20 percent, according to a study by the Brazilian agricultural research agency EMBRAPA, whose aim was to evaluate the capital accumulated in services provided by native vegetation.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Biological Center to Reduce Agro-Toxins

The Honduran Agricultural Research Foundation will establish a center for the production of biological agents to protect crops, as a way to replace the use of agro-chemicals.

Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: Natural Area Once Again Protected

The Senate in the northern Argentine province of Salta has approved a law to create a national reserve in a provincial protected area -- whose protection was removed in 2004.

WEEKLYLEAKS

The revelations contained in the wave of WikiLeak documents that have taken the world by storm are an indictment not only of US diplomacy but of today's diplomacy in general. What kind of ludicrous language is this, so focused on the pathology of mainline media discourse? It is negative and concentrated on individual actors, usually from the elites of elite countries. It is immature gossip, the kind of "analysis" of power typical of adolescents. Where is the analysis of culture and structure which is far more important than actors who come and go? Nowhere; they are incapable of it. Where are positive ideas? Where are the ideas about how to convert the challenges, such as climate change, into cooperation for mutual and equal benefit? Like water distillation projects using solar energy at Israel's borders with Lebanon and Palestine? Like positive US-Iran cooperation on alternative energy?

Ecobreves – VENEZUELA: Chevron Finances Indigenous Artisanry

The Tierra Viva Foundation launched an artisan training program, financed by the oil giant Chevron, for indigenous Warao communities living in the Orinoco River delta, in the far east of Venezuela.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: A Push for Sustainable Rural Enterprise

Four provinces in Honduras will begin sustainable development efforts in 2011 for small rural agricultural businesses, financed by 32 million dollars from the Inter-American Development Bank.

Cancún Summit Gives Fossil Fuels a Free Pass

At the global summit on climate change, no country is being challenged for its plans to expand fossil fuel production, despite being the main source of climate-changing gas emissions.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Food Industry Can Utilize Its Own Waste

Waste from the food industry could be utilized in its same productive process -- this is the surprising conclusion of a study by Brazil's Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture at the University of São Paulo.

Ecobreves – CHILE: Last of the Huemul Deer in Danger

The construction of the Punilla hydroelectric dam in the Chilean region of Biobío poses a threat to some 40 huemul (Hippocamelus bisulcus), a type of deer living in that area of central Chile, warn local and foreign environmental groups.

THE WORLD NEEDS WOMEN TO MAKE PROGRESS ON CLIMATE CHANGE

A year after much-touted climate change summit in Copenhagen, country negotiators from around the world are together again to work out an international response to climate change. While many believe we should lower our expectations for this year's climate change summit underway in Cancun, this would be a mistake. As global temperatures rise, so do the challenge's for the world's poorest citizens- women, especially those living in developing countries.

HONOURING THE FATHER OF PEACE STUDIES

Johan Galtung from Norway, universally recognized as "the father of peace studies", who recently turned 80, has been awarded the Korean DMZ Peace Prize for 2010. The award ceremony will be held in Seoul on 7 December 2010. The selection committee cited "his long-lasting work for world peace and Korean reunification".