Rio+20 – a Call to Responsibility, a Call to Action

We are all going through a period of great confusion and uncertainty.

Activists from Many Nations Condemn Chevron

More than 100 people gathered Wednesday outside the gates of Chevron's sprawling headquarters in upscale San Ramon in the San Francisco Bay area of California, where police and security barred those without passes to the shareholder meeting from entering.

U.S. Corporations Send Mixed Messages on Climate Science

According to a report released by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) here on Wednesday, at least half of the U.S. corporations under review have actively supported the misrepresentation of the science around climate change.

Biomass Plantations Can Power India

Valli, 50, and Sarasu, 60, have been working with Energy Plantation Projects India (EPPI) since inception in 2007, the income they earn forming an integral part of their household budgets. "We easily manage household work and a salary-paying job," they tell IPS.

Energy Agency Looks to Natural Gas “Golden Age”

If a series of "golden rules" can be followed, a new report from the International Energy Agency (IEA) suggests, global natural gas usage could grow by more than 50 percent by 2035.

Q&A: North-South Divide Looms Heavily Over Rio+20 Summit

The 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro was to a large extent derailed by a North-South divide: a battle between a coalition of rich industrial nations versus the world's developing countries led by the Group of 77.

Rio+20 is Everyone’s Conference

The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, otherwise known as Rio+20, is a once-in-a-generation opportunity.

Native Canadians See Way of Life Under Assault

Canada's West Coast First Nations are feeling overwhelmed by crises affecting their land rights, economic well-being and health, prompting warnings in one territorial dispute with a local energy company that the country risks a degeneration of Aboriginal-federal government relations to a level unseen in two decades.

‘Green Economy’ – New Disguise for Old Tricks?

Though the current global economic and financial crises are undoubtedly devastating much of the world, they present the perfect opportunity for remodeling our economic system, according to participants at the ninth annual Terra Futura (Future Earth) exhibition of ‘good practices’ in social, economic and environmental sustainability held here from May 25-27.

Selling Ethanol Stoves in Mozambique to Generate Carbon Credits

Along a dirt road in Mozambique’s Sofala province, a long line of men on bicycles stretches into the distance, each carrying an impossibly big bag of charcoal strapped to his bike.

Outsourced Chilean Copper Workers “21st Century Slave Labour”

"Temporary and subcontracted workers in the copper industry are the slave labour of the 21st century. Lacking rights and social protection, they are vulnerable and defenceless," complained Cristián Cuevas, the leader of a union for outsourced Chilean copper workers.

Brazil and China, Oiling the Wheels of Business

China's voracious demand for energy has prompted it to embrace Brazil as a major oil partner, fuelling the dramatic expansion of Chinese companies in this South American country. But while some see this as a boost to the Brazilian economy, others fear that it poses a risk to this country’s future self-sufficiency.

Big Hydropower Dams Trump Alternative Energy in Chile

Chile has enormous potential for producing non-conventional renewable energies (NCRE) like solar and geothermal, yet they only contribute three percent of the country's energy mix.

Belo Monte Dam Hit by Friendly Fire

Those who made the final decision on the design of Brazil’s Belo Monte hydroelectric dam will face legal action in the future for the damages caused. This is the kind of warning one would expect from environmentalists, but in this case it comes from a surprising quarter: staunch supporters of hydropower.

Guatemalan Communities Have No Say in Exploitation of Resources

"People haven’t been coming in for the past month or so because they are afraid again, like during war-time," complained Juan Gaspar, a shopkeeper in the northwestern Guatemalan town of Santa Cruz Barillas, where a fierce battle is raging between locals opposed to a hydropower dam and the security forces.

Brazil Drives Energy Integration in South America

Energy integration in South America will be a reality "in the medium to long term," driven by hydropower and drawing on Brazil’s experience, predicts Altino Ventura Filho, secretary of planning in this country’s Ministry of Mines and Energy.

From Mubarak To Worse

More than 15 months after Egypt's Tahrir Square uprising and four months after free parliamentary polls, many Egyptians say that daily living conditions are worse now than they were in the Mubarak era.

World Bank Accused of Ignoring Lessons on Mega Infrastructure

In a renewed funding focus on large-scale infrastructure, the World Bank, Group of 20 (G20) countries and other multilateral groups are wilfully overlooking lessons learned decades ago, a new report by International Rivers warns.

Public Funds Could Help Provide Water and Electricity, Researchers Say

For several decades, governments around the globe have turned to privatisation as the best option to help relieve the world's destitute by providing them with health care services, water and electricity. By and large, however, this effort has failed.

Argentina Faces the Dilemma of Unconventional Oil and Gas

Vast reserves of natural gas and oil trapped underground, whose exploitation would signify major environmental impacts, will be the greatest challenge facing YPF, the Argentine oil company that recently returned to state control.

French Environmentalists Want ‘Green’ Without the ‘n’

As France’s president-elect Francois Hollande prepares to form a new government, many environmentalists are calling for the appointment of an ecology minister with real power who can deliver on promises to reduce the use of nuclear power as well as cut carbon emissions.