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Monday, November 9, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
Biodiversity
BIODIVERSITY: Local Action for Global Change
"Community Taba" consists of four Brazilian-style indigenous huts, built of wood and thatch, with earth floors. Inside the biggest and airiest one, small farmers, forest workers, fisherfolk and indigenous people exchange experiences and discuss how best to defend the planet's biodiversity.ENVIRONMENT: Who Has Access to Biodiversity?
Biologically mega-diverse countries, including Brazil, Mexico and Colombia, are calling for a binding global policy to regulate who has access to biodiversity. The proposal is up for discussion at an international environmental meeting this week in the southern Brazilian city of Curitiba, but the goal remains far out of reach.DEVELOPMENT: Trouble Cooking Over Potatoes
Trouble is cooking over the move by Syngenta International to introduce a genetically modified form of potato.BIODIVERSITY: Peasants Say No to ‘Selling’ Traditional Knowledge
The international small farmers' and peasant movement Via Campesina is opposed to any payment for traditional knowledge, one of the formats proposed for sharing the benefits derived from biodiversity.BIODIVERSITY: Don’t Sell “Suicide Seeds”, Activists Warn
As officials from around the world gather here to discuss an international agreement to protect biodiversity, battle lines are being drawn on the question of whether governments should allow the use and sale of genetically modified "Terminator seeds".ENVIRONMENT: Saving Wildlife Also Saves Humans
Saving pandas, gorillas or tigers, often portrayed by critics of conservation as a trivial pursuit compared to the many other problems facing humanity, not only stops endangered species from going extinct but also helps reduce poverty and improves the lives of local communities in many parts of the world, says a new report by a leading environmental group.BIODIVERSITY: Curitiba, an Indigenous Conference
Indigenous people from around the world "baptised" the eighth Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP8), which opened Monday in this southern Brazilian city, to help inspire the participants to reach good decisions.ENVIRONMENT-BRAZIL: Private Sector Role in Amazon Triggers Doubts
Brazil's decision to authorise local companies to exploit 13 million hectares in the Amazon over the next decade keeps controversy simmering. Some experts are saying that instead of putting the brakes on deforestation, the concessions could make it worse.ENVIRONMENT: Biosafety Protocol Alive, but Restricted
The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety "is alive," celebrated the delegates to the Third Meeting of the Parties to the Protocol (MOP3), although there were complaints about and criticism of modifications to the final agreement reached Friday night.ENVIRONMENT: Mexico and Paraguay Block Agreement on Biosafety
Mexico and Paraguay waited until Friday, the last day of the Third Meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (MOP3), to present new proposals to modify the text that has been under negotiation since Monday, thus prolonging the five-day gathering.LATIN AMERICA: Victims of Glyphosate
The pain and suffering of victims of toxic agrochemicals invaded the international negotiations on biosafety in Curitiba, Brazil this week with the accounts of a Paraguayan mother whose son died from herbicide poisoning and local residents of a neighbourhood in Córdoba, Argentina facing a severe health crisis caused by the fumigation of surrounding fields.AGRICULTURE-LATIN AMERICA: Transgenic Crops Make Their Mark
Genetically modified organisms are leaving an indelible mark on several Latin American countries, regardless of the standards for their use and the attempts to adopt an international regime governing their production and transportation.ENVIRONMENT: Brazil to Press for Global Biodiversity Regime
Curbing the loss of biodiversity and achieving an international regime governing access to genetic resources will be the two top priorities of Brazil, which is hosting the eighth conference of the parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP-8), Brazilian Environment Minister Marina Silva told IPS.ENVIRONMENT: Brazil Still Has Doubts on Labelling of Transgenic Products
The third meeting of the parties to the global biosafety treaty kicked off Monday in this southern Brazilian city on a certain note of mystery: the 800 negotiators and observers from 116 countries still have no idea what the host country's position is on the most controversial issue to be negotiated at this gathering: the labelling of transgenic products.DEVELOPMENT: Agroecology Gaining Ground
The convergence of views between promoters of small-scale farming and defenders of the environment was remarkable at the second International Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (ICARRD), which ended this Friday in the southern Brazilian city of Porto Alegre.BOOKS-US: Is Organic Boom Healthy for Small Farmers?
Shopping at the Whole Foods supermarket chain in the United States has been called, among other things, inspirational.HEALTH: New Studies Back Benefits of Organic Diet
Organic foods protect children from the toxins in pesticides, while foods grown using modern, intensive agricultural techniques contain fewer nutrients and minerals than they did 60 years ago, according to two new scientific studies.PAPUA NEW GUINEA: Rainforest Thrown Open to Illicit Logging
The link between the political elite and logging companies operating in Papua New Guinea (PNG), home to world's third largest remaining rainforest, is responsible for the failure of sustainable timber production there and the rapid exhaustion of its pristine forests, a new report says.FINANCE: Bank Rejects Rapid Review of Controversial Pipeline
The main public investor in a controversial gas pipeline in Peru's Amazon rainforest that has ruptured four times already appears adamant not to bow to pressure from green groups demanding a full investigation after a study asserted that the pipeline is shoddily built and likely to break again.SCIENCE: Bioterror Fears Dim Biotech Potential
Terrorists using biotechnology could create virulent new diseases that threaten millions of people and imperil future development of the technology, ethical experts warn.LATIN AMERICA: Wanted – Labels for Genetically Engineered Products
Labels on foods sold in Latin American countries don't indicate whether they contain genetically engineered ingredients. There is legislation on the books in Brazil, but companies aren't complying with the requirement. In Mexico the laws on the matter are imprecise, and in Chile a new law is expected soon.« Previous Page — Next Page »
The world's diverse flora and fauna are facing urgent threats due to pollution, climate change, commercialization of nature and other forms of harmful human intervention. The widespread loss of biodiversity is worrying not simply because of the disappearance of exotic species which deserve saving, but because tampering with nature's equilibrium means that the loss of one form of life is a threat to another. IPS taps into its own diverse network of correspondents around the world to report on continuing and emerging dangers to nature's riches - and the struggle to protect them.
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