Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Demanding an End to Illegal Logging

Civil society organizations are demanding that Honduran President Porfirio Lobo declare a total ban on lumber activities, in order to halt illegal logging of the nation's forests.

THE RIGHTS OF MOTHER EARTH

There is no political formulation of the interests of humanity or mother earth that protects their nature and cultures. For centuries we have lived under the jurisdiction of nation states and their assorted forms of sovereignty and autonomy. But as all problems become increasingly global, this political model is proving incapable of offering the solutions needed by humanity and the planet as a whole.

GLOBL CRISIS: THE EU MUST ACT NOW

There is lively debate in the European Union about the global recession and the economic crisis in member countries, but relatively little discussion about the future of the Old Continent.

El Niño's Tantrum in Peru

Although Peru is among the countries paying closest attention to the climate phenomenon known as El Niño, it seems defenseless against the heavy rains that have been thrashing the country for weeks.

Uruguayans Return to Mud and Straw

Soil and straw from the Uruguayan plains were the raw material for the homes of the indigenous peoples over the millennia, and they are in demand again.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Nitrogen Plus Water Equals Dengue

Water with an excess of ammonia (NH3) attracts the pregnant female Aedes aegypti mosquito, which transmits dengue, according to a study by the epidemic control agency of the Brazilian state of São Paulo.

Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: Environmental Authorization for Space Antenna

An antenna from the European Space Agency (ESA) in the western Argentine province of Mendoza to study the cosmos and climate change will not be harmful to the surroundings, states an environmental impact study.

Ecobreves – MEXICO: A Call to Protect Marine Species

Eight marine species native to Mexico are in danger of overexploitation for commercial ends, denounced the environmental group Greenpeace in its "Red List of Fish and Shellfish."

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Water Deficit Deepens

Five Honduran cities, in addition to the capital, are rationing potable water due to shortages of rainfall attributed to the climate phenomenon known as El Niño, according to officials.

GLOBAL RECESSION ACCELERATES MOVEMENT TO SLOW DOWN

"Speed Kills: Slow Down and Live". So say American road signs urging drivers to lighten their foot on the gas pedal. But little else has slowed down in the U.S. or elsewhere in the 36 years since traffic planners instituted a 55 mile-per-hour national highway speed limit (and later, in haste, repealed it). In a global culture dominated by the impatience of youth, counted in nanoseconds and fueled by just-in-time supply chains, everything needs to be done yesterday since today is no longer soon enough.

TRADE GOES HAND IN HAND WITH HUMAN RIGHTS.

The history of the relationship between trade and human rights is a history of suspicion, and to some extent of deliberate reciprocal ignorance. Yet, trade goes hand in hand with human rights. Trade presupposes human interaction, respect and understanding. If conducted with respect, "trade polishes and softens the most barbarous mores", to quote Montesquieu and his theory of "sweet trade".

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Coffee Pact Criticized

The Honduran Environmental Prosecutor denounced an agreement between the government's Forest Conservation Institute and a coffee-growers' association, saying it endangers the flora and fauna in Comayagua and El Paraíso departments.

POLITICS: U.N. Climate Chief Quits Post

Countries have largely failed to endorse the Copenhagen Climate accord by the Jan. 31 deadline. On Thursday, the key official in the United Nations climate treaty process announced his resignation.

Argentina's Agrofuels Start Their Engines

With biodiesel from soybeans playing the leading role, Argentina is beginning to require plant-based fuel blends for all vehicles.

When the City Makes You Sick

A scientific study in Brazil shows that breathing urban air filled with particulates sharply increases the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Forest Corruption Budding Again in Honduras

The Honduran forests, the country's most valuable natural resource, are being irredeemably lost as a result of the corrupt timber business.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Wind Energy Lags Behind Potential

Brazil's wind energy generating capacity jumped 77.7 percent last year, reaching 606 megawatts, over 341 megawatts in 2008, according to the Global Wind Energy Council

Ecobreves – CUBA: Archeology Revives Taíno Past

As of this month, Cuba has an official archeological site at Los Buchillones, in the central province of Ciego de Ávila, that systematizes studies in one of the places with greatest mysteries about the indigenous past of the Antilles.

Ecobreves – VENEZUELA: Double Blow – Fires and Water Rationing

Several regions in Venezuela are enduring forest and brush fires linked to the drought that began last year, and which forced rationing of water supplies in Caracas and other cities, and of electricity across the province.

CLIMATE CHANGE: ONE STEP FORWARD AND ONE STEP BACK

The good news about the Copenhagen Summit on Climate Change (December 7-18) is that it produced universal agreement on the importance of early action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to manageable levels. It also made progress on some of the key elements to be included in such an agreement and on continuing the ongoing process of negotiation. The bad news is that it revealed deep and unresolved differences between the positions of the main parties, notably between the more developed and the less developed countries.

LEARNING FROM HAITI

As "natural" as it may seem, no catastrophe is natural. An earthquake of the same intensity has more victims in a poor country than in a rich industrialised one. For example, the earthquake in Haiti, 7.0 on the Richter scale, caused more than 200,000 deaths, while the one six months ago that struck Honshu, Japan, caused only one death and one injury though it was of the same strength (7.1).