Environment

Aluminium production fuels the construction of hydroelectric dams in Brazil, like the Santo Antônio hydropower station, seen here under construction in October 2010. Credit: Mario Osava/IPS

Aluminium Industry Has Its Defenders in Brazil

By Mario Osava
Aluminium, opposed by environmentalists mainly because of the amount of energy needed to produce it, is one of the targets of the heated campaign against hydroelectric dams in Brazil’s Amazon jungle region.

“Writing Is on the Wall” at Upcoming Climate Summit

By Stephen Leahy
Two-thirds of the world's proven fossil fuel reserves cannot be used without risking dangerous climate change, the International Energy Agency (IEA) warned this week.

Nanotechnology Could Lighten Venezuela’s Oil Footprint

By Humberto Márquez
Venezuela is studying the use of nanotechnology as a means of reducing emissions of greenhouse gases caused by the oil industry.

Bolivian Sugar Industry Recovers and Seeks Markets

By Franz Chávez
Bolivia’s sugar mills are once again operating at full capacity, with producers flooding the domestic market and desperate to obtain permits to export a surplus of 138,000 tons to Chile, Colombia, Peru and the United States.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Brazil Joins Global Biodiversity Platform

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Brazil has become the latest country to join the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), dedicated to promoting free and open access to data on biological diversity.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Microfinance to Promote Clean Energy

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The Microfinance Network of Honduras (Redmicroh) is promoting small-scale clean energy projects through its 27 member organizations willing to finance family farmers interested in entering this field.

Ecobreves – CHILE: Courts Rule Against Oil Company in Pollution Case

By IPS Correspondents and - -
A Chilean court has ruled in favor of an appeal for legal protection filed by the community of Hualpén against Empresa Nacional del Petróleo, spurred by the foul odor produced by the oil company’s Biobío refinery in Concepción, 500 km south of Santiago.

War’s End Threatens Water Supply in Northern Sri Lanka

By Amantha Perera
War is seldom good for anything, especially protracted conflicts like the one in Sri Lanka, which dragged on for over three decades and claimed between 80,000 to 100,000 lives.

People’s Tribunal Defends Native Villages from Dams

By Daniela Pastrana
"What do we stand to lose because of the dam? We will lose everything!" said Maria Abigail Agredani, a member of the committee for this indigenous community in the western Mexican state of Jalisco, reporting the damage that will be caused by the hydroelectric complex being built nearby.
“Ecofeminism is based on a radical defence of women

Q&A: “The Main Challenge for Ecofeminism Is Its Own Contradictions”

By Marianela Jarroud
We must work "for all of the human rights of women," not just sexual and reproductive rights, said Coca Trillini, describing the challenges facing the ecofeminist movement that she has embraced since becoming an activist in Católicas por el Derecho de Decidir (CDD - Catholics for Choice).

OP-ED: Hurricane Sandy Says, “Welcome to the New Normal”

By Stephen Leahy
I am aware that my arrival last week helped re-elect U.S. President Barack Obama. Superstorms like me don't play politics, but it should be clear by now that your refusal to tackle global warming has serious consequences. Higher sea levels and amped-up hurricanes like me are just two of them.

Billions in Subsidies Prop up Unsustainable Overfishing

By Christopher Pala
Calls are mounting for the world's big fishing powers to stop subsidising international fleets that use destructive methods like bottom trawling in foreign coastal waters, drastically reducing the catch of local artisanal fishers who use nets and fishing lines.

The Sun Rescues Rural Cameroonians from “Incessant Darkness”

By Monde Kingsley Nfor
In the small farming village of Sabongari, in Cameroon’s North West Region, the need for kerosene to light bush lamps and petrol to run electric generators has been replaced by the need for something much cheaper and cleaner: sunshine.

Bolder Obama on Middle East, Climate in Second Term?

By Jim Lobe
With President Barack Obama winning re-election, foreign policy analysts here are pondering whether his victory will translate into major changes from the rather cautious approach he followed overseas in his first term.

For Champions of Degrowth, Less Is Much More

By Malgorzata Stawecka
The concept of degrowth is not a very comfortable one in overdeveloped countries such as the United States.

Mankind Approaching ‘Carbon Cliff’, Report Warns

By Stephen Leahy
A new international business report warns fossil fuel use is pushing humanity towards a catastrophic overheating of the planet, with temperature increases of four or even six degrees Celsius. No major developed or developing country is doing anything close to what's needed to prevent large parts of the planet from becoming uninhabitable, the report found.

Brazil Embarks on Cloning of Wild Animals

By Alice Marcondes
Brazilian scientists are attempting to clone animals in danger of extinction, like the jaguar and maned wolf, although the potential impact on the conservation of these threatened species is still not clear.

A Posthumous Message from Hurricane Sandy*

By Stephen Leahy
Hi, this is Sandy. By the time you read this, I’ll be gone, after dissipating into increasingly weaker remnants of strong winds, heavy rains and snowfall in the Great Lakes region of North America.**

Ecobreves – ARGENTINA : Social and Environmental Certification for Textiles

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Argentine government certification to promote better social and environmental conditions in the textile industry has been granted for the first time to a clothing company.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Agreement with EU to Protect Forests

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The government of Honduras and the European Union have signed an agreement aimed at improving forest governance by prohibiting the illegal harvesting and sale of timber and establishing effective forest protection standards.

Ecobreves – MEXICO: Studying the Effect of Pollen on Human Allergies

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Researchers in Mexico are studying the effect of pollen and spores on the incidence of human allergies in Mexico City.
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